[FM12] Now You Do Not Punish Someone, English Or Otherwise, For Being Rubbish At FM...

[SRL88]

Good luck in Argentina fella .

[SnakeXe]

Just caught up with the thread, and what a career you had with Santos! Quite a legacy you built up!

Any plans to manage a national team again or will you concentrate on club football now?

Thanks! I really enjoyed my time with Santos, and their performances this season with the new manager show just what a squad I built. Although he has sold off my key DL for barely anything, which annoyed me!

I want to play things realistically and concentrate on whatever job I have at the time. If I leave a club and an interesting international job arrives, I'll take it. If not I'll stick to club football.

Good luck in Argentina fella .

Thanks, it's gone ok so far

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 20 - 2031/32

Story of the Season:

Primera División Close - 1st

We hunted down Tigre then River at the top, smashing 6 past each of them to finally claim top spot ourselves. One slight wobble in losing by the odd goal in 9 to Lanús aside we didn't look like relinquishing the advantage.

Copa Argentina - Quarter Final (lost v Colón)

The backups saw us through the earlier rounds quite easily before Colón withstood a 90 minute barrage to win on penalties.

Copa Libertadores - Quarter Final (lost v Morelia)

Having gone through the group stage unbeaten, winning our home games and drawing away, we made far tougher work of Bolívar in the second round than they should have been, eventually winning on penalties. We then drew the side we finished above in the group stage, Morelia, and having taken a 3-3 draw in Mexico we expected to go through. However, two goals agains the run of play and an uncharacteristic lack of attacking verve and we were out of our second cup in four days.

Results - Squad

Transfers - £9.65m recouped

All business was done before I joined the club.

Finances

A mess, and we took nearly £10m in transfers this year. Worrying.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Claudio Darío Díaz - D/MC - A reassuring presence at the back.

4. Diego Villavicencio - ML/ST - Showed his class in fits and starts, when he's natural in the AML position he should be lethal.

3. Gonzalo Ríos - M/AMR - Having been woefully underutilised by the previous boss, he shone, providing assist after assist, as well as some crucial goals.

2. Alan Esmerado - AMLC/ST - Outstanding player, but prone to going missing on occasion. On song he's just so far too good for this competition it's ridiculous.

1. Ernesto Medina - AMC/ST - Surprised probably even himself by smashing in goal after goal for us under my management, outperforming even Esmerado and Villavicencio.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League/Competition    | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2023/24 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 2nd      | Champ's League Semi-Finalists, League Cup Finalists   |
| 2024/25 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners, League Cup Finalists          |
| 2025/26 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners                                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2027    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & Paulista Winners, Libertadores SF       |
| 2028    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 2nd      | Paulista & Copa Libertadores Semi-Finalists           |
| 2029    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & L'dores Winners, CWC RU, Paulista SF    |
| 2030    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | B'leirao, L'dores, Paulista, Recopa Winners, CWC RU   |
| 2031    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao, Paulista, Recopa Sudamericana Winners    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2030    | Brazil          | Friendlies            | Brazil       | N/A      | Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1                        |
| 2031    | Brazil          | Copa América          | S. America   | R-Up     | Copa América Runners Up, Resigned in July             |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2032    | Vélez           | Clausura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Clausura Winners                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:

Exciting stuff, this football in Argentina. True Keegan style attack-whatever-may stuff. However I'm concerned about the future of this club given the financial problems. I can't tie down squad players to new deals so I'll have to rely on more youngsters next year with the squad already stretched thin. I can see it being a struggle, but I'm looking forward to finally having a go at the Copa Sudamericana, and to see if I can add the other half of the league to my medal cabinet.

[SnakeXe]

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

I don't know what to say now, it's just depressing.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -
2023/24   Blue Square South       22nd      Relegated
2024/25   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
2025/26   N/A                     N/A       -
2026/27   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 3rd Round
2027/28   N/A                     N/A       -
2028/29   N/A                     N/A       -
2029/30   N/A                     N/A       -
2030/31   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 1st Round
2031/32   N/A                     N/A       -

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

It couldn't last, could it.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final
2023/24   League Two              16th      JPT North Semi Final
2024/25   League Two              11th      -
2025/26   League Two              19th      -
2026/27   League Two              19th      -
2027/28   League Two              18th      -
2028/29   League Two              20th      -
2029/30   League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2030/31   League One              12th      FA Cup 4th Round
2031/32   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 5th Round

Southend United:

This is looking worryingly like free-fall.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -
2023/24   Championship            16th      FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25   Championship            21st      -
2025/26   Championship            19th      -
2026/27   Championship            16th      League Cup Runners up
2027/28   Championship            21st      -
2028/29   Championship            22nd      Relegated
2029/30   League One              3rd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2030/31   League One              7th       FA Cup 4th Round, JPT Finalists
2031/32   League One              17th      JPT South Quarter-finalists

Wigan Athletic:

Finally some good news! Stayed up comfortably.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round
2023/24   Premier League          19th      Relegated
2024/25   Championship            5th       Playoff Semi-finalists
2025/26   Championship            4th       Playoff Winners, FA Cup 6th Round
2026/27   Premier League          5th       FA Cup 6th Round, EL Qualification
2027/28   Premier League          19th      League Cup Quarter-finalists
2028/29   Championship            6th       FA Cup 5th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2029/30   Championship            4th       Playoff Runners Up
2030/31   Championship            2nd       Promoted
2031/32   Premier League          11th      FA Cup 5th Round

Werder Bremen:

Did ok domestically but getting knocked out of the Europa League in the qualifiers is inexcusable.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20*  1. Bundesliga           8th       I joined in December, DFB-Pokal Winners
2020/21*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, S'cup Winners; EL Semi-finalists
2021/22*  1. Bundesliga           2nd       S'cup Winners; EL, DFB-P Semi-finalists
2022/23*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, Champs League Winners
2023/24   1. Bundesliga           2nd       CWC, DFB-Pokal Winners
2024/25   1. Bundesliga           4th       Champs League, DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2025/26   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2026/27   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal Winners
2027/28   1. Bundesliga           5th       Europa League Semi-finalists
2028/29   1. Bundesliga           4th       Europa League QF, DFB-Pokal RU
2029/30   1. Bundesliga           3rd       Europa League Quarter-finalists
2030/31   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2031/32   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists

Arsenal:

Nearly a domestic double, slightly poor performance in Europe by their lofty standards.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24*  Premier League          2nd       CL Semi-finalists, LC Runners up
2024/25*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, LC Runners Up
2025/26*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners
2026/27   Premier League          1st       PL & CL Winners, FA Cup Semi-finalists
2027/28   Premier League          1st       PL, CL, CWC & LC Winners, FA Cup Final
2028/29   Premier League          3rd       League Cup Runners Up, Champ's Lg SF
2029/30   Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, Champ's Lg RU
2030/31   Premier League          1st       PL & LC Winners, CL Runners Up
2031/32   Premier League          1st       Prem League Winners, FA Cup Runners Up

Santos:

Going well so far, but the calendar year based season means no update yet!

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, Paulista Winners, L'dores SF
2028*     Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista, Libertadores Semi-finalists
2029*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & L'dores W, P'lista SF, CWC RU
2030*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, P'lista & Recopa W, CWC RU
2031*     Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao, Paulista & Recopa Winners

[AK22]

Got to be happy with that start. Shame you don't have a pot to **** in though

[SRL88]

Good first season. Finances are a bit of a pain though.

[deltablue]

What is tv and prize money like?

[SnakeXe]

Got to be happy with that start. Shame you don't have a pot to **** in though

Good first season. Finances are a bit of a pain though.

Total mess. I think I might leave already to be honest, new board have come in and slapped a transfer embargo on me whilst they decide if I can keep my job which means I can't sign Medina permanently. If I can't get him when the embargo is lifted I'm leaving on principle.

What is tv and prize money like?

About £5-5.5m TV money per season, and we got £4m prize money last season, but only £700k this.

[HotChocolate]

In your history table I thought you'd put '1st' 'Casual winners'. Thinking what a cocky person that Snake is

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Twenty20

Shamelessly ripped off (with permission) from noikee's excellent thread, these are the twenty players that have made twenty seasons of FM12 fly past. There's many more I'll remember - including pretty much all of the Santos and Werder sides - but you have to draw the line somewhere!

1. Júnior - AML/ST - Santos - 2026-2031

What can I say about this kid that hasn't been said already? Burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old to revive our flagging Brasileirao campaign with a flurry of dribbling, goals and assists from the inside left position, and (with a brief lull the following season) has been outstanding ever since. Won the best player award in both Copa Libertadores winning campaigns, and has also won both of the last two South American domestic player of the year awards. I'm convinced if he leaves Santos he'll become a world star. On the other hand, I left their finances in rude health, and they managed to keep Neymar and Ganso, so who's to say what he'll do?

2. Alan Baena - M/AMRLC - Werder Bremen - 2020-2023

An outrageously talented inside-out winger, defenders just had no answer to him. He could go past people, play pinpoint through-passes, hit wonderful shots, and even occasionally hit the byline and cross. Ironically his best season for us, where he was both leading scorer and assist maker, with 23 goals and 20 assists, was the one season we didn't win anything. However he was still the star man in the Champions League and Bundesliga winning double season, and continued to put in excellent performances for years after I departed. I do regret not taking him with me to Arsenal.

3. Nuri Sahin - DM/MC - Werder Bremen - 2020-2023

May only have been great for three-quarters of a season, but by god he was great. The FM representation of him is bang on, he was the heartbeat of the side as we played the best football of my reign - including the Champions League-winning season - to put Werder back into the big time. An incredible range of passing, and an excellent football brain to put it to most effective use. There were still flickers throughout the rest of his time with us, but those halcyon days when he first arrived were something else.

4. Gino Koster - AMC/ST - Arsenal - 2024-2026

When you spend £60m on a player and by the end of the season noone is questioning it, you know you've got a player. Of course 52 goals in 54 starts helps to show that, but then if you're getting those kind of numbers you'd imagine people would have noticed you a long time ago! Quite how I failed to win a Champions League with this guy up front, I just don't know.

5. Charlie Nunn - M/AML - Southend - 2016-2018

In a top 10 otherwise filled with past, current, or future world stars, Charlie Nunn's name certainly stands out. He was, however, a sublimely brilliant player to watch and manage. A classic orthodox winger, his remit was to hit the byline and then the striker's forehead. Which he did. 27 times in one season.

6. Tainha - AMC/ST - Werder Bremen - 2020-2023

In my first half-season at Werder the problem in the side became immediately obvious - goals. We'd create chance after chance but the strikers we had, whilst reasonable all-round footballers, just didn't have that lethal edge required. Step forward Tainha. He scored an absolute ton of goals in his first season, and whilst he didn't quite match that subsequently he was still the main man, firing us to the Champions League win that launched my career to the very top of the game.

7. Marinho - WBR/DM/MC - Santos - 2026-2031

When I joined Santos I immediately had a look through the Under 20 squad, hoping to find some underappreciated gems. Two of the three I promoted would eventually become club legends. The first of those two is this guy. Utterly brilliant all-rounder with the capacity to play as destroyer, creator or runner and excel as any of the three. He was also the best wing-back at the club before I stopped using them in my system.

8. Dogan Cubukcu - DC - Werder Bremen, Arsenal - 2021-2026

When I found this classy looking young defender on a free transfer from Bucaspor at Werder, I was delighted - and I knew he'd be a class act. A key role in our Champions League win later and I was spending £15m to bring him to Arsenal with me. Unfortunately he was part of the defence when the rest of it was very ropey and he took a big knock to his confidence which he never really recovered from. Happily has now found a regular spot with Premier League Cardiff.

9. Luis Guilherme - GK - Werder Bremen - 2020-2023

When I found this world-class keeper bizarrely languishing in Liga Adelante with Levante, and with a release clause of just £7.25m, I thought I'd hit the jackpot. I had. A massively important component of all my success with Werder - probably my most enjoyable part of my career so far - and also a stalwart for Brazil for many years.

10. Bruno Abreu - AMRL/ST - Arsenal - 2023-2026

The Portuguese international was one of the relatively cheaper signings I made at Arsenal, but he was a brilliant player either up top by himself or cutting in from the left wing. Unfortunately a cruciate injury took a yard of pace from him halfway through his Arsenal career so he wasn't quite his original buccaneering self, but still played a key role in both our title wins.

11. Luke Rooney - M/AMRC/ST - Southend - 2016-2018

The wing combination of Rooney on the right and Nunn on the left may have almost saved Southend from relegation when I first joined the club, but it definitely was the key catalyst in the double-promotion that followed. Of the pair Rooney was more balanced in terms of chipping in the goals as well as a few assists, and had a few decent games up front for us as well.

12. Mustafa Eryilmaz - M/AMRC - Werder Bremen - 2019-2023

The young Turkish speed-merchant was on loan at Werder when I joined, and a series of devastating examples of old-school wing-play later I was sold on him. Fortunately the previous manager was smart enough to have arranged a clause to buy at just over £2m, and I snapped him up without a moment's hesitation. He may have gone off the boil in his final season with us, but he was just so good at the other times that I'm willing to forgive him that one. Think Walcott with a brain.

13. Dario Aguero - DC - Arsenal - 2024-2026

The Argentinean centre-half was one of my many, many expensive signings at Arsenal, but apart from maybe Gino Koster, he definitely provided the best value for money. Absolutely imperious in defense, as well as incredibly classy on the ball, he instigated many great counter-attacking goals with a quick, clever ball from deep. I've only faced him once since leaving, as Brazil manager in the Copa América quarter final, and he was predictably excellent.

14. Quentin Ngakoutou - ST - Southend - 2017-2018

When we won promotion back to League One, and I could hear the sound of previous season's top scorer Tony Garrod's legs creaking, I knew we needed an addition up front if we were to compete. Step forward this beast of a man from the Central African Republic. Ngakoutou was absolutely unstoppable, thriving with the service from Nunn and Luke Rooney either side of him. Was clearly out of his depth in the Championship, but I'll always remember that one great season.

15. China - DM/MC - Santos - 2026-2031

The captain and driving force behind every success of my Santos team. Not only did he break up the play and distribute it simply, in the classic Makelele way, he could also get forward and score goals. Not just your usual 30-yard thrikers that you'd associate with a big, burly defensive midfielder, but he had a very cultured left foot, and scored some lovely placed efforts from the 18 yard line. Although he's getting on now, I'm sure the new Santos boss will appreciate him as much as I did.

16. Matthew Urwin - GK - Darlington - 2014-2016

I knew this guy was something special when I signed him. He had great stats for that level in all the right areas, and was an incredibly consistent and solid stopper for us. I was pleasantly surprised, as manager of Arsenal, to see him once more, as a Premier League goalkeeper for Middlesbrough. I wasn't so pleased to see him put in a man of the match performance to hold us to a 0-0 draw!

17. Zheng Long - Wigan - ML/AMLC - Wigan - 2018-2019

When I joined Wigan from Southend I was hoping to find a creative talent to rival that of Charlie Nunn, who had swung cross after cross onto the bonce of Quentin Ngakoutou and Freddy Drogba to win us promotion from League One the previous season. Fortunately, I found him in the Chinese international winger, Zheng Long. He certainly did more than anyone to kickstart our rise up the table, and ultimately up to the Premier League. He didn't even look too out of place once we got there.

18. Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - Weymouth - 2012-2013

One of the generated players for when a team comes up from the unplayable leagues with no squad, he had some outstanding stats for that level. I immediately named him captain, and he inspired the team to an unlikely promotion push, which only fell away in the last few weeks of the season as our thin squad tired.

19. Darren Ramsay - DRC/MC - Wigan - 2018-2019

A combative midfielder with the legs to get up and down the pitch for 90 minutes. Excelled at any position between centre-half and midfield, and indeed our promotion push at Wigan really took off when I had the bright idea to play him at the back in order to allow us to push up the pitch, his pace and energy an insurance policy against through-balls. The rest is history, as we stormed the playoffs and I earned myself a move to Werder Bremen.

20. Alex - AMC/ST - Santos - 2026-2030

I marked him out as soon as I arrived at Santos as our best striker, and so it proved, as his goals fired us to a domestic double in my first season at the club. By the time continental triumphs came about he was a little past his best, but will definitely be remembered as a Santos great.

[SnakeXe]

In your history table I thought you'd put '1st' 'Casual winners'. Thinking what a cocky person that Snake is

That's definitely the sort of thing I'd do!

[SnakeXe]

World Club Football... 20 Years On

Argentina

Boca Juniors (+11) x21

Vélez (+4) x8

Independiente x4

River (+2), Newell's (+2) x2

Belgrano, Estudiantes (LP), Lanús (+1) x1

Australia

Central Coast Mariners (+3), Sydney FC (+2) x4

Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United (+2) x3

Newcastle United Jets (+1), Brisbane Roar (+1) x2

Perth Glory, Gold Coast United (+1) x1

Brazil

Santos (+6) x10

Corinthians (+2) x6

Flamengo (+1) x2

Palmeiras, Vasco (+1) x1

China

Guangzhou (+5) x8

Beijing x4

Fuli (+1), Shandong (+3) x3

Tianjin, Dalian (+1) x1

England

Manchester United, Arsenal (+8) x8

Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea (+2) x2

Manchester City x1

France

Olympique Lyonnais (+5) x14

Paris Saint-Germain (+3) x4

Marseille (+2) x3

Germany

Dortmund (+7) x9

FC Bayern x5

Leverkusen (+2) x4

Werder Bremen (+1) x2

Freiburg x1

India

Dempo (+7) x8

Mohun Bagan x5

Pune FC (+2) x4

Salgaocar x2

Churchill Bros, HAL (+1) x1

Ireland

Shamrock Rovers (+8) x17

Sligo Rovers (+1) x2

Finn Harps (+1) x1

Italy

AC Milan (+5) x9

Fiorentina (+1), Inter (+2) x4

Juventus (+1) x3

Roma (+1) x1

Mexico

Monterrey (+7) x10

América (MEX) (+6) x8

Chivas (+2) x7

Pumas (+1), Tigres (+3) x4

Pachuca x3

Morelia x2

Xolos Tijuana, Atlante, Veracruz (+1) x1

Netherlands

Ajax (+6) x10

Vitess (+3), PSV (+1) x5

FC Twente x1

Northern Ireland

Linfield (+7) x15

Crusaders (+2) x5

Dundela (+1) x1

Portugal

Benfica (+3) x9

Porto (+4) x6

Sporting CP (+2) x4

Braga (+1) x2

Russia

CSKA Moscow (+2) x13

Spartak Moscow (+5) x6

Zenit (+2) x2

Scotland

Celtic (+5) x13

Rangers (+4) x6

Dundee (+1) x2

South Africa

Ajax CT (+6) x8

Orlando Pirates (+1) x5

Kaizer Chiefs (+2) x4

Sundowns, SuperSport Utd, FS Stars, Jomo Cosmos (+1) x1

South Korea

Suwon (+3) x8

Seoul (+1) x4

Chunnam (+3) x3

Jeonbuk (+2) x2

Seongnam, Sangju, Pohang (+1) x1

Spain

Barcelona (+5), Real Madrid (+5) x10

Valencia x1

USA

Los Angeles (+2) x5

Toronto FC (+2) x3

DC United, New York (+1), Sporting Kansas City (+2), Colorado (+1) x2

Houston, Chivas USA, Seattle (+1), San Jose (+1) x1

Wales

Llanelli (+7) x12

Neath (+2) x4

Aberystwyth x3

Haverfordwest (+1) x2

-----

Africa (CAF Champions League)

ES Tunis (Tunisia) (+1) x5

Al-Ahly (Egypt) x4

Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) (+2), Ajax CT (South Africa) (+2), Zamalek (Egypt) (+2) x2

Club Africain (Tunisia) CS Sfax (Tunisia), Ismaily (Egypt) (+1), Sundowns (South Africa) (+1), Raja Casablanca (Morocco) (+1) x1

Asia (AFC Champions League)

Sepahan (Iran) (+3), Al-Ittihad (KSA) (Saudi Arabia) (+2) x4

Al-Ahli (KSA) (Saudi Arabia) (+1) x3

Nagoya Stolz (Japan), Suwon (South Korea), Al-Hilal (KSA) (Saudi Arabia), Seoul (South Korea), Fuli (China), Persepolis (Iran) (+1), Shandong (China) (+1), Central Coast Mariners (Australia) (+1), Al-Arabi (QAT) (Qatar) (+1) x1

Europe (UEFA Champions League)

Real Madrid (Spain) (+2) x4

Manchester United (England) (+1), Arsenal (England) (+2) x3

Chelsea (England) (+1), Barcelona (Spain) (+1) x2

Liverpool (England), AC Milan (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Dortmund (Germany), Werder Bremen (Germany) (+1), Inter (Italy) (+1), Olympique Lyonnais (France) (+1) x1

North America (CONCACAF Champions League)

Monterrey (Mexico) (+4) x5

Chivas (Mexico), Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+1) x3

Pumas (Mexico), America (MEX) (Mexico) (+1), Tigres (Mexico) (+2) x2

Los Angeles (USA), Atlante (Mexico), New York (USA) (+1), Veracruz (Mexico) (+1) x1

Oceania (OFC Champions League - Unplayable)

Auckland City (New Zealand) (+6) x13

Waitakere United (New Zealand) (+4) x8

South America (Copa Libertadores)

Santos (Brazil) (+3) x5

Boca Juniors (Argentina) (+1), Corinthians (Brazil) (+1) x3

Flamengo (Brazil) x2

Colo Colo (Chile), Monterrey (Mexico), Libertad (Paraguay) (+1), Tigres (Mexico) (+1), Chivas (Mexico) (+1), Internacional (Brazil) (+1), Atlético Mineiro (Brazil) (+1) x1

Club World Cup

Pumas (Mexico), Chivas (Mexico), Real Madrid (+2), Arsenal (England) (+1), Chelsea (England) (+1), Barcelona (Spain) (+1) x2

Santos (Brazil), Liverpool (England), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Dortmund (Germany) (+1), Werder Bremen (+1), América (MEX) (Mexico) (+1), Internacional (Brazil) (+1), Inter (Italy) (+1) x1

[SnakeXe]

Good news, Medina is on his way and I'll be staying more than 5 minutes at Vélez!

[Nobby_McDonald]

From one confusing league to another.

[SRL88]

It wouldnt be Snake if he didnt do things in a confusing way .

[SnakeXe]

There's no substitution for convolution

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 21 Apertura Preseason Update - Vélez

Board Expectations:

Primera Division Open - Win it (Predicted 2nd out of 20)

Copa Sudamericana - Win it

My Expectations:

Primera Division Open - We should be good enough to take it, but there's a lot to be said for luck in this short season

Copa Sudamericana - So long as we don't go out badly I'm not too bothered

Budgets:

Transfer: £28 (£0 remaining)

Wages: £176,332/week (£171,308/week currently) Yes, I've put my entire transfer budget into the wage bill and it's still down £60k per week

Balance: £3,101,495 (+£7,684,356 since joining the club)

Squad:

Aside from my four key men the squad is still quite weak, however with players coming back from loan and becoming old enough for a professional contract, there are quite a few exciting developing talents. Kevin Vídela is one to keep an eye on this year as he'll get plenty of playing time, similarly Marcelo Cavallo will get a big chance with Federico Sosa's injury.

Key Men:

Goalkeeper/Defence

Lionel Esteche - DRL - Excellent fullback - my coach had the cheek to say his wage would be better spent elsewhere! He said the same for Esmerado so he's clearly wrong in the head.

Claudio Dario Díaz - D/MC - Leader of the defence and the whole side really.

Midfield

Diego Villavicencio - ML/ST - Expecting more from him this year as he grows into the AML position.

Strikers

Alan Esmerado - AMLC/ST - Found good form when partnered with Ernesto Medina last season, hopefully this will continue as the Paraguayan joins full-time.

[SnakeXe]

Not a bad start.

[arinceo]

It's alright, your defence could use some work though

[SRL88]

Cant believe you only settled for 8 .

[deltablue]

The team may have but he probably didn't, I know the feeling.

[SnakeXe]

2032 UEFA European Championship

Hosts: Netherlands

Holders: Spain

Group Stage:

Group A:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | France  |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 7     | 3     | +4    | 9     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Serbia  |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 7     | 2     | +5    | 6     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Austria |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 5     | -4    | 1     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Belarus |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 6     | -5    | 1     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group B:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Germany |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 8     | 4     | +4    | 7     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Ukraine |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 8     | 5     | +3    | 7     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Poland  |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 6     | -3    | 3     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Romania |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 3     | 7     | -4    | 0     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group C:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team           |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Italy          |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 6     | 3     | +3    | 9     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Denmark        |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 5     | 4     | +1    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Albania        |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 4     | 5     | -1    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Czech Republic |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 5     | 8     | -3    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group D:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Spain    |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 4     | 1     | +3    | 9     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Sweden   |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 2     | +2    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Bulgaria |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 1     | -1    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Scotland |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 2     | 6     | -4    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group E:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team                 |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Russia               |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 7     | 4     | +3    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Portugal             |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 6     | 4     | +2    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Croatia              |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 2     | 6     | -4    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Bosnia & Herzegovina |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 1     | 2     | -1    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group F:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | England     |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 1     | +4    | 7     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Belgium     |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 4     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Netherlands |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 4     | 5     | -1    | 2     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Norway      |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 1     | 3     | -2    | 2     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Knockout Stage:

Second Round:

Ukraine 2 v 3 France

Belgium 3 v 1 Russia

Poland e2 v 1 Germany

Albania 0 v 2 England

Serbia 2 v 1 Portugal

Croatia 2 v 1 Italy

Spain 0 v 3 Netherlands

Sweden 1 v 4 Denmark

Quarter Final:

France 0 v 1 Belgium

England 0 v 1 Poland

Serbia 1 v 0 Croatia

Netherlands 2 v 0 Denmark

Semi Final:

Belgium 0 v 3 Netherlands

Poland p1 v 1 Serbia

Final:

Netherlands 3 v 1 Poland

A really weird tournament as the Netherlands blitz the knockout stages having scraped through their group by the skin of their teeth.

[SnakeXe]

It's alright, your defence could use some work though

Terrible aren't they, if we'd happened to have missed all 8 of those chances then we might have lost!

Cant believe you only settled for 8 .

The team may have but he probably didn't, I know the feeling.

I was hoping for double figures personally!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Albania reached the second round. Quite an achievement for them.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 21 Apertura - 2032/33

Story of the Season:

Primera División Open - 1st

This time we dominated from start to finish, only dropping points in farcical circumstances. We secured the title with the game to go, the final match being taken by my assistant, for reasons which will become clear shortly.

Copa Sudamericana - 2nd Preliminary Round (lost v Independiente Rivadavia)

Trust our luck to draw our bogey team in the first bloody round. Trust them to score 3 goals from 2 chances across the two legs. Trust their terrible keeper to have the two games of his life to keep us down to 3 goals ourselves. Trust away goals to go in their favour.

Shambles.

Results - Squad

Transfers - £1.9m spent

Medina was the only significant business.

Finances

Can't look at these after leaving the club but they're listed as Okay.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Ernesto Medina - AMC/ST - Wasn't as prolific after joining permanently but played the support striker role excellently, laying on plenty of assists as well as the odd crucial goal.

4. Marcelo Cavallo - AMC - 7 goals and 3 assists in his first 14 matches as a professional. I'd say he's doing alright.

3. Gonzalo Ríos - M/AMR - An outstanding 12 months for the guy who was a bench-warmer under the previous management.

2. Diego Villavicencio - ML/ST - Wonderful return from the left wing.

1. Alan Esmerado - AMLC/ST - Scored a whopping 11 goals in his first 4 games and continued at a more reasonable, although still excellent, rate from then on.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League/Competition    | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2023/24 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 2nd      | Champ's League Semi-Finalists, League Cup Finalists   |
| 2024/25 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners, League Cup Finalists          |
| 2025/26 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners                                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2027    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & Paulista Winners, Libertadores SF       |
| 2028    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 2nd      | Paulista & Copa Libertadores Semi-Finalists           |
| 2029    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & L'dores Winners, CWC RU, Paulista SF    |
| 2030    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | B'leirao, L'dores, Paulista, Recopa Winners, CWC RU   |
| 2031    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao, Paulista, Recopa Sudamericana Winners    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2030    | Brazil          | Friendlies            | Brazil       | N/A      | Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1                        |
| 2031    | Brazil          | Copa América          | S. America   | R-Up     | Copa América Runners Up, Resigned in July             |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2031/32 | Vélez           | Clausura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Clausura Winners, Joined in February                  |
| 2032/33 | Vélez           | Apertura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Apertura Winners, Left in December                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:

Although I've enjoyed my brief spell here, there was one job I decided I was ready for a couple of seasons ago, and now it's come up...

[SnakeXe]

Having led them into the Champions League, Snr Baldivieso decides Cardiff City are more to his liking. Having just secured the title with Vélez, I decide to pounce...

All the usual eyelash fluttering and playing down the chances goes on, but in the end:

Kelly's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming!!

[deltablue]

Way-ay man.

[SRL88]

Good luck with Newcastle. Not to far from me .

How come you only played 18 games in the league? That isnt even a full round of fixtures :confused:. Or did you take the ss before the final game?

[SnakeXe]

Name: Newcastle United Football Club

Nickname: The Magpies, The Toon

Founded: 1892

Stadium: St. James' Park, 59,619 (all-seater) capacity

Status: Professional

From Wikipedia:

Newcastle United Football Club (often abbreviated to NUFC) is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since. The ground was developed into an all-seater stadium in the mid-1990s and now has a capacity of 52,387. The club has been a member of the Premier League for all but two years of the competition's history, and never dropped below the English football's second tier, since joining the Football League in 1893. In 2007, long term chairman and owner Sir John Hall sold his share in the club to Mike Ashley.

They have won four League Championship titles and six FA Cups, as well as the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Newcastle United has the eighth highest total of major honours won by an English club. The club's most successful period was between 1904 and 1910, when they won an FA Cup and three of their First Division titles.

They have a fierce local rivalry with Sunderland, and the two clubs have engaged in the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898. The club's traditional kit colours are black and white striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. Their traditional crest takes elements of the city coat of arms which features two seahorses.

Newcastle are my club. I've supported them since the very first time I realised I liked football. I've had a save with them on every single edition of CM and FM ever released (except CM Italia for obvious reasons!).

In 2014 they finally broke their trophy duck, winning the FA Cup, and added League Cups in 2015 and 2019. Nothing since then, but a Champions League qualification in 2020, and an unexpected 2nd place last year break up the mid-table solidity of the remainder of the seasons. The squad is an interesting one, with some excellent players around, but this season has not gone to plan, with the side on the cusp of a group-stage Champions League exit, and down in 11th in the league. You could say this is more our level, but I think we've got enough for a top-6 finish.

For the first time in this save I'm actually quite nervous - I want very very badly to do well in this job.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 21 New Club Update - Newcastle United

Board Expectations:

Premier League - Europa League qualification but not judging at present (Predicted 6th out of 20, 10th on arrival)

FA Cup - Sixth round

Carling Cup - Already out

Champions League - Reach group stage

My Expectations:

Premier League - Top six would be a good season

FA Cup - Depends whether we get through in the Champions League

Carling Cup - N/A

Champions League - It'll be difficult as the final game is in 2 days, which we need to win, but it'd be a great filip if we could scrape through

Budgets:

Transfer: £20,890,000 (£5,380,000 remaining)

Wages: £1,139,342/week (£884,511/week currently)

Balance: -£2,956,990 (first season at club)

Squad:

It's pretty strong in most areas, although midfield could be stronger, with not many options on the wings and a not-so-golden oldie or two in the middle. I don't think I'll be making radical changes in January unless some interesting options appear, but I'll definitely be looking at modifications in the summer.

Key Men:

Goalkeeper/Defence

Bakary Sogoba - DC - Club captain and solid defender.

Midfield

Rick van Meel - ML - If you've been following this career you'll know I like a good left-winger, especially an inside-out one.

Dusan Krivokuca - D/DM/MC - The Bosniak is a classy defensive midfielder, although I'd like him to have a bit more stamina.

Strikers

Marius Maciulevicius - AMC/ST - The Lithuanian with a mouthful of a surname is a wonderful striker, continuing the Newcastle no. 9 tradition. I'll be looking to him to fire us up the table.

[SnakeXe]

Way-ay man.

Howay pet

Good luck with Newcastle. Not to far from me .

How come you only played 18 games in the league? That isnt even a full round of fixtures :confused:. Or did you take the ss before the final game?

Thanks! Yeah I took it just after leaving the club, the final league game is an irrelevance as we were 9 points clear

[jayahr]

Nice move

Argentina seemed to be too easy and Newcastle is my first team in any version of FM as well Good luck with them

[AK22]

Marius looks class, although I'm not sure how the Geordie faithful would react to a red-haired Lithuanian in real life

[SnakeXe]

Nice move

Argentina seemed to be too easy and Newcastle is my first team in any version of FM as well Good luck with them

It was that kind of situation where the domestic league has no challenge, but to build the team to the point of competing continentally against the big Brazilian sides would take longer than I was prepared to stay. I enjoyed my short spell there and I love the culture of attacking football, but I'm not sad to leave, especially after taking both titles so easily.

Marius looks class, although I'm not sure how the Geordie faithful would react to a red-haired Lithuanian in real life

He could be a purple-haired conjoined twin, but I think they'd be okay with it if they scored at the rate he does!

[crouchaldinho]

Good luck SnakeXe. Seems you've got plenty to build on there. Looking forward to seeing how that striker does under your management.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Wrong Newcastle but I'll let you off.

[SnakeXe]

Good luck SnakeXe. Seems you've got plenty to build on there. Looking forward to seeing how that striker does under your management.

Thanks crouchy, well you don't have too long to wait (hint: it's "not very" - at least so far).

Wrong Newcastle but I'll let you off.

I've heard they're doing alright under a lurcal man, so thought I'd leave them to it!

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 21 - 2032/33

Story of the Season:

Premier League - 7th (9th on arrival in December)

A poor start to my reign dropped us as low as 13th before we found our rhythm. Three successive wins over Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea were the high point of the season, as it briefly looked like we could regain a Champions League place, but our frustrating exit from the Europa League led to a domestic hangover as we lost as many as we won for the rest of the season. Some excellent results over the better teams lead me to believe that the quality is there, it's just not the right balance against weaker teams.

FA Cup - Runners Up (lost v Cardiff)

After overcoming Liverpool 3-1 in a great third round performance, it was relatively plain sailing (a required replay against Newport County notwithstanding) until a date with Fulham in the semi-final. An excellent team performance couldn't be spoiled by Méndez getting himself sent off, but we didn't show up in the final, losing pathetically 2-0.

League Cup - Quarter Final (lost v Swindon)

This was all contested before I joined the club.

Champions League - Group Stage (finished 3rd behind Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen)

Despite winning just one game in the entire stage before I arrived, we still had a shot at getting through if we could beat Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. With just 2 days to prepare for the game I didn't have much of a chance to meld the team in my image, but we still put in a plucky performance, losing narrowly 2-1 to finish third.

Europa League - 2nd Knockout Round (lost v Grosseto)

Fenerbahce were easy dispatched 5-1 on aggregate, with Grosseto our opponents in the next round. A cagey affair in Italy somehow ended up 2-0 to them, but I was confident we had the players to turn it around. I was not wrong, as we scored thrice at home, and could have had many more as we gave them an absolute chasing. Of course, they scored their one chance to renew my hatred of the away goals rule.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - £30.25m spent

This massive outlay, shared fairly evenly between me and the previous manager, means I'll probably be trying to recoup a bit in the summer. The majority of the signings have worked out quite nicely, although I don't think I'd have paid that much for Ocles.

Finances

Fairly concerning, which is why I'll be trimming the squad this summer.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Mario Méndez - ST - A bargain £2.5m signing from River, he briefly looked like a world-beater before injuries and indiscipline caused his season to tail off.

4. Rick van Meel - ML - Consistent. Ish.

3. Bakary Sogoba - DC - Solid season from the captain.

2. Gil Reis - DR - Excellent full-back, with still plenty of time to improve.

1. Przemyslaw Skowronski - ST - When he scored successive hattricks against Tottenham and Liverpool I thought we were in for a great end to the season. A form-destroying niggling injury later and it was all over.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League/Competition    | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2023/24 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 2nd      | Champ's League Semi-Finalists, League Cup Finalists   |
| 2024/25 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners, League Cup Finalists          |
| 2025/26 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 1st      | Premier League Winners                                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2027    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & Paulista Winners, Libertadores SF       |
| 2028    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 2nd      | Paulista & Copa Libertadores Semi-Finalists           |
| 2029    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao & L'dores Winners, CWC RU, Paulista SF    |
| 2030    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | B'leirao, L'dores, Paulista, Recopa Winners, CWC RU   |
| 2031    | Santos          | Brasileirao           | Brazil       | 1st      | Brasileirao, Paulista, Recopa Sudamericana Winners    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2030    | Brazil          | Friendlies            | Various      | N/A      | Appointed in July, P5 W2 D2 L1                        |
| 2031    | Brazil          | Copa América          | S. America   | R-Up     | Copa América Runners Up, Resigned in July             |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2031/32 | Vélez           | Clausura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Clausura Winners, Joined in February                  |
| 2032/33 | Vélez           | Apertura              | Argentina    | 1st      | Apertura Winners, Left in December                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2032/33 | Newcastle       | Premier League        | England      | 7th      | FA Cup Runners Up, Joined in December                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:

I'm gutted to not get European football for next season - the FA Cup final was a particular kick in the swingers - but it'll give me the opportunity to trim a lot of the fat from the squad and bring in my own style of play with less pressure. At the moment I'm looking at a Werder-style 4-2-3-1. Europa League qualification at the bare minimum will be essential.

[SnakeXe]

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

I'm going to write "boo" here until they return.

Boo.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -
2023/24   Blue Square South       22nd      Relegated
2024/25   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
2025/26   N/A                     N/A       -
2026/27   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 3rd Round
2027/28   N/A                     N/A       -
2028/29   N/A                     N/A       -
2029/30   N/A                     N/A       -
2030/31   N/A                     N/A       FA Cup 1st Round
2031/32   N/A                     N/A       -
2032/33   N/A                     N/A       -

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

Lovely display of boucebackability from the Quakers.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final
2023/24   League Two              16th      JPT North Semi Final
2024/25   League Two              11th      -
2025/26   League Two              19th      -
2026/27   League Two              19th      -
2027/28   League Two              18th      -
2028/29   League Two              20th      -
2029/30   League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2030/31   League One              12th      FA Cup 4th Round
2031/32   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   League Two              2nd       Promoted, FA Cup 3rd Round

Southend United:

Well they've at least arrested the slide I suppose.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -
2023/24   Championship            16th      FA Cup Semi Final
2024/25   Championship            21st      -
2025/26   Championship            19th      -
2026/27   Championship            16th      League Cup Runners up
2027/28   Championship            21st      -
2028/29   Championship            22nd      Relegated
2029/30   League One              3rd       Playoff Semi-finalists
2030/31   League One              7th       FA Cup 4th Round, JPT Finalists
2031/32   League One              17th      JPT South Quarter-finalists
2032/33   League One              11th      -

Wigan Athletic:

Consolidation for the perennial yo-yoers.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round
2023/24   Premier League          19th      Relegated
2024/25   Championship            5th       Playoff Semi-finalists
2025/26   Championship            4th       Playoff Winners, FA Cup 6th Round
2026/27   Premier League          5th       FA Cup 6th Round, EL Qualification
2027/28   Premier League          19th      League Cup Quarter-finalists
2028/29   Championship            6th       FA Cup 5th Round, Playoff Semi-finalists
2029/30   Championship            4th       Playoff Runners Up
2030/31   Championship            2nd       Promoted
2031/32   Premier League          11th      FA Cup 5th Round
2032/33   Premier League          14th      -

Werder Bremen:

Seem to be stick in Everton 2005-2009 syndrome - better than anyone else, but unable to crack the Champions League places to progress further.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20*  1. Bundesliga           8th       I joined in December, DFB-Pokal Winners
2020/21*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, S'cup Winners; EL Semi-finalists
2021/22*  1. Bundesliga           2nd       S'cup Winners; EL, DFB-P Semi-finalists
2022/23*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, Champs League Winners
2023/24   1. Bundesliga           2nd       CWC, DFB-Pokal Winners
2024/25   1. Bundesliga           4th       Champs League, DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2025/26   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2026/27   1. Bundesliga           3rd       DFB-Pokal Winners
2027/28   1. Bundesliga           5th       Europa League Semi-finalists
2028/29   1. Bundesliga           4th       Europa League QF, DFB-Pokal RU
2029/30   1. Bundesliga           3rd       Europa League Quarter-finalists
2030/31   1. Bundesliga           4th       -
2031/32   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Semi-finalists
2032/33   1. Bundesliga           4th       DFB-Pokal Quarter-finalists

Arsenal:

A nearly season.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24*  Premier League          2nd       CL Semi-finalists, LC Runners up
2024/25*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, LC Runners Up
2025/26*  Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners
2026/27   Premier League          1st       PL & CL Winners, FA Cup Semi-finalists
2027/28   Premier League          1st       PL, CL, CWC & LC Winners, FA Cup Final
2028/29   Premier League          3rd       League Cup Runners Up, Champ's Lg SF
2029/30   Premier League          1st       Premier League Winners, Champ's Lg RU
2030/31   Premier League          1st       PL & LC Winners, CL Runners Up
2031/32   Premier League          1st       Prem League Winners, FA Cup Runners Up
2032/33   Premier League          2nd       Champions League Semi-finalists

Santos:

The new guy is doing alright, despite ripping the heart out of the squad.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, Paulista Winners, L'dores SF
2028*     Brasileirao             2nd       Paulista, Libertadores Semi-finalists
2029*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao & L'dores W, P'lista SF, CWC RU
2030*     Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, P'lista & Recopa W, CWC RU
2031*     Brasileirao             1st       Brasileirao, Paulista & Recopa Winners
2032      Brasileirao             1st       B'leirao, CL, & Paulista Winners, CWC RU

Vélez:

More of the same really, although this guy has got them into the Libertadores semis.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2031/32*  Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, Joined in February
2032/33*  Apertura                1st       Apertura Winners, Left in December
2032/33   Clausura                1st       Clausura Winners, Copa Argentina 7th Rnd

[SnakeXe]

Haha I pressed "Continue" once after that screenshot and the Champions League TV revenue came in, so the finances are now hunky dory! Still, I'm definitely having a bit of a clear-out, it's just less urgent.

[SRL88]

MK Dons in the Premiership and Fulham in the Champions League. Whats going on? .

[SnakeXe]

MK Dons in the Premiership and Fulham in the Champions League. Whats going on? .

It's wrong! Just wrong!

Just realised that's the first time in 13 years I've finished outside the top 2 in the league...

[SRL88]

Canny **** that Snake .

[brFM2011]

Oh, it's the afternoon now . It was morning when I started reading this thread oops.

Great read & you've done really well, best of luck with the Toon Army

[Nobby_McDonald]

Solid enough start at Newcastle.

[SnakeXe]

Canny **** that Snake .

He's lost his touch, sack him!!!

Oh, it's the afternoon now . It was morning when I started reading this thread oops.

Great read & you've done really well, best of luck with the Toon Army

Haha, I'm really happy to read that actually - means it's engrossing!

Thanks, I'm quite enjoying it because for the first time in the game I actually feel a bit of pressure to succeed, but in a good way.

Solid enough start at Newcastle.

Cheers, yeah solid is definitely the word.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 22 Preseason Update - Newcastle United

Board Expectations:

Premier League - Europa League qualification (minimum of top half, predicted 9th out of 20)

FA Cup - Sixth Round

Carling Cup - Quarter Final

My Expectations:

Premier League - Top 6 has to be the aim

FA Cup - I'd like to get revenge for last season's debacle

Carling Cup - With no European football we should be the team to beat in this cup

Budgets:

Transfer: £39,280,000 (£23,690,000 remaining)

Wages: £1,145,077/week (£849,527/week currently)

Balance: £17,639,422 (+£20,596,412 since joining the club)

Squad:

Perhaps a little more graft than craft, for the first time in a long time for me. It wasn't intentional, though, there just happened to be a lot of very physically gifted footballers around for bargain prices over the summer. Fresnel Makweni is definitely an attacking midfielder in the battering-ram Yaya Touré way rather than the finesse of a Riquelme or Valerón. Similarly Vujadinovic down the right (who was out on loan last season) is good in the air, but with decent enough feet as well - sort of a high-class Lee McCulloch if you like.

Transfers:

Plenty going out, but I've still just about made a net-spend of £2m. The aforementioned Makweni was the biggest signing at £4.3m, with the former Juventus defensive midfielder Michel Bellucci a real steal at £4.2m. Schulz joins permanently after his successful loan spell last season, and I'm very excited about Ramón from my old club Santos - he should become a real star. The biggest out was Rick van Meel, who I felt was not quite worth his wages; he was joined in the exit queue by a whole load of fairly mediocre or unneeded players from the reserves.

Key Men:

Goalkeeper/Defence

Samson Nworuh - DLC/ML - Awesome left-back signed for just £2.3m from Lierse. A couple more points in his positioning and dribbling and he'll be top class.

Midfield

Michel Bellucci - DM/MC - Impressed the scouts at the U21 European Championships, I jumped at the chance to sign him for such a small fee.

Fresnel Makweni - AMC/ST - Another bargain from the low countries, this time Heracles in the Eredivisie. He's still got room to improve and should be a great force-of-nature style player through the middle.

Strikers

Marius Maciulevicius - AMC/ST - He may not have pulled up many trees last season, but I'm hoping with a better supporting cast he'll show his true abilities. Of course, if he doesn't, I have Méndez, Skowronski and Ramón in reserve to chance their arm, so I'm not concerned.

[deltablue]

Interesting seeing a star from smaller nations.

[SnakeXe]

Interesting seeing a star from smaller nations.

It's interesting seeing the demographic of squads when you're a long time into a game. The Newcastle one was pretty loaded with Eastern Europeans when I arrived.

[SnakeXe]

Season 22: Halfway House Update

We had a fairly gentle start to the season, which we made good use of, with four successive wins over Middlesbrough, Wigan, Blackburn and Swindon. Aston Villa then broke our streak, grabbing a 1-0 win at Villa Park against the run of play. A couple of draws, a win and a loss meant it was just one win in 5 when we went to Tottenham Stadium, fearing a difficult game. We absolutely smashed them, though, a 3-1 win that could have been 5 or 6. We got 5 against Cardiff in the next match - suitable revenge for the FA Cup final defeat - but MK Dons humiliated us 2-0 at home to puncture the growing confidence. Four wins and a couple of draws up to January was good enough to see us sitting in 2nd place at the midway point - albeit 7 points behind Chelsea. The crucial figure, though, is 10 - the number of points we are ahead of the team in 5th.

The League Cup started fairly easily, as a shadow XI thrashed Norwich 5-1 and Barnet 4-0. Hull put up a bit more resistance as we beat them 2-0 at home, before the big guns came in to steal a 1-0 away win at the Emirates to send Arsenal packing. Quite hilariously, we're the only Premier League side left in the competition now, with us taking on Championship Stoke in one semi-final, and the other contested between newly-promoted Championship side Newport County and League Two's Notts County. It's fair to say there'll be egg on more than a few faces if we don't take this trophy now (famous last words eh?).

The FA Cup starts early for us this year as it's a World Cup year, Aston Villa coming to St. James' Park on New Year's Eve. They gave us a very difficult game, and in the end 1-1 was probably a fair result. Hopefully we turn up with our A-game at Villa Park.

The Good

• 2nd in the league surpasses all expectations
  
• Teams are falling over themselves to let us win the League Cup
  
• We're still in the FA Cup
  

The Bad

• Slightly disjointed attacking play at times, and poor finishing most of the time, is stopping this being an even better season
  
• Needing to win a difficult replay in the FA Cup
  
• The finances are looking sketchy without Champions League revenue
  

Results - [/url]Premier League Table - Squad