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Season 11 - 29/30

Overview - 103pts - Champions - +70 Goal Difference

Back to Back Serie A Champions. Something to be proud of but we struggled in all other competitions. Being knocked out by Inter at home in the Coppa Italia Quarter Final was disappointing as this is a competition that we can definitely win at this point. We were beaten in the Super Cup by Juventus which adds to the overall disappointment. In the Champions League, we drew Liverpool which was always going to be difficult and we came up short in the Quarter Final. It seems that the Italian League is much weaker at this point in the game compared to other leagues. We and the other top Italian teams (Inter, Juventus, Roma) are routinely humbled by Spanish and English teams and it may take a few seasons to cross the gap. 

The league as a whole was excellent. We broke the record for a points tally in a season at 103pts. Ivan Restrepo once again won player of the year and it would seem my Deep Lying Playmakers in midfield are the picks for top awards. For the past couple of seasons we have struggled to find a striker who will score 25+ goals which is why the squad has 10+ goals spread over several players. Though, I may have solved that with a Brazilian acquisition in January who scored 11 goals in 15 starts in the league. I am starting 3 youth prospects in the starting 11. Matteo De Biagi (LW), Fillipo Casali (CB) and Marco Casali (CB) and hopefully we can produce a midfielder and striker soon. 

Next season, the goal is to continue winning titles but bring home another trophy. 

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget $25m

In (118m)

Jaja (24m) - Our Brazilian boywonder. My hope is that he can develop into a 30+ goal a season player and take our team to glory.

Alex Tremble (Free) - A great free transfer. Towards the end of the season, he was easily our best left back and is now getting bids from Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool for 60m+. 100m and I'll let him go.

Bo Sorensen (79m) - I broke the bank on this one. Mainly because he fits my system perfectly. 7.28 average rating, 7 assists and 3 goals. Not a bad return but I am looking for him to kick on and become a mainstay in our team. 

Out (88m)

Petar Paraskov (7.25m) - Made a little profit off this man. Was starting to become a bit part player and Salzberg came in with a decent offer and away he went. 

Esteban Girard (21.5m) - A little sad. Our 2 time player of the year also went off to Salzberg. But, he was pushed out of the team by Ivan Restrepo and we cashed in for a handy profit.

Arnau Tenas (7.75m) - Our long time 1st choice goalkeeper left to Real Madrid (odd) and he was replaced by a much better keeper last season.

Ruben (45.5m) - Brought in for 2.8m and sold for a huge profit to Hertha Berlin.

Gianni Berni (15.5m) - After two great seasons when we first came into Serie A but has been on a downward slide both Mentally and statistically. Cashed in and sold to KK Gent.

Youth

Frustratingly bad. Upgrades to training facilities and keep bringing in success and hopefully we will have some decent intakes in the next few seasons.

Other Notes -  

U20s won back to back titles as well. 

I am going to start investing equal amounts of cash into the Sammarese league. I am affiliates with Cosmos but that has amounted to little. Therefore, I am going to start buying youth players for 500k and see if that injection of cash can spur the league into producing decent players over time.

Achievements 

None to speak of.  

 

 

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Season 2029 - World Ranking 125th 
 What a year! We qualified for the World Cup against all odds. Spain topped our group unsurprisingly, but we went undefeated against Albania, Romania and Belarus.  Finishing 4th in the second place table meant we will be travelling to Italy for the 2030 World Cup. Our World Cup draw was extremely harsh with Ivory Coast and Uruguay. I don't expect to get anywhere close to them but with a single lucky win, you never know. 

Our team is largely unchanged from the previous year, so I won't be featuring anyone. CC San Marino apparently have a striker in the pipeline for youth prospects which would be a treat. 

 

Achievements - @duesouth

Qualify for the World Cup

Top 150 in the World

 

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National Team Update

So we beat Romania 4 nothing. Ranked 48th in the world (somehow). Pushed up to 150th World Ranking!

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Season 10 - 28/29

Overview - 92pts - Champions - +71 Goal Difference

10 Years to become Champions of Italy is not a bad effort. We've been knocking on the door for the past two seasons but in the end we won it fairly comfortably with a game to spare. I've really made an effort to assemble a deep squad with plenty of youth which paid dividends with Iván Restrepo being a superb replacement for 2 time fans player of year Esteban Girard who was out injured for most of the season. Restrepo won all the club awards and Serie A player of the year. Once again, we made it to the Semi-Finals of the Italian Cup before being dumped out by Inter. Meanwhile in the Champions League, Liverpool were, hands above, too good for us and that is the next benchmark for us to reach. With a sizeable Transfer kitty of $50m next season, I'm looking to add a few quality pieces to the puzzle and make the jump to European contenders. 

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget $26m

In

Matias Gomez ($22m) - A goalkeeper to replace our long-time stalwart Arnau Tenas. Had to loan back out to Benfica because he went over our quota of non-euro players. Will be the starting goalkeeper next season. 

Javi Martinez (30.5m) - A replacement at attacking midfield. It's sad that I had to buy him at all. But we had a major transfer out and needs must.

Out

Jan Cermak ($80m) - So Chelsea me his release clause and took our best player. Could be a Ballon D'or winner in the future. Sad, but just one of those things. Couldn't afford his $300k a week wages that he wanted.

Youth

We had a garbage intake. Will look to develop them as best as I can maybe get a National Team squad player out of it. Maybe,,,

Other Notes -  

The U20s won the title....to be expected, I've got some great young players coming through after buying up cheap rejects. 

Has anyone seen 22 rated stats on their Manager? Apparently, my level of discipline is God level....fun stuff.

Achievements @duesouth

Win the Serie A! 

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Season 2028 - World Ranking 157th
Won the Nation's League Group D. Unbeaten against Faroe Islands, Latvia, Andorra. Things are looking up, our World Cup Qualification draw is Tricky with Spain, Belarus, Romania and Andorra. There is little to no chance of going top but I think a 2nd or 3rd is a decent goal. Fingers crossed. 

In terms of the team, our notable players are definitely coming out of the club side. Club captain Matteo De Biagi who came out of my first ever Youth Intake has been unreal on the left wing.  Forcelinni is a little unfortunate to be stuck up top when he is a natural left winger. Mirko Giardi, in a few seasons, I think will be our rock at the back. With a few extra pieces in midfield and up front, we could be a surprise package.  

Stats wise. Berardi and Di Biagi are dominating the goals but nothing else of note so far. 

 

Achievements - @duesouth

Andy Selva's record is long gone. 

Berardi scored a hat-trick against Faroe Islands. (report below)

Win Nations League Grp D

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Season 9 - 27/28

Overview - 81pts - 3rd - +47 Goal Difference

Overall. I would say this season is a crash down to earth and a true reflection of where we lie in the Serie A. A top 6 team but not a title winner. Yet. 

In saying that, it went down to the final day where we had to beat AC Milan (who we drew with) and need Juventus lose. Juve won and they won the title. Go again

The run in the Italian Cup was disappointing where we were knocked out by Sassuolo in the Quarter Finals. We had much more success in the Champions League where we went all the way up to the Semi-Finals and lost to Real Madrid. No surprises there.

Once again, Estebane Gerard gets player of the season. A little strange to me but who can argue with the fans.

 

 

 

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget 18m

Igor Djalo - 25.5m (w/addons) - A desperate addition at Left Back. Starts a trend of beefing the back line. He struggled to get going, the worst player in a good performing team.

Evgney Fomin - 17m (w/addons) - A cheap and dirty addition at Centre Back. We have some young talent coming through and I expect he will be pushed out soon.

Ruben - 2.8m (w/Addons) - An absolute bargain from Korean football of all placed. Quality at right back all season.

Youth

Well, I think we got ourselves our first true wonderkid. Exciting times. Fillipo Casali looks the real deal. Got two real good Sammarese centre backs coming through.

National Team -  Going to do these updates separately as a year to year rather than season to season. 

 

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Season 8 - 26/27

Overview - 77pts - 4th - +44 Goal Difference

Another successful season finishing 4th. I think last season was a bit of an aberration with many of the top dogs under preforming over the season. Also, the added Champions League games with our relative small squad was a challenge and led to a lot of costly draws. Overall, a great season. 

Estebane Gerard, signed last season, was a star and rightly got player of the year. Dominating in the centre of the park as a deep lying play maker.

The board have announced the start of a new stadium...which is exciting but I do think we will quickly out grow the 16k limit.

Next season, I am hoping for Top 2 and have a run through the Champions League. The Italian cup is on my radar as winnable after reaching the Semi Finals this go around. 

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget 15m

Ryan Curran (15m w/addons) - A Man City youth reject who brings the classic English Box-to-Box mentality to our midfield. Has been a quiet achiever in midfield. 

Amar Kebbabi (16.5m w/addons) - Has been a little hit and miss but is still very young and I think will be a huge provider of goals and assists in the next couple of seasons.

Jan Cermak (11.5m w/addons) - I have been chasing this guy since he was 16 at Sparta Prague. I honestly think I may have signed a David Silva-esque quality Attacking Midfielder. Could be worth 100m. Super excited. 

Marco Tilio (4.7m) - a regretful signing. Didn't play enough and didn't contribute all that much. Will be looking to move on soon. Disappointing. 

Youth

A better youth intake than the last. Marco Giardi is the stand out and could be a quality centre back. Fingers Crossed. 

National Team - WR (196th)

Finally managed to bag the National Team job and got off to a decent start by beating Armenia in the Euro Playoffs. Proceeded to get spanked by Portugal 9-1. Then we managed a magical 2-0 win over Slovenia. We will inevitably be knocked out of the group but definite improvement. Mattia De Biagi is easily our best player and continues to start for me at C.C. San Marino. 

Achievements @duesouth

National Team - Win a Game, Win a competitive game, 

C.C San Marino - Qualify for Europe

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Season 7 - 25/26

Overview - 80pts - 2nd - +54 Goal Difference

A highly successful league finish at 2nd. Europe bound and the money bags are coming. Moral of the story is to trust young, cheap signings and also have 4 youth players from AC Milan. 

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget 13.75m

So I raided AC Milan's youth team with cheap signings and cheap loans.

 

Gianni Berni was a revelation with 28 goals in the league. The others really filled in the gaps at the back and defensively in midfield.

Youth

Our best potential player is Polish which is a bit disappointing. 

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Season 6 - 24/25

Overview - 54pts - 11th - +6 Goal Difference

With us pipped at 1000-1 and favourites to be relegated, we had a very successful season finishing 11th. There was a time towards the end of the season where I thought Frosinone wouldn't win a game and Inter would go Invincible (which they managed). A really mad season where Trapani survived with 26 points. We managed 54 points and I this adding an extra 12 - 15 points could have us in the European spots. However, I have a feeling next season will have a much better showing from the lower rated teams. In the coming season I will look to be more competitive in the Italian Cup as we have yet to reach Round 1.

Transfers (Major Only) - Budget 5.5m

Petar Paraskov (2.4m) - Box to Box Midfielder, a constant in midfield all season and has recently started playing for the National Team. 

Lucas Erhardt (2.7m (7.5m w/addons) - Right Wing Back. Started his career with Back to Back red cards and went on to break the record for discipline issues. Solid but problematic.

Samuele Conti (3.6m (4.5m w/addons) - Attacking Mid. The shining light of the season, 8 Goals and 15 Assists and player of the season. 

Arnau Tenas - 2m (4.5m w/addons) - Goalkeepers. Solid all season but will look to upgrade in the coming seasons

Awards

Samuele Conti is a star at Attacking Midfield and deservedly won Young player of year and most of club awards. Hoping for the same net season. 

@duesouth Manager of the Year for me which is a surprise considering Pep led Inter to a treble and an invincible season. Mad.

 

Youth

A decent youth intake and I have high hopes for Marco Casali at Centre Back. Looks to be a good prospect. The rest will have to surprise me. 

Other

Training and Youth Facilities are being upgraded. Our Junior coaching is now exceptional and Youth Recruitment is considered Excellent. So, fingers crossed we get better intakes. Next on the list is the Stadium which we are consistently filling and desperately needs expanding on the 5500 capacity. 

 

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Season 5.

Back to Back promotions! Serie A here we come.

 

 

A boat load of loans and a handful of old Serie A campaigners carried the team with surprising consistency. A complete new team will need to be assembled with a giant transfer budget of $5m. Woo

The youth intake was garbage and I won't bother showing it. In better news, the junior coaching and youth recruitment have both been upgraded. Hoping to get training facilities going soon as well.

And so the Serie A slog begins. Will start paying attention to the international job if it becomes available and I will start providing some longer breakdowns of player acquisitions, sammarinese youth and other interesting things.

Luck will be needed.

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Season 4

Serie C Invincibles!

 

A major part of our success was a loan signing from Empoli. Broke all the goalscoring records in Serie C and I am hoping to get him back next season. Fingers Crossed. We also signed Andrea Consigli as Gk'ing coach and Goalkeeper. Makes all the difference having a true leader and great goalkeeper at a lower level. 

 

 

Youth intake this season was poor but with us moving on up in Italy hoping for better in future. Serie B will mostly likely require an entire overhaul of the squad in order to stay up. We shall see.

 

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3rd Season Done.

 

Some in-different form mid way through the season means we struggled to keep up with Cesena. Made it to round 2 of the payoffs and was mildly fm'd by Ternana (again!). Hit the woodwork 3 times and had plenty of clear cuts. Oh well. Go again. Push for top spot hopefully with some decent signings. Major issue right now is the tanked finances. Nearly 500k in the hole. Serie B money is a must.

 

Youth prospects were decent with one more 5 P/A left winger coming through.

The youth prospect from last season is now a main stay in the first team and is about to make his first appearances for the national team.

 

 

Anyway. We go again.

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I wish I was in Serie A for this report. Still good news.

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2nd Season Done. Serie C is a huge increase in quality, especially as a semi-pro team. 10th in first season is a good start. Professional status in the next season and upgrades to youth development and youth coaching. Progress!

 

Into the payoffs and got mildly FM'd in the first round against Ravenna. 7 ccs and 2 woodworks. Gutted.

Youth Intake was largely rubbish but for one gem who just about good enough for the first team. I'm hoping he can break into the first team and stay with me up to Serie A. 

 

Season 3, hoping for run at Top 4 and perhaps promotion via playoffs. Fingers Crossed.

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First Season In. Started as just the San Marino C.C. boss in the Serie D/F. 

Won the League at a canter. 

No real top performers but a good all around team.

 

First youth intake was largely poor but what to expect in the depths of Italian football?

 

Serie C next....new players needed. Wish me luck