[FM15] - The Makoto Nakamura Effect - An A-W of Football Manager

[Cardiovascular]

Inspired by Makoto Nakamura himself, I'm here trying to replicate the A-W challenge by winning every top league in the game. I think I'll go after cups too, but only top division ones at the moment. Unless I'm involved in them. I'm not going to choose Bristol Rovers over Manchester United just to win the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. I'll be following the same format Mr Nakamura did it in by only loading three leagues at a time and removing a league once I've conquered it, and adding the next one alphabetically. This leads me to begin with Argentina, Australia and Austria loaded and of course means we begin in the Argentinian Second Division. Here is a link to Makoto's thread. Really is worth a read, a fantastic career. Who knows, maybe I'll even better him.

Like Makoto, I won't be able to get a job based on Sunday League reputation, so I'll be randomising until a team in the Argentinian Second Division pops up. As it happens, that occured straight away and I would take charge of Ferro, or to use their full name Club Ferro Carril Oeste, a club based in Buenos Aires, the Argentinian capital. With a 24800 seater stadium, we certainly have room to flourish should we get promoted. We are actually a club that focuses on various sports, like hockey, swimming, athletics, tennis and many more. For the purposes of this thread, I think we'll stick with football though.

Here we go then!

[Cardiovascular]

Ferro - Pre-season 2014 - Argentine Second Division

Like I said, I was pretty much forced to take control as I wanted to start off as Sunday League reputation, however this would mean I wouldn't be able to get a job in Argentina. So it was Ferro that the gods of fate decided I should take charge of, and from original glances at the club, it looks pretty good. A solid squad, a nice big stadium and I feel like I've landed nicely on my feet here. The Argentine Premier Division & the Second Division are going through a transition period I think so for this year, the Second Division is split into two groups of eleven with the top five of EACH being promoted. This will ultimately lead to a bigger Premier Division of 30 teams in 2015, and the Second Division will become a 22 team division in one league with no groups. It's a bit confusing to begin with, but 2014 has to be our biggest chance of getting promotion with no less than five places up for grabs.

Former Premier Division winners, so a bit of history to live up to. However, the club's history does show it was the opening stage they won in 1982 and 1984, but they have never won the closing stage. Ultimately, I'm not sure what that means, but wouldn't it be nice to win the closing stage for the first time? They've never won the Second Division either, so that's another one of my early targets for this club.

Key Player

The first thing my assistant does is point out to me our best player, whom he pinpoints as an injury prone and selfish central midfielder. Good start. But what Israel Coll lacks there, he more than makes up for in technical attributes and it's clear to see why, on paper, he is our best player. True to the assistant's word however, he picks up a six week injury in only my fourth day on the job.

Friendlies

Up and down doesn't even begin to cover our pre-season schedule which consists of beating teams we should beat, losing to teams we should beat and narrowly losing to teams who should hammer us. There's nothing more beautiful than inconsistency, is there?

Transfers

To round off this update, I show off the one transfer I've made. And it's nothing to really be excited about as Eduardo Mieres joins on a free to add a bit of depth at the back. He brings a fair amount of top flight experience from Uruguay and should be a solid backup to have around in case of any injuries.

[andychar]

The Makoto Nakamura thread was amazing and I'm a little disappointed it seems to have died. I'm looking forward to this, see if you can emulate the great man! Good luck!

[Cardiovascular]

The Makoto Nakamura thread was amazing and I'm a little disappointed it seems to have died. I'm looking forward to this, see if you can emulate the great man! Good luck!

Agreed! It was a fantastic career and make for a great read. I hope he comes back and kickstarts it, but in the meantime, people can use my thread to get their fix!

[Cardiovascular]

Ferro - August and September 2014 - Argentine Second Division

There's not much to say because it's been all kinds of average here. You can really sum up the form as won some, lost some, drew some. It's also quite worrying that it only seems to be our strikers who are contributing goals - I know that's what is expected but you'd think that half way through the season, we'd have a contribution from elsewhere on the pitch. It needs to pick up or we will struggle to get promoted off the back of our strikers.

On the edge of the promotion places but we do have a game in hand so we could easily increase the points gap between ourselves and San Martin to five, which would be a tiny bit of breathing room. Given our inconsistencies, it's breathing room that we'll need to make it.

Youth Intake

It's not a bad intake by any means. It took me a bit by surprise considering it came about five games in to the season, but given the season will last four months, it makes sense. Fabian Carli looks like he could be quite the player so I've earmarked him with an * - if he makes it in the world, I can be smug about bringing him through.

He clearly needs some work physically, and I think we can only hope that he develops mentally with age. A nice determination stat which should help him in his career.

[MichaelBrown]

I'll be following this - the other thread was fantastic. Hopefully you have the time to go at a good pace (to catch him up!)

[Cardiovascular]

Good luck with this, it's quite the undertaking! Always strikes me as weird that there's still an Argentine club named after Douglas Haig.

Thanks! It's quite the story about Douglas Haig, isn't it? I would love to know how that came about. Perhaps some research is needed.

I'll be following this - the other thread was fantastic. Hopefully you have the time to go at a good pace (to catch him up!)

Cheers! Might take me a while to catch up with him but I do have a couple of seasons under my belt already, just a case of writing them up. I do have a day off today, but I'm not sure if it's best to pump out updates or stagger them a bit.

[Cardiovascular]

October & November 2014 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

It took just 10 minutes for someone who wasn't a striker to score in our very next game as experienced central midfielder Mozzo to convert two penalties in the match against Guarani Antonio Franco. Then we almost blew it. In four games, we scored none and conceded six and picked up a solitary point. This should have been enough to kick us away from any chance of promotion, but we fought back. An absolutely CRUCIAL 91st minute goal from 19 year old Guillermo Da Costa ensured we still stood a chance of promotion going into the final day - had we lost, San Martin's incredibly better goal difference would have seen them go up. As it was, all we had to do was pick up three points against newly crowned champions Nueva Chicago, and we'd be in the dizzying heights of the Argentine Premier Division. Could we pull it off?

Nueva Chicago have ran away with the league a little bit. The only saving grace is we did manage to draw 1-1 against them in the earlier fixture. Since then, our form had been indifferent, and we surely stood no chance of winning...

or did we?

[Cardiovascular]

End of Season 2014 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

Could we?

No, we couldn't. At 1-0 Nueva Chicago, our striker Bordonaro smashed a penalty right at the goalkeeper. I think that would've changed the game as it would've meant we went 2-1 up when Vernetti scored. The match may be remembered for the four goals that were chalked off for being offside. If you look at it that way, we won 5-4. But at least three of the offsides were correct so the result rightfully stands.

It's hard to take, but ultimately we weren't good enough and left it far too late to mount a push for promotion following bad form. Disappointing, but it's more of the same required next year, if not better since only three teams get promoted.

The fixtures are short and sweet meaning I can post them here, too many reds and yellows rather than greens though. Hence, we failed to get promoted.

Board not happy at all. Although, weirdly, all the sectors in that news item are positive; club performance was satisfactory, Mieres was a good signing and Vernetti was on good form. Still insecure though.

Key Players

Fantastic left back on loan from Gimnasia (LP), he was our star player towards the end of the season and overall, he ended up as our best player. I thought this would be his last season with us, but it turns out he's contracted until the end of next season which is a pleasant surprise.

Was introduced to the squad early on in the season, and scored some key goals. Very nice looking prospect for being 19.

Average season. But like most of our strikers, he didn't score enough for my liking. Plus there was THAT penalty - it probably wasn't his fault, but we'll never know. A big 'what if?' moment.

Next Season

It really has to be about pushing for promotion. I think the squad we have is good enough to go for this as it is, and we also have some nice young players to bleed into the squad this year. Overall, I think promotion could be on the cards next year. Fingers crossed.

[Cardiovascular]

Pre-season 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

With the turn of the year comes a new league formatting. We're now one big group of 22 teams who play each other twice rather than two little groups who play each other twice. Only three teams get promoted, so I can only hope we didn't miss our chance with ten teams going up last year.

No transfers in as I couldn't find anyone who I felt would improve the squad. As it stands, I do think the squad is good enough and like I said in the previous post, it's time to bleed in some of the promising youngsters we currently have into the first team. The outgoings were mostly loans apart from the two 18 year olds who went to Boca. I didn't have high hopes for Pesma, but Cresta was a loss. There were 40% and 45% sell on fees insert into both deals respectively. Whilst I was doublechecking the clauses however, I did notice some of our players have 100% of any fee we make for them going towards them or their agent! The cheek. I'd like to meet whoever agreed to that deal.

Not a spectacular pre-season at all but unbeaten at least. A draw against Atenas de San Carlos of the Uruguayan Second Division was a bit disappointing but then we drew with the thread favourites of Douglas Haig, who made it to the Premier Division, to make up for it slightly. Looking forward to the new season to be honest, have really high expectations for it!

[Cardiovascular]

February 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

It's an absolutely magnificent start to the second season at Ferro and we get straight to work on a promotion push. Some really good victories, including a 4-3 win over Instituto which was stolen right at the death by Guillermo Da Costa. Our only loss comes in the Copa Argentina, and even then it's from Premier Division opposition so we hardly have room to complain. I can only hope the team keeps up this incredible start! The next month has some real key fixtures, including a match against our closest contenders at the moment in Ctrl. Cordoba. Big month ahead.

Can we end the league now? It makes for very good showing to see us sitting pretty at the top. As a sidenote, the league is missing the bottom three clubs due to a pest of a scroll bar sticking it's nose in. Thre are 22 teams, not 19.

Awards

Without meaning to blow my own trumpet, those are some well deserved awards. da Costa has played and scored in every game he's played in so far - the only game he hasn't is the first one in which he made a 5 minute cameo at the end due to fitness problems. Brilliant to see him doing so well.

[andychar]

Unlucky in the first season but great start with the second. Keep it up and you'll be promoted no problem. Are you going to do the same as Makoto Nakamura and only get a job in the lower division of the new country or will it be first come first serve?

[deltablue]

Flying start this year

[Cardiovascular]

Unlucky in the first season but great start with the second. Keep it up and you'll be promoted no problem. Are you going to do the same as Makoto Nakamura and only get a job in the lower division of the new country or will it be first come first serve?

Thanks! I probably will just follow what Makoto did in that aspect, so yeah, will be starting at the bottom of each new nation I visit.

Heck of a start, vindicating your lack of signings as well.

Agreed, makes me look pretty good:cool:

Flying start this year

Thanks delta! Belated congratulations on the mod status as well, not sure I've been in these parts since you were appointed.

[Cardiovascular]

March 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

I recall being very hungover whilst playing these matches and taking screenshots, hence the league table is in a bigger format than usual. Not quite continuing the scorching form we started with in terms of goals, but to still be unbeaten is something I can't complain about. I just hope the draw with Ctrl. Cordoba won't come back to bite us if we slip up later on in the season. In fact, they've gained points on us, so only taking one from the match with them could definitely com back to haunt us. Plus we've lost key striker da Costa for just over a month in the penultimate match. The coming month could be vital to our promotion charge.

[Cardiovascular]

April & May 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

Unsurprisingly, the vital couple of months we had coming up went down as the worst so far in my career. There were very few silver linings in these months, but one of them just so happened to be that we did take three points off 3rd place Union (SF). The start of our spectacularly bad form came at the tail end of April as we lost 5-3 to Alvarado. It's an honorable mention for being one of the worst 30 minute periods in the clubs history as after da Costa put us 3-0 up in the 60 minute, the team just stopped playing. Allowing Alvarado to thump 5 past us. There are no excuses for that sort of performances. After that, it was downhill as we dropped 2 points in the next three games and lost out to a Cipoletti side who wanted the win more than us. Finishing on a 4-1 thrashing of Boca Unidos was a relief to many,and I'm hoping - no, praying - that it's the kickstart we need to get back on track.

In spite of this awful run...

Still top. but now the top 6 are closer than they've ever been before and another run of form like the above could see us absolutely plummet. Let's hope that isn't the case.

[Cardiovascular]

June & July 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

Much, much better couple of months! Only real stumbling block was the loss to Guarani Antonio Franco but that was expected as soon as our experienced centre back Pablo Frontini decided to chop his man down as he was about to pull the trigger. Straight red card and GAF pulled it back to one-one; from there, having used all three subs, we were at a disadvantage and it showed as we went on to lose. We ended July on a very high note with a 5-2 win over Aldosivi an a 5-0 victory over Instituto. The latter result ensured we increased the points gap between us and third place to 7 points whilst cutting the gap to top spot, which we somehow lost during the months despite our form picking up.

Two points off top spot, seven points ahead of third and nine clear of falling out of the promotion spots. Things are looking really good. I also won Manager of the Month again, but completely breezed by the news item without taking a screenshot. Schoolboy error.

[Cardiovascular]

August & September 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

We continued our fine run of games right through August, picking up a fantastic five wins out of five which put us squarely back in the title picture. Not that we were ever out of it, but we returned to the top and suddenly became favourites. There wasn't a single match in August where we failed to score less than three goals - a massive achievement imo. Losing two out of four in September brought us right back to reality BUT the silver lining was a CRUCIAL win against Union which put us four clear at the top. A fantastic brace from our incredibly promising striker Palacios who manages to cement his place in the team for the run in to the title. Continuing the theme of great news, we re set to smash the 'goals scored' record in the Second Division as we've just broken it (was 66 iirc) and there's still a few games left. Would be nice to break 100!

Back where we deserve to be IMO. From here, it's ours to lose and I really hope we come home with the title! Won Manager of the Month for August as well, as you'd expect given the excellent form we showed.

There was some activity on the transfer front as we agreed a deal to take a mid-twenty-something centre back into the club who the scouts were positively raving about, I'll get a screenshot of him up when he arrives in the summer. We also agreed to allow two players to leave; back up striker Victor Gomez will join Juve. Antoniana for £29,000 in a deal I'm not fussed about at all. But in sadder news, our promising youth player Fabian Carli will be leaving for £1.8m in the summer to join Galatasaray, plus 50% of any future fee. Sad to see him go, but he was complaining about it and I just couldn't stand in his way. I hope he becomes a world beater some day. Speaking of youth intakes, we had one! Aaaand it was awful, and thus I passed on screenshotting it. Which I probably should've, but well well.

Things were looking good for our title chase, but our main 'keeper Damian Albil picked up a 3 week injury at a key point just days into October. Since we let our backup go, it's left us with a couple of inexperienced 20 year olds to work with. Is poor squad planning set to be the master of our downfall?

[MichaelBrown]

Quality effort!

Do you plan on staying with Ferro, if you are promoted? Or do you plan on trying your luck at a more reputable side, providing they offer employment?

[andychar]

Step one of the Argentina Journey almost complete! Just think your halfway though number 1 of 51. Not long now eh!

[Cardiovascular]

Quality effort!

Do you plan on staying with Ferro, if you are promoted? Or do you plan on trying your luck at a more reputable side, providing they offer employment?

Thank you! If the offer came along to manage a stronger club, I'd probably go. It would be with a heavy heart of course because I'm grown fond of Ferro, but it would be the best move for me given my goals here.

Step one of the Argentina Journey almost complete! Just think your halfway though number 1 of 51. Not long now eh!

I tried to do the maths to see how far through the challenge I was, but almost ended up hurting someone. At a rough estimate, I'd say maybe 0.9% through if we win the league? No idea. Too early to think.

[Cardiovascular]

End of Season 2015 - Ferro - Argentine Second Division

Make or break time. Sink or swim. Stick or twist. Call it what you want, but it was a tense final few games. If we were promoted without winning the league, I'd have to resign and take another job in the Second Division since I hadn't technically conquered it. Not something I wanted to do.

A gut wrenching 5-3 loss to Temperley kicked off our month and my heart was in my mouth for the next match as I worried it would be the beginning of the end for us. Fortunately, we bounced back with two superb wins against Cipolletti and Atlanta, scoring five goals in both of those games respectively. A 3-0 win over Boca Unidos followed before yet another loss against Talleres; were we about to throw this away? We dropped two more points against C.A.I de Chubut, but ended the month on a massive high as Facundo Palacios scored all five in a match against Gimnasia to round off the month and our season. But was it enough?

Ohhhh yes Step one of three in Argentina is COMPLETE! Safe to say, I'm completely delighted. Thank goodness we didn't throw it away in the end. I did apply for the vacant Newell's job (they finished 17th) but I was instantly rejected. I was really scared this was going to damage my relationship with the board, but the very next day, I was offered a new contract! Bonus.

We had the league wrapped up with a few games to go and in the end, we finished seven points clear of Union in second. Also broke the 100 goal barrier which was a goal I had in my mind, think I maybe mentioned it in the last update, that was nice to achieve!

Key Players

Incredible season for Vernetti. He came to me in the mid-season window wishing to leave for a Premier Division club, so I accepted bids from Rvier and Independiente, but he rejected both to stay for our promotion charge. I think he'll go this summer, either to a better Premier Division club or Europe. Either way, he deserves a big move because his season was brilliant. 24 assists is a magical return.

First full season in the first team for the young striker and he took to it easily as he fired twenty goals on our way to the title. Did suffer a few injuries over the season or else that tally could've been much higher, was a joy to watch up front.

Bordonaro bounced back from that miss in the final game of last season in superb style (a miss which, truth be told, allowed me to stay with Ferro. Swings and roundabouts.) He finished as our top scorer with 21 goals and played a key part in our title push.

Finances

They look very good right now! I can also imagine we'll receive some income from player sales in the summer, specifically Vernetti who I don't think will stick around. I'll maybe see that some of this goes into improving facilities if we have enough in the bank following any spending we do in the market. Onto the Premier Division then!

Season  |   Club    |   Nation   |            League          |   Position  | Achievements  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014    | Ferro     | Argentina  | Argentine 2nd Division     | 6th Group A |    None 
2015    | Ferro     | Argentina  | Argentine 2nd Division     |     1st     |  Champions!

[Cardiovascular]

2015 Awards Ceremony

All of the awards that were handed out here were well deserved by the winners. I was a little surprised that da Costa beat Vernetti to Fan's Player of the Year award considering the epic season Vernetti had, but da Costa's was equally impressive. Speaking of impressive, we have two of the best young Argentinian strikers on ours books if that award is anything to go by. Exciting stuff, bodes well for the new season in the Premier Division!

[deltablue]

I tried to do the maths to see how far through the challenge I was, but almost ended up hurting someone.

Erm, how?

[Cardiovascular]

T'was a bit of a hyperbole, just really hurt my brain trying to figure that out. Supposed to be good at maths as well.

[MichaelBrown]

Looking forward to seeing what you do next, how you approach the new season etc

[Cardiovascular]

Pre-season 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

Expectations

The board are expecting a mid-table finish in the main league and in the average points league. I am absolutely clueless as to what the average points league is for but I'm sure if it's necessary I'll find out. With 30 teams in the division, a mid-table finish sounds like a fair request and provided the right signings are made, it should be achievable. They've also asked for us to reach the 7th round of the Copa Argentina, another target we should reach.

Transfers

Some really good business here if I do say so myself. We strengthened where we had to and even managed some quality luxury signings like Stracqualursi. Unfortunately, it came at a big cost as we lost one of the stars of 2015 in Vernetti and Fabian Carli, the promising young midfielder. At least we brought in roughly £5m for them, a good boost to our finances that has went into upgrading our youth facilities.

Stracqualursi was actually our first arrival on a free, he tall and somewhat pacey for a big man. Adds a whole new dimension to our attacking line. And he's on some fairly cheap wages too, always a bonus.

Then came Sbuttoni. Really handy centre back to have, signed on the cheap and his value seems to have rocketed. Did however pick up a 5 month injury when the deal was struck, not ideal.

Raul Olivares is a very good goalkeeper and will be our number one this season. Also means we have more than one experienced 'keeper, but Albil is getting on a bit so may not be around for much longer.

Fabian Carli was signed as a backup player, just signed him for the novelty factor. Will hopefully further his development though, would love him to become a star.

David Drocco doesn't look all that great, but our scouts were really excited by him. Comes in to be Vernetti's replacement on the right wing, hopefully he can fill the big gap left there. Joins Sbuttoni as one of the newcomers who go straight to the treatment room though for 3 months. Very annoying.

Nelson Acevedo was our final signing and by far our most expensive. Cracking player to have in the centre of the pitch, hopefully he lives up to the £700k price tag!

Friendlies

A big hit and miss selection of fixtures here. Hopefully this doesn't carry into the new season or it'll be a struggle!

[deltablue]

The average points league is a league. Of average points. It's done over 3 years and used to determine relegation as one of those ways Latin-American nations protect their bigger clubs.

[Cardiovascular]

Sounds a bit confusing and unnecessary. Should just stick to the traditional methods.

[Cardiovascular]

February 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

An explosive start to life in the Premier Division. We certainly don't seem to be shy of scoring if you turn a blind eye to the Boca game, but we also are not afraid of conceding. A thrilling ten goal match with San Martin was a joy to watch as a neutral, a bit more nerve-wracking for the manager though. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite find the strength to beat Boca. They are really good , could be a struggle to overcome them, but at least that's a difficult game out of the way.

To be honest, I have no right to complain about how we've started so I'm not going to. If we can keep this up, it could be a very good year for us here. Possibly even leaving Argentina earlier than expected? Although that is quite ambitious.

[Lenzar]

Good to see you sunk Belgrano.

[Cardiovascular]

What a Ferro-cious team you have.

Very good! Believe it or not, I have struggled for a pun to do with Ferro. The connection with ferocious didn't even cross my mind. A bit disappointed in myself

Good to see you sunk Belgrano.

A thumping start to life in the Premier Division, although I personally would've taken that against any team. Belgrano just happened to be the team in the way!

[Cardiovascular]

March 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

Well, actually, we're going to begin with a couple of pieces of news that I forgot to mention in the February update. Firstly, Palacios was named as player of the month for February with four goals in five games - he was followed by Stracqualursi in second place as well just to top off a great month. In a month where it seemed nothing could go wrong though, it did as our other striker Guillermo da Costa would be out for 4-5 months with a broken pelvis. Horrible news, the only saving grace is the form Palacios and Stracqualursi are showing up top to compensate for the loss.

The show must go on as they say, and we moved into March.

Again, it speaks for itself. Flawless month with some real top moments. David Drocco made his debut in the Copa Argentina and bulleted a low drive in for our second goal. It may take a while for him to regain fitness following a three month lay off, but that's as promising a start as they come. Following that came a 5-1 thumping of Lanús before we snuck by Newell's by just the one goal. The month ended with a comfortable win over Independiente. Outstanding stuff!

I imagine this was not how people predicted the league to look after 8 games. Boca could only draw against some team they really should've beaten and we capitalised to go top! Amazing stuff. And to top it all off...

[DavidBeckham]

Congrats on the Manager of the Month award! Doing well so far KUTGW mate

[andychar]

Should be through Argentina in no time.

[deltablue]

Full steam ahead!

[True Blade]

Cracking form!

[HotChocolate]

[MichaelBrown]

I'm already looking forward to you hitting the dizzy heights of 2050

[Cardiovascular]

Thanks for all the kind comments chaps! Hopefully I can keep it up for all of you.

April 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

Following up an incredible month with even more incredible-ness. We snuck by Atlanta with a late goal and then did some more sneaking past Colon to pick up another three points. We thrashed Huracan, scoring five past them with no reply and then rounded off our month by easing past Argentinos Jrs quite simply. Phenomenal month which I really can't argue with.

5 points clear! Incredible stuff.

Happy days indeed!

[Cardiovascular]

May 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

4/4 wins again! All against teams who are a relatively mid-table bunch, then a cup win over lower league Camioneros. We gained revenge in the sweetest fashion against Nueva Chicago, who if you remember were the team that thumped us and stopped us getting promoted, by absolutely sinking them by five clear goals and it could've - and should've - been so much more. The cup match we dominated in but it took two late goals in order for us to progress.

7 points clear now! Unreal scenes to be honest, if we can continue this form, there's no reason why we can't feasibly win the league... Dare to dream? However...

Disaster has struck. Coll has been fantastic in our midfield, it's a huge blow to see him ruled out for so long. A saving grace is that we're now on a break with the transfers window and some friendlies coming up before we return to business as usual in August!

[HotChocolate]

KUTGW & the title is yours with this start.

Just hopefully you can replace Coll

[Cardiovascular]

KUTGW & the title is yours with this start.

Just hopefully you can replace Coll

Agree on both parts! Although I really think a mid-season break could not have come at a worse time, just hoping that it doesn't kill our momentum that we've got going here.

August 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

Like I said above, I felt that the mid-season break and subsequent transfer window that has come with it could not have come at worse time. Just as we were charging forward with a real gust behind our backs, we find ourselves without a game for 2 and a half months. A few friendlies were arranged to allow us to try and keep fitness and momentum up as much as possible. The transfer window did see us sign two players however, both good players and both Paraguayan. David Achucarro, the current centre back we have on loan, was the first man to join permanently having been at our club for two and a half years on loan. Solid centre back, good enough for us to sign from Boca on a free.

The second and final signing was Achucarro's fellow countryman, a young central midfielder named Bernardo Gamarra. He looks like a real promising youngster but does need a few improvements. I thought you could tutor vision but evidently I was wrong.

Next up was tackling friendlies & the remaining league games in August.

We had a really rubbish bunch of friendlies as we couldn't overcome the likes of Colon (who we've beaten before) and a lower division side in Def. de Belgrano (VR). A defeat to Galatasaray was to be expected but we gave them a good game to be fair. Three losses on the trot showed in the first league game back as we were humbled by 30th place team Independiente Rivadavia. That did seem to give us a bit of a wake up call for the remainder of the month - we smashed our way past various teams including former champions River which I thought was a massive accomplishment, especially at 5-0. We were rewarded for advancing past Belgrano in the Copa Argentina with a home tie against Boca. Tough one.

Boca have been relentless though, and that one loss in August saw the gap fall back to just four points. That's still room for one loss but I'd really rather not drop anymore and allow Boca to catchup.

A deserved player of the month for big Stracqualursi. Seven in five is a great return and he's really starting to gather interest from clubs. A £1.9m fee release clause in his contract isn't looking so smart now.

[DavidBeckham]

Important lead over Boca at this stage of the season

[Bilbo Baggins]

Fantastic start, to overcome Boca/River and win back to back titles would be a very solid achievement.

[Cardiovascular]

Important lead over Boca at this stage of the season

Agreed. Just hoping we can keep it up!

Fantastic start, to overcome Boca/River and win back to back titles would be a very solid achievement.

Thanks! It would be an amazing achievement to win the title and potentially be leaving Argentina so soon.

[Cardiovascular]

Youth Candidates - Ferro 2016

A solid intake for sure. Better than the last one (which didn't even get shown) as we have quite a few standouts and even some players who may make reasonable squad players in the future.

Adrián Colace | Oscar González

[Cardiovascular]

September 2016 - Ferro - Argentine Premier Division

I can confirm this is as bad, if not worse, than it looks. A spectacular collapse is occuring as we have an absolutely dreadful September and pick up just two points from 12. Naturally, as we lose form, Boca are still incredible and still have time to lose their first game in forever having been right on our tails most of the season. I can't even some up the month in any words other than horrendous, literally not a single positive from this month. It's looking like a Liverpool-esque throwaway here.

Boca are still within touching distance, but we are reliant on them slipping up. And something which looks even more unlikely: we need to find some form and fast or we're not going to win this league. Fairly gutted right now.

[HotChocolate]

The dreaded bad runs in FM happening at the worst time

[Vanikain]

Hope you pull it back would be an amazing way to introduce Ferro to the league aswell.