FM16 The Sammarinese Challenge.

[Wlv]

Good early season Wiv.

If you can turn some of those early away draws into wins then you will be laughing.

Ciacci looks amazing and that's a phenomenal amount of money. I also inherited a young Ciacci who was good, but mine was an AML/C called Francesco and he was not a patch on your Ciacci.

That's a phenomenal amount of goals you have scored by the way. All you have to do is stop conceding quite so many and you will be laughing next season. Playoffs here you come.

Cheers Jim, the next season was much better (update coming tonight), having defenders that can run makes a big difference .

In regards to Ciacci, seeing how he's developed at Fiorentina, I was very lucky to get 1mil for him. He's improving but his physical attributes are still quite poor for a midfielder. He made 6 appearances in Serie A this season, average rating of 6.90. Which isn't too bad, that said he seems quite unhappy.

I'd put in a loan offer for him but the guy I replaced him with was my best player last season.

We really needed the money, we were losing 100k a month, I even had to cash in on the 20% clause :s

[FGreve]

I previously tried this challenge in FM13 and had decent succes. But I failed to bring Sammarinese players through the academy.

So now i'll have another go at this challenge, and hopefully develop the national team.

Went with the pre-created save and I'll be doing some posts here throughout my save.. ^^

[Wlv]

2018/19 Season Report - Serie C

| League Table | League Results (Home) | League Results (Away) | Serie C Cup |



We immediately set out to improve our defence, with two central defenders and two wing-backs joining, a long with a goalkeeper on loan. What a difference they made, we were able to grind results out when playing poorly and stuffed some teams too. It was a shame that Cori was injured for much of the season, he never really found his top form, despite scoring 15 goals. The league was close and it took until January to catch and surpass Siena, beating the highest ever points tally in Serie C in the process.

Key Players

| Davide Agazzi | Ignacio Lores | Pio Francesco Russo |

Agazzi came in as Ciacci's replacement and he did very well. He had a strong influence, both when defending and attacking. He had the habit of scoring the winning goal, close to the end of the game, or clearing off the line, usually both in one match. Lores didn't get as many assists as last season, but finished with 13 goals and 11 assists - hence involved in 24 of our goals this season. Finally, Russo came in as an AM©, he's quite young and had some periods where he was unplayable, winning the Serie C Young Player of the Year Award. - I have high hopes for him.

Club Info

| Squad | Finances | Season Review | Transfers | Injury Report | End of Season Awards | Manager Profile |

Not as many signings as last season, a defence and an inside forward was all we really needed. It's hard to know where to go from here, our league win was quite convincing. With Cori being injury prone, Deli not performing we will need to sign a striker. I'm not entirely convinced by our Central Defenders either. We may need to improve in that area. Our finances were very bad, making a loss of ~100K per month. In the end we had to sell Ciacci's 20% Profit on Next Sale clause, for 507K to keep us from going under. We had players in the top 3 rated players again this season, which was nice but was a shame not to win it.

Next Season Targets

- Sign a quality striker and central defender.

- Improve our Youth Coaching Budget

- Stay up.

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Season

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]League

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]League Finish

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Cup Competition

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Achievements

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]2017/18

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Serie C

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]11th

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Second Round

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]None

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]2018/19

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Serie C

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]1st

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Third Round

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Serie C Super Cup Winners, Promotion

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Shevchenko]

San Marino - Lega Pro Girone B - Season 1 (2017/2018)

April Update

League



A draw against Pistoiese in a game we didn't deserve anything.

The loss against Robur Siena was a bit hard to take, the goal came from a penalty.

The loss against Maceratese was a fair result.

I changed the system for the game against L'Aquila - a 4-3-2-1 (3 MCs, 2 shadow strikers and a DLF-s) and we simply destroyed them Olcese got our first hattrick of the campaign from that SS role.

So, going into the last game of the season... Here are the decisive games: (9) Pontedera - Ancona 1905 (14), (13) Fermana - Pisa (1) and (10) Teramo - San Marino (12)



San Marino goal of the Month award goes to... (Completing his hattrick)

[video=youtube;JK3ALiKkDWw]

*****

Other News

We have lost Braccini for the last game and, maybe, relegation playouts...

[dan_lcfc]

Season 2023/2024 Review

League Table - I dont believe it. We won the league although I feel as though this is down to the other teams dropping points left right and centre, more than ourselves doing anything brilliant. In fact, 78 points is the 2nd lowest winning points total since the save began. (70 was enough on 2 occasions). On top of that the Serie A dropped to 5th in the competition rankings, so it is no doubt one of the weakest Serie A to date.

We struggled after losing Bonomi, we were alot less dynamic in attack and as you can see, the goals really dried up. Thankfully we were very solid defensively and 1 goal was often enough to decide a game

League Fixtures 1

League Fixtures 2

Europa League - Our debut in Europe wasn't bad. We breezed into the group stages and got drew in a fairly tough group. We were humbled by Chelsea in both games. We cruised into the knockout stages fairly comfortably. We got through on away goals against Leipzig, but Lyon proved to be a step too far.

EL Fixtures

End of Season Awards - Bonomi would have fought Hakkar very hard for these awards

Youth Intake - In all honestly this was very disappointing

National Team - Nothing of note happened here

Next season -

Fight at the top of the table again

Make full use of the Champions League money

[Shevchenko]

This was my worst EVER game in all of my FM history... Ever... And I've been playing FM for 11 years...

Did we stay automatically up? Find out soon...

[Shevchenko]

San Marino - Lega Pro Girone B - Season 1 (2017/2018)

Season 1 Review

League Prediction - 17th

Finished - 12th

League Table | Past Positions | Season Review | Squad | End of Season awards | Best 11

Cup Fixtures | League Fixtures (First 17) | Fixtures (Last 17)

Transfers (part 1) & Transfers (part 2) | Finances

*****

Best Goalscorer

(ST) Soleymane Camara

Most Assists

(MR/MC) Simone Braccini

Best Youth Player

(ST) Gianluca Bacciocchi

*****

The San Marino Trio of the Season:

3. (GK) Matteo Renzetti - yeah, we conceded many goals, but this guy played better than those rated stars and helped us gain some key points during the season.

2. (ST) Soleymane Camara - a light at the end of the scoring tunnel. 10 goals, 3 assists, 1 PoM. Has some potentian to grow.

1. (MR/MC) Simone Braccini - best player without a doubt. Contributed with 7 assists and 4PoMs with the best average rating in the team - 7.25. Supporters' Player of the Year. Player of the week - 3 times. Player of the month - 4 times, including 3 times in a row.

*****

San Marino goal of the Season award goes to...

[video=youtube;qyTcyKBOXMs]

*****

San Marino national team

Rank on Jun 15, 2018 - 187 (+7)

*****

Next Season Plans:

Win 10 games

Clear up the squad from dead wood

Give best tagged youth some game time when possible

Improve Youth coaching

[Jimbokav1971]

The best player from last years Youth Intake has just been sold.

He wouldn't sign a Pro contract so was still on his Youth contract. I declined loads and loads of bids for him, and then I got a message saying that he had been sold. (I don't really understand it). I was under the impression that because he was on a Youth contract, then anyone could just offer him a contract, (and pay compensation set by a tribunal, at least that's the system in the UK), so I don't understand the bids I received.

I received bids from Udinese, Palermo, Napoli, Sampdoria, Verona, Sassuolo, (and more), before he signed for Serie A Genoa.

It says the deal is for £65,000 compensation, (that's a pee in the ocean to us at the moment).

It is said above that he made 2 appearances over 4 years, but he has only been with us the bit end of last season, (after the Youth Intake), and then the start of this season, (we haven't played the 1st league game of the season yet).

We do have some additional clauses, (much poorer than some of the deals I turned down).

Ah well. I never really liked him anyway.

[Wlv]

That's exactly what happened to me with Ciacci, I had contract offers and bids. I thought I'd try my luck, selected 1mil and Fiorentina agreed.

[Wlv]

2019/20 Season Report - Serie B

| League Table | League Results (Home) | League Results (Away) | Italian Cup |

What a season, I certainly wasn't expecting that! We started strongly in the league and never looked back. The cup was as usual - we were pants..but nevermind, promotion to Serie A will make up for that.

Key Players

| Davide Agazzi | Ignacio Lores | Riccardo Perpetuini | Sasha Cori |

Agazzi & Lores featuer here for the second season in a row. Agazzi was probably our best player again this season and will retain his place in the side. Lores, I'm not entirely sure on, he covered the AM© position whilst Russo was out injured and excelled there, that said his general stats aren't the best and I don't think he'll do well on the wings in Serie A. Finally, Perpetuini won our teams player of the year, his stats are very poor but he seems to but in a good effort every week.

Youth Players

I've not bothered with this section before, as my intake has been awful, however this season - everything changed

| Youth Intake | Antonio Mirabelli | Frederico Todaro | Thomas Colombini |

Colombini is the only Sammarinese player, however in my eyes he has very good stats for a defender already. Easilly good enough to walk straight in to a Serie C team at the age of 16. The other two are rated higher by my coaches and hopefully they'll be pimped my the national team as I doubt they'll be good enough for the Italy side.

Club Info

| Squad | Finances | Season Review | Transfers | Injury Report | End of Season Awards | Manager Profile |

A handful of signings meant that we hit the ground running as it were. Medicino came in as a striker, Serie B's top goalscorer in the last season. Initially he started as an ST© but he did have a few bad spells there, I moved him out to the right wing and pushed Cori up front - the result was perfect, with Medicino getting most of his goals from the wing and Cori ending up our top goalscorer. The squad is starting to lack in quality, we will need to make several signings next season.

Next Season Targets

- Improve the Depth of the squad

- Stay up.

- Cup Run

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD]Season

[/TD]

[TD]League

[/TD]

[TD]League Finish

[/TD]

[TD]Cup Competition

[/TD]

[TD]Acievements

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2017/18

[/TD]

[TD]Serie C

[/TD]

[TD]11th

[/TD]

[TD]Second Round

[/TD]

[TD]none

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2018/19

[/TD]

[TD]Serie C

[/TD]

[TD]1st

[/TD]

[TD]Third Round

[/TD]

[TD]Serie C Winners, Serie C Super Cup Winners

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2019/20

[/TD]

[TD]Serie B

[/TD]

[TD]1st

[/TD]

[TD]Fourth Quali Round

[/TD]

[TD]Serie B Winners, Manager of the Year

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day 2024.

Like last year, we got 1 particular player who seems head and shoulders above the rest. Unlike last year however, I think that (24a) Rossini looks amazing and I hope to God I can get him signed to a full-time contract. That 5 of our best 6 players were of (SMR) Nationality, seems a little weird to me. It certainly hasn't been that way in previous versions of the game. The one thing that surprises me most however is the quality of some of our Newgens coming through. You have to remember that I haven't upgraded a single thing yet. (Not facilities, not coaching, not anything), so it obviously surprises me that we are producing better and better players. Again, this hasn't been my experience in previous versions of the game/challenge.

Once again though, we seem to have an abundance of wingers coming through. 2 of the best 5 players, (rated by PA) are wingers, and even with the loss of Fabio (2023) last season, (for a paltry amount of money), we are still strong in the wide decisions.



(24a) Rossini (SMR) (F.Sport) (2024).

GK's (rated by PA).

As a result of injury to MMG, I have given both Gio and Mirko a chance. Gio will be my 1st choice for a while simply because he has already spanked in 3 direct free-kicks, and while both have very decent PA, new arrival Selva is immediately the best GK at the club, (and importantly has the best attribute balance), but he will only play if both of the 2 GK's with higher PA are unavailable or rested.

DL's (rated by PA).

(24g) Ranieri looks well down the pecking order, but when you consider that the player directly below him, (Neri), is my 2nd choice left-back, then it seems obvious that with room for improvement, Ranieri will improve the squad.

DR's (rated by PA).

Marino and Borelli will be 1st and 2nd choice, and to be honest, as (24c) Graziano is actually a centre-half, none of the new arrivals are ever likely to feature at right back.

DC's (rated by PA).

(24c) Graziano may well be the best centre-half from this years intake, but I'm hoping that he never features for the senior team. We should hopefully always have better players available.

DM's & MC's (rated by PA).

Nothing of real significance here, which is a shame because if you asked me what 2 positions I was keen to get a good player through in, I would have said MD and SC. Nothing of any note in either position.

ML's & AM's (rated by PA).

We have a little bit of strength in this area so I wasn't too worried, but (24c) Rossini is a "righty", (21b) Maggi is better in the middle and Ciacci is also being played in the middle this season where we are short of numbers.

MR's & AMR's (rated by PA).

(24a) Rossini looks excellent and there is no doubt that he will make an immediate appearance, but the key thing will be tying him down to a full-time contract so that he can't be poached for a pittance.

AMC's (rated by PA).

k

Although we don't currently play with an AMC, the only player likely to feature from this group even if we did, is likely to be (22a) Steni.

SC's (rated by PA).

This is an area that I was desperate for us to strengthen, While we got a player through in (24b) Stefano, (and added that he is a defensive forward rather than the plethora of poachers and advanced forwards I have so far been given), he really isn't great.

[Jimbokav1971]

We started the 2023/24 season quite well and at the halfway stage we were sitting comfortably 7th of 19 in Lega Pro Girone B and as usual at that stage of the season I had a plan that a 2nd half of the season push would see us into competition for the Playoff places.

Unfortunately, (and as per usual), we imploded and it was the Playouts rather than the Playoffs that we would be in and around.

A run of 9 games without a win, (and a run of 5 games without scoring), was ended as we smashed 4 past Fortis Juve without reply, (and all I did was change the duty of my DLF from Attack to Support before the last game.

[Wlv]

Rossini looks good Jim, very good starting stats for a winger.

[Jimbokav1971]

Rossini looks good Jim, very good starting stats for a winger.

He really does.

I can't remember the name of the bloke from last season who was nicked, (...... nope, still can't remember), but I really, truly and honestly didn't think that much of him even though he was decent. I think it was because although he could play AML/R, he was actually and AMC who could play wide and as I don't use an AMC at the moment, it meant that his attribute balance wasn't great for how I wanted to use him.

Rossini on the other hand.....

[Wlv]

It was the same with Ciacci too, he had a high rating but didn't perform as well as others.

Back to Rossini though...that work rate and pace will make him a beast in Serie C. Are you playing him on the right?

For me, I'd be so very tempted to stick him on the left as an inside forward, finishing and composure at 9 already, a bit of training as an IF and he'd be banging them in.

What do your coaches say about his potential?

[Shevchenko]

San Marino - Lega Pro Girone B - Season 2 (2018/2019)

August & September Update

Lega Pro Cup



Like I cared about it... Jut friendlies to me.

***

League





Well that's one hell of tendency... to win all games by 3-0... And losing to the club predicted to finish bottom. And yeah, our only goal from a striker was scored by tagged Agarici . Braccini is on fire, banging in goals and assists.

***

San Marino goal of the Month award goes to... (3rd best of the Month award, last one in the video)

[video=youtube;N3RHcTcoeBk]

*****

San Marino national team



Well say hello to our first competitive draw! Macedonia were horrible in front of goal and we grabbed a point!

Rank on Oct 01, 2018 - 174

[Jimbokav1971]

San Marino club side. End of Season 2023/24 update. Lega Pro B, (Serie C/B).

It's a bit frustrating if I'm honest. A decent 1st half of the season followed by a complete and utter capitulation in the 2nd half, after which we only avoided the Playout with 1 game remaining.

I am still not managing the NT side yet, (I have enough on my plate).

League Table.

League Graph.

League Fixtures 1. The 1st half of the season was quite decent consisting of a run of 7 games unbeaten and 4 successive win towards the end.

League Fixtures 2. The 2nd half of the season a complete contrast as we gained only 2 points from 24 in the opening 8 games and it took 3 wins on the bounce near the end of the season to ease us out of the Playout zone.

Cup Fixtures. It was the 1st time that we had qualified out of the Group stages of the Serie C Cup and we have shown gradual progression in the Cup at least.

League History.

Facilities. Unless there is something actually upgraded, I will keep this hidden.

Board Confidence. 61% and "very secure" will do me. It looks like I am going to have to something spectacular to get offered more than a 1 year contract though.

Finances. £1.4M overdrawn at the bank, a consolidation loan of £400k outstanding and £400k invested by the board this season alone just to limit our losses.

Goal-scoring GK watch.





All time Goal-scoring GK watch.



End of Season Awards.

Fans Player of Season. (20b) Tosi (SMR) (Bal) PPM.

Goal of the season.

[video=youtube;gyJkmEQW710]

Signing of the Season. The only signings I made were youth players re-signing onto Pro contracts when I didn't offer them deals quickly enough.

Young Player of the Season. (20b) Tosi (SMR) (Bal) PPM.

Top Goalscorer.

Most Assists.

Highest Avg Rating.

Best Pass Completion %.

Most Man of Match Awards.

Most Yellow Cards.

Most Red Cards.

Transfers.

2020 Youth Day.



(24a) Rossini (F.Sport) (2024).

[Jimbokav1971]

I've had enough fannying about in Serie C.

Up until now I have just been IR'ing games with the exception of when we were deep in the poo, (and when I was specifically trying to look at something tactically), but enough is enough.

I have started the 2024/25 season managing EVERY game, (novel idea I know), and we've got to see improvement because we have some decent players. Rather than actually managing the games, specifically what I want to do is control substitutions so that I can introduce some of our higher PA youngsters who are not quite ready to start. I also want to manage fitness levels better than the Ass Man does and of course I want to see if I am better tactically than my rubbish Ass Man. (I would hope sp but you never know).

Pre-season was great as we went through undefeated against whoever it was that we played, (but of course I don't manage friendlies so the Ass Man can take that credit), and of course who actually cares how well we do in these games. Right?

Then we actually progressed out of our Serie C Group, (that's twice in succession now and probably hints at our overall improvement), although it must be said that we still haven't managed to win both games, (which is obviously frustrating).

We have started the League Season well, (yes I know we always implode in the 2nd half), but this time it seems different, (because I am actually managing) and it appears at least that we have some element of control in games, (where as previously I would seriously not be able to even hazard a guess whether we were going to win/lose/draw matches). I wonder how much of this is just down to really basic team-talk instructions? (of which I am far from an expert).

The one area where I would say we are not quite up to speed is the defending of indirect free-kicks. It's something that I noticed last season and this season it already again seems to be an issue. I will have to have a look at this as it could really be the difference in success and failure in this season.

We need to get out of this league and into Serie B so that we can start earning some money and just as importantly so that our better players will agree to stay here rather than wanting to move. Over the course of the save we have already lost 3 of our brightest prospects and unless things change, it looks like we will lose another, (who will be almost impossible to replace), at the end of this season.

Playoffs might be enough to act as a show of intent for future seasons. With only 1 auto-promotion slot and opposition such as Serie B regulars Modena, Regiana, Ascoli, Siena and Virtus Entella.

This could, (and hopefully should), be a real watershed season for the save.

[col_nufc1]

[h=2][/h]

San Marino Calcio 2023/24 Season Review

Serie A Table

Results 1

-

Results 2

Serie A Player Stats

Transfers

The Squad

Season Awards

Player Of The Season

Ramón Arce

Top Goalscorer

Federico Bonazzoli

Finances

My Thoughts

We have won the Serie A title this season, after a ding dong battle with Juventus and Lazio all season. Juventus, Lazio and ourselves were in the top three all season but we went unbeaten in the 7 or 8 games and the pressure finally told on the two Italian heavyweights and little old San Marino came through to win the first Serie A title of hopefully many to come.

In the Champions League we got to the quarter finals were Liverpool beat us both home and away to knock us out of Europes elite competition.

Ramón Arce

won the player of the season award this year and I am surprised to be honest because even though he did play very well he was very injury prone and he only played 21 games.

Federico Bonazzoli was our top goalscorer again this year with 23 goals in all competitions.

We've only been given a £14m transfer budget for next year but we've already signed quite a few top class players on Bosman free transfers for next season. I've done something I don't normally do though and signed some players that don't fit into our system, so I''ll have to either tinker with our current formation or change it altogether. The Titani fans will go to the new San Marino Stadium and will see players like Lincoln, Ross Barkley and Godfred Donsah in the blue and white shirts.

Talking about our new stadium it has a capacity of only 15,099 and has the expansion of only 30,000 which is massively disappointing because you only get a new stadium every 25 to 30 years in FM if memory serves me right.

[Wlv]

Nice season Col, Congrats on the title !!

Jim - don't think I've ever IR'd a full fm game, I think it's based on CA and Reputation. I tend to get my tactics sussed and then play commentary only. I can usually get through a season in 10 hrs so doesn't take long

[dcu4life]

Hey folks,

Just finished the 2021/22 season, which was my first in Serie A. I was honestly just hoping to avoid relegation, but after a second half surge (40 points in the second half of the season) I managed to sneak into the Europa League, finishing in 6th place with 61 points. Stefano Sensi has been just as good in Serie A as he was in Serie B.

On the National Team front I'm still struggling. I've experimented with all kinds of tactics and eventually I've settled on a 4-2-2-2-0. The same tactic works wonders with the club side (I even managed to [luckily] beat Juventus away with it), but I get completely steamrolled by the bigger national teams. I suppose it's to be expected, though I did manage a solitary win in each of my last two qualification cycles. Anyone have any tips for playing with the national team?

I have a 21 year old striker who has serie a potential but just has not developed at all (4 stars for the youth team). I'm thinking of keeping him in the squad next season and playing him even though my team will suffer. Last youth intake did me no favors on the national-team front.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nice season Col, Congrats on the title !!

Jim - don't think I've ever IR'd a full fm game, I think it's based on CA and Reputation. I tend to get my tactics sussed and then play commentary only. I can usually get through a season in 10 hrs so doesn't take long

It's not based on rep at all. That's just a Rumour that has been spread and grown legs.

[Jimbokav1971]

I've just noticed that the person responsible for my Youth Intakes is actually my Ass Man.

That wasn't the plan.

Ass Man.

HoYD.



Now I just have to decide who I actually want to do the job, because quite frankly, the Ass Man has produced a couple of belters in the past couple of seasons.

[Reggiana]

Didn't even finish bottom of our qualifying group after a victory against Azerbaijan in our final match:

Although I will accept we suffered the odd tonking.

[Wlv]

A full update will come later in the week as I'm on Holiday in the Scottish Highlands. But with 4 games left of the season, this happened..

3 Games Left

2 Games Left

1 Games Left

Final Standings

Wasn't expecting that. We were 10th 7 games prior to that after a really poor run of form.

[Daymor]

Daymor HoF Update

Been a long time since I have posted. I did keep playing for quite a bit and in the end got the World Cup Win I was wanting before my squad got too old. Had to coax a few players out of retirement to achieve it but happy to get it done.

I have been saving screenshots of the seasons as I completed them and I really should make the effort to go ahead and post updates. I might try one big update rather than Yearly ones. I haven't got FM16 yet so bear in mind all these results are from my old FM14 save.

HoF Entries

- Golden Ball

- Club Trophies

- NT Trophies

- NT Landmarks

Hopefully I will find the time to get back into the save as it is easily my favourite. I would like to see out the careers of some of my more promising players in Marco Tommassoni & Daniele Benedettini.

To all you still completing this challenge I wish you luck and I will start to follow your journeys through the leagues.

[Jimbokav1971]

Congrats Daymor

That's a mighty impressive brief update. I Wil of course update you in the HoF when I get a chance.

Brilliant that you won both the World Cup & Euros after first finishing Runners Up in both.

Even more impressive that actually winning the 2 trophies is the minimum of 6 years that you were in contention at the top for.

When I won the World Cup I had players literally dying on their feet at the end of their careers and we really struggled in the aftermath with retirements .

To get such a group together over such a period is very impressive.

[Daymor]

Yeah I took screenshots of my entire WC winning squad. In the two competitions I came in Runner-Up my squad was mostly young players between 22 - 26, when I finally won I had a few key Defenders that were on their last legs. I'll make sure I try post an update on the two NT squad trophies since they were the hardest two to attain.

[jaysdailydose]

Hi, guys!

I played a lot of the Ultimate Manager Challenge last year, and am really looking at a "one-club" save and I've always heard amazing things about the Sammarinese challenge. Since quite a few of the posts here were from much earlier back in the year, I just want to make sure that the save files that are posted would still be the way to go?

I saw all about the small database, and while its unusual to me, I would be guided by you fine folks in this. I would start after getting some sleep (I'm a football-crazed American) and just want to make sure that my New Year has the correct start!

Thanks very much.

[dan_lcfc]

Didn't even finish bottom of our qualifying group after a victory against Azerbaijan in our final match:

Although I will accept we suffered the odd tonking.

Thats incredible. Where were you in the world rankings etc?

I had a message saying that I may have been under pressure, but I was still at 46% job security and 'secure' in the confidence screen. I didnt think it would be possible.

Do you plan on continuing with the club side and retaking the NT on later?

[dan_lcfc]

Hi, guys!

I played a lot of the Ultimate Manager Challenge last year, and am really looking at a "one-club" save and I've always heard amazing things about the Sammarinese challenge. Since quite a few of the posts here were from much earlier back in the year, I just want to make sure that the save files that are posted would still be the way to go?

I saw all about the small database, and while its unusual to me, I would be guided by you fine folks in this. I would start after getting some sleep (I'm a football-crazed American) and just want to make sure that my New Year has the correct start!

Thanks very much.

The save files should still work fine, if they dont and you dont want to do the 2 year holiday I can upload my file for you

Welcome to the challenge

[jaysdailydose]

The save files should still work fine, if they dont and you dont want to do the 2 year holiday I can upload my file for you

Welcome to the challenge

Thanks very much. I'll check the save files first before I ask anyone to do something for me. I was just concerned that any game updates that may have been released since release might conflict or something of the sort. I will go load it up now.

[Reggiana]

dan - I'll be carrying on, the only question would be whether I would leave the club if I got offered another job. We had tumbled down the World Rankings a bit, got close to the top 100 at one point and had dropped back to about 140, but we were the bottom seed in our group, so I didn't think it was a bad campaign. Not having to worry about the NT does mean I've been able to release a lot of lower quality youngsters who I was only keeping to make the National team easier. I guess concentrate on getting to Serie A and I might get the NT job back at some point

[jaysdailydose]

OK, I downloaded the save file but for some reason it would not appear in the game. No matter, I had to go run an errand and just did the two-year holiday.

I am now on June 29, 2017 -- but my question is, (and I saw it partially answered in the thread) -- are we allowed to make our manager character "fictional?" I saw at least one post that said taking San Marino as a primary nationality was not only allowed, but recommended -- what about having Italian as a language if we do not speak it in real life?

Obviously, I will have no badges and Sunday League Footballer career, but with such a hard challenge I want to make sure that I have every allowable advantage per the terms of the challenge. Thank you very much!

I did make a copy of the save with San Marino being promoted, so if for some reason it is needed, I will keep my save. Thank you!

[jaysdailydose]

---

I went back through the other threads and it was pretty clear what I was doing was okay, so here are my profile images for my entry to the challenge. I have taken over both the San Marino club side and the international side with immediate effect.

Anthony Soprano - Starting Profile One

Anthony Soprano - Starting Profile Two

Anthony Soprano - Starting Profile Three

My favorite fictional character, Tony Soprano, is 20 years old here and just about to become a gangster of football management. He's from San Marino instead of Sicily, with also some American roots... but does speak fluent Italian and English. We will see how Mr. Soprano fares in the third tier of Italy and in the even tougher world of international management.

Those that remember my updates from The Ultimate Manager Challenge know that I generally cross-post to my fledgling little blog. If anyone is interested in it, it is located at http://americanwerewolffootball.wordpress.com! Thanks, and best of luck to all my fellow challengers!

[Wlv]

Good luck Jay! Loving the manager name

[dan_lcfc]

This was a playout for 3rd place in the group, I dont know if the players wanted the Europa League or were trying to avoid it

On a side note the Champions League money is incredible. I dont pay any attention to finances in general but I had a quick peek and we made more money from entering the CL group stage than we did from the whole of last season, which included winning the Serie A and progressing from the EL group stage to the 2nd KO round. Thats without the extra £1,000,000 from each of our 3 group stage wins

[jaysdailydose]

Good luck Jay! Loving the manager name

Thanks, I figured I'd have a bit of fun with it. I normally don't do the "fictional character as manager" thing, so I figured it'd add some flavor to a long save.

I've just reached right before the preseason starts and am working on my tactic now, I'm going to work long term towards a Cruijffian Ajax/Barca type philosophy long-term, but I've got to see what I can actually play with our current players. The chairman has been very good with me so far, though -- allowing me to add extra backroom staff, scouts, and adding to our scouting range already -- along with sending me for my first coaching badge! Can't complain there, I'm just working right now on getting some solid scouting reports in so I can add some guys before the end of the window.

The chairman also was willing to add a big focus on youth as the club philosophy, so I couldn't be happier with how things have went so far. Thanks for the encouragement!

[dan_lcfc]

Thanks, I figured I'd have a bit of fun with it. I normally don't do the "fictional character as manager" thing, so I figured it'd add some flavor to a long save.

I've just reached right before the preseason starts and am working on my tactic now, I'm going to work long term towards a Cruijffian Ajax/Barca type philosophy long-term, but I've got to see what I can actually play with our current players. The chairman has been very good with me so far, though -- allowing me to add extra backroom staff, scouts, and adding to our scouting range already -- along with sending me for my first coaching badge! Can't complain there, I'm just working right now on getting some solid scouting reports in so I can add some guys before the end of the window.

The chairman also was willing to add a big focus on youth as the club philosophy, so I couldn't be happier with how things have went so far. Thanks for the encouragement!

The first season is definitely all about survival. You can sign free transfers untill about April so dont stop scouting!!

Good luck

[trickyzip]

Hi guys

Got fm for christmas and I've been giving this challenge a go. It's bloody hard right? My personal best is to be sacked in january (dunno how jimbokav is doing it with no signings!). Thought I'd introduce myself before i go for round six.

[Jimbokav1971]

The best player from the 2024 Youth Intake is attracting interest from Serie B.

[dan_lcfc]

That's an awful lot of money. Did you reject them?

[jaysdailydose]

I'm using the same character, but I'm restarting from my save from right when San Marino gets promoted. I've decided that starting with the national team is just way too much on the plate early on, and I really want to concentrate on the club at first. I also set some of my trainings incorrectly while adjusting to the system for FM16 (I just got the new game from my wife for Christmas.)

I'll be using the exact same profile, so the screenshots from above will all be the same for this save. Thanks!

I am also going to go back through the entire thread later on today and get caught up on everyone's progress so I can be more active in the thread! Good luck to all fellow challengers!

[Jimbokav1971]

That's an awful lot of money. Did you reject them?

Yeah. Of course I did.

We are £1.5M overdrawn at the bank, we have a loan of about £0.5M and the board have already invested £866k this season to cover running costs so £1M is neither here nor there.

We have already lost 3 exciting talents and we have a 4th leaving on a free at the end of the season. (He's the best player at the club).

[dan_lcfc]

Jimbo, you mentioned earlier that you are using an Instant Result skin. What exactly does it do? Does it just put you on holiday for one day? And does it use your match tactics for the whole game?

Im thinking about using one for the NT games where we are playing the top seeded sides when we have no chance. Its a waste of time whilst we are waiting to produce some better talent.

[col_nufc1]

San Marino Calcio 2024/25 Season Review



Serie A Table





Results 1 - Results 2

Serie A Player Stats





Transfers





The Squad



Season Awards





Player Of The Season



Ramón Arce



Top Goalscorer

Federico Bonazzoli



Finances





My Thoughts

We have won the Serie A title again this season and yet again Juventus made us fight all season for the right to be called Serie A champions.

In the Champions League we got to the semi finals were Bayern Munich beat us and deservedly so and went on to win final against Atlético Madrid.

Ramón Arce won the player of the season award this year again but I am surprised to be honest because much like last season he was very injury prone and didn't play as many games as other contenders.

Federico Bonazzoli was our top goalscorer again this year with 34 goals in all competitions.

Alberto Cesarini was the only player with very good potential in this years youth intake, he has already become the youngest player to represent both the club side and the national team.

[col_nufc1]

I have been sacked as the National team manager, I am pretty shocked to be honest because I thought it was nigh on impossible to get sacked as San Marino national team manager.

Obviously my results haven't been great but considering the talent available and the amount of players with dual nationality that don't want to be selected for the national team I don't think I deserved the boot.

If anyone is interested these were my results as San Marino national team manager

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

I am going to continue my save with the club side as I am really enjoy it but if and when the national team job becomes available again then I'll apply for it.

[dan_lcfc]

Ouch, after such a good season thats a real kick in the teeth. I too thought it impossible, but now your the second person to get the boot Im worrying about my own position as NT boss. My confidence bar is still at 52% although results have been poor and we have begun to slip down the rankings again

That bank balance is also looking very healthy!

[col_nufc1]

Ouch, after such a good season thats a real kick in the teeth. I too thought it impossible, but now your the second person to get the boot Im worrying about my own position as NT boss. My confidence bar is still at 52% although results have been poor and we have begun to slip down the rankings again

That bank balance is also looking very healthy!

I think the National team was ranked around 150 in the world when I got sacked which I don't think was too bad. I never looked at my confidence bar for the National team but there was no news items saying my job was in threat and the sack just came out of the blue after our 4-0 loss in Germany.

The bank balance has took a massive hit now and is in the red, as we have signed four big money transfers on deadline day and we also got a board takeover from a consortium who then went on to take out a loan to pay for it .

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day 2025

.

Well close but no cigar springs to mind here. We are desperate for a good striker to come through and although (25a) Valli can play as a striker, he's actually far more of an AMC, (and I'm just not playing one at the moment). It's soooo frustrating. He's so good that I may have to change that though, (but more on that later).

Something that really surprised me was the astonishing number of (SMR) eligible players in this years intake. 14 of 16 is absolutely mental and I'm pretty sure that's the highest I have seen before in any save.

I should comment on the fact that we have had 2 fully Professional players come through too. They are not the stars of the intake, but lets not be too negative. Professional is professional.

(25a) Valli (SMR) (Det) (2025).

.

I was so excited when I saw that he could play SC, but alas he's just accomplished there, (but let's not rule it out completely). We are currently playing a 442 but we are not exactly setting the World alight. Maybe if I played this bloke through the middle on his own in some sort of more withdrawn role, and give the wide players more attacking freedom, then it might really open up attacking options for us. At the same time it would allow me to introduce another player somewhere further back. My initial reaction was a Regista in the DM line, but I have been there seen it and done that so no, that;s definitely not going to be it. Maybe an AMC of some sort, but of course if I am going to play an AMC, then this is the bloke who should be slotting in so no, nothing in the AMC line centrally. That leaves me with another MC, a DM, (as long as it isn't a Regitsa and I can't stand Half-Backs so that's them out too). What about at 3rd centre-half though? or even a Libero on attack duty is something I have wanted to do for a while. (We are in Italy after all).

What seems to initially suit his attribute balance right now, (at least to my eye), is a Treq(a). I've only dabbled with that role before, (thought it was poncey), but it does seem to suit him. Do you play a Treq on his own through the middle with wide support or do you play with a striking partner? (That's rhetorical by the way!)

Decisions decisions decisions.