ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Interesting formation having all your midfielders attacking. The idea is to get men behind the ball and break quickly so I needed the attacking duty for them to get forward in support. Only a few games in but it's working quite well. The oppositon have plenty of the ball (possession is around 60/40 in their favour) but can't break through the nine players in front of them. It leads to me having a lot more shots and CCC's when we counter attack. I have tweaked it slightly with one of the CM now playing as an attacking advanced playmaker. Martin looks a brilliant propsect! I certainly agree about Martin - he looks to be fantastic for you, should be the first name on the team sheet when it comes to your midfield! He certainly is the first name down. Started very well and hope I can keep him for a while. Interesting move from Chelsea all the way down to the Spanish lower leagues but hopefully this team reignites your passion!How are Stoke doing? I saw they were just promoted back to the Premier League but were sitting in the relegation zone mid-season. Only played 8 games so far but already a lot more enjoyable than Chelsea. Loving every goal scored, hating every one conceded. Unfortunately Stoke got relegated and haven't started too well in the Championship either as they sit mid table Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Mid-Season Update League - Results - Squad Not quite sure how but we currently sit top of the league at the halfway stage. Started off really well and didn't suffer a defeat until October when we visited lowly Hospitalet. It was a game we dominated but we couldn't test the keeper and most shots were off target. This led to a run of 4 defeats in 5 games and had me questioning the formation. The next game up was against top flight Valladolid and I didn't really want to change against them. Unfortunately, my first choice left winger was injured and second choice on international duty. I decided to change to my usual 4312 formation rather than play someone out of position. It almost paid off too as we drew 3-3. 1-0 down from the first leg and we went ahead 3 times in the 2nd leg but couldn't hold on or find a winner near the end. The performance was good enough to convince me to continue with the formation. We are now on an 8 match unbeaten run and only conceded twice. Star of the show so far is Iribarren. 16 goals in all competitions and also set a few up, hope to keep him fit as we perform a lot better with him in the team. After a promising start Martin has started to fade and we are not getting the performances I expected. He's still young though so we will keep at it with him. Not sure promotion would be the best thing at the moment. I wouldn't say no if we managed it but the squad is nowhere near good enough for the step up. Another season in the second division would help the youngsters to develop. Very suprised at the financial situation with the club. We are making a profit of £224k for the season but still can't get the board to increase the youth facilities. Hope if we can keep making a profit they will give in. Planning on staying around for a few years so need better facilities to get some homegrown talent. Few clubs have approached me but all turned down. Job offers included Stoke, Benfica, Gremio, AZ and Willem II. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dejay Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 It's all going well then What would the pay out be like if you were promoted? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 It's all going well then What would the pay out be like if you were promoted? Better than expected No idea what the pay out is like for the league. Doesn't show it in the league rules page like other divisions. Wouldn't imagine it would be a lot though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 A great first season in Spain! Huegues looks to be the maestro in the midfield, but Iribarren has definitely been the star of the show. Your defense has been spectacular, though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Still got a lot to do though, the top places look fairly close. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Going good so far. Can never really complain when sitting top of the pile . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 A great first season in Spain!Huegues looks to be the maestro in the midfield, but Iribarren has definitely been the star of the show. Your defense has been spectacular, though Huegues has really come to the fore since I reverted back to the 4312 formation. He has been dictating play from the AM position, spreading the ball about and running at the defence. Scored some brilliant goals too. The defensive unit have really suprised me. If we could defend set pieces and the keeper didn't faff about when on the ball we would have conceded a lot less. Still got a lot to do though, the top places look fairly close. Not counting my chickens yet. It's very close and a few bad defeats will see us fall away. Going good so far. Can never really complain when sitting top of the pile . Definitely worse places to be at the halfway stage than top of the league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Huge shock leaving Chelsea for them. However, it seems to have paid off with your great start! Fingers crossed you stay there! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Looking good so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotChocolate Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Strong start to the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roganp Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Fantastic start. Good luck for the rest of the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Cheers fellas. Started off with a loss after the break but picked up again and still going well. Conceding more than I'd like at the moment though. Youth intake just come through. Not much to shout about but 3 prospects. Garcia could possibly make a decent LB. The other two 4* potentials don't look like much at the moment Oscar Garcia Waldo Lopez Pedro Til Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iHeadHunta x Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Those 3 youngsters look like good players for the future! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cragswfc Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Waldo Lopez looks like he be a very good future Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Looking good so far, even after a very sticky patch in October. Hopefully that's your bad form done for the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 2022-2023 Season Review League - Results - Squad Summary Got beat by Osasuna on the return from the winter break and then started conceding a few. Had me a bit concerned we wouldn't hold on at the top but I had nothing to worry about. It was stroll in the end as we went on an 18 match unbeaten run, winning the league by 15 points. Winning the league doesn't get you promotion in Spain. It has to be done via the play offs. The draw was made and I had to face B1 winners Ponferradina. I dominated the first leg but couldn't make the break through and it finished 0-0. The 2nd leg started off the same and they couldn't get the ball in the back of the net. Five mins before half time Iribarren found a way through to put us one up at half time. Second half was even better as he grabbed another four goals to give us a 5-0 win. At this point I wasn't sure if we were promoted or not. Press conference said we were but nothing appeared in my inbox and we had a final against Cordoba in a weeks time. First leg was quite an even affair. Palero put us ahead from a set piece but they grabbed a late equaliser. Four minutes into added time we were awarded a penalty. Iribarren confidently strode up and blazed it over the bar! The ref then blew the whistle straight away to leave it 1-1. The second leg was a proper end to end game. Due to the away goal they had and not knowing if we were already promoted or not I went for it in. Couldn't make any impact in the first half and then 10 mins into the second half they scored. I decided it was all or nothing at this point and really went for it. Equaliser came in the 82nd minute from the unlikely Algorta. He had been nothing but a peripheral figure all year but stepped up when it mattered. Into extra time and Cordoba scored quite early for a 3-2 aggregate lead. I had no substitutes left to use and my team were knackered so when Algorta stepped up just after the break for another equaliser I couldn't believe it. The game stayed 2-2 amd I knew we were definitely promoted. Seasonal Best XI Fans Player of The Year Managers Player of The Year Iribarren grabbed himself 36 goals for the season and the best average rating so the fans were always going to pick him. For me it was between Huegues and Pinto. Huegues was brilliant in the AM role scoring and creating in equal measure. I have given the award to Pinto though due to the tireless effort he put in all year. Played every game of the season in the RB role which is quite demanding in my formation. Not only did he defend well he also grabbed himself 9 assists. Great effort all round. Going Forward Need to make some signings, no two ways about it. We overperformed and will not be strong enough to stay up. Every poisiton needs improvement and I think only 3 or 4 will be in the first team next year. The aim is survival but the league odds have just been announced and they price us up at 16-1 saying we have an outside chance of going straight up. Boards minimum expectation is safe mid-table so they appear a bit more ambitious than me. Other News Chelsea won the Premier league (The dominant Man Utd came 3rd). Bayern won the Bundesliga. Roma won Serie A. Athletic Madrid won La Liga. Roma beat Man Utd 3-2 a.e.t to win the Champions League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Records Biggest Win: 10-0 v Steinen-Hollstein Biggest League Win: 9-0 v Werder II Heaviest Defeat: 6-0 v Man Utd Top Scorer: Mikel Iribarren 36 goals Record Sale: Bram Ulenaers £20m Record Purchase: Brandao £41m Stats Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 You like the colour blue dont you . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 You like the colour blue dont you . It's what the better half of merseyside wear Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Cheeky sod!!! . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Congrats on winning promotion Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 He likes white more, what the worse half of spain wear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotChocolate Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Solid promotion, interesting to see how you do next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Well done on getting promotion, no easy feat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roganp Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Fantastic first season in charge, congrats on getting promoted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Have I posted in here before? If not, why not? I know I should make some career related post but first things first, I'm going to talk about the Smiths. I love them! Anyway, KUTGW and I'll be following from now on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
City2000 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Great effort to win the league. Will be interesting to see how many new faces you bring in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Cheers guys. Winning the promotion was a bit of a shock. Going to be a long hard season in the second tier though. Brought in quite a few new faces but not all of them have the quality I was looking for. I think they improve on what we had so even if we do get relegated we should be a lot stronger and be able to bounce back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Transfers - Squad 11 new faces at the club but could only move 5 players on. Most of the players kept on are probably more out of sentiment than thinking they can do a job. Jose Pinto retains a squad number due to being my player of the year. Is going to be no more than a squad player but I couldn't bring myself to sell him. Algorta is still at the club due to scoring twice in the final play off game. At 27 he's not going to improve too much but think he may do okay from the bench. Couldn't list Schindler or Javi as both LB seem to have enough potential if not current ability. Javier will be moved to second choice keeper but stays at the club. Midfield was quite strong last year so Martin, Antonio, Vergara and Huegues will all have a part to play again this year. Iribarren has to be given a chance after his massive 36 goals last year. Key Signings Campanero is my new number 1. Not much between him and Javier but the lower eccentricity attribute and better command of the area gets him the nod. Ivan comes in with a pretty big price tag for the club. £800k from Ceuta but he looks a decent all round striker and should compliment Iribarren. Ak will become my new deep lying playmaker. His creativity, tackling and passing make him ideal for the role. Puddu cost £40k from Cremonese. Will slot straight in at RB and I think may prove to be a bargain. Bagur Should strengthen the back line due to having a bit of pace. We lacked and speed at the back last year so hoping he can make a difference. Overall quite happy with the wheeling and dealings. Would have prefered a bit more quality rather than quantity but the wage budget wouldn't allow that. Agreed fees for 3 or 4 players that would have significantly improved the squad but they wanted 3 times what my wage limit is. Hoping all the players gel as a team sooner rather than later and we can retain our place in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotChocolate Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Got some great potential in that squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ivan looks like he's going to be class for you at this level - I would not be surprised if he surpassed Iribarren as your main source for goals. I do believe Iribarren still has what it takes to give you 20+ goals as well, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Mid-Season Update League - Results - Squad At the moment I can't get a settled team together. A lot of chopping and changing has meant we can't put a run of results together. We have only won two consecutive games once this year so you can imagine how happy I am to be sat in tenth place. It is quite frustrating though, the last three results sum it all up. We managed to put 4 without reply past Gimnastic but sufferd 1-0 home defeats either side of that. We should have got something from all three of those games to put us in a better position. I really can't complain though as I thought it would be more of a struggle. I don't think we are going to climb any higher but quite confident we are now going to stay up. Hopefully this means the players will start meeting their potential and give us the foundation to have a go next year. No further transfers in January as I try and couldn't find anyone that improved the squad. Hope we can stay up and make further key signings in the summer. The players are all quite young so a few seasons together may help them improve as a squad as there is a lot of potential there. Really hope to find some consistency now hut not holding my breath on that one. Job offers turned down this year include Napoli, Willem II (again) and Arsenal Kyiv. Hoping to get Leganes into La Liga before I think about moving on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Mixed form. If you can sort it out you may make a push for the play-offs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
City2000 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 A decent start to life at a higher level for sure, just a shame you didn't have a goal difference of zero for that perfect mid-table first half of the season! As you say though, this already looks like a good season to build from. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iHeadHunta x Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 A decent start aswell I think! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Still pretty good for a promoted side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Solid start for a newly promoted team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Mixed form. If you can sort it out you may make a push for the play-offs. Play offs are a step too far at this stage. Nowhere near good enough yet. A decent start to life at a higher level for sure, just a shame you didn't have a goal difference of zero for that perfect mid-table first half of the season!As you say though, this already looks like a good season to build from. The symmetry of an even goal difference would have been nice but I'll take the extra 2 goals A decent start aswell I think! Still pretty good for a promoted side. Solid start for a newly promoted team Cheers guys. Very happy with how things are going. Thought it would be a lot harder but unless we have a major collapse we should be safe this year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Holding your own in Liga Adelante, can't really argue with that. A season of consolidation will put you in good stead for next year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dejay Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Going well so far, I don't think you could have asked for much more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotChocolate Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 As already said, impressive start. You've found your feet well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 2023-2024 Review League - Results - Squad Summary Overall a great season. Before the campaign started I thought survival would be an achievement but we easily surpassed that. Not quite sure how it was managed so easily when our form struggled so much. Only twice this season did we manage to win consecutive games. Towards the end of the year form really dipped and we went eight games without a win. At this stage I believed we needed a change of formation. With three games to go I thought just little tweaks would be better than wholesale changes. I went from a 4312 to a 4132, effectively the only change as moving the AMC to DM. I also altered a few of the players duties and the improvement was amazing. The result was a 4-0 win but it was the performance which pleased me more than the result. We dominated the game from start to finish. The following game was just as good which made me think we are on to something. Pre-season will be used to try and iron out a few little problems. It definitely sets us up well for next year. Seasonal Best XI Fans Player of The Year Managers Player of The Year Iribarren takes the fans award again. He top scored with 16 which probably highlights a few of the problems. No-one stood out for me and in the end I decided it was between Martin and Ivan. Martin takes the award in the end as he started to show quite a lot of the promise that made me sign him. Hopefully he can improve again next year. Going Forward I have just signed a contract extension up to 2027 and hopefully I will have the team in La Liga by that time. Enjoying the challenge of getting the club into the top flight and don't see any reason to move on just yet. I was tempted when the River Plate job became available but decided not to apply in the end. Hopefully I can get the new formation really ticking in the summer and we can challenge to get in the play off spots. Being held back by the wage budget at the moment. Top wage the board will allow me to pay is £4k and finding players is difficult. Just had a stadium expansion announced though so hopefully we can start generating a bit more revenue. Other News Euros groups A-C - D-F - Final Stages Greats run by Czech Republic. They beat most of the big teams and deserved the win. Man Utd won the Premier league. Stuttgart won the Bundesliga. Roma won Serie A. Real Madrid won La Liga. Cheslea beat Man Utd 3-1 to lift the champions league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Records Biggest Win: 10-0 v Steinen-Hollstein Biggest League Win: 9-0 v Werder II Heaviest Defeat: 6-0 v Man Utd Top Scorer: Mikel Iribarren 36 goals Record Sale: Bram Ulenaers £20m Record Purchase: Brandao £41m Stats Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Good first step in a new division, reckon you could get close to the playoffs next year? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Was a solid finish which can give you foundations to build yourself up for the new season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Solid first season in a new league. Good luck with the new season . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iHeadHunta x Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 A solid season mate !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 A solid season mate !!! Solid first season in a new league. Good luck with the new season . Was a solid finish which can give you foundations to build yourself up for the new season. Good first step in a new division, reckon you could get close to the playoffs next year? Cheers fellas. Not sure about the play offs. Really struggling to sign the talent needed to improve the squad. When I find players worth signing they are either out of my budget or we agree a fee and their wage demands are way to high. I have spent hours so far trawling through scout reports and player search. Managed to sign a couple of improvements but not as many I as was hoping for. Hassen Sassi is a good example of my problem. I was tracking him for most of the year. His value has shot up from £250k when I first looked to signing him and now I have no chance of raising the funds needed. He would be ideal as my CM on attack duty but now I need to start looking again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShyBaldBuddhist Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Decided this pre-season was about getting quality in rather than quantity. Squad players are not going to get us into the playoffs and that has to be the next aim. I wanted to move on the players who never got a look in but were taking up my wage budget. I managed to ship out 14 players in total. A couple are only on loan but at least I'm not paying the wages for them. The tricky part was getting the talent into the club. I don't have much of a budget to play around with and if a player is demanding anything over £4k I have to look elsewhere. In the end I think we did okay. Jaroslav Vagner cost £525k from Widzew. Looking for him to play as CM with attack duty. Hoping his speed enables him to burst past the and with decent finishing attribute he may get a few goals. Rafal Bak is another great find by my East European scout, looks good value at £90k. Bak is going to become first choice edging Iribarren out of the team. Has the makings of a good poacher and I expect big things of him. Islam Farouk cost just £7k. He should be able to play as one of my CM or the anchor man role. Probably used more as a sub initially as midfield is now looking quite strong. Nana Yeboah was brought to my attention by scouts on deadline day. Picked up from Ituano for £400k and despite having a strong midfield I thought he was a sound investment. They are the key signings and I think all of them improve the squad a lot. One of my first signings should have been Carlos Sousa. We agreed a fee of £700k and even agreed a wage of £3k p/w. Things were taking a while to get confirmed, in the end a few more clubs came in and nicked him from me the swines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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