Jogo Bonito

Great wrap up mate, nice to see the side did not lose focus and ended with two 3-0 wins. How has Sevilla done in the years you have been at Celta?

Fantastic, well done indeed! Winning La Liga with games to spare and possibly going unbeaten is an amazing achievement. Even if that doesn't happen, it's been a season of dreams - and very nearly even better than that if not for the unlucky loss to Milan.

Another excellent update, very detailed and well written. Really impressive form, the European journey has been superb and really in contention for the Serie A title. Obviously Milan is a tough nut to crack, but the points gap to 3rd shows just how strong the two teams are compared to the rest. One minor observation on Riccardo Calafiori. Although he has played and can play left-back (as per the media description in your profile), in recent times he would very much be regarded as a left-sided central defender (perhaps left of a back-three should you ever try it). In any case, he is very well rated and should be a great pick up for you and a club like Atalanta. Good luck for the closing part of the season, hope your turn is coming!

Well understood. And I get exhausted just waking up in the morning and making my coffee

Thanks for the support. It might still happen, maybe even after a break and return through the summer months - especially if fuelled by real life transfer moves etc.

Yes I don't know if they just hadn't decided by the time I took the image or if they really felt a winning margin of 16 points was not the best performance! Unlike many others, I don't actually feel the EFL have a bias against the club though. Not sure. Was always going to do Stuttgart after my success there in FM23 and their real-life performances this season. But also have so many Italian club supporting colleagues at work that a return to Italy may direct me back there. The 46 league games plus Cups and possible replays and play-offs in England is a slog, Compare that to Germany (34 plus one cup) and Italy (even Spain) and you need to be fully committed to take it on for a third year! Also, for sure I will be managing the club again in FM25 as the owners may be gone and the manager has created a good vibe (reconnecting the fans, players and club) for the first time in an eternity in this difficult season. But thanks, whatever the decision, it's been a satisfying two years.

Exactly how they are in real life. Not always the best side, but definitely find a way of winning more often than not.

Well done, recovery was swift! Never in doubt

Season 2024/25 The Royals were in a commanding position with nine League 1 matches remaining as March arrived Late goals helped secure wins on the road at Rotherham and Colchester, with a home victory over Gary O'Neil's Stockport sandwiched between them Which meant that the 3-1 win over Carlisle saw the club being presented with the League 1 trophy after the game The following five games therefore saw pressure eased, but apart from a hangover defeat at Stevenage the side kept their focus to deliver very positive results The point at Peterboroguh on the final day took the seasonal points tally to exactly 100, thus ticking off a major target set after the title had been won in March The win at relegated Colchester in March also saw Mamadi Camara grab a goal on his first appearance of the season This was a sweet moment for the young winger as he was only granted his ESC work permit on 11th March after being unavailable for selection all season The below performance graph shows a very comfortable route to the title, particularly in the second half of the season The player stats show a number of decent contributions, and we had the best defensive record, best yellow card tally and decent goal and attendance numbers The financial graph shows how the season eroded the upfront payments, but that will re-set itself as the new season comes around The final league table below shows Huddersfield and Peterborough gaining promotion, whilst Portsmouth dropped from the top two into oblivion and Plymouth fell away too Here are the full performance stats across the season, excluding the small number of players who left the club earlier in the campaign Sam Smith headed the scoring charts with a much better season than last year, but there were a good number of positive contributions throughout the squad Defensive trio Andy Yiadom (captain), Tom Holmes and Tylor Bindon will all be leaving in the summer when their contracts expire Yiadom (33) has been a great servant but wanted to explore other options and goes with our blessing after winning the Player of the Year award Local boy, Academy graduate and club-supporting defender Holmes is also moving on which reflects his real life winter exit Bindon meanwhile was the unfortunate victim of a bug that saw him unable to re-sign because of his permit, and he got tempted back home by Wellington Phoenix The other manager and player accolades are listed below from the season review This season wrap-up ended with popular defender Amadou Mbengue (actually a central defender) snubbing interest from 'small club Portsmouth' on 22nd May And the board gave this initial budget upon securing promotion, which will probably all go in to the player wage pot rather than see cash buys It's now time for 'El Jefe' to take stock and see whether he wants to continue his managerial journey in the second tier It's been strongly reported that he was affected negatively by the Bindon contract saga, so he'll make a decision on his future in the coming days Whatever the outcome, he has achieved his target of returning this club to Championship level, and his reputation has been enhanced by a successful two years

As mentioned elsewhere, you picked another of the Italian clubs that are under consideration for me if I chase some of that same culture. No doubt also that the graphical presentation will make this extra appealing! Will be following for sure, best of luck.

Welcome back, and well done on picking this great club. Will look forward to seeing how this goes for you!

That was a tough one to take last time out, but there is no doubt at all you will bounce back and this will soon be forgotten.

Congrats on the Copa del Rey success, great to bag a trophy. Going very strong in the league too, could this be the breakthrough you've been close to? Every chance, best of luck mate.

Thanks Stu. I totally agree on Bindon, he has been amazing in real life for a rookie with no professional experience until thrown in this year. He was duly named runner-up in the Player of the Season award too, and if we manage to keep him for another season before he moves upwards, it would be a real bonus. Yes I have tried to keep a main core of those at the club, but happy to let those not still there leave in my version too. Thanks very much. Agree, looking good for the next update. Hello again, welcome back. All good thanks and hope for you too. Hopefully I will not screw up from such a strong position. But you never know

I've seen you hopped from Sicily to Turin so will comment there too, but wanted to say I really enjoyed your few years with Palermo. It's a club I considered taking on (again) as I will be going to Sicily in June and in Serie B it's really one of the best starting points for FM24. Ironically, I then also considered Atalanta and Torino as alternatives to Palermo, but both are already being written about on these pages.

Great performances here, a close 2nd to AC Milan and very strong run in Europe last year. And pretty much the same in the current season. Good to see Milan back to better times, but hoping you can catch them if you're still going with this..

Yes, no complaints at all. Pleasing also that at this point in time there is only one player in the squad who is not an original - Gabriel Osho. And even he was a youth team graduate who joined Luton from us, and we were lucky enough to get him back for free in the summer. To keep this challenging, we'll probably continue the no-fees approach regardless of what league we are in next season. Unfortunately, Mark Bowen stepped in and renewed some player contracts that saw my self-imposed maximum wage of £6,000 per week surpassed. I'll have to live with it, but we would not have done so if it had been my decision.

Well, they might say you're a wily old manager

Season 2024/25 December 2024 started with Reading sat 4th in League 1, and still in the FA Cup The month was exceptional, with six league wins on the spin prior to defeat at home to Leyton Orient in the final fixture of the year January promised to be tougher, as we faced five consecutive away games including a trip to Tyneside to face Newcastle in FA Cup Round 3 A win at Lincoln set us up nicely for that one, and we were unlucky to lose to The Magpies right at the death after a superb backs-to-the-wall effort A scintillating 3-3 draw at league leaders Portsmouth was the highlight of the next four win-less games, but January was concluded with an overdue defeat of Walsall February saw the side find great form again, with five straight wins before a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Blackpool last time out This recent run has seen us open up a nice lead at the top as the nearest challengers play leapfrog with each other on a weekly basis For the last few months we've been using a new system which has three central defenders and two wing-backs as we had a surplus of quality centre-backs Ahead of them we have two defensive midfielders (anchor & regista), two shadow strikers and a DLF lone striker with attack duty 1st January 2025 New Years Day brought a different kind of headache as more work permit news was delivered by the Chairperson Despite now meeting the criteria for a new permit, Tyler Bindon was now unwilling to accept our new contract due to alleged broken promises The reality is he twice accepted our contracts but when the permit was refused, he chose not to renew and instead got unhappy that we had 'lied to him' And on the very same day, striker Duncan McGuire was also denied a work permit, even though we had a spare ESC slot to allocate him That meant that, like our home grown winger Mamadi Camara, he was also now unavailable for selection under any circumstances 2nd January 2025 A day later loan striker Divin Mubama was recalled by West Ham - no complaints really as we had chosen not to use him very often (we had tried to use McGuire when fit) Here are the stats for the two strikers who left the club in January 3rd January 2025 The next day winger Chaka Traore was also recalled by AC Milan - again we had chosen to barely use him so no complaints on this one either Here are the stats for the departing Traore 4th January 2025 WE discovered that Bindon was now going to join Wellington Phoenix at the end of his contract, and Tom Holmes was also going to be leaving in the summer So as we continue to only seek out free transfer signings, we made a move to sign Bayern Munich youngster Liam Morrison on a pre-contract deal for July 16th January 2025 Unable to select McGuire, we managed to sell him to Wigan for £80,000 on 16th January - leaving us bewildered how he can get a permit there but not with us 31st January 2025 Our 24-man squad had been reduced to 21 with the three departures, so we promoted one from the development squad to boost numbers On deadline day, we made a slightly ambitious move to lure forward Yakou Meite back to the club on loan from Cardiff but the numbers did not align The Yak is a big fans favourite and we might have another go at getting him in the summer, especially if his contract is not renewed in Wales Here is the rather empty summary of business done in the winter window, but we don't mind - except for the imminent loss of Bindon We now have nine league games to go out and earn that promotion back to the second tier, and we feel confident we can do it

Wow, what an amazing way to clinch a league title! Away to the top team, 2-0 down and coming back to snatch it in style - well done indeed! I'm late to the party but 100% support your decision to sign the new contract at Viking. It was the only choice to make. I like the 'agent chat' sequences, good to see that side continuing. I noticed that Diouf didn't play enough to get a winners medal, payback for the previous year sending off?!? Not your choice obviously, but must have given you a wry smile.... I've seen the bits about choosing the training camp destination in FM24, but it's not every time they give you options. Usually they do if you've proven yourself at a club, so surprised you weren't given a choice. I don't think you have any say in deciding when they make it, I'm quite sure dates are picked by the club.

Really enjoying the Italian flavour in here at the moment and this is another good story with a club that starts with some really interesting players in the squad. Very good progress with them so far, and although this year may not quite happen in Serie A, you're still in with a shout. Great result against PSG and best of luck for the 2nd leg too!

A nice read and you've done an impressive job of re-shaping the club from old boys to a slick, modern outfit. You're unlucky to have Slavia so dominant, but when that day comes, the taste of success from beating them will be even sweeter.

A fantastic season again, 3rd is very decent despite the 2nd of the previous year. Liking most of the new signings such as Monchu, Mendy and the super-saver Hedl. I tracked the latter quite closely on FM23 when managing in Germany and Austria. A strong start again this year, looking forward to seeing you keep up the challenge

Just catching up on this again! Making very good progress in my opinion and loving the view of the story as always. Keep up the great work!