Spleen! Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 FM09/9.3.0 Database/No edits Leagues loaded: - Belarus (First League and above) - Bulgaria ("B" Group and above) - Czech Republic (Second Division and above) - Hungary (Division II and above) - Poland (First Division and above) - Romania (Second Division and above) - Russia (First Division and above) - Slovakia (Second Division an above) - Turkey (First Division and above) - Ukraine (First League and above) 2 leagues from each nation, 20 leagues in total, giving me around 375 possible club teams to manage at any one time. I've never managed in several of these countries before; off the top of my head I can remember being FC National/Progresul in Romania, CSKA Moscow in Russia and Volyn in Ukraine, so there's a lot of unchartered territory to explore. I am playing under the name of German Hermann Schneider, born on 12/8/1972, with a starting reputation of Semi-Professional footballer. I am starting unemployed, and will take pretty much anything to begin with. In most of my saves, I usually end up being only 1 club side, as I get attached to them, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Timeline of Landmarks/Achievements 15/06/08: Appointed as manager of Georgia. 17/06/08: Reject Sportist (Svoge), Stiinta Bacau, Etar 1924 and Sportakademclub, appointed at Nesebar (3 year contract, £400p/w). 24/05/09: Finish 5th in the Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group. 01/07/09: Reject an offer from Gaz Metan CFR. 10/07/09: Reject an offer from Petrolul. 14/10/09: Finish 5th in World Cup European Qualifying Section Group 8. 07/11/09: Reject an offer from Poli Iasi. 16/12/09: Resign as manager of Georgia. 15/05/10: Finish 1st in the Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group; Promotion as Champions. 19/05/10: Bulgarian Cup Winners. 30/06/10: Sign a new 3 year contract with Nesebar on £475p/w. 01/08/10: Bulgarian Super Cup runners up. 23/02/11: Reject an offer from Most. 21/05/11: Finish 6th in the Bulgarian "A" Group. 24/05/11: Hired as manager of CSKA (Sofia). Sign a 4 year contract on £875p/w. 12/05/12: Finish 2nd in the Bulgarian "A" Group. 11/12/12: Reject an offer from Zenit. 15/03/13: Resign as manager of CSKA (Sofia). 27/05/13: Reject Denizlispor, hired as manager of Chornomorets Odesa. Sign a 4 year contract on £3,200 p/w. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Career Summary Season Club Division MP Finish Notes 2008/09 Nesebar Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group 5th 5th Cup QF 2009/10 Nesebar Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group 4th 1st Promotion, Bulgarian Cup Winners 2010/11 Nesebar Bulgarian "A" Group 15th 6th 2011/12 CSKA (Sofia) Bulgarian "A" Group 2nd 2nd 2012/13 CSKA (Sofia) Bulgarian "A" Group 1st n/a Resign when 5th Career Totals: Team Years at club/nation P W D L F A Nesebar 2008-2011 102 56 21 25 164 101 Georgia 2008-2009 14 4 3 7 15 20 CSKA (Sofia) 2011-2013 59 32 12 15 95 59 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 175 92 36 47 274 180 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Post reserved III, in case I've forgotten something Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 The Beginning There were plenty of jobs available at the start of the season, and I naturally applied for them all. I received 6 offers, 1 from an international side and the others from clubs in the 2nd tiers of their countries. I chose to delay the club offers for a week to see if any other offers would arrive, before accepting the job with Georgia on 15/6/2008. Georgia are currently ranked 78th in the world. Our World Cup qualifying group contains Italy, Ireland, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Cyprus, so it's going to be tough to finish any higher than 5th. Accepting the Georgia job made some clubs withdraw their offers, but some made a new offer. In the end, I rejected offers from Sportist (Svoge) (Bulgaria), Stiinta Bacau (Romania), Etar 1924 (Bulgaria) and Sportakademclub (Russia), and signed a 3 year contract on £400p/w with Nesebar of the Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group. I'll put up some info on Nesebar tomorrow, as I realise they're not the most fashionable team, but hopefully under my management I can at least leave them in a better place than they're currently in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 No Asian Experience JSalter? Or you've had enough of Asia for now. Good luck with Georgia and Nesebar. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeLikeFM Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Dont get addicted to that vodka. Good luck and enjoy it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Good luck with Georgia and Nesebar JSalter I'm looking forward to following your progress. I've managed a few times in eastern Europe, namely Croatia and Russia and really enjoyed it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 Thanks for the encouragement guys. Rancer: I felt I needed to manage outside of Asia for a change...although Georgia, Turkey and Russia can all be part of Asia, so I'm still there really! Nesebar (Nesebar) I can't find a badge that is definitely theirs, so I'll leave that out for now. Nesebar is a Bulgarian professional football club, founded in 1946, based in the town of Nesebar. Their only 'honour' to date was finishing 3rd in the "B" Group in 2004, so traditionally they're not a big club. They play their home games at Gradski stadion in Nesebar, which has a capacity of 8000 (5000 seated). The club has adequate corporate, training and youth facilities. Division: Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group Bank balance: £455,540 Value: £350k Season tickets sold: 84 (obviously we won't be filling our stadium) Media prediction: 5th (promotion odds 12-1) Board expectations: A respectable finish A healthy balance, but with not much income expected to come from gate receipts it will be hard to maintain it at that level. 5th place looks a realistic goal, promotion is probably too much to ask for though (only the top team gets promoted automatically, 2nd place goes into a playoff). The starting squad wasn't terrible, but needed more strength in depth, and some decent strikers and a keeper. I brought in 7 players on frees and 4 on loans, offloading a 33 year old defender for £5k. (I would go more into detail/post a screenshot here of the squad but I'm already well into the season). According to my assistant's report, my star players are: Farhod Vasiev: An 18 year old Tajik right back that I signed on a free from Saturn. Currently he would be a good player for most top division sides. Stanimir Mitev: A 23 year old central midfielder who has been at the club for the past 2 seasons. Also a good player for top division sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursty2 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Nice start JS, it'll be interesting to see how you go especially with a decent bank balance:thup: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 February 2009 Update Nesebar League Table A solid start to club management, as we sit in a comfortable 7th place, with 5th still a real possibility. Promotion is probably not going to be possible unless we can sort out our away form - only 6 points from 7 games so far. We are currently unbeaten in our last league 7 games, so if we can keep this form up we could have an outside chance of a top 2 finish. Our star of the season so far has been Stanimir Mitev, who has scored 7 goals in 14 games, with an average rating of 7.36. At least a few of his goals have been outstanding individual efforts involving him beating defenders, and it's clear that he can perform at a higher level. Our performances in the cup have also been encouraging. In the 1st Round we thrashed Vidima-Rakovski (currently 4th in the Western "B" Group) 5-1, before putting out Loko (Mezdra) and Minyor (Pernik), both of the top division. Our efforts have been rewarded with a tie in the Quarter Finals at home to CSKA Sofia, record league champions and 1st at the winter break. Georgia It's been a struggle. Starting ranked 78th, we're now 106th after some tough games. (World Cup Qualifiers unless stated). Wales 0-0 Georgia (Friendly) Georgia 1-3 Ireland We took the lead thanks to an own goal, but Ireland dominated. Italy 2-1 Georgia Geperidze Italy controlled the game, although we managed to pull 1 back with 10 minutes to go against the World Champions. Georgia 1-1 Cyprus Kenia A game we really should have won. We took the lead after 3 minutes, but despite having 18 shots to their 6, we eneded up drawing. Georgia 2-3 Bulgaria Gigiadze, Kobiashvili We were so close to causing a massive upset, as we led 2-1 from the 22nd minute, before 2 goals in the last 5 minutes broke Georgian hearts. Romania 2-0 Georgia (Friendly) Ireland 2-1 Georgia Asatiani Another game where we score to pull it back to 2-1, then can't find an equaliser. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 2008/09 Season Review - Nesebar Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group: 5th (Media Prediction 5th) Bulgarian Cup: Quarter Finals, lost 2-0 v CSKA Sofia Season Stats: P32, W15, D8, L9, F49, A33 A good season as we finish where the media thought we would. The board are pleased with the league finish, and are delighted with our cup run, meaning my job is currently very secure. *Just checked again a day or 2 later, and suddenly my job is only stable. The league expectations has just changed to promotion, nice of them to tell me after the league season ended, bug? It didn't say that at any other point in the season.* Best Eleven Player of the Season: Stanimir Mitev, AVG 7.16 Top Goalscorer: Stanimir Mitev, 11 and Darin Todorov, 11 Todorov had a great 2nd half of the season, weighing in with 12 assists as well as his goals. Balance: £361,197 Value: £300k Still healthy, although we lost money every month except when CSKA came to town. For next season, the board want a respectable finish again. It should be possible if I can hang onto Mitev and Todorov, and find a striker who can score 15+ goals a season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 2008/09 Season Review - Georgia Since February, things have got much better, and having been as low as 115th in the world, we're now up to 70th. (WCQ unless stated). Cyprus 1-2 Georgia Tatanashvili, OG Should have been more comfortable as we had 65% of possession, and we almost let our 2 goal lead slip, but held on for my first win in charge. Georgia 1-0 Montenegro Gigiadze A first half penalty was enough to make it 2 wins in a row in an even game. Liechtenstein 0-2 Georgia (Friendly) Asatiani, Kobiashvili Easy win in a friendly. Currently we're 4th in the group, although Montenegro are only 1 point behind us and have played a game less. Realistically the only match to go where we could pick up points is away to Montenegro. World View A look at title winners this season. Club World Championship: Man Utd European Champions Cup: Juventus EURO Cup: Fiorentina Belarusian Highest League (2008): BATE Bulgarian "A" Group: Levski Czech First Division: Sparta Prague Hungarian Division I: Debrecen Ekstraklasa: Wisla Romanian First League: Dinamo Bucharest Russian Premier Division (2008): CSKA Moscow Slovak First Division: Trnava Turkish Premier Division: Fenerbahce Ukrainian Premier League: Dinamo Kiev Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Nice job with Nesebar and Georgia so far. I'm shocked by Lyubimet's performance... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 Summer 2009 Club: Nesebar (Nesebar) Division: Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group Bank balance: £334,142 Value: £350k Season tickets sold: 86 (+2) Media prediction: 4th (promotion odds 6-1) Board expectations: A respectable finish Transfer Budget: £36k Wage Budget: £4.1k p/w Pretty much the same as last season is expected, but the odds for us winning promotion have halved. TRANSFERS IN Dimitar Dimitrov, Free, Levski Left back we had on loan last year, deal made permanent after his contract expired at Levski. Martin Dimov, Free, Levski A quality central defender to plug the holes in our defence as our best centre back last season (Shishkov) seems to be in decline. Will be a regular. Georgi Semerdzhiev, Free, Botev (Plovdiv) Hopefully can provide us with more firepower up front. Will probably rotate with Simic at the start, then whoever is on form will play most of the time. Georgi Nedyalkov, Free, Free Agent Back up midfielder, and I can't see him providing much more than cover in the future. Stanimir Andonov, Loan, Vidima-Rakovski Signed hastily towards the end of the window as I realised the squad was lacking cover. Reserve left winger. Marius Soare, Loan, Farul Same as above, reserve MR/C. Ivaylo Dimitrov, Loan, Loko (Sofia) Could well be a regular, my coaches give him 6 stars, and he would be a decent player for "A" Group teams. Sebastien Fechner, £8k, Rilski Sportist Used some of my transfer budget for the first time to bring in another defender on transfer deadline day, will almost certainly be a regular in my first team. TRANSFERS OUT None of note, just youth players released and a couple of reserves going for free. YOUTH INTAKE There were no players in my youth team last season who would even be decent, but this year has thrown up some players described as quality by my coaches. Nikola Evtimov Rodrigo Calvo Both have the potential to be as good as my current best in their positions. I might give them some games later on in the season, especially if we've got nothing left to play for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCFC Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 A good first season with Nesebar, lets hope you can build on the performance and close the gap on those promotion slots this season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earendil Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Looking good so far, I'll be following. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 I forgot to mention earlier that I turned down 2 job offers over the summer. The first came from Gaz Metan CFR of Romania, newly promoted to the Second League. They were offering me £325 p/w, less than what I'm currently earning, and it didn't take much thought to reject it. Then came Petrolul, from the same league. They finished 13th, just above relegation last season, so I rejected them as well, showing loyalty to Nesebar. However, now I'm being quite tempted by an offer I've just received at the end of October. Poli Iasi, who got relegated from the Romanian First League last season, and are currently 3rd in the Second League. The tempting thing is that I'd be given a transfer budget of £1.6m, and a 4 year contract on £600 p/w. The club is worth £2.6m and has secure finances. Tempting... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 No brainer JSalter. No. This advice is coming from a lunatic who rejected Shandong though. That offer is tempting though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 I've delayed my decision for a week, before then I've got a league match. I'm thinking I should let my players decide if I should stay, if we win I stay, if we lose I go (It's a very winnable home match). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Well, JSalter, did you win or not? :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 We won 5-1, but I'd already decided what my decision would be. You'll have to wait for the winter break update to see which club I'm at Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 December 2009 Update Nesebar League Table Yes, I'm still in Bulgaria having rejected Poli Iasi. Although it was a tempting offer, they're a club in a similar position to Nesebar (albeit with more money), as we went through the first half of the season unbeaten in 14 league and 4 cup games, to be top of the league at the 3 month winter break. This run of 18 games unbeaten is the longest in the club's history. Our away form has been so much better this season - we've actually won 5 and drawn 2 home and away. We started with 4 straight wins without conceding a goal, and despite a minor blip, where we drew 4 league games in 6, we go into the break off the back of 4 straight league wins. For some reason we had to play in the Preliminary Round of the Cup this year, but non-league Bdin didn't cause us any problems, as we won 2-0. Next up was another away game, against Sliven 2000 (just down from the top league), and after trailing at half time we won 4-2. A game at home to Vihren (3rd in the "A" League) was next, and we fully deserved our 1-0 win. Our final game before the winter break was in the 3rd round, against Vidima-Rakovski, and we won 4-1 with Mitev and Semerdzhiev each scoring twice. Mitev and Semerdzhiev have been the stars of the season. They are the joint top scorers in the league with 7 goals each; in all competitions Mitev has 9 in 15 (from midfield!) and Semerdzhiev has 10 from 16. Semerdzhiev has also provided 7 assists, as he settled in quickly to life at Nesebar. Czech winger Moravec has also been on good form, scoring twice and getting 5 assists in 18 games. If we can keep up this great unbeaten run, which there is a good chance of if the likes of Semerdzhiev keep firing, we will have a real chance of promotion this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 December 2009 Update Georgia World Cup Qualifying Georgia 0-3 Italy If it wasn't for Buffon we would have had a chance of something here. Italy's goals were a penalty, free kick and a long range shot, while possession was 50/50, and we created 3 clear cut chances to their 1. Georgia 3-0 The Gambia (Friendly) Kaladze, Gigiadze, Burduli Montenegro 2-0 Georgia 2 goals from Vucinic just after half time settled this game. Once again we created 3 clear cut chances and couldn't take them. Bulgaria 1-1 Georgia Khojava A highly unlikely draw to end World Cup Qualifying. We were outshot 22-5, and our goal came in the 93rd minute, our only shot in target in the match. Currently the FA feel I should be performing better as manager, they are disappointed the team weren't competitive. At the moment I'm contemplating resigning so that I can concentrate on Nesebar - earlier in the season I did tell myself that if I was top at the winter break, I would quit with Georgia. However, after the draw in Bulgaria we're now 66th in the world, the highest under my management, and 12 places higher than when I took over. If I was to quit now, I feel I can look back at this reign as a success. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm back, and I've now resigned as manager of Georgia as I don't feel I can take them any further, plus I want to concentrate on club management. With Nesebar, we're still sitting in the top 2, although we've now suffered our 1st defeat of the season and it's very close. We're also still in the cup, in the Semi Finals now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotWordsButDeeds Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I can't find a badge that is definitely theirs, so I'll leave that out for now. I think this be it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm going to Nesebar (well Sunny Beach) on the 10th August. May see if they've got a game at theirs and go have a look. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 I think this be it. Good find Looks like the stadium could use with some development. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 2009/10 Season Review - Nesebar Bulgarian Eastern "B" Group: 1st (Media Prediction 5th) Bulgarian Cup: Winners, 2-0 v Loko (Mezdra) Season Stats: P35, W24, D10, L1, F68, A22 A fantastic season, as we only lose just once and pick up the league and cup titles. We finished the league season unbeaten in 11, including an important 3-1 win away to challengers Sliven 2000 in our second to last match. A comfortable 2-0 win against Loko (Stara Zagora) on the final day gave us promotion and the title. While challenging for the league title, we still had the cup to play for, and we played 3 top division sides from the Quarter Finals onwards. Maritsa were beaten 2-1 thanks to a 90th minute winner from Todorov, followed by an unexpected 2-1 win over CSKA Sofia. I fielded a weakened side as we had the pivotal league game against Sliven a few days later. Simic seized on a mistake to give us the lead after 10 minutes, before Semerdzhiev came on and scored almost immediately after 66 minutes. CSKA then pulled one back, but despite having 20 shots to our 4, we managed to hold on. The final was against Loko (Mezdra), mid table in the A League. Semerdzhiev scored after 25 and 55 minutes to give us a relatively easy win, despite the sending off of defender Radev after 51 minutes. Nesebar's first ever cup final and first ever cup win, and backed up by promotion it means that my job is currently untouchable. Squad Best Eleven Player of the Season: Stanimir Mitev, AVG 7.43 Top Goalscorer: Georgi Semerdzhiev, 18 Mitev was fantastic again, with 12 goals and 12 assists. Semerdzhiev scored 18 times and provided 8 assists in his first season at the club. Simic and Todorov each scored 8 goals. Balance: £209,924 Value: £425k Our finances have got worse again this season, but they're still healthy, and hopefully we'll get much more income in the top division next season. And of course, a good run in the EURO Cup could do wonders for us. World View A look at title winners this season. Club World Championship: Juventus European Champions Cup: Arsenal EURO Cup: Inter Belarusian Highest League (2009): BATE Bulgarian "A" Group: Litex Czech First Division: Mlada Boleslav Hungarian Division I: Gyor Ekstraklasa: Wisla Romanian First League: CFR Cluj Russian Premier Division (2009): CSKA Moscow Slovak First Division: Zilina Turkish Premier Division: Fenerbahce Ukrainian Premier League: Shakhtar Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cenotaph Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Great angle there. Bulgaria, awesome. That is what I love about this forum. I have in every FM since cm 97/98 managed 10-15ish seasons in norway. 10ish in italy, 5-8 in spain, 1 in france and a few hundred(i guess) in England. So since this forum came up, every 5 minutes I'm thinking, oh that looks like fun, I want to try that! You guys inspire me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotWordsButDeeds Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm glad you stayed at Nesebar, and well done on your promotion. Regarding Georgia - I never take a national job in the first season; apart from just not feeling right, it distracts me from the real day job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Last season's best eleven added in now. Mitev obviously the pick of the players, and he wins Fans' player of the season as well as winning our league's player of the season award. I keep thinking the same Cenotaph. This forum is a great way to get an interest and learn more about leagues you're not very familiar with. NotWordsButDeeds: Thanks, and I'm glad I stayed as well! I don't think I'll be taking another national job at any time in the near future, club management is the way forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Summer 2010 Club: Nesebar (Nesebar) Division: Bulgarian "A" Group Bank balance: £240,092 Value: £675k Season tickets sold: 541 (+455) Media prediction: 15th (title odds 150-1) Board expectations: Fight bravely against relegation Transfer Budget: £28k Wage Budget: £25.6k p/w (£11.5k p/w currently used) It's going to be a tough first season in the "A" Group, but the team has been improved from last season, when we managed to get good results against top division sides in the cup, so survival should be possible. TRANSFERS IN Karol Kovalik, Free, Slovan Bratislava Will be straight into my first team in central defence, as good as Fechner. Nikolay Hristozov, Free, Loko (Mezdra) Can play as left or right back, so will probably fit in at left back. Maciej Bebenek, Free, Free Agent Should be my starting right midfielder this season. Lukas Bajer, Free, Free Agent Can play on either wing, and will provide good cover. Adam Hlousek, Free, Jablonec 21 year old left winger or striker, who will probably spend most of his time on the left this season, in rotation with fellow Czech Moravec. Piotr Trafarski, £3k, Lechia Gdansk Striker who could be my 2nd striker this season, after Semerdzhiev. Krzysztof Pilarz, Free, Free Agent New first choice keeper, rated as 7 star by my assistant, and twice the player of last year's keeper Shterev. Marko Kelic, Free, Siroki Brijeg A young striker with plenty of pace and good finishing, he could well feature regularly this season. TRANSFERS OUT No notable departures again, just fringe players released. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 December 2010 Update - Nesebar League Table A promising first half to our first season in the top flight, as we sit in a useful 9th place at the winter break, which seemed unlikely after we lost our first 5 league games. The season began with an outing in the Super Cup against league champions Litex, and unsurprisingly we lost 2-0. After losing our opening league game against Levski, we had our EURO Cup campaign to start, which would prove to be shortlived. We entered at the 4th Qualifying Round against Zurich, and despite going behind at home in the 1st leg, we rallied to win 2-1, Simic scoring the winner. Unfortunately we couldn't put up much resistance in Switzerland, going down 3-0. After losing our first 5 league games (against the teams that finished 2nd-6th last season), we were bottom of the league, and needed to start picking up wins. Chernomorets were our first victims, as we won 2-1 at home to them to get our first points of the season. We then won 3 of our next 4 matches to begin our move up the table, and going into the winter break we are unbeaten in 4. In our defence of the cup, we struggled to overcome Belite orli of the Western "B" Group in the 2nd Round, before losing to Pirin after extra time. At least for the rest of the season we can concentrate on the league and guarantee our survival. Our star of the season so far has been new signing Marko Kelic, who has scored 9 goals in 16 games. Semerdzhiev only has 3 in 15, and has struggled to make the step up. Mitev has also struggled to a certain extent - he only has 1 goal and 1 assist in 17 matches - although he is still playing well, with the 3rd highest average rating of anyone in the squad (behind Kelic and Kovalik). In the 2nd half of the season, if Mitev can start being more influential we should survive easily. In other news, I keep getting linked to some decent jobs. Last season I was always linked to clubs in the 2nd tier, but now it's all top division clubs, such as Legia, Polonia Warszawa and Saturn. It looks like when I decide to leave Nesebar I should have some enticing options. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Some good signings pre season JSalter. Hopefully second half of the season you can pick up some valuable points and move up the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 2010/11 Season Review - Nesebar Bulgarian "A" Group: 6th (Media Prediction 15th) Bulgarian Cup: 3rd Round, lost 2-1 v Pirin (Blagoevgrad) Bulgarian Super Cup: Runners-up, lost 2-0 v Litex EURO Cup: 4th Qualifying Round, lost 4-2 v Zurich on aggregate Season Stats: P35, W17, D3, L15, F47, A46 A great 2nd half of the season, where we won 9 of our last 11 games, left us in an amazing position of 6th in our 1st season in the "A" League. This run included a 2-1 win away to last year's champions Litex on the final day of the season to secure 6th, 9 places above what was predicted. We were never threatened by relegation after the winter break. The only problem is that this position will be hard to repeat next season, and expectations may be raised too much, while we really don't have the budget to keep competing as high as this. The club won an award at the end of the season: we finished 1st in the Bulgarian Fans Most Attractive Club of the Season. Squad Best Eleven - Season Best Eleven - Overall Player of the Season: Marko Kelic, AVG 7.11 Top Goalscorer: Marko Kelic, 11 Kelic shone in his first season at the club, leading the average ratings and goalscoring for us, despite missing almost 2 months after the winter break. Semerdzhiev weighed in with 8 goals, while midfielder Kovalik took over the Mitev role, scoring 7 and setting up 5. Mitev himself wasn't involved in goals as much this season, but still played well and was vital in our 6th place finish. Balance: £75,580 Value: £525k We've been losing money for most of the season, and without the approx £175k we got from the EURO Cup, we'd be in the red. Attendances have been up this season (average 1916), but our wage costs have been 10x our gate receipts this season, despite having low wages. Without European football next season, we probably stand to lose about £300k, and this if I don't change my squad at all. I'm beginning to think I've taken Nesebar as far as I can, 6th place will be a huge challenge to equal for me or any subsequent manager, without additional financial backing. I have an offer on the table from CSKA Sofia, who missed out on the title this year on head to head record, and I feel it would be wise to take it... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Say hello to the new manager of CSKA (Sofia). I've signed a 4 year contract on £875pw. CSKA (Sofia) Honours CSKA (Sofia) are the most successful Bulgarian club in terms of league titles, with 31, as well as having 10 Bulgarian Cup wins. The last league win came in 2008, with finishes of 2nd, 4th and 2nd since then, and their last cup win came in 2006. Nothing won for 3 seasons then, a drought that will need addressing. CSKA play their home games at Balgarska Armiya in Sofia, with a capacity of 24000 (22015 seated). They have average corporate, training and youth facilities, with a youth academy. Division: Bulgarian "A" Group Bank balance: £7,461,402 Value: £7.75M A nice balance, the club made a profit of £610k this season despite not playing in Europe. I've been given a healthy transfer budget (around £4.7M) and a wage budget of £55k pw, of which £32k is currently being used. We have the 2nd highest value of Bulgarian sides (behind Levski), are 1 of only 2 clubs rated as having secure finances, and had the highest turnover of any Bulgarian club last season (£3M). With this financial backing, the title challenge that will be expected should be possible. Team Report The squad is obviously of a fairly high quality after almost winning the title this season. A new keeper and striker will be the priority - I'm tempted to get Kelic from Nesebar, as he's a young striker who looks to have a good future. CSKA played with a lone striker this season, but hopefully the team will adjust well to my traditional 4-4-2. I'm looking forward to having more money to spend in the transfer market, and hopefully I can thrive under the pressure of managing the biggest club in Bulgaria (I'm sure any Levski fans will disagree ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Good Luck with Sofia JSalter it seems they're a club with a good reputation on FM and can attract some good players. It won't be long before you have them winning the Bulgarian League once again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Congrats on your new position I'm sure you can bring the title to Balgarska Armiya this season. Good to see you career progressing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 World View 2010/11 A look at title winners this season (numbers in brackets denote how many times they have won it in a row). Club World Championship: Arsenal European Champions Cup: Barcelona EURO Cup: Valencia Belarusian Highest League (2010): BATE (6) Bulgarian "A" Group: Levski Czech First Division: Viktoria Plzen Hungarian Division I: MTK Ekstraklasa: Wisla (3) Romanian First League: Rapid Buc. Russian Premier Division (2010): Zenit Slovak First Division: Artmedia Turkish Premier Division: Galatasaray Ukrainian Premier League: Shakhtar (2) And as I haven't mentioned the winners of any international competitions thus far, here's a catch up: World Cup 2010: Brazil African Cup of Nations 2010: Angola Oceania Nations Cup 2010: New Zealand Confederations Cup 2009: Spain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 GL at CSKA Sofia JSalter. You should get Stefan Frei btw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 Summer 2011 Club: CSKA (Sofia) Division: Bulgarian "A" Group Continental Competition: EURO Cup Bank balance: £8,105,288 Value: £9.25M Season tickets sold: 1722 Media prediction: 2nd (title odds 3-1) Board expectations: Challenge for the title Transfer Budget: £5.2M (£4M remaining) Wage Budget: £65.9k pw (£36.1k pw currently used) We should be able to challenge for the title and keep the board happy, but they also want us to get to the group stages of the EURO Cup, and as we're not seeded in the 3rd Qualifying Round, we could get a tough draw. TRANSFERS IN Andrei Barbulescu, £190k, FC Timisoara This transfer had already been agreed before I took over, will probably be a fringe player. Douglas, £1M, Internacional My biggest signing so far brings this young Brazilian striker to Bulgaria. Temperamental but talented, hopefully I can get the best out of him. Daniel Iacob, £170k, FC Arges 18 year old midfielder who should be a regular, and looks like he could be many years as he improves. TRANSFERS OUT Nothing significant, other than a young midfielder being sold for £300k (agreed before I arrived). Nesebar signed one of my reserve keepers when his contract expired. TEAM REPORT This should be my starting eleven according to my assistant: Ivan Karadzhov GK The weak link in the team, although in the last 2 seasons he hasn't conceded more than the number of games he has played. The backup Hermann Gudmundsson is at a similar level, and is only 19 so might end up playing more often. Yordan Todorov D/WB/AMR May be 30 but had a great season last year, so should be a prominent member of the team. Maurice van Dijk DRL The star of the team, rated at 7 stars. Young so will only get better. Likely to take our penalties this season. Jacek Kowalczyk SW/DC 30 year old Pole. Has been a regular for the last couple of seasons, may need replacing soon. Barbulescu and 18 year old Kouril could step in. Tamas Vasko DC Spent the last season on loan at Czech champions Viktoria Plzen. Good in the air. Aleksander Tonev AMRL Young midfielder who can play on either wing, likely to be important if we are going to challenge for the title. Ivaylo Dimitrov AML/ST Another young Bulgarian on the wing, and should be able to provide plenty of goals for my strikers. Popo AMC Former Malaga midfielder, will probably end of rotating with Zehirov and Valeriev. Daniel Iacob MC I'm hoping for big things from Iacob, will probably rotate with Zehirov/Valeriev though. Vladimir Manchev ST He may almost be 34, but with 16 goals and 8 assists in 28 games last season, he is still a force to be reckoned with. His playing time may have to be less this season, giving chances to the likes of Proschwitz and 17 year old Vavra. Dimitrov in attack could be used as well. Douglas ST Hopefully the Brazilian can find his feet quickly and provide the goals that Manchev may no longer be able to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 August-September 2011 - CSKA (Sofia) I've decided I'm going to do updates every 2 months for this season at least, I'll change back if I don't like it as much this way. FC Moscow 2-3 CSKA Sofia [EURO Cup 3rd Qualifying Round 1st Leg] Douglas, Popo, Manchev We were handed a difficult tie against the side who finished 5th in Russia last season, but we managed to get an excellent result away from home. Douglas scored early in his debut, and we were twice ahead before being pegged back to 2-2. Veteran Manchev won it for us in the 2nd half. CSKA Sofia 2-0 FC Moscow [EURO Cup 3rd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg] Douglas, Manchev A much better performance defensively, and a comfortable 5-2 aggregate win thanks to my 2 strikers. Fenerbahce 3-1 CSKA Sofia [EURO Cup 4th Qualifying Round 1st Leg] Valeriev A poor display against the Turks, as we failed to take our chances, falling 3-0 behind after an hour. Valeriev's stoppage time consolation gave us hope for the return leg. Levski 2-1 CSKA Sofia [A] Douglas In my first league game in charge, we went 2-0 down against the champions and our fierce rivals. Douglas pulled 1 back before being sent off to end our hopes. CSKA Sofia 4-1 Rilski sportist [A] Dimitrov 2, van Dijk, Zlatinov Looks like an easy win, but at 2-1 after 60 minutes I was worried. 4-1 flatters us against the top flight new boys. CSKA Sofia 1-0 Spartak Varna [A] Manchev Manchev's 1st minute goal was enough to secure 3 points, it should have been a much bigger margin though. CSKA Sofia 3-4 Fenerbahce [EURO Cup 4th Qualifying Round 2nd Leg] Valeriev, Manchev, Dimitrov Behind 1-0 at half time, we came out quickly and were 2-1 up after 50 minutes. Substitute Zlatinov was then sent off for needlessy kicking Tuncay, and 4 minutes later, after 69 minutes, another substitute Dikamona was taken off injured, leaving us with 9 men. Fener scored 3 quick goals before a late penalty gave us little consolation. CSKA Sofia 1-1 Litex [A] Curtuius Points dropped at home to a title rival, as we score a 71st minute equaliser after a freak goal for Litex. We should have won. CSKA Sofia 3-2 Slavia Sofia [A] Popo, Douglas, OG An exciting city derby, which we were in control of, 2-0 ahead at half time. Slavia came back, with an equaliser in the 92nd minute. It looked like more points dropped at home, but van Dijk went down the left in the 94th minute, and his cross was turned in by a Slavia defender to give us the points. Loko Sofia 1-1 CSKA Sofia [A] Manchev 3 days earlier Loko had lost 9-0 at Litex; despite an early lead we couldn't hold on and only come away with a draw. Nesebar 1-1 CSKA Sofia [A] Douglas A disappointing result against my old club. We were ahead after 7 minutes, but after an equaliser from Diarra in the 46th minute, Nesebar were the more likely team to win. Another lead thrown away. CSKA Sofia 1-0 Loko Mezdra [A] Manchev Manchev secures a win for us again. Loko Plovdiv 1-0 CSKA Sofia [A] We fail to score for the 1st time this season, and we suffer defeat away from home again. League Table It's very close, but really we should be clear at the top, having drawn games were we should have won. We've only got 2 points in 4 away games so far, which is a worry. Goalscoring hasn't been a problem: Manchev has 6, Douglas has 5, but we need to concede less. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotWordsButDeeds Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Looks like you're having some interesting matches mate. Who's predicted to top the table - Levski? I thought Litex were quite a big team in Bulgaria, but I see they're near the foot of the table? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Levski are predicted 1st, Litex 3rd I think. Litex aren't traditionally a big team - they've only won 2 titles before the start of the game, in 1998 and 1999 - but they always seem to be up the top of the table (they've finished in the top 5 every year since 1998), and won the title in 2010 on this game. They've started moving up the league a bit now, but it is still ridiculously close, and a few wins in a row could easily put them 1st. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 October-November 2011 - CSKA (Sofia) CSKA Sofia 2-1 Belasitsa [A] Popo, Tonev Our good home form continues, with Tonev scoring the winner shortly after the break. Should have been a far greater margin of victory. Pirin (Blagoevgrad) 3-1 CSKA Sofia [A] Iacob Appalling. An even game, but we were still convincingly beaten in the end by our average opponents. CSKA Sofia 2-0 Beroe [A] Douglas, Vavra An easy win over the bottom side. van Dijk missed a penalty, thankfully Beroe were so poor this didn't matter. Chernomorets (Burgas) 2-1 CSKA Sofia [A] van Dijk Frustratingly we threw away a 1-0 lead. van Dijk's penalty put us ahead with 23 minutes left, yet Chernomorets still managed to get a 2-1 win despite us having the better of the match. CSKA Sofia 2-0 Maritsa [A] Iacob, Dimitrov Before this game, we were 9th and my job was very insecure, so a win was important. 2 goals in the opening 20 minutes provided the 3 points, and kept me in work for a bit longer. Botev (Plovdiv) 4-2 CSKA Sofia [bulgarian Cup 2nd Round] Vidlicka, Todorov An open match, away to the team who were top of the league (following promotion last season) before the previous round of games. We were 2-1 up after half an hour, but it was 2-2 at half time, and once again away from home we ended up getting beaten after being ahead. Another reason for the board to want to get rid of me. Botev (Plovdiv) 2-2 CSKA Sofia [A] Douglas, Tonev Twice ahead, but another game without an away win. League Table It's still very close, and our season could go either way from here. A run of wins will take us into a title battle, but if we continue to be inconsistent, mid table will be the best we can hope for, and that scenario could well lead to my sacking/resignation. My job is currently insecure, and squad harmony is very poor, in part due to a big squad, in part due to our underperforming. I've spent over £1.3M in the January transfer window so far, mostly on 2 central defenders, with £70k on a central midfielder. I still can't find a new keeper who is better than what I've got, so I'm going to have to stick with my current keepers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 February-March 2012 - CSKA (Sofia) Rilski sportist 2-2 CSKA Sofia [A] Valeriev, Todorov A poor start after the winter break, as we drop points away to relegation candidates. We dominated, but still needed to come back from 2-1 down, and couldn't force a win. CSKA Sofia 1-0 Levski [A] Zapotoka Perhaps a turning point for the season. We had been the better side in the big Sofia derby, but it appeared that it was going to be a stalemate, until new signing Zapotoka, off the bench for his debut, popped up to score the winner in the 93rd minute. Spartak (Varna) 0-3 CSKA Sofia [A] Douglas, Zapotoka, Todorov A surprisingly easy win away to the bottom side to give us our first domestic away win of the season, finally. Litex 1-2 CSKA Sofia [A] Zehirov, Dimitrov Another fine away win, to show we've worked out how to perform away from home at long last. Both our goals came in the 1st half, before a Litex goal made the last 25 minutes tense, but we held on. CSKA Sofia 0-0 Loko (Sofia) [A] A missed oppurtunity against the league leaders, as we out-shoot them 17 to 7, and have a penalty saved in the 91st minute. Slavia (Sofia) 0-2 CSKA Sofia [A] Douglas 2 3 away wins in a row 2 2nd half goals from Douglas sealed the points, an excellent result given Slavia were only 1 point adrift of us before this game. CSKA Sofia 2-0 Nesebar [A] Dimitrov, Douglas This time I managed to win against my former club. Dimitrov's was an outstanding individual effort, and Douglas scored cutting in from the left just before half time. Loko (Mezdra) 1-0 CSKA Sofia [A] A disappointing result that could end our title challenge. We had 60% of possession, and 13 shots to their 5, but they came out as victors, to end our 9 match unbeaten run in the league. League Table Loko (Sofia) are looking good for the title, but as long as we keep winning we could put pressure on them, and we can expect 2nd or 3rd, not a bad return considering our poor form earlier. If they slip up a couple of times, there could be an interesting title battle between us, them and Levski. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Nice month JSalter. Now overtake Loko (Sofia) for 1st! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen! Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 That would be nice rancer... April-May 2012 - CSKA (Sofia) CSKA Sofia 2-0 Loko (Plovdiv) [A] Zapotoka, van Dijk Back to winning ways straight away. Both goals came early in the 2nd half, van Dijk's from the penalty spot. Belasitsa 0-1 CSKA Sofia [A] Tonev We bossed the game, but it took us until the 77th minute to break the deadlock. Better late than never, and we secure another away win! CSKA Sofia 1-0 Pirin (Blagoevgrad) [A] Todorov For one of the first times this season, and definitely the first time after the winter break, our opponents dominated the game. We only managed 5 shots to Pirin's 17, but Todorov's goal just before half time gave us the win anyway. 3 straight clean sheets for Gudmundsson after this match. Beroe 1-2 CSKA Sofia [A] Iacob, Tubic We were 2-0 up and comfortable in this game, the goals coming early in each half, but Beroe started playing and pulled one back. We held on for our 4th successive win. CSKA Sofia 1-0 Chernomorets (Burgas) [A] Zapotoka New boy Zapotoka wins another game for us, although unlike against Levski, this goal came early, in the 4th minute. Maritsa 1-3 CSKA Sofia [A] Tonev, Douglas, van Dijk 2 up inside 20 minutes, we were never really threatened. We traded penalties in the 2nd half. CSKA Sofia 2-0 Botev (Plovdiv) [A] Douglas, Iacob A dull game to end the season, with only 10 shots in the match. Only 4 of them were ours, but once again we had a 2-0 lead at half time. 7 wins a row to finish the season. No league table posted with this update, that will come later with the season review. Obviously we finished in the top 3, but did we bring home the title thanks to our fantastic run at the end...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Congrats on claiming the title JSalter A great run at the end there! Forgive me if i'm being stupid but your updates say 2013 when you're in 2012. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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