[FM11] Tales of a Virgin Journeyman

[benrollo]

No, not a story of how Richard Branson travelled the globe, but rather my first ever foray into the muddy waters of the 'Start Unemployed' option

I've been playing CM/FM since Championship Manager 99/00, and for just about every single game I have ever started since then, I have simply chosen a club and taken them to whatever dizzy heights I could. Only occasionally have I changed clubs mid-career, normally favouring either the 'constant glory' approach, or the 'rise to the top' approach.

With FM11, I wanted to try something different. With the new Dynamic Reputation feature I dreamed of making some backwater league one of the best in the World. With that in mind, here is how I set my game up in terms of leagues:

Denmark (2.Division and above)

England (League 2 and above)

Finland (Ykkonen and above)

Germany (2.Bundesliga and above)

Iceland (1.Deild Karla and above)

Italy (Serie B and above)

Norway (Adeccoliagen and above)

Spain (Liga Adelante and above)

Sweden (Superettan and above)

As you can see, I went for a pretty strong Scandinavian flavour to my setup - not really sure why but I wanted to try and focus on one region predominantly for my lower league shenanigans.

I used a large database, modified to include all Liechtensteiner footballers. Bit of a long story behind this but basically I'm a massive fan of Liechtenstein so I put them in there! My nationality is also set to Liechtensteiner.

In terms of experience level, I choose Semi-Professional footballer, as this is what I am (or was). Nobody can take that one appearance for Tiptree United away from me!

On a final note before I start reciting my career - I'm actually in 2018 in-game at the point that I have decided to start this thread. Therefore, I won't be going into too much detail regarding previous seasons because there is only so much I can remember! There will be player naming, and the odd screenshot of players and league tables, but for the most part I'll be condensing quite a lot of info and stats! I'll happily provide screenshots etc if anyone has a request or question.

[benrollo]

2010-11 Season

Nordvest FC, Danish 2.Division Öst

After spending less than 2 weeks on the dole, it was 3rd Division Danish outfit Nordvest FC who gave me my first opportunity in management.

The squad was relatively poor bar one player – a 24-year old striker by the name of Lasse Qvist. Some people may recognise his name – he was a potential star in a previous CM game (although I can’t remember which one!). Checking his career history, he hit a high in 2004 when he joined top Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven, perhaps after one of their scouts played a bit of Championship Manager?!

Four seasons – and 4 clubs – later, he ended up at Nordvest FC, keen to prove a point to his previous doubters. In the 2009-10 season, he banged in 17 goals in 26 games for NFC, so I had high hopes for him heading into the 2010-11 season.

Before the season got underway, the side needed some serious strengthening. I made a total of 19 signings over the course of the season, whilst 7 players left to free up some wages. The one major notable signing was 28 year old Norwegian goalkeeper Tommy Runar, picked up on a free transfer from FK Jerv, a lower league side from Norway.

With Runar and Qvist running the show, we stormed to the 2.Division Öst title by 8 points, setting us up for a playoff final against the winners of the West division, Thisted FC, with a place in the Danish second division at stake. After scraping by 3-2 at home, we managed a 1-1 draw away to seal our promotion!

Over the season, Lasse hit 8 goals and added 10 assists in his 26 league games. Tommy ‘The Ruiner’ Runar played well in his 17 league games, conceding on average less than a goal a game.

Nordvest Transfers - http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3884/nordvesttransfers201011.jpg

2.Division Ost Final Standings - http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/6674/2divisionost201011.jpg

[benrollo]

2011-12 Season

Nordvest FC, Danish Viasat Divisionen

MK Dons, English npower League 1

Following our promotion at the first attempt, I was looking forward to my boys testing themselves at a higher level. Unfortunately, things got off to a bad start when the board put some pretty tight restrictions on wages, even if they did give me a £5k transfer budget.

These restrictions resulted in me having to let 6 players go before the season began, and another 9 left during the season. In the meantime, I brought in 7 players, including my then-record signing (and a newgen) Rene Nielsen, snapped up for a monster £2.5k.

Unfortunately, these players that came in just weren’t good enough to cut it in the Second Division. After 14 games, and with the club sitting just outside the relegation zone, I resigned out of frustration. The board had really done a number on me in the pre-season, and I felt like I had taken the club as far as I could.

My plan was to get straight back on the management horse. My next job came just over a month later, in the shape of English League 1 side MK Dons, who were at the time struggling in 21st in the league.

Naturally, the first thing I did was sign a couple of Nordvest players! Qvist arrived for a paltry £35k whilst Runar joined for an even smaller £14k. I fully expected both players to be backups, but both were still good value for money.

With a little more money to spend, I also splashed out on Ivorian midfielder Flavien Le Postollec and Fredrik Nordkvelle, a 26-year old Norwegian who would go on to become an integral part of the Dons’ midfield.

Previous manager Karl Robinson had done a pretty good job with the side to be fair, it just seemed they were underachieving on the pitch.

My attacking 4-4-2 formation worked wonders with ex-Manchester United striker Febian Brandy (one of Robinson’s better signings) who grabbed 26 league goals as we managed to break into the playoffs, finishing in 3rd place.

After a 2-2 draw at home with Brighton in the Playoff First Leg, we managed to dig deep and pull out an incredible 4-0 win at the American Express Community Stadium (great name).

That set us up with a final against Millwall, who had beaten us twice in the regular season. Once again, my boys managed to find a way to get a result and we managed to get a 4-2 win! Two seasons, two promotions!

In the end, new Nordvest manager Morten Bendtsen managed to keep the club in the Viasat Divisionen, so it was a good season for my clubs.

Viasat Divisionen Final Standings - http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/8788/viasatdivisionen201112.jpg

Nordvest Transfers - http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/7448/nordvesttransfers201112.jpg

League 1 Final Standings - http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/1521/league1201112.jpg

MK Dons Transfers - http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3601/mkdonstransfers201112.jpg

[GioGio85]

Great first season and matched in the 2nd- great start!

[benrollo]

Thanks Gio! It's been a really fun game for me, I can't believe I didn't try this sooner! Time for a bumper post now...

2012-13 Season

MK Dons, English npower Championship

I planned for the 2012-13 season to be one of consolidation, and that is pretty much exactly what it turned out to be! Despite a 3-month flirtation with the playoff positions, our squad just wasn’t deep enough to deal with the rigorous Championship schedule, and we flagged badly towards the end of the season as we won just 4 of our last 15 games.

I was happy enough with the talent throughout the side, with plenty of talent arriving in the shape of ex-Arsenal centre back Kyle Bartley (for a club and career record £2m), Swedish attacking midfielder Alexander Farnerud (free) and my first and only Liechtensteiner signing Michele Polverino (free) amongst others.

The real problem came in the shape of injuries – my first XI was amongst the most talented in the league, but my depth players were just not up to scratch. When 3 or 4 first teamers got injured down the stretch, the side just couldn’t cope. With this in mind, I knew what I had to do in the offseason – get deep.

Championship Final Standings - http://oi55.tinypic.com/34j9ksz.jpg

MK Dons Transfers - http://oi55.tinypic.com/2u8jytf.jpg

-----

2013-14 Season

MK Dons, English npower Championship

As soon as the board announced my budgets for the season (which were pretty small actually), I began scouring the free agency market. I had limited transfer funds to begin with, but with the release of 7 players, and a further 9 departing throughout the season, I had freed up enough wage budget to go out and sign some big name frees.

After picking up a promising Manchester United youth prospect, I could not believe my eyes when Fernando Gago’s agent contacted me about the prospect of signing the ex-Real Madrid holding midfielder. Nando was only 27, but had been released by Madrid after several nasty injuries. Amazingly, my wage structure allowed me to make a bid, and he accepted not long afterwards!

Joining Gago at the club were Shaun Wright-Phillips (aging, but still quick), ex-Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan, and a pair of talented Manchester United youngsters Conor Devlin and Marnick Vermijl.

Finally, I splashed my entire transfer budget on Dutch ‘keeper Tim Krul, who’s previous club Newcastle were struggling to stay afloat in the Championship.

I felt pretty confident heading into the season. After securing several Premiership youngsters on loan to bolster the ranks, I felt we had enough depth to handle all but the worst injury crisis. My confidence was pretty well founded as we stormed to a 3rd place finish in the Championship, just 3 points off top spot. We scored more goals than any other team in the division, with Brandy leading the way, scoring 24 goals in 39 league games. That lad just gets better with age (tee-hee).

I felt pretty confident going into the playoff first round against Burnley, who we had bested twice in the regular season, and had only snuck into the playoffs on the final day of the season. A 1-0 win at Turf Moor in the first leg meant we just had to hold out for a draw at home to advance to the final. Devastatingly, Burnley had other ideas, and they tore us apart at stadium.mk, leaving with a deserved 2-0 victory, and a final place.

Championship Final Standings - http://oi55.tinypic.com/2q3btk5.jpg

MK Dons Transfers - http://oi53.tinypic.com/wmkymf.jpg

-----

2014-15 Season

MK Dons, English npower Championship

Last season really hurt. We had been in the automatic places for a large part of the season, but just couldn’t quite hold on down the stretch. I was getting antsy; I knew we had the quality, but we just needed that little bit extra to get ourselves to the promised land.

Very little needed to be done to the squad in preparation for the new season. A few players who didn’t cut it were let go, and a few choice signings were made to push us over the edge. Young English midfielder Ross Barkley was snapped up from Manchester United, Congolese midfielder Cedric Makiadi joined us on a free transfer, and finally Kevin Nolan also joined to add a little bit more tenacity to the middle of the park.

Additionally, a young Spurs regen Antonio Oliveira was signed on loan to help Brandy out up front.

The signings worked – we battered our way to the Championship title, beating Coventry to second place by 7 points in the end, despite losing one more game than them. Oliveira chipped in with 21 goals, making up for the lacklustre Brandy who got just 4 goals all season. All of my new signings made big impacts throughout the season, including a 40-yard wondergoal from Kevin Nolan!

All in all, a great season, and I was looking forward to giving the Premiership a go – this is what I had worked for up to this point, a chance to prove myself in the big leagues!

Championship Final Standings - http://oi52.tinypic.com/2czeijp.jpg

MK Dons Transfers - http://oi52.tinypic.com/309311z.jpg

[benrollo]

2015-16 Season

MK Dons, Barclays Premier League

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

Heading into the Premier League season, the board gave me a very nice £40m transfer budget in return for us avoiding relegation. Within a month of the season starting, I had managed to splash £32m on several top players. Antonio Oliveira’s loan deal was made permanent for a cool £25m, whilst Rene Mihelic joined for £6m from Braga.

All things considered, I was optimistic we were strong enough to stay in the Premiership.

However, just a few days after splashing all our cash, Serie A side Cagliari offered me a job. The £22k p/w wage being offered was a big jump from the £4.5k per week I was on with the Dons, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have had any problems spending the £25m transfer budget! However, after genuinely taking a long time to make the decision (I actually saved the game at this point and consulted with a few work colleagues!) I decided to stick with the Dons and give them a real go in the Prem.

There must have been something in the Italian air that week because just a few days later, Internazionale president Massimo Moratti came in and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse - £50k p/w wages and an enormous £70m transfer budget! So much for sticking with the Dons .

As soon as I arrived at the Giuseppe Meazza, I began making my own mark on the Inter squad. Making that mark involved signing 8 players at a total cost of £114m! Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani joined us from Napoli for £30m, Lazio accepted a £22.5m bid for Mauro Zarate, and the goalkeeper position was solidified with the £26.5m signing of young Frenchman Alphonse Areola.

The season was a success on the league front, as we sealed the Serie A title by six points. Less impressive was our TIM Cup and Champions League form, as we went out at the quarter-finals stage in both competitions.

In the league, Zarate and Cavani combined for 30 goals, whilst Julio Cesar – still going strong at 35 – kept it tight at the back, conceding less than a goal per game on average.

Heading into the offseason, we were in a similar situation to the early days with MK Dons – a highly talented first team, but a drop-off in talent when it came to back up players. Another busy offseason was on the horizon!

On a Dons related note, new manager David Trezuguet guided the side to a 14th place finish in the Premiership.

Serie A Final Standings - http://oi54.tinypic.com/24deomt.jpg

Inter Transfers - http://oi56.tinypic.com/2yzj4p5.jpg

[benrollo]

2016-17 Season

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

This offseason saw 9 players join the club, whilst 27 players were either released or sold. Amongst the new signings were German holding midfielder Sami Khedira, who was transfer listed at Real Madrid, attacking full back Nenad Tomovic from Zenit St Petersburg, and Senegalese striker Khouma Babacar, bought for £25m from Fiorentina. Much more about him as we go on!

The season overall was an incredible success. Helped by some crazy refereeing at times, and some strange results towards the end of the season, we managed to go unbeaten for the entire league season! In the process, we scored 15 more goals than our nearest rival, and conceded 7 less than anyone else in the league. Areola was a revelation in his first full season as starter, letting in just 11 goals in 32 league games. At the other end of the pitch, ‘The Baba Faced Assassin’ scored a ridiculous 26 goals in 26 league games on his way to an incredible 7.99 average rating.

The 2016-17 season also saw us lift both the Serie A TIM Cup and the Champions League Trophy after a nervy 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final. Throughout the entire season, we only lost 2 games – a CL 2-1 semi final first leg defeat at Bayern, and a shock 2-1 home loss to rivals Napoli in the TIM Cup semi final first leg. On both occasions we managed to rally and get the wins on aggregate.

One thing I seemed to notice towards the end of the season was a real shift in power in the Italian league. Milan, to be fair, ran me close-ish all season, but Juventus and Palermo, who were both pushing hard in the early stages, fell flat as the season drew to a close. Teams like Napoli and Udinese had strong finishes to the season. Was the balance of power in Italy starting to favour the ‘underdogs’?

Serie A Final Standings - http://oi55.tinypic.com/30ju59x.jpg

Inter Transfers - http://oi55.tinypic.com/2nsmg6c.jpg

[benrollo]

2017-18 Season

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

Entering the 2017-18 season, I was on a high. We didn’t need to change too much to improve the side, but I knew that we couldn’t afford to rest on our laurels.

In came Bayern Munich’s inspirational midfielder Thomas Muller for £27.5m, my only non-regen signing apart from two small-time experienced heads in the shape of 32 year old German Bastian Schweinsteiger and 36 year old veteran keeper Iker Casillas (who was still the Spanish number 1 with over 160 caps!). Worth noting that both players were signed as player/coaches to help develop the next generation of Internazionale talent. Speaking of which, £31m was spent on two young full-backs, which was an area we were lacking in since the release of Maicon and natural decline of Taye Taiwo.

A further £11m was spent on 3 more youngsters, before Chelsea accepted my £3m bid for experienced Swedish striker Ola Toivonen.

All in all, a pretty satisfactory offseason. But my oh my, what a season we had after all these signings. A record number of points and goals in Serie A, Khouma Babacar breaks a 59-year record for the most goals scored in the Italian top division in a season, and a measly 13 goals conceded all season long.

We suffered just the one defeat through the season, away to Barcelona in the 1st Knockout round of the Champions League – again, we managed to overturn the deficit in the second leg en route to beating Real Madrid 2-0 in the final.

In the TIM Cup final we faced the old Lady Juventus, and come out on top after an emphatic 3-0 victory.

On the individuals front, Areola kept 21 clean sheets in 28 games on the way to conceding a minute 8 goals in the league. Alphonse was ably backed up by Inter youth academy product Luca Fusco, who at 22 is already the Italian number 1. In his 7 league games, Luca only had to pick the ball out of his net 3 times.

Up front, that lad Babacar showed his sheer class with 35 league goals in 33 league games. Probably also worth mentioning that he also has a pretty decent record for Senegal – 69 caps, SEVENTY NINE goals. Unreal. And still only 25 years old.

With regards to my observations last season, it appears they may have some value. Juventus could only struggle to a 6th place finish, whilst perennial (or at least since I had been in Italy) challengers Palermo could only finish 8th. Roma, Napoli and Udinese occupied 3rd to 5th respectively, behind Milan in 2nd.

So that brings us up to date. I am currently in the offseason preparing for the 2018-19 season, and hopefully another season of domination. Being unbeaten in two seasons is a feat that I never expected possible, and I don’t think I have ever done before in any CM/FM game. Is this game easier? Has my tactic bamboozled the AI? I don’t know, but I am enjoying winning a lot if I’m honest!

Serie A Final Standings - http://oi55.tinypic.com/1zgt9g2.jpg

Inter Transfers - http://oi51.tinypic.com/30jh5lk.jpg

[benrollo]

Screenshots

I have taken a number of screenshots of players from the past and present – so bear in mind some of these players are way past the peak of their powers!

If anyone has any requests I’ll happily get more pictures up.

The Nordvest Era

Tommy Runar

Lasse Qvist

Rene Nielsen

The MK Dons Era

Kyle Bartley

Febian Brandy

Alexander Farnerud

Tim Krul

Fredrick Nordkvelle

Antonio Oliveira

The Internazionale Era

Alphonse Areola

Khouma Babacar

Luca Fusco

Sami Khedira

Thomas Muller

Enzo Zidane

EDIT - Might as well post my Inter squad as of 01.07.2018 - Internazionale First Team Squad

[Flamers]

Thats an impressive record you hold there!

Could we have a screen of the club records?

Flamers

[benrollo]

Thanks Flamers!

Here are the Inter records http://oi51.tinypic.com/260acnk.jpg

I wasn't at the club when they managed to squeeze £57m out of Barcelona for Hazard!

Babacar has been insane so far but I think I got him a few years too late to try and challenge Meazza's league goalscoring record for the club.

To be honest I'm itching to move clubs now and the Man Utd job is the one I am after. Despite them finishing 8th last season and not winning any silverware, Ancelotti's job there is the most secure of any English club! Ho hum, maybe I should drop back down a division or two.

[Flamers]

Still a few records to get though

Flamers

[JonesMathew]

That's quite a speedy rise to European domination! Excellent job!

[GioGio85]

57m for Hazard - mama mia!

[deltablue]

Congratulations on your quick rise.

[benrollo]

Thanks a lot guys! It's been an insane rise and a great introduction to starting unemployed . I don't know why I didn't try this sooner! In a way I am a little sad that I didn't spend longer at a lower league club to try and build them up gradually but hey, beggars can't be choosers I guess! I'll post updates on a season-by-season basis from now on so I can keep it a little bit more current, but a little sneak peek - I got offered the Italy job

[Flamers]

Lucky blighter! It took me 9 season to get the Ghana job starting as an international footballer!!

Flamers

[Nobby_McDonald]

Looks like you've popped your cherry good and proper.

[benrollo]

Thanks Flamers and Nobby! Sorry for the delay, I think I might start updating in 6-month periods now

2018-19 Season

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

After 2 seasons of complete and utter domination on all fronts, this season was planned to be a great swan song for a few of my high profile stars getting on a bit on the age front. Edinson Cavani, Mauro Zarate and Sami Khedira were all close to turning 32, which isn’t really that old in footballing terms. However, they and their agents seemed determined to ask for MORE money than they were already on when renewing their contracts. Considering two of them were on more than £100k a week, and Khedira on £90k, I wasn’t particularly enamoured with the idea of sinking well over a quarter of a million a week on three aging players. I planned to leave their contracts until the mid-season to see their impact on the side, and maybe even see if they would drop their demands a bit.

On the transfer front, I started off by picking up French striker Yaya Sanogo from AS Roma for a rather tasty £40m. This was half of my transfer budget (even after freeing up some more cash by adjusting my budgets!), but with the aging Cavani and Zarate holding out for megabucks, I needed more options up top.

Sanogo was followed by five young regens, whose combined transfer fees came to £42m. Quite a hefty outlay considering their ages - a 16-year old, three 18-year olds and a 22-year old. With several other players in my side reaching the wrong side of 30, these players have been brought in to freshen up the side. None were expected to start right away, but I had high hopes for all of them.

The 16-year old, a German right back called Nedim Zahirovic, cost a hefty £10m. However, judging by his attributes he could become a fixture at right back within a couple of seasons.

Our season got off to a mixed start, a 2-1 win over Juventus in the Italian Supercup was followed by a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the UEFA Supercup. United would turn out to be the only side to have beaten me twice over the past 3 seasons - more on that later.

In the league, we carried on where we left off last season - 11 wins and a draw in the first 12 games. Amazingly, this form wasn’t enough to give us an outright lead in Serie A - Roma had turned on the style big time and were level on points with us with the identical record, and a better goal difference!

Our 13th game was, of course, a home encounter with the Rome club. The game was always going to be tight, but in the end we came out on the wrong side of a 2-1 defeat - our first defeat in precisely 99 Serie A games.

Some of my players were reeling after tasting defeat for the first time in their Inter careers. To pile on the misery, our next game was away to rivals AC Milan - a game in which we were well and truly outclassed on our way to a 3-0 defeat. All of a sudden, we were on the ropes.

Thankfully, our next game was a home tie with strugglers Cagliari, and a 3-0 win put us back on track. We put together a tidy run of wins, and after 19 league games we had recovered to within 2 points of first-place Roma.

The second half of the season was much better, eventually seeing us overtake the Romans and end up securing the league title with 7 games to play. One more defeat did come in the shape of a 1-0 loss at Napoli, another of our fierce rivals.

In the Champions League, our path was relatively straightforward until we met those pesky Manchester United chaps in the semi finals. We stumbled to a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford and could only manage a 0-0 draw at home as well fell at the penultimate hurdle.

Finally, we also relinquished our Italian Cup trophy to Udinese after a 1-0 defeat in the final. Despite beating them in the league less than a week earlier, we struggled all game and weren’t helped by Dedryck Boyata getting sent off after less than half an hour.

On an individual front, Khouma Babacar once again shone with 28 goals in 31 league games, and a total haul of 37 in 47. He was ably backed up by Sanogo, who also hit 28 goals, doing so in 32 games. He hit 37 goals in total too, playing 50 games in all competitions. Yaya also proved his worth when Baba went down with a hamstring injury - the 25-year old Frenchman banged in an awesome 14 goals in 10 games with his strike partner watching from the stands.

In goal, Areola played the majority of the league games, conceding 15 goals in 28 games. Fusco backed him up ably with 9 clean sheets in 10 games, conceding just the solitary goal. Alphonse has to watch his back this offseason - Luca is gunning for the number 1 jersey!

Another post is coming soon - I just realised I’ve written quite a lot and there is still plenty to talk about from this season! Stay tuned

[benrollo]

2018-19 Season (continued)

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

Italy, UEFA

As you may guess from the italics, and a previous post, I took over as Italy manager early on in the season. I replaced Roberto Mancini, who had managed to butcher the national side’s ranking as they slid to 32nd in the world!

Over the course of the season, we played 7 friendly games, and were unbeaten in all of them. This isn’t to say that we were particularly impressive though, finishing with 4 wins and 3 draws. The draws came in consecutive games against Greece (1-1), the Netherlands (0-0) and Argentina (0-0). Our wins came at the expense of Tunisia (3-0), Ireland (2-1), Cyprus (1-0) and Japan (3-2).

My most impressive player (and I am a touch biased here ) was most probably my own Andrea Ranocchia, the big veteran centre back. He popped up with a couple of goals and was a rock at the back all through the campaign.

Despite our unbeaten start, there are certainly things to work on. Our midfield is aging and our strikers are a little inexperienced. We will need to improve to ensure we get through the qualifying for the 2020 European Championships.

Now onto some screenshots. As usual, I’ll happily post up any extra screenies you want to see, just let me know

Serie A Final Standings - http://oi54.tinypic.com/20st1d2.jpg

Inter Transfers - http://oi53.tinypic.com/wqonxx.jpg

Yaya Sanogo - http://oi51.tinypic.com/ncxyqq.jpg

Nedim Zahirovic - http://oi55.tinypic.com/20sg7px.jpg

[benrollo]

2019-20 Season, Preseason Update

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

Italy, UEFA

I have decided to split my updates into 3 sections from now on - preseason, August-Dec, and Jan-June. Just to keep the updates ticking over!

My first task after the season drew to an end was to tie up a few contracts. With a week left to get their signatures, I finally managed to convince Edinson Cavani and Sami Khedira to take significant paycuts, saving myself a total of £86k per week between them. However, I decided to let Mauro Zarate leave after he and his agent continued to ask for mega wages. Annoyingly, he immediately agreed to sign Argentinian top division side San Lorenzo on £21.5k per week, about £60k less than he was demanding from me!

Also let go were my two player/coaches, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Iker Casillas. I tried to offer them new deals in a pure coaching capacity, but they seemed adamant they could still play, despite them making a grand total of 4 apperances between them in the 2 seasons they had spent in Italy. Again, rather frustratingly, they both signed coaching contracts with top sides - Bastian heading to Everton and Iker off to the deep-pocketed Man City.

Alvaro Zelaia, an £8.5m acquisition from Man Utd in 2015, was also let go. This was a tough decision, but the wages he was asking for just didn’t justify his backup-at-best potential. He agreed terms with La Liga side Athletic shortly after.

A further seven players were released on frees, the majority being youth academy products who just didn’t make the grade.

My next task at the Meazza was strengthening the side. In particular, the defence was an area I needed to focus on. With Ranocchia now 31, Boyata having the tendency to get himself sent off, and little cover after these two, I needed a solid centre back. I found one in the shape of 30-year old Holger Badstuber, signed for a reasonable £15m from Leverkusen.

Another priority was the left-back position. Our starting full-back Mithat Kurt is a quality player, but the depth beyond him was thin. Reinforcement arrived in the shape of 31-year old Marcelo, the ex-Real Madrid left-back. He was signed from Juventus for £9.25m, a deal which was met with howls of disapproval from the fans of the Old Lady, and a smirk from me .

In the next instalment of my left-back frenzy, I picked up 26-year old Argentinian Leandro Fernandez from Bayern Munich for £9m. This gave me a full back in his prime, and another approaching the top of his game, to secure my left back position for years to come.

My final pre-season signing was 18-year old Spanish central midfielder Victor Sempere. Although CM wasn’t a particular area of need, Victor’s glowing scout report suggested I needed to act early, so I did, picking him up for £14.75m from Villareal.

On the international front, we played three friendlies in the off-season. I experimented with the squad to bring in a few new faces, and was immediately rewarded with a handsome 4-0 spanking of Paraguay. This is where we peaked however, as we drew the following two games 1-1 against Chile and Ukraine. Not great results, and we have now dropped outside of the top 40 in the world rankings! A little bit harsh, as we even lost places after the Paraguay game. Ho hum, it’s the big tournaments that count, and I have high hopes for my boys to perform when the pressure is on.

Roll on the regular season!

[benrollo]

2019-20 Regular Season, June-Dec

Internazionale, Serie A TIM

Italy, UEFA

England, UEFA

With no more players arriving before the start of the season, we settled in for a few straightforward friendlies before our Italian Supercoppa game with Udinese, who have become something of a thorn in our sides in recent times. They kept this annyoing habit up as they nicked a 1-0 victory completely against the run of play. I had decided to give a few less experienced players a taste of high-pressure football, and their inexperience showed, particularly in the final third.

I was hoping we would bounce right back with an opening day fixture at home to perennial underachievers Parma. They obviously hadn’t read the script however, and left Milan with a very creditable 0-0 draw. Not the start I had in mind.

I gave the lads a bit of a talking to at full time, and it seemed to have the desired effect as we went on an 8-game winning streak - 6 Serie A games and 2 Champions League ties. The highlight of this run was undoubtedly a 3-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in which the deadly duo of Babacar and Sanogo did the damage, Baba nicking the first and Yaya grabbing a second half brace.

Our winning run was ended as we scraped a 2-2 draw in Palermo. Brazilian midfield maestro Paulo Henrique was the star of the show for my boys, grabbing both goals. This draw turned out to be one of the very few games we didn’t win from that point on. We were dominant in the Champions League, winning every game until Chelsea came to the Giuseppe Meazza and got a 1-1 draw with Petr Cech sparing our blushes by dropping a simple cross into his own net.

In the league, we were an unstoppable force for the most part. We got our first win in 3 games against Udinese, muscled our way to a 1-0 victory away to Roma, and utterly destroyed Milan 4-0 at ‘home’ with Babacar again showing his class with a super brace. The only blip came in the last game of 2019, away to rivals Napoli. Despite the home side blatantly playing for a draw, they got 2 lucky goals early on and held on to beat us 2-1. The fans and board were pretty unhappy, and they have a few weeks to wait for the next Serie A game.

On the international front, as you may have guessed from the italics above, I changed jobs! After 3 friendlies with Italy against Japan (5-2), Australia (0-0) and Algeria (2-1), the English FA sacked Steve Bruce. He had failed to win their Euro Qualifying group, and despite England still making the playoffs, the FA deemed his performance to be unacceptable. It was a tough decision just to apply for the job, but with Italy stagnating a bit and lacking real talent in some positions, I tossed my hat in the ring.

Four days later, I was the new England manager. After the standard press interviews, my first act was to bring Walter Zenga with me from the Italy setup to be my new assistant manager (he is also my assistant at Inter). The next job was the small task of the European Championships Playoff - we had been given a pretty kind draw against Slovakia with the first leg to be played at Wembley.

Things went our way from start to finish. Particularly from the start, when Man Utd youngster Lee Hunt scored after just 22 seconds to get the ball rolling. We were given a little scare when Slovakia equalised in the 69th minute, but this was just a minor hiccup - 5 minutes later we were 3-1 up thanks to a quickfire double from some unknown 34-year old called Wayne Rooney (his 69th and 70th international goals).

The game finished at 3-1, and I was pretty happy with the performance and result. There was a smidge of concern over the away goal they had nicked, but I was confident we could get at least 1 goal in Bratislava.

My confidence turned out to be well placed as we grabbed another 3-1 win in Slovakia. That man Hunt popped up again with the opener, this time after a very tardy 19 minutes. Further goals came from Keiran Gibbs, now plying his trade for my domestic rivals Milan, and my very own Peter Campbell. Campbell’s goal was particulary pleasing as it was his first full international strike.

Going into the new year I have a lot to look forward to. Inter are currently sitting pretty at the top of Serie A by 9 points, and England have a very handsome looking Euro 2020 group containing France, Wales and Georgia. Here’s to a (hopefully) happy new year