The Sammarinese Challenge.

[Jimbokav1971]

OK. Back playing again.

Dec 2032. Just set a new record for gate receipts. £1.6M for the last game in the Champions League group stage against Genk. (Attendance now 35,373).

[Bartrcm]

Great news Jim that you are playng again.

[Jimbokav1971]

Might not be enjoying this January 2033 transfer window.

Have turned down the following deals.

Sampdoria £41.5M for 24yo DM. Volp (SMR) (2024).

FC Bayern £38.75M for 25yo SC. Pier (SMR) (2025).

Inter £36.5M for 25yo SC. Pier (SMR) (2025).

I am determined to off-load a few non (SMR) players though.

[Edit]

Sampdoria £46.5M for 22yo Croatian DL.

[Bartrcm]

What a result in my first season in Serie A.

[Jimbokav1971]

Ok. 2nd attempt at this post.

It's the end of 2032 so time for a NT update.

We are in the middle of the 2034 World Cup Qualifying campaign. (The World Cup Finals will be held in China).

We were drawn in the following group.

World Cup 2034 Qualifying. Group 4.

England.

Belgium.

Greece.

San Marino.

N.Ireland.

Azerbaijan.

The order I have them listed above is the order of the rankings at the outset of qualifying, so you can see that we have progressed significantly up the rankings to have not one but two teams drawn after us.

England will obviously be a tough nut to crack, but they have been poorly managed for ages, (now managed by Luis Enrique). They have the best players. but that doesn't always mean much. Belgium have been even more poorly managed than England, (no really!), and add to which, the last time we met them in qualifying, (2027), we won at home and drew away. Although they are managed by the 12 year old kid you saw on the TV the other day, (Kevin De Bruyne), they are still underperforming. Greece have never been brilliant, but as in real life they always seem to qualify and despite us playing them off the pitch the last twice we met them in qualifying, (2027 again), they won because they had a World Class striker who was able to stick the ball in the net whenever they managed to get the ball to him. Fortunately, (for us), although he hasn't he retired, he is certainly not World Class any more and in any case, doesn't even make the Greek squad. N.Ireland have some decent players and will be no pushovers, but we should have enough to beat them, If we can't beat Azerbaijan then we don't deserve to qualify.

England will be expected to top the group with ease and that really leaves Belgium, Greece and ourselves to fight over 2nd place, which may, (or may not), lead to a Playoff spot for the World Cup Finals.

The table currently looks like this.

England drew at home to N.Ireland.

San Marino lost away to England.

Belgium drew with Greece and lost to San Marino.

Greece drew with Belgium and lost to England.

Here are our results.

England are obviously in pole position, but although they took points off us, they then threw away 2 points by drawing against N.Ireland. Belgium and Greece obviously both lost ground by drawing with eachother, (brilliant result for us), and we beat Belgium to really make it hard for them to qualify. The 2nd England game even comes at a good time for us, (after the Belgium game), so anything we get out of that will be a bonus.

Here are our fixtures for 2033.

I think we have a great chance of qualifying from here.

To give you some sort of idea of the player we currently have at our disposal, here is a brief run-down on the main hitters in the squad.

GK1. Mazza was the first reasonable (SMR) GK that came through the academy, (and that didn't happen until 2025). I had to wait more than a decade for a GK. I can't tell you how painful that was, (but I'm sure some of you can appreciate it). Although he does have (ITA) as a 2nd Nationality, he knew he was never going to be good enough for them so just agreed to the call up immediately. He never played for the U19's or U21's and instead went straight into ther Senior (SMR) NT, (hence why he has 59 Caps at the age of 23. He is actually not that good, but just his averageness has meant so much to me in this save. Although he is currently on loan at Serie A Roma, Serie B is probably his level. Despite that, I actually prefer him to Protti at the moment, (who has much better potential). Whatever his stats are, he just plays very well.

GK2. Protti is the real deal. The 1st quality (SMR) GK. Of course he also had (ITA) as a 2nd Nationality and this time it was an issue as he probably was going to be good enough to play for them, (at least at U21 level). I kept withdrawing him from squads, (risky I know), and even when I didn't withdraw him, he never actually got on the pitch, so never represented (ITA) at any level. Earlier this year he agreed to be called up by me, (I had tried at every opportunity since his arrival), and I immediately played him in the qualifier against N.Ireland to make the (ITA) issue vanish. He is obviously now only eligible for us. I have since dropped him back into the U21's, (so that each squad has a good GK), and he will probably stay there until he is too old.

I can't stress to you how important just 1 average GK is for the NT in this challenge. I'm sure that some of you will find as you progress that it doesn't matter how good the rest of your team is if your GK is just rubbish. We did really well and almost qualified for the 2028 EURO Finals, but then completely bombed in qualifying for the 2030 World Cup simply because Mazza missed a couple of qualifiers through injury. It's that simple.

DL1. Fantini is first choice here and is even making an impact on the club side at the moment. He seems to have already reached his potential, (which is a shame), but beggars can't be choosers and a little like Mazza, he seems to play way beyond his attributes. The fact that he has the "long flat throw" ppm is just a big bruicy bonus.

DL2. Frederico may not be the starting left-back for either club or Country, but his potential is significantly better than that of Fantini. He's a bit of a utility man and as well as playing in both full-back positions, also plays on the left wing for the U21's.

DL3. Ragini is the guy who I have had to rely on until recently. You can obviously see that it has been a struggle but I actually really like him. He has performed brilliantly for me over the years in a very poor team. It's just a shame that he won't often get the chance to feature in what is becoming a decent team.

DR1. Fabrizio (2032). The (2032) represents that he was the best player promoted from the academy in that year. Although he is only 16, he is already the starting right back for the NT and had started to make an impact on the club side before injury disrupted his development. The reason that I am throwing him in so early is that he has the potential to be World Class. No mucking about with this bloke then.

DR2. Fabbri is the equivalent of Ragini. I know he's not good, but he was the best I had for years and he did us proud. He is still in the Senior squad so that some of the youngsters can develop more slowly in the U19's and U21's.

Full back is such a key area, (aren't they all), and for a long time it was the position that was our achilles heel. It took me quite a while to create a tactic that would sufficiently cover for their inadequacies while at the same time getting something out of them going forward. How I have adapted my tactic in this way is probably what I feel most satisfied about tactically. It was a real struggle.

DC1. Amici (2018). He is the only experienced centre-half available to me since the retirement of Conti, (will have to dig out some pictures of his career). He is the one that gels the youngsters together and I have already had to persuade him out of INT retirement. He will be a big loss when he goes.

DC2. Gian. The best of the rest, (and with the potential to match Amici), we had to wait until 2027 for him to appear.

DC3. Val. He's decent, (and we desperately needed another centre-half), but he's not got the potential that Gian has and he isn't going to improve significantly.

Where as full-back used to be our area of weakness, (as well as GK and central midfield), it's now centre-half. We have others after these 3, but really none that i would want to rely on. These are the best and Val for example is not quite cutting it as it is. I am desperate for our HoYD to produce a centre-half this year to such an extent that if he doesn't he is going. I've just decided that right now. Last chance for him no matter what else he produces. I need a centre-half and if he can't produce one then I will find someone who can.

DM1. Volp (2024) is just the newgen that we dream of in this challenge. He's not got a 2nd Nationality and rarely if ever seems to get injured. he is so important to me with my Regista tactic and deserves far more external recognition than he is getting. Brilliant player. 62 Caps by the age of 24. If only we would start qualifying for more Finals so that he would get more games!

DM2. Rossi slipped under the radar a little because he was not the best player produced from the academy that season. Additionally, because he didn't have a 2ns Nationality I didn't have to worry about him so sort of just forgot about him. He just developed nicely on the quiet and it was only in the last year or so that he has really blossomed. He is now developed to such an extent that he is a regular in the NT and even featuring for the club side.

MC1. Nicola wasn't the best player to be promoted in 2027, but his physical stats jumped out at me, (together with his versatility). and I knew he was going to be an important player. He again has really blossomed and features regularly in both Serie A and Europe for the club side.

MC2. Trini (2026) might be a year older than Nicola, but unfortunately he just hasn't developed in the same way and has now fallen behin him in the pecking order, (although they make a decent partnership in the NT).

AMC1. Volpinari (2029) arrived and developed at just the right time. Bianchi (2014) retired at the beginning of this season and Volpinari has stepped right in to fill the void, (and done so seamlessly).

Midfield has been an area of relative strength ever since Volp (2024) arrived to add support to Bianchi (2014). With the players we have listed above, (not to mention another couple of youngsters), I tend to not have to worry too much about who will play in the middle of the pitch. It doesn't matter how many injuries or suspensions we have. We should still have enough depth to be ok. It's taken a while to get to this stage though.

AML1. Visentini (2021) is just a freak. There is simply no other word for it. I seem to have stumbled on a tactc that ekes the absolute most out of whoever plays on the left flank, (whether it be for club or Country). I play slightly different systems, but the idea is the same and Visentini just seems to love playing for the NT. Playing wide left, he has scored 27 goals in 82 appearances. That's right, he has been in the team right from the bad old days where we never used to win. he has still scored at about 33% in International football. That is mental! If a striker scored 1 in 3 for a decent team then that would be ok. If a striker scored 1 in 3 for San Marino then that would be bloody brilliant. 1 in 3 from the wing playing in a team that didn't win for about a decade is just mental! He really isn't that good.

AML2. Lorenzo. Very much a back-up to Visentini, but certainly an important member of the squad when you know that your team is going to have to play 2 games in a week during qualifying,

AMR1. Gabi (2030) has really come out of nowhere to make an impact in this qualifying campaign. Pellizzarri (2016) had been the wide-right player, but he is past it now and in trying to get his pic I noticed that he had been released by Serie B Padova, (after 4 seasons), so I have offered him a contract just in case I might need him in an emergency.

AMR2. Sam (2027) needs to do more. He had a great season at Boro in the Championship a couple of years ago but is now just going through the motions in Serie B. He should be doing better than that.

The wide players have always been an area of relative strength quite simply because Visentini (2021) and Pellizzarri (2016) arrived early(ish) in the save and they made the positions their own. It was only when one or both of them were missing that we had a problem. We have some options now in place of both of them, (and more in the younger lads), but these are the players who will get us qualified, (if we are going to qualify).

SC1. Pier (2023) is a bit special. He had want to be because he has cost me an absolute fortune. He came through the academy here and he's not part Italian so that's fine, but the only problem was that he knew exactly how good he was, (at least how good he was going to be), and that meant we weren't good enough for him! He refused to sign a new contract again and again and no matter what I tried it didn't work until he agreed to join Stuttgart on a free in 2027. (I am still awaiting the compensation by the way but that's another matter). I almost signed him back from Stuttgart in 2029 but was gazzumped at the death by Sporting Lisbon who splashed out £17.75M for him. I finallt got my man, (back), a year later, but it cost me a whopping £38M. That's right. I paid £38M for a player that came through our own academy and then left on a free. he finally rewarded is last season though with a haul of 32 goals, (20 in Serie A), and has already notched 16 goals in 18 appearances at the mid-point of this season. Money wasn't, (and isn't now), an issue, so I had to get my man. Have I mentioned that he has scored 29 INT goals in 62 appearances at a rate of 47%? That's absolutely mental for a little Nation like San Marino.

SC2. Luca (2022) I feel a little sorry for. He was never really give a fair go at club level and was mostly used from the bench. He is nowhere near as good as Pier, and in this save you have to make tough decisions. he has played second-fiddle to Pier in the NT ever since his arrival and has still somehow scored 21 goals in 58 appearances. A scoring ratio of 36% is brilliant anyway for San Marino, but when you consider about half his appearances are from the bench, that's astonishing!

We all started off with Andy Selva up front and I must admit that I had a little bit of success with Stefanelli for a while, but as soon as these 2 came along they have just been it for me. As we only play 1 up front, 2 is all I need. I rotate them when we play twice in the same week, (or ideally start Pier (2023) in both games but only play him for an hour and then stick Luca (2022) on). I have produced some decent strikers since, (including a son), but nothing that can rival either of these 2 yet, (and Luca (2022) appeared nearly 12 years ago now. You could say that i have been lucky with my youth products, but I did replace the HoYD that generated Bianchi (2014), Amici (2018), Visentini (2021), Luca (2022) and Pier (2023) in an attempt to produce mode defenders. Next next HoYD has done really well, (brilliantly), but unless he gives me at least an average centre-half this season then he is going out the door too.

Scabs. Although I have done quite well in eventually persuading most (SMR) registered players to plat for San Marino, there are a few who just would not be persuaded.

Ceccoli (2026). I don't really have an issue with this bloke turning us down at all. He was brilliant from an early age and that he won the EURO U19 Championships with Italy and then the Senior World Cup in 2030 shows that he made the right decision.

Marco Fabbri. I'm really surprised that this bloke has gone straight from U21's into the full (ITA) squad. I didn't think he would be good enough and was convinced that it was just a matter of time until he agreed to represent us. The next thing I know he is a regular in the (ITA) starting line-up at only 23.

I thought there was another one, but can't seem to find him now so maybe not. I have certainly produced some really good players for (ITA) and even developed more who did not come through our academy.

In limbo. There are a few players who are yet to make up their mind which Nation they are going to represent.

Zonzini. He's being a bit silly really. He is never going to be good enough to represent (ITA) U21's never mind about the full team. He's going to be good enough for Serie A, but he's not going to be great. He needs to get over himself and fast. He played for for (SMR) U21's a few times and then changed his mind and now isn't playing for anyone at U21 level.

Venerucci. This guy on the other hand does have the potential to make it. Certainly at U21 level for (ITA), but possibly even for the senior squad, (depending on who else is about). I will be doing by best to entice him. He has so far resisted representing anyone.

Cavalli "Conti". I was sure that this guy would change his mind and play for us, but after what happened with Marco Fabbri I'm not so sure now. He's a regular in the (ITA) U21 squad but he has some stiff competition in there and there is a very good (ITA) right back in the senior squad that he is unlikely to dislodge. I am sort of coming round to accepting that he will get a couple of Caps for (ITA) and never play for us.

[Jimbokav1971]

What a result in my first season in Serie A.

Brilliant result by the way.

I found that, (especially in the Cup), the big-boys would underestimate and perform poorly against us, (up to the Final), on a really regular basis. I saw less of this in the league, but I was certainly able to counter the bigger clubs to a degree, (even before I was anywhere near what I would call an even footing).

[Jimbokav1971]

0000001100000

Not conceding goals doesn't seem to be a problem, but I just can't get to 10 clean sheets on the bounce no matter who I do.

[Jimbokav1971]

Still in the January transfer window and have loads of offers coming in.

I'm not interested in selling of the (SMR) guys but I am open to selling just about everyone else apart from World Class (ITA) centre-half El Amrani and goal-scoring (ITA) GK Lucio.

Bids so far....

£41.5M for 24yo DM. Volp (SMR) (2024) from Sampdoria.

£38.75M for 25yo SC. Pier (SMR) (2025) from FC Bayern

£36.5M for 25yo SC. Pier (SMR) (2025) from Inter.

£46.5M for 22yo DL. Zlatko Bilen (CRO) from Sampdoria. (The World Record transfer fee in my game is £48.5M. This bloke us valued at £42M so I think I should be ablt to get £50M+ for him). He still has 18 months on his contract so I am not overly bothered about selling quite yet.

£46.25M for 23yo DR. Diogenes (BRA) from Juve. (Accepted). He was valued at £28M so £46.25M is decent when he has 18 months on his contract and is kicking up a fuss about signing a new one. The reality is that I can't afford to sign all these guys onto new contracts because... well just because I can't. Diogenes is on a £13kpw and Zlatko Bilen is on £15kpw. If I was to renew these contracts they will be asking for £100k+ That's just not doable.

[Edit]

£41.5M for 22yo DL. Zlatko Bilen (CRO) from PSG.

[Jimbokav1971]

Now for something slightly different.

In addition to the club side and the NT side, I have recently started managing the U21 side. There was no reason to do this before because all the decent U21 players were all playing in the Senior side, but we have now finally got to the stage where there are decent players available. I thought they were being poorly managed so thought... "what the hell". I am now managing them in competitive games.

2032.

U21 Friendly. H to Hungary U21's. Won 2-0.

EURO U21 Qual. H to Scotland. Drew 0-0.

EURO U21 Qual. A to Armenia. Drew 2-2. (This result was a disaster and could be the difference between qualifying for the 1st time and not).

EURO U21 Qual. H to Wales. Won 3-0.

EURO U21 Qual. A to Turkey. Drew 2-2.

EURO U21 Qual. A to Scotland. Drew 1-1.

U21 Friendly. H to Liechtenstein. Won 2-0.

U21 Friendly. H to Faroe Islands. Drew 0-0. (Won on pens).

2033.

EURO U21 Qual. H to Armenia. Won 4-1.

EURO U21 Qual. A to Wales.

U21 Friendly. H to Liechtenstein.

U21 Friendly. H to Malta.

U21 Friendly. H to Andorra.

EURO U21 Qualifier. H to Turkey.

We are unbeaten since I took over, but the Armenia draw was a real disaster and looks likely to be the difference between qualification and also-rans.

Turkey have to play ourselves and Scotland.

We have to play Wales and Turkey.

Scotland have to play Armenia, Turkey and Wales.

Scotland look to be in pole position despite currently languishing in 3rd, and we need a bit of a miracle here.

We should beat Wales and we can beat Turkey. That will leave us on 16 points.

Even if we beat Turkey, then if they beat Scotland, then they will be on 17 points.

If Scotland beat Armenia and Wales, (as expected), then they will be on 15 points before the Turkey game.

What we need is a draw between Scotland and Turkey which I think, (using fingers and toes), that we will be on 16 points, Scotland will also be on 16 points, (it will go to goal diff and then goals scored), and Turkey will be on 15 points. That's how I see it anyway. It might seem like the 2 Scotland draws have cost us, but they were actually decent results against a decent team and it's really all about the Armenia draw.

[Edit]

The next little phase of this save sees our club U19's come to the fore.

We have the 1st knockout Round of the U19 Champions League, (for the 1st time ever), closely followed by the Qtr Finals of the U19 Italian Cup and then I "think" we are straight into the Group stage of the Youth Club Invitational.

[Edit]

We actually completely miss out the Group stage, (which is a shame actually), and go straight into the 2nd Round, (last 16), where we have been drawn against Juve U19's. There are still some non-(ITA) clubs left in.

Montagua (HON), Lyon (FRA), Chelsea (ENG), Lech (POL), Montpellier (FRA) & Kobenhavn (DEN).

Would much preferred one of them than boring old Juve, (who are of course quite strong).

We have won the U19's Cup once before, (2029), and we won the Youth Club Invitational in 2027 and were Runners Up the previous year. While we certainly have some stars in our U19's at the moment, we seem to have a real lack of just about anything in the middle of the pitch. I think it might really limit our ambitions this year. I am determined to sign players over the Summer that will give us a more balanced U19's squad next season, (even if only for this specific purpose).

I love these aged competitions.

[Edit]

The schedule for such young players is absolutely mental and I think it's probably why my Ass Man has been struggling when I have left things to him.

Tue 8th Feb. Youth Club Invitational 2nd Round. Won 4-0 against Juve.

Thu 10th Feb. Youth Club Invitational Qtr Finals. Won 5-1 against AC Milan.

Sat 12th Feb. Youth Club Invitational Semi Finals. Won 3-1 against Lyon of (FRA), (who tried to kick us off the pitch).

We were due to have the Qtr Final of the Italian U19 Cup during this period too. the other 3 Qtr Finals were all held on 12th Feb. Our match has been rearranged for 2nd March, (which certainly helps).

Mon 14th Feb. Youth Cup Invitational Final. Won 3-1 against Cesena.

The Champions Cup game was due to be played the following day, but thankfully has been delayed a week.

Tue 22nd Feb. U19 Champions Cup 1st Knockout Round. Won 6-0 against Rapid Wien (AUT).

The U19 league games don't really matter because although I want to win that, we are a fair way short of the likes of Inter, AC Milan, Lazio and Juve, who all very impressive squads and regularly produce whole groups of decent youngsters. That I can beat them in the knockout competitions by rotating the squad and "managing" resources better does suggest that we may not be a million miles away from challenging. We have never finished higher than 3rd in the U19's league, and then only once, (in 2029). From our point of view a large part of this relates to the standard of GK we produce. While we had Mazza or Protti we were able to compete on a regular basis. Without a GK of that calibre we really have to pick and choose our battles.

I'm quite chuffed to have won the Youth Cup Invitational because with so many games so close together it's a real test of resource management and it's something that San Marino struggle with even now. We had won it before, but only once. You are limited to 4x 18yo's and the rest must be 17 and younger. Where as I have noticed that Barca regularly produce players aged 14 and 15 years old, ours are usually 16. By the time this tournament comes around for the 1st time they are 17, so effectively most of them only get 1 go at it. Our success was mainly built on my willingness to rotate players in and out and because of the quality of 4 players who have already featured for the senior team this season. The front 3 and the right back all seem pretty impressive. How this will impact on the U19 Champions League match, (which has thankfully been postponed), remains to be seen. Surprisingly, that fixture is played over just 1 leg and we have been drawn away to Sporklub Rapid Wien.

[Jimbokav1971]

Overview - Profile after 1000 club games.

I have never played with the tactic shown.

[Jimbokav1971]

So after 10 games without conceding and only 2 goals conceded in the last 18 games, Lazio eked out a 1-1 draw against us.

Although we have only conceded 9 goals in 24 Serie A games this season, this style looks likely to cost us the league title and I can't wait to get back to playing normally again next season.

[dan_lcfc]

With the house move and the revelation that I have to work away for a while I had to stop playing so much.

I have been playing sporadically but just for about an hour a day. Fortunatly I have a week off to relax in the new house in 2 weeks so I can get plenty of FM time in then!

The biggest news in the time Ive not been playing is that I have taken on the NT. The manager seemed to be taking the side backwards after things had started to look up. I take over with the side 191st in the world (They have been as high as 155th).

We have a fairly tough group in the EURO 2028 Quals : Holland, Scotland, Iceland, Macedonia & Gibraltar. Having played 3 lost 3 when I took over, we host Gibraltar in my first competitive game in charge. We have freindlies VS Malta and Wales before the end of the year though

Club form has been horrendous though. It was a real struggle through the last season and a half. We won just 3 games in the second half of the 2024/2025 season - finishing 12th and only 9 games in the whole of the 2025/2026 season - a measly 15th place finish. I had put the 24/25 season to fatigue from playing in Europe but the last season was just awfull. We just couldnt score. One of my strikers who had scored 17 league goals in his first season (24/25) including back to back league hattricks scored just 4 goals. We only scored 47 in total!

Fortunatly things are looking up and after 9 games of the 26/27 season we already have 6 wins(2/3rds of our last season tally!)and 2 draws. and Simon Owen already has 7 league goals (21 between the team)

I will post photos when I have my proper internet up

Congratulations Jimbo! 10 consecutive clean sheets is a fantastic I have equalled my all time FM record of 5 this season (Im rubbish at making defensive tactics) and congtrats on reaching 1000 games, heres to the next 1000!

Hows your son getting on by the way??

Congratulations also to Bartcm for your back to back promotions into the Serie A, hope you can stay up comfortably! Great result against Juve too, I remember beating Inter in first Serie A season its a great feeling!

[Jimbokav1971]

The biggest news in the time Ive not been playing is that I have taken on the NT. The manager seemed to be taking the side backwards after things had started to look up. I take over with the side 191st in the world (They have been as high as 155th).

Really glad that you have taken over the NT. It really will be a slog, but it will also take a while for you to "own" the team. Once you do, there will be no stopping you.

We have a fairly tough group in the EURO 2028 Quals : Holland, Scotland, Iceland, Macedonia & Gibraltar. Having played 3 lost 3 when I took over, we host Gibraltar in my first competitive game in charge. We have freindlies VS Malta and Wales before the end of the year though

That's not a fairly tough group! That's the stuff of dreams! The draw was obviously made when you were ranked higher, (so Gibraltar were ranked as the worst team). Unless you can get back up the rankings, you could find yourself with a much tougher draw in future. It really is a double-edged sword.

Club form has been horrendous though. It was a real struggle through the last season and a half. We won just 3 games in the second half of the 2024/2025 season - finishing 12th and only 9 games in the whole of the 2025/2026 season - a measly 15th place finish. I had put the 24/25 season to fatigue from playing in Europe but the last season was just awfull. We just couldnt score. One of my strikers who had scored 17 league goals in his first season (24/25) including back to back league hattricks scored just 4 goals. We only scored 47 in total!

That is strange. have you changed tactics during that time, swapped Captains or just lost a key player?

Fortunatly things are looking up and after 9 games of the 26/27 season we already have 6 wins(2/3rds of our last season tally!)and 2 draws. and Simon Owen already has 7 league goals (21 between the team)

Where is Simon Owen from? England or somewhere else?

Congratulations Jimbo! 10 consecutive clean sheets is a fantastic I have equalled my all time FM record of 5 this season (Im rubbish at making defensive tactics) and congtrats on reaching 1000 games, heres to the next 1000!

It's sort of a strength of mine. (I love clean sheets). I would always have preferred a win and 2 draws, (5 points), to 2 wins and a loss, (6 points). I'm just a bit weird like that. It was Cleon's Dark Arts thread that inspired me to give it a proper go though. The only problem is that I can't focus on just that. While trying to not concede, I have regularly given priority to poorer Sammarinese defenders and have recently sold the only decent right back at the club, and replaced him with a 16yo Sammarinese kid with World Class potential. If I could have just picked my best team every week then God only knows how long I could go.

I have 3 Sammarinese full-backs, (aged 21, 19 & 16), and between them they have made 25(13) appearances this season, (we are in Feb). None of them are good enough to be playing at this stage and it's a theme throughout the team.

How is your son getting on by the way?

Not great at all if I'm honest. He is on loan at Celtic again and has scored 5 goals in 7(15) appearances. It's not a rubbish record, but it's not great either considering Celtic are so dominant.

My save has become a little.... strange recently in that my focus has actually been on the U19's club side and the U21 national side. My only focus with regards to the senior team has been keeping clean sheets. As a result we find ourselves 6 points behind Juve with 14 Serie A games remaining.

We're still in the Champions League, (hold a 3-0 advantage over PSG into the 2nd leg), and meet Juve in the Italian Cup Final at the end of the season.

[dan_lcfc]

Yeah the squad selection for the first games was difficult. The first teamers in my Club side are shoe ins for a first team spot and Davide Ceccoli is Captain of the Club and NT.

We beat Malta 2-0 away - scoring in 30 seconds in my first game! But then we were brought back to earth against Wales who humbled us 5-1 at the Olimpico. We did move up 9 places in the rankings which is a steady start.

Simon Owen is an English regen, signed him on a free from Chelsea.

As for the tactics, I didnt change anything drastic - it was basically the same tactic that I kept tweaking the more I lost which probably didnt help - I should have stuck with what I knew but every loss made me panic more and more. The Captain and VC have been the same for the last 4 years and we did lose a couple of players over the 2 years - 2 retirements and a squad player for £10m.

[Jimbokav1971]

Mini Update on a range of issues.

1. We've had Youth Day for 2033 and again no centre-half so the HoYD is getting the sack.

It's weird. He has produced another absolute belter. A 15yo (SMR) SC valued at £2.5M, (which is huge). In fact he's the most expensive 15yo in the game at the moment, (ahead of 2 players I bought at the start of the season, 1 German SC and 1 French AML). The highest valuation on any 15yo that hasn't been sold, (other than my guy), is a Lazio SC valued at £1M. That suggests that this kid is going to be phenomenal, (but I wanted a bloody centre-half!!!).

Rob (SMR) (2033) Profile.

Rob (SMR) (2033) Personal Info.

Rob (SMR) (2033) Nationalities.

Rob (SMR) (2033) Coach Report.

Obviously he looks pretty decent right now, (at least for a 15yo), but it's not just his stats that are decent. I quite like the look and "balance" of them. It doesn't stop there though. While the valuation of £2.5M is amazing, as I don't plan on selling him, it's largely irrelevant. I like his ppm of "places shots" and I will be developing him with that in mind. I love that he is a supporter of the club, (always love that), and he seems to have most of the playing staff on his favoured personnel list which can only help too. He has a balanced personality at the moment, (which isn't good), but I have already started tutoring him with a Fairly Pro tutor, (it's all that I had available). I actually want to tutor him with the Fairly Det Pier (SMR) (2023) because he has some great ppm's, and then I think I would need to get a specialist tutor in because I don't have a Model Pro in the right position for this guy. He doesn't have a 2nd Nationality which is brilliant, and the fact that he has some ability at AMR makes me more inclined to let him play there from the bench in his early games. He has 4.5* PPA which is great. Pier (SMR) (2023) currently only has 3.5* CA, so that I can add anything on top of him that's brilliant. Interestingly his specific aspect strong area is important matches. Absolutely love that from the start because of course we play in so many big games.

So despite the HoYD getting me this bloke, I still have to sack him because he is rubbish at getting centre-backs and that's what I need. I must sound like such a greedy ******* after getting a player like that. It's just that I don't need a striker so although it's not exactly a waste, it's just not what we needed either.

HoYD Profile.

HoYD Personal Info.

HoYD Nationalities.

HoYD Contract.

HoYD History Achievements.

I don't know exactly what I'm doing here so if you have any suggestions then please let's here them. :confused:

This guy joined Barca in 1995 and he would have been about 24 back then so this guy was always a specialist coach and has never been a player, (actually why don't I google Mr Rodolf Borrell Marco.

Ok. In real life he joined Man City as Global Technical Director in March of this year and is being credited as being influential in the development of both Messi and Fabregas.

Because he wasn't an ex-player, there seems to be very little to go on as to an indicator of what sort of players he will produce. Obviously his personality is resolute and that's great, (and is an influence), but what about player position.... Well his coaching style is General. Does that suggest Midfielders? His attacking is 19 and his defending attribute is 17. Maybe that's all the indication I need. Maybe I need to look for a HoYD with Defensive coaching style?

Jeez I wish I knew what I was doing here. This is potentially a HUGE decision. He has over 2 years left on his contract anyway. This could be awkward because he is on £12,250 pw.

Anyway, I suppose before I do anything I have to find a replacement. £12,250 pw is £637k pa.

2. We're close to Qualifying for the EURO U21 Championships.

It's really tight at the moment and 3 of the 5 teams in Group 4 remain unbeaten. Turkey and Scotland have to play eachother while we have a week off, and then we play Turkey while Scotland play Wales in the final game. I have to assume that we will beat Turkey, (not going to be easy though), but what might make all the difference is the upcoming fixture between our two rivals.

If Turkey beat Scotland and then we beat Turkey, then assuming Scotland beat Wales, then we finish 2nd and hopefully get a Playoff spot.

If Scotland beat Turkey and then we beat Turkey, then assuming Scotland beat Wales, then we finish 2nd and hopefully get a Playoff spot.

If Turkey and Scotland draw, and then we beat Turkey, then assuming Scotland beat Wales, then we finish top of the Group and gain auto-qualification.

I can't believe that we are so close to qualifying at the first attempt.

I must admit though we left it late against Wales in the last game, and I had just about given up hope

Wales U21's v San Marino U21's.

I think that might actually be the latest competitive winner I have ever scored.

I was unable to strengthen the squad from the seniors because they had a World Cup qualifier against N.Ireland and I'm still hoping to qualify there too, (fingers crossed).

3. Good defensive displays.

I've been concentrating on not conceding and it's gone quite well this season. After an iffy start, we have now only conceded 3 goals in our last 23 games. The Serie A title is surprisingly still in the balance though. Juve lead us by 4 points with 11 games still to play, but not only do we have a game in hand, (our 11 to their 10), but we also play them at home in April. I'm tempted to revert to a slightly more attacking style and stop giving the (SMR) youngsters quite so much playing time, (can't believe we have kept this up with (SMR) teenagers at full-back), but I have got this far and I think I am going to just stick with it until the end of the season. If we lose the Serie A title as a result then so be it.

Our GK has played 40 games this season, conceding 13 goals, keeping 29 clean sheets, scoring 7 goals and creating 2 assists. That has GOT to be some sort of record, (and we still have potentially 17 more games to play).

[dan_lcfc]

I didint realise you were doing an article for CCC Jim, twas a good read!

[dan_lcfc]

My HOYD http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/CristianLongobardi_OverviewProfile_zps9eec06bf.png

I get more half decent defenders through than attackers - Im absolutly dying for a half good striker (I had to play a guy with 5 finishing in my first competitive game against Gibraltar! I was astonished with the result of it but that will have to wait for my update ) Im struggling a little for a right back but the other 3 Im very happy with for now

[Jimbokav1971]

I didint realise you were doing an article for CCC Jim, twas a good read!

Yeah. Cleon was desperate for someone playing with an International team. Don't think it was up to usual ccc standards but was good for me anyway. lol

[Jimbokav1971]

My HOYD http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/CristianLongobardi_OverviewProfile_zps9eec06bf.png

I get more half decent defenders through than attackers - Im absolutly dying for a half good striker (I had to play a guy with 5 finishing in my first competitive game against Gibraltar! I was astonished with the result of it but that will have to wait for my update ) Im struggling a little for a right back but the other 3 Im very happy with for now

Oh he's very good. You see that completely throws my plans out of the window. I would have expected your guy to be banging attackers rather than defenders. (back to the drawing board then).

[col_nufc1]

After reading and enjoying all of this thread I have decided to give this challenge a go. I have had a little break from FM14 so I am ready to get my teeth back into the game and I think the San Marino challenge is the way to go.

A quick question though, how many countries/leagues does everyone start this challenge with ?

Normally I load pretty much every country possible and as you would imagine the game runs slow, so I am thinking of just using these countries:

Italy

England

France

Spain

Holland

Germany

Belguim

Brazil

Argentina

With every league loaded in these countries. As well as loading the San Marino players.

[dan_lcfc]

After reading and enjoying all of this thread I have decided to give this challenge a go. I have had a little break from FM14 so I am ready to get my teeth back into the game and I think the San Marino challenge is the way to go.

A quick question though, how many countries/leagues does everyone start this challenge with ?

Normally I load pretty much every country possible and as you would imagine the game runs slow, so I am thinking of just using these countries:

Italy

England

France

Spain

Holland

Germany

Belguim

Brazil

Argentina

With every league loaded in these countries. As well as loading the San Marino players.

That would make for an expansive game. I only run the Italian leagues as my laptop would probably explode if I did anymore!

You dont really need them initially so maybe consider just loading a few leagues and then adding more in when yourise upthe leagues?

Welcome to the challenge and good luck!!

[Jimbokav1971]

I started with just Italy leagues and San Marino players. I was a bit dopey in setting up the edit though and I forgot to include the Sammarinese leagues, (albeit non-playable anyway). I started my save as soon as the game downloaded. I didn't create the thread until later so didn't know it was possible to create the Sammarinese leagues.

I kept it just Italy for a long time, but now I have more structures loaded.

Currently.... England, Scotland, France, Portugal, Serbia, Croatia, South Africa, Holland, Belgium, USA... (think that's it).

Welcome col_nufc1 by the way.

[col_nufc1]

Thanks for the advice and welcome to the thread dan_lcfc and Jimbokav1971

I have just started my save and I have decided to play with the setup I posted but I have also added all current international players. I love looking for players to sign and I don't think there will be any good Sammarinese regens come through until I get to Serie A, when hopefully our youth facilities are upto a decent standard.

The first transfer window has just passed and we signed these five free agents on deadline day.

Délis Ahou He will be my first choice left wing back, he is a major upgrade for us in that position.

Abubakari Yakubu He will rotate with Cristiano Spirito for the right wing back spot in the side.

Marcel Mbayo He will be my first choice on the right wing.

César Lolohea He is going to be my back up Advanced playmaker.

Wilson Souprayen He gives us the option to play with three central defenders if needed but will fight it out with Alessandro Fogacci and Vittorio Ferrero when I play with a back four.

My preffered formation is 5-3-2 / 3-5-2 like the one in my profile picture but I don't think we have the players available to play that formation yet so I will be using the 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 until I get the players in to enable us to play how I want us to.

I almost forgot here is my manager profile and information.

My Manager Profile l Manager Information.

[Jimbokav1971]

Col. I have never played with wing-backs so take this with a pinch of salt but....

I don't like Yakubu. Poor physical stats really let him down.

Mbayo in front of him I like more. At that age he is going to start really dropping physical stats, (and there are a few iffy one's already). He's certainly decent though.

Lolohea looks like a player but where the hell is (NCL)?

Souprayen looks decent.

All in all though, I would say that the quality of the players you have signed is pretty impressive, certainly better than I was able to sign, (but then again I just signed who my scouts were able to find). I would say it was maybe... 3 years before I had that sort of quality in my team I think. Because I was managing the NT immediately, I instead opted to play (SMR) based players. Good start for you though.

[col_nufc1]

None of the new signings have forced themselves into the starting eleven apart from Délis Ahou. I agree with you about Yakubu and Mbayo but for the wages we can offer the players that are interested in us, no one else would sign on those terms. Both of them have one year contracts and won't be getting renewed at the end of the season and are just making up the numbers in the squad.

NCL is New Caledonia as I said I love looking for players, even from obscure countries.

I think I might remove all the leagues apart from the Italian ones at the end of the season so I can fly through the first few seasons.

I am also managing the national team but I don't think it will be long before I get the sack for the first time on FM :o

[Jimbokav1971]

I am also managing the national team but I don't think it will be long before I get the sack for the first time on FM :o

I got relegated from Serie B in the 2nd season and didn't get sacked, but more importantly I went 10 full seasons with the NT not winning a competitive game, (and not drawing too many either), and also didn't get the sack. As a little hint, make sure that you play rubbish opposition in friendlies so that you can get some wins to balance up your World ranking a little. I think it might have been by friendly wins that kept me in the job at times.

[Edit]

ps. Just won Serie A for 4th consecutive season.

[col_nufc1]

I got relegated from Serie B in the 2nd season and didn't get sacked, but more importantly I went 10 full seasons with the NT not winning a competitive game, (and not drawing too many either), and also didn't get the sack. As a little hint, make sure that you play rubbish opposition in friendlies so that you can get some wins to balance up your World ranking a little. I think it might have been by friendly wins that kept me in the job at times.

[Edit]

ps. Just won Serie A for 4th consecutive season.

Congratulations on winning Serie A for the fourth season in a row

We have played three friendlies against Gibraltor, Kenya and Tanzania, we drew two and lost one, the players available are abysmal. Our best result in the World cup qualifiers was a 2-0 defeat to Montenegro which wasn't too bad.

[col_nufc1]

San Marino 2013/14 Season Update.

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone A Table

We won the the league in my first season at the club but it was very close with Pro Vercelli only finishing three points behind us. I feel for them as they got beat in the play off final by Como who finished 8th .

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone A Player Stats

Results Part One l Results Part Two

Five Players Named In Team Of The Season

The Squad

Player Of The Season - Nicolò Lolli

Nicolò Lolli was our top goalscorer this year with a impressive 26 goals in 34 appearances as well as making 12 assists for his team mates.

Youth Intake

We had a pretty good intake and the vast majority of players will be kept on. These are the best three players from the intake and all have played in the few games we had left but goalkeeper Giacomo Battistini started all six games we had left to play due to injuries and he performed very well indeed. The better players are all Sammarinese as well which is going to be a great help to the national team.

Giacomo Battistini l Marco Buscarini l Luca Guidi

Next season I will be happy if we survive relegation really, I don't have any targets other than that to be honest.

Sorry if it's to many screenshots :o:p

Edit : I have removed all the countries/leagues except the Italian ones to get through the seasons quicker. When/if we reach Serie A I will add them all back again.

[dan_lcfc]

OK picture time

Here is the 3 league tables since my last update. As you can see it all went wrong! Last season we pulled it back around, although we did have a mid season slump. The Europa league beckons again. We have , what should be a straight forward group. Spartak Moscow, Panithinikos and Austria Wien. We have already beaten Spartak away, but drew 3-3 with the Greeks.

We have had to ship a few players out, our keeper was a disruptive influence in the squad, 2 strikers have gone - they were inconsistent to put it lightly. Alot of our younger players who I have been picking up are starting to come good.

Rick De Graaf - Striker, signed for £10m last season, scored 21 goals in his first season - our first 20 goal Serie A striker. He has been operating in the F9 position, which is a shock because I didnt think he really fit the role but he has been producing the goods!

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/RickdeGraaf_OverviewProfile_zps7385c8ce.png

Kaies Langliz - Striker, signed for £1m as a 17 year old, he was labled a wonderkid when he arrived. His goal ratio is improving year on year

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/KaiesLangliz_OverviewProfile_zps5c4c293e.png

Palhinha - Midfield, signed for £7m as a replacement for (who I beleived) departing Luca Gramaglia. The clubs showing interest wouldnt meet my asking price and Luca decided he wanted to stay at the club, so Palhinha is mostly used as a back up. He always performs when he is called upon and has even been known to keep Luca on the bench.

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/Palhinha_OverviewProfile_zps3bf5824e.png

Pierre Schulitz - Midfield, signed for £3m compensation as a 16 year old from Dortmund, was signed as a future replacement for Koke (the one whos at At Madrid) Scored his first goal last season and scored a worldy to win us the most frustrating FM game Ive ever sat and watched.

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/PierreSchulitz_OverviewProfile-2_zps3da30ab1.png

Obviously I had to replace my keeper this year and Ive plugged for this guy

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/FistonMbemba_OverviewProfile_zps6af1e688.png

Naturally his ariel ability needs major work, but he is only 20, a full national for the France side (currently ranked 3rd in the world) and a wonderkid. £12.5m could be a massive coup in 3 years time!

The NT is always going to be a struggle untill we get top youth facilities. The board keep cancelling them at the last minute which doesnt help. Weve managed to get to Excellent youth coaching though.

As I said earlier, the defenders we are producing arent that bad (theyre not good, but considering)

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/MicheleValentini_OverviewProfile-4_zpsf3a05f6d.png

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/ClaudioMoretti_OverviewProfile_zpse84f8939.png

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/MicheleRaschi_OverviewProfile-2_zps905401e2.png

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/NicolaZafferani_OverviewProfile_zpsecfb1525.png

Thats my current back 4 with

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/DavideCeccoli_OverviewProfile-5_zpsb35b7867.png

as the Anchor Man.

Results have been mixed.

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/SanMarino_FixturesSchedule_zps2c136626.png

We are expected to lose most games, and our keeper is awful. Obviously its pleasing to beat Gibraltar so we shouldnt finish bottom of the group - a success in my eyes!

We slid right down the rankings as a result of the most recent quals though and have been drawn as the 6th seed in the WC qualifiers

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/danarlow90/WorldCupEuropeanQualifyingSection_OverviewStages_zpsdf538749.png

With the poor forwards we have any points will be a massive plus for me.

I think thats it for now. Phew

[dan_lcfc]

San Marino 2013/14 Season Update.

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone A Table

We won the the league in my first season at the club but it was very close with Pro Vercelli only finishing three points behind us. I feel for them as they got beat in the play off final by Como who finished 8th .

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone A Player Stats

Results Part One l Results Part Two

Five Players Named In Team Of The Season

The Squad

Player Of The Season - Nicolò Lolli

Nicolò Lolli was our top goalscorer this year with a impressive 26 goals in 34 appearances as well as making 12 assists for his team mates.

Youth Intake

We had a pretty good intake and the vast majority of players will be kept on. These are the best three players from the intake and all have played in the few games we had left but goalkeeper Giacomo Battistini started all six games we had left to play due to injuries and he performed very well indeed. The better players are all Sammarinese as well which is going to be a great help to the national team.

Giacomo Battistini l Marco Buscarini l Luca Guidi

Next season I will be happy if we survive relegation really, I don't have any targets other than that to be honest.

Sorry if it's to many screenshots :o:p

Edit : I have removed all the countries/leagues except the Italian ones to get through the seasons quicker. When/if we reach Serie A I will add them all back again.

Am I literally the only person who couldnt win the league first time around??? Your all putting me to shame!

Congratulations on the league win!

And well done Jim, the Dark Arts have prevailed again!

[Jimbokav1971]

Col. Congrats on the promotion.

I also got promoted in season 1, but also got immediately relegated. I think your squad is significantly stronger than mine though from what I've seen. We got absolutely hammered in Serie B, but I made the choice to hardly sign anyone and just play youngsters for the xp.

I've had a look at your squad and the only name that rings a bell is Pacciardi. I think he was my ball-playing DM and was brilliant.

Bloody hell. Lolli looks good. I never had ANYONE anywhere near as good as him back then.

Little hint about looking at youth team. You can create a new screen that allows you to add stuff like Nationality to it. That way you can see at a glance who is Sammarinese and who is Italian and importantly who has a 2nd Nationality. It will save you checking them all individually.

Battistini looks fantastic. I think I had to wait either 8 or 9 years for a decent (SMR) GK.

Buscarini looks very good too.

Guidi doesn't look as good as the other 2, but it's early days yet. What are their PA like and do any of them have (ITA) as a 2nd Nationality? Most of my early best early players were either Italian or at least had Italian as a 2nd nationality. :-(

Is it sad that I can tell who is and isn't going to be Sammarinese now purely by the surname?

[Jimbokav1971]

Am I literally the only person who couldnt win the league first time around??? Your all putting me to shame!

Congratulations on the league win!

And well done Jim, the Dark Arts have prevailed again!

I was very lucky to get promoted. I won by virtue of record against the 2nd place team after we finished equal on points and they had a better goal difference and better goal scored and I thought I was in the playoffs.

in any case I got relegated the following season and we also got relocated into a different league which was much harder and it then took me a couple of years to get out of.

Anyway, it's a marathon not a sprint and really not a competition anyway.

Good 3rd season for you. The way i see it, there isn't anything wrong in taking a step back, just so long as you used the season to develop players for the long-term. I properly invested in the long-term from the outset and anything bar the sack was progress in the early years.

[Jimbokav1971]

Season 2032/33 Club Summary.

Serie A.

We won in the end, and with a bit to spare too. In Feb it looked like Juve had it in the bag but they simply imploded. We only conceded 14 Serie A goals in 38 games, (which was better than last years 17), but to be honest we let things slip a little. We conceded 3 goals in our last 4 games, (which is poor), but I think more than being tired, I had just lost a little bit of interest and wanted the season over and done with. To win the league by 8 points in the end is a bit ridiculous. Juve lost 5 of their last 12 games and basically gifted us the title as we just kept plodding away.

Champions League.

Frustratingly, we lost in the Semi to Juve after we had El Amrani sent off in the 1st half of the 1st leg, and despite still drawing the 1st leg 2-2 with 10 men, the damage was done and we could only draw the 2nd leg 1-1. As a result we went out on away goals. It was a shame because the Final is an all Italian affair between Juve and AC Milan. It would have been cool to get in on that.

Italian Cup.

We hadn't conceded a goal up until the Final, but I somehow picked most of the senior suad for a Reserve fixture and we went into the game tired and conceded 2 goals. Luckily we had enough to win by scoring 3 ourselves.

U19's League. (I didn't manage these games but I did take more of an interest in squad management).

We were champions for the 1st time in our history, (which I was pleasantly surprised about). We had previously never finished higher than 3rd. I can't remember what the target was here, (but it certainly wasn't to win), so that will do nicely thanks.

U19's Champions League. (I managed these matches but forgot about the Semi and missed it).

We lost in the Semi to Barca, (when I forgot to control the team), but I'm not convincved I would have beaten them. they have a very strong team and we were lucky to get through the Quarters against a good Arsenal team. I think the target was the Semi's for this competition was just to get out of the Group stage for the first time, so I can't really complain.

U19's Cup. (I managed these matches but forgot to take control of the Final).

This was relativley comfortable after an early round scare when we needed exgtra time to get past Udinese. With Bianchi (SMR) (2014) in charge of the team, (he's now on the staff after retiring last season), we beat Cagliari 5-1 to win the trophy for only the 2nd time.

Italian Super Cup.

We won 4-0 and it was easy. AC Milan hardly turned up.

Summary.

I'm pretty pleased with the season. I thought we were going to lose Serie A, (which was the priority), so it was pleasing to win that, but at the same time I thought we were unlucky not to make it a quadruple with the Champions League on top of the clean sweep of domestic trophies. I was also pleased with the progress that we made in the U19's squad. We conceded a total of 24 goals in our 56 games as the ever-present Lucio kept 37 clean sheets. We only conceded more than 1 goal in a game on 3 occasions. once each in the League (Udinese), Cup, (Juve in the Final), and in the last game of the Group stage of the Champions league, (when I played a weakened team against Monaco). A total of 13 (SMR) registered players played competitive senior football, (that's a record I think). Rather than concentrate on winning everything next season, I think in fact my aim will be to play 1 Serie A fixture with the whole starting XI made up of HG players. I'm pretty sure that will be doable. Obviously Lucio isn't HG and he started every single game of all types this season, but i really have to start playing the (SMR) guys I think, (or get rid of them). Not too sure I'm ready to do that with the qualifying campaigns so close.

Obviously next season I want to win the Champions League, but I'm not going to go mad and I still plan on keeping things decent defensively at the back. Are we capable of conceding less than 14 goals in Serie A? Probably not if I'm honest. I've sold our best right back and I plan on selling our best left-back too if I can. I'm really keen to off-load a few non-(SMR) players to free up some playing space for some home-grown boys.

I'm not happy with the HoYD, (despite him promoting a corker from the academy this season. He's not producing any centre-backs and I'm desperate. He's got 2 more years left on his contract but I will be trying to buy him out of that and get a replacement in. I'm just not sure who at this stage.

This is how we conceded goals, (first number corresponds with start of season).

00011010000101221000000110000000000100002010002010011012

That we went a period of 23 games and only conceded 3 goals is pretty cool. We were certainly in a purple patch during that middle period of the season.

[Edit]I've just realised that we conceded 2 goals on 5 occasions during the season. I have written that it happened only 3 times. I will have to check through and see which 2 games I missed.

(Pics up tomorrow). On that note. Anything in particular you want to see?

[dan_lcfc]

What message do you get from the FA after a qualifying campaign?

Just finished with a 2-0 win over Gibraltar, 6 points in all. We were never going to compete with the other sides really but the FA has said that I need to improve or they will look for a replacement....

I got another message which said that the NT have made progress under me?

[Jimbokav1971]

What message do you get from the FA after a qualifying campaign?

Just finished with a 2-0 win over Gibraltar, 6 points in all. We were never going to compete with the other sides really but the FA has said that I need to improve or they will look for a replacement....

I got another message which said that the NT have made progress under me?

I had that a few times and raised it as a bug. (1 time in particular it scared the hell out of me).

I think you need to ignore it and look at your job status and go on that. That's what I did/do anyway.

[col_nufc1]

Am I literally the only person who couldnt win the league first time around??? Your all putting me to shame!

Congratulations on the league win!

And well done Jim, the Dark Arts have prevailed again!

Col. Congrats on the promotion.

I also got promoted in season 1, but also got immediately relegated. I think your squad is significantly stronger than mine though from what I've seen. We got absolutely hammered in Serie B, but I made the choice to hardly sign anyone and just play youngsters for the xp.

I've had a look at your squad and the only name that rings a bell is Pacciardi. I think he was my ball-playing DM and was brilliant.

Bloody hell. Lolli looks good. I never had ANYONE anywhere near as good as him back then.

Little hint about looking at youth team. You can create a new screen that allows you to add stuff like Nationality to it. That way you can see at a glance who is Sammarinese and who is Italian and importantly who has a 2nd Nationality. It will save you checking them all individually.

Battistini looks fantastic. I think I had to wait either 8 or 9 years for a decent (SMR) GK.

Buscarini looks very good too.

Guidi doesn't look as good as the other 2, but it's early days yet. What are their PA like and do any of them have (ITA) as a 2nd Nationality? Most of my early best early players were either Italian or at least had Italian as a 2nd nationality. :-(

Is it sad that I can tell who is and isn't going to be Sammarinese now purely by the surname?

Thanks lads

The only players I signed were the five I posted earlier in the thread, everbody else was at the club already mostly on loans.

Like I said Lolli was already at the club on a season long loan from one of our parent clubs, I think it was Cesena.

Battistini, Buscarini and Guidi are all Sammarinese and already in the national team squad

I must be thick but what are you supposed to do to be able to see players second nationalities ?

[col_nufc1]

I have been flying through the second season and we have just had our youth intake which has just produced three players that could have the potential to become good to leading star in Serie A . Two of them are Sammarinese but both have just rejected call ups to the national team . I don't know why beacuse neither will get into the Italian youth teams nevermind the full national team.

Emanuel Micheloni l Davide Balsamo l Matteo Veronesi

[Jimbokav1971]

I must be thick but what are you supposed to do to be able to see players second nationalities ?

If you look at the Youth report pic that you have posted, you will see that it is titled "Assistant Reports". If you look at the top RH corner, just below "show filters", you will see a litte "+". If you click on this it will allow you to add new columns to the page.

I have created a page that shows exactly what I want, and I call it "Youth Day", but I admit that I also use it to helo with INT squad selection.

It has....

National team.

Position selected.

Player Status Information.

Name.

Best Position.

Positions.

Nationality.

Height.

Age.

Best Role.

CA.

PA.

2nd Nationality.

You can then save it. Export it and then import it and use it as just a normal screen.

[Jimbokav1971]

So there has been a few things worth updating you on.

1. The board keep trying to build a new stadium. Don't they know there is a 20 year, (actually it might be 25 year), hardcoded limit on a new stadium. They built a new one in.... 2026, so they have a bit of time to go yet before the council agrees. They have though, (again off their own back), arranged to extend the capacity of the stadium by 9,627, (bringing the new capacity to 40,756). That will make an enormous difference to our finances. I really do have a very decent board. (They are a Finnish Group by the way, which remind me I must go out and buy the best young Finn I can find).

2. I decided last season that we needed to have a bit of a clear-out. We needed to off-load some players, (not just fringlr players), and as a result we would be having a bit of a cull of non-Sammarinese players. I was also going to be looking at some of the better Sammarinese players who were maybe not getting enough playing time under us.

23yo (BRA) DR Diogenes went to Juve for £46.5M (We signed him on a free from Corinthians). He was the best right-back at the club, but he had 12 months on his contract and to extend it would have killed us.

27yo Luca (SMR) (2022) has spent the last 2 seasons on loan at Celtic, (scoring 61 goals). his contract expires in 12 months and I have just had offers in from Barca, PSV and Arsenal. I would love for him to go and play at any of them so I have accepted all the offers. Good luck to him. He is well capable of playing for us, but is just down the pecking order and needs to go elsewhere for regular games.

23yo (CRO) DL Zlatko Bilen has gone to PSG for £41.5M. We signed him from Hajduk, (our feeder), for only £575k back in 2026. He's by far our best left back, but we have young Sammarinese options there, and like Diogenes (BRA), he had 12 months left on his contract and it would have cost us a fortune to re-sign him.

24yo (ARG) DC Alf has gone to Real Madrid for £29M. We signed him from Boca for £1.7M and again he has 12 months left on his contract. We have a few options at centre-half, so I was happy to let hom go, especially as he was leaving Italy. In hindsight, I made a mistake in selling Diogenes (BRA) to another Italian club.

26yo (CRO) AML Viskovic has gone to Shakhtar for £13.5M. We signed him from Hajduk, (I think I signed him on a whim with Zlatko so that there were 2 of them), for £550k.

Man Utd came in with a £20M bid for 20yo MC Nicola (SMR). He is contracted for another 2 years and then I have another years option after that so he is going nowhere at the moment. They have come back in with £25M. Still not having it. They have come back with a 3rd offer, this time of £30M. I was tempted, (as he's already at his potential), but as I've got him for another 3 years I think I will hang on.

3. We have just lost a World Cup qualifier away to Greece 2-1. We had 2 goals disallowed and their opener was a penalty. Absolutely gutted. It doesn't stop us from qualifying for the 2034 World Cup, but it's certainly made it harder now.

4. We have retained our top spot in the European Rankings. If I'm honest, I didn't even realise that we had ever reached top spot.

5. We had to give our shareholders £20M. Ouchy! and then a tax bill of £13.5M Doubly Ouchy! that's most of our £35M annual sponsorhsip gone then. :-(

6. I haven't really paid too much attention to finances in recent years but we have just been given, (or it has been announced that we will be given), £73.04M for Serie A TV rights. I'm sure it hasn't always been that high.

7. That brings us on to Finances. Our balance is currently £273,800,619 and we have been given a Transfer Budget of £327M We also have an additional £55M of player sales to go through. I really must go and find some youngsters to buy.

8. Pier (SMR) (2023) is contracted for just 12 more months and he wants £165k pw and bonus payments of £7M. He's taking the pee I think. He's our best striker by far, but I obviously have some talent coming through. If it was another player then I would just off-load him, but it's not another player. The reason I have off-loaded the other non-Sammarinese players is just so I can pay these silly wages and keep players like him. Thats's that sorted then!

9. I think I have made an enormous mistake. HUGE. One of the players I have sold, left bacl Zlatko Bilen (CRO) is now valued at £51M shortly after being sold for £41.5M.

10. We are the 11th richest club in the World valued at £899M, (PSG are mental rich) at £2.5B. When does that roll over and become a negative? lol

11. So I have finally done the deed and binned the old HoYD. I think I did it on a whim last night, (don't even remember doing it). I thought that I had decided that as he had 2-3 years left on his contract I was going to leave it, (bottle-job), but we have just signed Manuel Pasqual... who seems to be a real player and who got 2 Caps for Italy during his career. He spent most of his time at Fiorentina and Lazio, and made almost 500 league appearances.

Hang on..... This is strange.... First of all, when I look on Transfers staff out for this season, the HOYD is not there, (but I can see Pasqual on the in side on the left). If I go back to the previous season, (we have just swapped over to a new season), then he's not there either. ??? He was a Spanish guy called...... What the hell is going on! Maybe I just got confused and he retired.

No. I have gone back to an old save and his real name was Rodolf Borrell Marco and I had nicknamed him HoYD Pro WWY20 JPA18 JPP20. His contract was due to expire in jun 2025, (so 2 more years to go). It's possible that I paud him off and released him. I know I was certainly thinking about it and had got really close to doing it, but I just thought that I had bittled it and decided to give him another season. Why can't I find him now though????

Ahhhh. He was hidden by the dreaded "unrealistic transfer" filter. Ok. Well he is stil there in the game so that's fine. I will obviously be keeping a keen eye on where he goes, (oh I didn't realise I could subscribe to him), and then trying to nick all the quality talent that he produces elsewhere. Oh that's a shame, we don't appdear on his career achievements page.

[dan_lcfc]

£327m???? I got excited because the board have just given me an extra £14m!!!

About your stadium, do you get a message at the end of the year saying that planning permission has been denied? I get this at the moment, but I also used to get it in my FC Utd save when we built a new stadium there, so I think its a bug

[Jimbokav1971]

£327m???? I got excited because the board have just given me an extra £14m!!!

About your stadium, do you get a message at the end of the year saying that planning permission has been denied? I get this at the moment, but I also used to get it in my FC Utd save when we built a new stadium there, so I think its a bug

Yeah. Its just the games way of declining the new stadium request until the 20/25 year period is over. They have to have something to tell us don't they. It's not a bug. I think it's there on purpose.

It is hard-coded in the game that there has to be either 20 or 25 years between new-build stadiums and this is the answer.

[dan_lcfc]

But Im getting it a year after weve just moved into the stadium, without asking for one or asking to expand. We dont even sellout our 22000 for the smaller games so theyre surely not looking to build a new one

[dan_lcfc]

Any idea what GK attributes help for DFKs? Id have though positioning, agility, reflexes and concentration

Ive conceded from 5 DFKs in the last 7 games. Itsgetting a wee bit frustrating

[Jimbokav1971]

I have never given it an awful lot of thought because direct free-kicks to my mind are just goals that you can do nothing about.

If I was to think though....

Positioning. 16

Agility. 17.

Reflexes. 16.

Jumping Reach. 16.

That's my GK attributes beside them.

[col_nufc1]

If you look at the Youth report pic that you have posted, you will see that it is titled "Assistant Reports". If you look at the top RH corner, just below "show filters", you will see a litte "+". If you click on this it will allow you to add new columns to the page.

I have created a page that shows exactly what I want, and I call it "Youth Day", but I admit that I also use it to helo with INT squad selection.

It has....

National team.

Position selected.

Player Status Information.

Name.

Best Position.

Positions.

Nationality.

Height.

Age.

Best Role.

CA.

PA.

2nd Nationality.

You can then save it. Export it and then import it and use it as just a normal screen.

Thanks for that, it will be a very useful screen

I am getting annoyed with Emanuel Micheloni and Matteo Veronesi now, why do they think that they are good enough for the Italian national team when there clearly not.

[Jimbokav1971]

Thanks for that, it will be a very useful screen

I am getting annoyed with Emanuel Micheloni and Matteo Veronesi now, why do they think that they are good enough for the Italian national team when there clearly not.

It's just the way of it I'm afraid.

I'm ranked in the top 50 now and they are still holding out on me.

The feeling of elation you get when they change their mind makes the waiting worthwhile though.

[col_nufc1]

It's just the way of it I'm afraid.

I'm ranked in the top 50 now and they are still holding out on me.

The feeling of elation you get when they change their mind makes the waiting worthwhile though.

So there is a small chance they will change allegiance back to San Marino in time

[dan_lcfc]

I have never given it an awful lot of thought because direct free-kicks to my mind are just goals that you can do nothing about.

If I was to think though....

Positioning. 16

Agility. 17.

Reflexes. 16.

Jumping Reach. 16.

That's my GK attributes beside them.

I dont know if Im ridiculously unlucky atm. Ive looked and I have conceded 6 in 16 league games (highest in the league, the next is 3,2, then 6x1 the rest 0) and I have conceded 3 in 6 EURO cup games (2nd highest)

Could it be linked in with height? Ive just noticed my keeper is only 5 10 :S

[Jimbokav1971]

dan. I don't know if you are half joking, but I honestly would never ever sign a GK or a centre-half who was below 6ft.

[coady]

I've just decided to start this challenge. I don't know whether it's because I started after the January patch or due to the amount of leagues I have loaded, but I've been able to secure a number of high-profile names in the late twilight of their careers in the first window. Among the signings I was able to make are, Bernardo Corradi, Carlo Cudicini, Franco Semioli & Simone Loria. So far I've only played the 2 Serie C Cup group games, so I can't judge the quality comparative to my rivals yet, but on paper it looks great.

The best part so far, however, was the pre-arranged August friendly away to Malta. My counter tactic managed to hold firm and scrape a 0-0 draw, despite 4 of my first choice back 5 being out injured for the game.