FM13 Journeyman career

shnen · October 19, 2012

Hi all! After reading user: Tomtuck's excellent journeyman thread I decided that my first career after downloading the FM13 beta would follow suit. I'm pretty much just looking to have fun and manage in leagues that I don't normally (I've barely branched out away from England before, haha).

I added as many leagues as I felt my slow laptop would be able to take, but I'm fearing I may have added too much (especially with the Large database that I always insist on using). I'll be able to remove some of the leagues once I become more established though.

So without further ado:

Leagues loaded:

Belgium: Second League and above

England: Conference and above

France: National and above

Germany: Second Division and above

Greece: National B Division and above

Iceland: Premier Division only

Israel: National League and above

Italy: Serie B and above

Holland: Jupiler League and above

Norway: First Division and above

Portugal: Second League and above

Russia: Premier Division only

Spain: Liga Adelante and above

Switzerland: Challenge League and above

Turkey: First Division and above

Like I said, a bit too many

anyway, I immediately applied for all the open jobs (quite a lot!) and got a few offers:

picture gone, sorry

6th with half of the games of the season played, which is just within the play-off places

picture gone, sorry

quite tempted by this, I'm half Israeli and the transfer/wage budgets look good

picture gone, sorry

another Israeli team, but with both a lower transfer budget and a lower wage budget. Rejected.

picture gone, sorry

Doubt I'll be taking this considering they're 13th and I've been offered 6th, although low expectations are nice...

I rejected an offer from a Portuguese Second Division team (Santa Clara) as I didn't feel I'd enjoy the league.

so, thoughts? Definitely leaning towards Nes Ziona but Gangneung also looks quite appealing.

shnen · October 19, 2012

I'd hoped for at least one comment but meh, it will come with time I guess

anyway, as I'm impatient I decided to go with the team that I was leaning towards:

F.C. Sektzya Nes Ziona

I've decided to go with a possession based 4-5-1 as my main tactic for now after having success with it in the lower leagues on England on last year's game:

picture gone, sorry

and here are three players who I'm predicting will be key:

picture gone, sorry

on loan from the biggest club in Israel, looks mighty impressive for our level. Gonna be playing him as a centre-back as I already have a great looking defensive midfielder

picture gone, sorry

Great technically, decent mentally, awful physically. Ah well, can't win them all! Again, looks pretty damn good for this level, hoping he'll be able to carry us to a solid finish.

picture gone, sorry

Looks great all round, let's hope he'll be able to function well as the sole striker (early signs have been very promising indeed!)

I've played two friendlies so far: a 2-2 away draw against Maccabi Jaffa, and a 5-0 win against our Under 19s (which replaced the traditional reserve team friendly for some odd reason) and the team seems to be adapting to the possession football very quickly :cool:

shnen · October 19, 2012

on another note,

picture gone, sorry

shnen · October 24, 2012

F.C. Sektzya Nes Ziona

Mid-Season Update!

... but first, the season preview (which I forgot to do before :o )

Board expectations:

Israeli National League: safe mid-table position

Israeli State Cup: Reach 8th round (we come in at the seventh round I think)

Israeli National League Toto Cup: Reach Quarter final

My expectations:

Israeli National League: I'm feeling we can push for quite a high place, most likely not promotion but maybe something around 4th? I like the look of our squad. Then again after 30 games it gets divided into a table of 8 promotion chasing teams, and the points from the league up til then get halved so that could get very tight: promotion could be possible!

Israeli State Cup: I'm not particularly bothered but a money spinning tie against someone like Maccabi Haifa or Maccabi Tel Aviv would be great!

Israeli National League Toto Cup: Again, not particularly bothered - Quarter Final seems fine to me.

We're predicted 8th in the media - bang on mid table although I'm not sure I'd be too happy with that.

picture gone, sorry

I brought in quite a few new players but didn't really upset the dynamic of the club too much:

picture gone, sorry was one of the first players I searched upon starting this save as I had great success with him on last year's save (with my team, Barnet ) and he adds experience and class to my defence. He's my first choice centre back along with Eran Rosenbaum.

picture gone, sorry primarily provides back up for both my right back (who shall be shown soon!) and my DM; the Israeli league only allows 3 foreign players to play in the first 11 and both of the players that Daniel deputies for are foreign, so he gets more game time than a normal back up.

picture gone, sorry was signed as a backup to Akiremy and as a super sub, I was planning on playing them both until I found out about the 3 foreign players rule. Surprising how he is still so fast at the age of 34! Not really a first teamer and a bad signing on my part to be honest.

picture gone, sorry is the only player who I actually coughed up money to sign, and is definitely one for the future. He has good technicals already, and this will only improve with time: my assistant manager predicts that he will become a good Premier League defender. Someone who will serve the club for years to come, and possibly make a lot of profit on.

picture gone, sorry was bought on loan when I realised that I pretty much had no good natural left backs. I could have bought him but they didn't want any wage contributions and his contract expires at the end of the season so I should be able to get him then if he impresses. I also was able to sneak a cheap future fee in if they give him a new contract for some reason.

picture gone, sorry is another one with the future in mind: my first keeper is 34 so soon he will be inadequate, so I set about finding a long term replacement on the cheap. I still wasn't aware of the foreign players restrictions when I signed him however, and as he is Filipino I haven't given him any playing time, and if he does become my first choice keeper it will mean that I can only play 2 other foreign players which sucks - so I may simply try to sell him on for profit and find an Israeli keeper.

finally, picture gone, sorry was brought in to provide an Israeli backup to Akiremy, as Gabriel Lima had not impressed me when I gave him a few starts after he moaned about not playing, and it allows me to maneuver around the three foreign players restriction with much greater ease (whether that be before the game or in the game i.e. if I want to bring a foreign player for an Israeli but already have three on the pitch, things like that)

so finally, onto the mid-season update!

picture gone, sorry

We started off very slowly, drawing a total of 7 games in a row factoring in the Toto Cup (in which we drew all our matches in the group stage, then narrowly lost 1-0 in a tricky draw away to Maccabi Petach Tikva - I'm not going to bother getting the screenshots in for that as I doubt anyone will find three 0-0 draws and a loss interesting!)before we lost away to Bnei Lod. Despite these bad results, I wasn't despairing - we'd dominated the possession in each of these games (we even got 71% in one of the matches!), and were just struggling to turn these chances into goals. This was in part due to Yehiel Tsagay being injured for around 6 weeks. After the loss however, I decided to do a team meeting, and my calm approach to letting them know that we will turn this around paid off.

We then scraped two wins in a row, including one against one of the best teams in the league - Hapoel Petach Tikva before getting what was definitely an honourable draw at Hapoel Kfar-Saba. A close win then followed, before we faced our rivals away. Coming back with a point was a good result, although we dominated possession and perhaps deserved to win. The game against Macabi el-Fahm was quite an odd one as our three goals were all scored by defenders.

Suddenly, we suffered a massive defeat to Beitar Tel Aviv. They completely outplayed us. I wasn't entirely sure what had gone wrong but it was a very bad way to end our mini unbeaten run of six games. I still decided to stay faithful to my 4-1-2-2-1 tactic however, and just resorted to giving the players a bit of a bollocking.

We recovered to win our next game as Daniel Heidman faced his former club, before playing a fantastic match against Hapoel Jerusalem. Georges Akiremy was on top form and by half time the game appeared to have been killed off - we were leading 3-0. However, something their manager said to them at half time must have really inspired them as they came back out fighting and eventually managed to level the game to 3-3! At this point I was extremely frustrated, feeling we'd completely choked it for good, but the turning point came when one our their players got a second yellow for persistent fouling at around the 70 minutes mark. Akiremy scored to put us ahead and by doing so completed his hattrick, but it was a nervy end to the game - that is, until Akiremy put it beyond doubt by scoring his 4th goal of the game! My hero.

We finished off the year in great form, drawing away at league leaders and the bookies' favourite for the title, Maccabi Petach Tikva, before winning three games in a row. Our fantastic run of form managed to catapult us up the league to 4th before the Ahi Nazareth game. This game was to be played before the games of both Hapoel Rishon LeZion and Hapoel Petach Tikva, and winning it as we did put us into 2nd position - the second promotion place! They do have games in hand but I'm still delighted to be in the promotion places, even if only momentarily, and I'm starting to think that maybe promotion is achievable.

picture gone, sorry

on a final note, I'm deliberating between monthly updates and half season updates - I'm quite a slow player so mid season updates will most likely take a while (especially once my half term ends) but as a reader I prefer them as they're more immersive and generally more detailed. Thoughts?

abulezz · October 24, 2012

A very decent start to your career - the offense seems to be clicking but I see that you've conceded too many goals!

shnen · October 25, 2012

Thanks for the comment - yeah, we're definitely letting in too many goals. Most of them are fairly silly goals near the end of matches as our players aren't very high on stamina and tend to ease up in the last few minutes - something for me to fix. To be honest I'm not sure how well the offense IS clicking: we're scoring far less than I feel we deserve quite a lot of times.

Probably the best example of this is in the most recent match that I played. Just look at the stats:

it's pretty clear that we completely dominated, and we got a massive 20 shots off yet were only able to get one goal in. We really need to improve this if we want promotion! Perhaps it's the formation - it's not really the most offensive! Then again I have been trying to teach them to be patient and work it into the box, so that probably contributes too. I wonder how a more direct passing style would fare...

BadManager · October 26, 2012

on a final note, I'm deliberating between monthly updates and half season updates - I'm quite a slow player so mid season updates will most likely take a while (especially once my half term ends) but as a reader I prefer them as they're more immersive and generally more detailed. Thoughts?

My thoughts are probably monthly. I'm a fairly slow player as well. At one point I tried every two months, in a league with a relatively light schedul and not providing as much detail as yourself. As you seem to be providing a fair amount of detail in your updates, perhaps going monthly would allow for shorter, more regular, updates.

I'm surprised at the amount of goals conceded given you have four at the back and a defensive midfielder. You're winning though, the rest is just detail.

london boy · October 26, 2012

A very good start to your career.

I'm currently managing Sporting Lisbon and play an attacking 4-1-2-2-1 system with a high defensive line and pressing. Late goals knocked my team out of the Europa League on away goals. Since then, if there is an even match, I use instructions like retain possession and drop deeper around the 65-70 minute mark to try and stop conceding the late goals. It has done the trick so far.

deltablue · October 26, 2012

Wow, you make me look conservative!

shnen · October 27, 2012

My thoughts are probably monthly. I'm a fairly slow player as well. At one point I tried every two months, in a league with a relatively light schedul and not providing as much detail as yourself. As you seem to be providing a fair amount of detail in your updates, perhaps going monthly would allow for shorter, more regular, updates.
I'm surprised at the amount of goals conceded given you have four at the back and a defensive midfielder. You're winning though, the rest is just detail.

Thanks for the input. I've decided to do updates every 7 games (which is because there are 7 games in the League left after it splits up, and maybe because I've just played 7 games now) It's actually been getting a lot better on the conceding front recently as you'll see in a sec

A very good start to your career.
I'm currently managing Sporting Lisbon and play an attacking 4-1-2-2-1 system with a high defensive line and pressing. Late goals knocked my team out of the Europa League on away goals. Since then, if there is an even match, I use instructions like retain possession and drop deeper around the 65-70 minute mark to try and stop conceding the late goals. It has done the trick so far.

Thanks, but funnily enough I actually use those shouts throughout the entire match. My full list of shouts is: Play Out of Defence, Drop Deeper, Get Stuck In, Pass into Space, Work Ball into Box, and Retain Possession. This allows me to control the game, but as we've seen it's not the best for scoring goals

Wow, you make me look conservative!

Actually I'd say I am quite conservative what with all my shouts and the 4 defenders and a DM

update for the transfer window and the last 7 games incoming!

shnen · October 27, 2012

F.C. Sektzya Nes Ziona

8.1.13 - 8.2.13 + Transfer Window Update!

Transfer Window

Transfers in:

picture gone, sorry After impressing on loan at such a young age, I jumped at the chance to secure his signature permanently. He's probably a bit overpriced, but I'm certain he'll prove to be worth the outlay.

picture gone, sorry I originally wasn't planning to sign anyone else, but I gave him a look after the media asked if I was interested in him during the deadline day coverage, and I snapped him up after seeing that they didn't want any wage contributions or money for his loan. Looks great, probably will be my new first choice defensive midfielder.

Future Transfers:

picture gone, sorry had impressed me while on loan enough for me to approach to sign him to make it permanent for next season. Comes after his contract expires at the end of the season

picture gone, sorry is another player who I had success with on my FM12 Barnet save, so I immediately signed him when I realised that his contract was expiring. Looks like a fantastic target man. Again at the end of the season.

Transfers Out:

Despite five of our players submitting transfer requests on deadline day (only one of which is decent; unfortunately it was Rubik Zezian, my hotly tipped youngster who I'd signed for 16k in the summer. I rejected the request.), there were no transfers outgoing aside from a released 22 year old youth graduate who didn't develop very well.

Matches

Despite having a pretty crammed schedule ( four games in ten days!), we did extremely well.

We played Kiryat Ata (a team below the playable leagues) in our first match of the State Cup to begin with, with the reserves winning comfortably. Hapoel Haifa at home is the draw for the next round; they're in the Premier League but are having a torrid season and are bottom: it'll be a good test to see if we'd be ready to get promoted this season, and hopefully also good for the gate receipts. We suffered our only blip of the 7 match period (uh what do I call it) at home to Maccabi Herziliya in a very winnable game; it was the curse of the late goals letting us down again. Thankfully, those were to be the last goals that we would concede, winning all five of our next matches including a crucial game away to Hapoel Petach-Tikva, one of our main promotion rivals. All of our other promotion rivals dropped points which put us into a fantastic position with 6 games of the main League left:

picture gone, sorry

Really happy, although it's crucial we build up even more of a lead as while an 8 points gap is impressive, once the league splits it'll only be 4 points which is nowhere near as secure.

deltablue · October 28, 2012

It would still be a nice gap.

shnen · October 28, 2012

It would still be a nice gap.

Indeed, I'm just thinking back to the past: I have bottled leads of around that size before, here's hoping I won't this time eh!

shnen · October 28, 2012

Youth intake:

picture gone, sorry

well, this is abysmal.

Best player:

picture gone, sorry

anyone know why I'm not getting generated faces for the regens? especially odd as my generated staff have faces...

I checked in preferences and I have the option ticked, and it's not just my players as I did a quick 'faceinthegame' search and none of them had faces either.. thinking it's a bug?

edit: nope, my staff members have also lost their faces

shnen · October 29, 2012

And now the regen faces are back again. Odd.

h0rn3r · October 30, 2012

Nice start to your career there bud, see you have sured up the back line...5 clean sheets on the bounce, impressive!

shnen · October 31, 2012

thanks, unfortunately I had my first run in with the dreaded forum curse and conceded the next game

update incoming

shnen · October 31, 2012

F.C. Sektzya Nes Ziona

13.2.13-2.4.13 Update!

Matches:

This match held quite a few important matches, including a game against the only other real threat for the title, Maccabi Petach-Tikva, who started the period one point ahead of us; as such, it was imperative that we do well if we wish to harbour hopes of promotion.

We kicked off with a cup tie against struggling Premier League side Hapoel Haifa. Despite their awful form this season, they are still in the division above us and must be respected, so I was a little cautious heading into the game. However this was all unnecessary, as we dominated the game and easily brushed them aside (although the scoreline doesn't really reflect this)

We were not able to ease off the gas going into the next match: we were playing our local rivals and outsiders for promotion Hapoel Rishon LeZion. It was a relatively close game, but we were able to edge it and 3-1 perhaps flattered us. Still, we deserved the victory and it made the fans happy.

Next up was what should have been a routine walk in the park against bottom of the table Maccabi Um El Fahm (who I had rejected at the beginning of the career for Nes Ziona, thank god I did!) but they seemed to have other plans in mind. They fought for it well and we found it hard to break up their 4-5-1 formation. Credit to them for a great performance, but disappointing for us.

I decided not to give them a harsh teamtalk despite being fairly irked, and my consoling that we were simply unlucky raised morale and confidence almost across the board, and it showed in the next match as we confidently dispatched Beitar Tel Aviv / Ramla. It was nice to get revenge as we had earlier in the season lost 3-0 away to them.

Perhaps facing them rekindled those memories however, as the next game away at Hapoel Jerusalem was fairly similar: led by former Everton and Bolton man Idan Tal (anyone remember him?), they controlled the game and didn't give us a sniff. What made it all the more frustrating was that we'd battled valiantly to hold on all through the game, but they finally broke us down in the 87th minute and we then conceded again in the 89th. Poor performance, although solace was found when news came through that both of the Petach-Tikva teams had also lost.

After this was perhaps the biggest game to the season and a potential title decider: home to Maccabi Petach-Tikva, who we were at that time 1 point ahead of. I was really hoping the players would turn up, and let them know how important it was in the team talk. Only one team did turn up for the match: us! We were 3-0 up and coasting by half-time, and although they recovered in part in the 2nd half, they were only able to score an admittedly brilliant goal ( a 25-yard screamer) and we held on to gain a crucial victory.

A fairly routine victory against Hapoel Ashkelon followed, although they did well to keep us from breaking the deadlock until the 79th minute when the talismanic Georges Akiremy scored his 20th league goal in 28 to grab the win for us. Evidently demoralised from the loss to us, Maccabi Petach-Tikva were shocked as they were overcome 1-0 at home to Hapoel Jerusalem, putting us 7 points clear at the splitting point of the league. Hapoel Petach-Tikva also lost, away to Beitar Tel Aviv / Ramla. Both of these teams were part of the exclusive club of the three teams which have beaten us so far this season, so it was nice to see them helping us for once!

The draw for the Ninth Round of the State Cup faced us with the team who were second placed in the Israeli Premier League away, Hapoel Be'er Sheva. My heart sank when we were drawn against them as we could have been drawn against teams below the playable leagues, and I pretty much ruled us off completely (as did the media). However, the team showed true spirit and defensive integrity in not only holding their own against the team currently placed as the second best in Israeli football and keeping a clean sheet, but managing to sneak a goal through to beat them! Guess who scored: yup, Georges Akiremy! A fantastic victory and one to be proud of for a while; certainly bodes well for next season if we get promoted. We were drawn at home against rivals Hapoel Rishon LeZion in the Quarter-Finals, and this is something which I can see us winning: to get to the semi-finals would be a remarkable achievement.

That was not the last pleasant surprise to me: I was incorrect in thinking that points are halved after the league splits up. I assumed this as this is how the only other league that splits up that I know off, the Belgian League, does it, but in hindsight that was probably fairly stupid. Still, delighted as this means we retain our 7 points lead at the top and as long as we don't mess up ridiculously, we're pretty much there.

The first game of the split up league is against Maccabi Petach-Tikva (luckily at home, each team only plays each other once so to be at home against the hardest team is the league rather than away is great); if we win it, we'll go a massive 10 points clear at the top. If my calculations are correct, that means that taking a mere 9 points from the 6 games following that will guarantee the title, assuming that Maccabi Petach-Tikva win all their other games which is unlikely.

Here's the table:

picture gone, sorry

also, I signed a new player on a free not realising I won't be able to register him until next season: picture gone, sorry Udinese youth academy) as well as being a regular international for Mali. My blunder won't prove too costly however, as he looks definitely good enough to be a starter in the Premier League next year (unless I completely mess it up; I'm pretty high on confidence right now as you may have noticed after our brilliant performances). He'll most likely be the captain next year.

and finally, I was offered a new 1 year contract: I delayed it until the end of the season just in case something good comes up and committing myself will hinder me, but I'm pretty set on taking it and probably trying to extend it to 2 or even 3 years. I'm definitely liking Nes Ziona.

deltablue · November 1, 2012

Looking goot for promotion :thup:

Dean Gripton · November 1, 2012

Great thread.

Dejay · November 1, 2012

Looking good, nice bit of breathing space.

ashton321 · November 1, 2012

I like this mate keep it up. I have never played in this league but would like to,

B.W.G · November 1, 2012

Doing really well in Israel,keep up the good work :thup:

shnen · November 2, 2012

Thanks for all the positive comments guys, really did make my day to see all the kind words

Spoilers incoming:

picture gone, sorry

Over the moon. Three games left to play, 1 point from the two league games will see us take the title and the cup final is against Hapoel Irony Kiryat Shmona. If you hadn't inferred what it is, the State Cup is basically the Israeli FA Cup so for a 2nd Division team predicted for midtable obscurity this is absolutely amazing. So proud.

shnen · November 2, 2012

it's done

picture gone, sorry

deltablue · November 3, 2012

Good luck in the cup final.

shnen · November 6, 2012

sorry for no updates, I've been busy , mostly playing a career with Roma on my favourite ever FM game, FM07

they had such a brilliant team then, Perotta Totti Okaka Mancini (who the manager before me managed to sell before 39m) Aquilani De Rossi Chivu Mexes and a few players the manager before I took over signed including Paulo Ferreira, Juan Fernando Arango and Cambiasso. Really enjoying the save.

anyway, back on topic: let's just say that I did have the good luck deltablue wished me in the final

shnen · November 7, 2012

F.C. Sektzya Nes Ziona

End of Season update!

Matches:

We had a bit of a baptism of fire in the newly divided league, playing all of the best teams in the league in quick succession. First up were two draws against the Petach Tikva teams, our only two rivals for the title. I was satisfied with the draws although I did feel that a win was within our grasp in both games. We then played our local rivals at home twice in a row, winning both of them, although we did require a penalty shootout in the Cup game. We then hit a bit of a stumbling block as we lost 2-0 away to Bnei Lod, playing poorly, before drawing a ridiculously winnable game against Hapoel Ashkelon. Thankfully, we recovered form in the cup semi final, overcoming mid table Premier League side Hapoel Ramat Gan. We dominated the game, and looked good for our win. Sadly this didn't raise the players' morale enough to prevent a disappointing draw in another easily winnable game against Hapoel Nazarith Illit. The draw was enough to clinch the title however, not that it was in doubt. I was a little irritated by our last game in the National League as I had beaten them 4-0 with my second team before my game crashed. We were still able to grind out a win, but the performance wasn't anywhere near as good. We stuttered over the finish line in the end, but what matters is that we made it.

Finally, our cup fairytale concluded victoriously against last season's league champions Hapoel Irony Kiryat Shmona! We were outplayed massively but were still able to keep the ball, and eventually we were able to put it in the net. They quickly equalised before Tsagay managed to score what proved to be the winner from a corner! I found out after the game that winning the cup put us into the UEFA Cup (it will never be the Europa League for me)!! I doubt we'll get past the qualifying rounds but it's still nice.

here's the final table:

picture gone, sorry

The highest point total for any team in the National League ever!

deltablue · November 8, 2012

Very impressive season.

shnen · November 10, 2012

picture gone, sorry

I declared interest for two reasons: firstly to see how much my stock had risen after the successes of last season, and also because I feel if I did get the offer it would definitely be a fantastic career move. Hoping I get the job.

shnen · November 11, 2012

Shnen resigns from Sektzia Nes Ziona!

26 year old Englishman Shnen has today announced his resignation from newly promoted Israeli Premier League side Sektzia Nes Ziona. He cited boredom with the team as one of his primary reasons, in addition to feeling that the precarious financial state the club are currently in and the foreign players restrictions would prevent the progress that his ambitions demand. While it had been made clear that Shnen had been looking to move on after his declaring interest in no fewer than three teams, this must still come as a surprise to the Nes Ziona faithful who had been in full support of the progress that the talented young manager had made in his first season at the club. It has also been suggested that the high compensation fee required for a team to instill him as their new manager had been seen as a stumbling block which prevented him from taking on the job of Stevenage (despite being a self professed diehard fan of their strong rivals, Barnet). Nes Ziona are now on the look out for a new manager, while Shnen has been linked to a number of jobs including the aforementioned Stevenage and Icelandic Premier Division side Ía.

so yeah, as alluded to above I just haven't found managing them particularly interesting anymore and I feel that significant progress will take far too long and hey, I was feeling impulsive . The fact that Dinamo Moscow, OCG Nice and Valerenga all showed interest in me when I declared interest also spurred me on. I've already found a new job which is a clear step up imo, although they've been languishing in bottom in their division at the moment. I'm confident of turning their fortunes around however, and they do have one wonderkid who I've worked with on a previous FM and am pleased to be working with him at his original club. They also have a fantastic looking regen; I can see myself being here for a while . I'll show who it is in a bit.

shnen · November 13, 2012

woops, I thought I'd already posted

don't have time to do a long post but my new team is:

Empoli

shnen · November 18, 2012

Horribly tight run-in for promotion (Top 2 teams get promoted)

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Catania      |       | 40    | 23    | 11    | 6     | 84    | 46    | +38   | 80    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Parma        |       | 40    | 23    | 9     | 8     | 62    | 29    | +33   | 78    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Verona       |       | 40    | 23    | 8     | 9     | 57    | 40    | +17   | 77    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Empoli       |       | 40    | 23    | 8     | 9     | 53    | 34    | +19   | 77    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Praying we can do it, we've hit form at just the right time with a record 8 (!) wins in a row

2 games left of the season

JackJCFC · November 18, 2012

Good luck! very close at the top.

shnen · November 18, 2012

Final day Promotion run in

here is how the three promotion contenders stand:

rnejb.jpg?6388

Parma are away to 15th placed Vicenza, Catania play bottom of the table Frosinone at home, and Empoli are matched against 13th placed Reggina away.

Live goal updates coming in as they happen.

4th Minute: Maxi Lopez scores for Catania! Catania 1-0 Frosinone

Catania 1st, Parma 2nd, Empoli 3rd.

4th Minute: Sebastian Squillaci heads in from a corner to net the 24th league goal of his career, putting Empoli 2nd and into the promotion places. Reggina 0-1 Empoli.