Gundo's FM12 European Adventure Challenge™

[Gundo]

Gundo - Sola Fotball - Season Review 2017

Adeccoligaen

Final Positon.

Promotion was secured on the last day with a convincing 2-0 home win over HamKam. During the season we battled hard for much of the year, but struggled for form as the end drew closer. While Storvik's form dipped massively, due to tiredness, his involvement in the Norwegian U21's the main contributing factor for this. He got so bad form wise, that I actually dropped him for the final home game despite it being a must win. Still need a scorer, I was never convinced with

Larson

at any point.

Tippeligaen here we come!!

The Players

Godwin Bossman

got injured in our final pre-season friendly with a broken leg and missed the first five months. He did return to play a crucial part in the final third though, including a fine strike in that crucial last match.

Jonas Olsen

don't know what happened with this guy? Completely lost it and will be released unfortunately.:confused:

Sindre Fossan

; Another disappointment, will remain at the club as back up, I think he'll start all our cup games next year.

Alexander Stølås

the captain disappointed hugely and his attributes had never recovered from the broken foot he sustained the previous year.

Daniel Storvik

the boy wonder had an excellent campaign, the creative spark and he also finally signed a new three year deal after months of frustrating negotiations.

Espen Maldal, had to release this fan favourite halfway through the season to balance the books. He had only made two appearances at that point and wasn't in my future plans.

Winger

Kristian Brix

also had a fine season.

Also a season that with a Board takeover and when it finally happened a 2.6m loan followed!

Average attendance:

1022 up from 896 last season.

Next season:

Survival.

Season  |       League       |  Position  |    Europe       |  Cup     | Achievement|Top Scorer      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
2012    |  2.divisjon Avd.3  |    9th     |        -        | 2nd Round|            | Ørjan Nesvik (5)    
2013    |  2.divisjon Avd.3  |    5th     |        -        | 3rd Round|            | Rikard Lindroos (9)   
2014    |  2.divisjon Avd.3  |    1st     |        -        | 3rd Round| Promotion! | Jonas Olsen (16)  
2015    |  Adeccoligaen      |    5th     |        -        | 1st Round|            | Alexander Stølås (9) 
2016    |  Adeccoligaen      |    5th     |        -        | 3rd Round|            | Espen Maldal (9) 
2017    |  Adeccoligaen      |    2nd     |       -         | 3rd Round|            | Nicolai Larson (13)

Follow my progress on twitter.

[Swinburn]

Time to give Gundos a real good go. Was going to do it with Stryn in Norway, but instead, I've gone to Northern Ireland.

Your new manager of Lower Maze, Jordan Swinburn

Done what I did for the Dafuge Challenge. Here is a steam group for this challenge, containing chat!

[Gilbster]

Not chosen a side yet, or definitely 110% a country, but league reset for Republic of Ireland appears to be 2nd Jan this year. So saving on 1st Jan for reloading.

Looks like both leagues are expanding between 2011 and 2012, so glad I chose 2011 as the start season as this way i get 4 teams to chose from per reload!

[Swinburn]

Had a power night last night and managed to finish an entire season. That being said, when you only have 4000 players loaded, the game runs at lightning pace. It also helps playing non-stop till 5 in the morning. Completely forgot about updating, so here's quite a belated, and pretty short update. They're usually a hell of a lot more detailed.

Table

Transfers (1) (2)

Not a bad first season if you ask me, considering the surprising difficulty of this league.

[Swinburn]

Had a power night last night and managed to finish an entire season. That being said, when you only have 4000 players loaded, the game runs at lightning pace. It also helps playing non-stop till 5 in the morning. Completely forgot about updating, so here's quite a belated, and pretty short update. They're usually a hell of a lot more detailed.

Table

Transfers (1) (2)

Not a bad first season if you ask me, considering the surprising difficulty of this league.

Ignore all of this. I just realised I'm running a small db. I thought 4000 was quite small. Stupid tit I am. Restarting. Cheers Gilbster for letting me know

[Gilbster]

Presenting the new manager of Tandragee in Northern Ireland. I'm hoping this will be the start of a long and sucessful career with them, however anyone that has seen me attmempt this challenge will know, it usually takes about 2-3 attempts before i get going so who knows!

[Gundo]

Good Luck in N.Ireland all, good to see more people starting there.

[Swinburn]

Right, back with a large db!

Please welcome the new manager of Dromara Village, or as I'm calling them, The Village People.

Club rule, we have to stay at the local YMCA for away games.

[Gilbster]

Presenting the new manager of Tandragee in Northern Ireland. I'm hoping this will be the start of a long and sucessful career with them, however anyone that has seen me attmempt this challenge will know, it usually takes about 2-3 attempts before i get going so who knows!

Well I predicted multiple attempts and I was relegated in the first season of Tandragee which may be a good things as I couldnt spell them anyway. Back to the drawing board and will be back wtih a new team later!

[Swinburn]

(I'm going to have a bit of fun with my updates for this, so just roll with it )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Championship 2 Shock As Village People Top Chart

By Clarence Levanski

Dromara Village have shocked the entirety of Championship 2 after reaching the top of the league after 7 games. The Villagers went to first after beating Armagh 2-1 at Holm Park. After the game, Dromara manager Jordan Swinburn said the following...

After our shaky start to the season, I told the lads that there was no need to feel down. I told them to pick themselves up from the ground and we went to Killymoon and proved there was no need to be unhappy. It's fair to say that after that game, we had a good run of results and we're doing a lot better than anyone expected.

Dromara's great start to the season has been the work of Swinburn's excellent defence for a recently promoted side. They have the third best defence in the league so far, strengthened by Swinburn's inspired signings of Romanian full back Silviu Ursu and young goalkeeper Conor Devlin. The signing of Ursu's Romanian counterpart, Ionut Achim, has been another great addition to the squad. If Swinburn can keep up the good work, Dromara could continue to be the surprise package of this season's Championship 2.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(As I said, just roll with it )

[Gilbster]

Loving the update Swinburn.

Given its your fault that I appear to be attempting Northern Ireland, I have decided to take charge of one of the sides I know you wanted (because I am nice like that). - For everyone else we both chat while playing in the steam chat groups set up for this and dafuges challenge, so join us!

As a result introducing the new manager of University of Ulster Coleraine (UUC for short, as I'm not typing the full name ever!) and lovingly nicknamed The Students.

[Gilbster]

Season so far has been 2 wins and some draws and more losses so not too hopeful of my survival chances this time round

[Taunton]

Gundo! Big congrats with the promotion. And I am really impressed that you have done it with so many domestic/nordic players.

Good luck in Tippeligaen. Hope you will manage to stay up.

An welcome to Gilbster and Swinburn. Best of luck in your conquest for that big european trophy.

As for me and my Tollnes save, we are now top of Tippeligaen, 9 games left. It is nerve wrecking, our main rivals, Viking and Rosenborg, are two and three points behind. So we can't afford any slip-ups,

[Gundo]

Gundo! Big congrats with the promotion. And I am really impressed that you have done it with so many domestic/nordic players.

Good luck in Tippeligaen. Hope you will manage to stay up.

An welcome to Gilbster and Swinburn. Best of luck in your conquest for that big european trophy.

As for me and my Tollnes save, we are now top of Tippeligaen, 9 games left. It is nerve wrecking, our main rivals, Viking and Rosenborg, are two and three points behind. So we can't afford any slip-ups,

Cheers Taunton. Hopefully Viking don't pip you to the Title!

[Gilbster]

UUC - Northern Ireland - 2nd Division - 2012/13 End of Season Update

Table | Positions | Transfers | Squad | Finance

First thing I did when joining UUC was hire myself some staff. Not that impressed with the quality of staff on offer but any are better than none. Next thing I did was look for any interested foreign players that I could trial. As a result I have signed some quality looking Bulgarians and also some other young players of nationalities. Some with current ability and a few with huge potential figuring you never know. And I know from experience that in Northern Ireland you end up with a revolving door of players that you try and sell for good profits to work on finances to get up to professional level, so may as well start in the first season!

My only aim for the season was survival, and we did manage to achieve that and smash it by finishing 6th. Our performances in the cups dont need to be mentioned. I generally wont mention cups unless we get to semis at least, as with the amount you could end up playing in Norhtern Ireland, it could be an update dedicated to meaningless cups otherwise!

Also survived a board takeover within the frist months of my management, which is a relief but it has given me the sort of board that veto signings if it means breaking the wage budget, and I dont like chairmen like that.

Aims

Improve on 6th

Get more quality youngsters that arent Northern Irish!

Perhaps sign a 2nd scout to look at exactly same players as the first one!

[Swinburn]

Keeping in tradition with my 'creative updates', roll with it

@OfficialDVFC: Unbelievable result against Linfield. Shame about those two late goals from them to take it to a replay.

@OfficialDVFC: Still, 2-2 against the winners of the Premier Division can't be complained at. Away in the replay, it's going to be tough. UP THE VILLAGERS!

@OfficialDVFC: Wait, the end of that last tweet sounded wrong. GO VILLAGERS!

@OfficialDVFC: 2-0 loss to Linfield. It was always going to be hard. But from the cup to the league, and we're still 1st! 6 points clear! Amazing season.

(In order to avoid double post)

Dromara Village sign young talent

Championship 2 side pick up various youngsters after trial week

Last Updated: 13 April, 2013 9:44am

Dromara Village, currently top of the Northern Irish Championship 2, have announced the signings of various young talent from across the globe.

The signings have come after the club held a trial week in which manager Jordan Swinburn invited a plethora of youngsters. These signings include 18 year old Albanian goalkeeper Paul Michel, the Latvian duo of 17 year old winger Aleksandrs Grigorjevsand 18 year old defender Pavels Vasiljevs, 17 year old Spanish attacker José Gregorio, 16 year old Latvian winger Jurjis Kopca and the Icelandic duo of 16 year old winger Aron Gunnarson and 17 year old attacker Ármann Pétur Sigurdsson. The club have also announced the signing of 17 year old Tahitian defender Tony Wabéalo, who will join in February of next year. The club are said to be signing more of the trialists, with some currently unconfirmed. Sky sources believe one of these unconfirmed signings to be Wallisian Dimitri Malonga.

Swinburn's side are no strangers to young talent. The Dromara first team squad contains 17 year old Romanian duo Silviu Ursu and Ionut Achim, as well as 21 year old goalkeeper Conor Devlin. On the subject of the recent signings, Swinburn said that he is elated with the signings and that many of them will find a place in the squad immediately.

[Gilbster]

UUC - Northern Ireland 2nd Division - 2013/14

Table | Positions | Finances | Transfers | Squad

Let me preface this update by saying yes I tend to play seasons fast, I dont have a life and yeah this is my second season update today!

It was a tough season in some respects as I struggled until about February to get many quality players in. I got a few in here and there but for most of the season, the base of the squad was around the same as last season. That being said we did make some great signings including a 16 year old hungarian goalie who is my current first choice.

Cups were awful again, we cant be lower ranked sides.

In the league we were there or thereabouts all season, It was a very close league campaign and depending on results any of 4 teams could have been the winners on the last day of the season. Unforunately we threw away the opportunity and messed up our run in, and ended up 6th for the 2nd season running. I suppose this is at least confirming we are a second division side. Hopefully we can make a bit more of a push next season.

Career So Far

Season    Division    Pos     Achievments
2012/13   Second Div  6th
2013/14   Second Div  6th

[maisonjaune]

NK Krka Novo Mesto

Season 2013-14 Update

If I've learnt one thing from this season, it's this: 'Score more than them' does not work in the Slovenian League. With our consistent inability to keep it tight at the back, a total of 50 league goals were conceded over 27 matches. In short, it's nowhere near good enough when compared to eventual league champions Interblock, who only let 15 past them all season. Of course, my tactic this season promised goals, and our team provided a fair few too. Scoring 56 did give us a positive goal difference, and also the tag of top scorers in the league but ultimately, it counted for nothing because of our leaky defence.

A season that promised so much at times, amounted to nothing more and nothing less than what we achieved last year. Another 8th place in the table, with, as I expected, the two teams who came up last year returning to Third Division football.

|| Table | Graph ||

Results were very inconsistent this season, which meant we rarely climbed or dropped in the table. 7th and even higher looked possible at times, but with our downturn in form coinciding with Bela Krajina's upturn, at the very end of the season, we slumped back to eighth. The board seem to think that as a result, I've only just managed to survive relegation, while clearly, there is a substantial gap to Izola.

Our total of 36 points, 7 more that last year, shows good improvement, but considering Izola and Odranci offered very little threat, it's not much of an achievement. Still, another 7 points next year and we'd be looking at a top half finish.

4 signings in January this time, and an attempt to switch to a formation with four at the back. Given that before the window, there was not a single player capable of playing left back, and no natural right back, I did what I could to find anyone decent to give me a more solid defence. Can't say it worked, to be honest. Struggled to find any full backs willing to come to the club, so ended up signing two sub-standard players, and didn't bother playing them. The right back, Gregor Ceglaj, has now left the club. He did make one appearance along with Dejan Kos, my left back, but that didn't go very well.

My other two signings didn't exactly hit the ground running. In the first two games after the winter break, both Igor Radetic and Tim Ceh managed to sidelined themselves for a number of weeks. I'm interested to see how Ceh will progress next season. He looks more like a sprinter than a striker, but if he doesn't manage to provide goals, I'm sure I can get a decent sum of money for him.

|| Transfers ||

Player of the season: Matic Seferovic - Bossed the midfield in a number of games, and added the odd goal here and there. The main attraction though is his tally of 11 assists in all competitions, a great effort from him. I'm disappointed I didn't nab a screenshot of him when I signed him last July.

Top Goalscorer: Mitja Barboric - If I didn't notice him last season, I couln't fail to this time around. His ability to put away goals grabbed my attention this year, and with 13 goals, he's been a key player this season.

Player to note: Miran Cavnik - I'm not entirely sure where he's popped up from, but the eighteen-year-old is definitely one to watch. He was given his chance in the first team this year, and 7 goals is nothing to complain about. A good prospect.

A few things to finish with:

Finances

Confidence

Cup Run

A pretty good effort in the cup. We managed to knock out Koper, who finished mid-table in the First Division. We couldn't do it against Celje, though, who went on to finish 2nd in the top divison too.

Next season: I would like to find myself somewhere in the top half, but my main aim is to concede less than 35 goals. Provided we keep scoring ourselves ^_^

Season  |          League           |  Position  |  Europe  |       Cup       |    Achievement   | Top Scorer   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13/14   |  Slovenian Second League  |   8th/10   |    -     |  Quarter Final  | Highest Scorers  |  Mitja Barboric (13)        
12/13   |  Slovenian Second League  |   8th/10   |    -     |        -        |     Survival     |  Mitja Barboric (7)

[Gundo]

Sindre Fossan just got on the score sheet in a 1-2 home defeat against the team to beat in the Tippeligaen Rosenborg, he is the only player that's been with me from day one.

Apps. 156

Goals 20

Ass. 19

Av. Rating 6.85

[maisonjaune]

NK Krka Novo Mesto

There is very little to talk about in the way of transfers at the end of August 2014. Just three free transfers came in this year, and again, they were lower league players whose contracts ran out.

After what you might call a spectacular failure in trying to make a 4-in-defence formation work, I have signed right-back Darko Babic to give it another go. Couldn't find another left-back worth signing, so Dejan Kos will hope to impress after being the worst player on the pitch in my 5-1 loss to Interblock last season.

This season, I am moving Dejan Kern out of the centre back position I've been making him play, and allowing him to play what I call the Cheick Tioté role, his favoured position. As a replacement, Ivan Filipovic will partner my regular defender Zan Cankar, which, I hope, will make for a sturdy defence this campaign.

Another striker came in, Nace Kosmac, simply to provide options up front, should injuries or bad form come about.

After the opening day, no other movement occurred within the club, apart from my release of Nebojsa Karamarkovic, after his contract expired in June. Four other players were deemed surplus to requirements, so were allowed to leave.

Summer Transfers, 2014

Squad

Finally, a decent formation that gives us some chance of keeping the other team out. Hopefully the strength of my attacking players will keep the goals coming, and we might make some progress up the table.

----------------------------------------------------

Three league games in, and things are looking promising. We've taken 9 points, scored four, and have conceded none. The only other team yet to concede are the team relegated from the First League, so it is nearly something to shout about. Top of the league going into September, but we have a tough game against Aluminij next.

Our cup dream was cut short early, with a visit from top division Nafta. A 2-1 defeat is respectable, but with the winner being a 90+3 minute penalty, it was frustrating to say the least.

Looking forward to the next update, hopefully I'll have some success to report on.

[Swinburn]

(Although this update was just done, I've already gone into December in my new season)

Dromara Village: Season Review

Dromara Village supporters celebrate great season

Last Updated: June 19, 2013 10:51

Dromara Village surprised followers of the Championship 2 as they won the league after only being promoted the season before.

Club Info | Table | Position Graph | Squad (1) (2) | Confidence | Finances | Transfers (1) (2)

Dromara Village will be part of the Championship 1 as of next season after winning the league with a game to go, beating Queens University to the title. The Villagers were only promoted last season but manager Jordan Swinburn managed to take the side straight to the top. Key players included Dylan Cobb, Silviu Ursu, Ionut Achim and top scorer Wayne Lorrimer.

Swinburn was quoted as saying that the promotion was completely down to the fantastic performances of the players and the young signings late in the season. He continued to say that he hopes the players can continue the good work in the new season.

[Gilbster]

UUC - Northern Ireland 2014/15 End of Season Update

Table | Positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Cups were ok, got to Quarter final of the league cup where we lost to Linfield, and knocked out a few First Div clubs out of the varying cups. While this was going on for first half of season we were unbeaten in the league, unfortunately that never lasts and ultimately it was ours to lose. However we did hold on just about and last day of season we were named Champions. Promotion is ours.

Impressed we got promoted with a 17 year old goalie, and a bunch of other youngsters. Didnt make major transfers but those I did have all been really useful.

Aims

Survival

Stop losing to non league sides in cups on a regular basis

Career So Far

Season    Division    Pos     Achievments
2012/13   Second Div  6th
2013/14   Second Div  6th
2014/15   Second Div  1st     Champions and Promoted. League Cup Quarters

[Gundo]

Well on done on your promotions Swinburn and Gilbster.

[Gilbster]

Thanks Gundo. Hows your season with Sola going?

[vurogj]

Vurogj's Belgian mission | Sprimont | Belgian Pro League | 2015-16 Season

League : 9th | Progress chart | Fixtures

Euro Places playoff : Semi-finals | Fixtures

Belgian Cup : Semi-finals

Transfer report

I'm fairly pleased with myself, I managed to reduce the squad size this season, and resist the temptation to bloat the squad even more with the players out there my scouts keep drooling over. We are now good enough to attract players touted as "the next" whoever, with Mazari (dual nationality Belgian/Algerian) being talked about as the next Emile Mpenza. That would suit me fine, I liked Mpenza as a player. I like Mazari when he's playing too, and not injured. None of the other incoming transfers are really stars (yet), just solid Pro League squad talent. Maybe if I try spending money I'll get a star...

Ghiles Mazari

Season report

Overall, a good season, but a testing one.

The Belgian Super Cup was up first, and we took it a little more seriously than Anderlecht to score a 1-0 win. They didn't have a single shot on target the whole game.

The less said about Europe the better, we drew Fiorentina in the 4th qualifying round and got spanked 3-0 and 4-0 to leave early.

In the league, a lack of talent really showed in the early stages of the season, our first win not coming until the 7th game, and future wins being sporadic enough to surprise people. Westerlo and Lokeren both sacked their managers after defeats to us, which provided some needed light relief. Obviously 12.1.1 came in during this season, and if I'm honest, I think it helped me a little. As a manager I've got a cup and league win, which I think impressed the free transfers I've built the team on. We certainly picked up after christmas, and but for a horrible run of injuries to my attackers ; 6 of the 8 squad members who can play ST spent parts of Mar-May injured ; in the later stages of the season, we could have pushed for 7th or 8th.

As for defending our Belgian Cup, it went smoothly enough, until an absolute horror show trying to defend a 3-1 first league lead in the semi-final against Brugge, a 1-4 defeat, knocked out and filing it away as "one of those days" is about all I can do with that.

Squad report

Much the same as last season, DC and MC need the most work, my first choices in the other positions are certainly adequate. MC will be getting a HUGE boost in the summer, as for some unimaginable reason, Barcelona let this guy's contract run down, and I've lured him to come join us. He is hailed as the next Lionel Messi.

Vicente Munoz

Short term plan from last season

"Stay up. Build a Professional club. Easy." The staying up was indeed easy, the building a Pro club is taking time. Facilities are still sub standard for my liking, and the youth system is years away from being good enough.

Short term plan for next season

Top 6, if only to avoid much of the late season confusion. Belgian playoffs make no sense to me.

Other news

The board have decided we need undersoil heating, so I'm ground sharing with Hasselt until next March. Hasselt? Didn't think I'd need google maps in one of these, but apparently Hasselt is 66km away, and you drive through the centre of Liege to get there. They have a 10k stadium (twice my current size), but no undersoil heating. Meanwhile, a mere 30km away, is Seraing's home ground, a massive 14000 capacity (again with no undersoil heating). Also note that Belgium has a (small) winter break, and I've only seen three games in this career so far called off for cold weather. The £2.5M this is costing us is nicely offset by the £2.5M league prize money, but I had better plans for that money.

Belgium in the world

Another poor showing from Belgian clubs in Europe as we chase Ukraine for an extra European place, but at least Shakhtar only came third in their Champions League group. What? They went on to win the Europa League? Beating Galatasaray in the final? And Turkey are right behind Belgium in the coefficients? Ouch.

Season	Div  Place  Cup  C.League  Europa    Other                     Pro League rank  Belgium coeff.
2012-13	3A   1st    4th  N/A       N/A	     Promoted as champions     19th             11th
2013-14	2    3rd    6th  N/A       N/A	     2nd in promotion playoff  16th             10th
2014-15	2    2nd    WON  N/A       N/A       Promoted through playoff  14th             10th
2015-16 1    9th    S/F  N/A       4th Qual                            11th             10th

[Gundo]

Thanks Gundo. Hows your season with Sola going?

After a decent start it has started to fade and we are now in an almighty relegation battle. Hopefully we will have enough to survive...

[Swinburn]

Dromara Village: Season Review

Dromara Village supporters celebrate another great season

Last Updated: June 19, 2014 18:17

Dromara Village cause consecutive shocks as they once again get promoted.

Club Info | Table | Position Graph | Squad (1) (2) | Confidence | Finances | Transfers (1) (2)

Dromara Village shocked Northern Ireland again as they won the league on the final day of the season. Jordan Swinburn's Villagers were only promoted the season before, gaining consecutive promotions. Key players included top scorer Pall Sigurdsson, José Gregorio, Denver Gage and Aron Gunnarsson.

Season Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13         Championship 2        1st               Promoted - Champions 
2013/14         Championship 1        1st               Promoted - Champions

[Gilbster]

Congrats on back to back promotions Swinburn. I'll catch you up again if its the last thing I do!

[Swinburn]

Cheers Gundo (previous promotion) and Gilbster (recent one)! I imagine I'll be struggling in the Premier League for a few years yet, especially with my transfer ideology for this game. Taking huge risks using the guys I have.

[vurogj]

I definitely approve of your spend no money policy Swinburn, but how do you manage with squad unity/tactic cohesion?

[Swinburn]

I definitely approve of your spend no money policy Swinburn, but how do you manage with squad unity/tactic cohesion?

I had a few unhappy guys, who if they start dropping morale, are released. I'm quite cutthroat. As for tactics, they're fairly good with them. I stick to either 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1.

[Gilbster]

UUC - First Division 2015/16 End of Season Update

Table

Brill first season in the first division. At times I thought relegation was possible and since its a short season and a close division, we ended up finishing 4th, 1 point away from the promotion playoff place, which is something to build on.

Merry christmas everyone!

Career So Far

Season    Division    Pos     Achievments
2012/13   Second Div  6th
2013/14   Second Div  6th
2014/15   Second Div  1st     Champions and Promoted. League Cup Quarters
2015/16   First Div   4th

[Taunton]

Taunton - Tollnes - Season review - 2021 - Norwegian Premier division

Table (2nd)

Best league placing ever. We were in front when we went into the last third of the season. But Rosenborg refused to drop points, and after all I am happy with second place and our first shot at Europe.

Still no major trophies, but I feel that we are near something good now. Hopefully we can get a good run in Europe, and earn some money along the way.

I also was voted manager of the year.

Best player and top scorer: Tomasz Frankowski, Did best in the first half, and lost his place in the second. But managed to chip in a lot of goals and was our best player overall. Great striker. Repeated this feat from last year.

Economy: http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll107/taunton_01/FMbilder/TollnesStyrerom_konomi-2-2.png[/img]"]Solid. Second place meant more prize money. We also had a take over attempt that failed.

Key: This season (Last season)

Wage budget: Nkr 285.000 p/w (157.500 Nkr p/w)

Transfer budget: 15 mill. Nkr p/w (14 mill. Nkr p/w)

(For pounds, just divide the number with ten)

Av. attendance: 3663 (2988)

Players in: 9 (18)

Players out: 12 ( 10 )

Aim for next year is to knock Rosenborg off their perch.

Season | League   | Position  |   Cup   |  Europe    |      Top scorer          |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
2012   | 2. div   |    11[sUP]th[/sUP]   | 1.rnd   |    N/A     |  Issa Ibrahim Malam     (9)          
2013   | 2. div   |     9[sUP]th[/sUP]   | 1.rnd   |    N/A     |  Torstein Mjønner      (10)
2014   | 2. div   |     6[sUP]th[/sUP]   | 1.rnd   |    N/A     |  Thomas Larsen         (12)
2015   | 2. div   |     1[sUP]st[/sUP]   | 2.rnd   |    N/A     |  Atli Heimisson        (12)
2016   | 1. div   |     4[sUP]th[/sUP]   | 4.rnd   |    N/A     |  Bryan Morel           (22)
2017   | 1. div   |     4[sUP]th[/sUP]   | Q-final |    N/A     |  Bryan Morel           (21)
2018   | 1. div   |     1[sUP]st[/sUP]   | 4.rnd   |    N/A     |  Michael Mortensen     (21)
2019   |  Prem.   |     6[sUP]th[/sUP]   | Q-final |    N/A     |  Michael Mortensen     (17)
2020   |  Prem.   |    12[sUP]th[/sUP]   | 3.rnd   |    N/A     |  Tomasz Frankowski     (11)
2021   |  Prem.   |    2[sUP]nd[/sUP]    | Q-final |    N/A     |  Tomasz Frankowski     (19)

[Gundo]

Well done Taunton, great finish. I have a feeling Rosenborg will be my nemesis again when I get close to challenging also.

Good luck next year.

[Biscotti]

Biscotti's Belgian Adventure | RFC Liége | Belgian Pro League | 2015/16 Season

League: 9th | Past Positions (Predicted 14th)

Belgian Cup: 7th Round (0-2 vs. Standard)

Transfers

I was offered a considerably bigger wage budget than I expected, and as a result I brought in quite a few more players than I was intending. Thanks to our solid enough league campaign we managed to finish profitable, but honestly I was hoping to do a little better after we had a great start to the season. For next year I'll be looking to maintain roughly the same wage expenditure but push the team higher up the table.

The squad

GK: Arnar Pétursson

DL: Jean-Christophe Roger

DR: Michaël Jonckheere

DC: Fazli Kocabaş

DC: Altin Pëlleshi

MC: Jore Trompet

MC: Julien Villard

AML: Carlos

AMR: Diogo Cunha

ST: Ali Sobhy

ST: Mario Spehar

Nobody really had a season of brilliance. In fact, the best I can say is that most of my starting players played to a satisfactory level. There are going to be quite a number of changes over the summer, though. Some for financial reasons (Spehar, Villard) and some because I'm not entirely happy with the level of performance versus their wage (Roger). I do have to be careful with any new signings though, as I'm still playing right along the edge of the home-grown rules.

[b]Biscotti's Belgian Adventure[/b]

Season	League		Position	Cup		Europe		Coefficient Rank	Belgian Pro League Rank
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13	3rd Div A	1st		6th round	N/A		N/A			15th
2013/14	2nd League	4th		5th Round	N/A		N/A			17th
2014/15	2nd League	1st		6th Round	N/A		N/A			13th
2015/16	Pro League	9th		7th Round	N/A		N/A			18th

[Gilbster]

UUC - Northern Ireland First Division 2016/17

Table | Positions | Transfers

Impressive season, I was signing players throughout it, although the Czech goalie I really really want, has had his transfer vetoed 3 times so far just because it will break my wage budget too much. Will keep persisting and hopefully the board will relent. Amazingly there are more players wanting to come to me this season, and have even got a pair of leading premier division central defenders in, that will be fantastic for next season.

Really happy with not only promotion but also winning the division by a margin. Hopefully the promotion wage rises wont bankrupt me completely and I'll have some budget left for getting players in. All I want from the next season is survival. Once I get established in the Northern Irish Prem then I can work on total domination!

Career So Far

Season    Division    Pos     Achievments
2012/13   Second Div  6th
2013/14   Second Div  6th
2014/15   Second Div  1st     Champions and Promoted. League Cup Quarters
2015/16   First Div   4th
2016/17   First Div   1st     Champions and Promoted. 

[vurogj]

Welcome back the thread Biscotti, good to see a fellow Belgian adventurer again. I agree about the HG rules, I've just started bumping against the limit in my second Pro League season as well. How is your youth setup looking. Any potential first teamers coming through?

[Biscotti]

Welcome back the thread Biscotti, good to see a fellow Belgian adventurer again. I agree about the HG rules, I've just started bumping against the limit in my second Pro League season as well. How is your youth setup looking. Any potential first teamers coming through?

No, not had much at all come through yet. Facilities are still really poor and with finances only just on the mend it'll be a while before I can afford to invest. In all honesty, I've not been away from the thread - still reading updates most days - I've just not been playing very quickly and not felt I'd be contributing much to post some perfunctory congratulations.

That being said, it's good to see lots of progress being made.

[maisonjaune]

NK Krka Novo Mesto

Season 2014-15 Update

This season could not have been any more contrasting with the last one. From having one of the weakest defences in the league, we now boast the tightest defence in Slovenia. My target of conceding less than 35 goals was easily achieved, with a back four who regularly played together all season. Only conceding 17 goals meant we could regularly pick up points, and it didn't stop us from scoring either, with a total of 48 league goals.

This effective combination of attack and defence resulted in Krka becoming the season's overachievers, and a finishing position of 1st. To be quite honest, it seemed likely after about 15 games, but I could never tell if we were about to return to our old ways. Still, we sealed the title with 3 games to spare, but I was sure of the title about 6 games from the end, when we had a 12 point lead.

|| Table | Graph ||

I can't say much else after that, it speaks for itself really. Our early disappointment in the cup was more than made up for by winning the title.

Nothing to talk about regarding January transfers. I didn't feel the need for any, with the league performance up to then.

We have signed Stevan Bajic in the first few days of this summer window, a Serbian free agent who looks promising. I think the squad will need refining quite a bit for football in the First League, but with the club in a poor financial state, I doubt there will be money to spend this year. I will scour the free transfer market for anything available, but I'm not too optimistic for next season.

|| Transfers ||

The board have announced an upgrade to our stadium, which will be completed some time in March next year. For now, we move to Sportni park Ivancna Gorica, a 5000 all-seater. Considering we have an average attendance of about 70, I see little point. Apparently the upgrade is to conform with league regulations, and 1000 seats will be added taking our capacity to 2500, I think.

|| Facilities ||

Player of the season: Matic Seferovic - Another top quality season from him, he provided 11 assists and 5 goals. He wasn't my highest rated player, but that person comes next...

Top Goalscorer: Tim Ceh - This lad isn't just a sprinter after all. He was brilliant in the goals department, and nabbed an average rating of 7.26. His 15 goals were invaluable this season, and he looks like a great capture. May it continue for many years.

And finally...

Finances

Confidence

Next season: Simple. All I want is to somehow avoid relegation. To stay out of the relegation playoff would be a bonus too, because I wouldn't fancy play Aluminij, Gorica or anyone in the Second Division in a one-game shoutout for top division football. 8th place is what I want.

Season  |          League           |  Position  |  Europe  |       Cup       |       Achievement     | Top Scorer   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14/15   |  Slovenian Second League  |   1st/10   |    -     |    1st Round    | Promoted as Champions | Tim Ceh (15)
13/14   |  Slovenian Second League  |   8th/10   |    -     |  Quarter Final  |    Highest Scorers    | Mitja Barboric (13)        
12/13   |  Slovenian Second League  |   8th/10   |    -     |        -        |        Survival       | Mitja Barboric (7)

(Apologies for the taskbar at the bottom, my new laptop doesn't seem to do print screen when FM is in full screen mode)

[Swinburn]

(Two updates here. Hectic few days, so I played whenever I could, forgetting to update. You'll have to excuse the first update, it'll be a bit less detailed considering I stupidly forgot some screenshots before playing another full season. It wasn't very exciting anyway, whereas update two is.)

Dromara Village: Season Review

Dromara Village avoid relegation

Last Updated: June 19, 2015 07:12

Dromara Village supporters celebrate surprising survival.

Table | Squad (1) (2) | Transfers (1) (2)

Season Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13         Championship 2        1st               Promoted - Champions 
2013/14         Championship 1        1st               Promoted - Champions
2014/15         Premiership           11th              Avoided Relegation

[Swinburn]

Dromara Village: Season Review

Dromara Village do double

Last Updated: June 19, 2016 18:17

Dromara Village supporters are celebrating after the club won both the league, League Cup and County Antrim Shield.

Club Info | Table | Position Graph | Cup Fixtures | Squad (1) (2) (3) | Confidence | Finances | Transfers (1) (2)

Key Player: Valdiney

Season Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13         Championship 2        1st               Promoted - Champions 
2013/14         Championship 1        1st               Promoted - Champions
2014/15         Premiership           11th              Avoided Relegation
2015/16         Premiership           1st               Champions, League Cup Winners, County Antrim Shield Winners

[Swinburn]

(Apologies for the triple post, but I hate things looking cluttered)

Dromara Village, The Ultimate Underdog

By Clarence Levanski

Ever since Jordan Swinburn took over at Dromara Village since they entered the Championship 2 in 2012, the club has done nothing but cause a storm in Northern Ireland. From the word go, Swinburn took Dromara to the Premiership in consecutive seasons on the proverbial 'shoestring budget'. Not a penny has been spent at Dromara, yet the transfers have been in their masses, both incoming and outgoing. Swinburn quickly brought an array of young talent from all over the globe to the club, at one point signing players from San Marino, Andorra and Liechenstein. However, despite the old phrase of "you can't win anything with kids", Swinburn proved that you can if they're talented enough. Fast forward to 2016, Dromara's second Premiership season. Completely written off from the start, the team proved the nation and indeed the footballing world wrong, winning 2 cups and the league. This feat was achieved due to the fantastic work of players such as Valdiney, Hegarty and El Omari. But the big news was that Dromara Village were to enter the Champions League, and this is where the real story begins.

To begin their Champions League journey, Dromara were faced with the challenge of beating Rapid Wien. Having made two signings at this point, both of which missed the registration date by a day, Swinburn was relying on the players who had served him so well in their stunning previous season. I'll admit, I for one expected Dromara to be completely outclassed. I didn't think they had a chance, and then the following happened. Rapid Wien went to the small village of Dromara and the tiny team in County Down, with a population of under 600, and were held to a 1-1 draw. This in itself was a shocker, let alone what happened next. Dromara travelled to Austria and did what I thought impossible, won 3-1.

So, the villagers progressed to the next round. Much like the Village People, surely a one hit wonder, right? Wrong! Dromara shocked once again, albeit this time, by away goals. Dromara faced Legia, and drew 2-2 away, and 0-0 at home. The plucky Northern Irish side had made it to the Champions Playoff of the Champions League. Partizan came next. You could look back and maybe be forgiven for favouring Dromara against Rapid Wien and Legia, but against Partizan, I don't think anyone would bet against them losing. But, if you did, you may very well be a rich, rich person. Dromara pulled off yet another shock. They went to Belgrade and held Partizan to a 0-0 draw. In the return leg at home, they stunned the Serbs with a 1-0 win.

With that win, Dromara Village entered the Champions League group stages. Read that again. Dromara Village, yes, Village. You know your local pub team? Well imagine them playing in the Champions League, and that's effectively what you have here. But alas, the group stage draw loomed. Dromara supporters knew that this would probably be the biggest moment the club will ever see. So, when the draw did come, Dromara fans were swept with a wave of both excitement and a feeling of disaster. Lyon, Bayern Munich and Zenit. No group was going to be easy, but this was possibly one of the worst possible ones. There's more chance of Fergie retiring, Arsenal winning the Premier League, Celtic and Rangers joining the Premier League, Fernando Torres scoring 30 in a season, Barcelona getting relegated, a season in Italy without sackings or match fixing scandals, Basel winning the Champions League and England winning the World Cup... all in one season, than Dromara getting third, let alone through to the last 16, regardless of who they were drawn with.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them actually do it. They've won me over like no other club has before. I think they've won most football fans over. They are the ultimate underdog, and that's why people love them. But when was the last time you saw this big of an underdog get to the later stages of the Champions League? When was the last time you saw an underdog of this nature even in the Europa League? They've done nothing but shock me, so you never know with Swinburn's side, but it's going to take a miracle for them to do anything in that group.

[Gilbster]

Congrats Swinburn, Europe already after 4 seasons thats gonna be fun.

edit: Having now seen the info wordy post, wow, Congrats on getting to the Champions League group stage. If nothing else you must be one of the richest clubs in Northen Ireland and this will definitely help raise the rep of Northern Ireland especially if you can repeat it again next season!

[Gilbster]

UUC - Northern Ireland Premier Div - 2017/18

Table

Pretty good first Premier Division season, managed to finish in 6th and was never in danger of relegation. I seem to be signing players faster than I can play them but a lot are accepting amateur contracts so at least they dont cost anything to remove or pay or anything. If the get poached then never mind.

Career So Far

Season    Division     Pos   Points  Irish Cup   League Cup   Europe   Coeff     Achievments
2012/13   Second Div   6th   44      2nd R       1st R        n/a      n/a
2013/14   Second Div   6th   48      3rd R       2nd R        n/a      n/a
2014/15   Second Div   1st   61      2nd R       QF           n/a      n/a       Champions and Promoted. 
2015/16   First Div    4th   43      3rd R       2nd R        n/a      n/a
2016/17   First Div    1st   52      5th R       2nd R        n/a      n/a       Champions and Promoted. 
2017/18   Premier Div  6th   51      QF          QF           n/a      n/a

[vurogj]

Vurogj's Belgian mission | Sprimont | Belgian Pro League | 2016-17 Season

League : 1st | Progress chart | Fixtures

Chapionship playoff : Winner | Fixtures

Belgian Cup : Final

Transfer report

Relatively quiet for a change, just moving a few players out who weren't developing fast enough and loaning out a few to our feeder club (of which I now have two, hopefully they prove useful). As far as incoming players go, I mentioned Munoz in my last update, and he was almost as good as promised, not at MC as I'd hoped (of which more later), but at AMR which he made his own. He's no longer the new Messi, now the media say he's the new Xavi. Strange. Pasca came in on a free when I hit an injury crisis at DC, and proved useful enough for me to let Wantens go in January. The two January signings are very long term ideas, being potential first teamers, but more importantly having the personality of "Model Professional". Borup also has 20 Determination, I can't wait until he's eligible to tutor people.

Johan Borup

Season Report

Also known as "the year when it all clicked". A tough away win at Standard set the scene, and the increased squad Determination I've been working towards really helped us, no more so than in the December match against Anderlecht when we threw away a 2 goal lead, only to secure a 3-2 win in the 94th minute. We didn't lose until January, and going into the Championship playoffs, I was really feeling confident.

Football has a funny way of kicking you in the teeth.

An inexplicable and abject run of form followed, that dropped us to third in April, and then Anderlecht (who are now my favourite non-Sprimont team) coughed up two cheap goals in the first five minutes on the way to a 5-0 half time lead and win. Confidence restored, we cruised through to our first ever title. Sprimont will be entering the Champions League at the group stages next year!

As for the cup, we had a bit of a scare against second division Namur, but were otherwise untroubled until the final where Brugge (who are not my favourite non-Sprimont team) turned us over for the second successive year in the cup.

Squad Report

The perennial MC troubles were averted by Eduardo and Bayrakci starting to realise their long held promise. Without ever really looking good, or playing well, they got the job done. Similarly at DC, where Pasca joined with Neubauer and Bouwhuis to just do enough. Ghiles Mazari is the obvious star though, his 34 league goals leaving him 11 ahead of his nearest rival. Leeds are sniffing around him. Good luck lads. This doesn't mean I'm not strengthening though, with a handy looking Tunisian who can cover both MC and DC, Ikbal Bahri, coming in the summer.

There are two concerns, one is the home grown status of the squad, although that will be helped by the 4 that earn HG status this summer (both MCs among them), and the other is contract dates. Bayrakci, Eduardo and Mazari's all expire next summer. Better get those sorted ASAP.

Ghiles Mazari

Ikbal Bahri

Short term plan from last season

"Top 6." Done.

Short term plan for next season

Facilities. I've already started on the training facilities, but Champions League means pots of cash, so how about I actually get prepared to take Belgium over. Stay at the top end of the table would be nice too.

Other news

The undersoil heating at Sprimont Stadium was completed in March, and we moved back home (shame really, I was loving the gate receipts from a 10k base), to find the builders had converted most of the ground to seating as well. We now have the most expensive matchday tickets in Belgium.

Stadium work completed

**Update**

Stadium expansion a go go, 2692 more seats going in in the next 5 months, very handy. Sadly the £3M this is costing means the board are cancelling the training upgrade. On balance, I'll take the extra seats thanks.

Stadium expansion

**Facepalm update**

TWO HOURS after cancelling the training upgrade, we get the £4M prize money for winning the League. Sometimes, this game...

Belgium in the world

Another poor year, Brugge scoring nul point in their Champions League group, and Shakhtar keeping Ukraine ticking along nicely. Turkey overtook us as well.

Season	Div  Place  Cup    C.League  Europa    Other                     Pro League rank  Belgium coeff.
2012-13 3A   1st    4th    N/A       N/A       Promoted as champions     19th             11th
2013-14 2    3rd    6th    N/A       N/A       2nd in promotion playoff  16th             10th
2014-15 2    2nd    WON    N/A       N/A       Promoted through playoff  14th             10th
2015-16 1    9th    S/F    N/A       4th Qual                            11th             10th
2016-17 1    1st    Final  N/A       N/A       Champions!                10th             11th

[Swinburn]

Nice one on the league win Vurogj! Shame about your facepalm-worthy board though.

Good luck in the Champions League.

[Gundo]

The National team did brilliantly to qualify from this group.

[Gundo]

That is then followed by a win over Chile on penalties in the second phase and then this (WOW).

Look at the shot count!

They eventually went down 1-4 to Argentina in the semi's, but what a run!

[Nunnsta]

Hello All!

I never done a challenge before and thought that I'd give this a try! I've always had a thing for the Belgian Leagues so am going to give it a go. So you are now looking at the new manager for [/url] K berchem Sport 2004. I hope I've done everything right, but if I haven't someone let me know and i'll start again doing it properly.

The club expect a top half finish and the media prdict a respectable 7th position, so I'm hoping for a solid season! Hopefully this is the start to a long career save!!

[vurogj]

You've got an extra http:// on the end of your link, which breaks it, but otherwise, looks good.

I almost chose Berchem when I started my challenge, as they play in yellow (the colour of the Mighty 'Orns), but was put off by the predicted position being mid-table (I wasn't confident). I've had another look at my initial save and they look pretty good, nice big stadium which will help long term. Good luck!

EDIT : Adding in for the benefit of Gundo. I never actually confirmed I this, even though I kept the saves, but Belgium's confirmed reset date is 29th June. Save on 28th if you want to spam for different teams by playing the next day a few times.