Mandy42 Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 done a double and get another crack at Europe! fantastic season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 Congratulations to Conor Connor, my young striker, has broken the club scoring record for a single season. Also, congratulations to Adam Donnelley for breaking the club single-season shutout record! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 38 minutes ago, ranks39 said: Congratulations to Conor Connor, my young striker, has broken the club scoring record for a single season. Theres a pair of creative parents for you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 Donnelley Gets the Long-Awaited Call Tuesday, November 12, around noon in a small Dublin cafe: that's exactly where Adam Donnelley was when he received the call from Ireland head man, Chris Hughton. The 22 year-old Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper has been called into the Ireland senior squad for their upcoming match against Russia. Donnelley has recently set the club record for shutouts for Shamrock Rovers and will certainly be looking to do the same for his country. When asked what this moment was like, Donnelley responded: "I am so humbled and honored to be selected to pull on this shirt and don the gloves for my home country. This has been a dream for my entire life and to be a part of this squad is just beyond words." Of course, being called into the squad is one thing but earning that first cap is another challenge. Donnelley will join two other keepers in this Ireland squad: Liam Bosin, the 28 year-old Cork City netminder(0 caps) and Kieran O'Hara, the 28 year-old Dundee United netminder(0 caps). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 Awards Season! Shamrock Rovers personnel have added to their already-extensive trophy case! 1. Irish Personality of the year - Roberto Lopes(DC) 2. Irish Premier Coach of the year - Shawn Rank 3. Irish Premier Best XI - Dylan Watts(CM/CAM) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 Shamrock Rovers Finalists for Irish Premier Awards Here is a rundown of Shamrock Rovers players that didn't win awards but were still finalists for the top prizes. 1. Irish Premier Player of the Season - Dylan Watts(CM/CAM), finished third 2. Irish League Golden Boot - Conor Connor(ST), finished second 3. Irish Premier Division Goalkeeper of the Year - Adam Donnelley(GK), finished second Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 ONE MORE AWARD for Dylan Watts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 27, 2019 Author Share Posted January 27, 2019 Patterson Gets First Cap Shamrock Rovers offseason addition, Peter Patterson has received his first Senior Cap with Northern Ireland, an 11-minute run out in a 0-2 loss to Romania in World Cup Qualifying! Surely, the 22 year-old midfielder will be looking to carve out a few more caps over his career! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 Ireland U-21 Boss Calls in Three Rovers Ireland U-21 head Coach, Steven Quinn has called in three members of the Shamrock Rovers squad to fight for the European U-21 crown. The three young men are: returning players Rob Brennan and Liam McKeown(both developed in the club and sold on for $1M+ and both on loan back at the club) and new man(and one of the revelations of the season for Shamrock Rovers), Philip Dempsey. Dempsey is truly a story of hard work and reward for great performances! Congrats to all three lads! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Well done winning the cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 In Euro Cup, best-placed qualifying round 1, we faced off against our former Welsh rivals, Barry. We went on to win on aggregate 11-3. Unfortunately, we now get to move on and face Malaga.... I'm not so confident in this one.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Barry / Malaga not much of a difference there at all, another easy win Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 3 hours ago, Mandy42 said: Barry / Malaga not much of a difference there at all, another easy win @Mandy42 I sure hope so - but I think you may be winding me up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 18 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Well done winning the cup. @Nobby_McDonald thank you, thank you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 Shamrock Rovers fall victim to away leg deficit, eliminated from Euro Cup Dublin - Shamrock Rovers seemed a side that could play giant killers in the Euro Cup - but that lasted only 45 minutes in the away leg. Playing at Malaga, the Hoops came in with a cautious, countering tactic that led to a goal in the fourth minute of the away leg... the visitors were flying! Of course, Malaga would equalize near the middle of the first half but the Hoops would hold steadfast in not allowing a goal - until Thorgen Hazard struck from outside the box in the first minute of first half stoppage time. From there, the hosts would bury four more goals to take a 5-1 lead back to Dublin. In the return leg, the hosts looked dangerous with a heavily-rotated side. The Hoops would battle to a 2-2 draw and have been eliminated on aggregate, 3-7. The draw had done the Hoops no favors as it paired them with one of the trickier sides in the tournament at this early stage and honestly they should feel hard-done by. The Hoops are currently 8 points clear at the top of the Irish Premier Division 2/3 of the way through, so maybe a Champions Cup appearance could be on the cards.... Time will tell! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 A good look for us - many players being considered for the national team! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 unlucky against Malaga the boys can take the experience though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Shamrock Rovers win Irish League Cup! The hoops have won their first trophy of the season, the Irish League Cup!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Shamrock Rovers smash Irish Premier Goal Record Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Shamrock Rovers Win Irish Premier Division After a long, grueling Premier Division season, Shamrock Rovers have risen to the top and have finally displaced Dundalk as the champions of the Irish Premier Division! Many contributions along the way have led to this moment but it was a heavy team effort and could not have been done without the contributions of each individual member of the side. Stephen Long, top goalscorer and Irish Premier Division Player of the Year candidate was quoted as saying: "The lads all pulled together to make this possible! The gaffer said after last season, 'Let's come back and win this thing' and since that moment, the only thing in our collective minds was topping the table! Each and every player in the side and each and every person related with the club has done a job and led to this point and we've needed that. Most of all, the supporters never stopped backing us and we thrive off of that support!" The head man, Rank, weighed in on the season as well: "I can't say enough about this group of lads; we had a goal and we never deviated from the pursuit of it. I have a fairly straightforward and simple job, I answer to the board and moan about calls that didn't go our way, the players do all of the hard work. Obviously, I must also shout out the board, ownership and above all, the supporters - they are the driving force behind the side!" With the title, the Hoops have also qualified for Champions Cup next season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Hoops Celebrate Memorable Season Dublin - Shamrock Rovers celebrated the close of a long season with their end-of-season awards night. The season brought many memories, such as their first Premier Division title since 2011, a League Cup win, a number of national team caps for players, another appearance in the Euro League and the continued success of the U19 side(who are still active in the U19 Champions Cup). The fans player of the season and Young Player of the season was awarded to Stephen Long and the signing of the season was Italian left back Vincenzo Potenza. The team also had a number of very impressive performers in league competitions: 1. Stephen Long - 29 Goals, 4 assists in 34 matches(Long replaced Conor Conner near the start of the season due to injury and never relinquished the starting role) 2. The two outside backs Potenza and Jimenez combined for 64 starts and 8 assists while achieving match ratings of 7.15 and 7.07, respectively! 3. My three attacking midfielders each racked up 10+ goals AND 10+ assists(Coustrain had 11G/10A / Ubaezuono had 11G/13A / Watts had 10G/14A despite missing 10 matches due to injury) 4. Goalkeeper Adam Donnely kept 12 clean sheets. What a great season! League awards updates to come when they are decided! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 U19 Champions Cup Update - Shamrock Rovers U19 Having won the U19 competition last season, Shamrock Rovers U19 qualified for the U19 Champions cup qualification stages. The U19 Champions cup has an interesting layout from what I can tell: 1A. Group stage with 8 groups of 4 teams, round robin 1B. Two knockout rounds, two legs each(32 teams in the first qualifying round, 16 in the second) *1A and 1B run concurrently with one another 2. The 8 winners from the second qualifying rounds are drawn with the 8 second-placed teams from each group in the first knockout round. 3. The 8 winners from the first knockout round are drawn with the 8 group winners in the second knockout round. 4. The winners from the second knockout round qualify for the quarterfinals. 5. The winners from the quarterfinals qualify for the semi-finals 6. The winners from the semi-finals qualify for the final, with the final winner becoming the champion. Shamrock Rovers U19 were drawn in the qualification round 1 against FC Thun Oberland of Switzerland. In the away leg, the Hoops fought to a 1-1 draw and in the return leg, the Hoops managed a 3-2 victory to win the tie 4-3 on aggregate! The Hoops were then handed a pretty good draw, Breidablik of Iceland. The away leg saw the Hoops dominate before leaking a late consolation goal to take a 4-1 lead into the home leg. Things did not go as planned, however, but the Hoops did just enough to advance despite falling in the second leg 1-3 to win on aggregate 5-4. The young Hoops will now be drawn alongside the second-placed teams from the group stages in about a month. Stay tuned! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Stephen Long Called into Ireland Squad Dublin - Stephen Long of Shamrock Rovers has been called into the Ireland Senior Squad. This, no doubt, will be a great reward for his record-breaking season! Hopefully he can grab his first senior cap! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Well done winning the league. That's a strange format for the youth Champions League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Stephen Long Receives More Awards Dublin - Shamrock Rovers 22 year-old striker has racked up a couple more awards for his record-breaking Irish Premier Division campaign. He has picked up the Irish Player of the Year award and the Young Irish Player of the Year award today. Rank, the manager of Shamrock Rovers, has said "Stephen clearly deserves this award as he's been the best and most consistent player in this league all year! He has certainly proven his quality!" These awards come on the heels of his first call-up to the Irish National Squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 Hoops' Head Man, Rank, Interviews with Ludogorets Dublin - Shawn Rank doesn't often apply for jobs while employed but when the notification pinged on his mobile, he knew that he had to jump on the opportunity to float his name for the opportunity to manage the historic Bulgarian side, Ludogorets, whose coach had left for Olympiakos of the Greek Superliga. After a week with no news, Rank had forgotten all about the application - that is, until the owner reached out to him directly to come to Bulgaria and speak about the vacant position. Rank hopped on a plane and within hours, Rank was sitting across the desk from the man that he had only spoken to on the phone. They did grill Rank but he held up under the tightest scrutiny; obviously there will be other highly-qualified candidates, especially considering that Rank has never worked in Eastern Europe, nor has knowledge of the language. The hardest steps are out of the way, now all that Hoops fans and the ownership can do is to wait for a resolution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 Rank Leaves Shamrock Rovers, Accepts Ludogorets' Offer Dublin - The Shamrock Rovers board has confirmed as of this morning that Shawn Rank has resigned his position as head coach at Shamrock Rovers to take the top job at Ludogorets, of the Bulgarian top division. The mood around Tallaght Stadium has been somber from players and front office, alike. Stephen Long, the reigning Irish Player of the Year has commented that without Shawn Rank's coaching and faith, he would not be the player that he is today. Ultimately, though, I am a Shamrock Rovers' man and we need to press on and prepare for our own season. We all wish Rank well." The owner also weighed in, stating: "We cannot thank Rank enough for his contributions to this club, guiding us to second place in his first season and hoisting the league title, breaking the team's drought of 14 seasons without a league crown. We wish him all the best going forward." Shawn Rank also weighed in on his time in Dublin, saying: "I have taken nothing but positives from this stay and owe much to this club. They have given me a platform to hone my craft and given me the resources to succeed. It is very hard to reflect on this change as it is so fresh but believe me, this decision was not taken lightly. I also need to thank all of the supporters of this club, you have been nothing but great and I owe everything to you!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 don't know how I feel about this, I was getting ready to rock the shamrock for another season, and now we are off to Bulgaria, I feel conflicted! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 @Mandy42 hold onto your seat! This journeyman is a mover and Shaker that will keep on going until he has the top! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Rank Guides Ludogorets to Debut Victory In what was a whirlwind few weeks, new Ludogorets head man, Rank, has interviewed, accepted the job, packed up his life in Ireland and moved to Bulgaria. Shortly thereafter, Rank met the new board, coaching staff, team, press, and supporters and gave a great account of himself. About 2 weeks after joining, Rank and his new side traveled to face Lokomotiv Sofia in a Bulgarian League clash. The hosts gave Ludogorets all that they could handle but Rank's men guided his side to a 3-1 victory. He will no doubt be very happy to have won on his debut and will look to continue that trend down the stretch. In other news, Rank brought one of his coaches and transferred his former goalkeeper, Adam Donnelley into the new side. Shamrock Rovers supporters rightly feel aggrieved but surely Rank must press on with his own career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 "Even Sofia is not immune from the global spread of the Irish Bar. Check out Flannagan's (part of the Radisson SAS Hotel) on Norodno Sabanie Square, or the Irish Harp on Sveta Sofia Street. There's also McCarthy's on Alabin Street, and JJ Murphy's on Karnigradska Ulitsa." Sofia is only 4 hours and 20 minutes drive away, sure you can bring as many of your old team players over and they will feel right at home! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Ludogorets Seal 7th-Straight First League Title Razgrad - When new head coach, Shawn Rank, took the vacant manager's role at Ludogorets, the squad was four points clear at the top of the table with 8 league matches left to play in the preliminary phase of the Bulgarian First League. Ludogorets would draw their first match and then rip off seven straight wins to go 15 points clear at the start of the Championship phase(the top 6 teams play a round robin to decide the final league table). A run of tough results in the final phase saw Ludogorets(finally) clinch the title with 3 match days remaining. The board made it clear that Rank was to win a title upon signing his contract and he has delivered. Rank plans to allow his assistant to finish out the season to give him a platform to showcase his skills. The title also means that Ludogorets will enter the first qualifying phase of European Champions Cup! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Rank Staking Claim as One of the Top American Coaches When Rank signed his first contract as the head man at Albion Rovers, nobody had any idea what his trajectory would look like and honestly, no one, including himself, could have predicted that he would wind up winning multiple league titles and moving up the managerial ladder as he has. Back to 2018, after Rank signed on with Albion Rovers in the Scottish League 2(finishing 8th that season) - he was looked at as an average to below average manager for that level. He had lost the locker room, the supporters and the trust of the board, so he resigned. Next, Rank would take up the mantle at Cabinteely of the Irish First Division. Midway through the season with the team in 10th place, again, Rank resigned. Due to player protests and media chastising, it was time for Rank to approach a new challenge. Rank was then offered the top job at Pitea IF in the Swedish Second division. Four games in, Rank was offered the post of head coach at Umea FC in the Swedish First division(he had interviewed for this position while unemployed and was offered the role after accepting the Pitea role). The side were in dire straits, sitting bottom of the table by 12 points with just six matches remaining and they could not stave off relegation. The next season, Rank guided Umea FC to second in the league and into the promotion playoff before making a lateral move(if not a step down) to Welsh Premier Division side, Llanelli Town - this is where the story gets interesting! Rank would spend 3 1/2 seasons managing the Welsh side, guiding them to top-half finishes each and every year(despite being heavily favored to drop each season). During his final season in charge of Llanelli Town, Shamrock Rovers would approach and give him the offer he could not refuse. Upon joining Shamrock Rovers, he was immediately thrust into the President's cup, which the Hoops would go on to win. They would also collect the Senior Challenger Cup to round out the 2024 season and won the Manager of the Year award. The 2025 season was the breakthrough year - although the Hoops would lose the Presidents Cup, they would right the ship and go on to win the Irish League Cup and the Irish Premier Division. Shamrock Rovers were beginning to become a veritable producer of top-level Irish talent but, as is his M.O., Rank could not stay put for too long and left to take the top job at Ludogorets, a perennial league winner and European Champions Cup participant. He has just wrapped up the season, winning the Bulgarian First League title and clinching another berth in the European Champions Cup. Rank has surely not followed a traditional path nor has it always been a straight path, but he has found his way to the ascendancy of the ranks of American coaches. All we know for sure is that the journey will continue to entertain, surprise, and captivate all of us. Thank you all for continuing to follow along with this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Ludogorets Announce Season-End Awards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skycycle Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Wow, Anton Nedyalkov is still there (they signed him last summer), and so is Tiago Rodrigues (currently at CSKA Sofia, since 2017) I wonder if anyone else from the current season is still around. Good luck with Ludogorets, should be interesting in the Champions League qualifiers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 @skycyle - Thank you for commenting! Hoping you enjoy the ride. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Ludogorets Score 2-0 Away in Champion's Cup Second Qualifying Round Tel-Aviv - With the second round draw of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Ludogorets found themselves on the road for their first leg clash in the second qualifyting round but managed to put together a comprehensive 2-0 win to put one foot firmly in the third qualifying round. Manager Rank knows that one good leg doesn't assure anything and will continue to ensure that his side are well-prepared to defend their 2-0 lead. Rank said: "It's very easy to rest on that result, especially considering that we have a league match before the second leg but it's my job to ensure that the lads don't dip or become complacent." Time will tell what the next leg holds but this is certainly a very valuable position to be in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Ludogorets Cruise Into Third Qualifying Round of Champions Cup Razgrad - On the heels of a first leg 2-0 win on the road, Ludogorets cruised to a 4-0 aggregate win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Manager Rank said: "We were brilliant over the two legs and were by far the better side and thoroughly deserved to progress. Nothing against their club but we executed better and have higher quality." In other news, Rank's former club, Shamrock Rovers have also progressed to the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Ludogorets Through to European Cup Playoff Ludogorets have finished of Romanian club Cluj, 1-1 on away goals in the Third Qualifying Round of the European Champions Cup. The intrigue has continued to build as Ludogorets are now one phase away from the group stage and to add to the intrigue surrounding the next phase, they've been drawn against Rank's former club, Shamrock Rovers. What promises to be one of the more intriguing matchups should draw many curious eyeballs.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 All I can say is wow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 as soon as you said Shamrock had made it through I just knew you were going to draw them! Congratulations on getting through to the group stages Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Depleted Ludogorets Win Bulgarian Super Cup The Super Cup could not have come at a worse time for Ludogorets as it was played during a international window. Ludogorets happened to be missing 17 players to the international window but they still managed to hold on and win the Bulgarian Super Cup! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Ludogorets Strike Late to Steal Draw in Champions Cup Group Stage Razgrad - Ludogorets played host in their first group stage match of the Champions Cup against Bayer Leverkusen. With the odds heavily stacked against them, Ludogorets played with caution, attempting to control position and keep the ball in front of them. Although, Leverkusen got 20 shots off, only 6 managed to find the target. Ludogorets also dictated the possession, controlling the ball for 57% of the match. In the middle of the second half, Ludogorets pesky defense looked like they were going to hold on for a draw but in the 78th minute, Julian Brandt broke through. 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen. Surely, that goal would seal the match. Unfortunately for Bayer Leverkusen, a badly-played back pass was seized upon by the Venezuelan international, Godoy and he could not miss the one-on-one with the keeper. The match was level in the 88th minute!!! Ludogorets would then collapse into a bunker formation to preserve the precious group stage point! Manager Rank said: "We perfectly executed our tactical approach and managed to control possession for the majority of the match. We fully deserved, at the minimum, a draw and we got that today. What a phenomenal match for our supporters!" Surely, this will be a blow to Bayer Leverkusen's bid to advance out of one of the more competitive groups in the competition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 Shocking! Rank Leaves(AGAIN!) to Take English Premier Division Former Ludogorets manager, Shawn Rank, has again moved on to another challenge. Rank has accepted the position as manager at Reading in the English Premier Division(currently sit 17th as of 1 February). The move was a complete shock with Rank having declared interest in the occupied, but insecure position; Reading then fired their manager four days later and interviewed Rank 3 days after. Rank was offered the job after a 4-day wait from the interview. Rank will make $2.2 million/ year from his previous salary of $250K/year. Rank has previously held the following posts: Rank will be expected to avoid the relegation battle with Reading. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 Here's a look at my new squad: A very talented attacking midfielder, Bob Newton, looks to be one of the best in the Prem - capped by England 5 times. A very nicely-skilled goalkeeper: And then quite a few players with some senior international caps(from most to least caps): 1. Eric Bailly, 32 years-old - Ivorian Defender - 107 caps 2. Florian Grillitsch, 31 years-old - Austrian Midfielder - 88 caps 3. Callum Patersen, 32 years-old - Scottish Defender/Winger - 80 Caps 4. Zheng Yafeng, 25 years-old - Intriguing Chinese Striker - 72 Caps, 46 goals 5. Geoffrey Kondogbia, 33 years-old - Central African midfielder - 59 caps, 24 goals 6. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 29 years-old - English midfielder - 24 caps, 2 goals 7. Frantisek Kadlec, 23 years-old - Czech Defender - 20 caps 8. Anders Carlsson, 22 years-old - Swedish Striker - 9 caps, 1 goal 9. Sebastian Villa, 30 years-old - Colobian Winger - 9 caps 10. Maxwel Cornet, 30 years-old - Ivorian Winger - 7 caps 11. Bob Newton, 22 years-old - English midfielder - 5 caps, 1 goal 12. Walace, 31 years-old - Brazilian midfielder - 2 caps 13. Felipe Anderson, 33 years-old - Brazilian midfielder - 1 cap The squad is quite old so I will be looking to reinforce quite soon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I was looking at property in Bulgaria as well! I'm waiting now, I'm not buying a house in Reading or even a team home strip until you've been there more than a year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 So, it's been a little while since I posted here. Since my last post, I have been on the move quite a bit! I was at Reading as of my last post in 2027. I stuck around for about a season and got the opportunity to move to Stuttgart. While there, the side performed as expected sticking around the top third of the league. About a year into my tenure at Stuttgart, I was approached by Arsenal to take the reins - I accepted the offer. This decision was disastrous as I spent just 8 matches with the club(losing 5) before resigning to give another manager the opportunity to get the club to a European competition. So, in late 2029, I took up the mantle at Sevilla. In my full season with Sevilla, I guided the club to a top-four finish and qualified for continental competition. At the close of the 2029-2030 season, the opportunity to manage at Stuttgart again appeared to me - I jumped at it. We were in the Europa League - I am into the last bit of the 2030-2031 season and we are sitting in 8th place(just 2 points off of sixth) and we have just defeated Roma in the Europa League semi-finals to book our place in the final against Sporting Lisbon! I hope to post here more often again and look forward to everyone enjoying my antics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 Job done! Euro Cup champions! This makes up for our average 9th-placed finish in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted May 15, 2019 Author Share Posted May 15, 2019 So, we came into the 2031-2032 season with decent expectations. Upon the close of the 2030-2031 season, I told the lads that I expected us to finish in the Euro Cup qualification spots. We made only a couple of depth moves in the offseason to shore up our squad for required rotation between Bundesliga and Champions League fixtures so I grabbed a pair of fullbacks. Nenad Tutic - a promising young right back to cover for our regular(he earned his first senior caps for Serbia this season: Michel Niemann - a German left back for cover during fixture congestion On the outgoing side, we only lost our backup keeper, who we replaced with our former backup that I sold during my first Stuttgart stint. The season started off as expected with a few league wins but that turned into a rough stretch in which we lost to four of the top eight sides in the league which left us mired in mid-table mediocrity around the mid-point of the season. On the Champion's League side, we were competing in a group with Real Madrid, AS Monaco, and Ludogorets. We kicked off the group stage with a 2-0 home victory against Real Madrid and followed that up with a 0-0 draw to Ludogorets on the road. We would then draw AS Monaco on the road, draw AS Monaco at home, fall 0-1 to Real Madrid on the road and defeat Ludogorets 6-0 at home. This left us second in the group to Real Madrid and qualifying for the knockout rounds! As the Bundesliga season progressed, we found our stride and a tactic that really worked for the team, the 4-2-3-1 building from the back with little dribbling and short passing. We were quickly climbing the league table and demolishing teams in the process. On the Champion's League side, we drew Arsenal in the first knockout round. In the first leg, we managed a 1-1 draw at home, courtesy of a lapse on a set piece that led to Arsenal's goal. Going into the road leg, I felt great about our chances - our tactic lined up perfectly with Arsenal's weakness and we managed to grab a 1-0 win at the Emirates. For the quarterfinal round, we drew Bundesliga leaders, Borussia Dortmund. We parked the bus and hit on the counter en route to a 2-1 road victory to put us in great position. In the return leg, we opted to play a balanced matchup and to try to control possession and ride the clock down; we went down early but managed to claw back with two goals of our own, giving us a 4-2 aggregate victory. Back in the Bundesliga, we had cracked the top 6 and were chasing down the top 4 and a spot in Champion's League, trailing by only 4 points with 10 matches to play. Meanwhile, we drew Everton in our semifinal Champion's League matchup. In leg 1 on the road, disaster struck - we went down 2-0 and couldn't get back into the first match. When we came home, again, we decided to play with a positive mindset to possess the ball - somehow, we managed to get the match to 2-0 at the end of the second half - extra time was on the cards! In the extra time, we drew a penalty and missed in the 95th minute. After the break, we found the winner!!! 3-2 aggregate, we had flipped the 0-2 deficit! Barcelona awaited us in the final. The Bundesliga was also drawing to a close and after winning 6 of our last 7 matches, we managed to finish third in the Bundesliga and qualify for next year's Champion's League!!! Now, the most important match in Vfb Stuttgart history was upon us. We would face our former striker and goalkeeper and were looking to announce ourselves on the global stage. Stuttgart came out in their trusted 4-2-3-1, defending high and wide(Barca like to exploit the wings), going in hard on tackles, counterpressing and setting up to counter. We also came out in a very defensive mentality, with short passing, distribution to fullbacks, less dribbling, and a slightly lower tempo. It didn't take long before I realized that we were unable to keep up with Barca in our current setup and sure enough, Barca found the breakthrough in the 16th minute. About 10 minutes later, we were being outshot and outplayed so we decided to switch to a positive approach to take advantage of the space between Barca's defensive midfielders and attacking midfielders. We began to heavily outpossess Barca and level the shot statistics. In the 40th minute, it paid off to the tune of the equalizer!!! We were level and outplaying Barca!!!!! In the second half, we began to turn the screws even tighter and in the 59th minute, the unthinkable - we fired ourselves ahead in the Champion's League final with just 30 minutes to play. Surely, Barca would equalize. Surely not - we continued to outpossess Barca and outshoot them, it seemed that the match would be ours to win or lose. In the 61st minute, we found a third.... speechless. We decided to pack it in and play defensively, trying to counter when Barca committed too many numbers forward. We withstood the barrage and hoisted the Champion's League trophy.... 3-1 over Barcelona. Wow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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