[FM11] Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen...

[AK22]

As I take this big leap of faith into Italian football, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on my time at Southampton.

I spent nearly four seasons on the South Coast and thoroughly enjoyed my time with the club. This was made even more special by the fact they are my local club and managing them was one of my objectives when I started this career.

I took a club that was lingering mid-table in the Championship and turned them into a competant top-half Premier League side, I just hope my successor doesn't undo all my good work. This side should be aiming high in the future as the infrastructure is all in place for them to do well. I'm pretty certain I would only return to England if I was offered the Liverpool job, I definitely wouldn't consider a Manchester club or Chelsea. Anyway, that's for the future, my focus is now at Lazio.

From looking at my career stats, my first competitive match for Lazio will also be the 600th match I've managed. Hopefully we can mark this landmark with a win!

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Societa Sportiva Lazio - An Introduction

This club is steeped in history and tradition, which is the one reason why I couldn't refuse this job offer.

Formed in 1900 as Societa Podistica Lazio, they are the oldest Roman football team. They played their first official match in 1902 against Virtus, which was considered un-officially as the first-ever Rome Derby, a match Lazio won 3-0. In 1912 they joined the the official Italian League Football competition, as this was the year that the Italian Football Federation started to organise matches in the centre and south of Italy.

1927 was a significant year in the history of club. They were the only Roman club to resist the Fascist regime's attempt to merge all the clubs in the city. These combined clubs would then become the team known as A.S. Roma, and the foundations of the two club's rivalry was formed from this point forward. The Derby della Capitale is regarded as one of the most heated and emotional rivalries in world football, something of which I am excited about experiencing. Rivalries are also fierce with Napoli and Livorno.

Lazio would mainly be a Serie A club over the forthcoming years, experiencing the odd year or two in Serie B. The worst decade of their history was the 1960's where they spent four years at the lower level. Their first major piece of silverware was won in 1958 with a victory in the Coppa Italia. This was followed with their first Scudetto win in 1974, unfortunately, they would have to wait a further 26 years to repeat this feat. One could argue that their most successful period was that under the management of Sven Goran-Eriksson, between the years of 1997 and 2001, where they won the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia twice, the UEFA Cup, the Euro Super Cup and the Italian Super Cup twice. This was all overseen by then chairman Sergio Cragnotti, who bank-rolled the signing of Juan Sebastien Veron, Christian Vieri and the then world record-breaking transfer of Hernan Crespo. As funny as it sounds, I would love to emmulate the success that Eriksson had with this club and add to the amount of silverware they already have in the trophy cabinet.

On a sadder note, the name of S.S. Lazio would be dragged through the mud on several occasions over the course of 80's and the 00's. They were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a match-betting scandal involving their matches, along with those of AC Milan. In 1986, they were hit with a nine-point deduction for another betting scandal, this time involving one of their players. The were also embroiled in the 'Calciopoli' scandal of 2006. Original being condemed to relegation to Serie B, their appeal was upheld, and only suffered a penalty of three points and disqualification from the following season's UEFA Cup tournament. I'm hoping not to see any big envelopes of cash pushed my way while I'm here!

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

27th May 2022

After deciding to accept their offer, I cleared my desk at St. Mary's and flew to Rome to settle in to life with Lazio. I've signed a four year contract, the longest length contract I've signed so far in my career. I'm totally committed to the club for the next four years and I'm hoping we will achieve some success in this period.

Finances are looking really good, so I expect an improvement in my transfer budget when the new season rolls-over.

Contract: 4 years @ £31000 p/w

Transfer Budget: £8m

Wage Budget: £1.7m p/w (£1.4m currently)

The team I have inherited from Joachim Low has the potential to do big things in this league. In fact, their recent club history hasn't been too bad at all. As you can see, they won the Scudetto back in 2014, in addition to this, they have finished runners-up in three of the last four season. They won the Europa League in 2017, finishing runners-up in 2019. They have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019 and 2020 and the Coppa Italia (TIM Cup) was won last season under the stewardship of the caretaker manager prior to my arrival, so I've got some expectations to live up to.

Serie A has been dominated by Napoli in recent years, with them winning the Scudetto five times in the last twelve seasons. I'm thrilled to be locking horns with Jose Mourinho who is managing at Sampdoria currently, where he has assembled a cracking team. They will defending champions next season, and will be favourites to retain their trophy. Whether we can topple them in year one is yet to be seen, but I would like to think we will give them a decent run for their money. Juventus and AC Milan are no longer the forces they were, but I would be naive to rule them out having a revival in the near future.

According to the club finance screen, we're the richest club in Italy, slightly ahead of Sampdoria. My predecessors have spent big over the last three seasons, bringing in £115.75m worth of talent. As we didn't qualify for the Champions League this season, I'm expecting a slightly more cautious approach this summer.

Here's some of the talent I've herited:

Matteo Zanotti - Straight out of the Lazio youth academy, this 21 year old has a worldwide reputation and 14 caps already. I expect him to be the first name on the team sheet as he's a top-rate midfielder.

Patrick Offerman - An impressive looking defender who spent a couple years with Chelsea. He's going to be the lynch-pin of my defence.

Giuseppe Lucarelli - Another product of the Lazio youth academy. Hasn't played that many games but has the potential to be a potent goalscorer.

Ezequiel Alba - Looks like he's my best striker, but he's not 'World Class' so will be interesting to see if he cuts the mustard. His goal per game ratio was pretty average last season.

David Alaba - Another quality looking midfielder who likes to dictate the tempo of the game. Not sure how I can get him and Zanotti in the same side though.

Giuliano - Being paid an obscene amount of money, and at 32, is surely past his best. Not sure how he fits in with the rest of the team at the moment.

So, you can see that I'm blessed with a handful of quality individuals already. My main task will be to work out a formation and tactics that compliments their talents but benefits the team performance overall. I'll also be keeping one eye on the under-20's team too, as it seems a bit of a hotbed for talent with several players coming through the Lazio youth recruitment process and making it in the first team.

[psychonaut]

Good luck in Italy. Richest club in Italy, and good league finishes over the last few seasons - no pressure on you then?

[safcrhys]

You're certainly going up in the world mate. Lazio are an absolutely huge club.

[AK22]

Good luck in Italy. Richest club in Italy, and good league finishes over the last few seasons - no pressure on you then?

You're certainly going up in the world mate. Lazio are an absolutely huge club.

Thanks chaps, definitely higher expectations now, hopefully I can fulfil them

Unfortunately, my battle with the 'Special One' will have to wait though. He has quit Sampdoria (replaced by Frank de Boer) and taken over the Italian national team after their previous manager stepped down after the 2022 World Cup. He's up to number two on the World Hall of Fame, so a 2026 World Cup win will put him very close to Fergie.

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Pre Season 2022/23

Board Expectations

Serie A TIM - Continental qualification through league finish Media Prediction - 4th

Title Odds - 16-1 All the big money is on Sampdoria as expected.

UEFA Europa League - Semi Final

TIM Cup (Coppa Italia) - Semi Final

Supercopa di Lega TIM - Not important

Transfer Budget: £28m Wage Budget: £1.7m p/w (currently £1420475 p/w)

Facilities - Excellent facilities, hopefully we will churn out some decent youngsters in my time here Season Ticket Sales - 36672 (down 57)

Youth Intake - The best one was this 15 year old left-sided defender/midfielder,

Lorenzo Chiodi.

Transfer Summary - For some reason (bug?), this screen hasn't reset itself over the summer so it's all a bit confusing. I've only spent a fraction of my budget bringing in a handful of players for £9.15m, I've cleared out quite a lot of deadwood rotting in the reserves.

Notable Transfers

Julien Michaud - Found himself on the transfer list at Liverpool so I snapped him up for a bargain £3.7m. A former Italian youth player, who should bag us a few goals.

Mario Brajkovic - Raided my former club Southampton for this holding midfield player. His versatility was the main reason I brought him in, and at £3.5m, it was a fairly cheap deal.

My objectives for the season:

- Top four finish in Serie A. This club needs to be playing Champions League football to keep our best players happy. It's definitely achievable, and I'd be disappointed if we don't get there. I'm going to be playing a 4-1-2-1-2 formation which should suit my team and fit well with the Italian football ethos.

- Organise the backroom staff. Only four scouts (but seven physios!) present when I arrived at the club. Lots of new faces will be joining the club, hopefully including my former assistant manager at Southampton if I can convince him to join me. (He's not interested at the moment though)

- Draw up a shortlist of players for next summer. Couldn't really mark my stamp on the squad as much as I would have liked this summer. Will we need a new DC, AMC and FC by this time next season, so will keep my eyes peeled for possible candidates over the season and organise their transfers if appropriate. We will receive

£59.5m worth of TV revenue over the season, so should have plenty of money to spend!

[AK22]

World Cup 2022 Update

Hosts: Qatar

Holders: Brazil

24 years since their last success, France was the name on everybody's lip at the first Middle-Eastern World Cup. Beating surprise package Morocco in the semi-finals, they went on to

beat Spain in the final in Doha courtesy of extra-time goal from Liverpool striker, Ewen Bernardini.

England had a poor tournament, being knocked out by France on penalties in the 2nd Round (at least they went on to win it!), which saw Stuart Pearce replaced by Roberto Donadoni after the tournament. Defending champions Brazil also had a poor show, being knocked out in the 2nd Round by rivals Argentina, naturally their manager was duly sacked too. The hosts didn't make any waves in the competition either, only earning a point against Uruguay and finishing bottom of their group. I hope you're reading this Sepp Blatter!!!

In other international news, I've just signed up to be Russia's Under-21s manager. This should be a nice little side project with very little expectations, and will give me something to do in the international breaks. First up in October is a playoff against Scotland to qualify for the 2023 UEFA U-21 Championship held in Finland. The squad looks pretty decent so I'm quietly confident

[Raware]

Great move AK . Along with Napoli, Lazio also have a interest of mine since the days of my boy hood idol playing there (Gazza). I hope you bring the good times back to Biancocelesti!

[cjfinno]

Some rise from the depths of the blue sq!

You'll be top 3 no probs.

[jackripper]

brilliant move to Lazio well done

[AK22]

Great move AK . Along with Napoli, Lazio also have a interest of mine since the days of my boy hood idol playing there (Gazza). I hope you bring the good times back to Biancocelesti!

Thanks Raware It was a shame that Gazza's star never really shone with Lazio. I remember the hype around his transfer there but his injuries really hampered his spell in Italy. His move really made me interested in Italian football, and it was his legendary teammate that I remember the most, Giuseppe Signori.

Signori's goalscoring record for Lazio was pretty amazing, and he's now considered a bit of a legend there now (and rightly so!). Apparently, he used to wear boots that were too small for his feet (!) to improve his touch and control of the ball.

[AK22]

Some rise from the depths of the blue sq!

You'll be top 3 no probs.

brilliant move to Lazio well done

Cheers

Enjoying a good start so far, starting to get a bit of an affinity with the club already too

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Autumn 2022 Update

Life with Lazio has started incredibly well. We dispatched CFR Cluj without much problem to qualify for the Europa League group stages; sandwiched in between the two legs was the Supercoppa tie against league champions Sampdoria. I was disappointed that Mourinho had left, but still wanted to put in a decent performance against Frank de Boer's side. In a fairly even cagey tie, we scored the winner with 12 minutes to go through a goal from Giuseppe Lucarelli. Even though this cup is not particularly highly regarded, our performance gave me great encouragement that we could mix it with the big boys this season.

The highlight so far has to be the exemplary defensive record we have established. Having only conceded six goals in all competition, it looks like I've got the defence well organised and difficult to break down. Going forward, we're not as prolific as I would like, so I'm still tinkering with the set-up there. I'm finding it difficult to get the AMC and the two strikers to all play well together. So far, if one of the three does well we win the game, if they all have a poor game then we lose. Hence, the two defeats away to Dortmund and Sunderland in the Europa League. We currently sit third in our group, and will need to win in Salzburg and at home to Dortmund to ensure we reach the knockout stages.

In former club watch, Saints have started pretty unspectactularly in the Premier League. Having sold £26m worth of players they sit 13th, only four points clear of the relegation zone. So much for me thinking they could challenge the top six this season!

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Winter 2022/23 Update

This league is totally nuts! With only a third of the season remaining, it could hardly be any closer at the top of Serie A. Sampdoria, ourselves and Inter Milan all separated by one point, having only lost four games between us so far. It really is too close to call at the moment, I'm just pleased that we're in the title race and we've been dishing out some pretty impressive performances too. The demolition of Udinese and rivals Livorno have certainly helped out the goal difference, largely influenced by 23 year old striker, Giuseppe Lucarelli, our top scorer with 19 goals so far. Sunday 19th March 2023 is a big date in the diary, where we play Sampdoria at Olimpico. Three points then and it will surely put us in the driving seat.

We're doing alright in the cup competitions too. After surviving the earlier scare in the Europa League, wins over Salzburg and Dortmund ensured we finished 2nd in our group behind Sunderland. This set up a tie against Benfica in the knockout round, the first leg of which saw us earn a solid 2-0 win which we will take to Lisbon feeling confident of progressing to the next round. In the Coppa Italia, it's Inter Milan up next in the semi-finals as our reward for winning the della Capitale Derby.

In other news, Southampton have continued to press the self-destruct button thoughout the season. They are sitting 19th in the Premier League, they have let Bahrami (their best player) go out on loan to Bari and have now just sacked their manager. They're only three points from safety, so they're not doomed, but it's quite sad to see the position they find themselves in. Hopefully they can turn it around.

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Spring 2023 Update

As expected, the title was decided on the final day of the season. Sampdoria led near enough from day one, however, in their penultamate game against Atalanta they could only manage a draw and that gave us the chance to overtake them. We won our 37th game, against Cagliari, and that put us in pole-position going into the final weekend of the season. With us only having to match Sampdoria's result, the title was ours as we won 2-0 at home to Fiorentina. Sampdoria did their best, winning 5-3 at Bari, but it wasn't enough and we won the club's fourth Scudetto in their history. I've no doubt in my mind that our exceptional defensive record was the main reason we won the league, 22 clean sheets in the league with only 18 conceded, is good in anyone's book.

With us competiting on all three fronts (Serie A, Europa League, Copa Italia), it really started to take it toll on the players and tested our squad depth. In the end, I had to sacrifice the two cup competition to ensure we could send out full strength teams for the final league games. The team still tried their best in the Europa League final but succumbed to an 83rd minute penalty suckerpunch against Sunderland. The players were running on empty near the end, so I was slightly pleased that we had avoided extra-time despite the defeat. Playing two games a week every week throughout April and May is pretty hardgoing, so I know we will need to add to the squad over the summer if we want to compete in the latter stages of the knockout competitions next year.

Saints got relegated in the end, boo! They only managed 31 points, six points off of safety, so will be playing Championship football again next season, sad times at St. Mary's. Spurs have just successfully defended their Premier League crown, which is a bit of a shocker!

[Luton Town]

Well done on winning the league but unlucky on losing the Europa league in the final

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done on the Scudetto.

[MattSpurs94]

Spurs have just successfully defended their Premier League crown, which is a bit of a shocker!

*rage*

just kidding Well done on winning the Scudetto.

[safcrhys]

Well done the Mackems on winning the Europa League.

[Raware]

AK. Out of interest, how did Forest do?

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Season 2022/23 Review

Serie A - 1st

League Table Position Graph Season Summary

Europa League -

Runners-Up

Coppa Italia TIM -

Semi-Final

Supercoppa di Lega TIM - Winners

Finances - Made a small profit of £3m. Very little prize money in Italy but considerable TV revenue. Money from the Champions League will help next season.

Average Attendance - 55670 (up 2346)

Transfer Summary - Screen still buggered. Only one new player joined us in January.

Key Players

Giuseppe Lucarelli - Our topscorer with 23 goals. Took him a couple of months at the beginning of the season to establish himself as first choice. Will be interesting to see if he can cut it against the best defences in Europe in the Champions League.

Matteo Zanotti - What a player!! 21 assists and 15 Man of the Matches says it all really. He is the heartbeat of the team, and at only 22, should be for a few seasons yet. Run out of steam in the final few weeks though, and will need a decent rest over the summer to recharge his batteries.

Giuliano - A 'golden-oldie' who had a crucial role in some important games. His experience compliments the talented youngsters.

David Alaba - Plays alongside Zanotti in the centre of the park. Some solid appearances with 17 assists.

Lamine Gassama - Played well as a rampaging right back, getting forward and providing width and crosses. Extended his contract by a season due to his good performance, but I'll be looking for a replacement over the summer due to his age. Made the Serie A Team of the Year.

Eren Derdiyok - Didn't play very often at the start of the season, but once I realised him and Lucarelli played well together, he was on the team sheet regularly. He's 34 now with a huge wage demand so will be probably released in the summer.

Team of the Year - Spot on with the first choice eleven.

Overall Best XI - Seven of the eleven are still with the club.

Fans Player of the Year - Matteo Zanotti, no surprise really, he was immense.

Review of Season Objectives

- Top four finish in Serie A. This club needs to be playing Champions League football to keep our best players happy. It's definitely achievable, and I'd be disappointed if we don't get there. I'm going to be playing a 4-1-2-1-2 formation which should suit my team and fit well with the Italian football ethos.

Achieved. Comfortably in the top four, 19 points clear of 5th. I surprised that we won the Scudetto in my first year, and will we do well to win it again next season especially if we have a fruitful European campaign. Champions League football is something to look forward to next season, we should be top seeds too as we're rated the 4th

best team in Europe. The 4-1-2-1-2 formation worked well so will probably retain this next year too.

- Organise the backroom staff. Only four scouts (but seven physios!) present when I arrived at the club. Lots of new faces will be joining the club, hopefully including my former assistant manager at Southampton if I can convince him to join me. (He's not interested at the moment though)

Achieved. Quite a lot of re-jigging has occurred, and I finally convinced my former Ass Man to join me from Southampton. He waited until we had won the Scudetto though!

- Draw up a shortlist of players for next summer. Couldn't really mark my stamp on the squad as much as I would have liked this summer. Will we need a new DC, AMC and FC by this time next season, so will keep my eyes peeled for possible candidates over the season and organise their transfers if appropriate. We will receive £59.5m worth of TV revenue over the season, so should have plenty of money to spend!

Achieved. I've highlighted a couple of strikers and a couple of centre-backs that have the potential to be good players for us, so will look at purchasing them over the summer. I've already organised the signing of a new Brazilian goalkeeper from Betis too.

Previous club watch:

Thurrock - Finished 4th in League One but lost out in the playoffs again, this time to Newcastle. Still have a few of my players left there too.

Nottm Forest - Had a pretty poor season and only survived relegation by two points, finishing 20th in the Championship.

Southampton - As previously mentioned, relegated in 19th place from the Premier League. As long as they don't flog the family silverware over the summer, they should be favourites for the Championship title next year.

Season     Team             League    Finish    Cups            
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11    Thurrock F.C.    BSS       15th      N/A             
2011/12    Thurrock F.C.    BSS       2nd       FA Cup 2nd Rd, FA Trophy 1st Rd
2012/13    Thurrock F.C.    BSP       1st       FA Cup 1st Rd, FA Trophy 3rd Rd
2013/14    Thurrock F.C.    League 2  5th       FA Cup 1st Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2014/15    Thurrock F.C     League 2  6th       FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2015/16    Thurrock F.C     League 2  6th       FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd, JPT 1st Rd
2016/17    Nottm Forest     League 1  3rd       FA Cup 3rd Rd
2017/18    Nottm Forest     League 1  1st       FA Cup 2nd Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2018/19    Southampton      Ch'ship   5th       FA Cup 3rd Rd
2019/20    Southampton      Ch'ship   4th       FA Cup 5th Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd
2020/21    Southampton      Prem Lg   7th       FA Cup 6th Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd
2021/22    Southampton      Prem Lg   8th       FA Cup Semi-Final, Carling Cup 3rd
2022/23    Lazio            Serie A   1st       Europa League RU, Coppa Italia TIM SF

[AK22]

Chapter 5 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Manage Under-21 Teams

Russia Under-21s

My short stint in charge of the Russian youngsters started well as we dispatched Scotland without too much problem in the playoff.

Three further friendly matches gave me a chance to get to know the squad and find out who was good, and who wasn't. Due to encouraging performances, I was full of hope going into the U21s Euros 2023 competition. Unfortunately, we were drawn in a tough group alongside The Netherlands, Germany and Italy, against who we stood very little chance of doing well. The win against Italy was a good result but not enough to take us through to the next round.

I resigned straight after the competition, I found it extremely frustrating managing the Under-21s for two reasons. Firstly, as soon as you get to know the players, they turn 22 and can't play for you anymore. Secondly, if they're good enough, they'll get called up for the full International team and once again there is a void to fill. Still, a 75% win percentage was pleasing for the time I spent with the young Russians and I've also placed a couple of players on my shortlist to look at in the future.

[AK22]

Well done on winning the league but unlucky on losing the Europa league in the final

Well done on the Scudetto.

Cheers It really was a great achievement for my first season with the club.

[AK22]

*rage*

just kidding Well done on winning the Scudetto.

Thanks! Spurs are becoming the dominant force in England under the management of Owen Coyle. In the last three seasons they have won the Premier League and the FA Cup both twice.

Well done the Mackems on winning the Europa League.

Sunderland have turned out to be a bit of a bogey team for me having beaten my Lazio team in the Europa League final, and also my Saints side in the FA Cup semi-final. They only finished 11th last season, so won't be troubling me in the Champions League next season, luckily!

[AK22]

AK. Out of interest, how did Forest do?

Bit of a shocker I'm afraid, skin of teeth survival in the Championship. Not a lot of good news around for Forest fans- I'm sure you're used to that by now...

[iacovone]

Quality work AK! Winning the Scudetto will be an enormous boost to your reputation. I may have missed this but how long do you see yourself staying at the club for? Seems like the foundations are there for a very successful time.

[AK22]

Quality work AK! Winning the Scudetto will be an enormous boost to your reputation. I may have missed this but how long do you see yourself staying at the club for? Seems like the foundations are there for a very successful time.

Thanks iacovone

Since taking over at Lazio I've gone from 'National' to 'Continental' (after Supercoppa win), to 'World Class' (after the Scudetto win) reputation wise over the last 12 months. To be honest, I think this is too quick and slightly unrealistic. The Supercoppa is a mickey-mouse competition that no-one really regards, so it's not worthy of a rep boost. The Serie A title is my first major piece of silverware too, so I wouldn't expect my reputation to be 'World Class' now either. This should only happen after a Champions League win or several years of domination in a top league.

To put it in some perspective, the only other 'World Class' managers in the game are Leonardo (at Real Madrid currently) with four Champions League wins, Walter Mazzarri (at Man Utd currently) with five Champions League wins and Jose Mourinho (Italy manager) with four Champions League wins. Due to this, I'm a bit disappointed that I've achieve my reputation which such little success in comparison.

To answer your question, I'm going to see out the remaining three years of my contract and probably move on after that. I definitely think more silverware is obtainable, hopefully including another Scudetto or two but don't want to get too attached to one club

[Raware]

Bit of a shocker I'm afraid, skin of teeth survival in the Championship. Not a lot of good news around for Forest fans- I'm sure you're used to that by now...

Unfortunately...yes

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Pre Season 2023/24

Board Expectations

Serie A TIM - Challenge for the Serie A title Media Prediction - 3rd

Title Odds - 5-1, Sampdoria and Inter are joint-favourites at 3-1.

UEFA Champions League - First Knockout Round

TIM Cup (Coppa Italia) - Finalists

Supercopa di Lega TIM - Not important

Transfer Budget: £34m Wage Budget: £1.7m p/w (currently £1395934 p/w)

Facilities - Still excellent. Season Ticket Sales - 38049 (up 1377)

Youth Intake - All fairly average, no-one stands out this year.

Transfer Summary - Still a bug on this screen, so I've had to do some editing! 7 players in, 13 players out for a net spend of £30.62m. A few high earners have gone too, so wage bill has been reduced by about £200k.

Notable Transfers

Andrezinho - A quality looking 'keeper who I signed from Betis for £5.5m. He should put some pressure on current number 1, David Ospina.

Quinho - My career record signing. I've blown £17.5m on this quality looking Brazilian midfielder. He should do well as the team's 'Water Carrier'. He's also got Portuguese second nationality, so I didn't have to use my one non-EU signing on him.

Ivo Oliveira - Tried to sign this guy with Southampton but he chose to go to Celtic. Two seasons (and £9m) later, he finally joins me at Lazio. He's had a good scoring record wherever he has played so I've expecting him to be an alternative to Lucarelli upfront.

Alex Voorintholt - This young Dutch defender has the potential to be a great player. Won't be first choice straightaway but should be in a season or two.

My objectives for the season:

- Put in a decent title challenge. We should be there or there-abouts come the end of the season. Inter Milan and Sampdoria have strong teams and should be our main challengers. Interestingly, Sampdoria's tycoon owner has withdrawn his funding from the club, so whether they can maintain the level of success they have achieved recently will be proven this season.

- Get to the latter stages of the Champions League. Our odds of 14-1 could be seen as a decent outside bet. We've had a favourable draw with Levenkusen, Lille and Kuban in our group. As we've missed all the big-boys, I'm feeling confident we'll qualify from the group comfortably and I reckon the quarter-finals are a distinct possibility.

- Break-in a few homegrown youngsters. I would like to give a few first team appearances to some of our talented youngsters. In matches we are strong favourites to win, I'll probably put a couple of them on the bench so I can give them 15/20 minutes of game time once the match has been won which will help their development.

[DodgeeD]

Great career so far. Loved the way you moved up the English leagues before taking the plunge abroad.

Any chance you'll sign Bahrami?

P.S. Quinho looks quality - hope he does well for you!

[AK22]

Great career so far. Loved the way you moved up the English leagues before taking the plunge abroad.

Any chance you'll sign Bahrami?

P.S. Quinho looks quality - hope he does well for you!

Thanks DodgeeD

Unbelievably Bahrami is still at Saints, playing in the Championship! He was far too much hassle for me to consider signing him again

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Autumn 2023 Update

Once again we did well in the season's curtain-raiser; the Supercoppa was successfully defended after we put on a masterclass against Inter Milan. A terrific performance where we really showed our class against a top opposition. I was glad we hit the ground running this season, and hoped we could take this form into our Scudetto campaign. The highlights so far being the 7-0 win over Udinese, and Lucarelli's great form, with 18 goals so far in 19 games.

Juventus and Milan seem to have made improvements over the summer, which was comfounded by our defeat at the San Siro. Another blip was the defeat against a relegation-threatened Brescia side, everyone had a bad day at the office so couldn't really complain that we were beaten. Still, if we win our game in hand, we'll go level with Juventus at the top of the table and will be in a decent position going into the winter.

We've done fairly well so far in our Champions League matches too. After four games we had already secured our place in the knockout rounds, and the point against Kuban means we will definitely top our group. None of the victories have been particularly spectacular, in fact it was only due to goals in the last five minutes that we secured wins in France and Germany.

England have successfully qualified for EURO 2024 after winning seven of their eight qualification games in a group consisting of The Netherlands, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Macedonia. A fairly tricky group in my opinion, so Donadoni has done well to top the group. Star player? Former Saints goalkeeper, Alan Hill. Remember him?!

[pezza1]

Just finished reading through all this AK22!! A really great career so far and an excellent thread to boot.

Congrats on all your success so far and on your Italian title. Are you enjoying your first Champions League experience?

[AK22]

Just finished reading through all this AK22!! A really great career so far and an excellent thread to boot.

Congrats on all your success so far and on your Italian title. Are you enjoying your first Champions League experience?

Thanks Pezza

Champions League will be quite a challenge for us this year as we still don't have a good enough squad. In a year or two I would expect us to be serious contenders though.

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Winter 2023/24 Update

Well, it's close, very close. Sampdoria and us have pulled significantly away from the pack and it looks like it'll be a two-horse race going into the final 11 games. I was extremely disappointed by our 0-3 home defeat against Sampdoria, a match where we were more than a match for them, but just couldn't finish our chances. They did, unfortunately, and took a crucial three points to go back in the driving seat. Hopefully that won't come back to bite us on the backside, as for teams that finish level on points, teams are sorted first by results between the sides, then by goal difference and then goals scored. The fixture computer has thrown up a beauty for the fans and neutrals alike, our last game is Sampdoria away. Title decider on the final day of the season? I wouldn't bet against it!

In the cups, we've got one foot in the Coppa Italia final after beating Inter 3-0 in Milan in the first leg of the semi-final. The second leg (back in Rome) isn't until mid-April, but I'm confident we should get through and face Napoli or Roma in the final. In the Champions League, even after topping our group, we unluckily drew holders Manchester United in the first knockout round. Fair enough, there are no easy ties at this stage of the competition, but I would have expected something slightly less tricky than a trip to Old Trafford. We will need to overturn a 1-3 deficit back in Rome to have any chance of making the quarter-finals. I'm not counting any chickens though...

In other news, Saints are doing well in the Championship and are in contention of promotion, battling with Huddersfield and Stoke for the two automatic places. Spurs are still adding trophies to their cabinet too, having lifted the Carling Cup after beating Man Utd in the final. That's five trophies in four seasons, pretty impressive for Spurs!

[rancer890]

Great career so far AK22. Hope you can get a league title with Lazio.

[AK22]

Great career so far AK22. Hope you can get a league title with Lazio.

Cheers rancer Already have one Scudetto under my belt from last season, it's going to be a close run thing to see if we can follow that up with another this year though.

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Spring 2024 Update

I'm delighted that we defended our title so professionally! Neutrals were robbed of the exciting season finale as we had it all wrapped up with two games to spare. Sampdoria pushed us hard, but they ended up dropping a few points when we were on a terrific run, seeing us string together ten consecutive clean sheets and pulling out an unassailable advantage. The 4-1 win at Bari secured us the Scudetto and allowed us the luxury of playing some of the youngster in the remaining league games.

Unfortunately, with us tying up the Serie A title so early, it allowed complacency to creep into the team going into the Coppa Italia final against Roma. On paper we were the better team, and we completely controlled the match statistically, however, our rivals had their shooting boots on and took full advantage by scoring a flattering 3-0 win. The fans and board were all completely devastated, as to be expected, and left me with a slight bitter taste in my mouth after a mainly successful season. The Champions League dream will also have to wait for another season too. A respectable display by us in the second leg against Man Utd was encouraging, however, we just couldn't score the crucial second goal to send us through. Never mind, we did as expected, and with a better draw next season, I expect an improvement.

Frustation for Southampton fans too, as their season finished in disappointment. They only finished 3rd in the table and would have to endure the torment of the playoffs. Local rivals Portsmouth saw them off in the semi-final, so they will spend a further year in the Championship where, once again, they'll be favourites for promotion.

[Vizrahen]

I know I'm about 2 weeks late, but how do you manage to do so well in first season in the top flight. I got relegated my first season, promoted back, and 2 more seasons of barely surviving before i could hold my own. I guess it could be because i opted to spend all my transfer money on future world class youngsters rather than any experience. I'm currently in 10th place in December on my latest season, and i only have about 5 players over 21 that play regularly on first team, all but one are under 25. My 22 year old Mexican goalkeeper was named in the copa de america dream team starting eleven, so some of them are starting to reach their potential finally.

[AK22]

Chapter 4 - Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen... Go To Rome

Season 2023/24 Review

Serie A - 1st

League Table Position Graph Season Summary

Champions League -

Last 16

Coppa Italia TIM -

Runners-up

Supercoppa di Lega TIM - Winners

Finances - £18m worth of profit this season, mainly coming from the Champions League TV revenue. Should get a fair chunk for spending this coming summer too.

Average Attendance - 59218 (up 3548)

Transfer Summary - Only one new player joined us in January, young Russia striker Ruslan Oleinikov. One for the future.

Key Players

Giuseppe Lucarelli - Top quality marksmanship at its best. Shame he missed the last five weeks of the season through injury as I'm sure he would have added to the 35 goals, and maybe we would have won the Coppa Italia if he had played. He was officially Serie A Player of the Year and the top goalscorer in the whole of Europe. I'm knocking back £30m+ bids, but as he's Lazio homegrown talent, he's not going anywhere soon.

Matteo Zanotti - Another fantastic season by our midfield maestro. 24 assists was three more than last year, and at the old of 23, he's already a club legend.

Patrick Offerman - Our best defender chipped in with ten handy goals this season. Had to nearly double his wages to keep him away from the grasps of Manchester United after their £40m intrigued him somewhat.

Ezequiel Alba - Lucarelli's partner in crime this season. 28 goals and 15 assists was a fine return. He's pretty temperamental and inconsistent, so I never really know if his performances are going to be cabbage or caviar!

Team of the Year - My first choice eleven. You can see the strength of the spine of the team, which is what I put our success down to.

Overall Best XI - No massive changes here. Offerman's approaching 350 appearances.

Fans Player of the Year - Matteo Zanotti.

Review of Season Objectives

- Put in a decent title challenge. We should be there or there-abouts come the end of the season. Inter Milan and Sampdoria have strong teams and should be our main challengers. Interestingly, Sampdoria's tycoon owner has withdrawn his funding from the club, so whether they can maintain the level of success they have achieved recently will be proven this season.

Achieved. A clear seven point majority over Sampdoria proved the edge we had over our rivals this season. We'll be going for the hat-trick next season, where I'm sure we'll be one of the favourites for the title.

- Get to the latter stages of the Champions League. Our odds of 14-1 could be seen as a decent outside bet. We've had a favourable draw with Levenkusen, Lille and Kuban in our group. As we've missed all the big-boys, I'm feeling confident we'll qualify from the group comfortably and I reckon the quarter-finals are a distinct possibility.

Not achieved. I might be being harsh, but I wouldn't call the last 16 as the latter stages. Next season, hopefully, we'll get a slightly easier passage into the quarter-finals at least.

- Break-in a few homegrown youngsters. I would like to give a few first team appearances to some of our talented youngsters. In matches we are strong favourites to win, I'll probably put a couple of them on the bench so I can give them 15/20 minutes of game time once the match has been won which will help their development.

Achieved. Three under-20 players have had some first team experience this term, which they should continue to get next season. A couple of my more mature players will be leaving in the summer, as they are being paid far too much, so there may be further opportunities for the youngsters to shine.

Previous club watch:

Thurrock - A pretty average season for them this year, finishing 8th in League One, four points off the playoffs.

Nottm Forest - Shocking season for Forest. They finished rock-bottom of the Championship, and will be back where I found them, in League One, next season.

Southampton - Finished 3rd in the Championship and missed out on promotion after being knocked out by Portsmouth in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Season     Team             League    Finish    Cups            
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11    Thurrock F.C.    BSS       15th      N/A             
2011/12    Thurrock F.C.    BSS       2nd       FA Cup 2nd Rd, FA Trophy 1st Rd
2012/13    Thurrock F.C.    BSP       1st       FA Cup 1st Rd, FA Trophy 3rd Rd
2013/14    Thurrock F.C.    League 2  5th       FA Cup 1st Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2014/15    Thurrock F.C     League 2  6th       FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2015/16    Thurrock F.C     League 2  6th       FA Cup 3rd Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd, JPT 1st Rd
2016/17    Nottm Forest     League 1  3rd       FA Cup 3rd Rd
2017/18    Nottm Forest     League 1  1st       FA Cup 2nd Rd, Carling Cup 2nd Rd, JPT 2nd Rd
2018/19    Southampton      Ch'ship   5th       FA Cup 3rd Rd
2019/20    Southampton      Ch'ship   4th       FA Cup 5th Rd, Carling Cup 3rd Rd
2020/21    Southampton      Prem Lg   7th       FA Cup 6th Rd, Carling Cup 4th Rd
2021/22    Southampton      Prem Lg   8th       FA Cup Semi-Final, Carling Cup 3rd
2022/23    Lazio            Serie A   1st       Europa League RU, Coppa Italia TIM SF
2023/24    Lazio            Serie A   1st       Chmps League Last 16, Coppa Italia TIM RU

[GioGio85]

How has Lucarelli not been capped by Italy? Surely a matter of time.

Plans for next season?

[AK22]

I know I'm about 2 weeks late, but how do you manage to do so well in first season in the top flight. I got relegated my first season, promoted back, and 2 more seasons of barely surviving before i could hold my own. I guess it could be because i opted to spend all my transfer money on future world class youngsters rather than any experience. I'm currently in 10th place in December on my latest season, and i only have about 5 players over 21 that play regularly on first team, all but one are under 25. My 22 year old Mexican goalkeeper was named in the copa de america dream team starting eleven, so some of them are starting to reach their potential finally.

Is this about when I was at Southampton?

If so, my aim is to get the spine of my team filled with experienced, solid professionals. That means a good GK, at least one tall commanding DC, a strong MC and a pacey FC. I find it too risky to play too many youngsters when you're favourites for relegation as they don't always handle the pressure well and tend to be inconsistent performance wise, no matter how promising they may be. I think my average age was about 28/29 for my first season in the Premier League, with a handful of players in their mid-thirties.

I also tend to buy players who are likely to settle in quickly, ie. they are British or have played for another British club. Bringing in too many foreigners will unsettle the team, and some of them take forever to adapt to life with the club. By the time they do (some of them won't ever!), you could find yourselves in the mire at the foot of the table. Once we're a more established team, I will then start to compliment the squad with talented youngsters and the odd creative, luxury player.

I honestly think on this creation of FM that squad harmony and togetherness plays a huge part in determining your teams fortunes. A settled but unspectular squad is more likely to survive than a technically gifted team with little cohesion. I'm sure there's exceptions to the rule, but that's my thoughts on the matter anyway

Keep sticking with it. I'm sure your youngsters will come into fruition soon and you'll have some 'World-Beaters' on your hands before long!

[AK22]

How has Lucarelli not been capped by Italy? Surely a matter of time.

Plans for next season?

Yeah, I'm puzzled too! He really is at the top of his game at the moment.

The Italian team plays 4-2-3-1 at the moment, and the first choice striker is some half-Brazilian, half-Italian dude called Digão, who currently plays for Man City. Lucarelli gets into the squad, and on to the bench too, but just not on to the playing field as yet. Not that I'm complaining though, at least he comes back fresh and injury free after the International Break!

Digão Profile & Career Stats

I've got two more years left on my contract with Lazio so I'll be seeing them out before probably moving on. Ideally, I would like to add the Champions League and Coppa Italia to the two Scudetto I've won so far, but it won't be easy, especially the Champions League. That might be enough to make it on to the Italian Hall of Fame before I leave.

[Raware]

Two Scudettos now . Nice to see the blue half of Rome back in the limelight

Any ideas where you'll go after your contract expires?

[AK22]

Two Scudettos now . Nice to see the blue half of Rome back in the limelight

Any ideas where you'll go after your contract expires?

Cheers Raware

Not sure where I'll end up but it definitely won't be another Italian or English club. I've got Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and South Korea loaded as non-European leagues, so I would seriously consider a job from one of these countries if/when the opportunity arises.

[DodgeeD]

Mexico is always fun.

[AK22]

Mexico is always fun.

Definitely up for a bit of Mexico action at some point

I can't recollect ever managing a Mexican side in my CM/FM past so it would be fun trying to get my head around their league format. There's also some huge stadia out there that I would like to try and sell out!

[rancer890]

I'll have to say South Korea.

But either one of Mexico or South Korea would be fun.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Another Scudetto.