PGC: Going Dutch for FM14

[AndyFal36]

Final League Standings 2020/21 Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

Final League Standings 2020/21 Eredivisie

[AndyFal36]

Relegation/Promotion Play-Off Final Stages 2020/21

Round 3

Round 2

Round 1

[AndyFal36]

European Play-Off Place

Round 1

Round 2

[AndyFal36]

Jupiler Team Stats 2020/21

Goals Scored

Least Goals Conceded

Goals From Corners

Goals From IFK's

Goals From DFK'S

Penalties Scored

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

Average Attendance

Average Attendance By Percentage (%)

Stadium Sellouts

Net Transfer Spend

Salary Per Annum

[AndyFal36]

Eredivisie Team Stats 2020/21

Goals Scored

Least Goals Conceded

Goals From Corners

Goals From IFK's

Goals From DFK'S

Penalties Scored

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

Average Attendance

Average Attendance By Percentage (%)

Stadium Sellouts

Net Transfer Spend

Salary Per Annum

[redhawk]

Joined into the group for the first time in December, and decided to take Roda JC, no particular reason, just fancied them. They used to be a half competitive Eredivisie club, now languishing in the lower part of Jupiler.

I came into the club on the back of just three points from the last 27, with only six goals scored, and started off with a late defeat to Sparta. After that though, we went on an eight game unbeaten run to drag the team away from any relegation fears. We were pretty inconsistent the rest of the season, mainly due to the strikers (three of whom are on 25, 22 and 13 game streaks without scoring), meaning a top ten or a scabby playoff place eluded our grasp. Still 29 points from my 19 games in charge was a little better than the 22 garnered before.

The real story of the club however, was the finances. When I joined, the wage bill was £64K, with full adjustment allowing for 54K budget. The club had over 50 players (due to mismanagement by the previous human manager with his 89 player turnover in the previous season), despite the 30 players who left in the summer (and only six were signed by the AI) and was over £2m in debt. Plus the AI sold the best striker in the league to NAC.

I got rid of another 21 players, including an average player who was on an incredible £9.75K pw, almost 20% of my budget alone! 13 of these I had to cut my losses on and mutually terminate their deals. After all these adjustments and bringing down the wages of some of the existing players with new contracts (including my GK who went from £4.5K to £2K, what a guy), the wage bill was chopped to just £34K, almost half the bill when I joined, and the 18th smallest in the division.

So now that the club has optimised it's financial side of things as much as possible, and trust me I worked hard on that, it is still £3m in debt at the end of the season. This means of course that free transfers and cheapy cheap loans will be the order of the day. Despite me having a £54K wage budget when I joined, it is only £36k this summer (thanks for rewarding my fiscal skill board!). I have extended the loans of my two full-backs (for cheaper), who were often my best players last season and brought in two creative midfielders on free transfers, one of whom is now worth £1.4m, almost the total of my yearly wage bill! So expecting big things from him (Ozkan).

The attendances can be pretty good so the potential is there, but the undersoil heating has failed, which we we can't afford to repair, and H&S have closed almost 2000 of our seats, which we cant afford to repair.

If we can snag some pace and/or confidence up front, then we can certainly be challenging to be in the playoffs this season. The goal is to be promoted in two seasons time. If not, I can see this club falling apart totally. The seams are already beginning to tear.

Ryan

[Jonas Christensen]

The Dane is back!

Review of last season

Wow, what a struggle last season turned out to be! After being the 'surprise team' the season before, I was fairly optimistic going into last season. The board didn't have high expectations, but merely wanted me to consolidate my position in the league and survive. I however had other plans, I was hoping to once again push for a midtable position, so I promised the board that, who in return gave me a higher wage budget. But boy I was wrong! During the summer transfer window some of my more experienced players had left my side, but I was feeling confidering that my youngster could fill their shoes. This meant promoting my 19 year old GK from my youth side and putting him directly into goal, and also putting my hopes on getting through the season with only 3 DC's. Halfway through the season, my best DC however was out for the rest of the season, which meant my defence was shaky to say the least. We let way too many goals in! While we were conceeding to many, we were also not scoring quite enough. Zwolle got one of my reserve strikers on loan, and he did surprisingly well for them, so he might be an option for the coming season.

Nevertheless, we managed to get a 15th position, which was a few spots below what I had hoped, but enough to keep the board happy. So on to next season!

The new season

For the new season I'm fairly uncertain what to expect. I'm not expecting to have any money or a lot of room on the wage budget, so transfers will be at a minimum. This meant I had to keep most of the old side on, which I have. But I am losing my best striker - but he should be replaceable. It will be a pretty difficult season, as I still have a very inexperienced side with a lot of youngsters. I'm hoping to find an experienced GK, DC and perhaps a striker...

I'm expecting my side to be battling to stay up again this season, but who knows? We might surprise and battle for a midtable spot like earlier.

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

For the second successive season it was a close call for us at the bottom of the league after avoiding the relegation play-offs last by a single point, it was even tighter this season only securing safety on goal difference with 3 teams finishing on 36pts.

It was still a record high finish after bettering last season feat by one place finishing 14th this after a great end to the season run when only losing 1 of the final 8 games. Another tough season ahead and playing all our home games at Willem II ground wont help due to the board deciding to expand the stadium by almost 3,000 which was needed after selling out 16 times this season only after taking out a loan over 10 years paying back a total of £7,200,000.

Transfers

Dutch Cup

Until Next Time.........

[AndyFal36]

End Of Season Summary 2020/21

[AndyFal36]

Media Predictions 2021/22

Eredivisie

Jupiler

To Be Edited.......................

[Advantageous]

Season 8 Manager of the Year & Current Trophy Count

The curtain closes around another season in PGC: Going Dutch, and it was arguably the closest one we've had so far. Ali managed to claim both the Eredivise title and Dutch Cup in his third season as Feyenoord Manager, narrowly winning the league on goal difference against both PSV and Ajax. The Cup final saw Steve's Den Bosch make it all the way to the final before suffering at the hands of an in-form Feyenoord side.

The solid managerial work from both Vasy at Willem II and Andy at FC Eindhoven shouldn't go un-mentioned after strong seasons in the top flight. Both will want to push on this season, the former looking for a European place and the latter seeking a safe mid-table position.

The Jupiler League was just as tight as the Eredivisie. Stu won promotion for the second time, this time with NAC Breda, sneaking 1st place from under the nose of Zwolle who lead the way for majority of the season. Special mentions to both Paul and Jonas, both who overachieved this season, the former losing out in the Jupiler Play-offs.

To conclude season 8's round up, it's a warm welcome to clan for both Will and Ryan. Two FM Online stalwarts who will both be looking to make an impression in the coming seasons.

Wills work with Fortuna Sittard will be some of his finest in Clan, keeping them in the Jupiler after taking them over mid-season rooted to the foot of the table. Ryan's early work with Roda should also be commended. Poor Roda has been decimated by a number of managers and it's Ryan's job to bring their competitive edge back. A 'long term project', if you pardon the cliche, unless a bigger club can turn his head.

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Eredivise

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Eredivise

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play-Off Stages

Stage 1

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

Only 2 game days in and what a contrast between the two, after finishing the first day in the top half and only suffering one defeat it was a different story the next game day suffering a dip in form slipping down to 13th place. Undoubtedly the club are looking at another relegation dogfight this season but hopefully the team can keep improving on their finishing position as they have done since i took over.

In the Cup a 3rd tie awaits versus Be Quick 1887 after an uninspiring 1-0 victory against lJsselmeervogels in round two.

After being turned down by the board for everything I've asked for the past 7 seasons it looks like they are about to start freeing up some cash with them agreeing to the training facilities being improved, percentage from transfers going up to 70% and wages being increased for certain staff. Ill be definitely going back to see the board to see how free the purse strings have been released

Until Next Time.......

[redhawk]

End of Session update, early stages of 2021/22

TRANSFERS/FINANCES

At the end of last season, I knew I needed a little pace (and some confidence!) up front. Khaloua had played well for me at the end of last season as a ST, with Russini pitching in a few. Di Grazia didn't score at all, but his link up play was decent, so Cristovao was the logical choice to leave. In his stead I signed Djumo for free, who is strong and quite quick, with enough technical ability for this level.

At full backs, I resigned Ata and de Graaf on loan (cheaper than the AI had them for too), as they had both performed well for me. As mentioned before I added guile and athleticism to midfield with free signings Ozkan and van der Loo. Ozkan as a marauder from central midfield (giving me much more drive than the ageing, outgoing Cigarini), and van der Loo in behind the two strikers (I play a narrow diamond). A fantastic coup was loan signing Filip Marinovic, a Croatia Under 21 player who can play RB , DM and MC equally well. And as de Graaf sustained a serious injury before the start of the season, this was fortunate.

Central defence also needed reinforcing with height missing and loans ending. I had signed Porto, who is a physical beast for this level, in January, and I have added a young defender called Oddang on a free, who has strength and height. Luxembourg's star player Phillips has also come in for free, who can very easily fill in at DC and DM very well. Key was improving the squad's determination levels in general.

At the very end of the window, my plans were changed a little, but not in a bad way. I squeezed £100k up front for Russini from Spezia, which I had to accept for a player worth £10k, on a decent wage and with only 8 goals in 32 games for Roda. In his stead I decided to sign two loan players, as they were both cheap, Anaclerio and Binder, offering no more than squad depth really, but one of them might turn out well.

During the window I had also run over the paltry wage budget of 37K by 5K, but managed to squeeze another 6K wage budget out of the board (Russini sale meaning it went to 44K in total), meaning that is all in good standing now. Although the wage bill has gone up from the end of last season, where it was 34K it is still somewhat lower, at 41K, than the 64K per week it was when I joined (that's well over £1m per year saving). Speaking of more finances, we seem to be breaking even each month currently, only £1m in debt now, as opposed to £3m in debt at the start of the summer.

MATCHES

As for the season, we have started it stunningly, beyond my expectations. 12 games in the league and a 7-3-2 record would have been brilliant, instead we are 12-2-0, starting off with an opening day away defeat of Volendam, just relegated, who have some excellent players. We then squeaked past Helmond at home and the confidence of two wins saw us stuff Almere 3-0. What followed were comfortable wins over Ajax B, Fortuna and Sparta, before a 5-0 spanking of IJssel saw us clinch a playoff spot by annexing the first stage. As the board's aim was playoff's to achieve it 7 games in was excellent.

Our eighth win in a row at WKE, was followed up by a spirited performance against Heerenveen in the Dutch Cup which we lost 5-4 on penalties after drawing 2-2. Our ninth win in a row followed against Telstar, very narrowly. However, in the Heerenveen and WKE games we lost our two most creative attackers, Khaloua and van der Loo, and it showed, with us drawing our first blank of the season away to Heracles, before we smashed the awful Cambuur 4-1. After injury, van der Loo and Khaloua featured against Dordrecht, but were unable to influence the game as we drew 0-0 again.

SUMMARY

So 10 wins and 2 away draws in 12 games in the league is a fantastic base to work from, but a beady eye must be kept on our form dipping in front of goal. The defence has been superb, conceding just 8 in 13, with 6 clean sheets. Oddang has fitted in superbly there, while Djumo has done well up front, scoring 8 in 13. Ozkan, van der Loo and Khaloua have 13 assists between them and are a crucial part of my side, with Khaloua scoring 5 in 10 too. Another star has been Ata, with 3 goals and 3 assists from left back. These were all crucial goals too, winners against Helmond and Telstar, and setting us on our way against Almere. It is pleasing to see my new signings do so well, as I scoured and scoured the world for them.

[Ziruz]

Vasy - Willem II

We finished last season on a very respectable 8th place and won the first round in the Dutch Eurocup playoffs. Unfortunately, we lost 3:5 against NEC. Funnily, a player from my own academy I sold like 2 seasons ago to Fenerbahce for a lot of money was being loaned out to NEC and scored against me...

So the new season has started. Besides some loans I signed only one player in the summer window so I can use my transfer budget to increase my wage budget to a more competitive level.

As finances have been improving steadily over the previous seasons the board allowed me to improve our facilities. They will be finished by the winter break.

Unfortunately, our very injury prone club legend, Jeroen Lumu (If it wasn't for the many injuries this guy would be a bomb) got severly injured in the very first games being out for over 3 months. Same with my left back. Strangely, they both suffer from a torn calf muscle. Both their skills have decreased dramatically. I will definitely have to get rid of that left back ASAP.

Other than that the season has been quite ok so far being 9th after 11 games. I feel like my team is slowly improving and I'm probably not going to sign more than 1 or 2 players for the main squad unless needed as I feel that the many - but needed - signings of the previous periods took at least 1 season to integrate into the team and finally play well enough.

[Dig_Dog]

STEVE - DEN BOSCH

Forgive me readers for I have been lazy, it's been over 2 seasons since my last confession. So let's catch you up.

Season 17/18:

I bounced back from finishing 11th to finishing 4th. Then in the POs, we battered Helmond 7-1 on aggregrate to then have a two legger against Zwolle to go up. We were well beaten, 5-3 on aggregate and missed out again.

Season 18/19:

I flirted with the title, but ultimately came up short and finished 2nd. Then in the POs I played Joe, surely my superior side would win? No such luck, we were thrashed 6-1 on aggregate.

Season 19/20:

This season coincided with my holiday. So I had to get a great start otherwise my assistant would have me sacked. So a great start I got. I got better and better and better. I won 16 games in a row in the league (clan record on ths FM at least) and left for my holidays top of the league, having won 19 drawn 3 and lost 0. I was 18 points clear after just 22 games. Surely, my assistant couldn't mess that up. Well he didn't, we finished top and finally got promoted. However, he did give it a good go, surrendering 11 of my 18 point lead!

Season 20/21:

So it was important I got out of the blocks well, that I got well away from the relegation places, that I continued the high morale from promotion and rode the crest of the wave for as long as I could. I did so. We were top half by the turn. Then, we collapsed. In spectacular fashion, only to finish 17th and then have to dust ourselves down and hope to find form in the POs. Yes the same POs where I had always underachieved. Thankfully, we were far too good for the jupiler sides and after winning the first game, the confidence returned. So much so, we won the POs with ease (5-1 in the final) and maintained our top flight status.

Something rather special did happen that season, and we shocked everyone to make the Cup final. I had too many injuries and suspensions for the final itself, and with my team in dismal form, we were hammered by Ali. Oh well, at least we got into Europe. That's right, Slosch were going on a European tour!

Transfers:

More and more of the same. Good free players and others sold to boost the wage budget and fund youth development. However, the club's great hope, Felder left on a bosman.

The future:

I have a decent youth setup, but not enough top quality is coming out of it. there's just enough to get by. I have either been brilliant in the free transfer market or lucky. Either way, I've got some decent players in my team to complement the kids coming through and between them we have an exciting young side that could finish top half in the Eredivisie and push on from there. However, the club is far too small to ever challenge for the title.

[Jonas Christensen]

The Dane is back!

Transfer window

When I last wrote, the new season was about to kick off, and I had just finished a truly tough season battling against relegation after a great season with a midtable position... So the past two season had been a rollercoaster ride, but the great season had meant that despite me promising the board a midtable position, when they would have been happy just staying up, they still stuck with me after a horrid season... Thank God for that, because last season most of my players were young and only just kicking of their Jupiler-experience, e.g. my then 19 year old GK who had been promoted straight from the youths to main GK...

So, coming in to the transfer window after a tough season with youngsters, I felt that I had to get some more experienced players in, but I was struggling with a low wage budget with not a lot of room, despite once again letting quite a few players go on free transfers after their contracts ended. Unfortunately, I had also lost some more vital players. I lost a few of the only really experienced players with Vroest (DC) and a few midfielders leaving.

Despite my young GK being a promising talent, I felt I had to get a slightly older keeper in as well, so I bought a 22 year old GK with decent stats - the plan is to play him as my main GK for a season or two, while giving my younger prospect the easier games to boost his confidence and stats.

Despite the fact that I wanted more experienced players, it was proving tough to find the proper players for my team. As I only had 3 DC's last season, and one had already left, I however knew I had to bolster that position, so I brought two new young DC's in who can compete for a starting position - with one of them being a powerhouse that can also play as a striker. I then also had to buy a new striker, as my main striker had left on a free, which was a big loss as he had been great for me the past two seasons, and I had hoped to at least get some cash for him. However, I had a striker who performed well on loan at 2nd placed Zwolle last season, so I decided to go with him as my main striker and simply find a young prospect. In came Kallum Wright, a young English striker who can also play both wing positions, so a big plus. I also signed two young strikers on loan on the last day of the window, but later let them go again, as they simply weren't better than the few striker I already have, so it was better to save the wages.

So, I had the DC position covered and the striker position semi-covered. On to the midfield. I signed three young center midfielders, as I usually play 2 MC's and an AMC where I some times dabble with DM's instead, so I need a wide array of players to pick from here and in came some MC's and an AMC, as I already had some DMC's... None of them are great, but there is some potential... I still have my sights on one MC who I'm hoping to sign during the winter transfer window - he's still available on a free, but I can't afford to pay his agent fee at the moment - he would truly be a key signing and I'm hoping to offload one or two players to get him.

The last signing that should be mentioned is my new star! 19 year old Amine El Amrani, a Moroccan right winger... He's been truly amazing so far! He has speed (not as fast I normally go far in a winger, but decent), technique, good at corners, crossing, first touch etc... Below you can see a screen shot of him... I have him on a 2 year contract with a semi low wage for my team. I should be able to re-sign him without any problems, unless he gets too high ambitions, so it's an important signing, as he will provide great stability on that position on is already getting almost an assist per game.

To conclude on the transfer activities: 10 players came in, two were on loan and sent back almost straight away. 15 players have left, which included my best striker and my 4 most experienced players.

The season so far

I was actually dreading the season, it seemed like everything had gone in a different direction that I had hoped. I didn't have the wages to attract experienced players, and I didn't want players that weren't ready for the first team, but as the season began, it seems like my concerns were unjustified.

Well, what can be said about the season so far?

After 12 games, we're lying in 2nd place, 6 points behind the league leaders - Ryan at Roda, who seem to have gotten a great squad together. Cudos Ryan! This is kind of a deja vu for me, it was only 2 season ago that I was lying amongst the playoff candidates halfway through the season - and what happened? In the second half of the season, my team stopped overperforming and I got a midtable position - which was still great though!

So what about this season? Can I keep the great form up? Well, let's just say, I'm being a pessimist and saying NO WAY! I can't keep this up and I'm fully expecting my great run to end a some point. But for now I'm just enjoying it. I'm however hoping to get that one key signing in during the winter transfer window, that might actually mean we can keep this up. Finger's crossed!

But I do have some concerns... Right now I'm basically only playing young strikers who have proven themselves over a season yet. My main striker is Benteke, you can see him below. 8 goals so far, which isn't bad, but if he stops scoring or gets injured, I'll be in trouble... This also goes for my defence.. Sure, I'm covered in the DC position, but I only have 1 DR and 2 DL's, which means I'll have to put a DL as DR if he gets injured... So I might need to find a loan or a youngster as backup...

[Advantageous]

Ali/Steamboat/Rumple Stiltskin - Feyenoord

Season 8

Well what can I say. Last tuesdays session saw my Steam temporarily shut down, leaving my title challenge in the incapable hands of my Assistant Manager. I returned the next day to find my 4 point title lead reduced by 5 points, with my side sitting in 2nd place. Disappointing to say the least, especially after I lost my next match against new leaders Ajax, which left me a further 3 points adrift with 6 games to play, I gave up on the title and refocused on securing 2nd place and Champions League Qualification.

It ended up going to the wire. I was joint second with FC Twente, with Ajax 2 points clear and the Eredivisie title in their hands with 1 game remaining. All I could do was to win my game, and hope both my challengers bottled it spectacularly. To my surprise they managed it. It wasn't until the 80th minute that I moved into 1st place, after Ajax threw away a 2 goal lead. Cue a tense few minutes as I eyed the 'Latest Scores' widget, daring not to blink, followed by wild celebrations at my desk as I realised I had won the double.

The Dutch Cup final was a match I was a little unsure about. Steve's a tactically astute manager and I knew he could provide a stern test. As it was, he had injury issues, as well as a relegation battle he had prioritised ahead of the Cup and my side performed magnificently to claim my 3rd Dutch Cup in 8 seasons and my 1st trophy at Feyenoord.

Season 9

The 9th season in clan has started well. We currently sit top of the Eredivisie in the early stages, but the Summer Transfer Window was one to forget. Such is the nature of the Dutch Leagues and their reputation, a lot of good youngsters are interested in joining, but only if a cheeky release clause is slipped into their contracts. The result being that I've lost 3 players for a combined fee of around £25m. 2 of those players I had personally brought to the club and developed; my AMC Sebastien Driussi, who joined Barca for £10m against my wishes and my CB Guerra who left for £13m. Their excellent performances didn't go unnoticed by the big European clubs and I fear this is just the beginning of a trend that I'm just going to have to get used to in the coming seasons. I was lucky enough to keep both my Right Winger and Striker, but unless I can give them new contracts before the next window, I could see them both leaving with Barca and Madrid sniffing around.

[pauladams84]

Paul De Fromage - Dordrecht

After getting Dordrecht to playoffs 2 seasons in a row I am still stuck in the Jupilar. As this is my 3rd season in charge I expect nothing but promotion.

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play-Off Stages

Stage 2

[jdckelly]

So time for another post in my perpetual struggle against the game that wants to screw me over at every turn. So went down after a bright start with excelsior when my tactics decided to stop working. Lovely. Having had enough of Excelsior I left and failed to get anything new until this new season with Sparta who I added a few players but overall the squad was fine and I hope once again to get out of this hellhole asap. Til next time

Joe-Sparta

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Eredevisie

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play- Offs Stages

Stage 3

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

Tonight might see my reign come to an end with form at an alarming low and the board losing faith with me my time at Eindhoven could be over within the hour.

Update

I've lasted 2 hours but still not won a game tonight, all 2 of them as we are now in the January transfer window, but the knives are being sharpened as we speak.

Until Next Time.....

[djwillster]

will - fortuna sittard

after surviving the drop i find myself struggling in the battle again hoping that some luck decides to shine on us soon or we are going down soon

[AndyFal36]

Update No:2

Still hanging on in there but its going to be to a difficult task to keep my job at Eindhoven as we are now on a run of 13 consecutive defeats. I am baffled to understand why we have slumped like this especially after the first session of the season when we remained unbeaten.

P45 post coming soon.

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Eredevisie

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play- Offs Stages

Stage 4

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

I'm still hanging in there after 2 wins in 3 games tonight against NAC's Ass-Man as Stu was away and 9 man Den Bosch but in reality we should have at least 7 points if it wasn't for a calamitous 91st min OG in our 3rd game of the night.

I'm hoping we could be returning to our Jupiler winning season form.

Lets hope I've avoided relegation and Im still in the Eindhoven hot seat next time I post.

Until Next Time......

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Eredevisie

[redhawk]

When I left off last time, we were 12 games into the season, having won 10 and drawn two, topping the table. Now, 34 games into the season, with just four to go, you can see from the post above that we are still top, but it's been a hell of a struggle with Volendam, both of us braining the division, but unable to deliver the killing blow to each other.

MATCHES

This week started very poorly, with that result against Zwolle, which I was not present for, the first loss of the season. Fortunately we were allowed to get back on the horse against a B team next up, and then another home fixture. The derby against MVV saw us tire badly in the second half after not putting them away, before we scraped past another B side, after doing our best to throw the win away.

At this point I was beginning to worry about our form beginning to dip, especially with Volendam keeping winning, with a banana skin away to GA Eagles next, then a game against Emmen who have been playing well, finished with Volendam, the pessimist in me easily envisaging three losses. We responded to the poor form with two brilliant wins, before a clinical masterclass by Volendam put us to the sword, despite us having marginally the better of the play. You may have noticed from the table that they score quite a few goals! Another good response followed with a great win away from at Helmond, before we didn't put Almere away and got sucker punched to sign off 2021, still just top of the table, with Sparta close to both ourselves and Volendam, having annexed the last two periods.

Going in to 2022, we were able to start off against a B team which was good for morale, before the crunch match against Sparta. We created countless chances against them, and won fully deservedly. As had become the norm however, we followed up with a disappointing result after a good win, with 16th placed Fortuna gaining a fully deserved draw. Scraping past IJsell and WKE didn't put me in the most optimistic mood and the goals continued to dry up as we drew a blank against Heracles. 2-1 down to Telstar with five minutes to go, and the season seemed to be crumbling, with even draws at this stage proving disastrous. However, we used that determination I had invested in and came out the other side with a lucky 3-2 win. The poor form wasn't over though as we drew to Cambuur, a very poor team, leaving us second for the first time since game five of the season. This was a watershed point. Whereas before I had been easy on the team after a bad result, which is overachieving after all, I felt this opportunity was slipping from our grasp, and we couldn't afford that, so I ripped into them after the Cambuur game, enough was enough.

It was the right thing to do as well, the team has responded since with four wins in a row, and no goals conceded, with three of the four games against playoff contenders, Zwolle having beaten us 3-0 earlier in the season. Volendam dropped points immediately after going top, so the Dordrecht result put us back there, with Sparta steadily dropping away from us, unable to deal with the pace. Remaining are three very winnable games. Two home games against average opposition and a B team away. However, there are four games left, and the one tricky tie is Emmen away - hopefully Jonas can do me a favour! Volendam and myself have been on fire so much this season that I need just two wins from four to beat the existing Jupiler points record. However, if I win two from four I almost certainly won't be promoted!

TRANSFERS

During the winter transfer window, I decided we needed to strengthen despite us doing so well, and brought in four players. Ayhan Guler is a strong, technically proficient attacking midfielder, giving me an excellent forward thinking midfield of Ozkan, van der Loo and Guler. Ouasim Buoy, who was one of my forward midfield options, damaged his cruciate ligaments, and he agreed to mutually terminate his contract after a chat, so the Guler deal came at a good time.

Centre back Cheick Toure also became available, after all season without a club, for very similar wages as Heister, and I decided to upgrade here, letting Heister go. Toure has played well, providing proper competition to the young Oddang. Andrea Di Grazia was bought for £9k by Vicenza (having scored zero goals in my entire time with the club), and I sent Anaclerio back to his parent club, loaning FC Eindhoven's Jack Erdogan instead, who is quick but lacks any bravery, and, as I suspected, has not played very well as a result, but at least an option. The fourth signing I made was Filip Petterson, a physically excellent left back, who has not performed as well as I hoped, but is improving slowly and is a great option to have when Ata is injured or suspended, even though I expected him to replace Ata.

PLAYERS

On the performance side of things, Djumo has had an okay season for me, with 17 goals, but as he had 14 in 20 at the end of 2021, three goals this calendar year has been very disappointing. Khaloua also went through a drought, though is the more creative of the two (12 assists), and with Erdogan unable to score either, apart from the crucial equaliser v Telstar, strikers have been the problem this season again, though not as bad as last year! The early 2022 form can be attributed to this. Thankfully Khaloua is back in form currently.

The defence has been fantastic, especially Nicola Porto, who has been a rock and a captain. His partner, Oddang, has had dips in form, which is to be expected as he is young, but the acquisition of Toure has helped him, as he doesn't have to play every game. De Graaff from RB has been superb since he came back from a serious injury, while Ata has continued his good form at LB. Anchor man, Alberto, has quietly gone about his business, and in nets Houwen has made some excellent saves, despite the odd 'mare.

In midfield, van der Loo has been the brightest spark, with 10 assists and 7 goals, with Guler chipping in with 4 and 4 since his signing. My best player on paper, Ozkan, has been disappointing this season. No goals, though with 7 assists, and a rating of 6.82, have Left me scratching my head. He often is nervous for games, so maybe he's a pussy, or maybe he's nervous because he's not playing well. Maybe it's due to role I play him (BBM). Perhaps he would be better elsewhere on the pitch, but he has to play there for the good of the team. Meanwhile, the coup signing of Marinovic has not quite been that, as three red cards this season show!

And finally, we were taken over this season, with the new board injecting around 500k of their own money and taken a loan out of £1m, with £3.7m interest! There wasn't much point taking this loan out in my opinion, as we had gone from £-3m to £-1m during the summer and are not losing money throughout the season. I guess the cost cutting I did during the early part of 2021 paid off though, as imagine the interest on a £3m loan, if it's that bad for a £1m loan! We all agree that Dutch accountants are incompetent or high, or both.

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart -NAC

Its been a great season for me and my NAC side, Odds on to go down we have proven that this sleeping giant is starting to stir. I had to go away for the first 11 games of the season so i had to leave things to my assman and for once he never let me down, giving me just the start i needed and from then on i have not looked back. A good Cup run game to a end in the semi final as we lost on Pens to Twenty saw the first low point of the season, other than that i cant be more happy.

We are coming to the end of the season now and i will push hard for 4th spot, if i can get that it will have been one of the great seasons for me and my NAC side who on paper are not even a top 12 side.

Till next time

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

We are currently sitting in 17th place with 5 games to go and we have given ourselves a chance of avoiding relegation picking up 5 wins in 8 games. The run started with a comprehensive 2-0 win against NAC although the task was made slightly easier as Stu was missing so his ass-man took control. Then followed a 3-1 victory against Steve's old side Den Bosch who dominated the game despite having 10 men for most of the match. A 91st min own goal by Federico Crepaldi versus Heerenveen was tough to take in our next game in which we should have picked up all three points but we soon picked ourselves up with a win against Willem II and then a fantastic 1-0 win against PSV. Then we suffered a little blip losing two games on the trot firstly get stuffed 3-0 by Den Haag then agonizingly conceding another OG going down 1-0 to high flyers Ajax. In the final game of the session we over came a 2-1 deficit at HT against De Graafschaap with a great second half hat-trick from Wessel Dammers securing the win to keep ourselves above the automatic relegation zone.

I would have hoped for an easier run in for the end of the season games as we play the current top two sides in Feyenoord and Twente but all is not lost as the other 3 games are all winnable against Vitesse, AZ and bottom side FC Groningen which is a massive game for the club.

After spending this season playing our games at Willem II ground due to our own ground being expanded I'm hoping that now its all completed and we are back in our spiritual home the players thrive and enjoy playing again at the Jan Louwers Stadion.

So it comes down to the extra session organised for Sunday so lets hope we can avoid automatic relegation and once again keep ourselves in the top division.

Until Next Time..........

[djwillster]

Will.i.am - Fortuna Sittard

after another hard fought season we managed to stay up just clear by 6 points but next season i feel will be even harder.

as for the youth team its looking very promising for us we have a few 4 stars and a 5 star potential player that has a bright future ahead

[AndyFal36]

Final League Standings 2021/22 Eredivisie

[AndyFal36]

Final League Standings 2021/22 Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

Relegation/Promotion Play-Off Final Stages 2021/22

Round 3

Round 2

Round 1

[AndyFal36]

European Play-Off Place 2021/22

Round 2

Round 1

[AndyFal36]

Season Summary 2021/2022

[AndyFal36]

Jupiler Team Stats 2021/22

Goals Scored

Least Goals Conceded

Goals From Corners

Goals From IFK's

Goals From DFK'S

Penalties Scored

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

Average Attendance

Average Attendance By Percentage (%)

Stadium Sellouts

Net Transfer Spend

Need to back to an older save

Salary Per Annum

[AndyFal36]

Eredevisie Team Stats 2021/22

Goals Scored

Least Goals Conceded

Goals From Corners

Goals From IFK's

Goals From DFK'S

Penalties Scored

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

Average Attendance

Average Attendance By Percentage (%)

Stadium Sellouts

Net Transfer Spend

Need to go back to older save

Salary Per Annum

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

3 wins (Ali's Feyenoord, FC Groningen and Vitesee) 1 draw (Steve's AZ) and 1 defeat (FC Twente) in our last 5 games of the season was enough to keep us in the Eredevisie for another season.

The 1-0 win against Groningen secured safety and what a day for the fans who turned out in force.

We started the season well only losing once in our first 7 games and then the worst losing run in the clubs history started to kick in -14 game losing streak, if only we could have won 5 of these games we would be sitting in the dizzy heights of 6th.

During this period I was seriously thinking that I'd taken the club as far as I could and they would be better off with a new manager and new ideas but after lengthy talks with club board that lasted well into the night I decided not to quit and stick with it and if results didn't improve then it would be down to the chairman to dispense of my services.

Thankfully we managed to turn things around with 8 wins in the last 13 games due to the form of Wessel Dammers who finished the leagues top goalscorer and Lamine Abrahammson with 20 assists.

To Be Updated........