FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[aldojags]

Their potential is always the same, it gets a rating up to 200 and stays at that for a player's career (I heard that some injuries can lower it though). The star rating is just how good your coaches/scouts think the player could become in the future, it's not necessarily accurate. Coaches with a better 'Rating Player Potential' attribute will obviously be more better at this, but even they can be way off.

ah ok i get it. ah well, I thought the star ratings were how good they were going to turn out didnt know it was just an opinion, oops!

do you think its better to have a youngster in first team squad so he gets first team coaching schedules, but no youth matches. or keep him in u19 team so its regular games but inferior coaching

[Romanista1994]

ah ok i get it. ah well, I thought the star ratings were how good they were going to turn out didnt know it was just an opinion, oops!

do you think its better to have a youngster in first team squad so he gets first team coaching schedules, but no youth matches. or keep him in u19 team so its regular games but inferior coaching

Is it possible to make him available for youth matches while keeping him in the first team? That would be the best thing, otherwise I'd go for keeping him in the youth team with inferior schedules, the game time and match fitness will do him far more good.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Europa League 4th Qualifying Round

Well the first leg is August 18th at Parla Stadium against Olympiakos, they are slight favourites according to the odds. The game took a quick turn to our advantage as a penalty was awarded in the 2nd minute and Montiquin slotted it home according to the commentators and media it was questionable whether it should've been a penalty when Linhart was pulled down in the box. In the 27th minute Legendre fired a shot towards the net, a slight deflection saw it awarded as an own goal, but a 2-0 lead on the board. Just six minutes later Legendre managed to feed a ball through to Montiquin and he slotted it home for a 3-0 lead and a great start, an injury to Moravec had me worried as our left back cover is a bit young after the sale of Wagner in the summer. Not long after the goal we saw the opposition keeper fire it up to their striker who lobs our keeper to score 3:1, gutted to concede an away goal, but ahead 3:1 at halftime is satisfactory. The second half had a little less action, and the game was definitely over when Montiquin jumped onto a perfect cross from Garner and slotted home his third for a beautiful hattrick 4:1, well now that the lead is three goals I am not so worried about the away goal. The game finishes at 4:1, Man of the Match Montiquin has delighted fans once again, the right choice to start the season.

Looking forward to the away leg in a weeks time, not so sure about the League opener in 2 days time...

[aldojags]

Great result LLR, how you planning to play the away leg?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Thanks aldojags, I am undecided right now, but thinking I might go out with my normal slightly attacking formation, and see if I can steal an early goal, and see how it goes...

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well I went out and got my goal so I couldn't lose on away goals, then went defensive (Counter), from there it was a matter of a few goals on the counter attack, and we ended up running away with a 4-2 victory in the end to win 8-3 on Aggregate and head into the group stage where we were seeded 3rd, and drew Rangers, PSV & Trnava. Not really sure what to think here, but it could've been a lot worse. No German, Italian or English teams in our group. I would like to finish top two, but really not being embarrassed would be good enough for me.

[corinthiano]

Think you should be fine LLR, certainly a kind draw, I remember beating teams of Rangers and PSV standard's quite easily with Real and your squad looks a lot better than mine. Best of luck

[aldojags]

Yeah that draw is not too bad at all there. Be amazed if after beating Olympiakos so easily you struggle in that group.

[aldojags]

15 games gone, and we're unbelievably top of the league by 3 points, been in sensational form, won 12, drew 1, lost 2. But I still cannot get a home crowd above 3,500! Driving me insane, losing money every month with my wage bill being what it is now. Got to hope the board will bale me out when I go into debt. I'm well within budget, my wages roughly amount to 1m a month, which is covered by 1.1m tv revenue, but still losing around £600,000 a month. Going to truly struggle to complete this challenge if crowds don't pick up. 3rd straight season in top division, been top half finishes since I came up, why doesn't anyone want to see my team! There are over 50 teams in France with more season tickets holders than me!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

That is an amazing run aldojags, really not sure about your crowds, it could be to do with your reputation. It has been toned down in FM12, originally it was toned down too much and it was really hard to get it up, but now it is a bit easier, but it still is a slower increase than it used to be.

As for me now I am about to select my team for the group stage and realised that the 0-21 bug still exists, meaning a lot of my players aren't actually homegrown. Working on it though, and I think teams will be scared to step into Parla Stadium after we met Real Madrid and trounced them 4:0 was a huge result for us in only our second league game of the season, it also saw the 1000th Parla goal under my control when Legendre slotted a Linhart cross home.

[aldojags]

whats the 0-21 bug LLR? Great result vs Madrid, do you think you've got the squad to cope with Europa league and challenge for Champions League spot in league?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

whats the 0-21 bug LLR? Great result vs Madrid, do you think you've got the squad to cope with Europa league and challenge for Champions League spot in league?

I am not sure about the Europa league (I did lose 1-0 to Rangers at Ibrox, freak goal), but I think I can compete for top 4 this season in the league so Champions league should be on the cards.

As for the bug, it seems that anyone who gets the 0-21 Homegrown status doesn't count as homegrown for the club, now I am not sure on the difference between that and 15-21, but I have a fairly large contingent of 0-21s not counting, so 6 spaces in my Europa league squad...

[rlipscombe]

decent group there LLR - you should be able to make it outof there easily.

[Romanista1994]

Well done LLR, and great start aldojags!

[aldojags]

Thanks Romanista, season's been a total dream so far. In mid January, 5 points clear at top. Beat all the big 3 (Lyon, twice, Marseille, and PSG.)

In 2nd is another surpise package, Stade Rennais, who have just sold their best player to PSG, so they may fall away. I honestly don't think I'll keep this up for another 18 games, but if I can finish in top 3 I'll make Champions League. I'm just about to go in to debt, so that money may be my saviour!

If I can keep everyone fit, I don't see why I couldnt win it, I'm playing so well, everyone is playing well, and most of my 1st choice 11 have average ratings over 7 which is pretty decent.

I'm almost afraid/nervous to play it incase I blow it, any of you get that before you won first title? I'm just resigned to not winning it and aiming for 3rd spot. Anything on top of that is a bonus. Just literally taking it one game at a time, break it down into winning every game, and see where I end up. Nervous wreck though!

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Update, November 14th, 2015

That's right haters! You can all suck it!

We're having a good season so far. We're +1 up on the top of the league and are unstoppable at the moment. Those kids growing up have started developing into great players.

[aldojags]

Well done rabbit I love messages like that, some good ones in this game.

Just sold a player to Nice who said he wanted to reside in Nice, made me laugh! What's wrong with Paris?

[efrumttr]

So FM is telling me that it can't load my save...anyone else have/had this problem and know anything I could do to fix it? I have a backup save but it would take me all the way back to preseason.

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Update, December 15th, 2015

OMG... really?

You're going to turn down 120k because "It's too far"??

...

So I guess keeping us tied for second in the league and I can still go take a flying leap when I try and make us some extra money. MAYBE IF WE TOOK MORE FRIENDLIES LIKE THIS WE COULD AFFORD TO TRAVEL AND/OR NOT SUCK.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Great run. The Champions League could well solve so many of your problems, give your reputation a boost, increase crowds and of course the cash rolling in is nice too!

LLR - If you can hammer Real like that, the group shouldn't be too much of a problem if you can maintain form/fitness.

rabbit - So frustrating when the board are self-defeating like that.

[18Rabbit]

rabbit - So frustrating when the board are self-defeating like that.

It's a whole 500 miles away! Oh no!

You can go 500 miles in Texas and STILL BE IN TEXAS! :sigh:

[Lower Leagues Rule]

LLR - If you can hammer Real like that, the group shouldn't be too much of a problem if you can maintain form/fitness.

I know I have no worries at home, we are top class at Parla Stadium, this season I am hoping to show other clubs the business at their place as well, a slightly more defensive tactic with a very fast counter attack. I already have two players jaded and wanting a rest, and in October international window, going to rest them for the first game back, then we have a run of 8 matches over 23 days, so I am hoping the boys can stick it together. Will most likely be putting the reserves out in the Spanish Cup, but I would like to at least get past Sevilla.

[aldojags]

Well I'm in the process of self-destructing just like I thought I would! PSG have clawed back, and are 3 points in front with 11 games to go. If I can finish 2nd, I get into Group Stages, avoiding qualifiers. I'm 9 points in front of Rennes, so cautiously optimistic I can make it into groups. So frustrating, I'm beating all the top teams, beat PSG at home, and both Lyon and OM home and away so far, but I've just lost to CS Sedan Ardennes at home, infuriating!

[rlipscombe]

18Rabbit - i have never seen something like that... crazy. great stuff in the league though.

aldojags - sounds like it's going great mate - hopefully you can keep it up but CL qualification would be a great result. fingers crossed for you.

[PRDH]

I've followed iacovone's example in fleeing to the career forum while I take a break from Lusitania Acores, if you're interested you can see it here, I've gone Scandinavian.

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo 2016 Preseason Report

Club Situation

Media Prediction: 19th

Captain: Inaki Astiz

Vice Captain: Jon Gaztanaga

Season Ticket Holders: 6254

Finances: £1.717M

Transfer Budget: £760k

Wage Budget: £47,203 (£32,316 in use)

Transfers

The only money spent went on Gorka Larrea from relegated Numancia. A few backup spots were filled with free transfers and some youngster joined to fill in for the players that went to Amurrio on loan. Our squad now contains very few wingers because they don't fit into the tactic that worked last year.

Key Players

Jonas Ramalho - Still has the potential to get better and has been attracting a few bids. It'll take a lot of money for me to consider selling him though.

Inaki Astiz - The captain remains a steady presence in our backline and will hopefully lead from the back.

Jon Gaztanaga - Vice captain and one of the few players to have a solid season throughout last year.

Javi Ros - Was key in turning our fortunes around as he became topscorer from midfield. Should do very well with a full preseason at his back.

Gorka Larrea - The new signing won't be an automatic first choice at first, but his attributes and personality suggest that he could have a big role to play in our season.

First Choice Lineup

GK Jon Ander Serantes

DR Jonas Ramalho

DC Inaki Astiz

DC Jon Gaztanaga

DL Iker Ruiz

DM Jon Erice

MC Javi Ros

MC Joseba Beitia

AM Miguel Angel Etxaburu

ST Iosu Saiz

ST Asier Iribarren

Aims For the Season

Survive again

We won the first game of the season again with Etxaburu bagging a brace, but I won't stick my neck out to make predictions considering how the first part of last season went after an initial couple of wins.

[aldojags]

Think you'll be fine 2nd time round Romanista. I've not signed any wingers for about 6 seasons, never really had one that worked! Always played either 433 or 421212 so don't use them at all.

[Romanista1994]

Think you'll be fine 2nd time round Romanista. I've not signed any wingers for about 6 seasons, never really had one that worked! Always played either 433 or 421212 so don't use them at all.

I hope so. Wingers did work quite well at Segunda B level and I was a bit saddened when Gorka, Ozcoidi and Suarez left, but in the Liga Adelante they struggled due to the small pitch size and the majority of opposition tactics leaving space leaving space in the middle meant that a switch to narrowness was needed.

[aldojags]

Well PSG have won the league...but with 1 game to go, I'm at home to Bordeux, and 2 points clear of Marseille. I've already qualified for Champions League, as Lyon are too far back now, but need to finish 2nd to get straight into group stages and avoid a difficult play off. Been an inconsistent 2nd half to season, hence me giving up 1st place that I had for so long. But I've rallied, and won last 2 games, most notably away to PSG who've already won the league. Had to beat them or Marseille would've taken 2nd place, but I came back and won 2-1. That's the annoying thing this season, I've done the double on all the "big 3" (Marseille PSG & Lyon). Beat them all home and away, but lose stupid games at home, kind of worried about Bordeux for that reason! Wish me luck...

[Romanista1994]

Good luck aldojags! Hope you have a Wigantastic end to the season.

[aldojags]

Well suprise suprise, I blew it. Dream start, winning 1-0 after a goal in 43 seconds.

Then put in an abysmal performance and lost 2-1, Marseille finishing 2nd, us in 3rd. Still an incredible achievement, but thats 4 lower half teams beat us at home in 2nd half of the season. That's cost us the league, let alone 2nd place. Really need the luck of the draw if we're to hit Group Stages now, really REALLY frustrated!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

That's no good aldojags, hopefully you can qualify through, which stage do you start from?

We have made it through the group stage with a game to spare, following the 0-1 result at Ibrox we went 5-2 vs Trnava, 4-0 & 2-0 vs PSG, and finished with a 5-2 over Rangers. The game against Rangers saw us down 2-1 with 10 mins left, and then we went all attack and scored 3 more before it was finished with an own goal. The huge number of games has hurt our fitness and league form as we have dropped to 4th in the league now, but with the loss in the cup and a bit of a break over christmas I hope to push back up.

[rlipscombe]

unlucky aldojags. frustrating... still a great achievement over the season... the qualification stages of the CL need not be hard... i have good experience of it.

[Romanista1994]

Unlucky aldojags, I know how it feels when you blow a lead held at the halfway stage. It still is good progress from last season though.

Also with this post the Big Euro Nations thread equals the dafuge challenge thread! Any takers for the post surpassing it?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Also with this post the Big Euro Nations thread equals the dafuge challenge thread! Any takers for the post surpassing it?

And we are now the biggest Small Club to Big Club Challenge in 2012...

I have to say I always hate when my second half is not as good as my first half, I am hoping to improve a bit, I have 4 jaded players right now in my first XI making it a bit tough. I will also shortly upload the best own goal I have ever seen, luckily scored by Getafe (My only Rival).

[aldojags]

Season Review 2019/20 (8th Season)

Ligue 1

Predicted - 8th

Finished - 3rd Table Graph Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2

On the surface of it, a fantastic improvement on last season's 6th, and in only my 3rd season in the league, to qualify for Champions League is a fantastic achievement. But, like many other seasons I've had with Viry-Chatillon, I'm left with a sour taste in the mouth as to what might have been. Was top of the league for quite a large part of season as graph will show you, only to collapse a bit inexplicably in 2nd half of season, and ended up giving away automatic qualification into Champions League Group Stages, now need to qualify. Did the double over my 3 main rivals, PSG Lyon + OM. So to lose out to 2 of them was really disappointing. But overall, delighted, and looking forward to European football for first time in our history.

Goalscorers let me down this season, none of my strikers were consistent enough, if we'd had a 20 goal man, we'd could have won league, but they all were too ordinary.

French Cup

11th Round - fixtures

Made the final 2 seasons back, was hoping to go far again this season but wasn't to be.

Coupe de la Ligue

3rd round - fixtures

Fell at first hurdle, rubbish.

Squad

GK

Quentin Beunardeau - decent season, bringing in a new keeper in the summer, who I think will take over my number 1 spot. He's played over 225 league games for us though, been a good servant, but to move to next level, I need a better keeper.

Defence

Juan - solid season again from the Italian. Impressive goal return too, always a threat at set pieces.

Thorgan Lienard - reliable back up for Juan and Chalobah, he's going to be wanting regular games soon though I'm guessing, don't want to lose him, so may rotate with fixture congestion to keep him sweet.

Omar - brought in on loan as first choice right back, did well, but will be giving O'Neil the jersey next season, hopefully see him develop into top full back.

Nathaniel Chalobah - solid season, called up to Euro's with England despite never being capped, quite bizarre! That's him been here 2 seasons, and he's yet to miss a league game, impressive record. I expect that will change next season, will need to rotate if I make group stages.

Jimmy Donaldson - was kind of my project this season, came up through my youth ranks with between 2.5-4 star potential depending on what coach you ask. Wanted to see if the odd sub appearance could bring up his stats as he looked very poor for someone with such high potential. Played his part, started a few games, still don't see what all the fuss is about, but I'll persist with him this year. He's tall, 2 footed, and can play anywhere across the back, so I'll give him as much game time as I can.

Dalibor Ladic - first choice left back, decent season again, got some competition coming in in the form of Cedric Hue from Nantes, so he'll need to keep up standards to stay first choice.

Andrew O'Neill - young Canadian international, looks to have a bright future. Got plenty of games this season, and didn't let me down, also pretty handy at left back.

Midfield

Lewis More - didn't start as many games as I thought he would this year, but he's still quality. Plus he's Scottish!

Ali Jelassi - got this "wonderkid" from Rennes on a free, he done well, hoping for a big future from this kid.

Daniel Sedlacek - didn't feature much due to excellent form of Tatlot. But looks to have all the attributes of a top player.

Darko Borozan - wanting away as he's not getting started all that often, but he's still young so I don't want to lose him, he looks excellent. So will try and start him more next season. Again, could benefit from rotation next year with our hopeful European adventure.

Dominique Abidoun - came in to his own this season, got a good few long range goals too, really impressed with him this year.

Dominique Abiola - been with us a long time, didn't feature too much this season, I like him and he's listed as a club icon, but if an offer came in, I'd consider it.

Morgan Schneiderlin - back up midfielder, will be released in summer.

Oneill Tatlot - undoubted player of the season for me, can't believe I got him for free. Was outstanding, dribbled past people like they weren't there. Got his first 2 caps for France, and called up to Euro's. Put £100m asking price on him as I think he'll be attracting some attention in the summer, and I don't want to lose him, he's a star.

Raul Gil - brought in from Barcelona, still young, hoping he'll be better next season. Developing into good player.

Forwards

Stanislav Kostov - bit part player who didn't do much to impress, I'm struggling to find his best position. May try and offload if anyone is interested.

Mohamed Diagne - inconsistent season, like all my strikers. Still a threat and important player for me.

Samuel Preston - injury prone 1st half of season, scored goals when he was fit though. Has dropped from 4 star player to 2.5, mainly due to injuries I'm guessing. But I'm hoping he'll be important player for us next season.

Rui Silva - backup striker, good stats, but doesn't do anything to make he think he should be a starter.

Lubos Matta - big summer signing at £6m, started well, but like all my forwards, was way too inconsistent. But for a young player in his first season in a new country, did ok. Think he'll do better next year.

Club Info

Got 3 players going to Euro's.

Facilities - getting youth facilities done again, although with me losing money every month, I can see the board pulling the plug.

Transfers- Lubos Matta was my 1 big expenditure. Brought in roughly the same in people leaving the squad.

Finances - lost a ton of cash this season, and I'm currently only out of debt due to the £8m prize money I won for coming 3rd, but by time season comes round that will be gone. Still got low turnover in Ligue 1 terms, and I've got the lowest attendance in the league, still got a low wage bill in terms of rest of league. I'm 49th for season tickets in the whole of France, there's teams 3 leagues lower who've got more season ticket holders than me!

Youth Intake

Got a 2 star centre back (Maxine Reset), and a 2 star centre mid - Richard Oueifio. Rubbish!

Other competitions

Ligue 1 - PSG

French Cup - St Ettiene

Coupe de la Ligue - CS Sedan Ardennes

Champions League - Valencia

Europa League - HSV.

Euro 2020 - Belgium (Now reigning World & European Champions!)

Season Objectives

Top 5 finish - success. Excellent achievement in breaking the big 3's grip on the Champions League spots. Still, with a better home record, I could have won it. I really wonder when the top 3 will all be so poor in the same season again to give me chance to be champions, could be a while.

Win a domestic cup - failure. Didn't come close in either competition.

Next Season

Top 5 finish - I really think I'll struggle to compete both in Europe and in the league, so won't be pressured into saying I'll hit 3rd again. Top 5 would do me, until I strengthen the squad.

Qualify for Group Stages of Champ League - In in 3rd qualifying phase, will probably be lower seed too, so really going to need a bit of luck to hit the group stages. SO gutted to have missed out on 2nd place, what could have been!

New recruits

Got these players coming in in the summer to hopefully help us onto another succesful season.

Erdogan Ipek - had him on loan a while ago from FC Twente. Didn't do much for me back then, but he's matured into a good striker, got a good few goals for Twente this season, hoping he'll do same for me next season.

Jimmy Lynch - goalkeeper from Hearts. Looks to have it all for a good career, think he may replace long serving Beaunardeu as number 1.

Tony Champion - striker from Man United. Great stats, but so did Samuel Preston and he hasn't been much of a success.

Karl Thorpe - great looking centre back from Man United also. Will give real competition to Juan and Chalobah - my squad is taking on a real British feel!

Cedric Hue - left back from Nantes, to give more competition to Ladic.

Past Seasons
Season     Division        Pos    French Cup      League Cup         Europe        Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7705369&viewfull=1#post7705369"]2012/13[/url]     National      4th      8th round        N/A                            Survived Relegation
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7713320&viewfull=1#post7713320"]2013/14[/url]     National      8th      7th round        N/A                            N/A
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7722456&viewfull=1#post7722456"]2014/15[/url]     National      1st      8th round        N/A                            Champions
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7734045&viewfull=1#post7734045"]2015/16[/url]     Ligue 2       6th      7th round        2nd round                      Consolidated
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7741822&viewfull=1#post7741822"]2016/17[/url]     Ligue 2       2nd      11th round       4th round                      Promotion
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7757976&viewfull=1#post7757976"]2017/18[/url]     Ligue 1       10th     Runners Up       4th round                      Survived
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7778883&viewfull=1#post7778883"]2018/19[/url]     Ligue 1       6th      11th Round       2nd round                      Consolidated    
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279094-FM12-Big-Euro-Nation-Small-Club-to-Big-Club-Challenge?p=7795399&viewfull=1#post7795399"]2019/20[/url]     Ligue 1       3rd      11th Round       3rd Round                      Qualified for Champ League                                        

[aldojags]

I think we're going to struggle to keep up with dafuge with PRDH and iacovone away to pastures new. Just out of interest, how come for example the Belgian and Dutch leagues weren't included in this challenge? Is there another that covers those 2?

[Romanista1994]

I think we're going to struggle to keep up with dafuge with PRDH and iacovone away to pastures new. Just out of interest, how come for example the Belgian and Dutch leagues weren't included in this challenge? Is there another that covers those 2?

That'll be Gundo's European Small Club to Big Club Challenge.

You have some really good players there, Tatlot and Matta in particular look world class. You might need to improve the youth recruitment and junior coaching to regularly get able youngsters for this level. It's also very strange that your attendances are lagging so far behind, I mean I'm getting far more than you with a smaller stadium in the second tier of Spain. I hope you can continue improving the club even without making much money from gate receipts, though it looks like you might have to sell to buy stars, which is a shame.

[aldojags]

The crowds is driving me nuts romanista. 3rd straight season in top flight, been top half all top 3, and still getting crowds of a 3rd-4th tier club, can't understand it. Not even got 1000 season ticket holders!

Yeah Tatlot is world class, the gossip column feature has that Real Madrid are preparing a £53m bid for him, doubt they'd offer that much, but I know there'll be bids this summer. I don't want to have to sell, I'm trying to build something. Hopefully I can make Group stages an the cash will plug the gaps.

Matta looks world class but until he starts performing I've got to say I would probably sell him if the right offer came in. He needs to step up this year.

But I'm going to struggle to compete consistently with the big 3. Just had a look, PSG spent £75m this season, Lyon £60m, and Marseille £42m. I spent £6m!

Bosmans can only get you so far, and I haven't as of yet been able to put the loan system to any real use, so completing the challenge will be tough! The crowds need to pick up though!

Edited to add, although I obviously would've turned it down, Lyon sacked their manager, and I didn't even get a mention as a possible replacement. I'm the reason the guy got fired, I'm annoyed no-one in the challenge has offerred me a job besides Nigeria! And I've done well with my team, surprised.

[PRDH]

Great season aldojags. Pity you couldn't cling on to one of the top two spots, but getting into the Champions' League is never to be sniffed at, even if you've got to go through a qualifying round or two. Especially as you seem to have the bigger, in theory tougher, teams in your pocket.

[corinthiano]

Looks like my save is gone

Computer is dead and doesnt look like I can recover anything off it. Extremely gutted as I was on the verge of CL qualification...am probably getting a new laptop next week, probably wont have the heart to give Portugal another go, but definately want to try another country, maybe even in Gundo's challenge.

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Calcio

Italian Serie B

Salernitana Soccer 1919, Salerno, Campania, Italy

End of 2015/2015 Season Report, Salerno, Italy, June 13rd, 2016

Well, well, well, lookie there...

We damn near won it too. We had the most goals scored this season and the fewest against but (+47 GD) in the end, we just had too many draws. We wound up in second place by one point. But, I guess the important thing is that we got promoted! The boys did really well this season and I can't really complain. Two of our players were named in the team of the year, Francesco Cosenza and Sasa Zivec and Zivec was actually named as the 2015/2016 Serie B player of the year. Not bad for someone I picked up as a free transfer.

Competitions: Italian Cup

We beat expectations again this season and made it to the first round of the Italian Cup where we lost 1-0 away to Torino. Which I guess isn't too bad since Torino wound up 4th in Serie A. We were only expected to get to the third qualifying round so that's not too bad.

Yearly Transfers

Here are the transfers we made this year: Transfers

I bought the co-ownership for Oliver Markoutz back from Cesena for 1k. Pretty good for a guy who ended up being our season high goal scorer.

Davide Lorenzoni was a backup keeper I brought in on a free and he got frustrated about not playing very much so I sold him off to Bari mid-season for 18k. Then I took Raffaele Di Gennaro on a loan from Ascoli. I always seem to have trouble rotating keepers, oh well. I think the best purchase I made this year was a fellow named Milan Strugar from Yverdon in Switzerland.

2015/2016 End of Year League Table:

Promoted Serie C1/A: Piacenza ©, Novara(P)

Relegated Serie C1/A: Casale, Alto Adige, Alessandria

Promoted Serie C1/B: Croton ©, Livorno (P)

Relegated Serie C1/B: Aprilia, Latina, Trapani

Promoted Serie B: Pescara ©, Salerno (P), Genoa (PL)

Relegated Serie B: Cittadella (lost to Siena in the play outs), Taranto, Treviso, Cremonese

Relegated Serie A: Lecce, Parma, Benevento

Serie A: ECC Qualified: Inter, Sampdoria, Palermo EC Qualified: Torino, A.C Milan, Juventus, Udinese

Here's my current squad: SQUAD

Here's my Profile and my Personal info. I'm still not a fan of the press but I don't mind talking to my players.

And here's the Salerno information. Our reputation again has gone up and we're now 26th financially in Italy at a value of 6.25M. We finished 2nd over a media predicted 17th. We made 3.8M on gate reciepts and spent 3.2M on salaries. Overall our balance is the highest it's ever been at 3.2M, thanks largely to a 2.5M prize for coming in second in Serie B.

Youth Uptake

Another year of "Meh". We had a smattering of "possibly average" youths come in this season, but no one spectacular.

Plans for next year

For 2016/2017 our mantra will be "HOLD ON TIGHT". We are going to get our teeth kicked in, no bones about it. Hopefully we can build our rep and our bank account and pick up one or two Serie A level players and hang in their to avoid relegation. Our defensive line was amazing back in Serie C1/B but it's the same players and now they're... ok... mostly. So I'll be looking to strengthen our back line. Our midfield is pretty solid now so I don't expect to do much with them and our strikers... are pretty decent. Our "best" striker, Yann Marguet, I can't figure out how to make him score more. He looks good on paper but just never seems to impress like he should. I may try and co-own Stephan El Shaarawy from A.C. Milan, they're still sticking him in the reserves (even though he kind of looks like a douche).

Previous updates:

June 28th, 2012

December 31st, 2012

June 18th, 2013

June 30th, 2014

June 23rd, 2015

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats on the promotion 18Rabbit, now hopefully you can hold onto the top division, as for Yann, it could be because he is more of a target man, and great at providing goals to the others, has he had many assists? When you watch games does he seem to be involved a lot, but just not in place for the goals? I think you really need to work on the defense, I would look to sign a couple of good centre backs just to start building a backline.

As for Parla we have drawn Trabzonspor in the first knockout round, that is an excellent draw and I think one we can win as well, if we make it through it will be against Fiorentina or Stuttgart. I also had a second look at the own goal scored by Getafe against us, and it was scored by none other than Norberto Ruiz, former Parla star. I think it was deliberate...

[video=youtube;LKOWFE8ku4g]

And then in the next game I think their keeper ran the wrong way...

[video=youtube;r4tL1K41trA]

[18Rabbit]

Congrats on the promotion 18Rabbit, now hopefully you can hold onto the top division, as for Yann, it could be because he is more of a target man, and great at providing goals to the others, has he had many assists? When you watch games does he seem to be involved a lot, but just not in place for the goals? I think you really need to work on the defense, I would look to sign a couple of good centre backs just to start building a backline.

He has good passing skills but only made 5 assists last season. He gets involved a lot but just never finishes off the way I think he should. Here's who I've brought in so far.

1. Goran Cerar (D/WB R) - FREE (6k/wk) - Looks amazing and now the highest potential in the squad.
   
2. Zoran Kovacevic (ST AM©) - 300K (2k/wk) - My only purchase so far. His Goal/Game record was pretty great in Switzerland and he was dirt cheap.
   
3. Marc Jurgens (M/AM (LC)) - FREE (2k/wk) - Mainly as a backup winger but also my 5th highest potential.
   
4. Vincent Chauvet (DC) - FREE (2.8k/wk) - A new DC who is slightly better than what I have already but great potential.
   
5. Rodrigo Battaglia (DM, M ©) - FREE (8k/wk) - Pricey salary but he looks to be a solid midfielder.
   
6. Cheikh Faye (GK) - FREE (1k/wk) - Our brand new shiny backup keeper. Potential is close to superstar keeper Pirgov but inexperienced enough to know that he is the backup keeper.
   

I've found a few players that looked AMAZING but either I couldn't afford their transfer fee OR I couldn't afford their salary, even though I technically have the cash for it. It's going to be a long season.

That second goal was.. wow. What's the keepers eccentricity? Maybe he thought the cross was going all the way over? I don't know.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

The keepers eccentricity is only 11, so not crazy, no idea what he was thinking, but pretty funny and must've led to his 2.4 rating for the match.

[aldojags]

They goals were tremendous, gave my girlfriend a fright when I burst out laughing at them!

Well done 18rabbit, your signings look solid, the young right back looks a star in the making. I think you'll be fine with those signings, can't see you going down mate.

Sorry about your save corinthiano it's a shame if we lose you from the thread. We're losing too many people these days!

edit to add 2.4 rating? That is classic, I've never seen a rating that low!

[Romanista1994]

corinthiano - That's a terrible way for your save to end. Good luck wherever you decide to go.

18Rabbit - Well done. Tough season ahead, but I can see you surviving.

LLR - Both of those are awesome.

[corinthiano]

Cheers aldojags and Romanista, I was really tempted to go to a smaller nation but I have to say that the spirit in this thread and people's feed back is what motivated me. Couldnt help myself and went and bought the new laptop this morning , am setting everything up, think I am going to take the challenge of taking a team from East Germany to the top. Not RB Leipzig, probably Magdeburg or Halle if I can get them to come up.

[PRDH]

corinthiano - That's a horrible way for it to end. Good to see you're back again though.

rabbit - Great job on promotion, next stop - the world! (Or at least survival)

LLR - Those goals are spectacular.

I'm off out of the country for a couple of weeks now, with, I'm suspecting, very limited access to the internet, so good luck all. I look to returning to pages of updates to catch up on.

I'm expecting some more completions when I return - I'm especially looking at you LLR and aldojags.

[aldojags]

I'm away to tenerife tomorrow PRDH so don't hold your breath! Be away for a week so that will handicap me! but thanks for your confidence! Where you off to?