FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[Mooping]

Mooping's AS Cannes

End of Season Update 2012/13 (1st Season)

League Table

League Graph

Squad

Transfers

Finances

Season Summary:

The season started poorly with 3 straight losses and we toiled around the relegation places for the first half of the season or so. The defense was ok, but our big inability was scoring goals. Two January signings of Sékou Guessan for 60K from Africa Sports and Adebayo Opara also for 60K from Heartland changed our fortunes and their combined 13 league goals helped to propel us up into a very credible final position of 6th. In the cups we reached the 3rd round of the Couple de la League, and the 7th round of the Coupe de France.

Other news and notes:

Fortunately we have an owner with fairly deep pockets who was able to pump nearly £6m into the team to pay off some debts. The youth intake was a duff one. Highest potential was 2 stars. I didn't offer any of them contracts.

Next Season Targets:

Promotion, and a couple of new defenders, perhaps.

Season  |  League   | Position |    Cup     |Coupe de la Ligue| Achievements  |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 | National  |   6th    | 7th Round  |    2nd Round    |               |

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's AD Parla

Pre-Season 2021/22

Liga BBVA

September 1st Update

The Transfers

In Brief

In: 10 Players (€3.9M)

Out: 5 Players (€160k)

Loans: 4 Players (€107k)

Wages Total: €121,489 (p/w)

Wage Budget: €144,056 (p/w)

Remaining Transfers: €455k

New Signings

First Team

Sammy Ogweno (MRC,Free) - I needed a bit more cover in the midfield, and this guy seems to fit the bill and have a bit more for the future as well.

Thabang Radebe (ST,€60k) - A brilliant little signing, he will provide cover for Montiquin and possibly become our new striker in the future. I love the attributes of this young South African.

Aaron Garner (DR,Free) - His contract at Liverpool expired and I snapped him up as right back was a weakness once again last season, hopefully this makes a difference.

David Frydych (GK,€55k) - I needed a new young back-up for Re, and this guy is willing to be a back-up, that gives him the job.

Ondrej Linhart (AMRC,€65k) - The next Tomas Rosicky is going to start the season on the bench as a utility midfield cover, if he can grow into any of the three places he can play I will have another star.

Oumar N'Dao (AMLC,€1.6M) - Another player brought in as cover for my midfield, looking forward to seeing what he can do.

Miguel Herlein (ST,Free) - Club Legend, will tutor my strikers.

Youth

Aykut Erden (ST,Free) - He was actually planned long before Radebe came, looks to be our third striking option will play mostly for the U19s.

Vyacheslav Yershov (MR,€2M) - The youngster may get some bench play, but mainly he is a future replacement down the right.

Besik Gabelia (AMR,€140k) - He is well down my list of right wingers.

The Friendlies

Results

Well I mixed it up a bit and played as many combinations as I could, so the results aren't really indicative of the skill of my team, I was overall happy with the way it went.

Liga Adelante

22.08 at Betis - 2:4

Arregi (13), Radebe (70)

Montiquin was suspended for this match, and we were chasing a record unbeaten streak. We were chasing the game the whole time and it never really looked likely, Arregi played really well, and Radebe impressed me as well.

29.08 vs Athletic - 3:1

Montiquin (65,68), Linhart (82)

This game we also went behind really early on, and from there it was a fight, we dominated most areas of the game and finally managed to get a pair of quick goals to Montiqun, and that was that as we took our first win of the season, and the 200th win with me in charge in 390 games.

The Team

So without Further ado, here is the team I expect to lead Parla in the Liga BBVA this season:

GK: Re

DR: Garner, DC: Paulinho & Sedlacek, DL: Moravec

MC: Yildrim & Bife

AMR: Ferrari, AMC: Arregi, AML: Bumbera

ST: Montiquin

Well the changes see Garner come in at the back and Paulinho move into the central role to replace Ruiz, Bife has made a move past Mitorvic in the midfield and Ferrari steps into the right wing slot that I brought him in for, I am a bit worried about his performance so far, but hopefully it is just new team nerves and he will settle and takeover.

The season tickets have jumped up to 11,746 this season and our first home game saw over 16,000 fans turn up meaning we beat our best previous attendance by more than 10,000. Looking forward to playing this season out at Parla Stadium and seeing what we can do as a best attendance.

For the U20 World Cup we had players in the French, Brazilian and Argentina squads, Bife, Paulinho & Willian ended up with Gold Medals as Brazil defeated France in the final. We also had several players attempting to make their international debuts.

[iacovone]

Belgium have just beaten hosts Russia in the 2018 World Cup Final! Hmmmm, a bit far fetched there maybe!

Who are the current world and european champions in your games? Mines is world-belgium. Europe-germany.

Any of you guys who've been playing for 10 years+, have any african/asian teams won the world cup?

Euros: Italy

World Cup: Argentina

Colombia and Uruguay are the smallest nations to win the World Cup on mine and Cameroon lost the final to Colombia back in 2014!

[iacovone]

Really like the look of Radebe LLR

[PRDH]

aldojags - World Cup '38 winners were Holland who beat France in the final and Italy won Euro '36. The weirder Euro results were Czech Republic winning in 2016 and Ukraine in 2020. The World Cup has also had a bit of an Eastern European run with Russia winning it in 2026 and Croatia runners up in 2022 and 2030.

LLR - I also like the look of Radebe, how much potential do your back room staff think he has?

Edit - I thought I'd whisper this very quietly, but we're only around 100 posts shy of dafuge's challenge this year. That's astonishing. We're awesome!

Meanwhile, in my universe, I just finished the my CL group with a win against Fenerbahce. The nice thing was that I finished the game with 8 of the 11 players on the pitch products of my youth set up. Now, if only I could produce a decent left back!

[aldojags]

PRDH that is ridiculous! 8 out 11, that must be so satisfying! I've got one decent prospect, I've already included him in some squads like the cups etc, he's got 3.5 potential, young Scottish DRLC, so it's my interests for both club and country to train him well! But that is amazing, playing in a competition as high standard as Champions League with that many youth products.

Good 1st season there mooping, I came 6th in my season in the National too, good start. Sure your only a season or 2 away from Ligue 2. Cannes have got decent stadium too if I'm not wrong? So you won't be handicapped by Stadium redevelopment as you climb through the leagues, so your well set

[iacovone]

aldojags - World Cup '38 winners were Holland who beat France in the final and Italy won Euro '36. The weirder Euro results were Czech Republic winning in 2016 and Ukraine in 2020. The World Cup has also had a bit of an Eastern European run with Russia winning it in 2026 and Croatia runners up in 2022 and 2030.

LLR - I also like the look of Radebe, how much potential do your back room staff think he has?

Edit - I thought I'd whisper this very quietly, but we're only around 100 posts shy of dafuge's challenge this year. That's astonishing. We're awesome!

Meanwhile, in my universe, I just finished the my CL group with a win against Fenerbahce. The nice thing was that I finished the game with 8 of the 11 players on the pitch products of my youth set up. Now, if only I could produce a decent left back!

PRDH - how are you finding this first season after completion? I'm a bit 'meh' at the moment. Coming towards the end of a ridiculously successful season (so far) but don't seem to be getting any great kicks out of it.

[PRDH]

PRDH - how are you finding this first season after completion? I'm a bit 'meh' at the moment. Coming towards the end of a ridiculously successful season (so far) but don't seem to be getting any great kicks out of it.

Yeah, I'm feeling a bit similar. My team seem to be too, we've just not hit the form of last season, or the previous ones. I mean we're still top of the league, and through the CL groups, but everything seems more of a struggle.

What's keeping me going at the moment are the youth team graduates. I'm determined to finish Cardoso's career, I want to see what absurd records he can set.

Have you thought about taking over an international side? I'm tempted to take over Portgual and instil an Azorean only policy!

Also, Club World Cup coming up now. That'll be exciting! Speaking of which...

[PRDH]

Welcome to the Club World Championship Semi final between Santos Laguna and Lusitânia Açores.

The Azorean club go into this game without a fit right back and it'll be interesting to see how that affects them.

Kick off

6 mins - Cardoso is through on goal and picks a spot in the bottom right hand corner of the goal and fires left-footed past the keeper. 0-1

12 mins - Tuominen makes a stunning run up the left touchline and whips a ball in towards Cardoso, but the Mexican's 'keeper bravely throws himself at the striker's feet to cut out the danger. The 'keep rolls the ball out to the centre half who knocks the ball out to the left winger who runs at our not a right back. He cuts inside and has a shot from distance but it's straight at Dias who makes a comfortable save.

35 mins - Cardoso's shot, comes back off the post.

37 mins - Cardoso challenges the keeper who makes a hash of it, the ball falls to Bentalaa whose deflected shot puts the Portuguse team two up. 0-2

43 mins - Bentalaa surges up the right and flashes a cross across goal where Djokovic is lurking to nod home. 0-3

Half time - Suitably comfortable so far.

68 mins - Djokovic slips a ball through to Cardoso who hammers it into the net. 0-4

78 mins - Carranza knocks a cross in from they right and Rodrigues' shot goes under the 'keeper. 0-5

Full time - comfortable win for the Angra team.

[iacovone]

Sounds very similar to my Club World Cup experience

[PRDH]

Sounds very similar to my Club World Cup experience

Yeah, pretty comfortable! And in the final we're facing Al-Hilal (KSA) so that should be another comfortable game.

[iacovone]

Yeah, pretty comfortable! And in the final we're facing Al-Hilal (KSA) so that should be another comfortable game.

We faced them in the final too. Won 2-0 and discovered an incredible 21 year old Egyptian striker!

I'm having a tough time in the CL at the moment. It took penalties for us to beat Benfica in the quarters after losing the second leg 3-0

Now in the semi's we drew the home leg 0-0 after going down to ten men. Need to put in a monumental second leg performance vs Atletico Madrid if we're to retain the trophy!

[PRDH]

We faced them in the final too. Won 2-0 and discovered an incredible 21 year old Egyptian striker!

I'm having a tough time in the CL at the moment. It took penalties for us to beat Benfica in the quarters after losing the second leg 3-0

Now in the semi's we drew the home leg 0-0 after going down to ten men. Need to put in a monumental second leg performance vs Atletico Madrid if we're to retain the trophy!

Well, I don't wish to boast, but I just beat them 3-0! No incredible Egyptian striker though, I'll just have to make do with Cardoso who got two goals in the win.

Although, now I look they do have an Egyptian defender I thought about buying a while back. He's developed well, but probably not quite good enough for my side.

I'd be amazed if I retained my CL trophy. I reckon you can pull off a win in Madrid though, although it only needs to be a score draw.

[iacovone]

Well, I don't wish to boast, but I just beat them 3-0! No incredible Egyptian striker though, I'll just have to make do with Cardoso who got two goals in the win.

Although, now I look they do have an Egyptian defender I thought about buying a while back. He's developed well, but probably not quite good enough for my side.

I'd be amazed if I retained my CL trophy. I reckon you can pull off a win in Madrid though, although it only needs to be a score draw.

Well, you were right. But it was so so tense!

This time they were reduced to ten men in the first half but we couldn't score. So 0-0, extra time again. Penalties are being denied on both sides by the ref. We then score the winner in the 121st minute but it's ruled out by the officials! Off to penalties, both miss 3 of our first 5. Sudden death, both score, they miss, we miss, they miss, we score! We're through to the final - just :o

Barcelona in the Stade de France. Will we get our revenge over them finally?

[iacovone]

Smashed Barca 3-0 this time

I've made into the worldwide hall of fame after this trophy-laden season.

That's:

Italian Supercup

European Supercup

World Club Cup

Italian Cup

Serie A

Champions League

I feel like I've completed FM

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2036/37 (Season 25) - Serie A

Serie A - 1st[/url]

We started off with a late win over Juve in the Supercup before embarking on another excellent Serie A season. After winning our first 13 games we inexplicably lost at Palermo which really angered me as I thought we'd go unbeaten this year.

Despite that minor setback we went onto romp to our 7th straight Scudetto and set a record number of points with 107. Our goal difference of +100 is a record too. Easy.

|

Champions League:

The European adventure began with a 2-0 win over Leverkusen to claim the European Super Cup. We then waltzed through our group with ease, winning all 6 against APOEL, Bayern and PSG to qualify for the knockouts.

Porto were first and a good 2-2 draw there set us up well for a 3-1 home win to put us in the quarters.

We comfortably beat Benfica 3-0 in the first leg at home but after a war of words with manager Benito Carbone, we found ourselves on the end of a hiding back in Lisbon. 3-0 we were beaten and that meant extra time. No-one could break the deadlock and so it was to penalties where we just sneaked through 4-2.

Atletico Madrid were next and they came to our place and held onto a 0-0 after being significantly helped by a Della Corna red-card. The return game saw the centre-back I antagonised in the build-up receive his marching orders. However, the score stayed 0-0 until the 120th minute. I thought we'd won it our 'winner' was disallowed. Penalties again and we crept through after an epic 8 penalties each. 5-4 to us!

The final was straightforward. Barcelona were poor, we were great and van Roosmalen, Dobrovolny and Bardales scored the goals.

TIM Cup:

Once again I played the reserves and we went all the way to the final, winning the trophy 3 days before the CL Final after extra time.

Club World Cup:

Won the semi-final 3-1 against Ismaily before beating Al-Hilal 2-0 in the final.

The Squad:

Goalkeepers

Oier Perez (GK) - took the number one shirt and looks set to keep it for many years.

Defenders

Kevin Schultz (DRC/WBR) - avoided injuries for the first year in a while and did very well. What a skipper.

Jelle Klein (DC) - had a successful loan spell at Cesena last year and was pushed into first team football this season. Reacted very well.

Sandor Molnar (D/WBR) - new Serbian full-back had a brilliant debut season.

Midfielders

Omer Yoney (DM/MC) - paid a fortune but justified it this year, particularly in Europe. Won best player in the CL this season.

Bernardo Velazquez (MRC) - injury free as well and back to his best. A pleasure to have him as playmaker for us.

Peter van Roosmalen (AMRL/ST) - showed his class all year but missed an early part of the season. Scored in both the TIM and CL cup finals. Legend.

Emiliano Malbernat (M/AMRC) - youngster beginning to show serious potential. Bit part player this year but I'm selling a CM to make more room for regular football for the 20-year-old.

Luca Della Corna (M/AMR) - added an unwelcome dirty streak to his game this year (2 reds) but was always proficient when playing.

Forwards

Oscar Bardales (ST) - phenomenal year. Top goalscorer, Mr Reliable. Good guy!

Sebastian Pasquali (ST) - was going superbly til he tore his calf. Look forward to having him back next year.

Robert van Gool (ST) - youngster had his first full year with the first eleven and contributed very well.

Squad Stats

Finances

Club Information

Facilities

Transfers

So we had both facilities upgraded this year as well as our junior coaching and recruitment network expanded. It made no difference to the academy intake though - poor again. We're just one year away from Cilona Park

Objectives Complete?

• Win the World Club Cup
  

Success! Yep, nice and easy.

• Win back-to-back CL's
  

Success! Hell yes. Rode our luck in the knockout stages but dominated the final.

• Have an unbeaten league season
  

Failed. So close. One inexplicable loss at Palermo killed this particular dream.

New Objectives:

• Win everything again
  
• Try and get the Italy job
  
• Have an unbeaten league season
  

Not much more I can aim for given I've just won all six trophies we entered for! This was a ridiculous season and my best on any FM. Ever. Now I'd like to take over the national team when it becomes available.

Joining us in Serie A this season are: ,. Departing Serie A are: Empoli, Perugia and Nocerina.

Seasonal Best Eleven

Overall Best Eleven

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Radebe has "Leading BBVA Striker" potential according to my Ass Man, though he has pretty poor judging qualities, my own eye seems to agree. He has also made his first two caps and managed to score as South Africa attempt to qualify for the World Cup.

As for the World Cup winners: 2014 - Portugal, 2018 - Italy, Euros: 2012 - Scotland, 2016 - Italy, 2029 - Belarus.

[Romanista1994]

Mooping - Great first season, those two players look fantastic.

LLR - Some great signings, I like the look of Garner and Radebe in particular.

iacovone - A season most of us can only dream of. Your junior coaching is only 'good' however, so no wonder your intakes have been poor considering the level of players you have. Should be able to make it exceptional in the next two years though.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

This is going to be one tough week, though all spent in Madrid. We just hosted At. Madrid on Sunday in a 1:1 draw (We did lead til the 88th minute), now on Wednesday we have a visit to Real Madrid, and to follow that on Sunday we see Barcelona coming to town. I think if I can get out of here with another point I will be delighted, even staying close and keeping morale up would be good enough.

[rlipscombe]

ghostwriter - solid 1st season there with Lyon - good luck next season.

18Rabbit - great stuff on promotion!! good luck next year

[iacovone]

This has worked out rather nicely. Italy flopped in the summer's Confederations Cup and the manager was sacked. I applied and got offered the job. Time for some international management

[efrumttr]

SO Romorantin

Preseason Report 2013/2014 (2nd Season)

Not much to report here, this will be a short post. Our preseason was pretty successful. We played some top Ligue 1 teams away, which was a fantastic way to get some much needed cash back into the club (I think we made a total of about $250k from those 3 matches alone). The 1-1 draw with Lyon, who made the CL final last season, was great even if it was only preseason. A very convincing win over a Belgian side from their top league and a fun 6-1 romp over a French regional division team has us entering league play again on a high note.

Transfer wise, we let 14 players go during the offseason when their contracts expired. As it turns out, that really clears out the wage budget:D It did clear about 10k out total in wages, and I'm already scouting like a madman trying to find players with both high potential for the future jump to Ligue 2 (whenever it happens) AND high current ability. Not always easy at this level but we've added 2 transfers who I think can help this season:

Philippe Liard--Left back was a nuisance all of last season. We're still thin there, but bringing this guy in from his African side for $9k should help. Incidentally, that set the club record for highest amount spent on a transfer, which really shook up the locals--just wait until we get to the top league;)

Mohamed N'Diaye--Going to try playing this guy as an attacking midfielder to start with as I have other guys I trust more at the forward position. Hoping he can bang a few in and generally just help our offense to threaten more consistently. Cheap too, only a $300 transfer fee.

We're still looking for transfers, I have bids in on two centrebacks right now and another central midfielder for hopefully just more depth. We've got plenty of wages and transfer budget left to spend, but I'm trying to be judicious and find better transfers than I did last season. I did get the 'Shrewd Spender' achievement on Steam, so I must be doing something right:D

Anyways, we're off into league play again the next time I fire the game up. I'm a little nervous but I really think we'll be better than last season, it feels like I'm more in control of the team already and I have a general idea of what everybody can do now. The board's expectation was just to avoid relegation again but I'm expecting at least a mid-table finish, with my real private expectations being ideally a finish around the middle of the table or even top-half.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I have to post this and take the Curse that may come with it, Parla's week of Hell started with a 1:1 draw against At.Madrid, followed up by a 3:0 loss to Real Madrid (Goals @ 88 & 90), and then we headed home and Barcelona came to town, in the 52nd minute we took the lead care of Linhart, they instantly changed to a more attacking 4-4-2, and brought on Messi, before i had changed tactic to counter, Messi scores and it is 1:1, the game continues to go back and forward, both teams with good chances, and Re saving me on more than one occasion and then a badly cleared corner falls to Bife just outside the box and he slams it home for an 86th minute goal, then fingernail stuff as we had to hold on to record a HUGE 2:1 victory over Barcelona. 4pts from that week is more than I could have ever imagined.

[rlipscombe]

moonpig - solid first season there mate - good luck for the promotion push

LLR - good signings there - agree with all of the comments about Radebe. great win over Barca too!

iacovone - dominant season again - shame about missing out on the unbeaten season. and good luck with Italy!

PRDH - i had noticed that too about dafuge challenge.... We might well overtake it soon to become the top challenge of FM12!!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Mooping - A good first season there, the main aim is always to avoid relegation, good to see a 6th place finish. Opara looks like a very solid prospect, and could lead your goalscoring charts for the future.

Everybody - Thanks for the congrats, and yes Radebe looks epic, I am looking forward to his development, especially as he is about the same height and weight as me too. He has skills in every area I want in my sole striker and I can't wait to see his development, As for Potential it ranges from 4.5 - 5 stars (Leading Liga BBVA, looks good). I am looking forward to trying to keep the core of the team together, I only have a couple of older guys and most can grow in this squad.

PRDH & Iacovone - Congrats on World Club Cup success, maybe it is just a hangover from the effort of finally completing. Maybe you need to find a new challenge, whether that involves jumping to a smaller Club, bigger club, continuing with a youth squad or something else.

Iacovone - A huge season there as you won sooo much, really hard luck on the unbeaten season, but just a single loss is awesome, better luck next year if you continue. Good Luck managing the Italian side as well, going to do both jobs?

Efrumttr - Good Luck with this season and hopefully the few changes in the Preseason are successful and lead you to a push upwards.

As for the thread getting close to Dafuge, not sure what has happened over there, but our thread continues from strength to strength. We have a good core who are always around, and you guys make it all worthwhile.

[aldojags]

Did you guys watch the Chelsea game tonight? What a performance eh?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Did you guys watch the Chelsea game tonight? What a performance eh?

It's crazy what can happen when one team has to score goals and the other is willing to just sit back and pounce on errors. No idea what is wrong with Barca lately though, they couldn't score to save themselves a week ago, and tonight they had Chelsea done, let them back in and then couldn't kill them off. Interested to see what happens in the Final now, because if Chelsea do win it then they take England's fourth Champs League spot meaning only one of Arsenal or Newcastle will make it.

[aldojags]

Got a dilemma I need help with!

Pickedhi this guy up on a bosman in the summer from Barcelona. He's been really good at both centre back and right back, got 4.5 potential. But Marseille enquired about him, I said I wanted 10m, they've come in with 7m offer. That's A LOT of money for a club my size, still only getting crowds of 2-3000. That money would be fantastic. Also, my assistant said something to me recently about off field problems affecting his development. So do I keep the player (he's on a 5 yr deal) and hopefully turn him into a strong player for us. Or take the money and use to rebuild? I really like him and I'm leaning toward rejecting the cash. But the stuff about poor development due to off field things bothers me, is he likely to drop his PA with this talk?

Dunno what to do!! I'm going to sleep now, and got stuff to do tomorrow so won't be back on until tomorrow afternoon/night so any help would be great if you've had issues with this stuff before like the assistant saying hes worried about player development.

[aldojags]

It's crazy what can happen when one team has to score goals and the other is willing to just sit back and pounce on errors. No idea what is wrong with Barca lately though, they couldn't score to save themselves a week ago, and tonight they had Chelsea done, let them back in and then couldn't kill them off. Interested to see what happens in the Final now, because if Chelsea do win it then they take England's fourth Champs League spot meaning only one of Arsenal or Newcastle will make it.

I would feel so sorry for Newcastle if they lost out like that, they've been outstanding this year. Can't see Chelsea minus Terry, Ivanovic, Mereiles, Ramires, maybe Cahill, beating Real or Bayern at their own stadium.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Always a horrible situation to be in, and very tricky decision to make. I'd be tempted to sell him, but as you've seen, I do like making a profit! The big question is always what you can do with the money. Is there someone you could get in to replace him for considerably less? Is there someone in the team who might make the step up? Basically, if that £7m will allow you to make the team stronger overall then I think I'd take the money and invest it in the rest of the squad.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

aldojags - Oh I think Newcastle fully deserve champions league, would be gutting for them to miss out. As for your player I am with PRDH, I will always sell for sums of money if I think I can use it to overall improve my team. I generally have a ready made replacement for every position, even if sometimes they might be a bit young. SO if you think you can improve the team by selling him then I would go for it, it is a lot of money.

[iacovone]

LLR - I'm doing both jobs. We're halfway through the World Cup qualifiers when I took over with a perfect record of 6 wins from 6. It's all building up to USA '38

[PRDH]

Well, it looks like last year's Champions' League performance was as out of character as I feared. Normal service looks to be resumed. Losing 2-0 to AC Milan in the 1st Knockout Round at the moment. Wait, we've literally just scored, 2-1, an away goal that could be very handy.

[efrumttr]

LLR - I'm doing both jobs. We're halfway through the World Cup qualifiers when I took over with a perfect record of 6 wins from 6. It's all building up to USA '38

God I hope the U.S. gets another World Cup waaaaaay before '38. I'm still holding out dim hope that the U.S. will be a last minute replacement for Qatar.

[PRDH]

What a comeback. 2-1 down after the first leg, another goal down at half time, my lads scored three goals in the 25 minutes to make it past AC Milan and into the quarter finals.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Good work PRDH, looking forward to your quarterfinal now.

[aldojags]

I took your advice and let Morillo go. £7m was just too much to resist, and I have a few decent defenders to come in and take over, so I took the cash. Also got £5m from Juve for a winger I brought in, also on a bosman, also from Barca! So that's £12m I've made on 2 players who both joined for free, played 4 months for me, then I made that much profit. Think I'm going to have to do my fair share of selling throughout the challenge, the attendances haven't picked up at all, despite me having a decent season (sitting 5th halfway through) so I'll need to raise cash other in ways. But I'm pleased with the £12m made in January.

Looky here what I've spent £6m of it on...coming in in the summer, couldn't get him now due to an injury, think he'll be excellent for me...

Saving the rest as I'm getting my training and youth facilities done again. Let me know what you think of Lubos Matta.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Definitely the right choice, and Matta looks like a cracking player.

[PRDH]

That time of year again. Time to welcome our new recruits to the club.

First, and the player my assistant is most excited about, is Nuno Rosa. Rated as having three-and-a-half-star potential, the striker, born on the mainland, looks to have decent stats in the important areas. He is never going to be a playmaking forward, but looks like he could do a decent job of getting on the end of other people's play. A determined player I have high hopes about him fulfilling his potential.

Also with three and a half stars is Ricardo Aleixo, a left back who was born in Angra do Heroísmo itself. I'm not convinced by him, but the coaches think he can become a leading Premier League player, and they've been accurate so far so he is going to be joining the elite youngster group along with Rosa. Hopefully he can mature nicely and take a place in the first eleven eventually. He is already a decent player defensively (for a 15-year-old) but will really need to work on the attacking side of his game to fit into the team. I think he'll benefit from some tutoring to improve his mental stats, in particular his determination, to get him towards fulfilling his potential.

The second tier of products is headed by Rui Fernandes, a right back who was also born in Angra do Heroísmo. His initial stats look on a par with Aleixo, but the coaches only rate him as having two and a half stars potential, so in theory once they get into the youth regime he might get left behind. Anyway, he comes ready with passable physical stats and his arrival means we have a decent back line of potential youth players when combining this year's intake with that of last year.

Finally is Luís Miguel (this might get confusing as last year had another player come through with the same name) another lad born n Angra do Heroísmo, he is the player I'm least excited about for two reasons. Firstly, he is the lowest rated of the decent prospects, coming in at just two stars, but also because he plays a somewhat troubling position for me. He is a natural right wing back, a position I do not use. He does however look like a player who could become a decent winger/wide midfielder, and that is the direction I will be asking him to focus his attention.

Lastly, two players who are not really good enough to get through the recruitment on their own merit, but make it through because of their novelty value are Ying Yunqi and Zoljargal Bazar who are from China and Mongolia respectively. I have it my mind that they might add to the adaptability of the squad, and maybe even boost merchandising in the long run. Both are only blessed with half a star of potential and are unlikely to ever make it into the senior set up, but we'll see what our coaches can turn them into.

[iacovone]

LLR - did you know Rui Costa once played for Fafe!? I just found that out - it made me happy

[iacovone]

I like the look of Nuno Rosa PRDH. He could develop well given his determination. As you rightly say, with the right tutoring Ricardo Aleixo could also become a decent squad player. Nice round-up.

[aldojags]

Yeah that's decent round up, how do you get the varied nationalities? Do you have asian feeder clubs? Is Cardoso the best you've ever had PRDH? If you had to, could you field a matchday squad entirely of your own players and still win say a league match?

[PRDH]

Yeah that's decent round up, how do you get the varied nationalities? Do you have asian feeder clubs? Is Cardoso the best you've ever had PRDH? If you had to, could you field a matchday squad entirely of your own players and still win say a league match?

Cardoso is certainly the best I've had in this game, although Vieira and Dias push him close. I've had some pretty decent players in the past. If you give me a second I might have a trawl through and find the selected highlights.

I just played an all youth product team in a League Cup match against Academica. It was slightly weakened through injuries and international call ups, and it lost 2-0. It looks like (without wishing to incur the forum curse) I will win the league this year with a few games to spare, so will try the final few games in an all home-grown style.

In other news, the Portugal manager has, finally, been sacked. I've applied for the job. If I get it, I can see it taking on a decidedly Azorean flavour!

Edit - As for the array of nationalities, I don't know. I have a pretty good knowledge of the world and always have scouts stationed in Asia, I've also got this established youth recruitment now, which presumably helps, they all also have Portuguese as a second nationality though, so I wonder whether it's just the came throwing up weird combinations as it gets bored.

[PRDH]

Selected highlights from PRDH's youth academies.

1/ Diego Pastore - A stunning player and the man who launched a thousand 'the next-Pastore' comments in the versions of this challenge since (admittedly mainly from me - alright, entirely from me). He was the first properly world class player I ever got through an academy and was a big part in me falling in love with this challenge when he appeared for Domegliara in Serie B. As a playmaking forward he was unmatched and I honestly think he would have made an excellent partner for Cardoso.

2/ Gianfranco Dalla Bona - Italian left back who came through the youth academy the year after Pastore and made the full-back position in the all-conquering Domegliara side. Blessed with the pace and stamina to allow him to make his marauding overlapping runs throughout the game. He was however, not a one-trick pony, he was a solid defensive player too.

3/ Cedric Bilger - The only player to emerge from the academy of French powerhouses SO Romorantin, but a good one. He, like a lot of my youngsters, emerged with no pace at all, but slowly developed it. He never really reached his potential with my team as the board sold him to Liverpool without my leave, very disappointed because he had some of the most absurd technical abilities I've seen. He largely played as a central midfielder for me, but probably would have, in time, become a striker.

4/ Miguel García - A player whose career got slightly lost when my updating fell by the wayside in the last version of the game when I was at Pajara Playas. He was, again, the only player worth mentioning to emerge from the youth set up, but what a player. The perfect deep-lying playmaker in my tactics, he's like Miguel Teixeira from this year, but a couple of notches up the food chain. He controlled the temp beautifully and would have had a stunning career had I continued it.

It's pretty close I think over all between García and Cardoso in terms of pure ability, but Pastore has a place in my heart for the amount of time served. Of them all I think Pastore, Dalla Bona and García would all improve my current squad. Bilger may do too, but I have less emotional attachment as he never quite made it with me. He instead went on to have a decent career with Liverpool, in fact I think he lost a couple of Champions' League finals to us with them.

[steve.rush]

@PRDH - Pastore screenshot shows up as Dalla Bona mate

[PRDH]

@PRDH - Pastore screenshot shows up as Dalla Bona mate

So it does, sorted now. Cheers!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Iacovone - I did know about Rui Costa, on loan in 1990 I think, looking back I believe it was part of the reason I chose the club. This season I am Parla, in part because Rafa Benitez used to play for them.

[PRDH]

Into the CL final again, and once again Cardoso will be suspended. This time for picking up too many yellows rather than for a red, he's getting closer to appearing in the biggest club game!

[aldojags]

PRDH they are some ridiculously excellent players, especially the first and last! I can't understand it, I must just be unlucky, but I've played FM solidly for about 10 years, been a huge hobby of mine in that time, and it was like CM 01/02 was the only time I ever got a real superstar through, I was at Crewe Alexandra, and got a 16 yr old striker who went on to play for England, he was deadly, even at that age! But since then, the only youth player I remember was in FM11 I had a 2 star DM/AMRC, when I was Celtic. He played for Scotland etc, and was ok in Scottish leagues, but you wouldn't pick him out a line up. I'm quietly encouraged by this game though...got a 3.5 star DRLC, I can't say his stats do anything to encourage me just now, but I'll persevere. My youth facilities etc are still a work in progress so I'm not holding my breath. But would love a world beater to come through the ranks! I'm in Feb now, so my next intake will be due soon will they not?

Who you got in CL final?

Toulouse have just beat me to end my 17 game unbeaten league run. Don't get me wrong, plenty of draws in there, but still well chuffed with this season so far.

Edit: Scrub the "especially the first and last one" on the players, had another look at them, they're all stunners!

[PRDH]

aldojags - Got Arsenal in the final. Amazingly, I've never played them so I've not really got any clue what to expect.. Not sure I'll get the game played tonight as I've got an early start tomorrow, so should probably do the responsible thing. (Edit - Although that resolve is being tested as I've just remembered it's NFL Draft night)

In other news, I got the Portugal job. Halfway through the qualifying for Euro 2040, hopefully I can turn the form around and get Portugal to the tournament.