FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[corinthiano]

iacovone - They both look great, I can imagine an Argetine idolising a Brazilian as well, wouldn't happen the other way round though

[iacovone]

iacovone - They both look great! Is there space for both of them in your team? With your form you could complete this season.

That would be quite something. If we avoid Inter, we've got a chance but I'll take each game as it comes (obviously).

Caro can't play this season unfortunately as he's already played for two teams this season. So Moraes competes for a place alongside Saul Garcia, Christer Nilsson and Ricardo Ledesma. Although the latter has been deployed at centre-back for a portion of the season so far.

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2018/19 Liga Orangina

Liga Orangina

Media Prediction: 12th

Board Expectation: Mid-Table

My Target: Promotion Challenge

League Table: 2nd ǁ Position Graph

My aim for the first half of the season was to try and not lose distance to the top two positions whilst me were kept busy with Europe and the cups. I figured we’d be out of it after Christmas and if we were in a good position for the second half of the season we would be able to go up. We did exactly that and at the half way stage we were third, only 2 points off promotion. We were devastating in the second half of the season with a record of 11-3-1 and guaranteed promotion with a couple of games to go.

UEFA Europa League

Group K: 4th ǁ Fixtures

I was delighted with our first European adventure! First up we beat Lithuanina side Ekranas quite easily 5-0 on aggregate before scraping past St. Mirren 2-1. When we were drawn against Dinamo in the final qualifying round I did not think we would be able to get into the group stage, but a brilliant 2-1 win in Zagreb meant we could qualify with a draw at home. They battered us but we held on to progress to the group stage!

We were drawn with Ajax, Schalke and Rapid Wien and my target was automatically 3rd place, as I thought Ajax and Schalke would be too good for us. And so it proved to be, with us losing all games against those two. We won 3-2 against Rapid at home, but a 2-1 loss in Wien meant we finished last in the group. I was not too bothered and thoroughly enjoyed the campaign.

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Porto 1 - 0 Real

Porto were dominant against us agan, but I was happy to lose by just one goal.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

Fixtures

We didn’t manage to repeat our good run this year. As a matter of fact we didn’t go far at all. After a 5-0 thumping against non-league side Limianos we were drawn against Liga Zon Sagres side Olhanense away and couldn’t do enough to go further.

Bwin Cup

First Phase Group A: 2nd ǁ Fixtures

Never really tried hard in the competiton, getting out of the group was a pleasant surprise given the side I put out for those matches. In the end Leiria proved too good for us in the second round.

The Royals

Transfers 1 ǁ Transfers 2 ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

A season of many changes. I let go all those average youngsters I brought in when I was first promoted, whilst bringing in some quality loan signings to strengthen the overstretched squad. Again, my big two signings came from Brazil in the January window. Cléber came to take over plamaking duties from Momotenko, whilst Edson came into the supporting striker role, both had an immediate positive impact. I also loaned out quite a few youngsters to 1º Dezembro in order for the to avoid relegation from the third tier. My players helped them do just that with a win in the last game, getting them out of the relegation places on the final day of the season.

GK: Buick – By far the highest rated player in the club. Wanted to leave at the start of the season but I convinced him to stay. Interest is still high though.

DR: Antônio – Another one who keeps attracting interest from other clubs.

DC: Felipe – Looks like this could be his last season as a starter for the club. After almost 200 league games I feel that he will not be able to make the step up and a new defender is already coming in on a Bosman.

DC: Ahmed Yilmaz – Signed on loan for the seond time from Raja Casablanca. Whilst he was just a back-up the first time this time he was a key player in defence, replacing the former captain Eduardo at the back. Will join the club on a Bosman at the start of December.

DL: André Dias – Had a decent season, but is another one who I think has gona as far as he can.

DMC: Bruno Mendes – Portuguese U21 international and Porto youth product. Was immense this season and there is a lot more to come from him.

MC: Esteban Cardona – Came in on loan from Atlético Nacional and even though he is only 18, was ever present in the side. His contract expires at the end of January, hopefully I can snap him up on a free.

MC: Illya Momotenko – Started the game as the playmaker but was given a more central midfield role with the arrival of Cléber. Had another 3 month injury this season, but he is too good to let go and still very useful to the squad.

AMC: Cléber – My best signing of the season, was key to our brilliant run in the second half of the season.

ST: Edson – Came in as aprt of our reshuffle in the front line. I felt we were a bit too slow with Gil and Milton up front, Edson gives us a bit more mobility.

ST: Milton – Changed him from a supporting target man to an advanced forward halfway through the season and he has not stopped scoring since then. Lots of interest in him, let’s hope I can keep him.

Other News

Finances – Though European football would guarantee us financially but we leaked so much money that we managed to make a huge loss regardless. Please let the money be better in the first league!

We were selected the overachievers of Liga Orangina and most improved in Portugal again.

Personal awards were handed to me as Manager of the Season and Ahmed Yilmaz who was selected in the Team of the Season.

This Season Targets

1. Promotion Challenge Success – Always in the mix and promoted quite easily in the end.

2. Enjoy Europe, try to get through one stage Success – Very proud of our European campign, did not think we would make it to the group stages.

3. Strengthen the midfield Success – Three new midfielders in the starting eleven, meaning Momotenko went from essential to useful.

Next Season Targets

1. Survival.

2. Survival!

3. Survival?

It is all about survival this season. The board has raised the wage budget to 26k p/w, but we are still the smallest club in the division by a mile. Our long servong back line is starting to look like it needs replacing, so I will be bringing in some defenders.

Career Overview

Season       League                     Pos      Taça de Portugal     Bwin Cup        Europe             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Divisão - Zona Sul      7th      First Round          N/A             N/A                None
2013/14      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   3rd      Second Round         N/A             N/A                None
2014/15      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   1st      Third Round          N/A             N/A                Promotion
2015/16      Liga Orangina              10th     Second Round         First Phase     N/A                None
2016/17      Liga Orangina              10th     Fourth Round         Second Phase    N/A                None
2017/18      Liga Orangina              8th      Runners-Up           First Phase     N/A                Europa League Qualification 
2018/19      Liga Orangina              2nd      Third Round          Second Phase    EL Group Stage     Promotion

[PRDH]

corinthiano - Welcome to the top flight! Hopefully you can consolidate here.

[iacovone]

Congrats ​corinthiano

[iacovone]

Nope, no Champions League for us this year. We lost the home leg 1-0 to Chelsea which really killed us. Gave it a good go at Stamford Bridge but Danny Murphy's boys beat us 2-1. I'm proud though, we created 4 clear cut chances to their 2, just couldn't find the back of the net.

Back to the league now

[iacovone]

Don't think I'll ever see a bigger derby victory on FM!

[iacovone]

Title has come down to the final day of the season. A draw at home to Atalanta will do it for us......

[PRDH]

Come on iacovone! You can do it.

Well, I suppose my mini-run had to come to an end. Had my latest youth recruits through and none of them has the potential to be a world-beater. We got a goalkeeper with decent potential who could become a good back up, but no Cardoso/Vieira this year.

Edit - Champions' League Quarter Final draw has been made and I'm up against Inter. I seem to be magnetically drawn to them at the moment. Faced them in the 1st Knockout Rd last year and then in the group stage this season, and now again. Hopefully at some stage I am due a result against them!

[corinthiano]

iacovone - Best of luck, nailbiting finish!

PRDH - Hope you can get through the Quarters aginst Inter, it is quite annoying when you keep coming up against a team you haven't been able to beat.

Life in the top flight has been OK so far, 8 points from the first 6 games see us in mid-table. Don't want to get ahead of myself but I think we should be alright. The gap is certainly smaller than between the third and second tier. All games have been very even and we managed to draw at home to Sporting and even beat Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. Now we just have to make sure we keep getting results.

[PRDH]

So that's a no on being due a result then. Headed off to Milan full of hope only to come back on the end of a 4-0 thumping. Can we perform a miracle back on the island? I'm going to go with 'no'. Might concentrate on trying to get the elusive unbeaten Premier League season. 6 games to go and I'm yet to lose, so there is a chance...

Congrats on your good start in the top flight corinthiano. There are certainly some beatable sides in and around the place usually, it's normally pretty tight. Those are some great results against the big boys too. I think it took ages for me to get my first result against one of the big three.

[PRDH]

Hello! Game on!

10 minutes into the second leg and we've taken a one goal lead. Is it time to dare to dream?

Edit - No. As I was typing that Inter scored. They've now got their 4-goal cushion back, AND, an away goal. Never mind. We go again next year.

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2030/31 (Season 19) - Serie A

Serie A - 1st

It just gets better and better for little Novese! I honestly thought we'd have to consolidate in Europe this year and it looked that was as Inter stormed to the top of the table as holders. They'd already smashed us in the Supercoppa 4-1 and we accumulated our second loss of the season in just our second game at Napoli. We lost two more league games in the first half of the season but were looking good sitting in 2nd. Inter had dropped off the pace as Fiorentina and Roma vied with us for top spot.

The second half of the league campaign mirrored the first as we lost three times but we hit the summit after 23 games and more-or-less stayed there.

The run-in was excruciating. Us and Fiorentina had emerged as the two runners for the title and locked level on points we embarked on a decisive set of four fixtures that would no doubt decide the destination of the title. First up was a trip to Fiorentina. We had the same number of points with us above them based on our earlier win over them at the Pastorino Stadium. This was a game we should have won but the goals dried up and despite them falling to ten men we couldn't nick a winner.

Next up was Roma at home. We won this 2-0 to maintain our first place position. However a completely unjust 1-0 loss to Juventus meant Fiorentina nipped ahead of us by two points with three games to play. Our 1-0 win over Inter and Fiorentina's surprising loss at Brescia meant that with two games to go we just had to match or better their results. As it was wins over Bologna and Atalanta meant we sealed the title by four points!

Results 1 | Results 2

Progess

Champions League:

This was a bit of a step into the unknown. I knew we were strong in Italy but you can never really know the strength of Europe's best. Our group contained Bayern, Liverpool and CSKA Moscow - tricky to say the least. Nonetheless we were fantastic and finished 2nd in the group having avoided defeat in every game.

The first knockout round paired us with Chelsea but sadly the first leg result killed our chances. The 1-0 home loss meant they had the advantage and an away goal. Though we opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge, we were killed off by a goal either side of half time.

Chelsea went onto win the trophy.

The Cup:

I started by playing a largely reserve team in the early rounds. But the semi-final 4-2 loss at Atalanta changed my thinking. We went strong in the second leg and snatched a dramatic last minute winner to take us to the final on away goals.

The final, though was a big disappointment. Perhaps it was the hangover from the league win. It was a shame not to complete a domestic double, but far from the end of the world.

The Squad:

Goalkeeper:

Lautaro Corno (GK) - one of the few Italian's at the club had a season not quite as good as the year before. But he kept 22 clean sheets and signed a new contract. Good news.

Defenders:

Daouda Solo (DR) - can't keep a good man down! I bought a new right back in the summer but Solo's form kept him out of the team. He's very dependable.

Pirulito (DC) - on loan from Fiorentina and had a storming season once he adapted to the role. Rarely missed a game and only had one notable horror show - in the final against Cesena. Will look to bring him in permanently. Made Serie A Team of the Year.

Jose Maria Fernandez Fuentes (D/WBL) - the captain was almost ever-present. Great left-back and a good leader too.

Ricardo Ledesma (D/DM/MC) - flitted between DM and CB and did both jobs superbly. He's probably our best player but seemingly wants out. I may just take the hit and keep him for one more year until his contract expires.

Midfielders:

Saul Garcia (DC/DM/MC) - not his best season but still gives good depth to the DM and CB positions.

Moraes (DM/MC) - January signing looks like a really good player. The fans love him and he was excellent in his first few months.

Lucas (MC) - shared the playmaker role with Velazquez and naturally did well.

Bernardo Velazquez - (MRC) - much improved again and signed a new long-term contract. He keeps getting better and is first choice ahead of Lucas.

Tete (M/AMC) - came on loan from Lazio and was retrained to AML where he shone. Not a hard worker but a really tricky customer. Another I'll look to sign permanently.

Harold Cardenas (MRC/AMR) - injury hit season but did well when used. He's hit 30 now but I still see another couple of years in and around the first team for this assist-machine.

Ally Guillano (M/AML) - also suffered from a spate of injuries but did well when he was fit. Has a good knack of getting important goals for us.

Karel Pacholik (AMRL/ST) - filled in for both Cardenas and Guillano proving his reliability as a back-up winger and striker.

Forwards:

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - the club icon continues to score goals when used. Season was broken up a bit as I rotated him with Steve but hit double figures in a season again.

Sergio Meza Sanchez (AMR/ST) - managed to top last season's haul breaking his own club goalscoring record. Won Europe's Golden Boot and made the Serie A team of the year. The guy is phenomenal and also fans' player of the year.

Steve (ST) - not totally convinced on the new man. Doesn't seem to be a natural goalscorer and suffered quite a few injuries. He'll be given plenty of time though to be fair.

Squad Stats

Finances

Club Information

Facilities

Transfers

Lot's of change in the club off-pitch. As you can see, the financial rewards that come from the Champions League are just phenomenal. It really is the holy grail. With that huge amount of cash flow, the board wiped the debt of the club from the accounts, agreed to add additional seats to the Pastorino Stadium and improve both the youth and training facilities. Perfect.

Objectives Complete?

• Make it back into Europe
  

Success! Easily done in the end, back into the CL we go.

• Hit the 65 point mark or more again
  

Success! 82 points. Actually one less than last season's haul - showing how much weaker Inter were.

• Keep hold of Ledesma, Velazquez, Meza Sanchez and Guillano
  

Success! Velazquez and Guillano signed new deals. Meza Sanchez wants over £60k p/w for a new deal - way out of our league. He is contracted for another two seasons though. Ledesma is likely to leave at the end of the next campaign as he has no interest in renewing.

New Objectives:

• Win back-to-back titles
  
• Go one step further in Europe
  
• Continue to develop the club infrastructure
  

Again, it'll be hard to match the season we've just had but I feel more confident this time around. A huge £50m transfer budget should help somewhat. Obviously as far as the challenge goes, we have to win the CL to complete it. But there's more I want to achieve. Over time I want us to develop some homegrown talent. We've only ever had one decent player - David Nicolini - and he's our 5th choice striker these days at 22. No-one has come through so I'm hoping the youth facilities upgrades will pay dividends in time.

Joining us in Serie A this season are: Udinese, Varese and Empoli. Departing Serie A are: Bari, Brescia and Torino.

Seasonal Best Eleven

Overall Best Eleven

[PRDH]

Great season iacovone! I'm really going to have to up my game if you're not going to beat me to completion now!

It's a mystery why Steve isn't scoring. He looks to have everything you could want. I've had trouble in the past with getting left-footed strikers to play to their best but I got Chrysanthou scoring when he was with me by putting him on the right of the front two.

[rlipscombe]

iacovone - congratulations on your debut title! fantastic achievement. got a real good team going there - Sanchez is immense. good luck in the CL next season.

corinthiano - well done on the promotion - good luck in Liga Sagres. unfortunate with the Europa League though it was an adventure and will hopefully hold you in good stead going forwards.

As for Mannheim we have 4 league games to go. are we going to achieve a league and CL double??? Err no.................

[corinthiano]

Awesome achievment winning the league iacovone! Can't understand how Steve doesn't score too, what role do you play him in? Oh, and I envy all the money you have!

rlipscombe, looking forward to seeing how you got on, even if there is no CL and league double

[iacovone]

Awesome achievment winning the league iacovone! Can't understand how Steve doesn't score too, what role do you play him in? Oh, and I envy all the money you have!

Thanks guys, I have both my striker's as poachers. I may toy around with it for Steve, perhaps a deep-lying forward. I'll keep you posted.

[corinthiano]

I tend to play one striker in an attacking role and one in a suporting role, I feel that there is a better link up with my midfield that way. It is usually a poacher/advanced forward and a supporting complete forward/supporting target man. At the moment I have Milton as the advanced forward and Edson as my supporting complete forward, as he has terrible composure, but is a nuisance and tends to set up a lot of good play.

Meanwhile, I have been linked to every vacancy there has been in the top flight this season. I was favourite for the Vitória Setúbal and Marítimo posts, but only Leiria came in with an offer. Almost More than double my wage budget....oh well.

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2031/32

Finances

Key figure - £23,522,783 | Summary

Solid financial performance over the last season as we almost manage to break even. Especially impressive as we didn't have any huge transfers away from the club.

Club News

1/ Training facilities to be improved over the off season.

2/ Descazals is the new record holder for appearances.

Transfers | 10 in (£1.8m) and 10 out (£7.75m) + 18 loans

No real headline exits or acquisitions this year. Longest serving players to leave were Klein and Tranberg both of whom had been around for a while without really reaching the potential I saw in them. There were again a load of loans out to my three Second League feeder teams who are basically becoming another set of reserves for me.

League | Predicted - 2nd

Table | Graph

Feels like we've come out of our slump (or as much of a slump as you can have while still winning the league) as we got back to something like our dominance of old. We may have only won the league by two points but realistically it never looked in doubt and the narrow margin is due to a few late draws. More importantly though we went through the league without losing a game. A great achievement and one I've had my eye on for about 5 seasons now. Nice to have achieved it, I don't feel I have to think about it any more.

Cups

Supertaça | Beaten finalists

A disappointing result this one even though I don't particularly care about it any more. We were 2-0 up and threw it away to lose 2-3 to Portimonense, a team we really ought to be beating.

Taça de Portugal | Winners

Rather amazingly, given our domestic dominance, this is only our second win in this cup. We came through with the kids early on before I let the more experienced players take the final. We needed extra time but ran out winners. Mention for the youth product Cardoso who got a late goal to take it to extra time in the first place. Amazingly the final was the only match of the season that 'keeper Svoboda missed as he was away on international duty. It gave a chance to his back up who spectacularly failed to impress!

League Cup | Beaten finalists

The youth were again on form in this cup as they dispatched a number of senior sides with consummate ease. When the final came round I accidentally left a few seniors in the side but they still lost. Still, a good run out and nice experience for the young lads.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

We found ourselves in a group that looked, in theory, easy to qualify from, if not win with Inter (as always it seems), Basel and Feyenoord. We made pretty light work of it on the whole managing to qualify top thanks to some slip ups from Inter.

1st Knockout Round | First Leg | Second Leg

After the group we were drawn Sevilla. I honestly didn't know much about them beyond the fact that they had a couple of old boys (Athmani and Jensen for those of you with long memories) in the squad. We dominated both legs but couldn't find the breakthrough until extra time in the second game when Descazals rose to head home a corner in the 116th minute to put us into the Quarters.

Quarter final | First Leg | Second Leg

So, onwards into the Quarters and we were up against Inter again. We've not had much luck against them in the past. We grabbed a win at home in the group stage but lost away. We started the tie in Milan hoping to keep it tight and make it back to the Azores with a chance to grab a result. It wasn't to be as we went down to a 4-0 defeat. We never really got going and the tie was dead long before the second leg started.

We managed to save some face and entertain the fans back in the Atlantic as we played out a thrilling affair with Inter with occasional flashes of hope that weren't to be. A 5-3 win was our reward and indication that we can mix it with the big boys in our back yard at least.

Squad | Overview

'Keepers

Ales Svoboda - 52 apps, 47 conc, 24 cln, 2 MoM - Something of a return to form for the Czech stopper as he played in all but one game (including cups) missing out on the cup final while he was on international duty. He has reaffirmed my faith in him as my number 1.

Jonathan Williams - 1 app, 2 conc - Potentially a bit harsh to judge him on one appearance in the cup final, but he looked very ordinary. I'm looking to sell in the summer. None of the keepers get past Svoboda at the moment so I may as well find some cheaper cover. Plus there's a youngster to detail later.

Defenders

Pitoco - 47 apps, 6 asts, 1 MoM - The Brazilian, wait, sorry, he's Italian now full back had another impressive season at the back breaking up play and using his engine to support play up the right. He's a very good player. Surprised he's not attracted more interest from other teams if I'm honest.

Sébastien Gautier - 47 apps, 3 gls, 1 MoM - Not quite at his best this season, but even short of what he can do he is a formidable player in the heart of defence. He was installed as vice-captain this year and seemed to like it.

Hrvoje Bule - 10(2) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Part of the cup squad who got some league game time due to injuries. He isn't progressing as quickly as I hoped but he still looks like he'll become a useful player.

Rui Lopes - 4(2) apps, 1 ast - Another to get some cup game time. The youth team graduate is slowly improving his physical stats (the only thing separating him from more game time) so it's looking encouraging. He'll obviously get more time to prove himself as he's a local lad.

Meraneh Descazals - 41 apps, 9 gls, 2 asts, 4 MoMs - Even at 31 he is still improving his game. Tied him down to a five-year deal in the summer which will probably see him finish his career with us. What's more impressive is that, given his age, his physical stats are still phenomenal. He could still have a while left in those legs as long as he can avoid any nasty injuries.

Jaimy van Putten - 6(3) apps - He's done his job as back up and when I get rid at the end of the season I will have made a profit on him, so I feel he's served his purpose well.

Steve Hoggan - 22(1) apps, 3 asts - Looking like he might have to step in more and more to cover for Osses who appears to have just started to lose his edge. Hoggan has performed well enough whenever needed so I'm not too worried but I remain unconvinced about whether he can be the left back to take us to Champions' League glory, which is obviously the ultimate goal.

Christian Osses - 31 apps, 1 gl, 1 ast, 1 MoM - His time as undisputed first choice is, I think, probably over, but he is certainly useful experience and an option to have around still.

Midfielders

Martín Salto - 8(5) apps, 2 gls, 1 MoM - A player I really need to start getting onto the pitch more, he has bags of potential but has so far been limited to the cup games to show his talent. I think he really can get to the highest level. It's tricky with how well Fink is playing, but next season I want to see him shine.

Carlo Galli - 5 apps, 1ast - Another from the cup squad. He looks like he's got a decent future in the game and will be playing back up next season. See what he can do.

Kim Kae-Chun - 0(2) apps - Arrived in January and got some cup time under his belt this season, but I think he's one for the next few years. He looks like a cracking prospect to me. Will be interested to see whether he stays with Belgium or goes for the earlier international football opportunity of S Korea.

Tornado - 6 apps, 1 ast - His game time fell away this year and he's off over the summer. He's never quite achieved what I hoped he would here, but he's been by no means a flop.

Roberto Scaricamazza - 42(1) apps, 6 gls, 13 asts, 1 MoM - Really showed what he can do this season. He was in cracking form and pulled the strings alongside Partida beautifully.

Emin Dalkali - 31(2) apps, 7 gls, 8 asts, 2 MoMs - Still the man to dislodge on the right wing but came under increasing pressure form a resurgent Okoro who started the season in stunning form.

Mike Okoro - 13(14) apps, 3 gls, 6 asts - Really started the season with a bang. Tailed off slightly as the year went on but showed enough to justify his place in the squad.

Stefan Fink - 43 apps, 10 gls, 20 asts, 7 MoMs - Continues to mock me for being worried about him stepping up to first choice. Another cracking season and he is really growing as a player.

Antonin Zak - 2(1) apps - Something of a mini-me to Fink, he has a very similar set of skills as Fink did when he arrived. Hopefully he can progress in a similar vein.

Holger Lemke - 1 app - The emergence of Vieira as serious competition for Partida has not done the young Austrian any favours and I think it might be time for him to move on, at least on loan, as he's not going to get the game time here at the moment that he needs to progress.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - 8(32) apps, 1 gl, 5 asts - Got some great experience this season in the cup and at the ends of games. He has improved in raining and showed he can mix it on the pitch. Very encouraging season.

Héctor Partida - 44 apps, 11 gls, 16 asts, 3 MoMs - Another to really kick on again this season. His record speaks for himself, he's shown why I was so excited about him when I first spotted him as a 15-year-old.

Álvaro Pinto - 9(6) apps, 4 asts - Got some good game time in the cups and showed moments of skill. I don't think he'll develop into a first choice winger, but I can see him being a useful back up for years to come.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 40(3) apps, 14 gls, 16 asts, 4 MoMs - Alan had a difficult season, he lurched through a couple of horrible goal droughts where he looked as if he may never score again. Fortunately he kept playing well and got a decent number of goals anyway. First and foremost though his role is to link play and his ability to do that was never in doubt.

Micha Peek - 12(11) apps, 8 gls, 1 ast, 2 MoMs - I feel for this lad. He was just on the cusp of a serious breakthrough when Cardoso popped up. He's not going to compete with a local lad for my affections so his playing time leaked away. It's for that reason I'm letting him go. I may live to regret this as I think he will go on to be a world class player, he's just not the same as one I've got through the academy. He is off to Malaga.

Mihajlo Djokovic - 4 apps, 4 gls, 4 asts Arrived in January and went straight into the cup squad - where he was phenomenal. He is technically very good already and can, as far as I can see, go as far as he wants in the game. I see him as a long term replacement for Neira. My only concern is his one-footedness but I'm sure we can work around that if he shows enough.

Edemilson Mendès - 34(2) apps, 29 gls, 5 asts, 5 MoMs - I'm not sure there's much to say here, he scored a lot of goals as he always does. That's 114 in 137 league games now. He's starting to face some stiff competition from Cardoso though.

Rogrigo - 4(2) apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 2 MoMs - His performances in the reserves and cup squad were part of the reason I felt able to let Peek move on. He was excellent when given the chance. Big chance for him next season.

Pedro Cardoso - 12(27) apps, 17 gls, 4 asts, 4 MoMs - The potential star's career is progressing nicely after being fed into the starting line up more this season. He got more game time and proved himself as a viable alternative to Mendès as he bagged 17 goals in all competitions - a fantastic haul for an 18-year-old who made a two-thirds of his appearances from the bench.

End of Term Reports from the Lusitânia Açores Crèche

Rui Lopes - Class of '29 - He is steadily improving the areas of his game that are lacking and for that reason he is starting to get more of a chance. I'm contemplating a loan move for him to get a season of first team football but I am, as yet, undecided. Verdict - Looks to be turning it round.

Álvaro Pinto - Class of '29 - Progress has stalled somewhat. I'm still hopeful he'll develop into a squad player. Verdict - Could do better

Pedro Cardoso - Class of '30 - Great progress in his second season. Some excellent performances and the goals to prove it. Verdict - Top of the class

Paulo Jorge Vieira - Class of '31 - Very encouraging start to his career. He didn't look out of place on the pitch and will be looking for a few more starts next season. Verdict - Showing moments of real class.

Ricardo Dias - Class of '32 - The most encouraging prospect this year was a 'keeper. Not yet ready for the first team, but will be installed as number 2 next year. There were also a few other promising players, who may make it onto here if they progress well. Verdict - Too soon to say

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ It might be time to look for an undefeated season. I'm pretty sure I can do it, I've just had some nasty blips. Verdict - Surpisingly - yes!

2/ Progress in Europe would be nice. Verdict - Not really, no. Still fell down at the first sign of a superpower.

3/ Continue to give the youth products a chance to shine and improve. Verdict - A resounding yes. All of them got on the pitch and impressed to various degrees.

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Progress in Europe.

2/ Continue to blood the academy graduates.

Story So Far...

Season		League			Position		Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13		Second Division - South	12th			Avoided Relegation (just)
2013/14		Second Division - South 1st			Promoted!
2014/15		Second League		14th			Avoided Relegation
2015/16		Second League		2nd			Promoted!
2016/17		Premier League		13th			Avoided Relegation
2017/18		Premier League		3rd			Qualified for Europa League
2018/19		Premier League		4th			Europa League again
2019/20		Premier League		5th			Europa League again
2020/21		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2021/22		Premier League		2nd			CL Qualification again
2022/23		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2023/24		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2024/25		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2025/26		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2026/27		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2027/28		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2028/29		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2029/30		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2030/31		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2031/32		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters

Previous Updates

12/13

13/14

14/15

15/16

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

20/21

21/22

22/23

23/24

24/25

25/26

26/27

27/28

28/29

29/30

30/31

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - congrats on your undefeated season. a massive achievement no matter what league you play. you seem to be making some progress in europe too so hopefully you can start reaching the latter stages soon.

iacovone - in terms of my strikers, i play with 1 x AF on attacking and 1 x TM on attacking. seem to work pretty well for me overall

As for Mannheim, the season is complete. may take a couple of days or so to get the review done though as bit busy at moment.

[G-Wiz]

good to see some solid progress in the challenge...congrats on the league win iacovone

as for Ac Viseu, this season has started really well, currently 5 points clear at the top, almost halfway through the league season. Also, having seen an away tie in the Taca de Portugal against Benfica boost the coffers last season, this seasons cup run now sees us travel to play Porto. Should go a long way towards helping the bank balance. All i can really hope for from the tie...will keep you all updated

[G-Wiz]

a 5-2 defeat is more than i could have hoped for to be honest...and the 200k share of gate receipts will be a great help in easing the pressure on the finances for the rest of the season

[corinthiano]

Well done on an unbeaten season there PRDH, great achievement.

Looking at your squad you seem to have had the same issue as me, so I'd like to ask you a question. How many decent Portuguese players are there around in your game? In my save all the clubs have slowly begun flooding their team with foreigners and they all look a lot better than the local guys around. I only have one Portuguese player in my first team, but even he will be replaced by an Egyptian in January. I am starting to think that once I am qualifying for Europe I will have to bring in foreigners before they are 18 to be able to fill the homegorwn quota, is that how you got round it?

[PRDH]

corinthiano - Yeah. Not many good Portuguese players about. It's starting to pick up now, but it's been tough. The national team was, for a time, full of players I'd signed from abroad. We had a Russian, Ukrainian and Frenchman in the national team who were there ahead of anything homegrown. The number of my youth players in the U-21s etc is phenomenal considering how poor a lot of them are.

Yeah, I have a lot of players who've signed early. 16 of my team are homegrown either at the club or in the nation and another eight are on their way to that. Buying young seems to be the only way to do it. More established players don't want to come to Portugal, you've got to get them in early and hang on as long as possible.

[edit] - I'm having a weird off-season here. Spending a lot of it trying to get rid of players who've spent time out on loan, aren't good enough for my first team but are unwilling to go out on loan again. It's quite frustrating. My squad is getting to big. Some of the deadwood needs to be cut but finding buyers is tricky.

It's meant I've not actually put much thought into strengthening my own first team.

[PRDH]

I'm planning on attempting to field a team for the League Cup made up entirely of home-grown talent, and here are a couple of the other players who emerged from the academy last year. I don't think there on a par with Cardoso or Vieira but they may have enough about them to turn into useful squad players. They will join the creche section next update.

Abakar Tigabe - Born in Chad but a product of our youth set up, this member of the class of '32 doesn't appear to have the same potential as Cardoso but I have a feeling he could become a decent squad player, and perhaps, with a bit of luck, trouble the first team occasionally.

Miguel Teixeira - Is Teixeira, born on the island of Sao Miguel and who also graduated from the academy in '32, the future midfield partner of Vieira? Maybe not, but if I can get his training right he could become a Premier League level player.

[corinthiano]

My only question is: how the hell did someone from Chad end up in the Azores Islands?!

[PRDH]

My only question is: how the hell did someone from Chad end up in the Azores Islands?!

Ha! I must admit I wondered that but he's also got a Portuguese passport, despite being born in N'Djamena, Chad, so I guess he must have been here for a while.

[corinthiano]

Thing is if he or his family asked for asylum in mainland portugal I can kinda understand it or something along those lines. But the Azores are so out of the bloody way I really cant imagine anyone not portuguese living there! Very petty of me, was just something I found amusing to imagine.

[iacovone]

PRDH - it looks like your academy is really beginning to bear fruit. I've still only had one player in 19 seasons worthy of a place in the squad (Nicolini). I'm hoping the facilities upgrade that's happening now will make a difference in the future.

And as for corinthiano's question on home grown players, I'm having similar problems in Italy. Basically my entire team (aside from keeper and 3rd choice striker) is foreign. It's the case across the league as well. As such, Italy have been really poor internationally and are currently ranked 10th.

Where are Portugal ranked on your games?

As for my off-season, it's been eventful. £30m has been spent and the wage budget is now full

Looking forward to introducing you to the two new £15m men! (though one just got a double hernia in pre-season and is out for 6 weeks

[PRDH]

iacovone - Yeah, it seems last year's intake produced more players who could be decent than before, but didn't get the one total standout. Although Dias is progressing quite nicely.

iacovone/corinthiano - It's odd isn't it. In my game last year, based in Spain, Portugal, and especially the big three, were churning out players good enough for the top teams. But this year there hasn't been as much.

The national team are ranked 9th in my game, which probably isn't that bad, not compared to 10th for Italy anyway! and in terms of coefficients we're 7th.

Just as a demonstration of the dearth of talent being produced in Portugal I'll give you a quick run down of where the current Portugal squad (picked purely randomly in terms of doing it now) were born. 11 in Portugal, 6 in Brazil, 1 in Argentina, 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy and 1 in Croatia. So more than 50% of the national side have qualified through other means than birth, mostly through spending the time playing in the league.

Perhaps unsurprisingly there is a split on where they are playing too. There is only Portuguese-born player in the squad who is playing in Portugal (a thoroughly mediocre 23-year-old at Sporting) otherwise all the actual players from Portugal are abroad and the players based in Portugal are those who have come from overseas.

[iacovone]

Just as a demonstration of the dearth of talent being produced in Portugal I'll give you a quick run down of where the current Portugal squad (picked purely randomly in terms of doing it now) were born. 11 in Portugal, 6 in Brazil, 1 in Argentina, 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy and 1 in Croatia. So more than 50% of the national side have qualified through other means than birth, mostly through spending the time playing in the league.

That's really interesting. I just did a quick snapshot of the current Italy squad and it's shocking!

Born in:

Brazil: 8

Italy: 7

Argentina: 6

France: 1

So from 22 players, only SEVEN were born in Italy!

I'm genuinely stunned by that. I'm hereby making it an official objective of Novese to build youth facilities good enough to bring in Italian talent. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having foreign born Italians but it'd be nice if I could take the Azzurri back to being purely Italian. We shall see how that works out!

As for this year's Champions League we've been drawn in an easier group than last year so I'm happy:

PSG

PORTO

ZENIT

NOVESE

[PRDH]

Weird stat I've just discovered in my game. Only four players have been crowned Central Defender of the Year since I started playing. First two years Ezequiel Garay won it, then Neutron took it three years running. Stefan Savic took the next seven awards taking us to 2023 and since then it's been won by my man Descazals every year (nine times).

[edit] - Yeah, I'm hoping my facilities and the players we're producing will start to lift the fortunes of Portugal too!

[iacovone]

New Signings

Almost forgot to update you on the two new big name signings.

Kevin Schultz - will be our centre-back this season and he's absolutely immense. 6 foot 6, quick, strong, not a single weakness. A real star.

Peter van Roosmalen - long-term will replace Cardenas on the right. This season he'll be given time to bed in and likely flit between the wing and strikers.

We've started rather well by the way. 10 wins out of 10

[iacovone]

Good news. The training facilities are now good whilst the youth facilities are up to basic. Can't believe they were so low in the first place to be honest! Anyway the board have agreed to upgrade the youth facilities again at a cost of £1.3m.

[PRDH]

iacovone - Schulz is mega! He should dominate most forwards.

I'm in the midst of a Cup game against some real minnows. I've managed to put out a team comprising 7 youth team products plus some assorted other youngsters. We won 6-0. Including four assists for Pinto, two goals for Tigabe and one apiece for Vieira and Cardoso. Well done boys.

[edit] - But the proper team went out and lost the next game. First loss in 47 games.

[corinthiano]

That's really interesting. I just did a quick snapshot of the current Italy squad and it's shocking!

Born in:

Brazil: 8

Italy: 7

Argentina: 6

France: 1

So from 22 players, only SEVEN were born in Italy!

I am not as far into the game, so there are still original players in the national squad. However, from the regens, about half are born elsewhere, coming from youth academies at Chelsea, Roma and Real Madrid. The national team is 7th in the World Rankings and finished 4th in the last WC, so their performances have still been OK.

[corinthiano]

Oh yeah, iacovone, Schulz looks immense, his physical stats are quite something!

As for Real, things are not quite as easy as I would have hoped. With 5 games to go we are 2 points ahead of the relegation zone in 13th. Paços Ferreira are already down and basically the fight to avoi the second sport is between us, Rio Ave and Vit. Setúbal. We play both teams at home, if we can win against both and get one more win out of the 3 other games we will surely be safe. It will be a tense finale though...

[iacovone]

Good luck corinthiano!​ I have faith!

[corinthiano]

Thanks, we did it! I find it amazing how time and time again we manage to get the results when it matters. Out of the last 5 games we won 4, only losing away to Porto. This means we finished the season in 9th, a glance at the table gives a very misleading indication we were far off relegation!

[iacovone]

That's great corinthiano, you must have a very determined squad! Congrats.

As for Novese - we've just faced Manchester City away in the first leg of the first knockout round (after winning all six group games) and came away with an excellent 2-2 draw! I thought we'd won it scoring in the 90th minute but they equalised with the last kick of the game in the 95th minute

Still, two away goals puts us in a commanding position.

As for the league, we're 9 points clear with 14 games to play. This has been a superb season so far. (and that right there is the jinx...!)

[corinthiano]

Excellent result against Man City iacovone, best of luck in the return leg! The good thing about having such an extensive lead in the league is that you can focus on the CL matches.

[PRDH]

Great job corinthiano - next step is to take down the big three!

I wish my team were at a stage where I was disappointed by a 2-2 away draw in the Champions League iacovone! I've got Sevilla in the 1st Knockout Rd again this year. I dominated the tie last season which makes me hopeful, but I still required extra time after neither team scored in either leg so it could be a nerve-wracking game!

[edit] - And the award for most insulting transfer bid goes to Porto who bid £3m for Cardoso. There wasn't an option that adequately summed up where and how hard they could shove it.

[PRDH]

Through to the quarters (again) after beating Sevilla over two legs (again). A better tie than last year's snoozefest. A 2-1 win at home followed by a 2-2 draw in Spain.

[edit] - It's also that time of the season when I introduce the latest player to come through my youth academy. It seems a rather fitting time to be writing this as I'm also in the midst of a League Cup semi-final game that my team (which includes eight youth prospects) is currently 3-0 up.

Anyway, enough background, let's wheel the new lad out. Another very locally born guy, from Angra do Heroísmo (probably within sight of the stadium given how small the city is! He's not in the Vieira/Cardoso league, but he's certainly got talent. He's a new centre back called João Paulo. He needs to work on his positioning, but he's decent at tackling/marking already and has reasonably strong physical stats too. Definitely one who can develop into a squad player if handled properly.

[iacovone]

We're in the quarter-finals of the CL after comfortably winning the home leg 2-0

In club news, the new youth intake arrived - and they were all rated 0.5 stars!!! So much for the new facilities

I like the look of Joao Paulo PRDH, should make a good squad player

[PRDH]

I like the look of Joao Paulo PRDH, should make a good squad player

Well he's just become the club's youngest ever goalscorer with a goal in the League Cup final (part of my 'use as many home-grown talents as possible' policy in that competition). He's overtaken Tigabe who overtook Cardoso at the beginning of the season.

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2032/33

Finances

Key figure - £18,836,650 | Summary

We received a rather paltry £6m for Champions' League TV money this season which seemed a bit harsh and immediately went out on maintenance. That's why our balance has dropped a little. We're still in a fairly comfortable financial situation though so I'm reasonably happy.

Club News

1/ - Upgrade to the training facilities completed.

2/ - Upgrades to the youth and training facilities approved over the summer.

3/ - Edemilson Mendès broke Chrysanthou's goalscoring record.

Transfers | 7 in (£10.4m) and 15 our (£16m) and 13 loans out.

The summer window saw a couple of established players leave and a host of youngsters who'd not lived up to there potential. The business though made sure we made a net profit on transfers again though.

League | Predicted - 2nd (Seriously!)

Table | Graph

Not as comfortable as last season. We lost a few games and were involved in a really tight race until our game against Porto in the Azores when we pulled of an unusual 5-0 victory with three of the goals scored by Porto players.

Generally though the players were impressive. The young local lads got some good game time and were impressive.

Cups

Supertaça | Winners

We came up against Sporting in the season curtain raiser and needed extra time to grab a victory with Neira scoring in the 119th minute to secure victory. A good performance from the first team.

Taça de Portugal | Winners

As promised I used the other cups to give as many homegrown academy players a chance as possible. The lads were real heroes. We played as many youth teamers as possible filling out the remaining places with other youngsters. The final against Porto saw nine players who graduated from the academy on the pitch. Porto put out a full strength side but we still emerged as 4-2 winners. Incredible spirit from the players. Very proud of this result.

League Cup | Winners

Another cup win for the local boys. A very impressive 4-0 victory in the final against premier league Leixoes.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

A potentially tricky group of Chelsea, HSV and RB Salzburg was negotiated safely. A couple of defeats saw us finish behind Chelsea but get through to the Knockout Stages.

1st Knockout Rd | First Leg | Second Leg

Deja vu for the squad in this round as we came up against Sevilla for the second year running. A good performance in Angra saw us take a 2-1 lead to Spain where we secured a 2-2 draw to progress to the Quarters.

Quarter Final | First Leg | Second Leg

After being drawn against Liverpool I thought I stood a chance of making it to the semis. I was wrong. A decent performance at Anfield saw us get an away goal but give away a couple of silly goals. Still, 2-0 at home. That's possible right? No. A dodgy performance saw us grab a 2-2 draw. Not enough to see us through. Liverpool went on to lose in extra time to Barcelona in the final.

Squad | Overview

'Keepers

Ales Svoboda - 40 apps, 34 conc, 20 cln, 1 MoM - Ales continued as number 1 this season and played pretty well as he picked up another title winner's medal.

Ricardo Dias - 13(4) apps, 7 conc, 11 cln, 1 MoM - A promising start to the young academy keeper's career. He took charge of the cup competitions picking up wins in both. Definitely one for the future.

Defenders

Pitoco - 39 apps, 6 asts, 2 MoMs - Another solid season for the full back. Didn't get his name on the scoresheet but laid a few on for his teammates.

Silvio Nicastro - 42 apps, 1 gl, 5 asts, 1 MoM - An excellent first season at the club for the Italian full back. Joined on loan at the start of the season but did enough to convince me to sign him up permanently in January. Exciting future for this guy.

Sébastien Gautier - 42 apps, 6 gls, 2 MoMs - The defensive monster continued to dominate the league. He's a brute of a player and he's done a fantastic job for the club.

Hrvoje Bule - 5 apps, 1 ast, 1 MoM - Not progressing quite as well as he could. He's been relegated to the cup squad this year. May have to reevaluate where his career is going over the next year.

Giannis Sentementes - 3(1) apps, 1 gl - Another who hasn't quite done what I thought they might. We'll see what his future holds over the next few months.

Rui Lopes - 12(9) apps, 1 ast - The academy player had a good season. He's worked well on his physical stats and is becoming a player I will trust with a first team spot.

João Paulo - 2 apps, 1 gl - He only emerged from the academy this season but due to my policy of throwing the academy players in at the deep end he went straight into the cup squad. Playing in the final of two cup competitions scoring a goal in one of them. Encouraging start for the lad from Angra.

Meraneh Descazals - 42(1) apps, 9 gls, 4 asts, 2 MoMs - Club captain, record appearance maker and scorer of more than 100 goals from the centre of defence this guy is an absolute legend. He's started to show a bit of decline in his physical stats but they were so fantastic initially that they're still some of the best around. No sign of him losing his place yet.

Abdulla Adam - 12 apps, 1 gl, 3 asts, 1 MoM - The first Qatari to play for the club. He arrived on a free as back up for Pitoco and that's what he primarily was. Got a few cup games before a youngster could be found to fill that place.

Stipe Pesic - 2(1) apps - The man who took Adam's place in the cup squad. Very young, very exciting. If he trains well and I blood him sensibly then he could be a fantastic player for the club.

Steve Hoggan - 0(2) apps - The emergence of Nicastro dealt Hoggan a blow in his attempts to secure a first team place. Another one who I have some decisions to make on.

Christian Minniti - 11 apps - The cup left back performed admirable. His presence is another blow for Hoggan.

Christian Osses - 0(1) app - Age has probably caught up with him a bit here. Lost his place to a younger player and has been struggling for a couple of years. After 14 years at the club and 477 appearances he is off to pastures new at the end of his contract.

Midfielders

Martín Salto - 6(5) apps, 4 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - Not as much of a chance as he'd have liked this year, but when he gets on the pitch he performs. Lets see if I can keep him happy with limited game time because he could be great.

Carlo Galli - 3(4) apps, 3 asts - Not much of a part in the squad for this guy really. He's a good player, and I think he's off at the end of the season. His replacements will come from within the club as there are a couple of youngsters snapping around the fringes.

Kim Jae-Chun - 0(1) apps - One of the reasons Galli can go. Excited about his prospects and would like to see him get more game time next season.

Miguel Teixeira - 12(1) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Another academy boy to make great strides this year. He played in the cups and got on in the league a couple of times. He's shown remarkable improvement and he can certainly mature into a squad player.

Roberto Scaricamazza - 38 apps, 3 gls, 12 asts, 1 MoM - The man the kids have got to displace. He's a great player in the middle of the park and can really grab a game and dictate tempo. Definitely a big part of our league success this year.

Emin Dalkali - 32(2) apps, 7 gls, 13 asts, 1 MoM - Found his place under threat a bit this year. Still made the lion's share of appearances but didn't quite have the spark of previous years.

Mike Okoro - 8(7) apps, 4 gls, 4 asts, 2 MoMs - Put some pressure on Dalkali but really turned it on in the Champions' League. He was superb in Europe but I'm not sure he's first team material.

Stefan Fink - 39 apps, 8 gls, 17 asts, 3 MoMs - The reason Salto isn't getting as much time on the pitch as he'd like. Fink continues to be a big part of this team. He really will take some shifting.

Antonin Zak - 8(3) apps, 3 gls, 4 asts, 1 MoM - Exciting player. Big part of the cup squad and performed well. Will he develop into a first teamer? I don't know, but he's got a chance.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - 35(11) apps, 5 gls, 14 asts - Real breakthrough season for the academy player. Got a lot of game time as Partida struggled with injuries but he didn't put a foot wrong when he played. He has a huge future at the club and in football generally.

Jorge Mendes - 0(6) apps - Another guy to emerge from the academy. He's not of the calibre of some of them, but I think I can develop him into a decent squad player.

Héctor Partida - 22(2) apps, 1 gl, 9 asts - Struggled with keeping this fit this season and that gave Vieira the chance to nab his place. He'll have to work hard to get it back.

Álvaro Pinto - 13(10) apps, 3 gls, 11 asts, 1 MoM - The academy winger was a colossal presence in the cup squads and got some game time in the league too. Another I think can develop into a nice squad player.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 34(1) apps, 20 gls, 14 asts, 7 MoMs - This season he took up Portuguese citizenship and was thrown straight into his adopted country's international set up. I hope he can have as much impact there as he has for me because he's been a huge part of the team I've built. He was another to struggle slightly with injury but scored a good few goals and laid on even more.

Mihaljo Djokovic - 0(1) apps - He's a cracking youngster with a cracking future, hope to give him a bit more time on the pitch next year.

Edemilson Mendès - 29(5) apps, 23 gls, 3 asts, 6 MoMs - Not quite the dominant form of recently but I don't really think I can complain with his goal return. He's broken the goalscoring record for the club, but Cardoso is really closing in on stealing his place.

Rodrigo - 0(3) apps - He's a cracking player but he's having real issues getting into the team. I may have to let him flourish elsewhere.

Joaquim Sousa - 0(2) apps, 1 gl - Took a bit of a risk on this youngster. He was at Braga where he had stalled massively but when I found him on a free I thought it was worth a punt. He's improved a lot with me and got less raw. He's a tricky one to judge. If people come in for him I'd probably let him go for the right price, but I'm not going to force him out at the moment.

Pedro Cardoso - 28(17) apps, 34 gls, 6 asts, 6 MoMs - Academy graduate who is really pushing to be first choice in the advanced forward role. He's scoring more consistently as he matures and has already passed 50 for the club. Next year might see him displace Mendes from the first team completely.

Abakar Tigabe - 11(1) apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM - Another through the academy. He's a rough diamond at the moment, but he's still only 16. An important part of the cup squad that was so successful he also made his league debut and grabbed a goal. Another I think has a future as a squad player.

End of Term Reports from the Lusitânia Açores Crèche

Rui Lopes - '29 - Big leap forward in terms of his physical abilities. It's an encouraging sign. Verdict - Signs of improvement.

Álvaro Pinto - '29 - Stats have stalled but cup performances were spectacular. Verdict - Could do better.

Pedro Cardoso - '30 - Stunning. He's very close to regular starter. Verdict - Top of the class

Paulo Jorge Vieira - '31 - Right on the cups of a complete breakthrough. Verdict - Gold star

Ricardo Dias - '32 - All the signs are there. Verdict - Encouraging

Miguel Teixeira - '32 - Great leaps forward in training. Verdict - Encouraging

Jorge Mendes - '32 - Not sure about him, needs to impress in training next year - Verdict - Must try harder

Abakar Tigabe - '32 - Impressed when he got the chance. Verdict - Good effort

João Paulo - '33 - Hard to judge him on two games, but looked decent. Verdict - Too soon to say

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Progress in Europe - Ish. Decent effort. Quarters again. Need to kick on soon, surely.

2/ Continue to blood the academy graduates. - Yes. The youngsters got plenty of time on the pitch and all showed signs of improvement.

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Champions' League semi final should be a minimum after this amount of time.

2/ Continue building the future of our youngsters.

3/ Thin out some of those who haven't quite made it.

Story So Far...

Season		League			Position		Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13		Second Division - South	12th			Avoided Relegation (just)
2013/14		Second Division - South 1st			Promoted!
2014/15		Second League		14th			Avoided Relegation
2015/16		Second League		2nd			Promoted!
2016/17		Premier League		13th			Avoided Relegation
2017/18		Premier League		3rd			Qualified for Europa League
2018/19		Premier League		4th			Europa League again
2019/20		Premier League		5th			Europa League again
2020/21		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2021/22		Premier League		2nd			CL Qualification again
2022/23		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2023/24		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2024/25		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2025/26		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2026/27		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2027/28		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2028/29		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2029/30		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2030/31		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2031/32		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters
2032/33		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters and domestic quadruple

Previous Updates

12/13

13/14

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[corinthiano]

PRDH, very good season domestically and at least it looks like now you are always making it to the Quarters of the CL instead of last 16. Nice to see so many youngsters getting playing time as well and Cardoso looks like he is ready to be in the first team.

I had my brother visiting this weekend so had to do some sightseeing, but I drove past my feeder club stadium which was quite interesting, will post up my league summary in an hour or so and then start the next season

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2019/20 Liga Zon Sagres

Liga Zon Sagres

Media Prediction: 16th

Board Expectation: Avoid Relegation

My Target: Avoid Relgation

League Table: 9th ǁ Position Graph

The league table really does give a misleading view of how our season really went. We were scraping for survival pretty much all season, our inability to score goals being the biggest problem. But as has been the case for Real in the last few years the team rallied together and got us 5 wins in the last 6 games, the only defeat coming away against Porto and saw us lift to the mid-table, a whole 10 points above the relegation zone.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

Fixtures

Very average in the cup again. After scraping trough the first game we went to Vit. Setúbal and lost 1-0 after extra time.

Bwin Cup

Third Phase Group D: 3rd ǁ Fixtures

We beat Fátima in the Second Phase comfortable, but were not goodenough to go through the Group Stages. In the end I was happy getting at least a win in the group.

The Royals

Transfers ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

A lot of movement again as I went about strengthening and adding depth to our defence. Brought in 3 new players for our back-line, as well as 2 new midfielders. Also signed a few promising youngsters who are back-up for now, but could play a part in the team in future.

GK: Buick – Keeps doing an excellent job for the side, got injured half way through the season and missed out on a few games for the first time, but as soon as he was fit he was back in the team.

DR: – The only one to survive in the back four, but I don’t think this will last long as I am looking for someone to replace him.

DC: Menno Koops – He was on loan to a third tier side last season, but was clearly above that level and when I saw that his contract at AZ was expiring I did not hesitate to sign him. Did a pretty good job at the back.

DC: Eid Sayed – The Egyptian is very solid and was a much welcome addition at the winter break.

DL: Seyithan Bilir – Initially I only brought him in as a backup, but he improved so much in so little time that he was put in the first team, think he can get a lot better as well in the next few seasons.

DMC: Ahmed Fawzy – Another Egyptian who was immense for us, Fawzy claimed the Anchor Man role for himself.

MC: Esteban Cardona – After the successful loan spell last season I just had to bring him in, so delighted Atlético Nacional didn’t renew his contract!

MC: Emil Nowak – Another one brought in on a free, still young and already very good, him and Cardona are forming an awesome partnership in the centre of the field.

AMC: Cléber – I just don’t think he is Liga Zon Sagres material. I tend to blahe him for our lack of firepower and have already pre-arranged singing a Roma youngster on a free to replace him.

ST: Edson –Not as effective this season, like the whole attack, am expecting better next season.

ST: Milton – Same as Edson, am hoping he will improve with better service next season.

Other News

Finances – Awful as ever, I have to start getting into Europe or start selling players so I can get out of this mess.

This season we were only third in the most improved award for the season, and I was third in the Manager of the Season award. I also reached my 300th game for Real.

This Season Targets

1. Survival. Yes.

2. Survival! Yes!

3. Survival? Yes?

Next Season Targets

1. More comfortable survival

2. Score more goals

3. Try to improve the finances

Considering that Vit. Guimarães are back up and that we are not totally settled in this division I would be happy just to stay out of a relegation fight. I am also hoping we can create more chances and score more goals and am looking at a new playmaker to help me with that. Finally, whilst I think it will be very difficult in our current situation, it would be nice not to lose money this year.

Career Overview

Season       League                     Pos      Taça de Portugal     Bwin Cup        Europe             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Divisão - Zona Sul      7th      First Round          N/A             N/A                None
2013/14      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   3rd      Second Round         N/A             N/A                None
2014/15      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   1st      Third Round          N/A             N/A                Promotion
2015/16      Liga Orangina              10th     Second Round         First Phase     N/A                None
2016/17      Liga Orangina              10th     Fourth Round         Second Phase    N/A                None
2017/18      Liga Orangina              8th      Runners-Up           First Phase     N/A                Europa League Qualification 
2018/19      Liga Orangina              2nd      Third Round          Second Phase    EL Group Stage     Promotion
2019/20      Liga Zon Sagres            9th      Fourth Round         Third Phase     N/A                None

[PRDH]

Nice season there corinthiano. Great base to push on from.

Yeah, Cardoso has started the new season as first choice. Not so sure about the Champions League quarters this year. Been drawn a brute of a group. Barcelona, me, Juventus and Wisla Krakow. To make things worse in my first game I went off to Krakow and lost. Not even sure I'm going to make it through the group this year!

[iacovone]

AC Milan just offered an 18 year old to me. His potential is 3.5 stars (ie. not that good) and the price? £114,000,000

Good one.