Crazy Canuck on Global Managerial Tour - This is the Big (FM12) One!!!

[ManUTactician247]

Yes, yes, yes! Finally, someone on here managing my favourite team Galatasaray! Best of luck to you, hope you get used to the foreigner rules!

[deltablue]

Great move to Europe

[rancer890]

Great win in teh CONCACAF Champions League! And interesting move to Turkey....I like it though. I think DC have had their time with you and now its time to move on. How's the Turkish league look?

The big 3 Istanbul clubs are at the top like real life...the points are cut in half after a number of games (similar to Belgium) but we have to finish top 4 so I guess those games there determine whether we make it into Champions League or Europa League.

Yes, yes, yes! Finally, someone on here managing my favourite team Galatasaray! Best of luck to you, hope you get used to the foreigner rules!

Mostly every league I've managed have strict foreigner rules. This one is not different than like managing in Brazil or MLS. Or in Asia and Russia in previous saves.

Happy to see it's your favourite club. No one really manages in Turkey around these parts, the only exception being DodgeeD with Gundo's challenge. But I haven't seen anyone manage Galatasaray/Fenerbahce/Besiktas. It'll be fun managing in the Istanbul derbies.

Great move to Europe

Cheers deltablue. Hopefully all goes well.

[City2000]

Can't blame you for taking that job, a club i've always wanted to manage aswell.

Good luck!

[B.W.G]

Good luck at Galatasaray,hope you find success with them

[GylfiAsCharged]

Good luck at Galatasaray, I followed your thread last year and really enjoyed it, this one is just as good.

[Raware]

At last...I can finally comment on your thread now I understand how the league you're playing in works! Sorry rancer but I tried hard to understand the Brazilian league and MLS but to no avail!

A good club to move to with lots of potential, European potential I mean . Do you think it might be too easy in Turkey for you though now that you're at one of the biggest clubs in Turkey?

[AK22]

Good decision in my eyes, good luck with Galatasaray. Another interesting league, some very heated derby matches out there

[rancer890]

Cheers City2000, B.W.G, offen94, and Raware!

I joined Galatasaray purely because of their European potential. This will definitely be harder than say during my time with Shakhtar in FM11. I never had competition with other clubs like Dynamo Kiev and Metalist.

If I could get Shakhtar into back-to-back Champions League Finals I think it's possible with Galatasaray too.

[rancer890]

2016 UEFA European Championship

Hosts: France

Group Stages

[font='courier new']                 Group A                                             Group B                 [/font]
[font='courier new']                P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts[/font]
[font='courier new']1st France      3  2  0  1  6  5   6                  1st Italy        3  2  1  0  8  2   7[/font]
[font='courier new']2nd Slovakia    3  2  0  1  8  5   6                  2nd Romania      3  2  0  1  3  3   6[/font]
[font='courier new']3rd Norway      3  1  0  2  8  9   3                  3rd Russia       3  1  0  2  2  6   3[/font]
[font='courier new']4th Poland      3  1  0  2  3  6   3                  4th Bulgaria     3  0  1  2  3  5   1[/font]

[font='courier new']                  Group C                                             Group D[/font]
[font='courier new']                P  W  D  L  F  A  PTS                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts[/font]
[font='courier new']1st Netherlands 3  2  0  1  6  4   9                  1st England      3  2  0  1  7  4   6[/font]
[font='courier new']2nd Belgium     3  1  2  0  5  3   5                  2nd Sweden       3  2  0  1  6  5   6[/font]
[font='courier new']3rd Greece      3  0  2  1  2  3   2                  3rd Wales        3  2  0  1  6  6   6[/font]
[font='courier new']4th Denmark     3  0  2  1  3  6   2                  4th Portugal     3  0  0  3  3  7   0[/font]

[font='courier new']                  Group E                                             Group F[/font]
[font='courier new']                P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts[/font]
[font='courier new']1st Spain       3  2  1  0  5  1   7                  1st Bosnia & H.  3  2  0  1  5  5   6[/font]
[font='courier new']2nd Montenegro  3  1  1  1  6  4   4                  2nd Germany      3  2  0  1  6  2   6[/font]
[font='courier new']3rd Switzerland 3  0  3  0  3  3   3                  3rd Ukraine      3  1  1  1  3  2   4[/font]
[font='courier new']4th Turkey      3  0  1  2  2  8   1                  4th Albania      3  0  1  2  1  6   1[/font]

Knockout Stage

Once again, another fantastic performance by the Belgians, defeating Slovakia 3-1 in the Final. Belgium has now won the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 UEFA European Championships.

CoachFlu! Did you bugger up my save somehow? Belgium is winning everything!

Awards

Best Player - Miroslav Stoch (Slovakia), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Marouane Fellaini (Belgium)

Golden Boot - Stevan Jovetic (Montenegro), Jelle Vossen (Belgium), Edin Dzeko (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Dream Team

[CoachFlu]

Heck, in my save England was winning everything! That's even more unrealistic!

[deltablue]

They won the 2020 euros in my save, admitedly at home, but it's been pointed out before in these parts how with the talent they have at the moment its not surprising they're going strong, though it is that they are that strong admitedly.

[jackripper]

wow Belgium on a roll

[City2000]

They won the 2020 euros in my save, admitedly at home, but it's been pointed out before in these parts how with the talent they have at the moment its not surprising they're going strong, though it is that they are that strong admitedly.

They were also pretty dominant for a while on my FM11 save, I agree they do have some real talent coming through but maybe not enough to win tournaments but then again if Greece can win a Euros why not Belgium in the future.

I was more taken aback by Slovakia taking out the Dutch and Italy on the way to the final.

[AK22]

Who'd have thought it?! Belgium becoming the 'New Spain'!

[rancer890]

2016-2017 Offseason Transfers - Galatasaray S.K. - Spor Toto Super Lig

Armed with just under US$18 million in transfer funds, I set out to figure out how to improve this squad. And we made some good acquisitions while also trying to stay within the foreigner limits.

First order of business? Sign some staff members! I Americanized the Turkish club with 3 staff members coming with me from DC United in Assistant Manager Jeff Cassar, Coach Marco Ferruzzi, and Fitness Coach Danny Russell. Belgian and World Class Physio Lieven Maesschalck also joined the staff.

Now..onto the players!

Transfers

Steven Zuber - I did not sign him but I think he's a good addition to the squad.

Lilian Bochet - I didn't sign him either, but this signing makes no sense to me. I would love to offload this player off sometime...

Sultan Demir - My first signing is this young Turkish AMC. I'm retraining him to be a striker because there's absolutely no Turkish talent up front.

Serdar Aziz - A very talented centreback who's on the Turkish national team who I got on a free. He spent his entire career at Bursaspor before becoming a free agent.

Sinan Erdogdu - A price tag of $2.1 million is a lot, but we can afford it and he'll a good depth player at left back and he'll get his share of games.

Nikola Loncar - he was one of my primary targets to acquire and I'm very happy that he's on the team on a relatively small price tag and wages.

Timothy Chandler - I was pretty much standing pat for the rest of the transfer window till I thought about pestering Nurnberg once more about Chandler. We agreed on a $6 million price tag, and Chandler's wages are one of the highest at the club, but in exchange I wanted to double the minimum fee release clause to $15 million.

The players leaving the squad were fringe Turkish players and foreigners who I wanted no part of at the club.

--------------

UEFA Europa League

We finished 3rd last season, which meant we start in the Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round, and we're up against Bosnia & Herzegovina club Slavija. Here were the results:

1st Leg: Slavija 0-3 Galatasaray

2nd Leg: Galatasaray 3-0 Slavija

So we easily win 6-0 on aggregate and move onto the 4th Qualifying Round, where we're up against 1990-91 European Cup Winners and now Serbian club Red Star Belgrade. Here were the results:

1st Leg: Red Star 1-4 Galatasaray

2nd Leg: Galatasaray 3-3 Red Star

The 2nd Leg was an entertaining game to say the least, but we did the job in the 1st leg, surprising winning 4-1. Now, onto the Group Stage draw...

UEFA Europa League Group Stage

Our group isn't bad, and we avoided the big clubs. The games against Spartak Moscow will determine whether who wins the group (at least on paper), although we have to play well against Sheriff and Dijon.

And a little bonus in the Super Lig is that every win nets the club $430k and every draw means an extra $215k. I think that's good enough incentive to win as many games as we can.

[rancer890]

2016-2017 Squad - Galatasaray S.K. - Spor Toto Super Lig

Here's the team report with the depth chart at each position:

The following 5, in no particular order, are the key players on my team:

GK - Fernando Muslera - my highest paid player on the team is actually the goalkeeper, but he's a really good one. Of course, if anyone wants him we could talk...since as much as I like him, he still earns a lot of money at the club.

DC - Kemal Tokak - the centreback is one of the best players at the club, and the best as his position. His presence at the back will be important in my goal of winning the league title.

DL - Emilio Izaguirre - the left back will be useful at the club for probably another 2-3 years before I consider finding a replacement. He's a solid player though.

MC/MR - Rodney Strasser - on the wage that he's on, I think he's a fantastic player. He's already contributed with 3 assists in 6 games.

ST - Bogdan Stancu - I'm counting on Stancu to score goals. Striker was one area that I wanted to improve but we're doing fine with the current group. Stancu wants to move to a bigger club and we'll let him move once I find a striker that I want and fits within my budget.

The board wants a top 3 finish but I want a league title. I set my expectations to the lowest (to finish top 3 with the other 2 Istanbul clubs) but I think with the talent and the reinforcements I've made over the summer I think we're really close to winning the league title.

[ArsenalMetro]

I'm far more shocked about Slovakia making it to the final. Belgium is beastly in every save it seems.

[rancer890]

Slovakia are shocking everyone. They beat Spain recently in 2018 WCQ...

Top 10 World Rankings

1. Argentina

2. Belgium

3. England

4. Brazil

5. Uruguay

6. Germany

7. Italy

8. Ivory Coast

9. Slovakia

10. Mali

Other Notables:

11. France

13. Spain

14. Netherlands

15. Ireland

22. Mexico

27. Sierra Leone

30. Japan

34. Portugal

36. Turkey

37. Wales

38. Australia

46. South Korea

49. Scotland

51. USA

65. China

78. Canada

85. Northern Ireland

136. Hong Kong

208. Djibouti

[cerud]

Slovakia in the top ten?? Wow...

[Raware]

Slovakia reached the World Cup final in my save too, only narrowly losing 1-0 to Brazil.

[jackripper]

Nevermind slovakia what about Mali :s

[ManUTactician247]

Wow, the GS team has changed from real life, I think you'd be interested to know that IRL Stancu was shipped off on loan to newly promoted Orduspor but here, he is your star striker. Serdar Aziz is known to have a bright future, Muslera needs no introduction and it appears that GS didn't take their option to buy Felipe Melo, which is a same. Selcuk Inan is a very creative central midfield who can improvise when he's in trouble. Ceyhun Gulselam is nowhere near the first-team in real life (although people argue that he should). Sabri Sarioglu is one of the most frustrating players I've ever seen, he's got speed and ability but no brain which leads to him messing up all the time. The GS fans don't like Kazim-Richards (or Kazim Kazim as he is known in Turkey) for his lazy attitude to the game (similar to Berbatov). Ufuk Ceylan, your second choice is prone to errors, although this isn't reflected in the game I'd still be a bit worried with him in goal. May I ask what happened to these players, Emre Colak, Berkin Arslan, Ismail Berk Unsal and I'm wondering if there is a guy in the game with the first name Mertan?

[Guest]

Good luck at Galatasaray, nice work in Brazil m8. keep it up.

[rancer890]

Wow, the GS team has changed from real life, I think you'd be interested to know that IRL Stancu was shipped off on loan to newly promoted Orduspor but here, he is your star striker. Serdar Aziz is known to have a bright future, Muslera needs no introduction and it appears that GS didn't take their option to buy Felipe Melo, which is a same. Selcuk Inan is a very creative central midfield who can improvise when he's in trouble. Ceyhun Gulselam is nowhere near the first-team in real life (although people argue that he should). Sabri Sarioglu is one of the most frustrating players I've ever seen, he's got speed and ability but no brain which leads to him messing up all the time. The GS fans don't like Kazim-Richards (or Kazim Kazim as he is known in Turkey) for his lazy attitude to the game (similar to Berbatov). Ufuk Ceylan, your second choice is prone to errors, although this isn't reflected in the game I'd still be a bit worried with him in goal. May I ask what happened to these players, Emre Colak, Berkin Arslan, Ismail Berk Unsal and I'm wondering if there is a guy in the game with the first name Mertan?

Thanks for all that! Now for the individual players you've mentioned...

Stancu - I've managed him before in previous FMs but in FM12, I frankly don't like his production. He only has 5 goals and 2 assists in 13 games so far and he has had some good games for us but some bad ones too. His striker partner, Sercan Yildirim, has 6 goals and 3 assists in the same amount of games, and from the games I've managed he's a lot better even though he's only 2.5 star (1 star less than Stancu). If I can find someone who has goal scoring potential I will acquire him in a heartbeat and with Stancu wanting to leave, I'll let him leave.

Muslera - previously I said I'll let him go at the right price, mainly because there's a goalkeeper I was keeping an eye on, and I fancied bringing my GK from DC United Ashley Palmer over. But the goalkeeper signed with another club and Muslera has been fantastic for us with 7 clean sheets in 15 games. One thing I don't understand though is even though Muslera has Argentine citizenship he still needs to stay in Turkey for 10 years before getting citizenship.

Selcuk Inan - he's been a revelation at the club. He has the highest team rating so far and has 3 goals and 11(!!) assists in only 13 games. He's one player I definitely want to keep.

Ceyhun Gulselam - he's only appeared in 1 game so far but I think I will keep him for now because he is a Turkish player and he's versatile and should do well in a pinch in case of injuries to other players.

Sabri Sarioglu - he's done well in the 9 games he played so far (all starts). I don't really recall anything dumb he's done but as a team we've been doing great. He's the starting right back for now till I can find a right midfielder (preferably Turkish) and I can slide Chandler (who's the current starting right mid) to right back.

Kazim Kazim - he's played 4 games (all substitute appearances) and scored 1 goal and added 1 assist. I definitely want to get rid of him, but he earns $4.3 million a season until June 2019...once I get a Turkish striker he's gone. I don't even care if it's on a free because I just won't use this player unless I have to. A couple players I'm looking at are Mevlut Erdinc and Samed Yesil.

Ufuk Ceylan - he hasn't played a game yet this season and he probably won't get a lot of appearances. His contract expires after this season and I have no plans to renew it.

As for the other players you asked:

Emre Colak - he's rotting in the reserves squad and he has only 2 star CA/PA so I don't really plan on playing him.

Berkin Arslan - he's with 2.Lig club Bozuyukspor and has done alright. He's stayed there for 3 years after leaving GS

Ismail Berk Unsal - he's still contracted to GS but on loan to Super Lig side Gaziantepspor and if they offer $100k they can make it permanent because I don't think he can crack the 1st team squad.

Mertan - I got no results of anyone with the name Mertan.

[rancer890]

Mali are probably so high up because they haven't lost since the African Cup of Nations. After that they have been unbeaten in 9 games and have won 8 straight games over African opposition. Slovakia have also done really well, compiling a 9-1-3 record in 2016.

[ManUTactician247]

Hmm... interesting rancer, it's a shame because that's whats happening to Emre Colak in real life, he's rotting away because we're not giving him a chance. As for the 10 year citizenship for Muslera, this is because he has already played for his national team I think. If they don't play internationally, it's 5 years I believe.

[rancer890]

Hmm... interesting rancer, it's a shame because that's whats happening to Emre Colak in real life, he's rotting away because we're not giving him a chance. As for the 10 year citizenship for Muslera, this is because he has already played for his national team I think. If they don't play internationally, it's 5 years I believe.

I would also like to know which countries only take 5 years to get Turkish citizenship??? I know there's Argentina and Brazil. And I think Nigeria as well...

[abulezz]

Galatasaray seems like an interesting career move - I agree with the above, Mali in the Top Ten! I actually went there a year and a half back, interesting place

[ManUTactician247]

I would also like to know which countries only take 5 years to get Turkish citizenship??? I know there's Argentina and Brazil. And I think Nigeria as well...

I'm not too sure there is a rule about certain countries, I'm pretty sure that it was just 10 years if you had represented another national team and 5 years if you haven't.

[rancer890]

Cheers abulezz.

I'm not too sure there is a rule about certain countries, I'm pretty sure that it was just 10 years if you had represented another national team and 5 years if you haven't.

Interesting....so if the player in question has youth caps (not senior caps) do they need 5 years or 10 years to gain Turkish citizenship?

[ManUTactician247]

Cheers abulezz.

Interesting....so if the player in question has youth caps (not senior caps) do they need 5 years or 10 years to gain Turkish citizenship?

Again, I'm not entirely sure about the rules but on FM10 on my save (with Galatasaray ^_^) I signed Ravel Morrison and on his personal page it said "declared for national team" and he needed 10 years to get citizenship (despite not being capped). My other yuong players had 5 years including a French Under-21 international.

[HotChocolate]

It amazes me that I've read this from the start of it but yet never commented! Maybe I just don't like Brazil and America much?

Very interesting move to Galatasary, I have never managed in Turkey and in turn never seen someone manage in Turkey! Your squad looks really strong so it will be interesting to see how well you can do!

[rancer890]

It was just not meant to be.

We tried hard in the whole tournament. We did really well in the Final too. We just ran into a brick wall called Rene Alder when the trophy was on the line. He stopped 3 penalties. We didn't miss the net, he just saved 3 of the 4 and the other did the job. Nothing on Muslera though, he was fantastic all season. He got an 8.0 average this game so it certainly wasn't his fault.

Being gutted would be an understatement. It's devastating considering how hard the whole squad worked to get to this point..so close..

Anyways, full update of everything coming tomorrow.

[snootyjim]

Unlucky, should've won that with the CCCs you had. Very impressed with your success so far, although that might just be because I'm scarred by iacovone's FM11 career.

[HotChocolate]

Someone's got to lose, unlucky though. Losing on penalties is incredibly hard to take

[DSYoungEsq]

Well, I see some things don't change. I am sorry to see, however, that it was penalties you went out on. I hate losing in a shootout. Always a gutting experience.

Next season, perhaps you can exact some revenge.

[deltablue]

Still, you're definitely good enough.

[AK22]

Bad luck, but still a commendable performance considering Leverkusen had home advantage

[roganp]

Unlucky, but a great achievement to get to a European final in your first season

[GylfiAsCharged]

Unlucky mate, so close... Better luck next time!

And with regards to Belgium, they're the team I always use on FIFA 12 online play, they actually have a strong side, Mignolet is a good young keeper, Vermaelen, Kompany and Vertonghen are all top center-backs, Defour and Witsel are promising in midfield, and everyone knows all about Lukaku and Hazard. They have a pretty young team too, they always seem to do well in my FM saves.

[rancer890]

2016-2017 Season Review - Galatasaray S.K. - Spor Toto Super Lig

League Standings | Championship Group Standings | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 | Past Positions - We had a fantastic season overall, winning the league and losing only 2 league/championship group games all season.

UEFA Europa League - The qualifying rounds of the competition weren't too much of a challenge, defeating Slavija (Bosnia & Herzegovina) and Red Star (Serbia) to enter the group stages. We narrowly won the Group Stages, and advanced to the Knockout Stages of the competition:

First Knockout Round - vs Schalke:

1st Leg: Schalke 1-4 Galatasaray

2nd Leg: Galatasaray 1-1 Schalke

A shockingly fantastic 1st leg meant that all we had to do was make sure Schalke didn't score 4 away goals, and we managed to do that, so we're onto the 2nd Knockout Round!

Second Knockout Round - vs Ajax:

1st Leg: Ajax 0-0 Galatasaray

2nd Leg: Galatasaray 2-1 Ajax

I thought our terrific run so far was going to end...but it didn't after we score the go ahead goal after the 80th minute to secure a spot in the Quarter-Finals and avoid losing on away goals.

Quarter-Finals - vs Metalist:

1st Leg: Metalist 0-2 Galatasaray

2nd Leg: Galatasaray 1-0 Metalist

After such a nailbiter against Ajax, we face Ukrainian side Metalist. They're a tough team, but we manage to break through and win 3-0 on aggregate.

Semi-Finals - vs Norwich:

1st Leg: Norwich 0-2 Galatasaray

2nd Leg: Galatasaray 0-1 Norwich

Another couple close games, but we just hung on in the 2nd leg to advance to the final.

Final - vs Leverkusen - Lost 1-2

Lucky for our opponents that they're playing at home and we're underdogs for this one! But it doesn't really matter for me, because I've been underdogs for most of the knockout round, so this is nothing new. We managed to get it to penalties, but in the end, we lost. It is what it is, but the good side we managed to increase our coefficient and we'll be a lot better off in future competitions.

Turkiye Kupasi - It wasn't a hard competition, and in the end we won 2-0.

Transfers -

Here were the key players:

Steven Zuber - he really impressed me from the start and he had a great season overall

Serdar Aziz - the centreback had a solid season offensively and contributed a lot defensively as well.

Nikola Loncar - A solid 8 goals and 7 assists despite not playing every league game because of the foreigner restrictions.

Timothy Chandler - A very versatile player and despite a slow start he quickly got used to his surroundings and started to really contribute.

Guillermo Alberto Ramirez - Signed from my old club DC United, he made a good contribution to the team and is someone I want to keep long term.

Daniel Raboczki - acquired on loan, he's made a solid contribution in only half a season and I'm willing to pay $4 million to make the deal permanent.

Squad - The strength of this team was depth (although we lacked depth at left back...). 7 players scored at least 10 goals.

Team MVP - Fernando Muslera - he never had a bad game all season.

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Goals:

- Win the league again

- Get to the Knockout Stages of the Champions League (since Fenerbahce did it this season. I think we can do it too)

Other:

- We need a right back or a right midfielder, and preferably Turkish, although any uncapped player will do...

- We need another left back, preferably a young Turkish one

- We also need to really cut down wages. The finances aren't where I want them to be, although it'll get better because of Champions League revenue.

I like it here in Galatasaray. I think I want to try to win a Champions League here before I move to another club.

Summary

Year Team Country League Position Notes and Info Attendance
2011 EC Santo André Brazil Série C 1st Promotion 2,599
2012 EC Santo André Brazil Série B 3rd Promotion 3,228
2013 EC Santo André Brazil Série A 15th N/A 5,437
2014 EC Santo André Brazil Série A N/A N/A -----
2014 DC United USA MLS 2nd US Open Cup Winners 17,930
2015 DC United USA MLS 2nd US Open Cup Winners 20,342
2016 DC United USA MLS N/A CONCACAF CL Winners ------
2016-2017 Galatasaray Turkey Super Lig 1st Double + EL Finalists 45,556

[rancer890]

And for the record and whose don't wanna count, I finished my first season with Galatasaray with a 48-11-5 W-D-L record, with a 75% winning percentage.

I also found a fantastic newgen at Chivas USA..but they're not selling him.

[roganp]

Well done on the title win and for winning it so emphatically

[rancer890]

Well done on the title win and for winning it so emphatically

Cheers mate. Didn't expect it to be this easy, but the hardest part about winning a league title, is winning it again the next season!

[rancer890]

2017-2018 Season Preview - Galatasaray S.K. - Spor Toto Super Lig

Media Prediction: 2nd

Spor Toto Super Lig Expectations: Title Challenge

Turkiye Kupasi Expectations: Be competitive

UEFA Champions League Expectations: Reach Group Stage

TV Revenue: $16.59 million

Transfer Budget: $13.53 million

Wage Budget: $94 million (currently spending $66,674,983)

[cerud]

Dominant win in the title! Looks like a repeat is definitely possible

[Raware]

Another title to add to the rancer trophy cabinet...and emphatically added too .

Sounds like you're really impressed with the newgen at Chivas. Any decent Canadian newgens on your radar yet?

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the brilliant title win but unlucky with the loss in the Europa League Final!Now let's see if your able to repeat that title win in the new season

[deltablue]

Well done beating Norwich.