[FM12]“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page”

[deltablue]

I'm completely baffled by this

EDIT : A quick google search tells me it's from Star Trek, but I wouldn't know as I've never watched it

Correctamundo. The 'right supporting cast' comment made me think of it.

[roganp]

Good luck with Lazio; they're one of my favourite Italian clubs, mainly just because Gazza played for them

Thanks AK!

[roganp]

S.S. Lazio - 2023/2024 Season Preview

Board Expectations

Serie A - Achieve a safe mid-table position Media Prediction - 12th

Coppa Italia - Reach the 1st round.

Budgets

Transfer Budget - £4.4M

Wage Budget - £825,000 p/w

Current Wage Bill - £536,799 p/w

Transfers

Key additions:

Islam Ibrahim(CB/DMC/MC) - Signed for £3.5M from Zamalek. Looks a fantastic ball-playing centre back and he also has the ability to play in midfield if required.

Habib West(ST/AMR) - My 2nd non-eu signing and another young talent unearthed in Africa. Signed for £4.4M from Tunisian side ES Tunis.

Herve M'Vemba(CB) - My first signing as Lazio boss. Cost me £2.2M to bring him from Stade Rennais and he's someone who could develop into and excellent centre back.

Carmine Molino(LB) - Initially brought in on loan as I wasn't sure if he was worth the wages he was demanding(around £30,000 p/w IIRC). If all goes well, I have the option to purchase him for £2M.

Mattia Colombo(CM) - Colombo hasn't really shone for any of the other 6 clubs he's played for so far, but he clearly has lots of ability and at £725K, I felt he was worth a punt. He doesn't count as a non-eu signing as he's eligible to play for Italy.

Transfers Summary

[roganp]

Russia - Euro 2024 Qualification & International Frendlies

The perfect qualification campaign. We were always expected to get through this group, but to go through with a 100% record was something I could not have foreseen. The highlights of qualification would obviously be the two victory's over England and after some below-par performances throughout the campaign, the English FA decided to sack another manager. The timing of Ronald Nillson's sacking was slightly strange as they got rid just 4 days before England's final qualification game against Georgia in which there was still a possibility of Georgia qualifying ahead of them.

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

Current World Ranking - 7th

World Cup 2026 Qualification Group

I can't see us having many problems qualifying from this group.

[deltablue]

Indeed not, especially after you left England in the dust last time.

[B.W.G]

Excellent qualifying record with Russia,I agree with that you shouldn't have any problems with the World Cup qualifying group.

[AK22]

Fantastic qualifying campaign, you must think you've got a good chance at the Euros now.

England seem to be following you round like a bad smell

[HotChocolate]

You never know, them Luxembourgonians are crafty devils.

[Pangaea]

Excellent qualifying campaign with some great wins over England. Considering you pawned them last time around you shouldn't have any problems in the next qualifying either. Good luck in the Euros

[Raware]

Not a bad way to qualify . Should be no problem in the World Cup qualifiers too (well, apart from the Luxembourgonians )

[iHeadHunta x]

Excellent qualifying mate!

[roganp]

S.S. Lazio - 2023/2024 Mid Season Update

Serie A

So far, so good as we have put ourselves in a good position to qualify for European football next season. I'm doubtful whether we have what it takes to grab the 4th Champions League spot despite us being just 3 points behind Juventus as I feel the other sides around us have better strength in depth and I can see us fading away towards the back end of the season. Still, qualification for Europa League would be fantastic after two 12th and three 10th placed finishes in the last 5 seasons.

TIM Cup - Knocked out in the 1st Round

After an unconvincing 1-0 win in the 3rd qualifying round at home to Serie B side Brescia, we managed to pull off a shock victory in the San Siro against A.C Milan in the 4th qualifying round, winning the game 3-2 on penalties after the scores were tied at 3-3 after extra time. In the 1st round we were drawn against arch rivals Roma, and I thought that my side would be out for revenge after losing to them 4-1 in the league just a few weeks prior to the tie, but no, we were awful and found ourselves on the wrong side of a 4-1 beating once again. The night of the defeat was made even worse when I received news after the game that our best defender so far this season, Islam Ibrahim would be out for 5-6 months after having his leg broken by a Roma player.

Fixtures

[AK22]

Bad luck with the leg-break; Ibrahim looks like another classy Egyptian!

[B.W.G]

Not doing too bad in the league although that is a nasty injury for Ibrahim and it would just happen to come in the game against Roma.

[deltablue]

There's something odd about the 'TIM cup', like having a 'John League'. I do know what it stands for and what that's all about but still...

[Pangaea]

I find it odd too. No idea what it stands for, but I hate sponsored league and stadium names and I assume it's one of those pesky bastards. I fondly look back at the innocent time when football didn't involve so much whoring out.

[HotChocolate]

I remember the Chinese FA Cup was once re-named: Sheffield United FA Cup.

For obvious reasons, but still incredibly daft.

[roganp]

- Been very busy of late and haven't been able to play much FM, but I have finished the season with Lazio and the Euro's with Russia. Here is the season review for Lazio( A Euro 2024 update will follow, probably tomorrow) :

S.S. Lazio - 2023/2024 Season Review

Serie A

Well, after claiming at the midway point that I was doubtful weather we would be good enough to claim the 4th and final Champions League qualification, I'm delighted to say that I was completely wrong . We were magnificent in the second half of the season, losing just 2 of our final 19 games. A 3rd placed finish with a total of 76 points(A total that would have been enough to win the league last season) is a fantastic season after the incredibly poor state I found the club in when I arrived less than a year ago.

TIM Cup - Knocked out in the 1st round

See this post for a round-up.

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

Squad Stats

Transfers

Finances

Key Players

Habib West(ST/AMR) - A good debut season for West. He supported Veldhuizen well up front and I even received a bid of £16.25M for him from Marseille at the end of the season, which I rejected.

Carmine Molino(LB) - Molino was very solid at left back and with an agreed transfer fee of £2M I was confident of making the loan a permanent deal, but according to his agent, he is not willing to enter contract discussions so I guess he will be heading back to Marseille.

Mattia Colombo(CM) - Probably our stand out midfield player. A solid debut season.

Dario Rivoira(AMC) - A player who was at the club when I arrived and I wasn't sure if he was the someone who could take us to the Champions League places, but credit to him, he was excellent.

Nico Veldhuizen(ST/AML) - The season Veldhuizen finally delivered as for the first time in his 5 seasons at the club, he reached the 20 goal mark.

Year       Team              Country    League                     Position   Important Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/2012  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet North      14th       Joined the club in March 2012
2012/2013  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet North      2nd        Playoff Semi-Finalists
2013/2014  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet North      1st        Promoted!, FA trophy Finalists
2014/2015  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet Premier    15th       FA Trophy Winners!
2015/2016  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet Premier    1st        Promoted as league champions, FA Trophy Winners
2016/2017  Ipswich Town      England    npower League One          1st        Promoted as League Champions
2017       New York RB       USA        MLS                        1st        Joined 1.6.2017, MLS cup and Open Cup finalists, S Shield winners
2018/2019  Dundee United     Scotland   SPL                        2nd        Scottish Cup winners, Qualified for CL
2019/2020  Dundee United     Scotland   SPL                        N/A        Left 3.1.2020 to join Sao Paulo
2020       Sao Paulo         Brazil     Brasileirao                1st        League, State, Copa Sudamerica, Libertadores and CWC Champions
2020/2021  Spartak Moscow    Russia     Prem'er Liga               6th        Joined 3.1.2021
2021/2022  Spartak Moscow    Russia     Prem'er Liga               1st        League champions
2022/2023  Spartak Moscow    Russia     Prem'er Liga               1st        League & Cup double, Superkubok winners
2023/2024  Lazio             Italy      Serie A                    3rd        Qualified for the Champions League[/Code]

At the end of the season I received job offers from these clubs :

Malaga Offer

Manchester City Offer

Liverpool Offer

Inter Milan Offer

Real Madrid Offer

The offers from Manchester City and Liverpool were immediately declined as I'm a Manchester United fan and for obvious reasons don't want to manage either of these clubs. The offers from Malaga, Inter and Real Madrid were alot harder to turn down, especially the Madrid offer which was incredibly hard to say no to, but in the end I also declined these offers as I feel I've got plently of work to do with Lazio.

[SRL88]

Tut tut on rejecting the Liverpool job . Still, probably a good decision to stay at Lazio.

[ShyBaldBuddhist]

Good end of season to only lose 2 games in the run in. Good effort by Veldhuizen and I would expect he will score even more next year.

The Madrid offer must have been very tempting. Difficult to turn down a transfer budget of £598m

[B.W.G]

Brilliant first season at Lazio,that transfer budget at Real Madrid is ridiculously huge and don't think I have seen one that big before

[deltablue]

Wow, you're in demand.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good first crack at the Scudetto.

[AK22]

Very respectable first season in Rome, qualifying for Champions League football. Should have a great chance at the title next season

[City2000]

Good season, hopefully the sign of things to come so glad you decided to stay at Lazio.

Really like the look of your strikeforce by the way, West in particular. As a matter of interest what roles do your strikers play?

[roganp]

Russia - Euro 2024 Update

Norway vs Russia (Group Game 1) - Not a convincing start as we needed a penalty to secure all 3 points, but getting the win in our first game was the most important thing. In the other group group Turkey got off to a good start, beating Romania 1-0.

Russia vs Romania (Group Game 2) - Despite the 16 shots at goal, this was an incredibly poor performance. At this point it seemed as if Zavially was the only who could be bothered to put in some effort at this tournament. In the other group game Norway and Turkey drew 2-2.

Russia vs Turkey (Group Group 3) - Only a point in this game would have been needed to see us progress to the knockout rounds, but a Turkey goal with the last kick of game sent us crashing out of the tournament.

Knockout Rounds

A few surprises with Switzerland and Norway, who we beat in the group stage, reaching the Semi-Finals. England's defeat in the final means they have lost in consecutive tournament finals and once again they decide to sack the manager. This time it was Keith Hill who was given the boot.

After the tournament the Russian FA decided to sack me. It was always my plan to leave after the tournament as I want Lazio to be my main focus at this time, but I was slightly surprised at the sacking after the progress I've made with the nation. Still, I guess an International manager will ultimately be judged on how he performs at tournaments and finishing bottom of the group was embarrassing.

[AK22]

That's a harsh way to go out of the tournament. Very surprising that you lost to Russia too.

[deltablue]

That's not gone well.

[abulezz]

Oooff, that was a harsh Euro 2024! Would have preferred to go out with a bang, Im sure, but c'est la vie!

Your season with Lazio was a success, by all means, and Im glad you decided to stick it out with them. Theyve always struck me as a sleeping giant (partly because Im old enough to remember the days they were quite a force to be reckoned with!), and hopefully you can restore their former glory!

Habib West looks like a keeper - in fact, I just signed a player with almost the exact same attributes!

Rivoira wouldn't strike me as a the type of player that could carry the team, but he certainly did that, which just goes to prove a theory I've always had - its not always about the attributes!

[roganp]

Thanks for your comments everyone

ShyBaldBuddhist - The offer from Madrid was very tempting. It's not often they come calling and with those budgets I would have been able to buy pretty much anyone I wanted, but they had just come off the back of winning the Champions League and I didn't see a challenge there.

City 2000 - Last season I had West in a poacher role and Veldhuizen as a target man, but with a few new attacking players joining us in the summer I've decided to switch to a new formation which I will talk about in my season preview

abulezz - I was surprised at the impact Rivoira was able to make as he was a player I didn't really rate when I joined. Despite having an excellent season, I'm not sure he's the type of player who can take us to the next level, which is why I went out and signed a new AMC in the summer.

[HotChocolate]

That's a harsh way to go out of the tournament. Very surprising that you lost to Russia too.

He lost to Russia? He is Russia.

I think you mean Romania

[AK22]

Whoops, that's the one! They both start with 'R'! :o

[Nobby_McDonald]

And end in ia.

[deltablue]

And used to be commie.

[roganp]

S.S. Lazio - 2024/2025 Season Preview

Board Expectations

Serie A - Qualify for Champions League through league position Media Prediction - 6th

UEFA Champions League - Reach the group stage

TIM Cup - Reach the Quarter Finals

Budgets

Transfer Budget - £14.1M

Wage Budget - £650K p/w

Current Wage Bill - £488,908 p/w

Transfers

Transfers Summary

Here are some of the main signings :

Edgar Bazan (ST/AMC) - Noticed last December that his contract would expire in the summer and moved quickly in January to get him to sign a pre-contract, which he did. Delighted that we were able to get such a quality young player on a free.

Jerzy Socha (GK) - I didn't have much confidence in the two first team keepers we had, so I decided to invest in a new number one.

Senzo Ndlovu (ST/AMR) - A player I managed to find while searching some of the big clubs in Africa. I saw he was having a very good season for Zamalek(15 goals in 18 appearances) and decided to bring him to Italy.

Denis Obradovic (CB) - Obradovic had been a regular in the Partizan first team since the age of 18 and had been performing consistently well for them. He's a young defender with excellent potential which is why I meet his £3.7M release clause and brought him here.

Antonio (AMC/AMR) - Wanted to leave Recreativo after the club had been relegated from La Liga and my scout told me he would be available at a bargain price of £2.5M which I was happy to pay.

Gianluca Bettini (DR/CB) - I started to notice a lack of Italian players in our sqaud and as I was in need of another full-back, I decided to invest in Bettini.

Fred van der Vegt (AMC) - One to keep and eye on for the future. He looks pretty decent at 18 and hopefully he can develop into a first team player.

Bovid Lepaye (ST) - Another exciting young prospect who I was able to get for a pretty cheap price.

Youth Intake

Only one player worth mentioning :

Giancarlo Traini Profile

Giancarlo Traini Report

Our Champions League group :

Should be a tough group, but I'm confident that we can progress to the knockout rounds.

Club Takeover :

A takeover had been on the cards for some time and one was finally completed recently. Unfortunately, it wasn't very exciting as a director seized control of the club and announced there would be no further investment at this stage.

[deltablue]

Excited about van der Vegt

[HotChocolate]

Looks like a great Champions League group to be part of.

[roganp]

S.S. Lazio - 2024/2025 Mid Season Update

Serie A

Fixtures

A mixed start to our season as we got off to a decent start, opening up with a good draw away to Inter and also beating one of our title rivals, Sampdoria 3-1 at home in our first 5 games. However, we soon hit a rough patch towards the of September and throughout the month of October, but a win in the Rome derby at the start of November(my first since joining the club) got us back on track.

The real turn around though, for me, came in the away game against A.C Milan when after finding ourselves a goal down I decided to switch from the 4-2-3-1 formation that I chose to adopt at the start of the season in order to fit all of our attacking players into a first 11, to a 4-3-1-2 that had been so successful for us last season. This change in tactics seemed to spark a fantastic turn around in performance and we ran out as emphatic 4-1 winners. A run of 7 straight victory's after that game has put us right in the title mix, but I think if we finish in the top 3 again it will go down as a good campaign.

UEFA Champions League - Through to the 1st Knockout Round

After securing an excellent point away to Bayern in our first group game we really struggled, suffering a home defeat at the hands of Ajax, just scraping past a poor Rangers side at home and then losing at their place which left us bottom of the group and exit from Europe looking very likely. We gave ourselves a fighting chance with the fantastic 5-2 home win against Bayern and we went into the final game away to Ajax knowing that only a win would be enough to see us progress. Our travelling support in Amsterdam were not to leave dissapointed as we put in an excellent performance, winning the game and booking our place in the knockout rounds as runners up of the group.

TIM Cup - Through to the Quarter Finals

We came into the competition 2 rounds later than last season and we already find ourselves in the quarter finals after a good win at home to Juventus. With the likes of Inter, Sampdoria, Fiorentina and Roma all going out in the 1st round we could have a great opportunity at winning a piece of silverware and for that reason I will be taking this competition very seriously.

[Nobby_McDonald]

A good chance for the Scudetto.

[SRL88]

Solid going so far in the league which is far from over.

[Tactic Master]

Keep up the good work Great career so far!

[buzz2k7]

Awesome career!

[deltablue]

I doubt Sampdoria will keep it up.

[AK22]

I doubt Sampdoria will keep it up.

I agree, they're like the Spurs of Italy. Always promise so much, then let you down when it really matters

[B.W.G]

Looking good so far,hopefully Sampdoria will slip up and you can take advantage of the situation.

[roganp]

- Hi, all. It's been a little while since I last posted on these boards as I've been pre-occupied with exams and barely had a moment to play FM. Now that they are over it's the perfect time for me to get back to this save and get this thread back on track, so here is the review for the latest season in my career :

S.S. Lazio - 2024/2025 Season Review

Serie A

The second half of the season is when we really shone in the previous campaign as we lost just 2 of our final 19 games, but unfortunately we were unable to produce a similar run this season and with Sampdoria looking pretty unstoppable for the whole season, we had to settle for a distant 2nd. Still, I'm pleased we were able to improve on last seasons 3rd place finish and we also improved on our points total by a mammoth one point . Another positive is that we managed to do the double over arch rivals Roma and after finishing above them in league for the second season running, I think it's fair to say that we are currently the top team in Rome.

UEFA Champions League - Knocked out in the 1st Knockout Round

After finishing runners up in a pretty tough group we were handed a knockout round tie against the holders of the Premier League, Manchester United. We put in a decent performance in the first leg at home and should have scored more than the one goal, but unfortunately were wasteful with our chances and they managed to secure the all important away goal. In the second leg we looked very good going forward, managing to create a number of good opportunities, but a poor defensive performance meant we conceded four goals and crashed out of the tournament. Overall, I think we should be very pleased with how we faired on our a return to the Champions League.

TIM Cup - Winners!

After beating Juventus we were drawn against Serie B side Lecce who managed to pull off a big upset in the previous round by knocking out Sampdoria away from home. I was worried that another upset was on the cards when after just 3 minutes Lecce took the lead, but we managed to recover and eventually booked our place in the Semi's after two goals in extra time. We then pretty much confirmed our place in the final after a fantastic 3-0 victory over Torino in the first leg of the Semi's, before sealing the tie with a 4-3 win back at their place.

The final against recently relegated Parma was probably one of the easiest I'm likely to come across as we raced into a 3 goal lead after just 21 minutes and pretty much dominated the entire game. I'm delighted to have secured my first trophy as Lazio manager and hopefully this is just the first of many trophies I'll win at the club.

Final Overview

Fixtures 1 | 2 | 3

Squad Stats

Transfers - There was one addition in the January transfer window as young French prospect Frederic Beaubrun joined the club for £750K. I feel I have secured myself a real gem here and he's already shown that he has the potential to be a top class player by putting in two excellent performances in the cup, one of which was in the cup final. Next season I'll be looking to loan him out as I feel first team football would really benefit him at this stage in his career.

Finances

Key Players

Jerzey Socha (GK) - It's not often that I recognize a goal keeper as a key player, but Socha really was key member of our squad this season, putting in a number of excellent performances between the sticks.

Denis Obradovic (CB) - A very solid debut season for the young Serb. Throughout the season he looked very assured at the back whilst also chipping in with some goals at the other end. He's certainly someone who will have a bright future at the club.

Antonio (AMC) - When I was told by my scout last summer that I could pick this lad up for just £2.5M I moved to bring him in as quickly as possible and it was money very well spent as he played a crucial role in our team just behind the two strikers.

Edgar Bazan (ST/AMC) - I knew that when I agreed to bring Bazan in on a free transfer I had secured a fantastic young player and he didn't disappoint, reaching the 20 goal mark in his debut season in Europe. There's been strong interest in him from Liverpool and Barcelona, but there's no way I'll be selling unless it's for a world record transfer fee.

Nico Veldhuizen (ST/AML) - Another successful campaign for the club captain and legend, however I still feel that he is capable of scoring more goals as he started the season slowly but that was probably my fault as I was playing him on the wings during the early part of the season.

Year       Team              Country    League                     Position   Important Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/2012  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet North      14th       Joined the club in March 2012
2012/2013  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet North      2nd        Playoff Semi-Finalists
2013/2014  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet North      1st        Promoted!, FA trophy Finalists
2014/2015  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet Premier    15th       FA Trophy Winners!
2015/2016  Boston United     England    Blue Square Bet Premier    1st        Promoted as league champions, FA Trophy Winners
2016/2017  Ipswich Town      England    npower League One          1st        Promoted as League Champions
2017       New York RB       USA        MLS                        1st        Joined 1.6.2017, MLS cup and Open Cup finalists, S Shield winners
2018/2019  Dundee United     Scotland   SPL                        2nd        Scottish Cup winners, Qualified for CL
2019/2020  Dundee United     Scotland   SPL                        N/A        Left 3.1.2020 to join Sao Paulo
2020       Sao Paulo         Brazil     Brasileirao                1st        League, State, Copa Sudamerica, Libertadores and CWC Champions
2020/2021  Spartak Moscow    Russia     Prem'er Liga               6th        Joined 3.1.2021
2021/2022  Spartak Moscow    Russia     Prem'er Liga               1st        League champions
2022/2023  Spartak Moscow    Russia     Prem'er Liga               1st        League & Cup double, Superkubok winners
2023/2024  Lazio             Italy      Serie A                    3rd        Qualified for the Champions League
2024/2025  Lazio             Italy      Serie A                    2nd        TIM Cup Winners[/Code]

[cerud]

Congrats on the TIM Cup! That new signing does look pretty good

[deltablue]

Pity Sampdoria were so far ahead.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done Rogan.

[roganp]

Congrats on the TIM Cup! That new signing does look pretty good

Cheers cerud, I'm very excited about Beaubrun as I think he could be an excellent player. I've managed to secure him a loan deal in the Championship with Millwall, hopefully he will get regular first team action there and continue to progress.

Pity Sampdoria were so far ahead.

Indeed. I've spent pretty big in the summer so hopefully we can close the gap this season.

Well done Rogan.

Thanks Nobby