The Italian Job! Italian league thread is here!

[john1]

On 22/07/2019 at 08:30, blue heron said:

So I finally found time and energy to finish my fourth season in charge of Fiorentina. After finishing 2nd in season 3, I wanted to get rid of some deadwood, bring some youngsters through and find a signature signing to inspire a new tactic. I've found it very hard to get rid of players. Bennassi and Pezzela were in their last year of contract and demanding ridiculous wages for our level (since we're in the Champions League, everyone expects at least 120k/week) but there where no takers for them the entire summer. I wanted to get rid of Malcom also, but offering him for 15M (while his value was 40M+) only got me 1 party interested, whom he rejected. I might have made a mistake signing him (or at least the gamble didn't pay off) but that's another 5M euros in wages this season I should have spent differently. Thank god I managed to sell Otavio and Saponara, giving me some extra money on top of my budget.

Main target for the new season was a good right back, since I only had Hugo Mallo there and his absence due to an injury was felt in the previous season. In the end I found Depaoli from Sampdoria to be a good candidate: he performed well in Serie A and didn't cost too much money. With some of the youngsters signed the years before coming through and Caio Cesar - who my scouts where very enthusiastic about - becoming available I made the decision to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation and try something differently.

Transfer dealings

 

As for the competition, we used preseason and the first few matches to tweak somethings and then we went flying. The first half of the season was amazing, winning almost every game and conceding about 5 goals in total. After New Year we had a more difficult period, and I needed to tweak my tactics more and more. We didn't win the Coppa Italia this year, getting knocked out in the quaters by Lazio. In the Champions League we went top of our group, but found that Barcelona was too much for us in the Quarter Finals - still a good results, given where Fiorentina is coming from.

The league was ours however, after a spell of losing and drawing in January, we turned it around and kept our distance from Milan, winning the league with 6 points more than them. Bonus was Fiete Arp becoming the league's top scorer with 24 goals. This win makes it 2 league titles in the last 3 years, so expectations for next year are set!

 

League table

 

As for next year, I'll be missing Pezzela, who accepted another team's offer and will go there an a free. I'll need to get replacement in for him. Also, with me snatching Vanderlei up when Arsenal started bidding on him, I have two great prospects for the AMC position and feel like these are the guys I need to build the team around. Hopefully this summer clearing out rest of the deadwood will be possible. With my current wage budget, I have a transfer budget of around 38M euros, so there isn't as much money to play around with as I'm used to in England. What's been very disappointing is that none of the big, rich English and Spanish clubs have been enquiring about my star players. They've been tearing up the league, but the game doesn't seem to generate interest in them. How does this work for everyone else?

 

My two newgen AMCs

 

 

Another brilliant season  Those 2 regens, looks fantastic, hopefully you can develop them into decent players  

[john1]

21 hours ago, lblanc said:

I've decided to go with Napoli.

An amazing football crazy city, Who haven't won the league is 89/90

Some great players such as Insigne, Milik, Koulibally, Meret, Fabian Ruiz, Zielinski.

Good luck  

[john1]

18 hours ago, quee said:

PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

SUMMER OF FOURTH SEASON

JULY UPDATE

In my last update, June was a long month due to the (bug?) late start of our holiday. Now that's sorted, we can focus on what's next in the summer.

Affiliate

Finally got some success here. The board came back with 4 options, and Sochaux was clearly the best choice for us. Still hoping for a Spanish club as an affiliate.

Contracts

Stulac (£25k > £45k), Xadas £17.5k > £40k), Tonali (£23.5k > £40k with £120m release clause), and Da Graca all renewed in July. The first three players as rewards for not pushing it last season, unlike Spalek (3 times) and En-Nesyri. Da Graca had 12 months left. In August, Olaza (£25k > £40k) also requested a renewal, and since his excellent form last season was deserving for a new contract as well. The reason I included Tonali's release clause is I'm open to him leaving in the future, as I feel I want to try other player in his position (also because as in most people's saves, they have a Tonali in their team). Hopefully that will be a few more season yet.

I rejected a £28m offer for Birindelli from Leipzig, and now he wants a new contract as well. But after speaking to him, Coetzee, and Diakhate, all three of them backed down and don't mind waiting for it. Will revisit at the end of the season depending on form.

Internationals

Tonali and Da Graca both won the u21 Euros. Da Graca scored both of his goals in a 2-1 extra time win over Germany in the semifinal. He only played in 3 of Italy's games, though, and didn't appear in the final.

Of my African contingent, Dao (regen) went furthest and got the bronze medal for Ivory Coast. Diakhate's Senegal lost to them in the quarterfinal. Below is Dao. What do you guys think of him?

Transfers OUT

Spalek requested a new contract, again, the 3rd time he had done so since joining Parma. Reluctantly, decided to sell him. He's a really similar player to Sprocati, so was a perfect backup in a sense. Will have to find a replacement for him. Finally able to find a buyer for Krajnc and I was able to at least negotiate his value as his price. Pepe was a free transfer, so a tidy profit on a player I would have liked around my squad if I didn't favour others already. He's professional as well.

Of all the loanees out, Ramos, Marcos Paulo, and Matias Palacios will hopefully come back and challenge for a spot in the squad. The other Palacios, I wanted to sell but no buyer. Juventus loaned a player they sold to me just a year before, with an optional fee of £40m (so far none of my included-optional fee has been activated and mandatory fee are never accepted to be included). He's valued at £24m, and the best offer was £7m from Gladbach, I think. Dao's a player I have no plans to use in my team actually, so loaned him out again but disappointingly only Stuttgart was interested (on deadline day). I just preferred Ivonei and Mahlonoka at the moment, since they are real players haha it's too early to be using regens for me. 

Carriero have been attracting interest from Juve and Milan, who made £10m+ offer this summer and last, which I rejected. Palermo then came in with a loan offer and for a 17 years old to be playing Serie A is a good option, so decided to loan him out. Usually, I liked to keep my own regen at the club, just incase they can become a "one club player" but he's been making noise that he's unhappy he's not allowed to leave. Zanoli was my first and only "good" regen in the first season, decided to loan him out since he hasn't really push on and improved that much.

Verdict: Disappointed that I couldn't moved on permanently Mauri, Guga, and E. Palacios. Whilst there are no interest for Rafael Leao, zero. Will miss Spalek as I liked him.

Transfers IN

4th season and I really should stop making Bosman signings in advance as the situations always changing compared to anticipation. Friedl's actually an interesting player who can take good setpieces but Olaza and my preference for Minelli will make it hard for him to get some minutes as there were no clubs interested in taking him on loan. Matias Palacios reminded me of Agoume, naturally better at AM but can play in CM as RPM. Loaned him out to Leganes for 2 seasons to get that EU passport. I wished Leganes is my affiliate, since they have Farinez, Marcos Paulo, and M. Palacios now. Mangiarotti was released by Inter, though I would try to develop him in my u20s for a couple of years and see if he can turn out well.

As mentioned in my previous update, Bastoni was my main target this season and was happy to get him for a good price. But somehow the board think the deal was financially poor  (I was initially quoted £40m+).

Now, previously I mentioned that I was really interested in signing Despodov from Cagliari since he's a goalscoring winger. My initial plan was to sell En-Nesyri but since Spalek was sold instead, I decided to keep the former. The problem was.. during my focus on signing Bastoni, it escaped my attention that Despodov had signed a new contract in June. So, I had to get my 2nd choice, the much younger but more of a creator than a scorer, Vignato. He's my 2nd signing from Chievo, after Kiyine. I met his release clause for clubs in CL.

As I had loaned out E. Palacios, I had a spot open in my midfield rotation. In real life, Bennacer was rumoured to be going to Milan and he was 'Player of The Tournament' for the recently-ended African Cup of Nation. My interest was piqued and this might be my best chance to sign him since he's unlikely available to Parma in FM20. I'm planning to use him as understudy to Stulac as the RPM or to Tonali as the Regista. Might even be an option for the Mezzala role. Bennacer had a release clause similar to Vignato (to CL clubs) but I was able to negotiate it down with Empoli, where as Chievo wasn't having any of it.

Verdict: Overall, happy with my signings. Some 1st choice options will be pursued next season if possible.

Youth players of interest

This season I'm hoping to involve Ivonei, Mahlonoka, Casarini, and Smajlaj more.

Registration for non-EU players

In my previous update, Mahlonoka will take the non-EU slot this season. Then, what about Ivonei? Releasing a youth non-EU player already at the club before I arrived apparently allowed Ivonei to be registered (see Kone's attached image below). Even more surprising was that I am also able to register Senesi AND Dao. So that's 4 new registrations for non-EU players this season, on top of previously registered Brazao, Coetzee, and Farinez. How could this happen? My theory and what I think allowed this was Senesi and Dao went on loan to Italian clubs last season (Atlanta and Empoli). When they came back to Parma, they are treated as signings from same nation instead of abroad? This is all by chance, so I'm not sure if this is the case. But it does open up the possibility of exploiting the situation to circumvent the non-EU rules.. (something I don't want to do). So, from now on, I won't make advance non-EU signings until a slot is available or I can be sure I am able to send them to Spanish affiliate club. FM20 will be more fun since I know and experienced the non-EU rules already. Non-EU signings won't be my focus in FM20, not as much as I was doing now anyway. Senesi's availability to be registered and inability to get loan offers means I had to forego my interest in Luperto.

My First XI

GK: Brazao/Joel Pereira/Fabio

RB: Birindelli/Hoever

RCB: Coetzee/Ribeiro/Peda

LCB: Bastoni/Senesi/Botturi

LB: Olaza/Minelli/Friedl

DM (REGISTA): Tonali/Hiekkanen

RCM (RPM): Stulac/Bennacer/Agoume

LCM (MEZZALA): Kiyine/Diakhate/Ivonei

RW (A): Sprocati/Vignato

LW (S): Xadas/En-Nesyri

SC (PF): Gomez/Inglese/Da Graca

Leao is still around but I'm not planning to use him much unless necessary.

START OF SEASON

25-1 odds, predicted 7th. Will be a challenge, especially with Champions League football to juggle as well.

Gomez was 7 goals behind Icardi last season, and he got injured already this season before the final friendly match against Atletico.

Guess they have forgotten Olaza last season.. 

JULY

Started with playing against my u20s before flying to the US, hoping to boost my profile there. (Does that still work? It used to be in previous version). Since I only started pre-season on the 19th of July, performance was slow in the US. The first 2 games could have been a draw since both Atlanta United and NYCFC more than matched us throughout. Galaxy was a bit better but they still caused us problems in the game.

Verdict: Profile boosting mission. Fitness will come. Tonali 

AUGUST

Started sluggishly against Pro Vercelli but came back from 0-1 down to assert more dominance despite mainly using my 2nd team. The match against Atletico was more even before Lemar got sent off in the 31st minute. It was one way after that. Not the match I was hoping and needed as preparation, to be honest.

With all the friendlies out of the way, I couldn't wait to start the season proper. Bennacer scored on his debut and created the goal for En-Nesyri in a dominant first appearance for the Crociati. Stulac and Birindelli were suspended against Sampdoria, with Stulac returning to the starting lineup against Sasuolo. Still experimenting between Stulac and Bennacer to play in the regista role, whilst Tonali is out. Bennacer seemed to be better suited in the DM role only, whilst Stulac can do both DM and CM, but not spectacularly as the regista (6.9 performance). I feel FM heard my thinking and planning regarding Tonali's future .

2 wins in my first 2 games. Going well, right? That is until I realised the Bundelisga's transfer window is still open. First, Mainz's bid unsettled Joel Pereira. Then Leverkusen offered £25m for Brazao. Instant reject. But now Brazao wanted a new contract, which he just recently signed 4 months ago. Told him no, and he's unhappy now. This was a day or two before the Milan game. I wanted to sit out Brazao because of the distraction, but his backup was also in the same boat. First half we dominated Milan, 2nd half a harmless corner and a tame header by Bakayoko was pushed to the post and goes in by Brazao.. It was my first lost in 13 Serie A matches (14 including Coppa Italia Final) and first goal conceded in 12 Serie A matches. The Milan match was also Brazao's 101st appearance for Parma at 20 years old.. Birindelli injured himself in the match and will be out for the next 2 weeks, luckily the International break is to follow this match.

Verdict: I still believe in you, Brazao. We start again.

Positive note - 18,600 season tickets, my first 2 home games are sold out already. Compared to only 3 the whole of last season.

UEFA Champions League Draw

Could be worse? 

SEPTEMBER

Verdict: Will be a long, hard month.

SERIE A - END OF AUGUST 2021

VERDICT SO FAR

Impressed by Bennacer so far, Tonali is not missed. Sprocati started the season poorly, and as I mentioned, Viganto is not the same type of player. Diakhate is still finding his form, still unable to replicate the form during the first half of last season. Gomez hasn't started a game due to injury, En-Nesyri given a chance up front and doing well enough. Coetzee and Bastoni resuming their strong partnership. Xadas and Kiyine are the other players to start the season in excellent form.

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Will post the next update either in January or at the end of the season.

What mega tough group you are drawn in   I think going to USA and other countries only boost if you sign big names players from their country.

[quee]

9 hours ago, john1 said:

What mega tough group you are drawn in   I think going to USA and other countries only boost if you sign big names players from their country.

This is why we play in the CL 

I remembered in older FM, by just going to Japan or US, will get a message saying about a boost in finance or reputation. Didn't get that this time, so you must be right. In scout reports, they do mentioned the market impact of such players (I'm interested in Nakajima).

[dothestrand]

Just finished a very successful 20-21 campaign with AS Roma. Won the title, ahead of Sampdoria (!) by 14pts, just 1pt off the 100 mark. Juventus have fallen out of the CL places too.

Pretty much strong performances across the board. The defence is solid, though I'd like to find a younger CB partner for Varnier. The midfield is stacked in the middle with Pellegrini, Gagliardini, Cristante, Tonali and Zaniolo competing for three spots. El Shaarawy/Chiesa/Pellegri is a crazy front three too. With no immediate concerns for the first team squad and 40m in the bank, time to raid some youth teams I think.

 

Edited July 24, 2019 by dothestrand

[lblanc]

17 hours ago, john1 said:

Good luck  

Have started very well I must say

A tough start to pre-season but a lot of players needed to get back fitness so I wasn't too worried, but that start to the league season three 2-0 wins from a tough start to the season

Very nice draw for Champions League too

I must also point out the group of death

Tactics wise this is how i've set up

*Insigne out with an injury

Signings

I sold Chiriches to Southampton for 12.5m. Having said I'd get to the Quarter Final of the Champions League I got 30.8M to spend plus 10 of that Chiriches deal

I reinvested it in four players.

First in on loan from Real Madrid with a 16.5m option to buy

Federico Valverde

I had tried to bring in Sandro Tonali first but he decided to go to Watford, So i decided to bring in the Uruguayan on loan, If he does well I'll make it permanent.

Next in was one I had wanted to leave until probably next summer but after my scouts said I could get him for a lowish fee of 16M I thought why not

Domenico Berardi

The Sassoulo man brings some class to the right hand side he'll compete with Callejon and Verdi for that right wing slot.

Next up I wanted some cover on the left wing as I plan to use Mertens more as a CF

Juanmi

For 9.5m from Sociedad he'll add some good cover for Insigne 

One last player brought in on the deadline day another Uruguayan for 14M

Maxi Gomez

I was looking to have one other striker on board again he was one I had plans for next season, when I saw the potential fee I snapped him up

 

[quee]

That's cheap for Maxi! Good start, @lblanc.

[quee]

PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER OF FOURTH SEASON

SEPTEMBER

Started the month with a big away win against Napoli, everybody loves that last minute goal, with Vignato scoring his first goal for the club. Inglese missed a penalty in the 71st minute, though.

Our first European nights of the season see Man Utd coming for a 2nd to visit Ennino Tardini, after our previous matches in the Europa League last season. We lost both of those matches. This time around it felt we were better prepared, we did lots of defending training, including corners and free kicks, leading up to the match. Man Utd dominated the early exchanges before we started to get a hold of the midfield in the 2nd half. Those preparations were worth it as we dealt with Veratti's setpieces well and looked comfortable. After Xadas' goal though, Man Utd were more dangerous on the counter attack. Bastoni was immense dealing with those quick break away, his positioning stopped lots of dangerous situations. Great start in what is a highly difficult group.

I decided to keep mainly the same XI against Atlanta as the players fitness are better this year despite a short pre-season (or maybe because of it?). Diakhate finally played himself into form and this match kickstart his run of good games.

Against Juve, Coetzee got a knock just before the game. Usually I would play Ribeiro, but Peda got the nod due to his good form, who had been filling in at RB due to Birindelli's injury. He repaid my trust in him with 2 big goals, his first two for Parma. It looks like I found my potential threat from set-pieces as my other CBs doesn't score that often. Despite leading Juve 4-1 at HT, Juve almost snatched the game from us in the 2nd half with early goal from Bonucci and a late Mayoral goal. I was really nervous but in the end exhilarated in this game, the kind of feeling  you get from playing FM.

Where we played well against Man Utd, we played a really bad game against Schalke. They were the better side on the day. Their winning goal came after Peda got a knock in the 80th minute, and Yussuf Poulsen towering above him to score the winner in the 84th minute. Peda was in the RB position after Coetzee slotting back in central defense and Birindelli's continued absence. 

Verdict: Definitely better than expected! We are playing well at this stage.

Diakhate got Top 3 Goal of The Month for September. Surprisingly, this was my first entry since the 2nd season. Stulac and Andrea Pereira used to be regular fixtures in these awards.

OCTOBER

On paper, this looked a better month, with 2 difficult back to back games to worry about. In reality, Udinese was in 4th place and Genoa was in 5th place when we played them.

I made some changes for the Udinese game, with most of them lacking match fitness. It backfired on me as we were run ragged from the beginning. Only our midfield of Kiyine and Bennacer played well.

With Real game coming up, I decided to still rotate my team for the game against Genoa. Senesi and Friedl made their debuts, coming in for Botturi and Minelli. The decision payed off as the was more solid and we played a safe game for the win.

I felt nervous before the Real game. But we actually started the game really well and we handled Real's attacks comfortably. Big-game Xadas again scoring a big goal to give us the lead. Just when we thought we will go into HT in the lead, Martial equalised in injury time, 45+2 minutes. To make matter worse, Bale headed them in front in the 48th minute. At this point we were pegged back a lot, with only some counter opportunities. In the 84th minute, Xadas was fouled in the box and we got a penalty! I was expecting Olaza to step up and scored his 2nd CL penalties this season.. But Inglese picked up the ball instead. I had forgotten I had subbed him in for Gomez, who was taken off penalty duty last season after missing 2 straight penalty kicks. Inglese followed up his missed penalty against Napoli.. He will be taken off penalty duty as well for Olaza. Inglese made up for it, though, after converting a beautiful Xadas' pass to equalise with 3 minutes to go. A big point for us from the Bernabeu.

Another difficult away game followed but I decided to keep the same XI against Inter. Injury wise it backfired again on me, as Olaza (27th minute) and Kiyine (90+1st minute) picked up big injuries. Olaza out for 7 weeks and Kiyine for 5 weeks. Correa gave the lead for the home side in the 9th minute. Peda got a red card in the 35th minute for his 2nd yellow cards. Despite playing with a player down, we managed to equalise in just after half time. Gagliardini got his marching order after his 2nd yellow card in the 64th minutes. Both teams tried to get a winner but a draw was a fair result. Before the game, I was told during the press conference that Icardi had scored 7 goals in 7 games against us, so it was a good job by the defence to keep him quiet. This was also Stulac's 100th league appearances for Parma.

For the game against Chievo, I rotated heavily with Botturi making his 2nd and Hiekkanen his 1st appearances of the season. I have found it harder to play them this season (because of Senesi, Friedl, and Bennacer's addition). 3-0 lead at HT and again we let the opposition came back into the game in the 2nd half. Ivonei's first goal for the club made it safe in the 74th minute. Mahlonoka made his senior Parma debut after coming on as a substitute.

Verdict: Difficult results through-out but overall pleased.

Such a weird thing to say there, Juric..

NOVEMBER

Before the return fixtures in the CL, all 4 teams were on 4 points. All of us were taking points off each other.

We welcomed Real to Parma with good confidence after drawing the away game. Just like Martial scoring in HT injury time, En-Nesyri scored a big goal in the 45+1 minute! In the 2nd half we played extremely well to control the game and Sprocati finally scored his first goal of the season. He started the season poorly and him coming into form now was a great relief for me as Viganto is still adapting to the club. For comparison, Sprocati had score 28 goals in his first 3 season with us. Xadas made his 100th career appearance for Parma in this game.

At this stage, En-Nesyri started to play his way into the starting lineup a lot, either as the striker, or on the left wing or right wing. Wherever he plays, he's always contributing with assists and goals. He came up with one in a comfortable victory against SPAL, which we should have won by more. Unfortunately, Xadas suffered an injury and will be out for 4 weeks.

Sprocati went out of the blocks in the game against Palermo by scoring twice in the first 5 minutes, his first clocked at 44 seconds. My fastest goal was by Inglese against Inter in the first season, at 15 seconds.

We faced a daunting trip to Old Trafford for our penultimate CL group game. We went ahead with a Diakhate goal before Lukaku equalised in the 46th minute. Conceding just before or straight after HT is starting to become a problem for us. Pogba was sent off in the 64th minute but we couldn't take advantage as the game became a midfield battle. His red card was interesting as it was the first time I saw an off the ball foul. Initially I thought it was a mistaken identity as it was Verratti who made the sliding challenge, but Pogba was nowhere near the ball. Turns out he kicked Bennacer in front of the referee. Is there a way to upload video here on the forum? Anyway, Bastoni was imperious in this game.

Verdict: Two great results sandwiching two straight forward ones.

Coppa Italia First Round saw us pitted against Udinese, who beat us earlier in the season.

DECEMBER

I just realised what a busy month December can be! Lots of games to play, luckily our injured players are starting to come back as well.

Another difficult game after a hard CL match, at least this time Roma was the visitor. En-Nesyri continues his great form, keeping Gomez and Inglese off the team. Another HT injury time goal, this time scored by us to go into the break leading 3-1. Bastoni scored his first of the season, following his strong performance against Man Utd in the previous game. 2nd half was made harder after Morelos scored his 2nd goal in the 62nd minute (his first was in the 35th minute). Only an injury time goal by the returning-Kiyine made the game safe.

After the last round of CL matches, Parma and Man Utd were on 8 points, whilst Real and Schalke were both on 5 points going into the last round of games. So all to play for, with any of the 4 teams can still go through. Schalke beat us in the away game, so was hoping to get revenge here at home. The game petered out into a slow, even game with Schalke's fullback dominating the game. Until in the 81st minute when Peda fouled Plattenhardt, the Man of the Match fullback. If Schalke had scored, we would have missed out on progression unless we found an equaliser. Brazao's big save prevented any of that and we were happy with a point to secure top spot as Real beat Man Utd in the other game. Was disappointed couldn't get the revenge we wanted, especially at home. But what a great CL campaign so far!

Happy with the draw, gave us a chance at least.

Torino marked Olaza's tenure as the first choice penalty taker and he confidently slotted it in after Agoume was fouled during a corner. Brazao had another good game, making 5 saves to follow his heroics in the previous game. Senesi got injured for the 2nd time within a month in this game.

Decided to keep using young players for the Coppa Italia, besides we won it last season using mostly these same players. Joel Pereira was making noises about leaving again, so I had a decision to make whether to start him or give Hyso (regen) his first debut. Since he just signed a professional contract last month, decided to take a chance against a strong Udinese side. What a results it turned out to be! Da Graca with the hat-trick, Casarini, Vignato, and Peda adding the goals to make it a comprehensive victory. This justified my decision to start the young players. Below are the team who played and their age. Only Di Mario didn't get a chance to play, whilst the rest of the subs were older players making up the numbers. Botturi led the young team very well.

Trezza and Togola also made their debuts for Parma. Hyso finishes the match with a 7.5 rating. Not bad for a 17 year-old Albanian regen, the first regen I used in this save. 

A somewhat much more difficult Quarter Final, away to Lazio, who was third in the league.

Lazio also happened to be our next opponent. Sprocati continues his revival against his old club and Da Graca got a chance as a sub in the league after his hat-trick in the last game.

For the game against Foggia, I decided I wanted to give most of the players from the Udinese game another chance to impress me, so it was a much younger lineup with some backup players getting much needed minutes. A disappointing result and an equally disappointing performance. The fact that my defence was the best performers shows how much Foggia troubled us in this game. I regretted underestimating them.

My initial plan was if the players who came in against Foggia did well, they would also start the last game of the year before the winter break. Unfortunately, they didn't take their chances, so it was back to the my strongest lineup against Bologna. A strong performance, dominated by Man of the Match, Diakhate, and returning to form after injury, Kiyine. En-Nesyri's form made sure Gomez was complaining about lack of game time after another good goal.

Verdict: A good and busy month. Only 3 goals conceded in 7 games, our defence have really improved so much.

SERIE A - END OF DECEMBER 2021

VERDICT SO FAR

The 2 Moroccans are impressing so far and leading the team in goals. Diakhate starting to regain his form and he's added a new dimension to his game, instead of just goals, he's also adding assists. Very happy with the development.

Breakthrough Season - Peda for providing astute performance in an unfamiliar RB position, and the revival of En-Nesyri.

Best player so far - Bastoni, highly consistent and committed with an average rating of 7.30 in 17 games.

Could do better - Gomez only has one goal to his name but at least he's creating for others with 4 assists. Definitely need to be better since he has come to me unhappy and demanding more game time. Tonali isn't the same player as he was before his broken foot injury. He's a bit too safe now compared to before. Hopefuly he will recover his intensity as before.

Young players - Apart from Peda, Agoume and Ivonei have impressed when given the chance. Botturi and Hiekkanen have seen their game time drastically reduced so far.

THE MANAGER AND THE CLUB - OFF THE FIELD

Didn't even realised I was in the final year of my contract until the Board came and offered me an extension. Used the chance to request for another new affiliate (had to persuade them) and expand the stadium as well.

I think the expansion request was justified as we sold out 10 out of 13 home games so far this season, including the first 5 games of the season. Surprised to see we didn't sell out against Roma, considering they are Mourinho's title challenger.

The new capacity will actually be 25,638, with 3,286 new seats added. Costing £4.8m and to be completed on 31/07/22. The image below was my first try at it before I had restarted as I had thought I made an error when requesting the new affiliate (wanted youth setup but got senior affiliate both tries), turns out it's a bug or something? I forgot to take a screenshot of the new expansion message (but somehow I remembered the details haha). 

I think this is the last upgrade for our youth facilities to become 'State of the Art'. Looking forward to the benefits.

Affiliate

No wonder I never had success before Sochaux, the choices below never appeared to me until now.

Decided to choose Feirense as they were leading the Portuguese League at the time, just like Parma in Serie A  

Might be useful as well to send Leao out since nobody wants him 

Though, looking at the squad, I don't really have someone in mind to have a first option on.

Contracts

Kiyine and En-Nesyri wanted new contracts and became unhappy when I refused. Their form have shot up since then and I will look to give them a new one given a chance. Kiyine's request has also went up proportional to his form and he's requesting more than £75k per week. I don't want to break my wage structure yet, so will wait it out until the end of the season. Gomez the highest at £65k since he's supposed to be the main goalscorers, Bastoni at £50k as the defensive leader, Stulac at £45k as the Captain and lynchpin of the midfield, and the other important first team players at £40k (Xadas, Tonali, Olaza).

Brazao dropped his unhappiness around middle October, and it coincided with his upturn in performance.

Coetzee, Birindelli, and Diakhate all backed down after having a chat with them about new contracts. My kind of players! Will reward them in the summer.

Internationals

Three new internationals this season, Peda (Poland), Smajlaj (Albania), and Fojticek (Slovakia). Fojticek is on loan at Slovan Bratislava, the Slovakian Champion.

Bastoni been involved with the Italian past few squads but hasn't made his debut yet. Birindelli's injury and poor form means he's unlikely he will get a call up soon, whilst Sprocati will be the outsider choice, just like Inglese previously. Still waiting for first Italian cap for a Parma player under me.

Finally! Brazao is starting to get notice by Brazil. Only a matter of time, I feel. 

One of my favourite story this season. From planning to sell him to being undroppable and making Gomez unhappy. Definitely will keep him around. A bit of background story, the reason I signed him in the first place was because he impressed me in the last World Cup and when he scored against Spain in the group stage. I think the addition of another Moroccan is helping his form, as lots of his goals came from a Kiyine's assist.

REGENS

Hyso will be part of Parma future. I hope he will represent Albania instead of Italy, as I liked smaller nations players in my team as well  Of the 3 regens out on loan, only Carriero and Dao worth keeping tabs on for now.

Hyso will act as my 3rd choice, after the retirement of Fabio at the end of October. Might be promoted to 2nd choice if Pereira wants to leave in January.

Carriero improved immensely, especially at the beginning where he was starting and playing quite well. 17 and in Serie A. Lately, he's been out of the team, though, hence his declining attributes.

Dao took his time, not getting any action in the first month or so. He's picked up his form and are improving in ability and values.

My First XI

GK: Brazao/Joel Pereira/Hyso

RB: Birindelli/Peda/Hoever

RCB: Coetzee/Peda/Ribeiro/

LCB: Bastoni/Senesi/Botturi

LB: Olaza/Minelli/Friedl

DM (REGISTA): Stulac/Bennacer/Tonali/Hiekkanen

RCM (RPM): Kiyine/Bennacer/Agoume

LCM (MEZZALA): Diakhate/Bennacer/Ivonei

RW (A): Sprocati/Vignato

LW (S): Xadas/En-Nesyri

SC (PF): En-Nesyri/Gomez/Inglese/Da Graca

Leao is still around but I'm not planning to use him much unless necessary.

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Will post the next update in January for the Winter Transfer Window.

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by quee

[john1]

Fantastic to see you made it to knockout stages  However surprised to see Real Madrid finishing 3rd!!   Not bad choice with Feirense  

Looking forward to more updates

[john1]

12 hours ago, quee said:

 

 

 

Where did you find that list? I'm curious  

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6 hours ago, john1 said:

Where did you find that list? I'm curious  

When you request for an affiliate and the board let you choose the club, it will automatically get to that list. In my first 3 seasons, when I chose the "choose the club" option, the list was just empty and I thought I had to navigate to a nation > club myself but always failing to get an agreement. Sochaux, my first affiliate I got, was from a list of 4 clubs the board gave me since I didn't get use the "choose the club" myself. So, maybe the first affiliate will always have to be chosen by the Board before you can choose your own.

6 hours ago, john1 said:

Fantastic to see you made it to knockout stages  However surprised to see Real Madrid finishing 3rd!!   Not bad choice with Feirense  

Looking forward to more updates

Thanks! Definitely thought Real would be a lot scarier tbh, so far Liverpool was the best team my Parma had played against. Man Utd is surprisingly a setpiece team in the 4 games I had played against them, but dangerous nonetheless with Verratti's quality.

As of Dec 31 2021. Thought they would fall away a bit by now but what a season by them so far! Their standout player is Caio Secco, a 31 years old GK. Average rating of 7.23, 8 cleansheets in 17 games, with only 13 conceded. He's out of contract in the summer and I thought about signing him to replace Joel Pereira as backup, but then I wouldn't be fair to my new affiliate 

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7 hours ago, john1 said:

Where did you find that list? I'm curious  

This was actually the full list, I had unticked Portugal to see what my other options were. I chose to include the wrong screenshot it seemed 

As you can, Feirense was at the top of the list, so it was easier to notice them straightaway when checking my options.

[quee]

Summer transfer window in real life, always made you think of the next FM. I'm actually excited for FM20!

Saw this list of Parma squad on tour. Noticed Stulac is missing and upon googling, finding out he's about to complete his transfer to Empoli. 

That's Brazao and Stulac now that won't be there for when I start a Parma save on FM20. Two of my indispensable in my current save. I know buying them in-game always an option, but it's not the same compared to having them there when you start your game 

Excited for Cornelius, Hernani, Karamoh, and Kulusevski though. Karamoh always troubles me in my current save and I just found out about Kulusevski, interesting young player!

One thing I will definitely do is based my team around Inglese in FM20 (Brazao this FM, Stulac I didn't know he would be that good for me when I started). I just read a news on Parma website saying that Inglese did everything in his power to make his return to Parma happened this season. I won't sign someone to replace him as long as he performs (like his first 2 seasons in my current save, which then I signed Gomez to replace him). Will sign someone to compete with him instead.

Choosing a story for your save will always make it interesting and hopefully last longer! 

Edited July 26, 2019 by quee

[Ben111]

I really want to get a save going in Italy (seems to be a lot of FM'ers heading there this year) but can't seem to make my mind up on who to go as. I fancy a team like Sampdoria but I'm thinking it might not be very long term. 

 

Pretty much open to any interesting sides/stories either Serie A or B

[blue heron]

1 hour ago, Ben111 said:

I really want to get a save going in Italy (seems to be a lot of FM'ers heading there this year) but can't seem to make my mind up on who to go as. I fancy a team like Sampdoria but I'm thinking it might not be very long term. 

 

Pretty much open to any interesting sides/stories either Serie A or B

Depends on what you want. Juve and either Milan club are champions league level immediately and very rich. With teams like Sampdoria, Atalanta or Fiorentina you're below that level and have far less money, but you can challenge the bigger teams rather quickly.

Personally I like Fiorentina (where I'm currently managing) due to okay-ish finances, nice youngsters and a lovely kit (and the city itself is pretty nice too).

 

[quee]

2 hours ago, Ben111 said:

I really want to get a save going in Italy (seems to be a lot of FM'ers heading there this year) but can't seem to make my mind up on who to go as. I fancy a team like Sampdoria but I'm thinking it might not be very long term. 

 

Pretty much open to any interesting sides/stories either Serie A or B

Parma and get Buffon back! Lots of interesting options though in Italy. Depends what you're looking for in your save as well.

[Ben111]

Thanks for the reply both. Sorry my original post was so vague, just so unsure as to what team. Defo not anyone top 6. 

 

Fiorentina and Parma defo interesting me. Always fancied a Fiorentina save so it's swaying me that way. 

[john1]

12 hours ago, quee said:

This was actually the full list, I had unticked Portugal to see what my other options were. I chose to include the wrong screenshot it seemed 

As you can, Feirense was at the top of the list, so it was easier to notice them straightaway when checking my options.

That much better 

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1 hour ago, Ben111 said:

Thanks for the reply both. Sorry my original post was so vague, just so unsure as to what team. Defo not anyone top 6. 

 

Fiorentina and Parma defo interesting me. Always fancied a Fiorentina save so it's swaying me that way. 

Goodluck! Hope to see your updates soon. Welcome to Italia!

I think keeping Chiesa is one of the hardest challenge for Fiorentina, would be interesting to keep him and based your team with him.

[john1]

2 hours ago, Ben111 said:

Thanks for the reply both. Sorry my original post was so vague, just so unsure as to what team. Defo not anyone top 6. 

 

Fiorentina and Parma defo interesting me. Always fancied a Fiorentina save so it's swaying me that way. 

You could try Chievo or Frosinone

[john1]

 

Oh my god   Controlled the game against Man City, we knocked out Barcelona, 2-0 on agg( 0-0 at home, 2-0 away ) . Man Utd 2-2, (6-5 on penalties) 

After the game, Man City sacked Unai Emery  

Brilliant send off for Gumny, leaving in the summer to join Man City for 65M. Will do season update soon.

Edited July 27, 2019 by john1

[lblanc]

So the first half of my Napoli save is done, up to start of January now, here is how i've done, I'll pull out key games for the 3 broken down periods

The obvious big game there is the 2-0 win over Juventus, Arek Milik being the difference with two goals

An away point at the Olimpico

Gomez got his first goal for the club, before El Shaarawy curled in a cracker. my first dropped points of the season

The biggest disappointment wasn't the champions league draw with Plzen but at home to Cagliari, I was all over them but just couldn't find a second goal even when they went down to 10 men.

 

The big one though

1-0 win in the San Siro, an own goal seen me sneak it

Only one place to start in December, Icardi inflicts my first loss of the season.

But I bounced back in the league with a hammering of Sassoulo

So how does the league look?

Tight!!! at the top, myself and Juve are separated only on head to head, the likes of Sassoulo and Parma are doing very very too who knows perhaps they may finish int he top 4.

In the Champions League

Finished nicely on top my reward

A nice mini training camp to Belgium awaits me before I get back into the action

I think January and February are going to be key to the title.

 

[john1]

Season 2023-2024

 

Season have been okay-ish for me, We got mauled by Napoli, in Coppa Italia semi final 2nd leg. 5-0, was pretty **** performance. But surprised to see Bologna winning it   Udinese, was a weird one, they was right up there and fell away with 5 games to go and dropped to 5th. Did the double over Juventus in the league, winning 2-1 at home and 4-2 away  Suck on that Juventus! We also supposed to move to new stadium at end of June and now being delayed til October  

Our run to Champions League Final

 

Damn you Atlético Madrid  

Don't know where I am going next, might stick around and try win the FIFA club championship.

 

[john1]

 

Great!! Not the news I want to read, our youth facilities was state of art before this, now just superb  Requested to upgrade it, they said no, want us to sign youth players instead.

[quee]

1 hour ago, lblanc said:

I think January and February are going to be key to the title.

Good half season so far! I could never get Warm weather training during the 2 weeks+ of break in winter.

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Don't know where I am going next, might stick around and try win the FIFA club championship.

Does the save still interest and excite you? I would say continue if yes. Well done on a great season!

[john1]

8 minutes ago, quee said:

Does the save still interest and excite you? I would say continue if yes. Well done on a great season!

50/50 at the moment, but board being so tight, won't listen to my request of feeder club to send players on loan to or merchandise feeder club    However, the chairman is willing to listen to offer for the club  

Currently got 202M to spend, got few players coming in, might look to bring in big name players  

Being linked to Bayern Munich and Man City job.

Edited July 27, 2019 by john1

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10 minutes ago, john1 said:

50/50 at the moment, but board being so tight, won't listen to my request of feeder club to send players on loan to or merchandise feeder club    However, the chairman is willing to listen to offer for the club  

Currently got 202M to spend, got few players coming in, might look to bring in big name players  

Being linked to Bayern Munich and Man City job.

Subconsciously, for me, that's why I'm keeping Botturi, Hiekkanen, Minelli. If I happened to be too dominant too soon, they're my side projects and see how far they can develop with Parma. Their PAs aren't great (3.5 black).

Played too many FMs before to know what would made me lose interest quickly 

[Ben111]

So in the end I took John1's advice and went with Chievo. Very interesting side and will provide me with a much longer save I feel. 

Some good prospects in the side but definitely room to improve in the first team squad, I will be looking to give the likes of Vignato a run in the first team. I've brought in Staflydis for £1.8m, I feel he'll be a solid left back for us going into a tough season. 

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

JANUARY OF FOURTH SEASON

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW

One position I would love to strengthen is the RW position, with Despodov from Cagliari as my number 1 choice. He's already on £61k per week though, not sure I would be willing to break my current wage structure for him. It's unlikely I will move for him this window anyway as I only got this for my extra budget.

TRANSFERS OUT

Leao finally got some interest! Mahlonoka have not improved in the past 6 months, so decided to offer him out on loan. He will miss out on HGC status for Parma. Roma came in with an offer for Senesi (I didn't offered him out), after deciding he will get more football there, decided to accept the loan offer for 18 months. Roma did try to include £3.3m fees after 5 games, which I didn't know means for buying the player. Removed it instantly. Alborghetti and Adorni are 2 of my youth goalkeepers, who despite going out on loan as 'rotation' option, they're getting zero first team action. Adorni was unable to secure another loan after the recall. £100k loan fee is the maximum other cubs seems to offer me so far (apart from E. Palacios).

TRANSFER IN

No major additions, just 2 'Perfectionists' mentors for my younger players. Unlikely to see any actions. Ruffier is retiring next season, unable to persuade him to  change his mind. With Hoever going back in the summer, Schelotto might be enough as the emergency cover for RB position for Birindelli and Peda.

 JANUARY

After my last game on 26th December, I decided to give the players one full week of rest. It seems to have backfired since some of the players are unhappy when we increased the training intensity back to normal and I think is the main reason for our shambolic display this month. Friedl got injured and will be out for 7 weeks, which means he will stay instead of going out on loan. 

We went to China to play the Supercoppa Final. We actually started aggressively, with Sprocati hitting the post and the ball almost trickling it just after 20 seconds. Managed to keep the ball and Captain Stulac scored his first goal of the season with a good goal just outside the box. We dominated the first half, until the Jekyl went Hyde-ing in the 2nd half. Gagliardini towered above Olaza to head in the equaliser in 56th minute from a corner before Emmers scored the winner in the 113th minute, after a lightning counter attack by Inter. Brazao did well to save the first shot before the rebound found his way to the match-winner. Stulac played his best game and got 'Player of the Match' award but not the trophy. Tonali put in an encouraging and feisty performance. Hopefully he's on his way back to form as well.

Travelling back from China then 2 days later have another game against Cagliari, who was in 4th place. Kept the same XI and we were streamrolled. The worse performance by Parma under my tenure. First time I used aggresive team-talk with them. Haas (16th) scored a wonderful curling goal from outside the box but Brazao's positioning does seemed suspect, Han added two more goals (27th and 70th), and Bradaric (57th). We stopped Despodov from scoring but he played a big part in the win for them.

We bounced back well against Sassuolo, with Captain Stulac again getting 'Player of the Match' away for his 2nd goal of the season. He's getting into form but the team is not. En-Nesyri broke his arm and would have been out for 2 months. But for the first time in my FM experience, I decided to use the special protective casting for him to be able to play some of the matches. Gomez and Inglese are on a goal droughts.

The games were coming fast this month, and after barely enough time to train we entertained Napoli at home. After Diawara got the lead for Napoli in the 23rd minuted, we never recovered and threatened to score. We did hit the post 3 times though. Combination of Inglese and Gomez were a factor for the lack of goal threats. Another home loss.

Coetzee out for 2 week, Xadas and Peda out with flu for 10 days+.

In the Quarter Final of Coppa Italia, I rested all the first team players and used the same team as from the Udinese match in the previous round. Whilst we didn't impressed this time around, Lazio was much better, we also didn't looked like conceding and was happy to have the match go into extra time and possibly penalties. We were knocked out by a 91st minute goal by Immobile in injury time. We did have 3 goals disallowed, 2 for offsides and one for a foul. There will be a new Champion for Coppa Italia this season. Wished we could progress as the games are helpful to develop my younger players. Only Hyso and Captain Botturi came out of the match with any credit (both got 7.0).

Coetzee had a reoccurrence of his injury and will be out for another 2 weeks.

Verdict: Forgettable, horror-show of a month. Team meeting was needed after the Lazio match. First time I've used it in this FM. January threatened to derail our fantastic first half of the season.

FEBRUARY

In my eagerness to turn things around, I actually played the first game before taking a screenshot of the table at the end of January.

Crazy month in terms of fixtures! Four big away games against bigger team than us!

Luckily, we started against 17th-placed Fiorentina. Captain Stulac again leading the way with another goal and another 'Player of the Match' award. Stulac finally scored a freekick, it's been a while. Last season he only scored one free kick if I remembered correctly. Gomez got an assist and a 7.2 rating for his performance, hopefully he will recover his form after this encouraging performance.

Verdict: Looking at my next run of fixtures, unlike I will get to rotate much again this month.

SERIE A - FIRST GAME OF FEBRUARY 2022

VERDICT SO FAR

I had high hopes of continuing our great form, and potentially winning the league for the first time since I took the reins here at Parma. It will be a struggle from now until the end of the season just to secure Champions League football I think.

THE MANAGER AND THE CLUB - OFF THE FIELD

Affiliate

So, after successfully getting Sochaux and Feirense as my affiliates, I requested another during the short Winter Break. This time it is the 'Youth Setup' arrangement as requested. Defensor Sporting of Uruguay is our new partner!

Contracts

En-Nesyri came around and dropped his unhappiness. It was a good chance to offer him a new one and he accepted a much lower request after this. His new contract went from £16k to £25k per week. 

Decided to keep Inglese despite him wanting to go back to Napoli. Gomez's poor form and En-Nesyri injury made me still want him around as an option. It is unlikely I will resign him for next season, though.

Internationals

I've been giving Ivonei lots of minutes and it's good he's on Brazil's radar now for the senior side! Brazao was not involved in this match.

 

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Will post the next update for the rest of February.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by quee

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

FEBRUARY OF FOURTH SEASON

FEBRUARY

After my last update, we had won against Fiorentina. Next is another difficult game against then 4th-placed Milan side. Used the same XI, except Kiyine replacing out-of-form Xadas at LW and Bennacer as the starting RPM. Played really well away from home was good for the 2-0 lead at HT. It was the introduction just after HT of Tonali in placed of Bennacer that helped us control the rest of the game. It was the first time I played Tonali further forward than his usual DM position. An interesting option for me. Gomez finally scored after 978 minutes draught. He added another in injury time, hopefully pushing on for the rest of the season.

Next up, Lyon. Looking back it was a cagey match, most chances went to the home side. Brazao was equal for most it, apart from a beautiful curling free kick in the 51st minute from Fekir, just on the edge of the box (I had thought Tonali had given away a penalty!). A moment of individual quality was enough to decide the game. Brazao was our best performer (7.2). All to play for in the return leg at the Tardini!

In our past seven games against Juventus, we are unbeaten. It looked like we would extend that sequence after equalising Bernardeschi's opener in the 25th minute with a goal against the run of play, En-Nesyri lofted a pinpoint pass for Xadas to finish from close range in the 84th minute. Changed to 'Cautious' and the next highlight was in the 90th minute.. and Mayoral got in front of Bastoni to finish at the near post from a Douglas Costa cross. Gut-wrenching, I felt sick with that goal  A draw would have been a great result for us.

Friedl who just recovered from his injury is out for another week due to a virus. Joel Pereira will also be out for 5 weeks.

With the 2nd leg coming up against Lyon, I had a decision to make. Rotate my team and risked the game against Atlanta or start my strongest XI. I feel like I trusted my players enough to select them, and it was another vindicated decision. With the much-happier Gomez keeping his place, in the hope he could continue recovering his goalscoring form, with Bennacer creating two of the three goals in the game. Tonali also scored his first goal of the season from the RPM position further forward in midfield. Tonali and Vignato took knocks in this matches.

Verdict: Already a better month than January, but that last minute Juve's winner will haunt me.

SERIE A - END OF FEBRUARY 2022

VERDICT SO FAR

Contrasting two months, giving me hope we can still challenge Juve for the title, or at least keep our CL spot! Gomez is now on 5 goals, and he's becoming more threatening.

Next match: 2nd leg against Lyon at Ennino Tardini.

[ajt]

On 23/07/2019 at 01:03, quee said:

Of my African contingent, Dao (regen) went furthest and got the bronze medal for Ivory Coast. Diakhate's Senegal lost to them in the quarterfinal. Below is Dao. What do you guys think of him?

Dao looks great! Carriero looks nice too.

[ajt]

On 27/07/2019 at 18:47, john1 said:

 

Oh my god   Controlled the game against Man City, we knocked out Barcelona, 2-0 on agg( 0-0 at home, 2-0 away ) . Man Utd 2-2, (6-5 on penalties) 

After the game, Man City sacked Unai Emery  

Brilliant send off for Gumny, leaving in the summer to join Man City for 65M. Will do season update soon.

Amazing! I'm not sure who I've actually won the champions league with this year, possibly on my Bayern save.

 

On 27/07/2019 at 18:56, lblanc said:

Tight!!! at the top, myself and Juve are separated only on head to head, the likes of Sassoulo and Parma are doing very very too who knows perhaps they may finish int he top 4.

In the Champions League

 

Great so far, considering Juventus starting squad.

 

14 hours ago, quee said:

 

Affiliate

So, after successfully getting Sochaux and Feirense as my affiliates, I requested another during the short Winter Break. This time it is the 'Youth Setup' arrangement as requested. Defensor Sporting of Uruguay is our new partner!

 

Congratulations on getting Defensor. Funnily enough I also have them on this Brescia save, infact I try and get them on every save where possible. Always hoping for the next Cavani! 

[quee]

2 hours ago, ajt said:

Dao looks great! Carriero looks nice too.

Unfortunately, I don't really have any plans to use Dao since I don't play with an AM haha hope PSG comes in for him 

 

2 hours ago, ajt said:

Congratulations on getting Defensor. Funnily enough I also have them on this Brescia save, infact I try and get them on every save where possible. Always hoping for the next Cavani! 

Thanks! To be honest, I haven't heard of them that much. I've checked them out before when Emiliano Gomez was recommended to me by my scouts. The likes of Penarol and Nacional are bigger names/teams, I think. But Defensor's facilities are perfect for 'Youth Setup' arrangements, the best in Uruguay.

Which save are you playing now?

[ajt]

3 hours ago, quee said:

Unfortunately, I don't really have any plans to use Dao since I don't play with an AM haha hope PSG comes in for him 

 

Thanks! To be honest, I haven't heard of them that much. I've checked them out before when Emiliano Gomez was recommended to me by my scouts. The likes of Penarol and Nacional are bigger names/teams, I think. But Defensor's facilities are perfect for 'Youth Setup' arrangements, the best in Uruguay.

Which save are you playing now?

Yeah I don't use an AMC either, 2 MC & 1 DMC. Which is a shame since there are so many AMC regens.

Their youth setup is the main reason I use them, the other team I try to get is Chivas from Mexico but it's difficult to begin with as a lower reputation team as their reputation is too high.

My Brescia save is the only one I'm playing but I've had quite a lot of stuff to do this week, trying to zoom through a season now  Currently in April with some games remaining.

Edited July 29, 2019 by ajt

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

MARCH OF FOURTH SEASON

MARCH

LYON: European night coming to Ennino Tardini, welcoming French side, Lyon. We lost the first leg 0-1 in Lyon, hoping our home advantage can overturn the the deficit. 

Before the match, Brazao was hit with a flu and could be out between a day to 4 days if left with the Physios. Decided to try that instead of sending him home (definitely out for 3 days if sent home).. and he's out for 4 days, meaning he will miss the match. Backup Pereira was already injured in February for 5 weeks, Ruffier was not registered. So, my only option was to give Hyso his 3rd start of his career, the first 2 being in the Coppa Italia. Not even made his debut in Serie A, yet here he is playing in the Champions League knockout stage.

Despite the goalkeeper situation, Hyso was only tested once, from a freekick. Remembered, in the first leg Fekir got the winner from a beautiful free kick. Luckily it was Rafinha who took the free kick this time and Hyso was able to get to the ball for his only save in the game. Parma dominated the game, especially after Aouar got his marching order in the 39th minute. We hit the woodwork 4 times in the match, before Ribeiro bundled in a goal from a corner, after Bennacer's initial header hit the bar and landed next to Ribeiro.

In extra time, we couldn't find another goal as Lyon started to set up shop and defended really well. Their goalkeeper Lopez had a really good game, saving 17 shots coming his way. Lyon even lost another player, A. Toure, due to injury in the 110th minute. Initially, I had thought we could use a 4th sub in extra time, but the rules doesn't apply this time? We could have used a 2nd striker like Inglese in extra time, with the 2 man advantage.

In the penalty shoot out, I moved Gomez down to 6th in the list as he missed his previous 2 penalties for us. Hyso had done well to save the first Lyon's penalty, but Sprocati's and surprised-surprised Gomez's disappointing misses knocked us out. I just knew Gomez would missed again if it got to his turn! His attributes for penalty is the best at the club but I don't know why he can't convert any of them!

Not for Parma, you won't!

UDINESE: After the disappointing exit, we had Udinese visiting. We lost 1-3 at their place earlier in the season, but still I decided to rotate the squad. Again, it backfired as Udinese beat us 1-3 again for the 2nd time this season. Fofana (49th) gave the lead, before Casarini (56th) stole the ball from Scuffet in their box, who got caught dwelling on the ball after a backpass, and finished first time into the empty net. It was Casarini's first league goal for Parma. First time I've experienced this in FM19! Cool, right?

Not when it happened for a 2nd time, this time Hyso received a bad pass from Hiekkanen and Lasagna tackled him and scored into the empty net in the 69th minute. Lasagna killed off the game as we were chasing the equaliser in the 80th minute, as another mistake by Hyso caused us the goal. A header by De Paul hit the post then Hyso then the post again before it trickled to the centre for another easy finish into another empty net. Two cup games, one CL game, one league game.. Hyso is not ready!

On a positive note, Di Mario made his senior debut for Parma. It turns out Di Mario is a local born youngster (I think only one in my current squad).

SAMPDORIA: 10th-placed Sampdoria was in good form and it showed as they troubled us too much. Zapata (11th) caught us out with a simple tap in after a low cross across the goal. Gomez first goal was a headed goal from a corner. Birindelli went off injured in the 76th minute, just after using my last sub on Tonali in the 71st minute! Caprari (82nd) took advantage of the space vacated by Birindelli's injury and scored an easy goal. Birindelli will be out for 7 weeks. As the time ticking down, it looked like it will be another defeat for Parma.. before Kiyine got the ball and drive through midfield and threaded a through ball for Gomez to finish with aplomb in the 91st minute! A point gain, definitely!

GENOA: Gomez missed out with an injury he pick up for Uruguay during the international break (he would have missed out anyway with a suspension after 5 yellow cards). Inglese again suffered a virus and is out for 2 weeks. Luckily, En-Nesyri has now fully recovered after 7 weeks playing in protective casting. He will lead the line. 

Roldan gave Genoa a perfect start in the 7th minute with a good placed finish from outside the box. He's someone I've been following since his move to Genoa and I think he can be an option for the LW position, as he's similar to Xadas and I think can give him good competition. En-Nesyri's 11th goal of the season gave us parity going into HT before Hernani scored the winner for Genoa in the 81st minute. He had headed a cross against the post before finishing his own rebound. Another disappointing lost.

Verdict: As bad a month as January! Goodbye Juventus and the Serie A title!

SERIE A - END OF MARCH 2022

VERDICT SO FAR

The form is too inconsistent now and Cagliari is breathing down our neck. Train-wrecked of a start to 2022! Juventus is too far ahead and their great form means they won't be caught this season. A return to Juventus dominance in Italy?

Next match: 15th-place SPAL away.

THE CLUB - OFF THE FIELD

Youth Intakes

Happy to see our latest affiliate, Defensor Sporting, is already producing player for us. Unfortunately, only 2.5 PA. Surprising to see it was not Sochaux first, though.

Uruguyan, Ivorian, Nigerian, and an out of place Englishman! (I don't have any English personnel at the club). 

Unfortunately, only 2 of the players look promising. Roberto Aprile (GK) won't be better than Hyso, though. Kingsley Obi (CD) of Nigeria is the other.

Transfers

Enzo Roldan, someone I might be interested in signing, as cover and competition for Xadas at the LW position. He has been catching my eye since his transfer to Genoa this season.

This seems ages ago, that I don't even remember about this!

I thought Pellegrini's transfer (January, 2022) was the first £100m+ transfers in my game, but upon checking I missed out on a few!

Dybala - £126m (Juve to PSG, July 2020), Alli - £119m (Spurs to Barca, July 2020), and Arthur - £100m (Barca to Man City, January 2021).

Internationals

Finally! First Italian caps for a Parma player under me! Not one, but two players at the same time. Technically, Tonali got his first in the 45+2 minutes, whilst Bastoni got his in the 70th minute. Now, waiting for the first caps for my Brazilian players.

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by quee

[john1]

44 minutes ago, quee said:

PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

MARCH OF FOURTH SEASON

MARCH

LYON: European night coming to Ennino Tardini, welcoming French side, Lyon. We lost the first leg 0-1 in Lyon, hoping our home advantage can overturn the the deficit. 

Before the match, Brazao was hit with a flu and could be out between a day to 4 days if left with the Physios. Decided to try that instead of sending him home (definitely out for 3 days if sent home).. and he's out for 4 days, meaning he will miss the match. Backup Pereira was already injured in February for 5 weeks, Ruffier was not registered. So, my only option was to give Hyso his 3rd start of his career, the first 2 being in the Coppa Italia. Not even made his debut in Serie A, yet here he is playing in the Champions League knockout stage.

Despite the goalkeeper situation, Hyso was only tested once, from a freekick. Remembered, in the first leg Fekir got the winner from a beautiful free kick. Luckily it was Rafinha who took the free kick this time and Hyso was able to get to the ball for his only save in the game. Parma dominated the game, especially after Aouar got his marching order in the 39th minute. We hit the woodwork 4 times in the match, before Ribeiro bundled in a goal from a corner, after Bennacer's initial header hit the bar and landed next to Ribeiro.

In extra time, we couldn't find another goal as Lyon started to set up shop and defended really well. Their goalkeeper Lopez had a really good game, saving 17 shots coming his way. Lyon even lost another player, A. Toure, due to injury in the 110th minute. Initially, I had thought we could use a 4th sub in extra time, but the rules doesn't apply this time? We could have used a 2nd striker like Inglese in extra time, with the 2 man advantage.

In the penalty shoot out, I moved Gomez down to 6th in the list as he missed his previous 2 penalties for us. Hyso had done well to save the first Lyon's penalty, but Sprocati's and surprised-surprised Gomez's disappointing misses knocked us out. I just knew Gomez would missed again if it got to his turn! His attributes for penalty is the best at the club but I don't know why he can't convert any of them!

Not for Parma, you won't!

UDINESE: After the disappointing exit, we had Udinese visiting. We lost 1-3 at their place earlier in the season, but still I decided to rotate the squad. Again, it backfired as Udinese beat us 1-3 again for the 2nd time this season. Fofana (49th) gave the lead, before Casarini (56th) stole the ball from Scuffet in their box, who got caught dwelling on the ball after a backpass, and finished first time into the empty net. It was Casarini's first league goal for Parma. First time I've experienced this in FM19! Cool, right?

Not when it happened for a 2nd time, this time Hyso received a bad pass from Hiekkanen and Lasagna tackled him and scored into the empty net in the 69th minute. Lasagna killed off the game as we were chasing the equaliser in the 80th minute, as another mistake by Hyso caused us the goal. A header by De Paul hit the post then Hyso then the post again before it trickled to the centre for another easy finish into another empty net. Two cup games, one CL game, one league game.. Hyso is not ready!

On a positive note, Di Mario made his senior debut for Parma. It turns out Di Mario is a local born youngster (I think only one in my current squad).

SAMPDORIA: 10th-placed Sampdoria was in good form and it showed as they troubled us too much. Zapata (11th) caught us out with a simple tap in after a low cross across the goal. Gomez first goal was a headed goal from a corner. Birindelli went off injured in the 76th minute, just after using my last sub on Tonali in the 71st minute! Caprari (82nd) took advantage of the space vacated by Birindelli's injury and scored an easy goal. Birindelli will be out for 7 weeks. As the time ticking down, it looked like it will be another defeat for Parma.. before Kiyine got the ball and drive through midfield and threaded a through ball for Gomez to finish with aplomb in the 91st minute! A point gain, definitely!

GENOA: Gomez missed out with an injury he pick up for Uruguay during the international break (he would have missed out anyway with a suspension after 5 yellow cards). Inglese again suffered a virus and is out for 2 weeks. Luckily, En-Nesyri has now fully recovered after 7 weeks playing in protective casting. He will lead the line. 

Roldan gave Genoa a perfect start in the 7th minute with a good placed finish from outside the box. He's someone I've been following since his move to Genoa and I think he can be an option for the LW position, as he's similar to Xadas and I think can give him good competition. En-Nesyri's 11th goal of the season gave us parity going into HT before Hernani scored the winner for Genoa in the 81st minute. He had headed a cross against the post before finishing his own rebound. Another disappointing lost.

Verdict: As bad a month as January! Goodbye Juventus and the Serie A title!

SERIE A - END OF MARCH 2022

VERDICT SO FAR

The form is too inconsistent now and Cagliari is breathing down our neck. Train-wrecked of a start to 2022! Juventus is too far ahead and their great form means they won't be caught this season. A return to Juventus dominance in Italy?

Next match: 15th-place SPAL away.

THE CLUB - OFF THE FIELD

Youth Intakes

Happy to see our latest affiliate, Defensor Sporting, is already producing player for us. Unfortunately, only 2.5 PA. Surprising to see it was not Sochaux first, though.

Uruguyan, Ivorian, Nigerian, and an out of place Englishman! (I don't have any English personnel at the club). 

Unfortunately, only 2 of the players look promising. Roberto Aprile (GK) won't be better than Hyso, though. Kingsley Obi (CD) of Nigeria is the other.

Transfers

Enzo Roldan, someone I might be interested in signing, as cover and competition for Xadas at the LW position. He has been catching my eye since his transfer to Genoa this season.

This seems ages ago, that I don't even remember about this!

I thought Pellegrini's transfer (January, 2022) was the first £100m+ transfers in my game, but upon checking I missed out on a few!

Dybala - £126m (Juve to PSG, July 2020), Alli - £119m (Spurs to Barca, July 2020), and Arthur - £100m (Barca to Man City, January 2021).

Internationals

Finally! First Italian caps for a Parma player under me! Not one, but two players at the same time. Technically, Tonali got his first in the 45+2 minutes, whilst Bastoni got his in the 70th minute. Now, waiting for the first caps for my Brazilian players.

 

Damn penalty shootout against Lyon Got good youth intakes      

Edited July 29, 2019 by john1

[ajt]

Unlucky with the penalties Quee. Seems Juventus are still doing well in your save. That Roldan looks good, he isn't loaded into my game (I didn't select Brazil/Argentina this time).

[quee]

10 hours ago, john1 said:

Damn penalty shootout against Lyon Got good youth intakes  

Thanks, John! Should have include practicing penalties before knockout games in the future haha

9 hours ago, ajt said:

Unlucky with the penalties Quee. Seems Juventus are still doing well in your save. That Roldan looks good, he isn't loaded into my game (I didn't select Brazil/Argentina this time).

Genoa bought Roldan for only £1m as well. I didn't go for him then because I didn't have non-EU slot available. Even Almendra just moved to Torino in the recent January window.

I would say Juve is coming back to dominance. They haven't been doing well in the past 3 seasons. Sergio Conceicao is in his 3rd season with them, so the stability might have help to recover. They were on an 17 or 27 games unbeaten streak when they beat me last time.

Ronaldo is still going strong, and currently is having his best season since the start of the game, in terms of goals scored. His average rating was better in his first season (7.44) where he only scored 23 goals. He subsequently got 17 and then 16 goals in the following seasons, before this season's 27 goals by the end of March.

Juve's squad now. Budget problems? They could only loaned in Wijnaldum and Otavio, before making it permanent earlier this year (they have mandatory clauses I think). My Palacios, they only have optional fee on as they wouldn't accept a mandatory one. 

[ajt]

Yep Ronaldo is still playing full time at Juventus as a 39 year old in my save  His goals and average have gone down considerably though.

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by ajt

[ajt]

Season 2023/2024

Competitions  _  Player Stats  _  Affiliates

Transfers  _  Finances  _  Facilities

 

I made the bold decision to sell David Raya due to his high wages, and decided Roma would be a suitable club. He seems to have done well since Roma won Serie A for the first time this save 

My original replacement for him was a random Italian keeper costing under £1 million from Salernitana. This turned out to be a terrible idea and we had a pretty poor season until January. In January I bought in the marvellous Paul Bernardoni, who kept 13 clean sheets in 19 games, and was included in the Serie A team of the year. He has even made some improvements in his attributes despite already being 27 years old, probably since my facilities are miles better than Guingamp's. I'm happy to keep Bernardoni for the long term now, Raya always seemed a bit too extravagant for the likes of Brescia 

After Bernardoni came in (and learnt some Italian) we went on a great run and ended up clinching the Europa League place on the last day of the season with a 1-0 win vs Napoli. I'm very pleased as the TV money next season will offset the cost of the loan for the new 30k seater stadium which is coming in 2025.

Juventus and Inter had really awful seasons, especially Inter, who find themselves in serious debt problems (-£75 million according to my skin). Mauro Icardi was out for 8 months due to a cruciate ligament injury (playing only 6 games), which somewhat explains their poor performance.

There have also been some wild transfers this season, with Franck Kessie going from Milan to Man City for £118 million. Bentancur also went from Juventus to Liverpool for roughly £70 million.

I myself have been relying on free transfers and young regens to keep the squad fresh. My youth intake was so poor this season that I forgot to take a screenshot of it at the time 

 

signings

Raoul Bellanova - 3.6million up front, 9.5million including clauses from Dijon in France. I was amazed to find such a good Italian right back as there aren't many that my scouts have found in Italy!  He originally started in Milan's youth setup, brilliant physical attributes. Raoul started every game without any injuries and even improved his attributes a bit. I can see him being the starting right back for the foreseeable future, although I do have a free transfer coming in from Barcelona for backup next season.

Xande - Hadn't heard of this guy before, he started the save at West Ham before going back to Portugal. I got him on a free transfer and he delivered 17 goals in 37 games as my left inside forward. He had multiple games that he completely dominated and he has great PPM's for an inside forward (moves into channels / cut inside / runs with ball often). He's 27 already but with his Acceleration and Pace being so high I think he can probably perform to a high level for at least another 4 seasons.

Rodrigo Valente -  Yet another free transfer from Portugal, they must really hate living in the country or something because they love coming to Brescia  This guy played as one of my starting CM's (AP attack) and had a good first season. He's valued at £20 million and is only 23, so I can see him going for a big fee in the future if he keeps playing well. Then again I am showing more loyalty to my players this save so maybe I'll just keep him and hope he becomes a club legend.

Moussa Diaby - Free transfer from PSG. He was my starting right inside forward but got an injury that kept him out for about a month in ~March time. He still had a great first season and I'm hopeful he can continue to play a big part in the future.

Facundo Colidio - I had previously had this guy on loan and he played really poorly for me, but Inter loaned him out to Parma for 2 seasons in Serie B / Serie A and he did pretty well. Inter decided not to renew his contract (they really are a terribly run club) so I got him on a free transfer this season. He was my backup striker for the most part but I started him in some games towards the end and he did okay. Not sure how much game time he will get going forward due to my young regen forwards but I can always loan him out for a big fee.

Abel Ruiz - This guy is someone who I actually signed 2 seasons ago on a free transfer from Barcelona but he played so poorly that I didn't even want to mention his name. He has however just had a great season at Getafe scoring 16 goals. I'm not sure if I want to use him in my first team next season or loan him out again for a big fee, but at least I have some good options in attack.
 

regens

Matej - Although he didn't play for the first team I decided to keep him in squad to try and improve his personality (currently Unsporting - he likes to argue with officials ). He has improved a bit and I might start playing him a bit more next season depending on if I can sell a few of my DMC/MC's. I don't like loaning out my youth players since A) my facilities are all State of the Art and B) I have great coaches (most 4&1/2 stars).

Andrea Consolazio - Although he isn't my highest rated youth striker by stars he is the one I am most excited by. I changed my tactic towards the end of this season with a poacher up front and his attribute spread is really something else. Part of the reason I'm thinking of sending Abel Ruiz out on loan again is to give this guy more playing time in the first team next season. I have also managed to improve his personality via mentoring to be resolute.

Giacomo Cescutti - Yet another young italian striker. He is labelled as the next Paolo Rossi, if he turns out to be half as good as him then he has a very exciting future indeed. I think I may loan him out next season if there are any Serie A clubs that will play him in their first team, maybe a top tier Serie B club with good facilities too.

Nicola Vitali - The 3rd of the young Italian striker regens that I signed in 2022. I had actually totally forgot that I even had him at the club before doing my screenshots. He cost £60k from Lupa Roma (who? ) He absolutely destroyed the under 20s scoring 43 goals in 45 games. He is rated as 3 stars ability already so now may be the time to loan him out as well to a Serie A team. I don't like rotating my striker position that much and I already have 3 for next season. His personality is already professional so doesn't need mentoring. I have a few new regen strikers joining the club in the summer so I need to make sure they can get game time in the youth teams.

Tommaso Fiore - Another central defender that I have poached from Empoli (after Bilotta from a few seasons ago). He has great mentals and is fast, and I have managed to already get him mentored to Resolute. I am currently trying to improve his positioning/marking. He has already got Milan/Napoli/Juventus interested in him so he must be pretty good. I decided to rotate him and Bilotta towards the end of the season and will continue to do so next season.

Marvin Nsiala - A young french central defender that I got cheap from Caen. He has a great spread of attributes already (other than a few mentals) and I can see him turning into a real beast of a CB. He is still only 17 so has a lot of time to improve in my youth academy.

Gaetano Rosati - A very strange looking overview indeed, and definitely not the type of midfielder I would normally buy. He has great vision but pretty poor technical ability for the position I need him to play (MC AP attack). I will keep him in the youth team next season and maybe loan him out in the January transfer window.

Cesar Ares - A young left back who I signed from Atletico Madrid. He isn't as good as my other prospects but according to my assistant manager has plenty of room to grow. I am currently trying to get his pace/acceleration higher.  I always abuse the future clauses when buying my regens so it doesn't really matter if they make it at Brescia or not. In the end I'll just loan them all out for loan fees to bring in extra money.

 

next season aim

Hopefully I can continue with the good progress and get into the Europa League again. I have much more squad depth this time around (and more transfers already confirmed for next season) so squad rotation shouldn't be an issue.

Sandro Tonali is becoming a problem once more, his morale was so poor due to me rejecting bids from Dortmund and Liverpool (they bid less than £20 million..) that I decided to leave him out of the side towards the end of the season. He still has 3 years left on his contract so I might keep him for one more season depending on what clubs bid in the summer transfer window. He is by far my best midfielder but if his morale is so bad that I can't play him then there's little point in keeping him. Luckily PSG have recently become interested so maybe I can reach a decent price for him.

I also have loads more 16/17 year old regens coming in to build for the future. Since this is the only save I plan on playing until FM20 I have a much more long term outlook than I would in my usual saves where I get bored after winning things. In a way I am quite happy to miss out on the champions league so I can keep growing my regens.

Edited July 30, 2019 by ajt

[quee]

Nice update! Experience GK is the way to go! Bordeaux always priced me out of a transfer for Bellanova, good capture!

Good job on 5th place, just missing out on CL spot.

Your Tonali's determination has gone down? Only 'Fairly Determine' I see.

[quee]

PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2021/2022

APRIL OF FOURTH SEASON

APRIL

SPAL: Another away game, another lost. Lyle Foster gave SPAL the lead in the 4th minute, before Xadas equalised after another Kiyine's assist. Vicari volleyed a great goal on 45th+2 minutes. The fact that only 3 players had an average rating above 6.9 told the whole story, as we never got into the game, even in the 2nd half. Only Kiyine (8.2), Xadas (7.1), and Brazao (7.0) came away with their heads held high. En-Nesyri got a knock and will miss another week. Slammed the team for the 2nd time this season!

The 'Fans Inquest' and all this appalling form made me wondered what actually changed since the New Year. Surely, a full week of rest can't have this huge of a deteriorating effect on our form? Checked 'Dynamics' and I have 5 unhappy players. 2 contracts related (Kiyine and Ribeiro), 2 first team related (Gomez and Inglese), and Peda who wants to go on loan to Bournemouth despite playing most of our games  Decided to reopen negotiation with Kiyine and Ribeiro to see if that would improve our form.

Tactically, I don't think I have changed anything. Usually I only changed Zola's recommendation on 'Mentality' and 'Get Stuck In' or not. Zola been recommending 'Attacking' mentality for most of those away loses, though..  (Somehow my 'Defending Width' was narrow, I'm not sure if I had this during my great defensive run or I accidentally chose one of Zola's changes recommendation..)

INTER: So, I tried to do something different. Usually at home I would go 'Positive', this time I chose 'Balance' for Inter's visit. Diakhate missed out for the next 5 weeks with a groin strain. Our first fantastic performance in a while and we went 2-0 up before Jordi Alba was sent off in the 69th minute. Olaza had a chance to score from the penalty in the 70th minute.. but he missed! The first miss from him. We added two more, with Ivonei's injury time fourth a thing of beauty as he curled it from outside the box. Another false recovery?

CHIEVO: Hope not! But you can tell I'm worried with our form that for our game against bottom-team Chievo, I still kept 'Balance' mentality for the match. We got the win, albeit not a very convincing one. Stulac who got a bruised head prior to the game, came on and delivered an inch perfect free kick for Sprocati to head in.

PALERMO: Next up we played against in-form Palermo side, who got a point away to Juventus prior to our match. Again, kept 'Balance' mentality and we got another good win, this time playing slightly better. Olaza missed another penalty! Should I take him off penalty duty? And Stulac got another assist, this time from a corner for Xadas' goal. Inglese's made his 100th Serie A appearance for Parma in this match, all on-loan across 4 seasons. He has scored 55 goals for Parma so far in 122 total appearances. Should have been a 'Club Favoured Personnel' by now. Speaking of, Andrea Pereira's name seemed to have been removed from 'Favoured Personnel'. Any reason why?

FOGGIA: Whilst trying to get Gomez back into fitness, he damaged his knee cap playing for the u20s and will be out for the next 5 weeks - end of the season for him! In our previous encounter against Foggia, I underestimated them by playing my young-Coppa team. This time I played my strongest lineup possible.. and still we couldn't beat them! Somma got the equalising goal in the 89th minute for Foggia, who had Moha Ramos and Leao on-loan from us and playing really well for them.

Verdict: Now, it's about getting as many points as I can to finish in the top 4. Playing it safer even at home, so be it!

SERIE A - START OF MAY 2022

I forgot to screenshot the table before the Juve-Cagliari match on May 1st. Cagliari became the first team to beat Juve in however many matches. Righi is a regen loaned from Juve, haunting his parent club big time!

VERDICT SO FAR

As you can see from the table above, we are throwing our season away. All blame is on us! I need to figure out so this won't happen again in the future. Now, I'm only 6 points ahead of 5th-place Roma. Cagliari and Milan had overtaken us. Impressed by Cagliari front-three of Despodov-Helder Costa-Han, who will definitely improved on their 9th-place finish last season. Hanging on to the CL spot is now the mission for Parma.

Next match: 8th-place Lazio awaits.

THE CLUB - OFF THE FIELD

Contracts

Managed to get Kiyine's to accept a £40k per week payrise from his initial £28k per week wages (he wanted almost £80k in January). Brazao wanted a new contract as well in April, decided to offer him to avoid any detrimental effect on our fragile-form. He is now on parity with Club Captain, Stulac, at £45k per week (previously on £25k). Still on-going discussion with Ribeiro.

Transfers

Before Inglese's 100th Serie A appearance for Parma against Palermo, I had noticed he had signed a pre-contract agreement to move to the US. I didn't get any notification at all  Whilst I might not resign him next season on a Bosman, I would have consider offering him a new deal if things changes in the summer.

As of the Foggia game, Inglese's stats for Parma:

Total Appearances: 123

Serie A Appearances: 101

Total Goals: 55

Serie A Goals: 45

Seasons: 2018 - 2022

As I previously mentioned before, FM20 I will based my team around Inglese (I won't sign someone to replace him).

Youth Teams

The u18s won the Viareggio Cup (is it an official cup?) and the u20s retained Coppa Italia Primavera (despite a poor season in the Primavera 1 finishing in 9th place) and won the Premier League International Cup (why is Parma u20s playing in this competition?).

11 months out, there goes his potential! 

Awards

Hopefully Kiyine can follow in Olaza's footsteps and keep the award in Parma!

Internationals

Just realised Senesi got his first cap for Argentina last month, he's currently on loan at Roma.

 

[john1]

@quee Superb April month  Fans are so pickle! I remember on my Torino save, fans was kicking off cos we lost to Inter  Such a shame you losing  Inglese  

@ajt Good signings you have made  Not bad league finish, despite narrowing missing out on CL spot.

[zlatanera]

@ajt @quee Defensor are one I always look for if I'm doing foreign affiliates too. Both in FM16 and FM18 I've ended up with a brilliant CWB DR named Sebastian Noble from them! Admittedly the one on FM18 was a winger retrained to RWB, but still some coincidence right? Both ended up in Champions League-winning teams.

[ajt]

@quee That's awful luck for Fumaca. Good luck on securing the champions league spot!

@john1 Yeah the champions league qualification was a bit out of our reach due to previous results.

@zlatanera That's a very peculiar coincidence indeed! I usually end up with Defensor & Zilina since their reputation is lower.

 

I was randomly asked to become the new Croatia manager, turned it down though as it would add on more time to my Brescia progress.

We were seeded 3rd for the Europa League but ended up with a very lucky draw!  

 

Edited July 31, 2019 by ajt

[john1]

22 hours ago, zlatanera said:

@ajt @quee Defensor are one I always look for if I'm doing foreign affiliates too. Both in FM16 and FM18 I've ended up with a brilliant CWB DR named Sebastian Noble from them! Admittedly the one on FM18 was a winger retrained to RWB, but still some coincidence right? Both ended up in Champions League-winning teams.

Not bad team, but I tends to try and go for Portuguese club, like Braga or Vitória de Guimarães, but tends not to get them :( Tried to get Vitória de Guimarães as feeder club on my Torino save but couldn't reach agreement :(  

[john1]

9 hours ago, ajt said:

I was randomly asked to become the new Croatia manager, turned it down though as it would add on more time to my Brescia progress.

We were seeded 3rd for the Europa League but ended up with a very lucky draw!  

 

I would have taken the job so you can see decent youngsters to try for your Brescia team 

Not bad group you are drawn in   Krasnodar could be tough one.

[zlatanera]

2 hours ago, john1 said:

Not bad team, but I tends to try and go for Portuguese club, like Braga or Vitória de Guimarães, but tends not to get them Tried to get Vitória de Guimarães as feeder club on my Torino save but couldn't reach agreement

Oh yeah VdeG are a really good one too. Had them for Ajax, once we won the CL 2nd season the reputation difference was enough. Had them a few times on previous FMs going back to 15.

[ajt]

Halfway through the season now and things are going well.

Our goal difference is great so I'm hoping for a champions league spot at least.

 

We smashed the group stage winning all 6 games with a goal difference of +17 (1 conceded). Young Boys should be a fairly easy game.

 

I've also just splashed the cash on this guy for £24 million from Udinese. Sandro Tonali is being sold to Man City for £40 million so I needed to get a good new DM/CM in.

[quee]

3 hours ago, ajt said:

Sandro Tonali is being sold to Man City for £40 million

Did City came in or you have to offer him out? Diouf does look really good though.

Good half season so far