The Cocaine Corridor - from Medellin to Madeira

[karanhsingh]

30th May 2021 – back office of the Casino de Nata, Madeira, Portugal. Run by Carlos Pereira, the sprawling casino has long since been rumored to serve as a money-laundering front for Andres Garcia, the emerging cocaine “kingpin” from Medellin, Colombia.

“Wait, what’s wrong with the casino? I thought we’re doing just fine.”

“Nothing is wrong with the casino Alvaro, but the boss wants to expand. And you know his passion for football.”

“Won’t that be too much in the public eye Carlos – it didn’t work out very well for Pablo Escobar did it?”

“Well it actually did, to be honest. That was a golden period for Colombian football. Atletico de Nacional even won the Copa Libertadores. Of all the things that eventually brought him down, football was certainly not one of them. Besides, it will be totally different for us. It’s as much a business proposition, as it is a passion project.”

“What do you mean?”

“As you know, Madeira is essentially our gateway to Europe. I can reveal to you that the club the boss has chosen for this journey is C.S. Marítimo right here in Madeira. They just finished 11th in the Liga NOS and are probably the best club in the region. We just signed the transfer deeds yesterday.”

“Wow, this is moving quickly! And who is going to be managing the club – I certainly don’t envy that man. ”

“That brings me neatly to my next point. The manager my dear Alvaro, is going to be you!”

“WHAT?! You are kidding me right?! I have no experience – why doesn’t he get in a real football manager instead?”

“He can’t take any such chance and expose our workings to someone not in the circle. You are the only person who at least has some football experience at the semi-professional level. The boss wants you to take over immediately, and you will start studying for your coaching qualifications as you manage the team. I will be taking over as the Managing Director of the Club.”

“I still cannot believe this. And I cannot understand why the manager needs to be someone in the circle.”

“Let me give you some more information. You know how our product moves – from Colombia, sometimes Venezuela, through the Dominican or Jamaica, sometimes a stop at Senegal or Cape Verde, and then finally here to Madeira. Now as manager of the club, you will be buying players & staff only from these countries. We have a set of agents we will work with, who will ensure the money reaches the right hands from there. The focus of course will remain primarily on Colombian players, as the boss wants our club to become the gateway for them into Europe.”

“Okay, so that’s how we will get the money out – but how do we get it in?”

“It’s simple – just like the casino – a major part of the football club’s revenue is generated in cash, through ticket sales, F&B and merchandize. Maritimo averaged approximately 5k per home game last season, which is just over half of the stadium capacity. The unrealized potential is massive. We will need to get the club into European competition quickly – more games means more money, more sponsorship, and more everything. Eventually we will also probably need to build a new stadium. Imagine the potential with that! Apparently Arsenal spent over $500 million on their new stadium, and they weren’t even trying to overspend!”

“Okay, so manage the club, buy primarily Colombian players with some from the other countries we work with, get them into Europe. Seems simple enough!”

“Not just into Europe though. You know the boss is ambitious and wants to be the best at everything he gets into. He wants us to win the Portuguese title within 5 years, and eventually compete for the Champions League with a core of Colombian players. But anyhow, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One step at a time.”

“I have a feeling I am going to find myself back on the streets in a few months time…”

“Don’t be a pessimist Alvaro! Let’s get this show on the road. The press conference to announce the takeover and you as new manager is scheduled for tomorrow. Let’s go!”  

Welcome to the Estádio do Marítimo, a cute little stadium nestled away near the shoreline in Madeira, soon to become one of the largest money laundering hubs of Western Europe.

More reading for those interested:

The Cocaine Corridor from South America to Europe

Pablo Escobar’s Tryst with Football

Originally posted on "From the Cheap Seats"

https://www.fmcheapseats.com/index.php/2021/01/01/the-cocaine-corridor/

[karanhsingh]

Reserved.

[karanhsingh]

Welcome to Alvaro Gaviria, CS Marítimo.

A good-looking young chap, but definitely got a lot of work to do in the coaching department.

Having finished distinctly mid-table last season, the club are expected to repeat the same again. Clearly it’s an exciting time to be a Maritimo fan.

A few modifications have been made to the Club culture and expectations – it’s time for a Colombian revolucion in Madeira!

Now as they say, there’s never a good time to replace half your staff, but there’s probably never a bad time for it either. So a number of people have been shown the door, and replaced primarily with Colombian compatriots of Alvaro. Approximately $150k makes it’s way back to the motherland as compensation fees and what not – let the games begin!

Fun fact – the man who’s job Alvaro took over was none other than Marco Silva of ex Everton fame – how the mighty have fallen.

Here’s the reformed backroom staff after the, ahem, adjustments have been made.

The first transfer window was not hugely busy – in fact there was more money that came into the club’s coffers than went out. It will naturally take some time for the flows to settle into place, as explained to Alvaro.

That being said, Ronaldo Ariza still becomes the club record signing at a whopping £575k. He will definitely be expected to make an impact from the get go.

Brayan Gil is a Salvador international who was also plying his trade in Colombia – hopefully he can continue his development at the club. The third signing, Diego Moreno, was primarily a result of Alvaro’s over-excitement to find a Colombian already at the club with his loan deal due to expire in a day’s time – owing to which he was hastily signed without realizing that he is, in fact, a bit rubbish.

The most interesting story from the player departures was goalkeeper Amir Abedzadeh’s decision to move to Al-Sadd over Premier League side Fulham – clearly for purely footballing reasons that.

The playing squad that will begin a new era for CS Marítimo – the old club culture of signing Brazilian players very evident – but we have some decent Colombian representation going already.

[LATB]

One of my best friends on the London estate I grew up on in the 90s was Portuguese, we were constantly playing football together and his dad (who was a bit of a LAD shall we say) wasn’t always around but when he was he would be wearing his Maritimo FC shirt so I’ve always had a little thing for them. 
 

Funny intro too so I’m following, good luck !! 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Awesome first post mate. I love a Portuguese save. Good luck with Martimo.

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, LATB said:

One of my best friends on the London estate I grew up on in the 90s was Portuguese, we were constantly playing football together and his dad (who was a bit of a LAD shall we say) wasn’t always around but when he was he would be wearing his Maritimo FC shirt so I’ve always had a little thing for them. 
Funny intro too so I’m following, good luck !! 

Great to have you on board! Cheers

46 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Awesome first post mate. I love a Portuguese save. Good luck with Martimo.

Thanks mate  My first save in Portugal since a short spell with Sporting Lisbon on FM19

[ToMexico!!]

Porto and Benfica love a good Colombian in my save, will be interesting to see how you fair with their transfer market prowess 

[Hootieleece]

Have fun...laundering money for the cartels! and maybe win a title or two down the road...

[Jogo Bonito]

Well, that's an unexpected twist, but a good back-story and for sure this will be interesting. Lots of talent in Colombia which will make it fun on the recruitment of players side too. I'm not sure the people of Madeira will love your ideas for their island though 

There's a guy called FM Grasshopper who used to frequent these forums who did something similar about a dodgy manager in South America. I think it was Argentina but he may have tried elsewhere in the region too. Worth checking out via google as he writes really well in his blogs.

[karanhsingh]

20 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Porto and Benfica love a good Colombian in my save, will be interesting to see how you fair with their transfer market prowess 

Indeed they do! There is such a chasm between them and the rest of the clubs in Portugal, it surely will be quite a challenge. 

19 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Have fun...laundering money for the cartels! and maybe win a title or two down the road...

That's the idea  

19 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Well, that's an unexpected twist, but a good back-story and for sure this will be interesting. Lots of talent in Colombia which will make it fun on the recruitment of players side too. I'm not sure the people of Madeira will love your ideas for their island though 

There's a guy called FM Grasshopper who used to frequent these forums who did something similar about a dodgy manager in South America. I think it was Argentina but he may have tried elsewhere in the region too. Worth checking out via google as he writes really well in his blogs.

Thank you, yes Colombia seems to be a hotbed for talent which partly inspired this. Madeira's most famous export of course is CR7, time to change that  

I will check out the blog you are referring to now, cheers.

[karanhsingh]

I was born for this.

1st Feb 2022 – Alvaro Gaviria is called in for a mid-season review meeting with Chairman Carlos Pereira.

“Yes Alvaro. How are things? Seems to be going quite well no?”

“You can say that again! This management lark seems to be quite easy – I don’t know why people spend years preparing for it.”

“Glad you are finding it so – that being said I hope you are completing your coaching badges because it’s important for appearance sake (and also your training attributes).”

“Absolutely yes – I am already up to a National B license, and will be a so-called Pro in no time. We’ve been flying in the league as you know, we have a real shot at a top 3 place and qualifying for the Champions League, which would be way ahead of schedule.”

“The boss will be pleased if you can accomplish that – it will certainly help fast-track our plans. Speaking of which, I know you weren’t given much to spend in your first year but I am glad you brought in some good players from back home. The free transfers were a great idea actually – the hefty amounts paid in agent fees made life easier for us. More of the same please.”

“In two transfer windows I’ve already brought in 10 players from Colombia and 1 from Senegal! Not sure how much more I can be doing – it will disrupt the balance of the team.”

“Doesn’t matter – sell a few players, or send out some on loan. We need to maintain constant movement. You know what the brief is. But, great job so far. And before I let you go, I have some more news which you may enjoy. The boss has sanctioned improvements in the training & youth facilities of the club. Unsurprisingly, the contract has been given to a Colombian company with little (read, no) experience in the area, so don’t expect the world.”

“That is good news indeed. I’ll be in touch. Hopefully we can keep this up!”

It’s certainly been a strong start to life at CS Maritimo. Early exits in both cups notwithstanding, the league form is nothing to be scoffed at.

A slight blip at the turn of the year, but we are getting our form back.

Which leaves us in the heady heights of 2nd place in the league table, but we have Benfica & Vitoria breathing over our shoulders.

Jorge Correa, an Argentinian already at the club, is our stand-out player so far.

The January transfer window as already mentioned was fairly eventful, with primarily a number of free signings from Colombia.

The headline transfers in were the wonderfully named Jeisson and Yeison who are both expected to make an instant impact in the first team.

And finally the recently sanctioned training & youth facility improvements by the board, although it’s anyone’s guess how much of that will actually be going into the work.

That’s that for now from the Colombian revolucion at CS Maritimo in Madeira – hopefully Alvaro & his merry band can finish the season strongly and secure European qualification for the club!

Edited January 6, 2021 by karanhsingh

[Stuniverse]

Just caught up on this, @karanhsingh and I’m loving it 😀. A great back story and the football is going very well too. Good luck 🍀 for the rest of the season. Keep up the [cough] good work on all fronts.

[karanhsingh]

4 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Just caught up on this, @karanhsingh and I’m loving it 😀. A great back story and the football is going very well too. Good luck 🍀 for the rest of the season. Keep up the [cough] good work on all fronts.

Thank you! Definitely a change of pace from the Derby save 

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice update again, entertaining and very successful so far. A little disappointed it's not written in Spanish or Portuguese though  

Vamos Alvaro 

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Nice update again, entertaining and very successful so far. A little disappointed it's not written in Spanish or Portuguese though  

Vamos Alvaro 

Thank you. Lol that would be a bit beyond me I'm afraid! 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

Thank you. Lol that would be a bit beyond me I'm afraid! 

Just joking with you, it's a really good story to follow.

[karanhsingh]

Now we really are in Europe

“Well then Carlos, I am sure the boss must be happy with that?”

“Oh yes, of course, he is well pleased. But let’s not forget we were level on points with Benfica at the top with just 4 games to go, before we lost to them.”

“Jesus, Carlos, hard man to please aren’t you? We’ve finished 3rd in the league, I don’t think anyone could have asked for more this season!”

“That’s true but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big! I am sure the Boss never imagined his product would be all over the world, and he would own football clubs & casinos. But here we are.”

“Maybe get some of that product into the locker rooms at Benfica & Porto – that could help us out next season.”

“Ha. Jokes aside, I have a couple of important updates for you Alvaro. Firstly, you will unfortunately not have too much money to spend this summer. You’ll primarily have to rely on free transfers & bargains again, but of course do ensure whatever money is there, makes it’s way back to Colombia.”

“I didn’t realize funds were an issue for us.”

“It’s not that – as you know there are significant funds going into the improvements to the training & youth facilities. Besides that, we have decided to expand the stadium. With attendances up last year and qualifying for Europe, this is the right time to do it, and take the next step. As you can imagine, the stadium expansion will require a fair bit of funding too – and between all of this we will easily meet our “funding” objectives for the summer.”

“That sounds great to me!”

“Keep it up Alvaro. Oh and before I go, start sending some scouts out to Ecuador & Peru too. The Boss is diversifying operations as there’s too many eyes on us back home – we are possibly looking at Mexico as well but no news on that front yet. Good luck for the summer – next season let’s have a proper go at the Cups as well. The sooner we can win some silverware, the better.”

“No pressure, then.”

“None whatsoever! Oh and congratulations on winning the Manager of the Season award – well deserved.”

“Thank you. I thought you’d never mention it. I’ve also completed my National badges – onto the Continental ones now! It’s going to be a busy summer indeed.”

_______________________________________________________________________

That wraps up an eventful and solid first season at Maritimo for Alvaro and “the cartel”.

The league form was strong in the 2nd half of the season, but ultimately an unlikely title challenge fell apart at the end.

However a top 3 finish and with that Champions League qualification was eventually clinched.

The squad stats from a memorable season.

Shout-out to Jorge Correa, easily our player of the season. Of the new signings, Brayan Gil has done well and finished 2nd top scorer. Jeisson Palacios joined us in Jan but has been a rock at the back and a massive threat from set pieces. Also we recently promoted academy graduate Celio Noite to the first team, and he is someone I have high hopes for.

Will sign off with the updated Club culture and 5 year plan – so far so good and hopefully we can stay on the “right” path.

Edited January 8, 2021 by karanhsingh

[Jogo Bonito]

A great finish, 3rd is absolutely the best you could realistically achieve (but you went close to being even better).

Enjoying the story too. I wonder if you'll end up signing the young prospect I have from Peru.

[karanhsingh]

20 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A great finish, 3rd is absolutely the best you could realistically achieve (but you went close to being even better).

Enjoying the story too. I wonder if you'll end up signing the young prospect I have from Peru.

Thank you! 

Now that you mention it, I am wondering who it is. Is it Yuriel Celi? If so, he went to Levante already in my save.

[Jogo Bonito]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Thank you! 

Now that you mention it, I am wondering who it is. Is it Yuriel Celi? If so, he went to Levante already in my save.

It is Celi yes. He was available on 'approach to sign' terms and despite much bigger clubs like FC Porto being interested, I got him as they and the others hadn't made their bids. I ended up paying £16k to bring him in early rather than waiting until January, so an absolute bargain deal.

I've also been trying to get Colombian centre-back Marlon Torres. A monster of a player and at the right age, bid was accepted but his agent says my club aren't able to match his expectations at the moment and won't enter talks. He is probably right, I would only be able to offer around £4k per week.

[karanhsingh]

7 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It is Celi yes. He was available on 'approach to sign' terms and despite much bigger clubs like FC Porto being interested, I got him as they and the others hadn't made their bids. I ended up paying £16k to bring him in early rather than waiting until January, so an absolute bargain deal.

I've also been trying to get Colombian centre-back Marlon Torres. A monster of a player and at the right age, bid was accepted but his agent says my club aren't able to match his expectations at the moment and won't enter talks. He is probably right, I would only be able to offer around £4k per week.

Interesting. Somehow my scouts haven't yet spotted Marlon, so no signing him for me.

Who are you managing again?

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Interesting. Somehow my scouts haven't yet spotted Marlon, so no signing him for me.

Who are you managing again?

Hopefully they will 'discover' him soon. Assuming he looks good in your game and would fit your needs?

You haven't missed anything as I haven't mentioned the club yet - all will be revealed if I get through to January in the first season. I've not decided whether to create something in here as I can't really imagine them capturing much interest (but I have taken some images along the way so far, just in case). I think you need an interesting club/country and/or an interesting story or idea/approach to make it work in here. I had that with FC Lorient but this one, I'm not so sure 

[karanhsingh]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Hopefully they will 'discover' him soon. Assuming he looks good in your game and would fit your needs?

You haven't missed anything as I haven't mentioned the club yet - all will be revealed if I get through to January in the first season. I've not decided whether to create something in here as I can't really imagine them capturing much interest (but I have taken some images along the way so far, just in case). I think you need an interesting club/country and/or an interesting story or idea/approach to make it work in here. I had that with FC Lorient but this one, I'm not so sure 

I couldn't say as most of his attributes were masked. 

Go for it I say, once you reach January. I shall give it a read for sure! 

[karanhsingh]

Season 2 : onward & upward!

We are mid-way through a strange second season in Madeira, punctuated by a long break for the Qatar world cup and insane levels of fixture congestion. Let’s see how we are getting on –

The first set of facilities improvement has been completed, and the Board has already sanctioned further work on both training & youth facilities. Some more multi-million dollar contracts for our Colombian partners!

In even better news than that, we also completed the expansion of the stadium. It’s still only 13,250 seats though, so at some stage we will surely need to look at building a new one.

The transfer window was eventually quite a busy one.

Primarily because EPL side Reading came in with a deadline day bid for probably our best player Jorge Correa, which was a bid I couldn’t turn down. As a result, this also became the club record fee. More money to send to Colombia!

Looking at some of the key transfers in:

Jordy Alcivar is our first signing from Ecuador, after the recent memo about expansion of the business operations there. We were looking at Moises Caicedo (linked with Man Utd IRL) but he wanted too much money and actually moved to Arsenal. However his compatriot Alcivar also looks like a good box to box midfielder.

Bryan Gil – we sort of broke our unwritten transfer “rule” for this signing as he is Spanish, but it was a move I couldn’t resist. Also having two Bryan Gils in the same team playing together sounded fun – I can just imagine the chants. He’s been on absolute fire as well. He has a release clause so I don’t expect him to be with us for long.

Edwuin Cetre – finally a Colombian! Edwuin was a deadline day loan signing (with an option to buy) in order to replace Correa on the right wing. He had actually been scouted and a bid placed when we first took over at the club, but had chosen to go to Napoli then.

Jimmy Barrios – the first new-gen of the save is here! Jimmy was found on account of being 3rd top scorer in the Colombian league, and promptly signed up. He only arrived in Jan though, and seems quite injury prone so far.

So how have we actually done on the pitch? Pretty well, so far!

The Champions League defeat to Salzburg was more than a little annoying, especially after we beat them away in the first leg. At home though Koita absolutely ran rings around us (before promptly moving to Liverpool a week later).

We dropped into the Europa league and were rewarded with a bloody hard group featuring Everton, Shakhtar and Standard Liege. We were actually excellent at home against both Everton & Shakhtar but somehow conspired to only pick a point from those two games. As a result we eventually finished 3rd in the group, and completed our journey from the Champions to the Conference league in the space of 3 months (LOL).

In better news we are through to the final of the Portuguese Cup where we will play Boavista, so I am hopeful for some silverware this season!

The league table as we enter February 2023 is a strange one –

Thanks to the world cup and all our domestic cup & European fixtures, we have an insane 7 (!!) games in hand on some teams in the league, and 4 games in hand on table topping Porto. Technically if we win all 4 we would be top, but that’s a big if of course.

It’s basically 2 games every week from now till the end of the season, with one week I believe even having 3 games. Going to be a big ask of the squad, but let’s see how we get on.

It’s been interesting to manage fitness & training which I don’t think I have done much of in FM before – manually resting players and nursing them back to fitness to manage the crazy congestion of games we have already had since the WC ended.

That is it from Madeira for now, do stay tuned for the next update at the end of season 2.

Edited January 15, 2021 by karanhsingh

[Jogo Bonito]

Great update as usual with some interesting signings. Crazy that you and Benfica have so many games in hand, but a good set of results will put you right up there. The year 2022 in game is a bit of a chore due to the WC, but the extra focus on training schedules will hopefully benefit you as things continue.