bently_the _yid Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Haha I like Bulk! Reminds me of the character on Power Rangers, used to love that when I was little haha the first series was awesome loved the Dinozords lol. back on topic im loving the career so far SnakeXe its making me want to try Italy once ive taken Dover as far as i can in my game. Good luck in Serie A!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 24, 2010 Author Share Posted November 24, 2010 Here's Bulk in all his glory - he's bumped his strength up to 2, guess he's been working out! Thanks bently, my biggest save last year was one with Merthy Tydfil in the lower (and eventually upper) English leagues and, Italy has been quite a gentle introduction to a different league system. Would definitely recommend it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamers Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 HOW IS HE NOT FIRST TEAM :O I joke Flamers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 24, 2010 Author Share Posted November 24, 2010 Season 9: Winter Break Update After the numerous improvements in the squad, I was hoping we'd get some improvement in the points return. After an opening day win at home against Sampdoria, we lost the next four games. Not as bad as it sounds, as we had Inter, Roma and AC Milan in that sequence, losing narrowly in the one game I thought we could get something from, Genoa away. We then thumped fellow promotees Torino 4-0 to lift spirits, only to be sent packing by Juventus by the same margin in the next game. 2 slightly unfortunate losses to Atalanta and Parma followed, including a disastrous cruciate ligament rupture for star centreback Bruno Fernandez - just before a sequence of winnable games - typical! He's out for a whole year 3 wins and 3 draws in the next 6 matches shot us up the table to 11th place, before Palermo gave us a shocking reality check by demolishing us 5-1. We followed this with a worse result - 4-1 away to fellow relegation candidates Cagliari, a real kick in the nads. A decent 1-1 draw against Catania closed out the year, with a respectable 19 points from 18 games leaving us 14th in the table, 5 points away from the relegation zone. We definitely need another centreback with physical prowess in the transfer window, as Cagliari won by absolutely dominating us in the air. I've identified a few, so hopefully we can get someone in. Really pleased with how the season has gone so far, but I can see us needing a similar total from the second half of the season in order to stay up, so we can't afford to slack off at all. Results - League Table - Squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioGio85 Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Very good start to the 1st half of the season. Keep it up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smplfc Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 keep it going. I have every confidence that you will survive, thus giving you a platform to push on in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrbfcrule Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 Much better start than last time KUTGW Unlucky about losing your star centreback for the whole year though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 25, 2010 Author Share Posted November 25, 2010 Cheers guys Yeah the Fernandez injury was a real blow, especially the timing of it - fit for all the games we were definitely going to lose, injured for the ones we might get something from! Still, his replacement Marino did his best, and we got the results we needed in general. Just have to hope Fernandez is still the same player when he comes back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 SnakeXe's Messina - Season 9 - 2019/20 Story of the Season: Serie A - 7th, Qualified for Europa League A similarly shakey start to last year wasn't a disaster, despite 7 losses from the opening 9 games, as the other 2 were wins, and I felt we only really should have targetted a point or two from the other 7, against the likes of AC Milan, Inter, Roma, and Juventus as they were. We then had a good little run of form, with 3 wins and 3 draws from the next 6 to lift us clear of the relegation zone, before a couple of painful defeats to Palermo and Cagliari knocked us back to earth. A decent draw with Catania finished off the year for us. The first game back after the winter break was at home to Lazio, and we claimed a brilliant 2-1 win to close off the 19 game half season with 22 points, just 2 short of our full total from our first season in Serie A! We were, however, coming up to the reverse fixtures of the run of 7 losses from 9, so I wasn't going to get carried away yet. However, where we had lost before to Genoa, AC Milan, Juventus, Parma and Atalanta, we picked up 2 wins and 3 draws. A changeable patch of form hit us for the next few games, with 2 losses, a draw and a win, but then something remarkable happened. Everything clicked. I suddenly knew what to do tactically in every situation we found ourselves in. We put together a ridiculous 6 game winning streak to finish off the season! The pick of the results was an incredible 2-0 away win over last year's Serie A and European Champions, Palermo, with the 1-0 away against Lazio to complete the double over them a close second. This remarkable run snuck us up into 7th, a position we had not occupied all season, and quite unbelievably, brought Europa League football to Messina for next season! The second half of the season brought us 34 points, extrapolated over the whole season that's Champions League qualification form. Absolutely unbelievable, Jeff. Coppa Italia - 1st Round Got to the first round proper for the first time ever, then the stiffs lost to Catania. Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad Transfers - £7.4m Loss Spread the cash nice and thinly, with Mario Quiroga my biggest signing at £3.5m. He was definitely worth it though, adding class and verve to the midfield. Of all the signings, only Welliton didn't make a big impact, but that's because Petrillo was so awesome. Heading out were a whole load of youth players plus a couple of wingers not good enough for Serie A in Ruben and Diego Farias. 5 Most Important Players: 5. Justin Turon - D/WBRL - Is here to represent our whole defence really, as they all played well, but he had the most games. 4. Nicola Ravaglia - GK - Such a difference having a capable goalkeeper. Even inspired Vigorito to respectability when he was injured. 3. Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Suffered in the earlier part of the season from being branded our dangerman, I took him out of the firing line when I could as I had decent cover in Ljajic. Really stepped it up in the latter part of the season though, winning us a couple of games by himself. 2. Mario Quiroga - DM/MC - Might be a DM by trade, but he was incredible in the Support slot in central midfield, creating beautiful triangles with the winger and fullback going forward. Scored some great goals arriving late in the box, played some wonderful passes for assists, genuinely top class. 1. Abel Petrillo - ST - I think he must just like it up here, scored even more goals than he did in Serie B! A Messina legend at the age of 21, I'm very lucky to have him, and will do so for 4 more years after he signed a new deal! History: Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2011/12 Serie C2/C 2nd Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists 2012/13 Serie C2/C 1st Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted 2013/14 Serie C1/B 5th Playoff Semi-Finalists 2014/15 Serie C1/B 2nd Playoff Winners, Promoted 2015/15 Serie B 12th 2016/17 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2017/18 Serie A 20th Relegated 2018/19 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2019/20 Serie A 7th Qualified for Europa League Messina 100 Club: A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management. Name Pos Era Apps Goals AvR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mauro Vigorito GK 2011-Present 217 0 6.82 Nicolas Amodio DM/MC 2012-2018 183 12 6.93 Mario Ortiz DM/MC 2013-Present 169 5 6.83 Enzo Scorza ST 2012-2018 159 82 7.24 Antonio Marino DLC 2013-Present 156 4 6.86 Nicolas D/DM/MC 2015-Present 150 5 6.85 Rosario Licata D/WB/ML 2011-2016 146 3 6.92 Francesc Alcalde AMLC/ST 2014-Present 145 45 6.98 Luca Tedeschi DC 2012-2018 139 8 7.09 Diego Farias AMRLC 2015-2019 126 19 6.90 Davide Testa AM/ST 2011-2015 121 40 7.04 Abel Petrillo ST 2016-Present 116 62 7.16 Ruben AML 2015-2019 103 7 6.86 Patxi Rodriguez DM/MC 2017-Present 102 2 6.83 Next Season: Well to be honest I don't think we really were the 7th best team in the league this year, so I doubt we'll repeat that unless the board really let loose the purse strings. I guess we should aim high though, so I'll go for a top half finish in the league, and qualification from the group stage in the Europa League. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wavelberry Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Excellent work SnakeXe. Have caught up on this and you've made Serie A look easy this season. DO you think you'll be able to sustain an attack on the European front as well or are you just gonna use it as experience? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 Thanks Wavelberry It almost entirely depends on what I'm given to spend really. We have a pretty decent first 11 now, but we're weak beyond that in quite a few positions, especially both fullbacks. A lot depends on whether Bruno Fernandez makes a full comeback as well, he's back in light training already, so he's ahead of schedule, but his stats have dropped quite a lot. A good £10m to go around and I'd say we can make a pretty decent run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioGio85 Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Congrats on a truly remarkable season SnakeXe. 7th is a great achievment. Are you going to spend big in the summer? What are you expectations for next year? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romanista1994 Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 The season you got relegated was actually a blessing in disguise it appears. Great, great season, but I've just noticed you never won Serie C1 or Serie B, wasn't that in your list of things to achieve at the start? Edit- It wasn't. :o Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrbfcrule Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Fantastic season there, especially the 2nd half. I expect you to push for Champions League next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 Congrats on a truly remarkable season SnakeXe. 7th is a great achievment. Are you going to spend big in the summer? What are you expectations for next year? Just been given my budget/expectation options by the board, minimum was midtable. I thought about going for top half as I said in the update, but chickened out still gives me £12.5m to spend, of which I will likely use every penny The season you got relegated was actually a blessing in disguise it appears. Great, great season, but I've just noticed you never won Serie C1 or Serie B, wasn't that in your list of things to achieve at the start? Edit- It wasn't. :o Thanks! I was going to say we would have signed similar players anyway and progressed at the same sort of rate had we stayed up, but actually the season in Serie B allowed quite a few players to settle in, so it was indeed a blessing in disguise. Winning the Serie C Cup was on my list, and I never quite managed that either... Fantastic season there, especially the 2nd half.I expect you to push for Champions League next season I don't But thanks anyway! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Forza Messina indeed. Well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smplfc Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 you really have inspired me haha! ive just started a game with Trapani in serie C2/C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdSB Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Wow, that's seeeeeriously impressive! It's now just a matter of time before you become the top team in Italy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Thanks Nobby and EdSB, that kind of post-promotion performance in a top division is really quite unprecedented for me! Glad to hear it smplfc, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 The Squad: 2020 Goalkeepers Mauro Vigorito - GK - Italy - Was vaguely competent when Ravaglia suffered an injury last year, there's life in the old dog yet. Nicola Ravaglia - GK - Italy - Very good. Borja - GK - Brought in a third keeper on loan, as competing in Europe as well it'd probably behoove me to have a backup backup. Defenders Mogi - DRC - Brazil - Good solid right back. Giorgos Samouilidis - D/WBR - Greece - Brought in on loan as a replacement for Avogadri, couldn't find anyone worth the cash for a permanent one. Jose Antonio Lopez Gomez - D/WBL - Spain - Seems to be good enough for backup still. Justin Turon - D/WBRL - France - Very solid. Antonio Marino - DLC - Italy - Did well last year when we were missing roughly our 3 best centre-backs. Nicolas - D/DM/MC - Spain - Definitely a backup, but versatility comes in use. Bruno Fernandez - DC - Argentina - Comparing him at the start of last season and this, it doesn't look like he's recovered from a horrific cruciate ligament rupture early last season. Big shame. Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - After a good loan spell last season, brought him in permanently to cover for Fernandez's decline. Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - Italy - Signed in January last season, he also suffered from our centre-backs' injury curse, but did well when fit. Midfielders Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Excellent player. Adem Ljajic - AMRLC - Serbia - Lovely player to have, versatile and talented. Fausto Rossi - AML - Italy - Injuries keep giving him game time, he doesn't let us down. Damian Ismodes - AMRL - Peru - Good enough, getting on now. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - Bought as first choice, hopefully he'll be good. Mauricio Martin - D/DM/MC - Argentina - Our latest South American import, looks excellent. Mario Ortiz - DM/MC - Spain - Good backup. Patxi Rodriguez - DM/MC - Spain - Probably backup to Martin, but good backup. Mario Quiroga - DM/MC - Argentina - Fantastic player. Ferdy Kilic - DM/MC - Holland - Our next player sent over from the Ajax youth system, probably won't have the impact of Kooiman. Victor Amoruso - MC - Italy - Played in the Olympics for Italy, classy player. Ederson - AMLC - Brazil - Old and injury prone, so much quality though. Forwards Abel Petrillo - ST - Italy - Fantastic season last year, I had a few opportunities to sign what probably are better players over the summer, but I didn't. Probably should have, but I love this guy too much! Pietro Belfiore - ST - Italy - Getting slightly itchy feet due to lack of game time, but if Petrillo ever gets injured I know I can rely on him. Christian Benteke - ST - Belgium - Experience targetman, should give us a bit of tactical flexibility. Leavers Stefano Avogadri - D/WBR - Italy - Retired. Leandro Grimi - DL - Argentina - Contract expired, went to Serie B. Emanuele Terranova - SW/DRC - Italy - Never particularly terrible, but no great loss. Juha-Matti Rautiainen - MC - Finland - Never quite developed his technique enough. Francesc Alcalde - AMLC/ST - Spain - Did well when required, but we've outgrown him now. Welliton - AM/ST - Brazil - Retired and joined us as a coach. Overall The name of the game this summer was adding quality in depth to the squad, and it looks like we've done a decent job of that. The number of injuries we're suffering already shows we'll need it with the Europa League campaign as well. Should be good for a top-half finish. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Season 10: Winter Break Update The new season started relatively early for us, with the Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round against Levadia Talinn beckoning. A 5-0 win in the home leg announced us on the European stage, and a 1-1 away draw was plenty to see us through to the 4th and final Qualifying Round against Omonia Nicosia. A slightly trickier proposition, we again drew 1-1 away before securing progress with a solid 1-0 win at home. Drawn in a group with Man City, Trabzonspor and Georgian minnows Zestaponi, we had a good chance of qualifying. First though, the more mundane matters of Serie A. Juventus and Inter as our opening two was far from ideal, and we lost both narrowly 2-1. A couple of unlucky draws followed before our first win against Siena. By then we'd blown apart Zestaponi 8-0 at home in the Europa League, but we couldn't take anything from the City of Manchester stadium, a narrow 1-0 loss slightly unfortunate. A couple more league wins helped us climb above the relegation zone, then a hefty 4-1 win over Trabzonspor gave me confidence we could take the second place in the group. A 3-0 loss in the return, however, was far from ideal. A 5-0 win over Zestaponi didn't change the fact that we needed a result from Man City in the final group game to get through - but my, we got it! A stunning 3-0 demolition was no better than we deserved, and we headed through to the knockout rounds in style! The league form in between was mostly draws, with the odd win and very odd loss interspersed. All that left us 10th over the Winter Break, a very solid first half of the season behind us. I also celebrated 400 games in management, wahey! Bulkwatch! - He's relatively beefcaked now, strength of 5! Results 1 - Results 2 - League Table - Squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrbfcrule Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Congratz on getting to the knockout rounds, nice goal difference as well. Going pretty well in the league considering you have to balance Europe with it now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Congratz on getting to the knockout rounds, nice goal difference as well.Going pretty well in the league considering you have to balance Europe with it now. Thanks, yeah we're kind of in between the form of early and late last season, which is where I wanted us to be. Petrillo took the Serie A Young Player of the Year award, and I took the Manager of the Year, which is a nice touch - always used to just go to the manager who won the league on FM10. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 SnakeXe's Messina - Season 10 - 2020/21 Story of the Season: Serie A - 6th, Qualified for Europa League Another sticky start, with consecutive losses against Juventus and Inter, and a couple of draws against Parma and Sampdoria, was finally ended with a 2-0 win over Siena. From then on, it was mid-table form all the way, draws by the plenty, the odd win and rare loss. We were somewhat adrift in 10th place for much of the season, with a healthy cushion to the bottom half, but not quite catching the teams above us, until 9 games from the end we put together a run of 6 wins, 2 draws and a loss to take 6th place - one place and 3 points better than last season. Europa League football beckons for a second consecutive season! Coppa Italia - Quarter Final Automatically skipped the qualifying rounds due to our involvement in Europe, beat lower league Pisa with a shadow side, then lost 2-0 to Milan in the next round. Europa League - 1st Knockout Round Knocked out Levadia Talinn 6-1 on aggregate in the 3rd Qualifying Round, before a tricky 2-1 win over Omonia Nicosia to take our place in the group stage. We were drawn alongside Man City, Trabzonspor, and Zestaponi in a slightly tricky group, but our impressive home form - 3 wins from 3, 15 goals scored with only 1 against, was enough to take us through in second place behind the nouveaux riche English club. Valencia lay in wait in the 1st Knockout Round, and the eventual semifinalists demolished us 5-1 on aggregate. Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Squad Transfers - £21.85m Loss Didn't realise quite how much I spend this year, spreading it out over 48 months as I do. All decent signings coming in, Kooiman making his loan move from Ajax permanent, and general strengthening all round. Plenty of dead wood going out, plus the usual dirge from the youth system. 5 Most Important Players: 5. Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - Did a great job at the centre of defence. 4. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Almost 1 assist every 2 games in his first season at the club is an impressive return. 3. Victor Amoruso - MC - Great return of goals and assists, really stepped up his play this year. 2. Adem Ljajic - AMRLC - Amazing goal return from the Serbian winger, second highest scorer behind Petrillo. 1. Abel Petrillo - ST - Beat his own record for goalscoring with 22 this year, hopefully will bring in someone to take a bit of pressure off him over the summer. History: Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2011/12 Serie C2/C 2nd Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists 2012/13 Serie C2/C 1st Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted 2013/14 Serie C1/B 5th Playoff Semi-Finalists 2014/15 Serie C1/B 2nd Playoff Winners, Promoted 2015/15 Serie B 12th 2016/17 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2017/18 Serie A 20th Relegated 2018/19 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2019/20 Serie A 7th Qualified for Europa League 2020/21 Serie A 6th Qualified for Europa League Messina 100 Club: A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management. Name Pos Era Apps Goals AvR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mauro Vigorito GK 2011-Present 217 0 6.82 Nicolas Amodio DM/MC 2012-2018 183 12 6.93 Antonio Marino DLC 2013-Present 180 5 6.88 Mario Ortiz DM/MC 2013-Present 169 5 6.83 Enzo Scorza ST 2012-2018 159 82 7.24 Abel Petrillo ST 2016-Present 156 84 7.19 Nicolas D/DM/MC 2015-Present 154 5 6.85 Rosario Licata D/WB/ML 2011-2016 146 3 6.92 Francesc Alcalde AMLC/ST 2014-2020 145 45 6.98 Patxi Rodriguez DM/MC 2017-Present 141 9 6.83 Luca Tedeschi DC 2012-2018 139 8 7.09 Nicola Ravaglia GK 2018-Present 127 0 6.90 Diego Farias AMRLC 2015-2019 126 19 6.90 Davide Testa AM/ST 2011-2015 121 40 7.04 Victor Amoruso MC 2018-Present 121 13 6.98 Mogi DRC 2017-Present 117 0 6.80 Ruben AML 2015-2019 103 7 6.86 Fausto Rossi AML 2016-Present 102 18 6.97 Filippo Vitone AMRC 2018-Present 101 19 7.16 Next Season: We're doing pretty well financially, but my highest weekly wage is just £14,500 per week at the moment. I have plenty of budget available to burst through that ceiling, but I don't really want to, as we could do with expanding the training and youth facilities first. Next season's objective, therefore, is to upgrade our facilities whilst retaining Europa League football. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 Wahey! Under-soil heating and new training facilities already Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioGio85 Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Congrats on 6th place. Also loving Bulk-watch Sounds like the club is on the up with the development in the under soil heating and training facilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrbfcrule Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 More Europa league football and an improvement on last season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 Thanks gents Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 The Squad: 2021 Goalkeepers Mauro Vigorito - GK - Italy - 3rd choice now, didn't make an appearance last season. Nicola Ravaglia - GK - Italy - Didn't have such a great season with some silly mistakes costing us, hence Muslera. Fernando Muslera - GK - Uruguay - Ex-Lazio veteran signs after his old club were relegated, should get a good couple of seasons out of him. Defenders Mogi - DRC - Brazil - Good option in games when we're on the back foot, lacks pace going forward. Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Portugal - Signed to offer a more attacking option than Mogi. Justin Turon - D/WBRL - France - New club captain. Remi Thouvenin - DL - France - Same as Loureiro, but on the left. Nicolas - D/DM/MC - Spain - Gets more games at DM than DC these days. Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - Good solid first choice. Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - Italy - First choice alongside Kooiman, nice to have an Italian in there. Arturo Zapater - DC - Spain - Great prospect, a little too raw for immediate action. Aurelien Maire - DC - France - Adding to our French contingent, brought him in to add depth. Midfielders Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Lost his place to Ljajic, but can still win it back. Adem Ljajic - AMRLC - Serbia - Fantastic season last year. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - AMR/ST - Gabon - Experienced campaigner, we needed cover on the flanks and he was available. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - Did well in his debut season, will expect more this time. Yohan Sallaberry - AML - France - Genuine competition for Pagola. Mauricio Martin - D/DM/MC - Argentina - Good first season, like Pagola needs to step up a bit this year. Patxi Rodriguez - DM/MC - Spain - Athleticism is an asset. Mario Quiroga - DM/MC - Argentina - Very fine player. Victor Amoruso - MC - Italy - Has taken up Ederson's mantle nicely. Nenad Lukic - MLC - Serbia - Will challenge Amoruso for a first team slot, a bit more of a direct player. Forwards Abel Petrillo - ST - Italy - Our star man still, will share the striking duties with Aguero. Christian Benteke - ST - Belgium - Great option from the bench or when we play with 2 up top. Walter Aguero - ST - Argentina - Amazing looking player, will take the weight off Petrillo's shoulders and then some. Leavers Borja - GK - Loan ended, didn't play. Giorgos Samouilidis - D/WBR - Greece - Loan ended, barely played. Jose Antonio Lopez Gomez - D/WBL - Spain - Probably not good enough for a club in Europe. Antonio Marino - DLC - Italy - Great servant to the club, but getting old now. Bruno Fernandez - DC - Argentina - Never fully recovered from his cruciate injury, his "Match Highest Earner" clause meant he had to go. Fausto Rossi - AML - Italy - Another great servant, but the wrong side of 30. Damian Ismodes - AMRL - Peru - Like Fernandez, his "Match Highest Earner" clause was no longer justified. Mario Ortiz - DM/MC - Spain - Ditto Rossi and Marino. Ferdy Kilic - DM/MC - Holland - Didn't play much, Ajax didn't send him back. Ederson - AMLC - Brazil - Retired. Pietro Belfiore - ST - Italy - Decided he wanted first team football, happy to oblige him. Overall Wow, didn't realise quite how many players we'd gotten rid of! Will be happy with Europa League qualification again in the league, would like to get a little deeper in the actual competition though, perhaps the Quarter Final. The quality is much better, but it'll take us a while to get the understanding we had back. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioGio85 Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Walter Aguero looks the nuts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romanista1994 Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Well done on improving your great league position last year. Walter Aguero looks awesome! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 3, 2010 Author Share Posted December 3, 2010 Thanks chaps! If only Aguero would stay fit for 5 minutes he would be amazing... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 3, 2010 Author Share Posted December 3, 2010 Season 11: Winter Break Update After plenty of turnover in the squad in the summer, this season could have gone either way, and unfortunately so far it's gone badly. Injuries to Walter Aguero haven't helped, as he's only managed 9 appearances thus far, and perhaps unsurprisingly our major problem has been scoring enough goals when we're on top. I'd say probably every single one of the 8 draws in the league should have been wins, and would have been had we taken our chances. We had a little wobble in form when I started experimenting with tactics to try and get more goals, but going back to the 4-5-1 seemed to sort us out, so I'll be sticking with that for the rest of the year. As for Europe, we dismissed Croatian side Rijeka 5-0 on aggregate in the 4th Qualifying Round, and ended up in a group with English giants Liverpool, Hannover and Lech. A 3-1 loss at Anfield wasn't the best start, but then consecutive wins over Hannover and Lech got us back on track. Two more disappointments followed, with a draw against Lech and a home loss against Liverpool, but Hannover failed to capitalise and we just needed a result against them to go through. A great 3-0 win away from home secured our passage to the next stage, where we will again face Valencia! Hopefully we won't get as badly beaten as we did last time Of course, in order to get knocked out by Valencia again next year, we'll have to step it up in the league. I'm sure we'll do better as the new signings settle in and Aguero finds fitness, but whether we'll do enough to secure Europa League football again is a bit of a doubt at the moment. Results 1 - Results 2 - League Table - Squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattSpurs94 Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Looking good so far. Hope you absolutley thrash Valencia in the Europa League, It's the least you deserve Can't wait till I get FM11 for Christmas. 3 weeks to go! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 Not long now! You're gunna love it I've just had the most ridiculous game away against Juventus. Every single challenge we put it the commentary said "That looked like a dive from <Juventus Player>. The referee is reaching for a card... It's yellow". Ridiculous. We were threatening to score and cause an upset, but the ref wasn't having that and sent off Quiroga for having the temerity to challenge for a header. Lost 2-0. Tempted to check their Staff listing for one "Moggi, L." now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 SnakeXe's Messina - Season 11 - 2021/22 Story of the Season: Serie A - 9th This was a weird season, to begin with we seemed to draw every bloody match, then in the second half of the season we'd go on a massive losing run, then a massive winning run, regardless of the quality of the opposition, with our form only becoming slightly normal towards the end of the season. As it is, we ended up in limbo on the last day, with the possibility of ending up anywhere between 6th and 11th depending on the day's results. We were away against the side below us, Napoli, but we'd been performing well recently and I had high hopes we'd take a win to put pressure on the teams above us. As it was, we did play well, but couldn't break down the Neapolitan defence, ending with a 0-0. Sadly, we actually slipped down a place, as Udinese climbed above us on their superior head-to-head. So, a sort of season of regression really, although it probably didn't deserve to be. We're performing better against the big teams, but becoming more complacent against the small ones. Think I might have to rethink my tactics or something. Coppa Italia - Quarter Final Beat rivals Catania with a resounding 4-1 win in the 1st Round before losing to Roma in the Quarter Final. Europa League - 1st Knockout Round Almost a carbon copy of our first campaign, knocking out Eastern European opposition on the qualifiers, this time disposing of Croatian side Rijeka, before being drawn in a group with a big English club - for last season's Man City we had Liverpool. The other two clubs in the group were Hannover and Lech, and luckily we were able to pick up enough points from them to get through the group in second place, because Liverpool tore us a new one home and away. Surprise surprise, Valencia lay in wait in the 1st Knockout Round. Surprise surprise, they scored 5 goals against us and knocked us out again, before being knocked out in the Semi-Finals themselves. Again. I feel like Bill Murray. Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Squad Transfers - £26m Loss Again, shocked at how much I ended up spending. I'm definitely going to have to dial it back next season as with all the transfer fees we're paying over 48 months we're starting to lose money. Best signing was probably Walter Aguero, despite his injury problems he brought a touch of class to proceedings, and for once we had a reliable penalty taker. Only outs were squad players who'd gotten old (Rossi, Marino, Ortiz) or were on stupid wages compared to their ability (Fernandez, Ismodes). 5 Most Important Players: 5. Yohan Sallaberry - AML - Deputised well for Pagola, shame they play in the same position. 4. Walter Aguero - ST - Did well enough to make me hopeful for next season, his injury problems stopped him from getting going so many times though. 3. Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - The rock that holds our defence together. 2. Abel Petrillo - ST - Turned provider a lot more often this season, bringing his goal total down a little. Still managed to become our record goalscorer, and still a huge player for us. 1. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Cracked our record for assist making this year with a mighty 18. History: Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2011/12 Serie C2/C 2nd Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists 2012/13 Serie C2/C 1st Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted 2013/14 Serie C1/B 5th Playoff Semi-Finalists 2014/15 Serie C1/B 2nd Playoff Winners, Promoted 2015/15 Serie B 12th 2016/17 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2017/18 Serie A 20th Relegated 2018/19 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2019/20 Serie A 7th Qualified for Europa League 2020/21 Serie A 6th Qualified for Europa League 2021/22 Serie A 9th Messina 100 Club: A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management. Name Pos Era Apps Goals AvR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mauro Vigorito GK 2011-Present 217 0 6.82 Abel Petrillo ST 2016-Present 199 100 7.17 Nicolas Amodio DM/MC 2012-2018 183 12 6.93 Antonio Marino DLC 2013-2021 180 5 6.88 Mario Ortiz DM/MC 2013-2021 169 5 6.83 Patxi Rodriguez DM/MC 2017-Present 168 13 6.85 Enzo Scorza ST 2012-2018 159 82 7.24 Nicolas D/DM/MC 2015-Present 159 5 6.85 Victor Amoruso MC 2018-Present 159 13 6.94 Rosario Licata D/WB/ML 2011-2016 146 3 6.92 Francesc Alcalde AMLC/ST 2014-2020 145 45 6.98 Luca Tedeschi DC 2012-2018 139 8 7.09 Filippo Vitone AMRC 2018-Present 138 22 7.08 Mogi DRC 2017-Present 134 0 6.76 Nicola Ravaglia GK 2018-Present 127 0 6.90 Diego Farias AMRLC 2015-2019 126 19 6.90 Davide Testa AM/ST 2011-2015 121 40 7.04 Mauro Quiroga DM/MC 2019-Present 111 9 7.04 Rene Kooiman DC 2019-Present 105 2 6.84 Ruben AML 2015-2019 103 7 6.86 Stefano Tulino D/DM/MRC 2019-Present 103 11 7.10 Fausto Rossi AML 2016-Present 102 18 6.97 Next Season: Definitely need to get back into Europe, but would also like to make a real positive statement about the club going forward. Therefore, next season's target is 5th place. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 Just been offered the first really tempting job away from Messina... perennial champions Juventus. Messina is where it's at though, of course, so I turned it down Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Established yourself well in the Scudetto. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 Aye, finally feels like we're a mid-table team. Before it felt like we were a bottom-half team punching above our weight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 The Squad: 2022 Goalkeepers Mauro Vigorito - GK - Italy - Didn't make an appearance for a second successive season, probably won't make another before his contract expires at the end of the season. Don't think we really need 3 keepers. Nicola Ravaglia - GK - Italy - Stats-wise he looks probably slightly better than Muslera, as he's declined a bit, but the Uruguayan has the shirt, and it's up to him to keep it. Contract is up at the end of the season as well. Fernando Muslera - GK - Uruguay - I said a couple of good seasons, and that looks all we'll get as he's declined sharply over the last 12 months. His form hasn't suffered yet, but I won't be extending his contract at the end of the season. Defenders Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Portugal - Kept Mogi out of the team, better defensively than his stats suggest. Rocco Signore - D/WBR - Italy - Italy Under 19 fullback should become a great player. Justin Turon - D/WBRL - France - Still club captain, but not really first choice any more. Still useful though. Remi Thouvenin - DL - France - Had the shirt ahead of Turon most of last season, faces a real battle with Contento for it. Diego Contento - D/WB/ML - Italy - Our first Italian international! The ex-Palermo veteran still gets the odd game for the Azzuri these days, and he adds a great degree of experience to what is quite a young defence. Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - Hard to believe this guy is still only 22, must be on the verge of a full Dutch cap. Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - Italy - Absolute rock last season. Arturo Zapater - DC - Spain - Hasn't let us down in his admittedly limited experience of first team action, great potential. Aurelien Maire - DC - France - Still 3rd choice, but doesn't play much as Kooiman and Tulino have made the positions their own. Midfielders Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Won a callup for Italy at the start of the season but didn't make it onto the pitch. One day. Adem Ljajic - AMRLC - Serbia - Not quite as good of a season as last time round, but still a vital player. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - AMR/ST - Gabon - Moaned about a lack of first team football, seemingly forgetting he was pretty rubbish when he did play. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - Broke our record for assists last season, excellent player. Yohan Sallaberry - AML - France - Not sure where he stands with our new 4-3-1-2 system, but with 4-4-2 one of our alternatives he's still important. Mauricio Martin - D/DM/MC - Argentina - AC Milan were after him in the summer, let's hope he continues to show that sort of form. Patxi Rodriguez - DM/MC - Spain - Technically limited, his athletic ability means he's still a fantastic weapon to have off the bench. Mario Quiroga - DM/MC - Argentina - Fell out with Mogi last season, I obligingly moved the fullback on in the summer but he's still upset with me for some reason. He's got 3 years to see sense though so I'm not worried yet. Victor Amoruso - MC - Italy - Classy midfielder, ball retention is excellent. Nenad Lukic - MLC - Serbia - Started promisingly but faded, hopefully he'll enjoy the 4-3-1-2. Forwards Abel Petrillo - ST - Italy - Added assists last year to improve his all round game, still the main man. Christian Benteke - ST - Belgium - Excellent supersub when the pace and movement of our other strikers isn't getting the job done. Walter Aguero - ST - Argentina - Injury problems stunted his progress last season repeatedly, let's hope he's past them. Gonzalo Valdez - ST - Argentina - We like an Argentine forward at Messina, and he looks good enough to keep their fine tradition going strongly. Leavers Mogi - DRC - Brazil - Fell out with Quiroga and had a terrible season, got a tasty £4.2m for him. Nicolas - D/DM/MC - Spain - Would have kept him on but he wanted too much for a guy who isn't likely to get into double figures for appearances. Overall All 3 keepers running their contracts down is a worry, but then I've already secured two transfers to come in to replace them, so it's probably okay. The only one who has a possibility to stay is Ravaglia. The change in system necessitated an extra striker on the books, and Valdez looks a great signing. Hopefully the benefits of keeping the squad relatively static will be enough to shoot us back into those European places. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdSB Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Forza Messina! Let's hope this season takes you from mid-table to serious contender Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMDownloader Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Following! I hope you succeed! On FM10, I was a Level 6 team, and it took me 19 years to win Serie A! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 Forza Messina! Let's hope this season takes you from mid-table to serious contender I can only hope! I'd be glad to just stick in the European places all season, rather than sneak into them in the last match as I did the last couple of times. Following!I hope you succeed! On FM10, I was a Level 6 team, and it took me 19 years to win Serie A! I think it took me a similar amount of time from Level 6 in England on FM10. It seemed a lot easier to challenge for a Champions League place then, we've never even challenged for the first 10 or 15 games and then fell away yet. Once you get the CL money it's a matter of time I find. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrbfcrule Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 Glad you turned down the Juve job, will be much more rewarding when you get Messina to the top of Serie A Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 Season 12: Winter Break Update A good start to the season (for once) saw us pick up 8 points from our opening 4 matches, before we hit a sticky patch to drag us back down again. After that, though, we went on an awesome run of 9 wins from 11 in all competitions, firing us to 6th in the league and into the 1st Round of the Coppa Italia. The last game in that little run was my 500th game in management, a comfortable 2-0 win over rock-bottom Ascoli. A couple of disappointing results (a draw at home to Napoli and a loss away at Bari) ended the year on a bit of an anti-climax, but we'd still had an excellent half-season. Dropping out of Europe may have been a blessing in disguise, as we've played 6 games less at this stage than we would have done if we'd qualified, and tired legs hurt us before. Hopefully that'll give us even more of a benefit in the new year, and we can push on for that 5th place. The star, of course, has been Abel Petrillo, with 7 goals and 5 assists from 14 starts. We could do with a few more assists coming from midfield, our leading midfielder in that respect is Pagola with 3. Can't complain too much though, it's going very nicely! Results - League Table - Squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 Aguero is our penalty taker, and he'd scored most of the ones he'd taken, though he hadn't had many. Well now he's out for 4 months and we've missed 4 penalties in the last 4 matches. Amazing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 Make that 5 in 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattSpurs94 Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 dear oh dear :/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 We scored the next one thankfully, but those 5 missed penalties cost us a good 5 or 6 points. Ridiculous stuff really! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 SnakeXe's Messina - Season 12 - 2022/23 Story of the Season: Serie A - 5th, Qualified for Europa League An excellent first half of the season left us 6th in the table at the turn of the year, but we really pushed on after that and found ourselves in 4th place for the first time all season with 10 games to go - Champions League qualification was suddenly on the cards! A couple of poor results saw us slip back, but an amazing 3-2 win over our closest rivals Juventus brought us back there with 6 to go. Again, we couldn't capitalise, and slipped back to 5 points behind with just 2 to play. It seemed pretty hopeless for us to overhaul Juventus, but we'd keep trying to get results anyway. A great last minute header from Victor Amoruso secured an excellent win away at Napoli, and to our disbelief, brought us just 2 points behind Juventus after relegation candidates AlbinoLeffe took a wonderful victory from the Delle Alpi! Which meant that with just one game to go, we had a fantastic chance to qualify for the Champions League. Win against Lazio, and if AC Milan took anything off Juve at the San Siro, we'd make it due to our superior head-to-head record. Juve won, and we could only manage a draw despite many, many chances to win it. A shame, but an honour to even be in the fight that late. Coppa Italia - Semi Final We had to negotiate the qualifying rounds for the first time in a couple of years due to missing out on Europe, and we progressed through them without much bother, sending Serie C1 Salernitana and newly promoted Lazio packing. A surprise 3-1 defeat of AC Milan at the San Siro in the 1st Round was a bonus, which we took advantage of by beating Udinese 2-0 away in the Quarter Final. Last year's conquerors Roma lay in wait in the Semi Final, and they did the business again, beating us 2-1 home and away. A little more luck and it may have been the other way around. Still, it's our best ever performance in the competition, so I'm happy. Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad Transfers - £2.6m Profit Having so many transfer fees backed up over 48 months of payments, I decided we had to scale back the spending this year, which we managed successfully. Contento and Valdez were both excellent frees, whilst only Mogi was really a first team candidate of the outs. 5 Most Important Players: 5. Victor Amoruso - MC - Our Xavi. 4. Rene Kooiman - DC - Slightly outshone his defensive partner Tulino, but they may as well both be here. 3. Diego Contento - D/WBL - Great free transfer, the Italian international defended well and got forward too. 2. Abel Petrillo - ST - Another excellent season, he's now an "Icon" - can't be long until he's a legend. 1. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Revelled in the attacking midfield position in our new 4-3-1-2 system. History: Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2011/12 Serie C2/C 2nd Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists 2012/13 Serie C2/C 1st Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted 2013/14 Serie C1/B 5th Playoff Semi-Finalists 2014/15 Serie C1/B 2nd Playoff Winners, Promoted 2015/15 Serie B 12th 2016/17 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2017/18 Serie A 20th Relegated 2018/19 Serie B 2nd Promoted 2019/20 Serie A 7th Qualified for Europa League 2020/21 Serie A 6th Qualified for Europa League 2021/22 Serie A 9th 2022/23 Serie A 5th Qualified for Europa League Messina 100 Club: A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management. Name Pos Era Apps Goals AvR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abel Petrillo ST 2016-Present 238 116 7.17 Mauro Vigorito GK 2011-Present 217 0 6.82 Victor Amoruso MC 2018-Present 195 16 6.96 Nicolas Amodio DM/MC 2012-2018 183 12 6.93 Patxi Rodriguez DM/MC 2017-Present 182 13 6.85 Antonio Marino DLC 2013-2021 180 5 6.88 Mario Ortiz DM/MC 2013-2021 169 5 6.83 Enzo Scorza ST 2012-2018 159 82 7.24 Nicolas D/DM/MC 2015-2022 159 5 6.85 Nicola Ravaglia GK 2018-Present 157 0 6.90 Filippo Vitone AMRC 2018-Present 154 24 7.06 Mauro Quiroga DM/MC 2019-Present 147 10 6.99 Rosario Licata D/WB/ML 2011-2016 146 3 6.92 Francesc Alcalde AMLC/ST 2014-2020 145 45 6.98 Rene Kooiman DC 2019-Present 143 4 6.91 Luca Tedeschi DC 2012-2018 139 8 7.09 Stefano Tulino D/DM/MRC 2019-Present 139 11 7.10 Mogi DRC 2017-2022 134 0 6.76 Diego Farias AMRLC 2015-2019 126 19 6.90 Davide Testa AM/ST 2011-2015 121 40 7.04 Adem Ljajic AMRLC 2019-Present 119 21 6.91 Jon Pagola AMLC 2019-Present 114 20 7.27 Ruben AML 2015-2019 103 7 6.86 Fausto Rossi AML 2016-2021 102 18 6.97 Next Season: Fulfilled last year's target to the letter, and came very close to exceeding it, so I'm going to be boring and say I just want a better points total. I could say Champions League qualification, but that really depends on the performance of other teams - we would have qualified with our points total in 2 of the last 4 seasons. Forza Messina! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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