Big Euro Challenge (FM17)

[Lower Leagues Rule]

So found a great way to start the season...in the qualifying rounds of the Italian Cup, we met a Serie C team, Como and dispatched them, then met Trapani (Serie B), and got them knocked out, in the third round we faced Serie A side Palermo...they scored twice in the first 25 minutes (We missed a penalty), at half time I told the boys there was no pressure, well my replacement striker decided that was a challenge....he scored a brace, and we WON 3-2

[Lower Leagues Rule]

ASD L'Aquila 1927

Meet my Team Update

Serie C/B 2022/23

Goalkeepers

22. Andre Duarte - Transferred in from Belenenses (POR) for free in the offseason, will be looking to be our starter replacing Belec this season.

12. Mario Schragi - Joined on a free from RB Salzburg last season, but got no game time with Belec playing as well as he did. Will probably be the back-up again, unless Duarte goes down.

31. Nils Carolus - The 21 year old is coming into his third season at the club, he has yet to take the field for the seniors, but has played a LOT of reserve football, will probably be there again.

Andres Gil - Another young keeper who is likely to be behind the starters, will probably mix it up in the reserves with Carolus

With no keepers signed past the end of this season, the performances will decide the resulting player who signs into the future. I will be hoping to decide before December which one of them I want to keep, and also which of the younger guys stays as well.

 

Right Backs

24. Mattia Dall'Agnola - A new signing from Verona, it looks like he will be the starter for this season, Simoes who had the job last season has got annoyed and is out on loan looking for a permanent deal.

21. Simone Ambrogio - Was signed from Torino in the offseason, made 17 appearances in the Serie C on loan last year. Is dealing with a hernia right now, but will hopefully gain the back-up role.

2. Ewen Michaud - I signed him last season as he could play both full back positions, will be hoping he can step up during Ambrogio's absence.

Mario Sebastiani - A youth prospect who joined the club as a junior, he has a reasonable chance at becoming good enough in future. Will stay in the U18s for this season.

With the injury to Ambrogio we are a little short at Right Back at the moment, I might look to bring in another player on loan to provide some assistance for next 6 weeks.

 

Left Backs

25. Andrea Badan - arrived from Verona last season and played 37 games as our starting left back, will be continuing in that role this season.

32. Tobias Schattin - I bought him from Basel last year, and he took over as the back-up left back, only managed a single appearance, but is a solid back-up

I am looking for a youngster who can hopefully play as our #3 at the position, we have a few youngsters, but none of them are up to scratch.

 

Centre Backs

4. Davide Cortinovis - Lazio paid 600k for him 2 seasons back, I have him on loan this season and I am hoping he will help build our defence a lot better.

50. Luis Nascimento - I bought him from Portugal for 100k in 2020, he has become a solid part of the team over the last season,

26. Andrea Ferrando - A new signing this year, I am looking for him to compete for a starting role

14. Jose Simoes - The 21yr old is a chance to get some starts this season, if him and Ferrando start to improve hopefully they can start alongside Nascimento later this year.

37. Rudi Falkenberg - I signed him hoping he could improve into a role, but he has been here for three seasons now and not managed to displace the older guys

Angelo Martini - Entering his fourth season with the club, he improves each season he is here, is probably next in line for play time now ahead of Falkenberg

Antonio Benincasa - In his third season as a junior prospect, he is looking to improve, am hoping he can become our 6th DC and do a good job at it.

This is a position with some good depth, and some great young prospects. The addition of Cortinovis on loan is likely to take us to the next level this season.

 

Centre Mids

20. Gennaro Cappiello - This is his second season on loan here from Lazio, was a reasonably solid fixture with 37 appearances and 5 goals. Will be a key piece this year.

8. Isacco Pasqulotto - On loan from Bologna this season, he is likely to be battling for the second starting role

6. Davide Paglia - He is back for a second season, this time signed on permanently, will be competing to start and I expect him to take over next year.

15. Manolo  Portanova - A second season on loan, he competed for a starting role last year, but looks to be the fifth best Centre Mid this season.

34. Lorenzo Gavioli - I signed him on a free from INTER, am looking forward to him developing further and taking a starting role, will also be in the competition.

Eduardo Ibero - The 19yr old is likely to be the #6 for the season, will play for the U20s this year.

90. Sidney - A great prospect who is one to watch, but he injured his crucial ligaments and looks to be out for a long time. Look forward to seeing him develop, if he recovers.

Alfredo Marques - The 18yr old prospect will be given a chance to pair Ibero in the U20s this season, will try to get him some time in the Serie C Cup.

I am very happy with the Centre Mids I have in this team, getting the two loanees back was a great effort, and hopefully the bunch of younger guys I have can take over through the season.

 

Right Wingers

18. Alberto Tarabusi - He was one of our star wingers last season, and has returned on loan once again, will be the starter unless someone else can beat them out.

9. Daniel Bezzicherri - Has been with the club for 4 of the last 5 seasons, is competitive, and a solid player, but never amazing, will be the back-up unless Luise steps up.

35. Luigi Luise - The 24 year old will be battling to take the back-up role, and may even eventually contend with Tarabusi this season.

An interesting line-up here, just tough to see a Serie B level starter in this group, will need to work on it.

 

Left Wingers

17. Umberto Antonucci - This is our second season with this guy on loan from Roma, he was our leader in assists last season and will hopefully provide them to our new strikers this year.

19. Henrique Brito - Another signing to come in from Portugal this season, looks like he will compete for the back-up job throughout the season.

16. Nigel Kyeremateng - He had a great season with us 3 years back, but has just not been up to scratch since then, I’ve kept him as a third, but am looking to sell.

Simone Guinta - A loanee who is a little weak, but could be useful in case of an injury.

I’m delighted to have Antonucci back, but I am very disappointed with the quality at this position, I’m probably going to rotate through a bunch of players here and hopefully get an improvement.

 

Attacking Mids

10. Mimito Biai - He was a surprise star last season in the middle of our attack, am hoping that he comes back from his cruciate injuries with that skill still available.

29. Tomas Silva - Took over from Biai late last season, and will play the cover role for the rest of this year as well.

23. Timis Alexandru-Mihai - I added him from Romania this season when I realised how long Biai was going to be out, I actually like him as a shot to take over from Silva as well.

7. Juri Tarabusi - Signed on loan from Lazio for this season, is solid, but I would rather use my own players, so he will be a replacement only.

Another very strong area of my team, with three very good players and a loan player of quality as well. I am hopeful that if we do gain promotion they will be able to step up as a strength for us.

 

Strikers

11. Alberto Tenconi - I ended up loaning a starter in from Lazio for this season, he played 6 games for us in 20/21 (Serie B), and was with Trapani (Serie B) last season, the drop in level should help (Hattrick in first league game)

33. Bismark Ngissah - A nice signing, has been playing in Italy for years, I am hoping to see him contend for the starting role.

Alimami Gory - A free agent addition from France, was an early signing when we had no strikers, is looking like the third at the moment.

13. Mauro Berardi - On loan from Roma, he was fighting with Tenconi for the job in the pre-season, but will probably end up going back to Roma, unless I decide to keep him for the depth.

Glauco Pazzini - A young prospect of ours, he could develop, except he is a long way from ready to play.

After losing Coda last season I was gutted, but we managed to get 4 pretty good signings in, 2 loanees, and two free transfers will lead to a good battle for the role. Tenconi with 7 goals in 4 games is the clear leader so far.

 

[Kaiserwatman]

                  

                                                                                                                                                                            

Following last season's promotion the first choice goalkeeper along with several squad players decided to retire and replacing them proved problematic in a very frustrating transfer Window. Eventually a deal was arranged for the transfer of İsmail Çipe  the former Galatasary youth product arriving in from Istanbulspor for a fee of 20k. Serkan Odabaşoğlu soon followed for 40k from Fatih Karagümrük  and the pre season shopping was complete with the signing of Can Velioğlu for 30k from Anadolu Selçukspor. 

I decided to keep faith with the rest of the squad who had smashed the league the previous season.  Following an opening day drubbing at the hands of Gaziantep B.B , Sakaryaspor enjoyed wins over several lowly sides and by the end of October the side sat in third place . Sivasspor were making the running and deserveably held a five point gap. The Turkish Cup took a similar path as the previous season , get to the third round , meet a Super Lig side and bow out. 

By Mid January the gap was whittled down to a solitary point and Uygar Zeybek was brought in from Fernebache and provide the ammunition for Serhat Çakmak and Abdülkadir Akyıldız who had carried on their goal scoring exploits from the previous season. Over the new few months Sakaryaspor and Sivasspor switched places at the top of the table before the decider between the two clubs with four games remaining. Cameroonian forward Serge Ayuk opened for Sivasspor after six minutes and they held the lead into the last ten minutes before Zeybek netted from just outside the box on 83mins. Serhat Çakmak headed home on 88 to seal the victory . Sakaryaspor went on to win the trophy and will play their football within Super Lig next season.

With an average attendance currently around 17k , finances are in a pretty reasonable shape though the step up this time will be far greater than in previous seasons. Entering the Super Lig the club are using 0 of the 14 foreign slots available.

 

[rlipscombe]

congratulations on your promotion @Kaiserwatman - great achievement!  good luck next season. 

[Kaiserwatman]

                  

                                                                                                                                                                            

Entering the Super Lig with an wage budget less than what Galatasary paid Wesley Sneijder was always going to prove problematic but the main lesson learned from the season is the standard within the league is actually terrible.  There was no standout team , no one capable of firing a streak of five or six wins together and stamping some authority on the league. Teams entering Europe were only going for a holiday and their vacations were pretty swift. İstanbul Başakşehir were crowned Turkish champions for the first time outlasting the battle with Galatasary and Fenerbahçe , the latter taking the Turkish Cup. 

Sporting a side entirely made up of domestic players Sakaryaspor played out their season in the lower ends of the top half without any real problems with relegation though only completing the double over relegated Gençlerbirliği. Finishing 6 points ahead of Beşiktaş one could point out but I doubt over the coming years I'll see them finish 20 points off the top . The club also had their best performance within the Turkish Cup losing both legs against Fenerbahçe in the quarter finals. 

Finances have massively improved following a season in the big time with the weekly wage budget for next season rising from 50k to 250k per week which will allow for some progression though the financial prowess greatly out ways the statue of the club so progression will be slow as I have no desire to fracture the balance of wages between the current squad and future incoming signings . In fact hanging onto my existing players who are wanting to go to bigger clubs who finished below me is going to be the main precedence for the upcoming year.  

[Guest]

 

David Clark Profile (Manager)

Antequera C.F. (History Competitions)

Antequera C.F. (Club  Profile)

Antequera C.F.(Squad Overview)

 

I have decided to give FM2017 another try and this is going be my new long turn save hopefully if i do not get sack or relegated. 

[Kaiserwatman]

Missed an update so have a couple of seasons to update on following finishing 7th in my opening season within the Super Lig.  Armed with a decent transfer budget the club broke the transfer record in the 2021 season with İlhan Özel arriving in from Karabükspor for a fee of 900K. Özel truely excelled for Sakaryaspor in an advanced play-maker role contributing 10 goals from his 31 league appearances and gaining international recognition with the Turkish Under 21's.  A couple of months later the transfer record was once again broken with Senegalese International Abdoulaye Sané   also arriving in from Karabükspor for a fee of 1.3m .  This is where the spending ended though as the realisation that long term the spending was unsustainable and the club would need look to improve other areas off the field and build up the clubs infrastructure in order to reap the benefits in the years to come.  Deniz Yilmaz leads a team made mostly of members of the Galatasary UEFA Cup winning squad as the club turn to youth.

On the field the club made a slight improvement in the 2021 season finishing 6th . A surprising defeat to relegated Altinordu ended all hopes in the Cup going out in the fourth round. Despite spending almost 20m in the summer months champions Başakşehir had a torrid campaign and it was Beşiktaş who once again rose to the top of the Turkish Pyramid.

Elections at Galatasary entering the 2022 season saw them unleash the purse strings with several new arrivals with Moussa Dembélé now leading their line.  Sakaryaspor maintaining a strict wage budget continued to raid relegated clubs with Ertuğrul Ersoy been the biggest signing arriving in from Göztepe for 150K. With new signing Jem Karacan bringing a calming influence to the middle of the park wearing the armband Sakaryaspor changed to a more expansive style of play with Sané and fans favorite Serhat Çakmak scoring for fun and held a lofty 3rd place when the winter transfer window opened. İlhan Özel's head got turned after weeks of media talk and left to join Bursaspor for 2.2M.  The club battled on , eventually getting passed by Fenerbahçe to finish 4th and qualify for Europe for the first time under the management of Hakan Can.

In the Cups wins over 1,Lig sides Göztepe and Adana Demirspor saw the club reach the semi finals where Fenerbahçe awaited. 2 goals from Abdoulaye Sané in the home leg gave Sakaryaspor hope as they travelled to the capital . Yussef Poulsen halfed the deficit on 37mins before missing a penalty on 77. Sakaryaspor hung on to reach only their second final having been previously been crowned champions in 1988. Serhat Çakmak headed home a cross from left back Sakib Aytaç on 22 mins before Mert Yandaş got on the end of a Jem Karacan pass to ensure victory .

The club will now enter the UEFA Cup this season though Abdoulaye Sané will not be a member of the squad. Sané who scored 37 in 57 appearances for Sakaryaspor has departed to champions Galatasary for a fee of 3.5M . Financially in a good position the addition of european football will allow reputation to increase and aid the club going forward on player retention when the bigger clubs domestically come calling.

 

 

 

                           

[fabreth]

@KaiserwatmanSakaryaspor is a team that interested me, and wanted to try it, because of that huge fan-base(and the cool color interface). Then I saw your adventure and thought I can't do better... well done! Go on... i'll continue to follow

 

[Andrew Haines]

I was looking for a challenge having lost interest with the Dafuge challenge I'm doing. I've never tried a Big Euro challenge although I've done loads of Dafuge and Gundo challenges over the years.

I used to regularly play in Russia but not for a good number of years Thought I'd give it a go there and Dinamo St Petersburg came up, They were the first team I played with in Russia, probably in about 2003 I think (they dissolved the year after so this makes sense). I remember having Alexandr Panov and Dmitri Bulykin upfront who were lethal.. lots of fondness for that particular game, in my top 2 or 3 all time games of FM/CM.

here's my profile

[fabreth]

@Andrew HainesGood luck! I still have the save of my Dinamo St.Pete Big Euro attempt. I never continued posting my progress, but I managed to finally win the league 2 times in a row, but Champions League is still far away.

The foreigner limit is another challenge in the challenge...try to have as many russian talents as possible. Usually Akademia Togliatti and Chertanovo produces good youngsters..keep an eye on them

[Andrew Haines]

Thanks! I usually try to build my teams from locals so the foreigner limit may not be an issue. It depends on the price for young Russians.

Do you get any TV money in Russia?

[fabreth]

1 hour ago, Andrew Haines said:

Thanks! I usually try to build my teams from locals so the foreigner limit may not be an issue. It depends on the price for young Russians.

Do you get any TV money in Russia?

 

I got very little. And stadium affluence won't help either. The only discrete money comes from sponsors (I got 12 millions, but only after becoming the most reputable russian team) and league prize money.

If it wasn't for one big sell every year I would have been in deep red(and the chairman would have sold my best russian players for little money)... then with the Champions League things got better.

[rlipscombe]

welcome to the challenge and good luck in Russia @Andrew Haines.  Russia is a country i have always been tempted to try but never got round to.  i will follow your progress with interest.

[Tecmo]

Time for another try in Italy, this time going with Triestina. And in honor of Triestina legend Nereo Rocco, we're going to try some catenaccio action.

Antonio Rocha Coaching Profile

Club Profile

Club History

Initial Squad

Given the players at my disposal, I'm going to be trying some fairly ugly, direct ball with my initial formation looking like this. Need to find some aggressive midfielders but I have decent flank options and strikers.

And the all important sweeper/libero. 19 year old Filippo Carraro is easily our best midfielder but I think he could be an ideal libero, at least as close as you'll find at this level.

[Andrew Haines]

Dinamo St Petersburg

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2017/18 – 14th

Overview

Not a terrible first season in charge, many changes were required to bring the standard of the team up to scratch. We played well but ran it close for relegation. We looked to be fairly relegated going into the last game of the season as we were only outside the relegation zone on goal difference and faced a final game away at second placed Armavir. We managed a 2-1 win with an 89^th minute winner which secured safety. A draw would have been enough to keep us up by a single goal on goal difference however.

Squad wise, I have a decent transfer kitty as I sold right winger Arshak Koryan for 1.2m and midfielder Mykyta Kravchenko for 500k at the end of February as. Hopefully I will be able to strengthen enough to at least not have to worry about relegation.

Key Players

Artem Golubev – Russian u21 right back signed for a bargain 7k from Krasnodar.

Tomaz Rukas – A good first season for the 20 year old centre back signed from Leiria in Portugal for 16k.

Season          League                          Position     			Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL           			14th              

 

[Kaiserwatman]

2022 - 23

The 2022-23 season brought a new era to Sakaryaspor as European Football arrived at the Yeni Sakarya . With the stadium packed to the rafters the crowds enjoyed some scintillating football , goals a-plenty though unfortunately for home supporters those goals were in their net . The Europa League draw was most unkind pairing Sakaryaspor with Bayer Leverkusen , PSV Eindhoven and Lokomotiv Moscow in Group I leaving the Tatangalar a task of trying to avoid been the worst side within the Group Stages.  Bottom of the group with a goal difference of -14 was an accurate summary of the campaign. The only shining light for Turkish Football was Beşiktaş won their group but went out in the second round proper.

The domestic campaign started with the Süper Kupa and a fixture against last seasons champions Galatasaray. Last season's top scorer Abdoulaye Sané was making his debut for Cim Bom following his £3.5m transfer from Sakaryaspor cancelled out Batuhan Karadeniz header to force the game into extra time and penalties with the Istanbul side the victors.  The full league campaign was in truth a struggle with the extra excretions of European football taking its toll on a small squad with the Tatangalar just scraping back into Europe for next season a long way behind champions Beşiktaş . Beşiktaş ended any hope of a retaining the Turkish Cup with a 2-0 win at the Vodafone Park in the fourth round.

Spending large quantities of money is not really my style but the kitty will be raided this summer and a record outlay is expected as the club aims to strengthen for the demands of Europe and also to preserve its position amongst the top sides. 

[Kaiserwatman]

   

2023 - 24

The 23-24 season saw a total of 7 new faces arrive at the Yeni Sakarya as the club began to revamp a squad which had looked a bit bare in certain departments once European football had been added into the mix . Back once again in the Europa League the club were once again handed a pretty tough group facing Valencia , Zenit and Viktoria Plzen . A home win against the Czech's was the only highlight and whilst performances were certainly better than the previous season , Sakaryaspor once again finished rooted to the bottom of the group with three points.  Galatasary were certainly the best Turkish side in Europe going out to Valencia in the Quarter Finals of the Europa League. 

Back in domestic football it was a case of keep hitting your head off that brick wall with the club finishing in the same position with practically the same points total for the third successive season. For the third season in the past four we exited the Turkish Cup at the fourth round stage losing 2-1 to Osmanlispor. The diamond formation which has been employed for the past seven seasons will now be phased out as I look to crack the big three Istanbul clubs which has so far proven very problematic. 

[Andrew Haines]

Well.. I got fired. We were blunt upfront and failed to register enough goals despite dominating most games. Half way through the season we were rock bottom of the table. The board got itchy fingers and gave me an ultimatum of 10 points from 15(!). I did okay and almost made it but 10 points was a big ask.

I've really enjoyed it though so I'm having another go. I've spent a few days fine tuning my tactic. It was a new tactic I've been working on and it didn't work quite as effectively as I might have liked. A few changes and I hope it will be up to the job.

profile

[rlipscombe]

4 hours ago, Andrew Haines said:

Well.. I got fired. We were blunt upfront and failed to register enough goals despite dominating most games. Half way through the season we were rock bottom of the table. The board got itchy fingers and gave me an ultimatum of 10 points from 15(!). I did okay and almost made it but 10 points was a big ask.

I've really enjoyed it though so I'm having another go. I've spent a few days fine tuning my tactic. It was a new tactic I've been working on and it didn't work quite as effectively as I might have liked. A few changes and I hope it will be up to the job.

profile

unlucky mate.  Good luck with Dinamo

[Andrew Haines]

Dinamo St Petersburg

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2017/18 – 11th

Overview

A good start looked like a run on promotion might be a possibility. Form dipped after the winter break though and we slipped into midtable. There is a lot of work to do to turn us into a team with ambitions of promotion. Significant signings will be needed to achieve that however.

Key Players

Pavel Pogrebnyak – Not the best player in the team but probably the best known. Pavel signed on loan from Dinamo Moscow and scored four goals.

Arshak Koryan – Picked up from Dutch football Koryan, Koryan wasn’t able to dominate as much as his ability should have allowed.

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th       

      

[Kaiserwatman]

2024 - 25

Following a third successive season finishing in fourth place behind the Istanbul clubs and pretty poor results within the Europa League the club dropped the diamond midfield which it had employed for the previous seven seasons replacing it with essentially what is a 3-6-1 in an attempt to stifle the bigger opposition by blocking out the middle of the park. Albeit that the group was not as strong as previous seasons the club enjoyed some elements with success and a had a chance to qualify from the group stages had they won the final game against Bordeaux but the French were able to hold out for a draw at the Yeni Sakarya and go through. 

Financially things aren't great at Fenerbahçe and a season of asset stripping has seen them drop substantially off the field of play . These problems also affected on field activities also as an abysmal season by their standards left their long serving coach seeking employment and opened the door for Sakaryaspor to finally break into the top three pipping Beşiktaş for runners up spot behind Galatasary who had led for the entire campaign. The club will now play within the qualification stages of the Champions League for the first time next season.  Failure to overturn a surprise 3-1 defeat in the opening leg of the Kupassi semi final  against Akhisar Belediye ended all hopes of silverware. 

[Andrew Haines]

Dinamo St Petersburg

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2018/19 – 4th

Overview

An excellent 4^th place finish could have been automatic promotion but for 2 draws in the final two games. In the event we finished two points behind Rostov in second. A 4-0 hammering against Fakel in the promotion playoff was disappointing.

There is a lot of promise in the side. Two of the team (Buznikin and inside forward Trubitsin) started the season as 16 year olds and there are various other players of potential. I am bracing for bids for my more experienced players however and might need to rebuild somewhat for next season.

Key Players

Maxim Bilyi – Ukrainian centre-back acquired on a free from Anji captains the side.

Vladamir Buznikin – Young playmaker picked up from Tom Tomsk as a 16 year old for 180k.

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        

 

[Kaiserwatman]

2025 - 26

The reward from last season's record high finish was entry into the Champions League Qualification and Sakaryaspor were unseeded within the Best Placed teams . Following announcement that the opposition drawn were AS Roma the club prepared for another season within the Europa League and it duly came as the Italians proved too strong for the Tatangalar. Borussia Mönchengladbach , Stoke City and Dinamo București making up Group K. Despite defeat in Germany some stellar performances especially one at The BET365 Stadium led to Sakaryaspor winning the group and qualifying for the latter stages for the first time. It didn't last long though as FC Nantes won out a very closely battled tie in the Europa League First Knockout round in extra time. Fellow Turkish qualifiers Beşiktaş also crashing out at the same stage though the main talking point was Galatasary who with wins over Celtic , Sevilla and Inter reached the semi finals before going out to Bayer Leverkusen . 

Domestically at this point Galatasary are top dogs with Naby Keita running midfield and a new version of a "Hakan Suker" in Hikmet Yüksel scoring for fun. Beşiktaş are maintaining their level and are generally quite dangerous opposition holding their own in both domestic and European competitions . Outside of that there isn't much . Fenerbahçe continue to be in disarray and are selling up trying to balance the books though they have got back into Europe via the Kupasi. The league itself Galatasary once again led from the off and were unbeaten into March where their lead was cut as they rested players as they progressed in Europe but still had enough to win a third successive Super Lig . Beşiktaş ended my cup aspirations in the quarter finals.

[fabreth]

@KaiserwatmanYou're doing well! I imagine you also have money to play with, turkish TV rights and prize money are not so distant from the top leagues.

How are the UEFA coefficients? Is turkey still between 8th and 10th place? There's money potential but in all my games they never seem to do much.

[Kaiserwatman]

7 hours ago, fabreth said:

@KaiserwatmanYou're doing well! I imagine you also have money to play with, turkish TV rights and prize money are not so distant from the top leagues.

How are the UEFA coefficients? Is turkey still between 8th and 10th place? There's money potential but in all my games they never seem to do much.

The Super Lig itself moved up to 7th place last season surpassing the Eredivise mainly due to the exploits of Galatasary more than anything else but still a long way behind Portugal who sit in sixth. Turkey are currently ranked 38th in the world and 11 of the 23 play within the Super Lig . Prize money is indeed of decent standard , I bring in around 30m a season through it so whilst a long way behind the premier league it does stand up well against other nations though its needed as average ticket prices still at the Yeni Sakarya are still below £10. I don't tolerate agents or player demands for silly wages so the club has risen up to the richest domestic club  -  Club Finances  -  Club Values  -  Club Co-Effs

[Andrew Haines]

Dinamo St Petersburg

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2018/19 – 9th

Overview

Although on the face of it finishing 9^th was a retrograde step from our previous 4^th place finish. In actuality this represented the number of young players thrown into the first team who had a lot a development to do but looked like they could go on to be major stars. This was largely a result of my team of last season that did so well attracting large bids. In total player sales totalled 3 million, the most significant being Ukrainian midfielder Danylo Ignatenko who left for Rostov for 1.4m. These funds were re-invested in very young players who I reasoned could become the bedrock of success if given early first team football. In total 7 of the 11 starting positions were given to 16-17 year old Russians. This left the team reduced in quality but with potential to exceed the previous seasons achievements. Next season may still be too soon for promotion but we should be in the mix.

Key Players

Artem Bogatyrev – The 18 year old Russian fullback was signed from Tyumen for 200k last summer and looks the pick of the young players.

Vladamir Buznikin – Young playmaker in his second season with the club. Still only 18 and developing well.

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        
2019/20         FNL                             9th        

 

[Kaiserwatman]

2026 - 27

Once again the qualification attempts for the Champions League via the best placed method ended in failure as the club were drawn against Benfica and were defeated home and away. Another season in the Europa League entailed and despite making a group of Olympiakos , Krasnodar and Maccabi Tel Aviv more difficult than it looked on paper eventually finishing second behind the Greeks. A win over surprise package Malmo FF saw Sakaryaspor join Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe in the second knockout stage. There are no easy draws from this point onwards and all Turkish sides would indeed perish with Sakaryaspor losing out to Italian giants Juventus.

The biggest news over the summer months was Belgium's appointment of Michael Laudrup , who had spent the previous seven years at all conquering Galatasary . A new manager and a new formation for the Cim Bon and things started pretty badly. After 10 games they were no where to be seen Istanbul Başakşehir surprisingly leading the way . Fenerbahçe who by now had got their finances under control and dumped most of the dross at the club on massive contracts were back in the thick of things. As the season wore on Galatasary improved but the damage was done , a wobble in March saw Başakşehir lose their chances of pulling off another surprise title having pinched one previously in 2020 as Sakaryaspor took over and ran the remaining games down to claim their first Süper Lig title .  The title comes at a cost though as four members of All Time XI have now decided to bow out at the top leaving some restructuring to do before another battle against the Istanbul clubs commences once again next season

Key Players in Title Winning Season

Mario Rodriguez                  -    After two ropey seasons Mario was almost shown the door though the experienced El Salvador International has turned the corner and become a leading Süper Lig keeper .  GK in All Time XI

Arthur Masuaku                   -   With Fenerbahçe having money problems the signing of the bombarding wing back for 150k was day light robbery , now 33 time is limited but hoping get another season out of him

Abdessamad Amrabat        -   The Prodigal Son  - Stolen by Fenerbahçe then offloaded to Sivasspor before re-joining following Sivasspor's relegation . 

Sergen Saruhan                    -  Every ship needs an anchor - Was called up to the National team this season but didn't get on the pitch - His head has been turned and will more than likely depart during the summer window

[Andrew Haines]

Well since I last updated I rattled through a couple of seasons. I got promoted (yay) and then pretty quickly relegated (boo). I've come to the conclusion that the formation I was try to get working wasn't translating dominant performances into wins on a regular enough basis. A quick change back to my previous tactic and we were suddenly playing like Brazil 1970 rather than Brazil 2014.

I've decided to start over and go back to my old tactic of 4-1-3-2 that I used to get Merthyr Tydfil into the Premier League on my previous Dafuge challenge. I've tried twice with Dinamo St Petersburg so I'm going to give another team a go. This time I'll try with Torpedo Moscow. A big old name in Russian football who were playing in the top flight only a few years ago.

profile

[rlipscombe]

well done on the title @Kaiserwatman.  good luck in the CL.  welcome and good luck in Russia @Andrew Haines

 

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2017/18 – 10th

Overview

We started very strongly and looked candidates for promotion until the winter break. Big bids came in however and striker Arshak Koryan (925k) and fullback Dmitry Bogaev (500k) left. The funds helped but form dipped as the players were replaced with lesser quality. We are well placed to build on this and maybe push for promotion. As I have reverted to my tried and tested 4-1-3-2 formation we look much more solid than in previous attempts.      

Key Players

Artem Vakulich – The 16 year old signed from Akedemia Togliatti and started with the u21s before the January sale of Arshak Koryan opened a spot for him.

Vasily Kravtsov – Another 16 year old who got his spot as I struggled to fill four central midfield berths.

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        

 

[XaW]

I've been looking for a save I can do until FM18 arrives, and I think I'll have a go in Spain and update here. I've chosen to take over U.D. Villa de Santa Brígida. A small semi-professional club located in Santa Brígida on Gran Canaria, just south of Las Palmas.  The stadium is not very big with only room for 1,000 people, so this should be a good challenge. First of all, I'm just looking to survive, then slowly work my way up the leagues and then I'm aiming to be the southernmost club to win any honors in Spain and maybe Europe. This is how far south we are located:

So yeah, pretty far south. With me luck, I think I'll need it! My profile screen.

[fabreth]

Dinamo St. Petersburg

 

Remember Dinamo? No? This was my last complete report.

 

 

Over the last months i jumped from one carreer to another (most of them youth challenges), and sometimes returned here. I played 3 more seasons with St. Pete and now you're gonna get a brief recap

 

2027/28 Season

In my plans, I wanted to prioritize the league over Europe, but it all changed after going past the group stage of Europa League, and past the 1st knockout round. Beating Schalke, while in the league Spartak and Rubin were just relentless, convinced me to try another run after past year semifinal. And this time I did it until the end!

In the league we reached another 3rd place, not useful for Champions League, but with the EL victory we will go straight to CL groups!

This were the transfers. The return of Bennett and Karavaev(rightback of the national team to fill the russian quota) were the most important, Rajcic could be important in the future.

 

2028/29 Season

Important transfer window to prepare for our first CL season. After many years, Bennett is ours(a pity those two seasons, as it could have become russian citizen by now). Then, two great players came on free transfer: Fonseca and Urteaga. Last but not the least, Marchesini. 3 new first team players to improve. The wages are beginning to get important, but past sells and CL money keep the balance in check (for now..)

And the results were good. Finally our first russian title, but to be honest only because Spartak and Rubin were "human" this season. And a good CL run, past the group stage, even if a little luckily due to ending at 7 points with Porto. A hard fought first knockout round saw us eliminated by Dortmund.

 

2029/30 Season

Less important transfers for the first team, with the exception of Isakov, an occasion I didn't let escape(russian player to replace 32yo Karavaev). The rest of them are youngsters. I continue to sign foreigner despite the league limit.. I have to keep the economy up with transfers, and young talents on loan(with fees) are a way to do that. Apart for resell them of course. Davidovic and Olivares could be potentially good, and they arrived for a small fee.

Competitions recap here. Retained the title, then again with difficulty and basically the same "three horses race", even if Sovetov and CSKA grew nicely this year. I need to stop wasting points against poor teams, and to be more tactically flexible, even if it's hard to change the 4-2-3-1 when your best players are the AML-AMC-AMR-ST.

I cannot go forward in the national cup anymore(I admit i use the matches to see my prospects in action), this time we made the quarter final.. and even Europe was somewhat underwhelming, with a 3rd place in the CL group stage and an immediate elimination from EL by Roma.  Other russian teams did..meh, and Portugal surpass us again to the 6th place in the coefficients, so we lose 1 team in CL for next year.

 

Recap: profile, club stature, the future:

Spoiler

The manager.. surpassing the 40, starting to get old..

 

 

I'm an icon..with Rodionov, the guy from our academy who refused Rubin years ago. Tickets and stadium affluence is still bad for a team who is now among the best in Russia and won the EL. I'm afraid our 10000 stadium will never be expanded because..its' not needed, sadly.

 

Built up nicely the infrastructures. I just need to up youth recruitment, but it seems I hit the same ceiling I have with stadium affluence... apart for winning the league I don't know what I should do, except.. complete the challenge!

 

...because, you know, we're the best russian team.. but still, only 3,5 stars. And we won quite a little in the last years.

And we started to do nicely in the U21, so our talents aren't so bad.. ransacking Akademia Togliatti and south american teams is the way to go!

 

 

All of the above made me a little frustrated with the challenge. And, besides my team status, I get "only" 13 millions from sponsors, while Spartak, Rubin, CSKA, Zenit, and even Krasnodar and Sovetov get more. I only have to continue this way, win(or at least reach Champions League), find talents, try to secure the best russian players, buy cheap/sell high. Every season is a challenge, and if one season goes bad and I don't reach Champions League...I don't want to think about it!

 

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2018/19 – 4th

Overview

I went for potential at the start of the season, largely due to the absence of decent players wanting to move to us. Four of the first 11 are 16 year olds. I wasn’t expecting immediate results and this looked to be the case as form bedded us in mid-table for the majority of the season. This looked to be particularily the case following a disastrous run of games following the winter break. We lost nine out of twelve games. A turn around in form saw us win the remaining five games and we snuck into a playoff spot on the last game of the season. We weren’t good enough however and went down 7-3 on aggregrate to Krylja Sovetov in the playoffs.

Key Players

Artem Vakulich – 17 Year old striker who forms a promising partnership with Gritsenko.

Dmitry Gritsenko – A 600k signing from Spartak Moscow. Scored 20 goals in 28 games. Definitely an exciting player for the future at only 17.

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        

 

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

FONBET Futbolnaja Natsionalnaja Liga – 2019/20 – 3rd

Overview

We achieved promotion via the playoffs in our third season. It was a funny season though. We started off playing some good football and were in pushing towards the top of the league. The board decided to sell our star striker Dmitry Gritsenko to Rubin for 1.4 million, my protests were ignored. Only 17 he had hit 20 goals in 27 games the previous season. I wouldn’t have accepted less than 5 million but the board thought otherwise. He left on transfer deadline day and I was unable to swiftly find a replacement. This meant that Anton Terekhov who was signed to partner Gritsenko was left to lead the line alongside youngster Artem Vakulich who I had planned to give a reduced role from the bench. Terekhov had a torrid time for the first 3 months scoring only once by the end of October. He was clearly lacking confidence and missed many golden opportunities to give him the goal he needed.

Come the middle of October we turned the corner and Terekhov found his shooting boots. We were unbeaten in the remaining eight games up to the winter break. The only major signing in the transfer window was 18 year old centre-back Zaur Zakharov  who cost 750k from Amkar. We set off on a good run for the remainder of the season but had a big gap to close to make automatic promotion. A 2-1 defeat away at promotion rivals Mordovia on the 2^nd of May dented our chances. Worse, our only senior goalkeeper was ruled out for the remainder of the season meaning a youth teamer had to deputise. We  were level points with Volgar and Mordovia for second place with four games to go. We won our next game, as did our rivals. We then won again, this time Mordavia dropped points although Volgar won again. Volgar and ourselves setup a grandstand finale by both winning again, we were joint on points with one game to play. Games won placed Volgar above us in 2^nd place and automatic promotion. They played a day before us and lost away at Sibir. This meant that a point was enough to take us up in 2^nd spot and we were at home to bottom of the table Smena. Somehow suddenly our performance dropped and we failed to dominate or create any chances, Smena grabbed a 1-0 victory and we slipped into third place and the playoffs.

With a youth team keeper and up against Premier League Amkar I didn’t hold out much hope. We were dominated in the first leg and went down to 3-0 defeat. I had begun planning for another season in the second tier even before the home leg. We had hope at half time as two first half goals meant we only had a single goal to make up. Amkar grabbed back a goal via the penalty spot in the 55^th minute and it looked like it was game over. I needed three goals to prevent defeat due to the away goal. Then the miracle happened. Terekhov scored on the 73^rd minute and then setup his partner Vakulich for another three minutes later. The aggregate score was 4-4 but Amkar had the vital away goal. With five minutes remaining Terekhov broke free of the defence from a long ball and slotted past the keeper. It finished 5-4 and we were promoted.

I don’t think many players in the current line up will be good enough for the step up to the Premier League so I will need to do some shopping. I don’t think funds will be forthcoming so I will need to be creative to avoid immediate relegation.

Key Players

Anton Terekhov – Terekhov struggled for the first half of the season but scored vital goals in the run in to see us promoted.

Vyacheslav Churko – A free transfer from Shaktar last season the winger was clearly our best player but valiantly resisted conversion to a fullback.

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        
2019/20         FNL                             3rd                Playoff Winner, Promoted

 

[fabreth]

@Andrew HainesWelcome to the premier!

 

 

 

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

Rosgosstrakh Prem’er Liga– 2020/21 – 2nd

 

Overview

A remarkable first season in the top flight saw us qualify for the Champions League with a 2^nd place finish. Admittedly 51 points would not have been enough second place in any of the previous five seasons but I’m not going to complain. This might relate to Zenit finishing top with an incredible 80 points in a 30 game season. They went unbeaten all season.

It was apparent that I wasn’t going to be given much in the way of funds in pre-season so scraped together a side of free transfers augmented with a handful of players of higher quality who were funded from player sales. The biggest outgoing player was left back Churko for 975k who was the star of the promotion season. Of the free transfers the highlight was keeper Peskakov. A solid player in nets is a necessity I find. Fees were paid out for Bosnian attacker Veladzic and Argentine striker Pedroza. I planned to partner these two in attack but had a gap for a creative midfielder so I moved Veladzic back into this role. I had arranged the signing of 17 year old Romanian striker Romeo Abrudean without realising it wouldn’t go through until January. On this basis I restored the star of the promotion season Anton Terekhov to the starting lineup to deputise until Abrudean arrived. I had planned on using Terekhov in a fringe role to cover for the first choice forwards. He proved me wrong and proved our most effective player up to the winter break. 10 goals in 14 games was an impressive return as he forged an effective partnership with Pedroza and was to receive a call up to the senior Russian national side.

As of the winter break we sat in a healthy upper midtable position. Abrudean arrived and it was clear he was going to be the star of the side. He scored nine goals in his first six games before injury hampered the remainder of his season. Our form from thereon was impressive and we looked to have nailed on the second placed spot going into the run in. Poor form almost cost us as we only pulled in four points from the last six games. Fortunately our closest challengers also faltered and we managed to hang on and claim Champions League football in our first season.

Next season will be a challenge. No transfer funds have been given despite raking in 7 million from sponsorship and prize money (not to mention future Champions League revenue). I will have to sell to buy so may stick with my current side and get through this season. I should then be given some funds as I would expect to be sat on considerable funds.

Team

• GK – Sergey Peskakov– Signed on a free from Spartak Moscow where he was the reserve keeper.

• RB – Vladimir Lobkarev – a 140k signing from Fakel. Not the strongest player in the squad but did well and contributes to the home grown quota.
• CB – Zaur Zakharov – Young centreback signed from Amkar for 700k two seasons ago. Another Russian of average ability.
• CB – Maxym Bilyi – Ukranian defender picked up on a free from Anji in pre-season.
• LB – Vlad Olteanu – Arrived on a free transfer which was agreed the previous January. The Romanian left back was one of the best performers.

• DM – Alexandr Isakov – 17 year old Russian defensive midfielder has bags of promise.
• CM – Igor Leontjev – The midfielder arrived from Spartak Moscow three seasons ago and was one of the stars of the promoted side.
• CM – Demirel Veladzic – Signed to play as a number ten he moved back into midfield and contributed an impressive ten goals.
• CM – Jonathan Sierra – Columbian midfielder who was part of the team promoted from the FNL. Has good potential.

• AF – Roman Abrudean – Signed in the summer but only arrived in January. Scored 13 goals in 14 games. Looks like he could be genuinely world class.
• DLF – Fabricio Pedrozo – Argentine forward signed from Portugal for 43k. Contributed 10 goals and 13 assists in a productive season.

 

Record

Season          League                          Position           Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        
2019/20         FNL                             3rd                Playoff Winner, Promoted
2020/21         Premier League	                2nd                

 

[XaW]

Season Summary - XaW - Villa Santa Brigída - 2017/28

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Spain, a country I haven't managed in for a great many years. When I took over we had a very poor squad, and not many players were willing to join us. I still managed to get rid of quite a lot of dead weights while bringing in some slightly better players. The season started quite bad as the team was far from settled into the tactic, so I reverted to a very basic 4-4-2 in order to keep it simple for my simple players. It took a while to get going, but after a while we found some form and climbed up the table. After the Christmas break we only lost one of the 15 games! In the end we finished in a very respectable 9th position.

We didn't do much in the cups as we went out at our first match in the Copa del Rey, while in the Copa Federación we went out in the second round.

The best players this season have been Rubén Morales, Aday and Ale Congiu.

Season	|       League	      |     Position   |    Europe     |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	| Segunda División B1 |       9th      |      N/A      |      Pedro (17)       |   Mid table

 

[rlipscombe]

fantastic first season in the top division @Andrew Haines - impressive.  Torpedo Moscow are a team that i have thought about managing before.  Love the look of Abrudean too - fantastic potential...

 

@XaW - solid first season there, especially after Christmas.  bodes well for next season.

 

[fabreth]

Dinamo St. Petersburg

2030/31 Season

Review | Competitions | Squad 1 | Squad 2

Transfers / Finances

Not much movement in the market, two first team players and some promising young players. Out, the usual amount of loans with fee. Champions League money means i didn't need to make a big sell and was also able to begin work on improving the youth facilities. Also grabbed a little stadium expansion.

Here's two of the inbound players:

Nail Savchenko - young russian midfielder, important first team player. With him and Fonseca grabbing russian passport(and doing 2 presence in russian national team) I didn't have foreigner problem in selecting formations.

Takayuki Morioka - Urteaga goes for the 30's, he's the future. The low price will be recovered in less than a year with merchandising(I have a chinese affiliate)

 

Domestic competitions

The league is won for the third time in a row. I lost some of the usual improbable matches with teams battling for relegation and ended with the same points of never-failing Spartak Moscow. Fortunately enough, I won both matches against them and that gave me the title!

In the cup, Rubin stopped us in the semifinal, where I got FM'ed.

 

Champions League

Man Utd(again) and Benfica were the most important rivals of the group. Beating Olympiakos in both matches, beating Benfica at home was important, but it's the draw against United who gave us the 2nd place.

And then, just to return to Manchester, we got City. All the 11 first team players have the description "world class player". I grabbed another draw, at home but lost the return match 3-0.

 

Basically, winning the CL will require a little luck, as I don't think I will be able to improve the team by much, just maintaining my top players will be a success. We're still 3,5 stars in reputation, while Spartak Moscow surpassed us to 4 stars winning the Europa League. At least, this upped Russia to the 6th place again.

[Andrew Haines]

@rlipscombe Cheers, unfortunately my next season wasn't so great and Abrudean broke his leg.. ah well

@fabreth Savchenko looks quality. I haven't been able to recruit any Russians of quality anywhere near that. How much did he cost you?

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

Rosgosstrakh Prem’er Liga– 2021/22 – 13th

 

Overview

After a fantastic first season in the Premier League we came back down to earth very quickly. All season was a relegation battle and we were rock bottom after losing nine of our first ten games. It was going to be a challenge as the board declined to give me any additional funds or transfer budget despite a 12 million bank account surplus. I therefore went into the season with largely the same squad that performed so well last season. I was able to do a small amount of business in the days leading up to deadline day. I received a bid for Bosnian midfielder Veladzic of 3.5 mill from Al-Ittiihad and used the funds to bring in two players. I was already chasing Jovan Kjlajic who was available on a free but just out of my budget previously. He was only 20 and attracting interest from Real Madrid so a bit of a coup. The other signing was forward German Berterame from San Lorenzo at a cost of 2 million. Last season the team overachieved and was lucky with injuries. I was not so lucky this time out. Talismanic striker Abrudean broke his leg at the start of September which put him out until the last few weeks of the season. This was disastrous as he was by far our best player.

Our poor start to the season was compounded by drawing Valencia in our Champions League playoff. We were outclassed and beaten 4-2 on aggregate. We drew a reasonable group in Europa League and this was to prove the only real positivity in the early stages of the campaign. We won our first three games, away to Wolfsburg and at home to Leicester and Ludogorets. Unfortunately the second set of fixtures only elicited a single point away at Ludogorets and Leicester and Wolfsburg went through in the top two places.

In the League we started picking up points at the end of December. From a 1-1 draw with Arsenal Tula we only lost once in six games, winning three times. This put us in a better position going into the winter break but in lots of trouble. I brought in a couple of players in the transfer window but we performed badly again as the league reconvened. We lost our first five fixtures leaving us fixed to the bottom of the league. Form turned around again however and we won six of our last nine games. This at times took us out of the relegation playoffs but in the end we fell short and were forced into a playoff with Baltika. I was confident, particularily because Abrudean had recently returned to fitness, if not found his scoring boots. We won the home leg of the playoff 2-0. Baltika never really challenged us but they took a 2-1 lead in the away leg which made things a little nervous. In the 77^th minute however, up stepped Abrudean to score his first goal since breaking his leg in September settling matters at 4-2 on aggregate.

Relegation would have been a disaster but was narrowly averted. We are in a good place now to push on. The board should give some funds for transfers so hopefully I can go out and spend to avoid a repeat.

Team

• GK – Sergey Peskakov – A steady season for the ex-Spartak Moscow keeper.

• RB – Vladimir Lobkarev – The fullback held his place in the first XI largely due to Russian nationality. Had a decent season.
• CB – Andres Arango – A talented young Columbian who arrived in January on a free transfer.
• CB – Andrey Pryanikov – A 350k signing from Ural in mid-season. The Russian centre-back did okay.
• LB – Vlad Olteanu – Romanain left back who performed well in his second season at the club.

• DM – Alexandr Isakov – The young Russian midfielder cost 800k two seasons ago but hasn’t developed as I might have liked.
• CM – Mauricio Pereyra – A Uruguayan by birth, a decade in Russian football earnt Pereya Russian caps and vital non-foreign status.
• CM – Jovan Kljajic – Young Serbian midfielder who was attracting the attention of Real Madrid before signing on a free transfer.
• CM – Artur Yusupov – The 32 year old provides a valuable Russian nationality player to the line up.

• AF – Roman Abrudean – A broken  leg reduced the Romanian wonderkid to only 10 appearances.
• DLF – German Berterame – The Argentine forward signed for 2 mill from San Lorenzo failed to shine but contributed 9 goals.

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        
2019/20         FNL                             3rd                                             Playoff Winner, Promoted
2020/21         Premier League	                2nd                           
2021/22         Premier League                  13th             Europa League Grp Stage        

 

[fabreth]

1 hour ago, Andrew Haines said:

@rlipscombe Cheers, unfortunately my next season wasn't so great and Abrudean broke his leg.. ah well

@fabreth Savchenko looks quality. I haven't been able to recruit any Russians of quality anywhere near that. How much did he cost you?

It' in the transfers image, 4.1 millions (may reach 6 mil with some bonuses). In fact, it's hard to find good russians at a good price, but sometimes the occasion came and I took it.

 

[XaW]

Season Summary - XaW - Villa Santa Brígida - 2018/19

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

After the good season last year I were hoping we would stay well clear of relegation this season. During the summer we got rid of a lot of the dead weights and got in some much needed quality. Though I had some problems attracting good enough players, I took advantage of our agreement with Las Palmas and loaned in most of the good players in their youth teams to help us out. A total of 7 players took the short trip to Santa Brígida to help us out this season. As the season got underway we did fair enough and settled for mid table in the first months. Going into the winter, we were just of the playoff spots. Then, we had the same post-Christmas run as we had last season. In the league matches after Christmas we lost 2, drew 4 and won an amazing 12 matches to finish in 3rd place and we qualified for the playoffs.

The playoff in the Segunda is as following, if I have understood it correctly. The winner of each of the four Segunda divisions go into a First Phase playoff where the winners are promoted and face off in a final match to crown the champion of the tier. The rest of the teams placed 2-4 are drawn in a two legged match in the Second Phase playoff 1st round. The 6 winners here go into a pot where the two losing Segunda winners are added for the Second Phase playoff Second round. The 4 winners here are then draw in 2 playoff finals where the winning teams are promoted. Complicated? At first, but it's not that hard when you play it.

We got drawn into the Second Phase First round against Real Murcia who finished 3rd in Segunda División B4. The first match, at home, we got of to an early lead when midfielder Miguel Gopar hit the back of the net from just outside the box. Loanee striker Ángel Portillo then gave us 2-0 with a hammering shot in the top corner from inside the box. The next goal came for Real Murcia as they crossed into their big striker who headed it home after 75 minutes. We did get a final goal just before full time when another midfielder wanted a goal. Raúl Aléman got the ball at the edge of the box and struck it into the bottom corner to finish the match 3-1. In the return match we got an early lead when winger Iván Calero shot from far outside the box and the ball rolled into the corner. Questionable goalkeeping, but we'll take it. The rest of the match we tried to hold them off to secure the win. They did hit back after 80 minutes, but couldn't get any more goals.

In the Second Phase Second round we drew FC Cartagena. They finished just behind Real Murcia in Segunda División B4, so I had hopes of beating them. In the away leg FC Cartagena started with a blast and scored two times before 10 minutes had gone. Miguel Gopar hit one back after 35 minutes, but we went into the break trailing a goal. I tore the players a new one, and they really responded in the second half. Central defender Rúben Morales rose in the box after a free kick and powered a header into the net to equalize the game. We continued to go for another away goal and in the 73rd minute we got the winning goal when our other central defender Pedro Ceballos picked up a lose ball after a corner and hit it with power past the goalkeeper. In the home tie we got of to another good start when Raúl Aléman scored with a controlled shot after 14 minutes, then Pedro Ceballos lunged into a tackle with booth feet and got sent off after just 23 minutes. We went defensively from then on, but didn't keep the clean sheet when FC Cartagena scored just before the break. As the second half started we continued to defend and we managed to really contain the lead and held our lead from the first match. We were qualified for the final!

Our final hurdle for promotion was Real Madrid Castilla. A very hard opponent who finished as the winners of Segunda División B2. In the home leg our midfielder Miguel Gopar had a stormer and scored 3 goals and run the Real Madrid kids of the pitch. They did get a late goal to finish the match 3-1 though, so we still had some work to do for the away leg. Just before the final match of the season something horrible happened! The game was on june 30th, the same day as most of our loan deals ended and quite some other contracts expired! We had lost a lot of our best players just before the final match to decided our season (This is also why quite a lot of players are missing from the squad photo above)! I had to bring up a youth player to even have enough players to fill up the bench! When the match started though we got of to another great start when our top scorer Ángel Portillo scored after a through ball after just 9 minutes. After that we played more cautiously seeing as we had a 3 goal cushion. Real Madrid Castilla didn't get many chances up until we gave them a slight chance with an own goal just before the match was over. We did hold on the final minutes to secure a very good promotion. An amazing season for us, but I think we might have problems surviving in La Liga 123 next season. We will give it our all though!

We didn't play in Copa Del Rey this season, and I don't know why. In the Copa Federación we beat Teruel before losing to Atlético Baleares in the 2nd round.

The best players this season have been Iván Calero, Jorge Mendoza and Raúl Aléman.

Season	|       League	      |     Position   |    Europe     |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	| Segunda División B1 |       9th      |      N/A      |      Pedro (17)       |   Mid table
2018/19	| Segunda División B1 |       3rd      |      N/A      |  Ángel Portillo (14)  |   Promoted through playoff

[Kaiserwatman]

2027-28

During Galatasaray's period of dominance they only managed to get out of the Champions League group stages once so there wasn't much optimism of Sakaryaspor following suit in their debut season in the Champions League proper. In a group consisting of AC Milan , Atletico and Steaua the Turks were fancied to see off the Romanians and take the Europa League route once again and that's how it played out .  The gulf in class was between my current level and the top dogs was there to be seen in a 5-0 defeat in Madrid Into the Europa League and it was a swift exit for the Tatangalar losing out to Olympique Lyonnais in the first knockout round.  Lyon also accounted for Galatasary in the following round on route to winning the competition.

Domestically it was a second successive title with the main challenge once again coming from Istanbul Başakşehir. Sakaryaspor also claimed the Süper Kupa for the first time with an extra time victory over Galatasary . Beşiktaş claimed the Turkish Cup. Player of Season would go to Costa Rican Midfielder Carlos Chacón with Azandégbé Soulé a close second. 

 

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

Rosgosstrakh Prem’er Liga– 2022/23 – 5th

 

Overview

A massive improvement on last season. 5^th place was not enough for a spot in the Europa League as Spartak Moscow won the cup but only finished 12^th. After last season’s troubles I was just glad to stay comfortably clear of relegation. Form in the league was patchy in the first half of the season and we sat solidly in midtable. After the mid-season break we were much improved and lost only once in the final 13 games.

The season started with star midfielder Jovan Kjajic moving to Spartak Moscow for 5.5 million plus a couple of million in add ons. This gave me enough funds to do a bit of shopping. The key purchases was Vadim Dmitriev, a 16 year old forward who cost 3.2 million from Krasnodar. Although he only scored 6 goals he improved quickly and looks to be the future of the team. Vitally he is Russian so frees up a Foreigner space.

It looks like he will be needed as the two biggest stars Argentine midfielder Jonathan Hernandez and Romanian attacking wonderkid both put in transfer requests in January and look to be on their way out. I spent most of the mid-season transfer window rejecting bids from some teams with impressive credentials. Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG made bids for both but no-one was prepared to meet my valuation which is 12 million for Abrudean and 8 million for Hernandez. I will be sad to see Abrudean go as he is the talisman of the side and scores around a goal a game. He has however been injury prone. He missed a chunk of the first half of the season with a hamstring injury. I will need to use the funds well. I will be aiming to bring in a core of young Russians to develop into a team that can challenge.

 

Team

• GK – Sergey Peskakov – At 34 years old probably Peskakov’s last season with the club but definitely his best.
  
• RB – Adson – Adson was signed to improve the right flank but was a disappointment and used up a valuable foreigner slot.
• CB – Bogdan Tiru – The Romanian defender had a great season and has attracted interest from Nice in France.
• CB – Ilja Zuev – Zuev was with us for a season four years ago. In truth I re-signed him out of desperation.
• LB – Jose Bessa – A 170k signing from Porto, the Portuguese fullback had an excellent season.

• DM – Valentyn Domashkeych – Ukranian u21 international defensive midfielder arrived from Chornomorets on a free transfer last summer.
• CM – Mauricio Pereyra  - The naturalised Uruguayan’s third and probably last season with the club was his best contributing eleven assists.
• CM – Jonathan Hernandez – The young Argentine went on the transfer list in January as he wanted a move to a bigger club after only 5 months.
• CM – Igor Leontjev – The Russian midfielder has been with the club since before the promotion season. He deserved his place on performances.

• AF – Roman Abrudean – Attracted bids from all the top clubs in Europe. Will probably leave in the summer if a bid in excess of 12 million is received.
• DLF – Vadim Dmitriev – Signed for 3.2 million from Krasnodar, the 17 year old earnt the tag ‘the new Grigory Fedotov’ (I had to google him).

 

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        
2019/20         FNL                             3rd                                             Playoff Winner, Promoted
2020/21         Premier League	                2nd                           
2021/22         Premier League                  13th             Europa League Grp Stage        
2022/23         Premier League                  5th                     

 

[Andrew Haines]

Torpedo Moscow

Rosgosstrakh Prem’er Liga– 2023/24 – 2nd

 

Overview

Following the sale of Roman Abrudean to Napoli last season we had a big gap to fill in the strike force. Looking to the future I re-invested 3 million of the 8.75m (+ clauses) fee in young Spartak striker Sergey Volkov. This allowed me to partner 16 year old Volkov with 17 year old Vadim Dmitriev forming an all Russian u20 strike force. I was looking to the future so was delighted when Dmitriev set off on an unbelievable season. He top scored in the league and won all five available individual awards. Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Players Select, Top Goal Scorer and Russian Player of the Year all came his way as well as a spot in the Team of the Year. Both Dmitriev and Volkov also won their first caps for Russia during the season. The pair are extremely exciting and massively contributed to a successful season.

In the league we came so, so close to our first Premier League title. We led the league for the majority of the season and only lost the top spot on the last day of the season. Two defeats in our final two games cost us dear. The most frustrating was a 1-0 defeat at home to Arsenal Tula in the final game of the season. The frustration came as a week later we thrashed them 5-1 in the cup final. We did at least walk away with that silverware.

Next season the aim is to complete the job and win the title. The signing of Russian international Rostislav Vaganov will help. He arrives on a free from Rubin and looks a massive coup.

Team

• GK – Magomed Philippov – 21 year old signed from Spartak for 3 million.

• RB – Luciano Fontana – Argentinian fullback arrived last summed from Benfica for 300k. Had a great season contributing 9 assists.
• CB – Nikita Kalugin – At 1.8m the Russian international centre-back was a bargain signing from Spartak last summer.
• CB – Evgeny Semenov – Young defender Semenov was a 2 million signing in the winter break. Definitely one for the future.
• LB – Braian Cufre – Another Argentinian fullback signed from Velez on a free last summer.
  
• DM – Denis Yakuba – The 27 year old midfielder was rescued from Zenit’s reserves in the winter break for 800k. Was a 7.5m player when moving to Zenit.
• CM – Damir Sopcic  - Croatian midfielder signed on a free from Sibenik last summer.
• CM – Jonathan Hernandez – Argentinian u20 player looking for a transfer but no large bids have materialised. Had a decent season.
• CM –Cedric Nguemaleu – A decent season from the Cameroonian international midfielder.

• AF – Vadim Dmitriev – The young Striker scored 27 goals and won every award available to him. Won the first of many Russian caps.
• DLF –Sergey Volkov – Signed for 3 million from Spartak as a 16 year old, Volkov had a good season but as hampered by injury.

 

Record

2017/18         FNL                             11th        
2018/19         FNL                             4th        
2019/20         FNL                             3rd                                             Playoff Winner, Promoted
2020/21         Premier League	                2nd                           
2021/22         Premier League                  13th             Europa League Grp Stage        
2022/23         Premier League                  5th                     
2023/24         Premier League                  2nd                                             Kubok Rossil winner

 

[fabreth]

@Andrew HainesWell, success begins with the Kubok Next season will be interesting

[Kaiserwatman]

2028-29

Ok will start off with the good, the equalling of Galatasaray's best result in Europe within the save in reaching the Europa League Quarter Finals before losing out to Fiorentina 4-2 on aggregate . The European campaign had once again started in the Champions League where the club were drawn against Atletico (again) , FC Porto and Celtic . Wins over the scots and defeats elsewhere meant it was back into the Europa and wins over Shakhtar Donetsk and Fenerbahçe lead us to Florence and the end of our path.

Meanwhile back in Turkey Cim Bom appointed a new management team and reverted back to the system which had brought them so much success over the previous few seasons, Out of Europe early Galatasary were able to build up a seven point lead early as fixture congestion affected the Tatangalar , a lead they would not actually relinquish despite a host of club records been broken by the defending champions. Dethroned Sakaryaspor tried to salvage some pride in the Kupasi Final only to also lose it to their rivals. Galatasary clearly the conquerors of the 28-29 season and I must now once again battle my way back into the Champions League via the playoffs whilst also trying gain my title back. 

Player of the Season -  Given that the majority of the Turkish side have been playing outside of Turkey and how irregular players outside Istanbul get called up, I'll give it to Hayri Erdem , a solid no fuss defender who sits on the right of the back three. 

[XaW]

Season Summary - XaW - Villa Santa Brígida - 2019/20

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Since we got promoted last season I was pretty unsure of what to expect from a higher tier of football in Spain, but all we could do was to try to pick up as many points as possible. Before the season started I got rid of another batch of dead weights, and got in a couple of good players. Not least some of the same loanees from Las Palmas, as well as some new ones. They once again gave us some much needed quality without costing anything in wages or bonuses. As the season started we actually won the first match, but then lost 3 in a row to give us a tough welcome. Then we picked up a win here and there before everything turned sour as we went 9 matches without a single win. Some tactical tweaks later we went into 5 wins in a row, so this was a season of both highs and lows. We did finish the season great though as we didn't lose any of the last 8 matches to end in a very solid and confortable 10th place.

In the Copa del Rey we lost in the first round to Elche.

The best 11 we currently have are:

GK: Kjetil Haug - I picked up my fellow Norwegian in January on a free transfer. A former Man City junior who are leagues better than my other goalkeepers.
DR: Sergio Menéndez - Bought for £50k from La Hoya Lorca in January since we needed a good full back.
DC: Pedro Ceballos - On loan for a second season running and bossing the defense.
DC: Rubén Morales - Our youth project are still holding on to his spot in the defense along with Ceballos.
DL: Jorge Mendoza - Another loanee, but also my personal player of the season. Amazing with 6 goals from left back.
MC: Pedro Alonso - Not as good as his namesake Xabi, but still a good passer and a solid midfielder.
MC: César De la Hoz - We got him in January to give us a better defensive midfielder to help out the defense.
AMR: Ángel Portillo - Las Palmas let him to us again and I very happy with his efforts.
AMC: Kaan Baysal - Got him in from a lower tier club in Spain who have had him since he got released by Beşiktaş.
AML: Iván Calero - The left winger had a very good season and both scored and assisted quite a lot.
ST: Loren - The striker lead the line well and scored a fair bit.

Season	|       League	      |     Position   |    Europe     |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	| Segunda División B1 |       9th      |      N/A      |      Pedro (17)       |   Mid table
2018/19	| Segunda División B1 |       3rd      |      N/A      |  Ángel Portillo (14)  |   Promoted through playoff
2019/20	|    La Liga 123      |      10th      |      N/A      |      Loren (17)       |   Mid table

[Uncle Buck Plays FM]

This looks very good indeed i may get involved with this briefly until i get onto FM18 

I've chosen France for this one - Just waiting to see what team i have available to choose from..