'Lessons in Calcio' - Crouchy, Facci Sognare!

[crouchaldinho]

I'm now wondering what kind of accent you expected me to have WS!

I tend to think of myself as not having much of an accent or at least having a fairly neutral accent.

[williamshankley]

David James I expected , isn't he from round your end

[Mike7077]

David James is from Devon.

[williamshankley]

Welwyn Garden City, is where David James is from. AL7 postcode. I reckon that's near St. Alban's

[crouchaldinho]

Welwyn Garden City isn't too far away. Can't think what David James sounds like tbh!

[williamshankley]

[Mike7077]

I didn't realise you meant that David James.

No, in all seriousness, I made a mistake. James did indeed grow up in Welwyn. His family lives in Devon, which is one reason he chose to move to Bristol City.

Back on topic, it's been ages since your last update, Crouchy. Also, is the save you mention in your location still active?

[Flamers]

It might be Mike And as for an update in this, its in the works

[crouchaldinho]

I didn't realise you meant that David James.

No, in all seriousness, I made a mistake. James did indeed grow up in Welwyn. His family lives in Devon, which is one reason he chose to move to Bristol City.

To be honest, I can't really tell if David James has an accent, just like I can't really tell if I have an accent or not.

I guess we all probably feel like we don't have an accent maybe.

Back on topic, it's been ages since your last update, Crouchy. Also, is the save you mention in your location still active?

I'm in January with Perugia. Haven't got around to posting up an update yet for the winter break. But as you asked, how about a very informal update! Coming in the next post!

[crouchaldinho]

WINTER BREAK SUMMARY - Project 3: A.C. Perugia Calcio season 2016/17:

Here are the results for the first half of season 2016-17: http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz40/Crouchaldinho_SACFC/201617seasonfirsthalf.jpg

I'm putting the images up as links instead of embedded images. When I embed the images, they always seem so small on the forum these days, however when you click on them they come up a bit bigger so I figured inserting the URLs instead would be better. Any feedback appreciated regarding this.

As you can see, we had a very nice start to the season and went on a fantastic unbeaten run in September. In fact, we performed pretty strongly up until December time. We had somewhat of a crash going into the winter break. This was mainly down to losing our first choice strike force of Wilker and Serge Nyuiadzi. It's really the same story here at Perugia at it has been at my other clubs in that, if we lose some members of the first team to injury, we really don't have enough quality in reserve to come in during any injury/suspension crisis.

I honestly feel that there aren't any teams in this division that we can't beat on our day. The trouble is keeping our players fit and in form. I don't think our league position is any fluke. We deserve to be here but we will definitely need to work hard to stay there in the second half of the season.

In other news, we're in the semi finals of the Serie C cup or the Coppa di Lega Pro (whatever it's called!) where we will face Giulianova (who are top of our division) over two legs. Being at this stage in the competition, I will definitely have to take the tie seriously, and I'll be fielding a strong team and trying to win the cup!

Squad - http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz40/Crouchaldinho_SACFC/ACPerugiaCalcioSquad_Players-2.jpg

Matteo Solini has been a rock for us in the heart of defence. Lorenzo Lollo has equally been a strong defensive presence in the middle of the park.

Tommaso Vailatti is our captain and a model professional as well as a talented wide player. He has been superb. Wilker, a cult hero for me personally, is also doing well. His goalscoring in the cup has seen us progressing but he needs to hit the target more often for us in the league really.

In general, the team are performing quite strongly and I don't have any major complaints. Just really a small moan that we don't have sufficient quality in reserve. If we were to lose two or three key players, it could hit us really badly, so I'm worried about that. But this is the nature of lower league football on a tight budget.

League table - http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz40/Crouchaldinho_SACFC/LegaProPrimaDivisioneGironeBOverview_Stages-1.jpg

Fourth place in the league and looking strong. A decent goalscoring record and one of the better defensive records in the league proves that we are a good side and deserve to be pushing for a play-off position. The target for the second half of the season is to stay where we are and keep up the good work.

[crouchaldinho]

I've put the FM game images up as URL links instead of embedded images.

Basically, when I embed the images, they always seem so small on the forum these days. However when posted as links and you click on them they come up a bit bigger so I figured inserting the URLs instead would be better. Any feedback appreciated regarding this.

[deltablue]

Not looking too bad. Definitely prefer links as embedded pics are in theory better but for some people it makes page loading very annoying if there are too many.

[crouchaldinho]

Also, is the save you mention in your location still active?

I have been hugely tempted to go back to my FM10 Saints save. I have a number of targets in that save that I badly want to try to achieve. The most pressing and significant is that of getting Michel Vermeer to break the club's record for total league goals scored. Others include trying to win a World Cup for the first ever time on a CM/FM save with England, who I am currently managing on that particular save. I've never won the World Cup before and I badly want to do it. I'm in a good position on that save to try! Also, there are other things like trying to get a stadium named after me and trying to get a son to come through the ranks! So I have a ton of reasons to get back to that save.

As Flamers alluded to above, I have been extremely tempted to fire up the Saints save again and, indeed, I sense that I will probably do so soon. I may alternate with this save as I am enjoying my time with Perugia and keen to continue my fledgling career in Italy. I've found myself really missing a one club, small club to big club, type of save lately. Perhaps going back to my Saints save occasionally will fulfil that desire!

I've also been reading the CSE forum in threads such as the Big Euro thread (where Iacovone has been posting a great deal) and Gundo's challenge thread. It has tempted me to start a new save on FM12 to try to complete one of those challenges. Decisions, decisions. I've often wanted to start a save in Sweden, for example, and work my way through their league system with a small club to big club challenge in mind. The Big Euro thread is very active and looks a really fun challenge as well. There is something that really tempts me about taking on a challenge from CSE! I just don't know at the moment! I do know that I am longing to try one of those kind of challenges. I always end up feeling like this when I'm doing a career game though. Not that I'm not having fun with this save. I definitely am and I am keen to progress with Perugia and to try to land my dream job at Hellas Verona in Serie B in the not too distant future!

Decisions, decisions, decisions.....

But yeah, the short answer is that the Saints save will probably almost definitely (interesting concept) make a comeback soon.

[SnakeXe]

My Messina save was the Big Euro Nation Challenge, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely glad I went for journeyman this time though. So many enjoyable experiences I never would have had if I'd done a one-club save - from double promotion at Southend, hitting the big time at Werder, losing my way under the weight of expectation at Arsenal, stepping out of my comfort zone at Santos, and then coming home to Newcastle. I'll always look back fondly on my time at Messina, and Merthyr before that, but this save has been much better. Unfortunately, I also have less time to play than at pretty much any other time in my life!

[MattSpurs94]

Welwyn Garden City, is where David James is from. AL7 postcode. I reckon that's near St. Alban's

AL8 postcode actually. I walk past his parent's house on the way to school. \o/

Going well in the league, crouchy, let's hope you can keep it up

[crouchaldinho]

Not looking too bad. Definitely prefer links as embedded pics are in theory better but for some people it makes page loading very annoying if there are too many.

Good point Deltablue. I think I'll stick with mostly links now for that reason as well as the fact that embedded pictures are too small on the forums for some reason.

My Messina save was the Big Euro Nation Challenge, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely glad I went for journeyman this time though. So many enjoyable experiences I never would have had if I'd done a one-club save - from double promotion at Southend, hitting the big time at Werder, losing my way under the weight of expectation at Arsenal, stepping out of my comfort zone at Santos, and then coming home to Newcastle. I'll always look back fondly on my time at Messina, and Merthyr before that, but this save has been much better. Unfortunately, I also have less time to play than at pretty much any other time in my life!

Interesting thoughts SnakeXe.

I'm all over the place at the moment. On the one hand, I'm enjoying Perugia a lot and wanting to progress to Hellas Verona if I can (maybe, possibly!) and so this save is great!

On the other hand, I'm craving that one club save feeling when you're setting club records and rebuilding teams rather than starting all over again. Certainly, when I moved to Perugia, I found it such a drag to start team building and implementing my philosophy all over again. I love the challenge that I see going on in the CSE forum and enjoy reading the updates. It's making me want to join in with a small club of my own!

Then, finally, although I've run out of hands, there is actually part of me that is dying for a career save in England, believe it or not! That's mostly because I am reading Jonathan Wilson's biography of Brian Clough. I'm craving the humble beginnings at Hartlepools United, the big opportunity to move to Derby County and so on and so forth! There are some great clubs in England that I would love to manage and never have on FM as I have normally managed St. Albans City when I play in England. Also, I love English football and fancy getting stuck into an English lower league save! So I'm a bit all over the place at the moment! :o

Going well in the league, crouchy, let's hope you can keep it up

Thanks MattSpurs94.

[crouchaldinho]

I've now reached a pretty crucial point in our season. We have some massive coming games up and three in particular catch the eye. They all follow one another so some big results here could make (or break) the season!

It's late February and first we play follow promotion chasers and rivals, Ternana, in the Derby Dell'Umbria! MASSIVE!

Then we go up against Giulianova in the Serie C Cup! We're at the semi-final stage so this is pretty huge and I badly want to try to get to my first final and win my first cup! This semi takes place over two legs!

I'll be uploading some YouTube videos of these three games. They'll be coming up shortly.

The pressure is on the Perugia boss. This could be a defining point in my career in Italy!

[crouchaldinho]

Perugia v Ternana in the league:

[video=youtube;gyvWMNTiRKU]

What a massive result!

It featured some crucial moments in the game where, as a manager, you have to earn your wages.

I got the boys really fired up for this one and we raced into a 3-1 lead by half-time.

In the second-half, disaster struck as Ternana pulled another goal back to reduce the deficit and then Wilker got himself sent off.

I steadied the ship with some tactical changes and also brought on a substitute who restored our two goal lead with his first touch of the ball!

Ternana went up the other end and got a penalty to make it a tense final 15 minutes. Thanks to some back to the walls defending with 10 men, we pulled off a fantastic result to help us in our play-off chasing campaign!

[crouchaldinho]

Perugia v Guilianova - Serie C Cup Semi-final First Leg!

[video=youtube;ZJs9XDEiTO0]

Despite dominating the first-half, we somehow went in at 1-0 down. A disaster in our bid to reach the final of this competition.

Once again, I had to earn my wages and turn around this team. My half-time team talk had to turn this ragtag bunch of players around and guide them to victory.

Our captain, a model professional, stepped up and pulled us level. Then, I once again pulled off a managerial master stroke by bringing on a sub who would go on to score the winner in the final minute of normal time.

A one goal lead to take into the second leg was decent but not as satisfactory as I wanted it to be, if I am speaking honestly. It leaves us with a tense and tough second-leg to overcome! Can we make it to my first ever final as manager?

[crouchaldinho]

Guilianova v Perugia - Serie C Cup Semi-final, Second Leg!

[video=youtube;4LmjMLLcYhE]

Once again I was made to work hard to get a result in this match.

We actually dominated possession and played very well but weren't clinical enough in front of goal at times.

When Guilianova got an early goal, I feared the worst. I was delighted once again when our ever reliable captain, Tommaso Vailatti pulled one back for us. However, we went into the break 2-1 down on the night, which put our aggregate score level at 3-3.

At half-time, it was time to make a careful decision in terms of motivating the players. Did I lay into them over the result on the night? Or be a little more encouraging based on the aggregate score?

In the end, I remain fairly calm but make it clear I'm not happy. The players respond and man of the match, Wilker, strikes fairly late on to make it 2-2 on the night and 4-3 to us on aggregate! We're through to the final!

[SnakeXe]

Great three games!

[crouchaldinho]

Indeed. It's moments like these when suddenly you think to yourself, 'maybe I'm not so bad at this game after all'!

[crouchaldinho]

Perugia v Poggibonsi - Serie C Cup Final, First Leg:

[video=youtube;p6ju8Iipiog]

We take a narrow lead into the second leg of the final. It's going to be an extremely tense second-leg, that's for sure!

[crouchaldinho]

In the second-leg, we'll be missing our best centre-back in Solini and also our midfield playmaker Cortese. Both are out with injury.

It's going to be a tough one!

[crouchaldinho]

Poggibonsi v Perugia - Serie C Cup Final, Second Leg:

[video=youtube;ZSMj6yiZHyg]

Poggibonsi win the game 1-0 to make it 1-1 on aggregate at full-time.

But Crouchy's boys are fired up and clinch the win in extra-time with two goals to make it a 3-1 aggregate win for Perugia!

My first trophy in Italy!

[Mike7077]

Poggibonsi - my absolute favourite name in Italian football. That word alone makes me want to learn Italian.

Well done on the trophy. Do you ever fancy managing outside Italy?

[crouchaldinho]

My vague and sort of general plan for this save is to establish myself as a top manager in Italy and then look to move abroad. So yes, that will come at some point, I hope!

When I do move abroad, it'll be 'Lessons in Calcio applied to.....' whatever I end up!

I'd like to try a few places that I've not managed before. Not sure yet though where I might go!

[SnakeXe]

Great job winning the Serie C Cup! Never managed that one myself - it's like the JPT or FA Trophy, by the time you're good enough to win it you've been promoted.

[crouchaldinho]

Great job winning the Serie C Cup! Never managed that one myself - it's like the JPT or FA Trophy, by the time you're good enough to win it you've been promoted.

I know what you mean. I have, however, won it before with Hellas Verona on FM10 (my Calcio Journeyman save).

As for the FA Trophy and JPT, I know exactly what you mean. Pretty sure I have won the FA Trophy, although I don't remember when or even who with! Don't think I've ever got the JPT though.

[crouchaldinho]

Do people like the videos of the key matches (like finals etc.) or do you guys prefer just to see screenshots of stats and that kind of thing?

[crouchaldinho]

Crouchy's 'Lessons in Calcio' Journeyman Save - Project 3: A.C. Perugia Calcio (Season Two at Renato Curi 2016/17)

Click here for post 310 which shows the situation we were in going into the winter break.

Below, I'm posting up an image of the results we recorded after I joined the club as manager. I'll talk you through the results and my thoughts as we tackled the job of turning the club around and avoiding relegation! [by the way, the results below will just be league results and I'll do a separate post about any cup ties we were involved under the screenshots section.]

Results for second half of season 2016/17

I notice that I've included the last three games of December 2016 but never mind. We were in a bit of a bad spell going into January, as you can see from those last three games, but things were about to get better and better for us going into 2017.

I think a real turning point in our season was the victory over our local rivals, Ternana, at home (see YT video posted in this thread above). We still had some ups and downs going into March but I started to believe in our promotion bid and to feel more sure that we could make the play-offs.

We hit great form at just the right time going into April and more or less came from nowhere suddenly to be title challengers! I couldn't believe it. It felt bizarre, seeing as we were 9 points off, I think, at one point! We kept recording victories and picking up points though and soon we were only a few points off top spot.

The away match against Barletta proved to be an absolutely crucial one. It was the last match of the season. At this point, we were just two points off top spot. We needed the team above us to lose or to draw and, as long as we won our match, we would be champions! Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out like that, as we struggled to break down a stubborn Barletta defence. We only picked up a point and although the eventual champions, Sudtirol-Alto Adige, did lose on the final day, we had just missed out on winning the title.

I wasn't too discouraged but basically started to think about another season in this division. We still had the play-offs to come but I honestly figured that we would be knocked out in the semis. The play-offs are such a lottery and so I didn't place any faith in progressing that way.

We had an extraordinary run though. In the semis against Reggina, we came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the away leg, much to my delight and utter surprise! We booked ourselves in the final with a comfortable 2-0 home win in the second leg.

In the final against our local rivals, Ternana, my team once again showed incredible character, coming back from 2-0 down, once again, to win the away leg 3-2! For the second time, we had managed to turn a game around in a huge match. It meant that we went into the second-leg with a clear advantage. Once again, we were required to come from behind, as we went a goal down in the first-half. In the end, we drew 2-2, winning 5-4 on aggregate! What sweeter way to do it is there than against your local rivals?

So we are Serie B bound! Unbelievable! We may not have the best team in terms of ability but this team proved time and time again this season that they have real character and spirit. We'll need every ounce of it to survive in Serie B next season!

This whole season has been my most enjoyable in Football Manager 2012. Not just because of the cup success and promotion. Just the feeling of having a tightly knit bunch of players who I can fire up and get the right reactions from, and also the sense that we could match anyone on our day and play our part in some exciting football matches. It's been very entertaining stuff and, of course, winning helps!

Screenshots:

League Table

League Positions Graph

We didn't really look in contention for the title really until the latter part of the season. Yes, you could say that other clubs above us played poorly and let us into it, but I'm taking the positive view that we played ourselves into it in the second half of the season. To snatch promotion was awesome, even if the title was beyond us in the end, as I never imagined we would have this level of success in my first full season at the club.

Italian Cup - We were knocked out in the 1st qualifying round. Didn't take it seriously and treated it like a pre-season friendly.

Serie C Cup - The league was always the priority but, almost before I knew it, we found ourselves in the semis and I suddenly realised that winning it was a possibility! We beat some very good sides on our route to the final, such as Reginna, Foggia, Sudtirol-Alto Adige (winners of our league) and Guilianova (also rivals in the title race in our division). Wilker's goals played a key part in getting us to the final and winning it. Also, captain Tommaso Vailetti scored some vital goals along the way.

Transfers - Big, big changes in the summer before this season, as I detailed in my pre-season preview. The likes of Thomas Lo Monaco and Diego Mota became key players for us with some of the others on that list ending up as very important squad players to keep us going when times were tough with injuries and suspensions.

Squad Statistics

Key players:

Matteo Solini - Very solid defender and a key player in our side.

Lorenzo Lollo - Played the more defensive number 4 role in our midfield. Proved to be such a consistent player for us. Unfortunately, we've lost him due to him wanting to leave at the end of his contract, so I'll have to replace him for next season. Will be a big loss.

Girolamo Cortese - This guy matured this season and put in some great performances. At the same time, he isn't my most trusted player in terms of his character and personality. He is talented though so I'll have to make a tough decision this summer. If I was to get a good fee that would fund a good replacement, I would probably take it.

Tommaso Vailatti - An absolutely key player. Our captain is a model professional and has 100% the right attitude to lead this team. I trust him and I knew that he wouldn't let me down in the big games. 15 goals and 13 assists in all competitions shows that my faith has very much been repaid. When we needed something big in some of the massive games we played this season, Vailatti was often the man to provide it. Great player!

Wilker - Another player who I know I can rely on to put in a shift. Perhaps would have scored more goals in the league but I rotated him and gave him different strike partners. Sometimes, he was more the number 9 style player and others more the creative 10. Solid and always did a good job for us. A player I rarely have to give a telling off as he normally produces the goods. His goals in the cup were massive for us and he scored one or two important ones on the way to the trophy!

This was the team of the year:

Career Overview:

Season    Team			League                   Position    Achievements/outcomes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12   A.C. Giacomense	Serie C2/A	         18th        (Took over after 18 games) Relegated
2012/13   A.C. Mezzocorona	Serie C2/B	         9th         
2013/14   A.C. Mezzocorona	Serie C2/B	         2nd         Promoted!
2014/15   A.C. Mezzocorona	Serie C1/A	         8th         Overachievers!
2015/16   A.C. Perugia Calcio	Serie C1/B	         13th        (Took over after 13 games)
2016/17   A.C. Perugia Calcio	Serie C1/B	         2nd         Promoted via play-offs! Serie C Cup winners!

Next Season:

Next season is going to be tough, for sure. I will need to try to bring in some more quality to help us to survive at a higher level. I'm not sure we are ready for Serie B, to be quite honest, and I'm not sure how many of these players will be able to make the step up. We will, however, give it our best shot. The one thing I know is that I have a squad with real character and spirit so hopefully that will help us in our bid for Serie B survival.

My A.C. Giacomense Record (2011 - 2012 [133 days]):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions Won / Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19	5	7	7	17	23	26%		None

My A.C. Mezzocorona Record (2012 - 2015 [1085 days]):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions Won / Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
143	57	43	43	179	153	39%		Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Girone B Runners-up

My A.C. Perugia Calcio Record (2015 - present [585 days]):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions Won / Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
74	39	18	17	128 	84	52%		Coppa Italia di Lega Pro Winners!
							Lega Pro Prima Divisione Runners-up
							Lega Pro Prima Divisione Play-off Winners!

[crouchaldinho]

I've got some video footage of the thrilling play-off final over two legs between Perugia and local rivals Ternana.

The first leg went like this:

[video=youtube;EBmpUwFLCOw]

Amazing turn around for us!

And then we sealed the deal in the second leg:

[video=youtube;tq9DdYIIwzs]

With that, we were suddenly thrust into Serie B for next season! What an incredible end to a roller-coaster ride of a season!

[deltablue]

Must have felt great being Ternana of all sides to go up!

[crouchaldinho]

Yeah, felt awesome beating rivals in the final! That made it all the sweeter!

You ought to have seen me in that first leg though. I was going mental at 2-0 down. We pulled one back and I was a little calmer.

When we went to 2-2, I was pretty excited....... and at 3-2 to us, let's just say I was pretty animated!

[SnakeXe]

Amazing season from Vailatti, do you think he's got a season in Serie B in him? Looking over your four key men I'm a little concerned for your chances at a higher level, you'll have to buy well in the summer. Perhaps go for a few big signings to create a strong spine and try and build from there.

[crouchaldinho]

Amazing season from Vailatti, do you think he's got a season in Serie B in him? Looking over your four key men I'm a little concerned for your chances at a higher level, you'll have to buy well in the summer. Perhaps go for a few big signings to create a strong spine and try and build from there.

I would like to make some big signings but I'm afraid that's not going to happen. I've got no wages to spend at all. I'm down on my budget from last season.

I'm having to sign some youngsters and bring in some loans. It's going to be a tough, tough season in Serie B, for sure.

Being utterly honest, I'll be keeping my eye out for another job. In an ideal scenario, maybe the Hellas Verona boss has a difficult start to the season....... Well, I can keep my fingers crossed anyway!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done Crouchy.

[crouchaldinho]

Project 3 - Season Three at A.C. Perugia Calcio - Season 2017/18 Preview

Board Expectations:

Serie B - Avoid relegation

TIM Cup - Get to Second Qualifying Round

My Expectations:

Serie B - Would be happy with 19th! Just want to stay up!

TIM Cup - Will be treating it as a pre-season friendly

Budgets:

Transfer - £0

Wages - £19,800/week (£25,000/week currently)

Balance: -£965,055 (things are getting better since I arrived!)

Squad info - Same as last season really. I've made some 'like for like' signings to replace a few players we lost. It's more or less the case that I've focused on improving the depth rather than the quality. Given the poor budget, I haven't had the opportunity to really improve the squad. We'll be relying on team spirit and character to get ourselves out of trouble this season rather than ability!

Key Men - Essentially the four remaining members of the key players from last season's end of season update. Girolamo Cortese, Matteo Solini, Serge Nyuiadzi and Wilker will be the key men once again!

Tactical approach - Much the same as last season. I'll be sticking with 4-4-2 and focusing on clean sheets first and foremost.

[crouchaldinho]

Well done Crouchy.

Cheers Nobby.

[deltablue]

Hope you can survive ok.

[crouchaldinho]

Thanks Deltablue! Me too!

Going to be a long and very tough season, I suspect!

[crouchaldinho]

What a way to begin life in Serie B!

[video=youtube;SUQMsqw9N0o]

[crouchaldinho]

DECISION MAKING TIME!

This just in - Crouchy offered Brescia job!

Opinions gentlemen?

On the one hand, my opinion is just YES! On the other hand, I'll be slightly teary eyed to be leaving Perugia. I'm enjoying it here and I wanted to make sure that they survived in Serie B.

Let me just give a run down of where we are before discussing my options. This is the league table at the beginning of December, with the winter break fast approaching:

As you can see, things are really tight for us down at the bottom of the table but we're currently in the safe zone. The team isn't good enough for this level, of that there can be no doubt, and it's pure team spirit and character that is keeping us in contention for survival in Serie B this season. I'm having to use every single bit of my motivational skills and managerial nous to keep us going. It's really tough. I feel sure that I can keep us in the division though. I think we're better than at least three teams in this division and that should be enough to see us survive!

On the bad side, we have no money and things aren't improving on that front. The board have little ambition and won't give me more wages to bring in better players. I can foresee that if I stay on next season, I'll end up in the same boat. They'll be telling me to survive with no money again. It makes for some tense and, at times, exciting management but I can't say I want to do it all again next year without any feeling of progressing.

I mean, if I tell you some of our stats financially, you'll see where the problem lies and what a great distance it is for us from the top sides in this division. Our top earner is on £2.4k, whilst the league's top earner is on £27k! We have the lowest earner in the league on £190 per week! And our average wage is £775 per week, whilst the league's average is £2k! We just can't compete with the majority of the league.

Brescia are offering me £5.5k for three years, which is already a longer contract than any other side has offered to me. I'm currently on £1.9k, so this would be a pretty big pay rise! But the real attraction is the wage budget of £98k! This compared to my current budget at Perugia of £19.8k!

I don't know a lot about Brescia to be honest as a club, except that Roberto Baggio played for them for a while, and that makes them pretty awesome already. Looking through some of their players, I can already see that probably all of them would walk into my Perugia side. They have the most international players in the league (4) and are expected to finish in 4th position according to the media prediction.

All in all, this is a much bigger club than I'm currently at and a big opportunity in my career. However, it's not Hellas Verona, which is the move I wanted! That said, looking at it logically, it would be crazy to turn this move down given the opportunity it presents. I would be joining a big club, be given the chance to steady the ship, could take the rest of the season to get some of my footballing principles installed at the club, then next season I could (maybe, possibly, hopefully) push for promotion! This job could be my way into Serie A! Hmmm, I need to go away and research Brescia before making any decisions, of course. Plus, I still feel sad about the idea of leaving Perugia.

So, people of FMCU, advice and thoughts please! Give me your input on this big crossroads in my Italian career and it will be much appreciated!

[deltablue]

I just about say you should go.

[crouchaldinho]

Thanks for your thoughts deltablue. At the moment, I'm feeling the same way. I'm not sure another job offer like this will come up for a while and I think I should just man up and take the thing! Maybe, possibly.

[crouchaldinho]

I guess the thing that is worrying me is that there has been a lot of changing jobs in this career so far. I've not stayed anywhere for a terribly long time.

Whatever move comes next probably needs to be a longer-term move. But is Brescia the right club?

[williamshankley]

Take the job. It's a step up. Far bigger budget meaning you'll be able to compete, rather quickly

[crouchaldinho]

CROUCHY LEAVES PERUGIA!

I'm out of there!

Very sad to leave but it had to be done, I'm afraid. The opportunity to manage Brescia was just too big to turn down. I also had to remind myself that this is a journeyman career thread and not a small club to big club style of game. I'm playing realistically and surely any manager would move when offered a massive pay increase, along with a hugely increased wage budget at a bigger club?

We can definitely say that project 3 at Perugia has been a success. Not only did we turn around Perugia's fortunes, we also managed to win a trophy and get promoted! I leave the club playing at their highest level since they reformed. They have a fight against relegation, which will be difficult, and I would have loved to have stayed on to make sure that they were safe. I leave them, however, with a squad of players who will fight until the end and a team with the sort of character that makes them special. I think they have a good chance of survival and it is my belief that they are good enough to avoid relegation narrowly. They're certainly not the worst team in the league and I believe firmly that there are at least three teams that should finish below them to ensure their safety. Of course, they need to get in a decent manager to replace me but I'm hopeful that they will survive.

So, my travels in Italy continue and this time I'm off to Brescia in the north of Italy! Bye, bye Perugia, it's been fun and we've had some good times. In the bigger picture of my career, Perugia gave me a big chance and my time here ended up being a defining point in my career as I won my first cup and finally got noticed by a bigger club in Serie B. Best of luck to my old club but I must move on now!

I must also mention that four of my staff followed me out of the club, including my assistant, one of my coaches, a physio and a scout. Also, Brescia paid Perugia £55k in compensation for my services!

My A.C. Perugia Calcio Record (2015 - 2017 [739 days]):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions Won / Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
91	43	22	26	148 	110	47%		Coppa Italia di Lega Pro Winners!
							Lega Pro Prima Divisione Runners-up
							Lega Pro Prima Divisione Play-off Winners!

[crouchaldinho]

Project 4 - Brescia Calcio

No time to dwell on the decision and no time to catch my breath as I'm thrust straight into my new job at Brescia. We're underachieving in a big way, sitting 14th in the table having been predicted by the media for a 4th place finish.

Brescia Calcio are located in Brescia, Lombardy. Their colours are blue and white and they play their home games at Stadio Mario Rigamonti. They have good training facilities and excellent youth facilities, which is great stuff!

The club is affectionately known as Rondinelle. Wikipedia lists several nicknames for the club including: Rondinelle (Little Swallows), Biancoazzurri (White-blues), Leonessa (Lioness).

Some of our rivals include Atalanta, Verona, Fiorentina, Vicenza, Bologna, Roma Genoa and Napoli. Wow that's quite a few clubs! Atalanta is going to be the big one, and we're in the same league as them this season. The derby against them is called the Lombardo derby, somewhat predictably!

Brescia is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan. Brescia is known as the Lioness of Italy (Leonessa d'Italia) after ten days of popular uprising that took place in the city in the Spring of 1849 against Austrian rule.

I've read John Foot describe Brescia as a 'well-to-do industrial town' and the club as a provincial club. If anyone can tell me anything else about Brescia then I'd be interested to know!

Attendances appear to be around the 7,900 mark (compare that to around 6,500 at Perugia). We have around 1,873 season ticket holders who were expecting us to go for promotion this season. Interesting, this is actually less than the 2,629 season ticket holders that we had at my last club).

[crouchaldinho]

This is the club badge:

I have to confess that this actually played a part in my acceptance of the job. It looks pretty cool to me!

Now most of you who know your Italian football will know that Brescia once had this footballer who was pretty useful called Roberto Baggio. The Divine Ponytail is my favourite ever Italian footballer and certainly one of my favourite players of all time. I loved watching him in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups (I felt immense sadness when he missed that penalty versus Brazil in the final in 1994), in particular, and used to follow his career on Channel 4's Football Italia! I didn't have an Italian team to follow back then because I basically wanted whoever had Baggio at the time to win! So Brescia were a team I followed basically because of the Baggio link!

Here are some awesome facts about Brescia Calcio, mostly found out from Wikipedia!

The club was founded in 1911 and throughout their history they've mostly been a Serie B and Serie A yo-yo club.

Brescia signed former FIFA World Player of the Year Roberto Baggio in 2000 and he led them to a 7th place finish in the 2000–01 season, which is the best finish that Brescia has ever had during their time in Serie A.

Baggio spent four years at Brescia before retiring in 2004 and during those historic four years, Brescia became widely known as 'Baggio's Brescia'.

During Baggio's four-year spell with Brescia, Brescia recorded their best-ever run of staying in Serie A. In the very next season that followed Baggio's retirement (2004–2005), however, Brescia were relegated from Serie A on the last day, finishing a lowly 19th.

The club is famous for the white 'V' on its shirts. The first appearance of a white 'V' was in 1927. It was removed for a while but since 1991 this historical and traditional part of the kit design has stayed in place.

Among the famous players to have been at the club are Josep Guardiola, Gheorghe Hagi, Luca Toni, and Andrea Pirlo (born in Brescia). Not a bad little list there to add to Roberto Baggio! I could certainly make a decent team out of those guys!

Brescia were predicted to do well this season and to be challenging for promotion. They are currently struggling, however, in 14th place in the table. My immediate job is clearly to steady the ship and to start taking them back up the table. I'll be aiming to finish comfortably top half really. A brief glance at the squad shows that we have some good players. I'll need to work hard at bringing in some 'Crouchy players' though who fit my player template. I see maybe some changes coming in January during the transfer window and I certainly see some transfer activity next summer to get this squad into shape to challenge for promotion next season.

Well, I'm here now, and it certainly seemed too big an opportunity for my manager to turn down. The wage budget is so much superior to my previous club. At last, I have something decent to work with here in order to build a squad capable of challenging for promotion to Serie A. The pressure will be a greater here though as we're at a bigger club. The pressure will be off this season and the three year contract gives me some security (which I have never had before in this career). However, next season will surely see much more pressure on my manager. I must use my time wisely and start putting my plans and strategies into place to ensure that I can take this club forward.