FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[PRDH]

That's my Champions' League over for another season. Out in the 1st Knockout Rd again to Man City. Back to the league I suppose.

[Edit] - I do at least have the pleasure of introducing the latest player to come through the club's increasingly absurd youth academy. Welcome aboard Sérgio Rodrigues, another Azorean to look like they have a future in the first team. Born in Madalena do Pico (not on my island of Terceira, but instead Pico) he does not have quite the potential of some of the more recent products, but if I can train his physical stats up a bit and he can learn the mental side of the game then he has a place in the first team squad.

The success of the youth academy is making me wish this was happening in a challenge like the old San Marino double challenge (which I notice no-one has started this season, I might think about putting that right) and the youngsters were going into an Azorean national team rather than just the Portuguese team.

[Edit2] - And he's making his debut in the League Cup Semifinal, becoming the youngest player in our history. And he's just gone and got himself a goal on his debut!

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - the way you churn out good youngsters is very irritating as i never get any really!! can't argue with a debut goal either!!

[aldojags]

Mid-Season Report.

Ok, well it's the winter break in France, I've played 18 of my 38 league games, and despite media predictions of 20th place, I currently sit in 1st. Although you will notice, if the 3 teams below me win their game in hand, I will fall out of the promotion places.

Sounds great, and you'd think I'd be delighted in my first season with a small club to be challenging, but I can sense we're going off the boil, as my recent run of defeats will show you...

Also really annoyed to get knocked out French cup by lesser opposition, it was my fault, I tinkered with team, trying to give fringe players a run out, and we were hopeless.

A lot of my wins were by 1 goal, scoring late on, which is great, but you can't keep it up over a season, and I am sad to say I fear we'll tail off into mid table obscurity. We've sufferred injuries to key players, who are all out for a month or 2. Vincent DiBartolomo is out for a while, and is pretty solid at the back for me, but I've brought in Maikel Verkoelen who's slotted in right away. Top scorer Abdou Dieye is also out for a while (he was going off form anyway), and experienced midfielder Pierre Goaziou is also a long term absentee.

So my form is stagnating a bit, and I'm desperate to try and capitalise on our great first half of the season, so I've brought in a few new faces from africa, all of whom I think have the quality to make an immediate impact for me (send your scouts to Ivory Coast and Cameroon!). Dramane Koffi looks a real find, and should hopefully deputise for Dieye and get me back amongst the goals (I am first in the league, with only 23 goals in 18 games, hardly league winning stuff). Other gems my scouts found in Africa are Assomption Kessou, Dom Abiodoun, Dom Abiola, also worth a mention is Bruno "The Belgian" Barras.

So for the remainder of the season, I would obviously like to hang in promotion spaces, but I don't see it happening. I only need another few points to avoid relegation, then I can plan for next season, but I think I'll hold off on offerring new deals, see which league I'm in. I've got a ridiculously big squad, signed WAY too many players! So will trim the fat between now and the summer, and see where we are. We're losing money every month, I'm 2k over my 11k wage budget, I keep getting board to increase it though so hopefully won't matter too much!

I'm also struggling with which tactics to employ. Had my most succesful period with lone striker and 2 wingers. But I then started to struggle for goals, so went to 442, but still losing with that. So need to settle on a system that suits my players.

But hey it's my first season in FM12, I'm learning all the time, if I don't get up this year, I'm sure I'll be in a position for a good year next season. And to anyone else playing France, if you don't already know, scout Africa!!

Edited to add PRDH that is a hell of talent for 15 years of age! You've got plenty of time to get him up to scratch physically, and the mental stats will come with age too, but technically he's amazing for someone so young. Good on you mate. What level of facilites you got etc? So you've got a few young prospects have you? I don't know about you, but there's nothing more satisfying in FM than seeing one of your kids come through the ranks then get capped for their country. I well up every time! hahaha

[PRDH]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the April Fool message built in. Momentary excitement at the prospect of a huge windfall.

aldojags - Yeah, got a few knocking about the team now. Cardoso, Vieira are the leading lights, both of them are first team regulars but there are a number of others knocking around. Facilities are top of the range, as is the level of junior coaching and I've got an above average recruitment policy.

rlipscombe - It's getting a little embarrassing. There was no depth this year though. Only one player who looks like they've got any future in football. Signed a couple of others just to keep the numbers in the U-19s up, but I'm not expecting any real progress from them. Hopefully I can train them into decent players and make some money from them.

[corinthiano]

PRDH - shame you went out in the CL, but nice to see another great Azorean youngster!

aldojags - hope you manage to keep the fight at the top, either way it is an impressive first season. I also signed so many players in my first couple of seasons, seems like it takes a while to make the side look like it is really "yours".

[iseemonsters1]

Hi folks - it was time for a new FM game and I thought I'd give this year's challenge a shot. I was tempted by France (where I had a pretty good run at this challenge in FM10) and Portugal (where I've always wanted to get a long term game going but never managed it) but in the end plumped for Italy - mainly because I've been reading Calcio by John Foot recently.

There were quite a few interesting teams to choose from, but in the end I settled on Brindisi - I wanted a team from the south of Italy, and being from the "heel" of the peninsula is even more fun. That means, if all goes well, the opportunity to be the first footballing powerhouse from that part of Italy (the best teams nearby being Bari and Lecce) and, unless I'm much mistaken, if all goes very well, the champion from the southern-most part of the mainland in Italian history (if it weren't for Cagliari over on the island of Sardinia, the southern-most champion full stop).

That's all in the future though - for now, here's my starting screenshots:

Manager Profile

Manager Information

Brindisi Club Overview

Brindisi Club Information

Brindisi Club Facilities

[PRDH]

Just about to head into my 1000th game in management. Unfortunately, unlike iacovone, it won't be the Champions' League final. Instead it's the final game of the league season at home to Chaves!

edit - Welcome aboard iseemonsters1. Good luck in Italy.

Another edit - A goal made in the Azores. Dias rolls the ball out to Lopes. Lopes knocks it forward to Teixeira who plays it square to Vieira. He then fed the ball forward to Cardoso whose first touch took him round the defender and onto his left foot to place it into the bottom corner. Everyone involved in that goal is home grown.

[aldojags]

iseemonsters welcome to the breach comrade! I was looking at your manager profile there, why do so many people dislike you despite you being a brand new manager!? You must have ruffled a few feathers

Good luck in Italy.

[iseemonsters1]

PRDH - congratulations on reaching 1,000 games! And thanks for the welcome.

aldojags - I know! I don't know what I did to deserve that! Maybe they don't like foreigners?

So, I started my game a little while ago - wanted to make sure I was going to get into it before I bothered to post a profile etc. Approaching the end of season one and my participation in the playoffs hangs on a knife edge...

One game to go...

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - gotta love a goal like that with all homegrown players involved... obviously though i wouldn't know about that though...

aldojags - good first half of the season. doesn't matter how you get there, just make sure you do. hopefully the new africans can keep you in the top part of the league.

iseemonsters1 - welcome and good luck with Brindisi. can't blame you for being inspired by the book 'Calcio'... it is a great read. 'Morbo' about Spanish football is also a good read.

[corinthiano]

PRDH - congrats on a 1000 games,I have a long time to go before I reach that mark!

iseemonsters1 - welcome to the challenge and good luck with Brindisi, hope you can cling on to tha playof spot!

Real have just secured Europa League qualification with 3 games to go in the league Now it is all about holding off Sporting to keep 4th spot and enter the competition in the 4th Qualifying Round.

EDIT: Not such good news on the facilities front...stadium move blocked due to the local council not giving us planning permission again and the facilities were downgraded as well. Of course there is no money to improve them

[iacovone]

PRDH - gotta love a goal like that with all homegrown players involved... obviously though i wouldn't know about that though...

aldojags - good first half of the season. doesn't matter how you get there, just make sure you do. hopefully the new africans can keep you in the top part of the league.

iseemonsters1 - welcome and good luck with Brindisi. can't blame you for being inspired by the book 'Calcio'... it is a great read. 'Morbo' about Spanish football is also a good read.

I've just ordered this. Looking forward to getting stuck in!

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2033/34

Finances

Key figure - £28,313,609 | Summary

I almost broke even this season off my own back this year. I lost about a million over the year, but as always my responsible transfer dealings saw me bring in a nice profit to strengthen my position. From the summary it must look as if I'm sitting pretty financially, but I'm only maintaining it through keeping a tight grip on the purse strings. It'd be very tempting to go out and spend big on players to try to drive me on to the next step in the Champions' League as the board insist on throwing huge transfer budgets at me, but I know if I spent them I'd cripple myself.

Club News

1/ The training and youth facilities upgrades were both completed in October making sure they stayed as highly rated as possible. Though I still don't have an academy - do they still exist in the game?

2/ The board has agreed to another upgrade to the training facilities, again to be completed in October.

Transfers | 6 In (£82K) and 20 Out (£16.5m) plus 10 loans

Once again I worked cannily in the transfer market, bringing in a hefty profit. Offered £43m to spend at the start of the season I could have gone out and blown a hole in my carefully tended finances in an attempt to get CL progression but instead I stuck to my guns on bringing in talented (and cheap) youngsters who can hopefully replace established players when they move on. My commitment to this process is made easier my two factors. Firstly the youngsters coming through the ranks are at least good enough for general squad players but also big name established players do not want to join me.

The outgoings were a drip feed of players who hadn't quite broken through in the summer but then a couple of slightly more complete players went in January. The world of Sefer Ercan nearly sums up my transfer process. He is an excellent player and arrived in the summer at the end of his contract. He didn't quite break past Partida or Vieira and I sold him on for £5m in January. A nice bit of profit on a short term deal. Finally Salto left after getting upset about not being able to push past Fink on the left wing. He was replaced from within.

We were able to give our feeder clubs less help this season as a number of our back up/youngsters left on permanent deals and others were unwilling to spend another season away. Consequently Oriental dropped out of the Second League, interestingly it might not be a bad thing for me as it will give some of my less talented, or at least those less far along the process, youngsters somewhere to go.

League | Predicted - 2nd (Yup, still)

Table | Graph

I won't try to drag out the suspense here as the league has become pretty predictable of late. A tight defence and potent attack are a good combination and we had both as we went on an excellent run to start the season. We were pretty comfortable and claimed the title in the penultimate game of the season. The only disappointment was my inability to claim another unbeaten season. We lost to Porto and, even more upsettingly, União Madiera on our way to our 12th consecutive league title.

Encouragingly a number of players from the youth ranks got a good deal of match experience.

Cups

Supertaça | Winners

A nice extra time victory over Porto saw us start the season with another trophy.

Taça de Portugal | 4th Rd

The youngsters were given free reign again, often not even the first ranks of youngsters who were needed for more important league matters. Unfortunately they didn't have as much success as they have done in the past losing in the 4th Rd to Sporting in a rather embarrassing 1-8 result.

League Cup | Semi-final

Again the youngsters got their chance to shine and again it was Sporting who spoiled the party beating us 2-5 in another poor performance.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

A nasty group draw for me here as we came up against Barcelona, Juventus and Wisla. I expected Barcelona to progress easily (they've won the last four years running) and they did, I then expected us and Juve to battle it out for the next spot and Wisla (a feeder team of mine) to be the whipping boys. Here I was wrong, Wisla beat me in my first game and were the team I battled for the qualification spot with while Juventus only picked up a single, solitary point from a 0-0 draw in Polan.

1st Knockout Rd | First Leg | Second Leg

My unkind draws continued into the knockout stages when I was dealt the tough task of beating Man City over two legs if I wanted to progress into the quarter final. The first leg, in Angra, was a tight affair. We had more of the ball and just about the most chances but we were unable to take advantage and Man City came away with a 1-1 draw. At this stage I must admit I feared the worst, a fear that was confirmed when I went to Manchester and the statistics were reversed with the English team showing more ruthlessness as they beat me 2-0, seeing me at this stage for the seventh time.

Although we came up against a team with resources beyond our wildest dreams we really should be getting farther than this now and I'm disappointed with the European season. I'm hoping for a nicer series of draws next season.

Squad | Overview

'Keepers

Ales Svoboda - 23 apps, 16 conc, 13 cln, 1 MoM - Finally something new to report about Ales. He started the season as first choice but lost it, about halfway through thanks to the form of youth product Dias. He came back in for a couple of games when I wanted to rest the youngster and we lost them, he was dropped and didn't get back this season. He faces a real battle for the first time in his recent career.

Ricardo Dias - 22(2) apps, 32 conc, 11 cln, 1 MoM - His 'goals conceded' column looks like he's a liability but that was due to the heavy cup defeats. Nice to see him take over the number one spot in the second half of the season. I'll give him a chance to start the season knowing that Svoboda is about if he's not ready.

Defenders

Pitoco - 37 apps, 3 asts - Another solid season for the right back. He's a reliable performer but looks like he might be about to face some serious competition in the next few seasons. More on that later!

Juan Ignacio Cortez - 1(2) apps - A bit of an intriguing project here. He's got some great technical and physical attributes, and he only cost £1,000 so I'm willing to take a chance on him and see what I can produce. I'm thinking of turning him into a centre half, that would make him an excellent bench player. Thoughts?

Silvio Nicastro - 38 apps, 2 asts - A similar story on the left side of defence as on the right. A very solid and dependable season from the Italian. If he can continue to develop then I've got a special player on my hands.

Sébastien Gautier - 37 apps, 1 gl - Not quite up to his own high standards this season, and he had a bit of a paddy after our Champions' League exit. I calmed him down and he's signed a new contract which may be able to keep him at the club for the foreseeable future.

Hrvoje Bule - 0(2) apps - A player who has stalled somewhat. His hopes of breaking into the team have rather been scotched by the emergence of the two local defenders. Next up,

Rui Lopes - 9(15) apps, 1 gl - His most involved season yet and really showing signs that he can be a part of this team. Excellent news for one of the youth academy graduates.

João Paulo - 6(1) apps - Behind Lopes in his development and he hasn't improved as much this year as I'd hoped, but there's still talent there and hopefully I can get him to realise it.

Meraneh Descazals - 38 apps, 4 gls, 2 asts, 5 MoMs - Father time appears to be catching up with him. Don't get me wrong, he's still a fantastic player, but you can tell he's on his way down. He's starting to lose his physical stats. Fortunately for him they were so incredible at his peak they are now merely good, and also he's technically so good that he could probably get in the team with one leg.

Stipe Pesic - 5 apps, 1 ast - The man (boy) I can see putting some serious pressure on Pitoco over the next few years. He's been progressing solidly and quietly at the club since joining and is beginning to look the part. He's been part of the cup team and I would like to start getting him involved in the league campaign next year.

Steve Hoggan - 2(3) apps - Game time for the American has collapsed this year and I think it's only fair on him that I let him move on over the close season.

Christian Minniti - 5 apps, 3 asts - Part of the cup squad, he's not moved on as much as I hoped he would but he's ahead of Hoggan and so buys himself a bit more time to impress.

Midfielders

Kim Jae-Chun - 1(1) apps, 1 ast - Will be disappointed with his time on the pitch, I'll look to get him more time next season either with me or on loan because I still believe he'll be a quality player.

Miguel Teixeira - 10(8) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast, 1 MoM - Another of the local lads to make real first team progress this year. He got good game time in the league as well as in the cups and played reasonably well. Definitely got the ability to be a part of the squad.

Roberto Scaricamazza - 34 apps, 3 gls, 6 asts, 4 MoMs - The man in possession of the jersey Teixeira is after. He'll take some displacing as he's a top player. He's got the first team berth sewn up for the time being. Hopefully by the time he starts to decline the youngster will be ready.

Emin Dalkali - 17 apps, 2 gls, 3 asts - A combination of injury, lack of form and the emergence of others in his stead meant a fall from grace for the Belgian and one which I think is terminal. I'm looking to get rid over the summer.

Mike Okoro - 14(3) apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM - The man to benefit most from Dalkali's fall. He played most games from January onwards and did a pretty good job chipping in with goals and good performances. Not sure he's really good enough to be first choice for a team looking to win the Champions' League and this is one position I'm looking to strengthen over the summer.

Stefan Fink - 31 apps, 6 gls, 11 asts, 4 MoMs - Started the season in his usual imperious form chipping in all over the pitch. Season was ended early by an injury which was unfortunate.

Antonin Zak - 13(3) apps, 4 gls, 6 asts, 1 MoM - Fink's injury gave Zak a chance to prove his first team credentials. He wasn't entirely convincing but he showed enough to justify my decision to let Salto leave in January.

Bernardo Hoyos - 3(1) apps, 1 gl - An interesting player this. He joined on a free after his move to an Israeli team fell through. He didn't break into the first team this year, but he has made me think about cashing in on Partida.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - 23(9) apps, 1 gl, 4 asts - Really emerged as first choice this year, which is nice to see for the local lad. He didn't play as well as I hoped but I think he's got the talent to be an important part of this team so he will continue to be given the chance to demonstrate his gifts next season.

Jorge Mendes - 3(1) apps, 1 gl, 2 asts - Another player to graduate from the youth ranks. I don't think he's ever going to be an important part of the team but he's played games in the cups and could develop into an adequate back up player.

Héctor Partida - 15(3) apps, 5 gls, 1 ast, 1 MoM - He's a talented player and has done a great service to the club but I'm considering moving him on over the summer as I think he will struggle to reclaim his place from Vieira and he is a valuable asset.

Álvaro Pinto - 13(9) apps, 2 gls, 6 asts - Yet another player who has come up through the ranks, he is never going to be the leading light of the team, but he is more than competent when required.

Sérgio Rodrigues - 1 app, 1 gl - The latest player from our now prestigious youth set up. Made his debut in the League Cup semi-final and impressed despite our defeat as he grabbed a goal to become not only our youngest ever player, but also our youngest ever goalscorer. If I were Pinto, I'd be looking over my shoulder.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 39 apps, 20 gls, 16 apps, 8 MoMs - Continues to be a huge presence leading the line. I honestly think he'd be the most difficult player in the squad to replace. A true great of the club.

Mihajlo Djokovic - 4(1) apps, 2 gls - Possibly the man who will replace him eventually though is Mihajlo. He's a very talented young guy and appears to have the right abilities to do the job when called upon.

Edemilson Mendès - 11(17) apps, 9 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - The club's record goalscorer lost his place in the first team this year, and was often consigned to the bench. His goals:game ratio dropped to. He's worth keeping around as a club legend and someone I know can score goals when needed.

Joaquim Sousa - 0(1) app - I think this is one experiment that has come to an end. He's a talented player but he's not going to get past the rest of the strike force at the moment, and for that reason I think I'll look to cash in this transfer window.

Pedro Cardoso - 30(11) apps, 26 gls, 13 asts, 5 MoMs - Yup, you guessed it, it was the local lad who took Mendès' place in the team and he did not disappoint. He scored a hatful of goals and laid on a load more for his team mates. A very good season for him and hopefully the first on his way to becoming a complete legend.

Abakar Tigabe - 6(3) apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM - The Chad-born youth graduate has decided he wants to represent Portugal and has done so at youth level. He seems to score goals, and that is a very valuable talent for a striker. He's young as has the talent to become a real asset to the squad.

End of Term Reports from the Lusitânia Açores Crèche

Rui Lopes - '29 - Encouraging progress.

Álvaro Pinto - '29 - Secured a squad place.

Pedro Cardoso - '30 - Led the line brilliantly.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - '31 - Slightly disappointing.

Ricardo Dias - '32 - Breakthrough season.

Miguel Teixeira - '32 - Looking encouraging.

Jorge Mendes - '32 - Hanging by a thread.

Abakar Tigabe - '32 - Seems to have a knack for goalscoring.

João Paulo - '33 - Stalled slightly.

Sérgio Rodrigues - '34 - Early signs look good.

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Champions' League semi final should be a minimum after this amount of time. - No

2/ Continue building the future of our youngsters. - Yes

3/ Thin out some of those who haven't quite made it. - Yes

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Strive for improvement in the Champions' League.

2/ Further the cause of the Azorean players in my squad.

Story So Far...

Season		League			Position		Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13		Second Division - South	12th			Avoided Relegation (just)
2013/14		Second Division - South 1st			Promoted!
2014/15		Second League		14th			Avoided Relegation
2015/16		Second League		2nd			Promoted!
2016/17		Premier League		13th			Avoided Relegation
2017/18		Premier League		3rd			Qualified for Europa League
2018/19		Premier League		4th			Europa League again
2019/20		Premier League		5th			Europa League again
2020/21		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2021/22		Premier League		2nd			CL Qualification again
2022/23		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2023/24		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2024/25		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2025/26		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2026/27		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2027/28		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2028/29		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2029/30		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2030/31		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2031/32		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters
2032/33		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters and domestic quadruple
2033/34		Premier League		1st 			CL 1st Knockout Round

Previous Updates

12/13

13/14

14/15

15/16

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

20/21

21/22

22/23

23/24

24/25

25/26

26/27

27/28

28/29

29/30

30/31

31/32

32/33

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2034/35 (Season 23) - Serie A

Serie A - 1st[/url]

We won our fifth consecutive Scudetto in relatively easy fashion. I was annoyed to lose our second game of the season to Lazio as it meant we'd again be without an unbeaten season. Despite that, at times we were unplayable. A 10-0 win over promoted Alessandria showed what we were capable of and goals were never a problem.

We scored a new Serie A record of 141 goals in 38 games - and I'm not sure if we'll ever beat that. We finished just shy of the 100 point mark. Genoa, who finished 11th last year pushed us hardest, ending a fine season in 2nd place.

|

Champions League:

Our group contained Atletico Madrid, Sporting and Shakhtar and we won all the games except a 1-0 loss in Madrid. This meant we qualified in second and drew PSG in the first knockout round.

A 3-1 home win was followed by a 2-2 draw in the French capital to take us into the quarter finals.

Here we met Barcelona, the side that defeated us in our maiden Champions League final. We conceded an away goal just seven minutes in and although Della Corna scored twice, a late Barca goal kept us on the back foot for the return leg.

In the Camp Nou we again conceded early. This was followed by two more and we found ourselves 3-0 down before half-time. We pulled one back before half-time to give us hope but two second-half goals killed our hopes of another CL final and we bowed out.

The Cups:

Played the reserves and they went out in the quarter finals on penalties to Juventus.

The Squad:

Goalkeepers

Wallace (GK) - signed in the summer to improve our goalkeeping spot but overall, he disappointed and ended up benched.

Defenders

Kevin Schultz (DRC/WBR) - imperious as ever. Such a great defender, wanted by the top clubs around the world.

Midfielders

Alfredo Casillas (MC) - summer signing settled in nicely alongside his Mexican teammate Velazquez.

Apostolos Zarkos (MRL/AMR) - Greek winger finally had a relatively injury free year and contributed more assists than anyone else in the league

Ally Guillano (M/AML) - started the year at left wing and showed he is an excellent back up to van Roosmalen.

Peter van Roosmalen (AMRL/ST) - another great year from wide left. He really is one of our most important players and I realise it more and more each year.

Luca Della Corna (M/AMR) - injury hit year saw him make almost half the appearances of last season. Did contribute well though.

Forwards

Sebastian Pasquali (ST) - a lengthy suspension was the only thing stopping him from playing almost every game. Scored bucket loads as usual. Phenomenal striker.

- sprained ankle and a broken arm meant he missed quite a few games. Still scored a goal a game when fit though.

- the young Czech striker was made our 3rd choice striker as Ripa continues to deteriorate. Did brilliantly and justified his wonderkid tag.

Training and youth facilities are getting an improvement over the summer.

Objectives Complete?

• Win Serie A
  

Success! Yep. Easy. New goals scored record too.

• Win the CL
  

Failed. Out in the quarters to Barcelona.

• Have an unbeaten league season
  

Failed. And after two games. Disappointing.

New Objectives:

• Make the CL semi-finals
  
• Devise a more robust tactic
  
• Have an unbeaten league season
  

I was probably a little too bold with my predictions last year so it's time to take a step back. We're not far off the CL but let's just focus on making the final. As for our tactic - it's time to have a more regular 4 at the back option, particularly for Europe, where we're conceding far too many goals.

Joining us in Serie A this season are: Livorno, Albinoleffe and Bari. Departing Serie A are: Alessandria, Udinese and Verona.

[PRDH]

iacovone - Excellent season in the league there. Pity you went out in the CL quarters, but no shame in losing to Barcelona. You've got some great players too. Pasquali is a beast and I'd love to have Roosmalen in my side. And of course Schultz, who is a stunning player. Him and Descazals in his prime would have been a superb central defensive partnership if they'd lived in the same universe!

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2021/22 Liga Zon Sagres

Liga Zon Sagres

Media Prediction: 12th

Board Expectation: Mid-Table

My Target: European Qualification Challenge

League Table: 3rd ǁ Position Graph

What. A. Season. We were brilliant from the start and even managed to keep the distance to Porto short in the first third of the season. Naturally we tailed off a little and even though we were 4th for ages I struggled to keep Sporting off me. We maybe undeservedly pipped Braga into third on the final day, but I didn’t care! What impressed me hope and gives me confidence for the future is the fact we were very competitive against the big sides. We did the double over Sporting and beat Porto at home, whilst never losing by more than one goal when we did get defeated.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

Fixtures

This in contrast was slightly disappointing. We eased past lowe league opposition in our first couple of matches, but were then lucky to get through on penalties against Moreirense. We then put in a lifeless performance against Estoril and deserved to be knocked out on penalties.

Bwin Cup

Third Phase Group C: 2nd ǁ Fixtures

Our league standing last season meant we went straight into the third phase group stage as second seeds. Never expected to go through and am happy we played well in all 3 games.

The Royals

Transfers ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

With a very settled side this was my least busy year in terms of transfers. I brought in Teté, who I couldn’t believe was playing for such a lowly team, as well as Vince Jordan from the U.S. as centre-back. The rest were loan players to give us a bit more depth and players with some potential. I feel our squad is a little thin though and we were quite lucky to have few injuries this year, but I don’t have the wage budget to beef up the squad, so we will have to ride our luck again.

GK: Buick – No surprise to see him around again, made the odd mistake this year, but I am still not thinking of replacing him, unless someone spectacular and cheap comes up.

DR: Teté – Whilst Gutiérrez was good, Teté is excellent. Our only player to get injured for slightly bigger spells, Vasco keep trying to get a loan deal for him, but he seems to be keen to stay.

DC: Carazinho – Had a solid season.

DC: Vince Jordan – Eid Sayed was doing my head in, he spent more time complaining than actually playing decent football, so I signed Vince. Now the question is: Sayed who?

DL: Seyithan Bilir – Mr. Excellent and Fans Player of the Season, was shortlisted for best full-back in the league. Won his first two caps for Turkey in June as well.

DMC: Arturo Domínguez – This guy had some trouble settling in when I brought him in January last season. Now that he is settled he has been very good for us and the room for improvement is massive as well.

MC: Esteban Cardona – Solid as ever, was shortlisted for the 2022 World Cup squad, but didn’t make it in the end.

MC: Elia Agnesini – Swapped Elia and Cléber as I figured Elia’s better physical attributes would serve him better as a box to box midfielder and Cléber’s better technical attributes would suit him more to a playmaker role. Elia didn’t adapt well to the new role and only showed few glimpses of quality during the season.

AMC: Cléber – Flourished as a playmaker, but might be moving back to the MC position with the arrival of South African Clement Mazibuko from Orlando Pirates.

ST: Yukinori Sugimoto –He had another good season and his partnership with Milton just works perfectly.

ST: Milton – Scored more goals this season and linked up better with Sugimoto.

Other News

Finances – We lost money this season, although not as much as I expected, the good league finish and player sales contributed to that.

In the awards end I was elected Manager of the Season and Real were the overachievers of Liga Zon Sagres.

This Season Targets

1. Challenge for a European place Yes - Easily got anEuropa League place

2. Do better n the Taça de Portugal Yes-ish, we got through a further round, but didn’t play well.

Next Season Targets

1. Establish ourselves as a top 5 side.

2. Get to the Europa League group stages.

3. Try to deepen the squad somehow

This season we definitely broke into that select group of top Portuguese clubs, the big question is will we be able to maintain that with the distraction of Europe? I certainly hope so and that will be our main goal, as bridging the gap to Porto and Benfica might take a little bit longer.

Career Overview

Season       League                     Pos      Taça de Portugal     Bwin Cup        Europe             Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Divisão - Zona Sul      7th      First Round          N/A             N/A                None
2013/14      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   3rd      Second Round         N/A             N/A                None
2014/15      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   1st      Third Round          N/A             N/A                Promotion
2015/16      Liga Orangina              10th     Second Round         First Phase     N/A                None
2016/17      Liga Orangina              10th     Fourth Round         Second Phase    N/A                None
2017/18      Liga Orangina              8th      Runners-Up           First Phase     N/A                Europa League Qualification 
2018/19      Liga Orangina              2nd      Third Round          Second Phase    EL Group Stage     Promotion
2019/20      Liga Zon Sagres            9th      Fourth Round         Third Phase     N/A                None
2020/21      Liga Zon Sagres            7th      Fifth Round          Third Phase     N/A                None
2020/21      Liga Zon Sagres            3rd      Sixth Round          Third Phase     N/A                Europa League Qualification

[PRDH]

corinthiano - Wow! Cracking season. Great effort to separate the big three. Just a case of slowly strengthening what is already a very good squad and you should be able to start closing in on Benfica and Porto. Milton's a cracking player, looks like he should be scoring more to me, although I suppose his lack of acceleration might explain that.

[aldojags]

PRDH Cortez looks a real find, yeh if he can play centre half then he's a great utility man you'll have. Well done on your domestic success.

corinthiano well done mate, great season. good to see Bilir get International recognition he's brilliant. All the best for Europe.

iacovone that greek winger is excellent. unlucky in Europe, Barca just seem to have the better of you just now but hopefully your new tactic will get you closer just now. Your goals tally is mental! What a season, I wouldn't mind a season ticket to Pastorino Stadium!

[PRDH]

World Cup squad announced - Cardoso and Dias are off to Australia for World Cup 2034. Vieira made the provisional squad but was cut from the final 23. Still, two youth products going isn't bad!

[corinthiano]

PRDH - yet another solid season there, good to see Cardoso leading the line, even better to see him going to the WC! Are cardoso and Dias starters or squad members? And I am actually more disappointed at only 2 assists from Milton, than his 12 goals. I employ him as a supporting target man and he should be setting up more than he has. It seems my tactics never result in a striker scoring loads, goals tend to come from all over the place...

iacovone - that is one hell of an imposing league campaign, you absolutely destroyed Serie A, best of luck getting that CL title next season!

Got a toughie in the Europa League, AS Monaco stand between us and the group stages...dont feel too confident.

[iacovone]

Thanks guys! Looking forward to reading your season reports PRDH and ​corinthiano

[corinthiano]

Talk about blowing it. We put in a magnificent performance at the Stade Louis II to beat Monaco 2-0, only to collapse at home to a 3-0 defeat. Very disappointed, but now very eager to get back in there next season. A top 5 finish is a must.

[iacovone]

PRDH - can't believe how bad Juve were in your CL group! As for the academy question, they don't exist on paper anyway. I think Junior Coaching is the equivalent now.

As for Cortez, I really like him. The only downside is his mental attributes but if you could get him tutored by Descazals for a while, I'm sure they'd rocket up. Even Nicastro if they'll let him tutor someone. I really like your youth project, Pedro Cardoso is great. It'll make an eventual CL win all the more satisfying if you have one or two of the youngsters involved. Keep it up

corinthiano - nice season! Your defensive record was superb this year, if you can add a few more goals I see you claiming the title in a year or two. What tactics do you use?

Oh and bad luck vs Monaco. Pity.

[PRDH]

corinthiano - Both started the warm up games but didn't get much of a look in during the, frankly embarrassing, World Cup campaign. Drawn in a group with Serbia, Peru and the USA they contrived to lose every game finishing bottom of the pile.

If Milton is a second striker then his goals are pretty good. That's the position I play Neira, but yeah, it'd be nice to see him setting more up for those around him. Bad luck against Monaco. I fear it might be a good way of setting you up for years of European disappointment, if you're anything like me at least!

iacovone - Yeah, Juventus were staggeringly poor. I need to look to see who I can get to take Cortez under their wing. He has the makings of a cracking player, just need to get rid of the rough edges.

[Adam "Le God"]

My first foray into lower league management has been a disaster. I was sacked just before Christmas with the club languishing rock bottom of the league 6 points from safety. This lower league management is a lot harder than it looks. I'm not going to let this initial failure demoralise me and I have jumped straight back in to the challenge where Im currently holidaying in the nation of France.

[aldojags]

French National

End of Season Report 2012/2013 - ES Viry-Chatillon

French National - 4th Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 | Graph | Table

Ultimately disappointing conclusion to season. As I mentioned in my mid season report, I had a feeling I'd fall away, but for a short time I continued my habit of winning games in my opinion undeservedly! But for some reason, the wheels started to come off, and as you can from my results, I was absolutely hammered a few times. Was in promotion places until 2nd last day of season, I went to Guingamp (who were in ridiculously good form) knowing if I beat them I'd go up, but I was slaughtered. I was so average for a lot of that season, I can't believe I had a chance at promotion. Start of season I just wanted survival, but to come so close to promotion then lose out is disapointing, but to be honest, I didn't deserve it, negative goal difference, and so many games I didn't compete, scratching a point here and there.

And the amount of goals from corners I concede, I could cry! I then change my training focus to defend set piece, but I notice little difference. I really struggled tactically, I couldn't get possession in a lot of games, no real shape to team. I think a lot of it is lack of quality, especially in central mid.

Metz romped the league in the end, no real suprise, got some real quality in their team.

Cannes and Guingamp join them goin up, got Nimes Olympique, LeMans and Red Star 93 coming down, so still some tough opposition. My biggest threat this season was myself though, although my board are delighted with me, I totally blame myself for throwing away promotion.

French Cup-8th round Fixtures

Drew against lesser opposition, mainly played fringe and youth team players, and was heavily beaten by a non league team, really dissappointing. Toulouse ended up winning it.

Players

GK: Stephane Trevisan. Brought him in for his experience about half way through season, I'm not blaming him for our poor form at all, but he did concede 45 goals in 25 games, we were awful defensively come to think of it.

Defence

Mikal Gamondes. Solid season for the experienced full back. Equally steady in both full back position, he did well, especially first half of season.

Maikel Verkoelen. Like the look of this guy, think he'll get better with age, and gets the odd goal or 2 as well, good first season, looking forward to him maturing.

Christophe Lowinsky. Pretty much same as Verkoelen, young centre back with good potential, hoping those 2 could form my centre back pairing for years to come if they fulfil potential.

Ameth Biaye. Decent season, nothing spectactular. Still weighing up if he's worth a new deal.

Midfield

Gerald Forschelet. Average hard working midfielder, didn't impress too much will probably release him.

Dominique Abiodoun. Brought this kid in in January. He's only 19, still a bit inconsistent, but we missed him when he got injured, 0and I can see him being a key part of my team for seasons to come. Ideally could be quicker, but he's got otherwise superb atributes for someone so young. Expecting good things next season from him.

Noui Laifa. Highest ave rating of my players that played 20 or more games, but a pretty average uneventful season from him. Good physical attributes, but nothing this season that made me stand up and take notice. Got him signed on for another year, as my other midfielders are all young.

Dominique Abioula, brought in same time as Abiodoun, done well for his first season, expecting him also to push on next year.

Jonathan Beauliue. My coaches fancy him as a future key player, I've yet to be convinced, but I'll persevere.

Fawzi Ouaamar, Jacques Fey, Otman Djellilahine, and Ziri Hammar were all a bit of a let down. I thought they were be creative and go past full backs regularly, but they were pretty ineffective. All still young right enough, but I need more from them next season.

Strikers

Assomption Kessou. Done well, come off the bench and got a few important goals at the time. Again, young, so will need time.

Abdou Dieye. I had him out as my star man pre-season. Started season great, but completely fell away following an injury and never recovered. Still hit double figures which I'm pleased with, but if I can keep him fit, and get service to him, I don't see why he couldn't hit 20.

Dramane Koffi. His average rating might not say, but for me, the success of the season. Came in half way through, and rejuvenated the side, getting important goals, and terrorising defences with his pace. Sounds like I'm repeating myself, but he's still young, and I think it'll be a few years until we see the best of him, hopefully with us, but I think he's a premier league player in the making.

Club

We lost quite a bit of cash this season, averaging 50k a month, which for a club with average attendance of 634 and only 99 season ticket holders is quite a lot. The board, for some reason I'll never understand, have just announced they are installing an extra 825 seats, which will cost me £100,000. Do not ask me why, as we've not had close to 1 sell out all season. Madness.

I'm currently listed as Untouchable in Job security section, but in my manager profile I'm under fire apparently, I guess because I keep getting hammered, so I'll need to keep an eye on that.

Finances | Facilities | Transfers 1 | Transfers 2 | Club information

Season Objectives

Avoid relegation - Achieved quite easily, was never anywhere near bottom of league, but my form at times was that of a team near the bottom!

Trim the squad- failed! Signed way too many players, but I've got a huge portion of them about to be released in summer. Got this guy on pre contract to try and give me more quality in midfield, where I'm definitely weakest.

Bring on the CA of the youngsters. Overall, its probably a minor achieved. The african kids I signed are all dynamite and have benefited from me playing them, but my own prospects are not up to it yet.

New Objectives

Trim squad further

Be competitive in top half.

Go further in French Cup.

Find a formation that works!!!

Season     Division        Pos    Domestic Cup                European Competitions         Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   National         4th   French Cup 8th round      N/A                              Survived Relegation

Edited to add, I got 3rd in league manager of the year which I thought was quite cool, forgot to tell you!

[PRDH]

Adam "Le God" - Bad luck. Don't let it get you down. It is tricky, but the satisfaction is proportional!

aldojags - I can see why you'd be disappointed after your excellent form in the first half of the season but only missing out on promotion by four points in your first season is great going. If you can concede fewer goals I can definitely see you challenging at the right end of the table again next year.

[aldojags]

PRDH yeah your right, I wrote that report, then read it back and thought I was maybe being a bit hard on myself. Just really frustrating!

Adam Le God good on you for getting back on the horse! Frustrating but we've all been there, I'm sure you'll get it right next time. And seeing as your holidaying in France, incase you missed my advice, scout africa! particularly Cameroon and and Ivory Coast, I have got about 15 players from there, all of whom have at least 4 star potential.

[Adam "Le God"]

Adam Le God good on you for getting back on the horse! Frustrating but we've all been there, I'm sure you'll get it right next time. And seeing as your holidaying in France, incase you missed my advice, scout africa! particularly Cameroon and and Ivory Coast, I have got about 15 players from there, all of whom have at least 4 star potential.

Cheers for that aldojags got one of my scouts out in Africa as we speak, the other is plying his trade roaming around central Europe. Brought in a new Ass Man and a couple of decent players already, so things are looking decent at the moment.

[Adam "Le God"]

Im not sure if its is the same in other nations, but in France all of my players are on part time contracts. This has raised a few problems with training my players. Basically I can't use my normal schedules that I use on my other saves because they are full time schedules. I was wondering is it worth me creating dedicated P/T schedules or shall i just plug on with the default game schedules until I can use my F/T ones? Does the P/T schedules even have that much effect on players development?

Edit to include: I should also mention to you guys that I am the proud new manager of Football Club de Mulhouse. Im going to wait until after i have finished pre season to update you so that i can roll two updates into one longer, better one.

[aldojags]

Adam Le God I made my own schedules mate, I find general p/t just doesnt have enough specialisation. Good luck with Mulhouse. Another tip, ask the big clubs for a friendly at home, I usually manage to get a few, and I raise 50k a time, handy for a club struggling for cash. Every little helps! I should work for tesco!

But you can end up raising around 300k in pre-season, serious cash for a part time club.

[Adam "Le God"]

Bloody hell my board are really generous. They have already increased my number of scouts from 2 to 6 and after a cheeky bit of negotiation i have manged to get them to uprgade my youth facilities. Im chuffed.

Adam Le God I made my own schedules mate, I find general p/t just doesnt have enough specialisation. Good luck with Mulhouse. Another tip, ask the big clubs for a friendly at home, I usually manage to get a few, and I raise 50k a time, handy for a club struggling for cash. Every little helps! I should work for tesco!

But you can end up raising around 300k in pre-season, serious cash for a part time club.

Cheers for the tip aldojags, I was thinking about doing this but I wasn't sure whether the cash would be better than a poorer morale. So I decided to sort of do both in a tour to Switzerland, I have arranged two friendlies against so called 'bigger' opposition but have included a number of friendlies against smaller clubs to keep the morale up.

Also did you find that your players where disgracefully unfit at the start of your game? is it something to with the P/T contracts or Training? or is it just my players being lazy buggers.

[efrumttr]

Bloody hell my board are really generous. They have already increased my number of scouts from 2 to 6 and after a cheeky bit of negotiation i have manged to get them to uprgade my youth facilities. Im chuffed.

Cheers for the tip aldojags, I was thinking about doing this but I wasn't sure whether the cash would be better than a poorer morale. So I decided to sort of do both in a tour to Switzerland, I have arranged two friendlies against so called 'bigger' opposition but have included a number of friendlies against smaller clubs to keep the morale up.

Also did you find that your players where disgracefully unfit at the start of your game? is it something to with the P/T contracts or Training? or is it just my players being lazy buggers.

Really? Man, I wish I had your board. Mine only allows me 2 coaches total, I have 3 youth coaches that I started with too but they're useless and I can't replace them and hire new ones. The board won't let me hire more coaches, either. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to train properly. Good luck with Mulhouse, they were my second choice behind Romorantin.

aldojags, solid first season mate. Hopefully I can do something similar. I'm actually playing Viry-Chatillon in my final preseason friendly. Game just randomly scheduled them and I didn't realize til now. Looking forward to seeing you on the other sideline:D

We've had a pretty good preseason, played some good football and signed some new faces. I'll have a preseason report up after this last game, I've been busy settling back in at school after break:thdn:

[efrumttr]

SO Romorantin

2012-13 Preseason Report

Preseason Fixtures

Overall, I'm very happy with our preseason. The only game I'd characterize as 'bad' was the game against the CSKA Moscow reserves, and I think that one was due in large part to me fiddling around with formations and not really knowing what I was doing:D The Wigan game was incredibly exciting as we actually scored first and led 1-0 for about ten minutes. Tried to park the bus but they finally broke through for 2 goals. I still thought it was a fantastic result. The rest of the five matches were all against teams that I'd characterize as being at or around our level, and we represented ourselves incredibly well.

The thing I might be most excited about is our defense. I wanted to set up a formation and a team that would be solid at the back and difficult for people to score on, since I feel like it'll be very tough for us to get relegated if we can do that consistently. To keep 4 clean sheets and concede only 1 goal in the non Wigan/Moscow Reserve matches is a great sign.

The concern I listed in my initial report is still present: scoring. We did score in all but one of our matches, but I'm still concerned with quality up front. Only two of our goals came from strikers. We actually had quite a few goals from defenders, which is nice, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to count on that once we get into league play. I'm definitely keeping my eyes out for good forwards and attacking mids. That's a nice segue into...

Transfers

Transfer List

6 in, 7 out so far. The 7 were all players whose contracts expired a month in and that I chose not to renew. There will definitely be more transfers as I haven't touched any of my $100k transfer budget and the 7 guys I let go has given me a lot more to work with in wages, which was getting tight after I signed Gastien and Badra. The 6 guys I've signed so far:

Mickael Bernardo (ST)--The first guy we brought in. Had a cup of coffee at Porto (2 appearances, 1 goal) but washed out and left in June 2012, we picked him up on a free. Also capped at the U19 level for Portugal. Very encouraged by his finishing, he probably won't bang too many in from long range but that's okay. Wish he had a little more pace and determination, but for this level I couldn't pass him up. He's only 19, 5* potential and I think with some development he's got a very high ceiling. He needs to stay healthy, though--he's had 3 injuries in a 3-year career (plus 1 incident of food poisoning), and he promptly pulled his hamstring in his second game as a member of our squad and will probably miss our first two league matches.

Guillaume Norbert (D/M)--Maybe this is just my inner noob coming out, but I have no idea why my assistant only rates this guy at 2.5*. I love his stats, especially as a defender, and he can play on either side which is helpful considering we're still pretty thin on fullbacks. Wish his determination and stamina were higher. Played at Arsenal in the late '90s and Nantes in Ligue 1 3-4 years ago. Probably on the downhill end of his career but hopefully he can give us a few years and help us with stability at the back.

Yan Marillat (GK)--Hopefully our keeper of the future. Numbers look very solid for a 17 year old. Can stay in the youth ranks for awhile.

Benjamin Fortuna (MC)--By far our biggest dearth in terms of depth was in central midfield. I'm not in love with Fortuna's numbers, his determination is way lower than I'd like, he's not really great in any area either offensively or defensively. We'll see how he develops, I might be able to sell him in a few years and in the meantime he can provide some much, much needed depth in central midfield.

Johan Gastien (DM/MC)--Another guy who can play in central midfield if needed. I'm kind of torn between him and another guy Biaou as to who should start at central midfield vs. defensive midfield. I guess we'll see.

Mourad Badra (MC)--I'm so excited to see what this guy can do. I had to pay him--he's the highest paid player on the squad now--but I had to beat out the 3 Ligue 2 sides who also offered him contracts. He started 32 games for fellow National side FC Rouen last season and had 7 goals, 5 assists, and 3 MoM awards. He's only 24, too, so still plenty of time to develop his 4.5* potential.

I still need to bring in some new guys. We're pretty solid in central midfield now I feel. Our only pressing need in terms of depth now seems to be left back, other than that we're good depth-wise. Quality wise, I'm still on the lookout for strikers and/or attacking midfielders. A true defensive midfielder would be a nice bonus, too.

Starting XI

--------------------------------------------Girard------------------------------------------------------

---------Bahamboula------------------------------------------------------------Robic-------------------

-------------------------------Saytaifa------------------Badra------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------Gastien------------------------------------------------------

---------Melet-----------------Balde--------------------Johnson----------------Kelsch------------------

-------------------------------------------Cattier------------------------------------------------------

Looking Ahead

I was definitely focused in the beginning on just surviving in season one, but I'm tentatively optimistic about our chances to do well. The early matches aren't going to be easy, however, with the very unkind schedule maker giving us the predicted top 3 teams in 3 out of our first 5 matches (2 of them on the road). Snatching as many points as possible while keeping morale up is going to be key.

[aldojags]

Bloody hell my board are really generous. They have already increased my number of scouts from 2 to 6 and after a cheeky bit of negotiation i have manged to get them to uprgade my youth facilities. Im chuffed.

Cheers for the tip aldojags, I was thinking about doing this but I wasn't sure whether the cash would be better than a poorer morale. So I decided to sort of do both in a tour to Switzerland, I have arranged two friendlies against so called 'bigger' opposition but have included a number of friendlies against smaller clubs to keep the morale up.

Also did you find that your players where disgracefully unfit at the start of your game? is it something to with the P/T contracts or Training? or is it just my players being lazy buggers.

I actually haven't found morale a problem after getting beat from bigger teams. PSG beat us 5-0, but I told them they played well and not to worry about it, and the lowest morale I have present is fairly good.

Well done on the youth facilities! Yeah I got my coaches and scouts increased, they always initially refuse me, but when I tell them I fear we'll be left behind by our rivals, that always seems to terrify them!

Yeh the fitness is shocking, but after a few games and putting them into the conditioning training I usually get them up to the 90%'s.

Really? Man, I wish I had your board. Mine only allows me 2 coaches total, I have 3 youth coaches that I started with too but they're useless and I can't replace them and hire new ones. The board won't let me hire more coaches, either. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to train properly. Good luck with Mulhouse, they were my second choice behind Romorantin.

aldojags, solid first season mate. Hopefully I can do something similar. I'm actually playing Viry-Chatillon in my final preseason friendly. Game just randomly scheduled them and I didn't realize til now. Looking forward to seeing you on the other sideline:D

We've had a pretty good preseason, played some good football and signed some new faces. I'll have a preseason report up after this last game, I've been busy settling back in at school after break:thdn:

Good pre-season there mate, against some good opposition. I don't think you need to worry about going down mate. 42 points will keep you up in that league I think. Well done on the 3-0 at our place!

[iacovone]

Meet Oscar Bardales - the man to win us the Champions League. Cost me a cool £30m!

[sebs]

75 goals in 71 matches for honduras who did you sign him from?

[iacovone]

75 goals in 71 matches for honduras who did you sign him from?

He's been at Genoa for the past three years. They came 2nd last year so I decided it was time to weaken them! He was recommended to me as a 20 year old but I chose not to sign him at the time...oops.

Oh and he's got 77 in 72 now

[aldojags]

Superb he looks like a 50 goal a season man.

[PRDH]

Meet Oscar Bardales - the man to win us the Champions League. Cost me a cool £30m!

I think you made a mistake there. Surely you meant to type Usain Bolt! He's lightning!

[Adam "Le God"]

Meet Oscar Bardales - the man to win us the Champions League. Cost me a cool £30m!

Jeez iacovone that guy looks like an absolute monster.

aldojags glad to see its not just me who had a crappy fitness problem.

efrumttr Hopefully your board will allow you some more staff soon. Oh and good signings there 'Badra' and 'Bernardo' look decent.

[aldojags]

Pre-Season 2013/14

Well after the last day drama of missing out on promotion at the end of 12/13, I've had a bit of clear out and brought a young promising squad together.

Transfers

Quentin Beunardeau, young goalkeeper who I'm going to have as my number 1. Tried getting in a more experienced keeper but they were all on the way down stats wise, poor agility etc, so I've brought this guy, isn't the best keeper I could have signed possibly, but I think after a couple of years of 1st team football he'll be solid, I'm happy with him so far from pre-season.

Ibrahima Seck, needing a bit of competition in midfield, this guy should hopefully help us win a few tackles and dominate possession. Going to re-train him as a centre back too.

Claude Roland Videgla, similar to Seck, give us some more quality in the middle, I really struggled for possession in a lot of games last year, hopefully those 2 will beef up the team a bit, think this guy could be important, if we keep him fit.

Christian Kouakou is signing I'm most excited about, could be a good prospect, going to play him from the start, but he's bloody injured already!! Got a few injuries pre-season, to important players, does my nut in! Really going to hamper my first month or 2.

Chabi Akakpo was brought in to add depth to centre back area, I'm happy with Lowinsky and Verkoelen but outside of that I'm struggling for someone who could play first team.

Fixtures

Chose all bigger rep teams to get some cash in. Played well in all games, the PSG result obviously wasn't that great, but it was my first game, all the players were so unfit. But to draw with Marseille, and also Vannes (they equalised with last min pen), it's encouraging for the season. Beating Cercle Brugge was a good performance too.

If we carry the performances into the competitive fixtures I can't see how we won't do well.

Board wants top half, I've got wage budget of £12,000, but I adjusted it to 11,000, so I had finds to sign Kouakou.

Be happy when transfer window shuts, Stade Lavallois are sniffing around Koffi and Abioudoun, so I slapped £1m asking price on them to frighten them off.

Happy with squad, mainly 19-24 year olds, so expecting a bit of inconsistency, but I think on our day we'll beat any team in the league. I'm not going to pressure myself and say I want to go one better and win the league, major changes usually take a while until it all comes together, but we'll see how we go.

[G-Wiz]

need to get back into my save, been on holiday in Paris the last 2 weeks, need to refresh my memory as to where Ac Viseu are at the moment...great to see so much progress in the challenge

[iseemonsters1]

End of Season Report - Citta di Brindisi - 2012/13 (Season 1)

Competitions

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Girone B - 6th (Lost in Playoff Semi-Final)

A pretty satisfying first season in charge, though it didn't exactly blow anyone away. I was actually quite surprised at the level of expectation that surrounded the club when I first took over - the board expected a top half finish, while the press were predicting Brindisi to finish as high as 7th. Meanwhile, our two fellow promoted clubs were expected to finish last and second to last. Clearly, while no sleeping giants, Brindisi were a cut above some of the other new Serie C2 clubs. Having said that, even though we pretty much met the expectations placed on us, it's not easy to build a team from scratch that can live up to battling it out in the top half of the table all season, so I'm pleased that I managed to do it.

Things got hairy at times, and in the midst of one particularly bad run around December my job was actually under threat, but after a good team meeting things got back on track and we were in the playoff picture (though never even within shouting distance of automatic promotion) for the rest of the season.

It took until the final day of the campaign for us to secure our place in those playoffs, but despite losing our last game we managed to hang on to our 6th place, and so had the prospect of facing 3rd place finishers Gavorrano in the semi-finals. Despite not being beaten in the ensuing two games, drawing both the home and away legs 1-1, we were unceremoniously dumped out of the promotion race by virtue of being the lower seed. No extra time, no penalties. Oh well.

Coppa Italia di Lega Pro - Group I (knocked out in Group Stage)

Not a lot to report here - won two, lost two, and dropped out in the group stages of a tournament that I'm really not too concerned about!

Squad and Transfers

Club Overview | First Team Squad | Transfers

It probably comes as no surprise to see a lot of players brought in on free transfers, and not a lot of players leave, as I sought to put together a workable squad with enough depth to make it through the season in my first year in charge. Nobody really stood out head and shoulders above the rest this year, with nobody in fact managing an average rating above 7.

Mirko Guadalupi (AM C) - 27 apps (9 gls) - 6.93 average rating: Club captain Guadalupi could always be relied on to provide key goals when it mattered from his attacking midfield position in our 4-3-2-1 formation. Guadalupi is by far the highest paid player at the club, and while he maybe struggles to justify the outlay, he is undoubtedly one of Brindisi's key players.

Michele Stambazzi (D RC) - 35 (4) apps (0 gls) - 6.94 average rating: Only 20 years old, Stambazzi was nonetheless a key cog in our defence, as well as managing to charge forward to provide an impressive seven assists, even though he never managed to get on the scoresheet himself.

Luis Fernando Centi (M C) - 26 (8) apps (5 gls) - 6.91 average rating: At the other end of his career, 36 year old central midfielder Centi proved a steady influence at the heart of our team, laying on ten assists and notching five goals himself. He has announced he'll retire at the end of the season, deciding to bow out "before he's forced to play at a lower level". To which I would reply - "It's too late for that, my friend."

Objectives and History

Time to set some objectives for the coming season:

• Get promoted
  
• Reach 1st Round of Copa Italia Lega Pro
  
• Bring through some youth players
  

The board are already demanding promotion, so it's Serie C1 or bust for me this year - at least I know I won't be spending my time at Brindisi languishing in Serie C2. It's either get promoted, or get fired. The squad will need some strengthening to fulfill those expectations though. I don't care too much about the cup, but the minimum board expectation is to get through the group stage into the 1st Round, so I'd like to at least make it that far. Finally, I've got a couple of good players who came in as youth prospects - particularly attacking midfielder Mattia Damiani, who has already made an impact on the first team - I'd like to give them a run in the side and see how they develop.

Seasonal Best XI | Overall Best XI

Season     Division        Pos    Domestic Cup                European Competitions         Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13    Serie C2/B      6th    Lega Pro - Group Stage      N/A                           Lost in Playoffs

[PRDH]

iseemonsters1 - Hard luck in the playoffs, but it's a great basis for next season.

[aldojags]

How do you do the code thing to list your seasons

[PRDH]

How do you do the code thing to list your seasons

I create the table in a notepad-type program to get it lined up properly then copy it over to here starting with [code*] and ending it with [/code*] removing the *s.

[PRDH]

Big decision just been made in Angra. I've decided to sell Ales Svoboda. He was complaining about wanting a new challenge in the summer. I placated him, but now, in September, he has been complaining about his lack of first team football (Dias has continued to do well in goal) and so, to preserve team harmony he is off to Stuttgart in January, getting £8.5m for him. And of course his £30,000/week wages off the books.

[corinthiano]

iacovone - Bardales looks brilliant, definately one that can give you the edge against the big sides in the CL. As for my tactics I use these two, depending on whether I am favourite to win the match or not:

Defensive - Attacking

With both tactics I use the shouts: Retain Possession, Play Wider, Work Ball Into Box and Play Out of Defence

Basically I try to play a short passing game, down the middle and get my full-backs to overlap. When I am playing defensively I leave it a little bit more rigid and let them be more creative when I am attacking.

Adam "Le God" - Unlucky on your first attempt, nice to see you having another go though, best of luck with Mulhouse!

aldojags - Thats is a very solid first season despite you not going up, sets you up nicely for next season.

efrumttr - Best of luck in the National, Badra looks like he could be a key player for you.

iseemonsters1 - Very good first season, must be tough being expected to get promotion in the second season though!

[vikeologist]

1st knockout round, I was terrified of drawing man Utd who have knocked us out the last 2 years, and managed to finish 2nd in their group.

Instead we drew Chelsea, who we have knocked out 4 of the last 5 seasons in this round. Boy they must be sick of us.

Once again, not a single one of our players was in the shortlist for World Player of the Year. I guess the problem is the low reputation of the club. we're not even the highest rep club in scotland. That's Celtic who have got to the UEFA Cup Final (winning it once) in recent seasons, depsite the fact that we finish 30-40 points ahead of them in the league. (I think last season might have only been 20-something). Our rep won't go up until we win the Champions league, at which point it won't matter because once the challenge is finished I'll leave quicker than a laowai who gets a Chinese girl pregnant.