corinthiano

April 2078 There was some heavy rotation of the squad as we navigated a packed month. It almost cost us a place in the Confederation Cup Semi-FInals but the second string just about held on to the second leg after the first team won 3-0 in Ghana. In the NPFL mostly good results other than at the end of the month when we ran out of legs with 3 games in 6 days. Next Fixtures We go into May still in 3 competitions and we'll likely prioritize the cups as more than a 5th place in the NPFL will be tough.

This is a great experiment! Love how the Caribbean is dominating CONCACAF!

March 2078 Inconsistent result in the NPFL keep us some distance from the top places, but we put in a great away performance at Raja Casablanca before a mad 7-3 against Gor Mahia sees us qualify in first in our group with a game to go in the Confederation Cup. Next Fixtures The fixtures in the NPFL are a little kinder so hopefully we can be more consistent, but I expect the month to be busy with the Confederation Cup Quarter Finals and Fed Cup coming up.

February 2078 Not a bad month at all, maybe should have gone a bit more aggressive against Raja Casablanca and Enyimba Aba, but avoiding defeat against them is a good result. We are still some way off the Top 3 in the NFPL, but we have put ourselves in a good position in the Confederation Cup. Next Fixtures No easy month again, would like us to get closer to the Quarters in the Confederation Cup and the top 3 in the NFPL.

January 2078 I knew it was a tough month but we should have done better and slide into mid-table yet again... Transfers Out Just another squad player leaving. Next Fixtures We start out Confederation Cup group campaign, which is not going to make it easier to climb up the table again.

December 2077 An outstanding December means we are now right in the middle of the chasing pack behind Enyimba Aba. Players have started to gel and Abiola picked up some form after a poor start to the season and we seem to be getting to the level we were last season now. CAF Confederation Cup I like this draw and chances of finishing second behind Raja Casablanca. Transfers Out Clearing out some of the unhappy squad players. Musa-Bichi is the only one we'll miss a bit, but we still have decent cover up front. Milestones Next Fixtures Some tough away games before the mid-season break.

November 2077 We had a shocker this month and I have to take the blame for it. Too many signings were made in the off season and we have quite a disgruntled squad. Some players are leaving in the next few months and hopefully that helps. On the plus side it looks like Group Stage football is all but guaranteed as we go to Egypt and dismantle Ismaily. Transfers In Out Puleng Ngwenya comes from South Africa as a lot of defenders/right backs will leave in the next couple of months. Mukudy Antony also got a good bid from our former club and as he slipped down the pecking order it was a good deal, especially with him coming back on loan. Next Fixtures Its a packed December and we need to get back on track so we can fight for African football next season.

October 2077 Two outstanding results in the NPFL as we comfortably beat both Enyimba Aba and Kano Pillars at their place! Drawing at home to Heartland F.C. was a downer as we should have won that comfortably but we are in a good spot right now. In the Champions League Sundowns were by far the superior team and deserved to go through. Transfers In Out Left-back was a weak spot in the team and I moved early in the mid-season transfer window to get a good young player in Diallo and a first team option in Priso. I'll only look to make more signings if someone really good pops up in our radar as we have a few unsettled players already in the team and I dont want to disrupt it even further, I may actually look to offload some of those unhappy players. Next Fixtures In the NPFL the game against Katsina Utd will be tough, but I would like to win the rest to keep momentum. And we get another tough draw in Africa as Egyptians Ismaily stand between us and a Confederation Cup Group Stage appearance.

August/September 2077 This was an excellent month considering the fixtures were tricky and we still havent really found our best XI. The points dropped against PLateau Utd were disappointing but at least our rivals are dropping points too. In the Champions League we had a very tight affair against Simba, who deservedly beat us at their place, but were lucky to only concede one in the return leg. In the end we squeeze through on penalties. Next Fixtures A huge and difficult month as we travel to Enyimba Aba and Kano Pillars in the NPFL this month and will do well to get two points from those games. In the Champions League we have a very tough draw against Sundowns, so lets see if we can get into the Group Stage.

2077/78 Season Preview Despite finishing second last season the media sees us finishing in mid-table this season, which is the same expectation as the board has. Our rep has increased to two stars which is nice and I would like to qualify for Africa again, which means top 3 or win the Fed Cup. Transfers In Out A lot of movements as we revamp the team, bringing in players for now and the future. On the outgoing front Lorenzo is the big loss as he made a fuss and I had to accept the bid from Enyimba Aba, but at least we managed to get in a future 50% sale clause and a loan back for this season which will leave us with a year to find a replacement. On the incoming front there are a few players who will come into contention for the first team right away. The veteran comes in on a free after being released by Lobi Stars. Best BPD at the club. Another free signing, this one young and with potential. Will fight for a place next to Agbo at the back. Will compete with Mohamed for that spot, Devon is more experienced an a Zimbabwean international. Another Spaniard picked up from the lower leagues and will be our starting DLP. Great bargain at $2k considering he is now worth up to $425k already! Kouassi is a great versatile player who will primarily fight for the Mezzala spot, but I can see him doing the job in many positions for us. I had higher hopes for Jaffary, but he'll still be a good option in midfield for us. Great young player that will challenge Bassilekin for the AP slot. Best XI Mostly agree with our Assistant, although Agbo would make BPD for me. Other than left-back I am really happy with the strength and depth at the club. Can see a few players getting disgruntled as the season goes on though... Initial Fixtures With the season starting a lot earlier in Nigeria we will actually play the Preliminary Round of the Champions League after we get our NPFL campaign started. Simba is not a straightforward tie but hopefully we can make it through.

2076/77 West African Review CAF Champions League Only slightly better this year with 6 teams in the Group Stage, but this time 5 make it into the Quarter Finals. Another Ghanaian final as Asante Kotoko edge out their rivals on penalties to win their 9th Champions League. CAF Confederation Cup A strong 8 teams at this stage, with representation from even Togo and Benin. 4 teams make it past to the Quarter Finals. We have a West African side of the draw with an unfancied Semi Final and a bit of a shock as Senegal's SONACOS win their first ever Confederation Cup. West African League Rankings Senegal move up into second best of the continent, whilst lower down the Togolese league surpasses Guinea. League Champions A couple of new champions as Eliwidj FC overcome mighty Stade Malien and RSLAF conquer Sierra Leone. In The Gambia Banjul Hawks are now the team with most league wins. Former Champions MC Breweries: Rock bottom and awful in the second tier, so off to an unplayable league they go again. Kamboi Eagles: Another decent season as they finish 7th. Nô Pintcha da Brava: Better in the Liga Brava as they finish second but out of the Taça Brava early on again. AFC Nhacra: 3rd again but so close to the title as they were only two points off the top. Knocked out early in the cup. Ayéma FC: Back into the Championship Group after a couple of years and a decent 8th finish, CNEPS Excellence: Second in Ligue 1 and out in the Group Stage of the Confederation Cup, but at least they win their 10th Coupe du Sénégal. Banjul Utd: Big drop put of nowhere and they finish last in the First Division and are relegated. ASN NIGELEC: Follow up with another great season by winning their third Superligue title! Unisport: Whipping boys of the Championship Group again with 3 points from 10 games. CFFEB: Finish 4th and lose in the last 16 of the Coupe du Faso. Disappointing in Africa as they lose to MangaSport of Gabon in the Second Round of the Confederation Cup. Flamme Olympique: Do really well to retain the title. In Africa they were knocked out in the first round of the Champions League to Primeiro de Agosto from Angola. Avenir AC: Not a great season as they drop back to 5th, and exist early in the Coupe du Mali and Confederation Cup. Cosmos: Strong but ultimately disappointing season. They led the league all the way through only to be pipped by ASEC Mimosas in the last game. Decent campaign in Africa as they make the Group Stages of the Champions League.

Oh yeah he wildly overachieved! I thought he would make a few appearances every game or so but he was so good I couldn’t really drop him. And he could have scored more but was out injured 3 weeks at one point and went to the U-20 AFCON for a month.

2076/77 Season Review A remarkable season as we are nowhere near the relegation zone and take Kano Pillars to the last couple of games to the title. Really impressed with the consistency of the team as we had pretty much no bad runs in the league. Squad by Appearances We rotated quite a bit as we had 18-20 players coming in an out of the first team on a regular basis. I am happy with squad depth and it is just a case of slowly strengthening the side from here on now. Best Eleven Top Performers What can you say about a 16 year old that scored 20 goals in 24 appearances in his first season. Absolutely amazing and I am so excited to see what he does next season. A decent, but not outstanding player. His contributions to the team were priceless though with 16 goals and 14 assists. Our top scorer and another great prospect. Enyimba Aba are sniffing around but he wants to add a really low release clause into a new contract so I may wait a bit to renew his contract. Finances Lost a bit of money this season but any concerns go away if we get to the Group Stages of African competition next season. Progress Great progress and honestly despite our reputation not being among the best in the country I think this is the club we want to conquer Nigeria with.

May 2077 Our season unfortunately ends in a whimper as a red card means we lose in the Last 16 of the Fed Cup in extra time and we lose out in the last game against City F.C. , but still finish an amazing second place with African football guaranteed for next season.

April 2077 Our second strong comfortably navigate the first two rounds of the Fed Cup before we have two very decent home wins with Abiola getting goals again. We then run out of steam and are only able to rescue a late draw at Dakkada. This means that Kano Pillars just need to win 2 out of their last 3 games to clinch the title. Next Fixtures Two winnable games to end our NPFL campaign and a trip to a mid-table second tier side should hopefully mean at least two more Fed Cup games.

March 2077 We did well considering the fixtures we had in no large part to Abiola who scored six goals including the much famed hattrick at Enyimba Aba. We do lose ground to Kano Pillars though who look to be on course to winning the title. We do however look good for second place which by my understanding would get us Champions League football next season. Next Fixtures We finally begin our campaign in the Fed Cup which should be an easy game. In the NPFL we have no easy games this month but at least two of them are at home.

That is what I need to do as soon as he signs a professional contract!

I'd love for him to become a club legend, I just hope I can keep him at the club - if he keeps performing the way he does I can see bigger clubs knocking on our door soon. First game of March, we were 3-0 down at Enyimba Aba and he scored a hattrick to earn us a draw

February 2077 We lose against Ebedei at the start of the month in what has to be the worst performance of the season, but quickly get back on track and win the remainder of the games. Kano Pillars do take advantage of it though and we will be second even if we win our game in hand. On a side note, @KristianT - Abiola is on 10 goals already Next Fixtures A tough month which will make it hard to keep close to Kano Pillars, and we start our Federation Cup campaign.

January 2077 Just when I think we are going to fade away we have another great month. Two narrow wins before the break meant we kept up with Kano Pillars and then we did really well to go to their place and earn a draw, which was almost a win as they responded to our late goal with one of their own. Katsina Utd then did us a favor by having two players sent off in the first half, which meant we strolled the game. We now sit in second but with a game in hand and I am starting to believe we can at least make a push for African football. Transfers Out Another unhappy squad player leaves for decent money. Next Fixtures A tricky game at Ebedei, but then we play 3 teams towards the bottom which gives us a chance to keep up at the top.

December 2076 We dropped a few more points and the loss against Abia Comets was unfortunate, but if you told me at the start of the season that we would be 3 points off the top at the halfway stage I would have bitten your hand off. Transfers Out We make some money on squad players, does leave us with less depth but we have enough coverage to be OK. Next Fixtures The league takes a break for AFCON in January and we come back from it with two huge games against 1st and 3rd place.

November 2076 No chance against Enyimba Aba, but we do well to get 7 points from 3 games after that. We do lose our top spot but only on Goal Difference. A particular highlight is Solomon Abiola cementing a starting spot and already getting 6 goals this season! Transfers In Out Most signings were in anticipation of us losing players with agreed deals in the next two months, with back-up goalies coming in as well as good options in defence and midfield. The only addition to the first team was Wandile Nzimande, but he is not as good as my scouts made him out to be. Good versatile midfielder and already a starter for us. Another versatile player, will compete for a spot in defence primarily, but can do a job in midfield too. Good RB picked up on the cheap. Next Fixtures A tough fixture list in December and I think we are going to struggle to keep up with Kano Pillars and Enyimba Aba from now.

October 2076 We finally lose our first game, but not before we put in some decent performances which still see us in 1st. Transfers In Only brought in a promising 18 year old from South Africa on a free. Next Fixtures Will be interesting to see how we bounce back from our first defeat, especially as we host Enyimba Aba first thing.

August/September 2076 Well, I thought we could start well, but I certainly didnt imagine we would start THAT well. The first 4 games I would expect us to win, but then to beat Kano Pillars relatively comfortably and then absolutely dominate second place Katsina Utd at their place was wild. I am under no illusions that this will not last all season but it is an amazing start from this team. Next Fixtures A mixture of tough and winnable games here, lets see how long this run can go on for.

2076/77 Season Preview The off season is a lot shorter in Nigeria, which is nice but didnt really leave us with much time for signings. We made a couple good additions, but the media still thinks we should be down there fighting against relegation. That is also what the board expect but I think we can have another comfortable mid table finish. Transfers In Out A huge clear out as we start reducing the size of the squad. On the incoming front I focused on free signings as I only wanted to pay for key players. - which was the case for Sibabi-Gueli. However I did manage to balance that with the sale of a couple of defenders to Katsina Utd which helps with our finances. There are a couple of additions to the first team. Not much better than what we had but was available for free. Did allow us to sell Okeke as well. The big signing of the window slots in at DLP for us and pushes Mukudy Antony to defence. Not an automatic started but a decent option in midfield for us. I wasnt going to sign a striker but somehow a Malaga youth product appeared on our radar and I had to get the Spaniard in. Best XI We are looking more solid at the back but I still think we are light in midfield. Initial Fixtures There are some winnable games in our first fixtures so hopefully we start well.