Nobby_McDonald Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Brescia was spectacularly unspectacular. Back to Verona eh. Familiar territory for you... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 You are indeed correct, Nobby! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 CROUCHY'S FIRST INTERVIEW AFTER JOINING VERONA! Thought I would share with you a couple of my answers! Q. Given the fact you used to manage rivals Brescia, there has been understandable backlash from some fans and the pressure will really be on you to prove you are up to the job. How will you cope with this? A. I have complete faith in my ability to convince the fans that I am the right person for the job. Q. You stand here today unveiled as the new Verona manager. As a big fan of the club, surely this must be a dream come true? A. I have dreamt of this moment for years. The headline that the media went with is: 'Crouchaldinho living the dream!' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycar Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Only just seen this, congrats Crouchy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iacovone Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Awesome! Back to Verona for Crouchy. Hurrah! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 Only just seen this, congrats Crouchy Awesome! Back to Verona for Crouchy. Hurrah! Thanks guys! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 How about this for a decent away win: [video=youtube;EbNjDC3Uul8] And the match took place on my in game birthday. Perfect, huh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 Life at Verona has started well. My record so far is 4 wins and 1 loss. We go into the winter break on the back of 4 straight wins! We're also above Brescia in the table. Take that Brescia! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Cracking start to live at Verona. Well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Pah, should have been 11-0 at least Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I'm shocked. SHOCKED. Good luck at Verona - some places you just don't get on with. I still hate Paulton after my spell there in my short-lived FM11 journeyman career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Crouchy's 'Lessons in Calcio' Journeyman Save - Project 5: Hellas Verona (Season One at Marcantonio Bentegodi 2019/20) Click here for post 394 which shows the situation we were in when I joined the club in November. We were sitting in 14th place in the table when I joined the club. 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. Results After my huge changes at Brescia completely failed and backfired on me, I decided to take a completely different approach at Verona. This was, instead, a gentle and careful approach. I made a small number of signings to improve the team but generally kept faith with the spine of the team I inherited. I lost my first game in charge away to Cagliari but then we went on a four game winning streak including an incredible 8-0 win away to Novara. Moving into January and February, the squad started to settle more but it was still a bumpy ride at times. The most frustrating thing was losing matches at home, such as the 1-0 defeat to Varese. The same thing happened against our rivals, Chievo, at the end of March. How we lost that match, I'll never know, as we dominated and should easily have won. We just didn't seem to have the creativity up front to score goals in these matches where the onus was on us to break down the opposition. The thing is that we kept bouncing back from disappointments very quickly. In fact, every defeat I have suffered as Verona boss has been met with a win in the next game. This 'bounce-back-ability' resulted in us pushing on and suddenly looking like possible promotion candidates. We hit top form at just the right time. In April, we recorded four back-to-back wins including a 5-1 thrashing away to Juve Stabia. Towards the end of April, we suddenly found ourselves in 3rd place and only 3 points off the top two. Beating Cagliari at home was absolutely huge and meant that we had suddenly managed to pull ourselves up and into a title race! We finished the season in top form going on a 10 match unbeaten run and winning 8 out of 10 games. We secured an automatic promotion spot with a game to play. We were also top of the table by a single point going into the last game of the season and I badly wanted to sign off from Serie B in style by taking the title. Unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be. Frosinone proved tough opponents at home in our final match of the season. We just couldn't find a winner. Meanwhile, Cagliari managed to win their final game by a single goal to take the league title by a single point. Once again, I've been denied a league title, but we did get automatic promotion and I will definitely take that! It looked very unlikely when I came to the club. To think that we'll be playing in Serie A next season is amazing! I have to confess that we got lucky this season. We managed to keep our best players fit. Had we suffered more injuries or suspensions then I think we would have been finishing in the play-off positions rather than in an automatic promotion slot. Information & Screenshots: Final table: | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Cagliari | | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 52 | 33 | +19 | 78 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| [b]| 2nd | P | Verona | | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 65 | 32 | +33 | 77 | [/b] | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Lecce | | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 61 | 35 | +26 | 72 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Frosinone | | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | P | Varese | | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 69 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Atalanta | | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 48 | 29 | +19 | 65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Perugia | | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 40 | 50 | -10 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Chievo | | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 53 | 55 | -2 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Triestina | | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Benevento | | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Brescia | | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 61 | 58 | +3 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Livorno | | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 56 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Pescara | | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 53 | 55 | -2 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Cremonese | | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 48 | 52 | -4 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Novara | | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 52 | 65 | -13 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Siracusa | | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 50 | 57 | -7 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Cesena | | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 46 | 47 | -1 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Barletta | | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 43 | 54 | -11 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Reggina | | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 47 | 68 | -21 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Juve Stabia | | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 46 | 57 | -11 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Pisa | | 42 | 7 | 16 | 19 | 33 | 57 | -24 | 37 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Nocerina | | 42 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 26 | 65 | -39 | 33 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Italian Cup: Knocked out before I arrived. Transfers: IN: | Date | Person | From | Fee | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.12.2019 | McQuade, Aaron | Free Transfer | Free | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.12.2019 | McCullough, Marc | Free Transfer | Free | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2.1.2020 | Ikoko, Jordan | Frosinone | £22K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2.1.2020 | Backman, Niklas | Gaziantepspor | £130K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2.1.2020 | Righini, Luca | Südtirol-Alto Adige| £6K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8.1.2020 | Kike | Osasuna | £180K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £2.4M* | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| * - this figure includes signings by the previous manager I restricted myself to making just a few signings to try to strengthen the team. McQuade and McCullough are two players with potential and my plan with them was to use them sparingly in this initial season so that they could develop, settle and learn the language etc. They proved to be useful assets on the subs bench. Ikoko was a player offered to me by Brescia. I thought he would make a very useful squad player so I signed him up. Having worked with him before, I knew that he could offer something to this team. Luca Righini, some of you may remember, was with me at Mezzocorona. Ultimately, I signed him as a backup but he turned out to be a poor acquisition and he spent most of the season in the reserves. He'll be leaving in the summer when his contract runs out. The main two signings for us were Niklas Backman and Kike. Both played a key part in our success. Backman is a solid centre-back and came into the team to be a first-choice defender. We also needed some better options out wide and so I signed the experience Kike reasoning that he would add some experience and determination to the side. I'm not listing the 'outs' here as I only released three reserve/youth players who weren't going to make the grade. I kept the rest of the squad together. I always felt that if I could just sign a few solid players with good character, it would see us through to the end of the season. I was hoping for a top half respectable finish. I didn't realise that we would have quite so much success! Squad Statistics: | Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas R | Tck | Drb | Sh T| Yel | Red | Av Rat | Nat | Value | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | Hol | Luca Nunziata | GK | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65% | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 6.82 | ITA | £350K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | Hol | Jordan Ikoko | D (R) | 7 (4) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 78% | 3.73| 1.05| 100%| 0 | 0 | 7.01 | FRA | £22K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCR | Hol | Pavol Cech | D (C) | 40 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 70% | 2.94| 0.08| 28% | 6 | 0 | 6.97 | SVK | £240K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCL | Hol | Niklas Backman | D (RC) | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 73% | 2.59| 0.09| 16% | 1 | 0 | 7.11 | SWE | £575K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | Hol | Domenico Vetere | D (RLC) | 39 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 76% | 4.14| 0.32| 30% | 0 | 0 | 7.11 | ITA | £425K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | Hol | Kike | M (R), AM (RC), ST | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 80% | 2.10| 1.89| 33% | 1 | 0 | 6.88 | ESP | £95K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCR | Wnt | Danilo Pereira | DM, M (C) | 35 (1) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 82% | 3.96| 0.47| 27% | 4 | 0 | 7.11 | GNB | £1.1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCL | Hol | Emanuel Biancucchi | M/AM (RLC) | 40 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 75% | 1.92| 1.95| 30% | 6 | 0 | 7.12 | ARG | £300K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Hol | Filippo Boniperti | M/AM (L) | 33 (2) | 2 | 8 | 1 | 67% | 1.28| 1.91| 28% | 0 | 0 | 6.93 | ITA | £120K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCR| Hol | Luigi Pagani | AM (C), ST | 23 (10) | 16 | 6 | 5 | 77% | 1.68| 0.74| 44% | 2 | 0 | 7.07 | ITA | £700K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCL| Hol | Cosimo Di Benedetto | AM (RC), ST | 9 (11) | 8 | 1 | 2 | 74% | 1.41| 1.88| 58% | 0 | 0 | 6.83 | ITA | £600K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | Hol | Matteo Pasquali | GK | 6 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45% | 0.15| - | - | 0 | 0 | 6.89 | ITA | £300K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | Hol | Michele Ignomiriello | D (R) | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58% | 3.91| 0.87| 66% | 0 | 0 | 6.47 | ITA | £150K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | Hol | Tommaso Benedini | SW, D (C) | 9 (1) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 72% | 3.03| 0.11| 42% | 0 | 0 | 7.48 | ITA | £275K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | Hol | Gabriele Contino | DM, M (C) | 24 (12) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 78% | 3.28| 0.19| 19% | 1 | 0 | 6.72 | ITA | £1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | Hol | Matteo Scala | M/AM (R) | 2 (12) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 72% | 1.77| 1.33| 0% | 2 | 0 | 6.84 | ITA | £50K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | | Aaron McQuade | M/AM (L) | 4 (13) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 75% | 3.45| 0.86| 33% | 0 | 0 | 6.67 | NIR | £600K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | | Marc McCullough | ST | 8 (10) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 76% | 1.72| 0.25| 41% | 2 | 0 | 6.66 | NIR | £1.5M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Alessandro Scialpi | DM, M/AM (C) | 10 (7) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 78% | 3.35| 0.97| 25% | 0 | 0 | 6.57 | ITA | £120K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Tommaso Strambi | GK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ITA | £130K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Massimo Anzalone | D (C) | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 68% | 4.87| - | 40% | 0 | 0 | 6.88 | ITA | £100K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Agostino Gallo | M (C) | 8 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | 2.77| 0.76| 0% | 1 | 0 | 6.51 | ITA | £150K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Alessandro Litterio | AM (RLC), ST | 37 (1) | 19 | 4 | 2 | 66% | 1.13| 2.40| 52% | 5 | 2 | 6.96 | ITA | £350K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Nicola Rossini | D (RL) | 36 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 76% | 4.86| 0.44| 75% | 1 | 0 | 7.13 | ITA | £350K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Federico Perticara | DM, M (C) | 1 (14) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 75% | 6.02| 0.86| 50% | 0 | 0 | 6.55 | ITA | £180K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Key players: In addition to those below, I could also have listed both centre-backs who were really strong for us this season. Nicola Rossini - The fullback was solid for us and also offered something coming forward due to his acceleration and workrate in particular. Emanuel Biancucchi - Playmaking central midfielder who claimed quite a few assists and generally played very well for us in the middle of the park. Luigi Pagani - Played primarily as second striker but still hit a fair number of goals. Alessandro Litterio - A somewhat limited striker, to be honest, but his pace, acceleration and off the ball movement saw him scoring plenty of goals for us. Next Season: Survival. No idea how but survival is the aim. The squad definitely needs strengthening. I'm not going to go crazy though like I did at Brescia. I'll try to strengthen the defence, midfield and forward positions with at least one signing for each. I'm under no illusions that I've 'made it' by reaching Serie A. Next season will be a hugely tough test. 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! 2017/18 A.C. Perugia Calcio Serie B N/A (Left after 16 games with the team in 18th place) 2017/18 Brescia Calcio Serie B 10th (Joined after 16 games with the team in 14th place) 2018/19 Brescia Calcio Serie B N/A (Resigned after 34 games with the team in 13th place) 2019/20 Hellas Verona F.C. Serie B 2nd (Joined after 15 games, team in 14th place) - Promoted! 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 - 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! My Brescia Calcio Record (2017 - 2019 [497 days]): P W D L F A Win % Competitions Won / Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 24 19 19 82 76 38% My Hellas Verona F.C. Record (2019 - Present [200 days]): P W D L F A Win % Competitions Won / Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 18 4 5 49 16 66% Serie B Runners-up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Not bad, but I once got Verona promoted after just 3 games in the job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 A quick check on my old clubs: A.C. Giacomense - currently playing outside the playable leagues in Serie D A.C. Mezzocorona - currently playing outside the playable leagues in Serie D A.C. Perugia Calcio - finished 7th in Serie B and got the overachievers tag! Brescia Calcio - finished 11th in Serie B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Best XI for this season: The fans voted for Domenico Vetere as their player of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Great work getting promoted . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycar Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 A good amount of goals from Pagani Crouchy, my second strikers tend to end up just passing the ball on to the poacher and hardly scoring themselves. Congrats on promotion Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Great work getting promoted . Thanks! A good amount of goals from Pagani Crouchy, my second strikers tend to end up just passing the ball on to the poacher and hardly scoring themselves.Congrats on promotion Thanks! Pagani did well. He was on penalty duty too though so that may have helped out! But in general, the front two formed an excellent partnership. I'll be looking for a more clinical number 9, to be honest, for Serie A. And I think McCullough may take Pagani's position in the first-team eventually. At the moment, he is the understudy and I've been using him sparingly so that he can settle and learn the language, but I think he has potential to be the better player, maybe even as early as next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Wow unexpected instant success! I thought your methods took a little while to bed in? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 My methods were revised somewhat after the Brescia debacle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Project 5 - Season Two at Hellas Verona F.C. - Season 2020/21 Preview Board Expectations: Serie A - Avoid relegation (media predictions are for 19th place) TIM Cup - First round My Expectations: Serie A - 17th! Avoid relegation at all costs! TIM Cup - Don't care Budgets: Transfer: £0 Wages: £151,111 (£158,788/week/week currently) Balance: £3,396,137 Squad: | Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Nat | Height| Weight | Age | Value | Ability | Potential | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Quique Arca | GK | ESP | 5'11" | 12 st 12 lbs | 22 | £2.1M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Domenico Vetere | D (RLC) | ITA | 5'10" | 12 st 8 lbs | 25 | £1.3M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCR | Wnt | Dylan Gissi | D (C) | SUI | 6'4" | 12 st 10 lbs | 29 | £1.4M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCL | | Niklas Backman | D (C) | SWE | 6'1" | 12 st 8 lbs | 31 | £625K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Nicola Rossini | D (RL) | ITA | 6'1" | 13 st 3 lbs | 24 | £1M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Keammar Daley | M (R), AM (RC) | JAM | 5'8" | 10 st 5 lbs | 32 | £575K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCR | Loa | Paulinho | DM, M (C) | BRA | 5'8" | 11 st 2 lbs | 20 | £825K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCL | | Tokia García | AM (C) | FRA | 5'3" | 9 st 6 lbs | 26 | £1.2M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | | Aaron McQuade | M/AM (L) | NIR | 6'3" | 14 st 2 lbs | 20 | £1M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCR | | Luigi Pagani | AM (C), ST | ITA | 6'2" | 13 st 12 lbs | 22 | £450K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCL | | Cosimo Spatola | ST | ITA | 6'2" | 13 st 0 lbs | 23 | £1.8M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | | Luca Nunziata | GK | ITA | 6'0" | 11 st 6 lbs | 27 | £975K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | | Pavol Cech | D (C) | SVK | 6'2" | 13 st 3 lbs | 25 | £1.1M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | | Andrea De Vito | D (RL) | ITA | 5'10" | 11 st 2 lbs | 28 | £170K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | | Danilo Pereira | DM, M (C) | GNB | 6'1" | 10 st 12 lbs | 28 | £975K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | | Alessandro Litterio | AM (RLC), ST | ITA | 5'10" | 11 st 11 lbs | 24 | £1.2M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | | Flavio Conti | AM (L) | ITA | 6'4" | 14 st 0 lbs | 20 | £1.1M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | Inj | Marc McCullough | ST | NIR | 6'2" | 13 st 5 lbs | 20 | £1.1M | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Filippo Boniperti | M/AM (L) | ITA | 5'9" | 11 st 2 lbs | 28 | £475K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Tommaso Strambi | GK | ITA | 5'10" | 11 st 9 lbs | 29 | £190K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jordan Ikoko | D (R) | FRA | 5'10" | 9 st 12 lbs | 26 | £22K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Emanuel Biancucchi | M/AM (RLC) | ARG | 5'10" | 10 st 1 lbs | 32 | £325K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Tommaso Benedini | SW, D (C) | ITA | 6'0" | 12 st 12 lbs | 24 | £450K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Cosimo Di Benedetto | AM (RC), ST | ITA | 5'10" | 11 st 6 lbs | 20 | £550K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Serdar Kayan | DM, M (C) | TUR | 5'10" | 12 st 1 lbs | 20 | £900K | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Transfers: INS: | Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.7.2020 | Spatola, Cosimo | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.7.2020 | Conti, Flavio | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.7.2020 | García, Tokia | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7.7.2020 | Arca, Quique | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22.7.2020 | Paulinho | Fluminense | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22.7.2020 | Serdar Kayan | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26.7.2020 | Gissi, Dylan | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.8.2020 | Daley, Keammar | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Seven free transfers and one loan. I lost a few players at the end of their contracts, so this was more or less replacing like for like, but hopefully with more quality! Unfortunately, there will be four or five out of these players who will come straight into the starting line-up. I wanted small changes and wanted to remain faithful to the squad who got us here but it was absolutely necessary to make improvements. Let's hope I don't have too much of a gelling problem early on. OUTS: | Date | Person | To | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Pasquali, Matteo | Bologna | £230K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Foglia, Ciro | Siracusa | £35K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Righini, Luca | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Anzalone, Massimo | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Kike | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Scala, Matteo | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8.8.2020 | Gallo, Agostino | Zaragoza | £350K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £625K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| We made a little bit of money from sales. Otherwise, this was just about letting certain players go and trying to improve on the quality with our signings, which I think we did successfully. Key Men: - Great signing of a solid keeper who is in the Spain U21 squad. [url=]Tokia Garcia - Central midfielder who looks really solid technically and I think will be a good player at this level. - A big, strong, solid centre-back who should give us a boost defensively. [url=]Cosimo Spatola - Not exactly our best player but I've got a feeling he'll do well. He's young and still has a little bit of developing to do. His dribbling and finishing attracted me as hopefully he can make chances for himself and, most importantly, finish any chances he gets. He wasn't my first-choice signing for a striker but I'm tipping him to be a bit of a surprise and to do well. Manager thoughts: We'll have a slow start, no doubt, after making quite a few signings. However, I believe that we can do enough to stay up. It will be important to keep the ship steady, to stay calm, to keep morale up and so on and so forth. I'll be sticking with my usual methods for fighting a relegation battle (which are outlined earlier in this thread). I'm ready for it and determined to make sure that Hellas Verona are still playing in Serie A next season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 As I mentioned above, these are my steps when in a relegation dogfight: - Focus on bringing in experienced players with the right kind of mentality as a priority. In short, I'm looking for leaders on and off the pitch. I'd rather have a professional and experienced 35-year-old in decline than an 18-year-old star in the making who has the potential but not the experience and the consistency. - Tighten things up at the back and concentrate on being hard to beat. Don't take any unnecessary risks. It may be boring but points are all that matters. - Pack the midfield with hard working players. - Never panic and always remain composed and calm, no matter what you might want to say to the players. A defeat isn't the end of the world but not quickly recovering from a poor performance certainly can be! - Use the media and team talks carefully to take pressure off the players where possible. - Keep the faith, keep things consistent and don't go changing too much at once. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Well done Crouchy. Whatever happened to 'never going back'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Good luck with survival. Don't go a-changing baby! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Well done Crouchy. Whatever happened to 'never going back'? How do you mean? :confused: Good luck with survival. Don't go a-changing baby! I won't! Hoping for the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 One thing I've noticed is that I can hardly remember ever having been asked about pitch dimensions at the beginning of a new season. Is this a bug or intentional? Has anyone else noticed this interaction missing? Maybe something has changed for FM12 and I haven't realised! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 Anyone want to play guess the score? These were the match stats: What do people think the result was? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 2-0 to Verona? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chutney132 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 3-0, with 2 own goals? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Hook Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 1-0 Verona? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 It was actually a 2-2 draw! Both of our goals were own goals! I always find it funny when I get unlikely results like this! If you read GD, they make it sound as if it only happens to the player, but I've made a fool of the AI plenty of times! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Hook Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 It was actually a 2-2 draw!Both of our goals were own goals! I always find it funny when I get unlikely results like this! If you read GD, they make it sound as if it only happens to the player, but I've made a fool of the AI plenty of times! Yes, it is obviously a bug where you are getting an unfair advantage! It is scripted so that you won't lose that game Crouchy! Great save, btw, and I am enjoying following along. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 It was actually a 2-2 draw!Both of our goals were own goals! I always find it funny when I get unlikely results like this! If you read GD, they make it sound as if it only happens to the player, but I've made a fool of the AI plenty of times! Anyone with reasonable experience of the game has certainly had their share of that sort of thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 How do you mean? :confused: Haven't you managed Verona before, albeit on a different version? Hence why I put it in ''. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Oh I see. Misunderstood! Yeah, I've managed Hellas Verona a few times! They've become a favourite club for me to manage on FM! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Crouchy's 'Lessons in Calcio' Journeyman Save - Project 5: Hellas Verona (Season Two at Marcantonio Bentegodi 2020/21) Click here for post 394 which shows the situation we were in during pre-season. I actually got so sucked into this relegation battle that I totally forgot to do a Winter Break update, so sorry about that! Below, I'm posting up an image of the results we recorded this season. I'll talk you briefly through the results and my thoughts as we tackled the job of surviving in Serie A. Results for first half of the season What quickly became apparent to me in this first half of the season was that we had been promoted before our time and that we would have our work cut out staying up. Despite my improvements to the squad, we were mainly looking at very good Serie B players rather than good Serie A players. It really told when we came up against better opposition. I knew that it was going to take a lot of hard work to stay up and I don't mind admitting that I didn't fancy our chances even early on in the season. Initially, we did quite well, and I'm glad we managed to start fairly well. The early loss to fellow relegation battlers Cagliari was disappointing but to have beaten another of our relegation rivals in Empoli felt good. We showed character at home to beat Genoa and then managed to go to Rome and come away with a point. However, any optimism I may have had was quickly washed away by Milan's 3-0 demolition of us in our own back yard. We then went away and lost to Juventus too. November was a tough month and this was where my worst fears were realised because we went on a run of straight defeats. I was proud of the lads when we went to Udinese in December and turned around a 3-0 deficit to end up coming away with a point after an incredible 4-4 draw. Match highlights below! [video=youtube;KI-wj2KfbNA] We went into the winter break with everything looking extremely tight at the bottom of the table but I was hoping for improvements from my team and hoping that we could still survive in Serie A! Results for the second half of the season The second half of the season kicked off in poor form. Okay, a draw at home to Lazio wasn't bad, but we honestly missed the chance to win in that match. Following that, we went away to Inter and were hammered 5-0. Ouch! But January did bring us our best run of the season - three straight wins. We beat Torino away followed by two of our fellow relegation candidates in Cagliari (beaten at home) and Empoli (beaten away). Some huge results for us which gave us a significant boost in the league and made us look as if safety would both very achievable and realistic. It all started to go wrong at the end of February though. Injuries, suspensions and just poor morale all around saw us go on a terrible run of form. We couldn't find a win for five games. When we did finally get a win at home to Roma, it was merely the calm before the storm. We would fail to win for the next 9 matches and would end up losing 8 in a row as we made our way through April to May. It put us straight back into danger and straight back into the relegation spots. It all came down to the last day against Inter. We would have to win against a side who had beaten us 5-0 earlier in the season! At least we were at home! We were sitting in 18th position. The two teams directly surrounding us in the table - Varese and Cagliari - would play each other on the final day. We were 1 point from safety. Varese had an advantage over us due to a superior match record against us, having beaten us home and away. I had, at this point, pretty much accepted relegation as a fact and went into the last game expecting to be beaten. Somehow we pulled off the impossible as we beat Inter 2-1 at home. Varese and Cagliari drew which meant that we had secured safety against all of the odds! [video=youtube;MoCserr5ArY] This is no time for celebrations though. We could easily have gone down. We probably should have gone down, in fact. We had a terrible season. In all honesty, I hardly celebrated this in real life! Normally I would have been punching the air. I was so convinced that we would go down, that Inter would score a last minute goal, or that Varese would win, that I didn't even really give us a chance. I was so annoyed at losing so many games in a row and going on such a bad run that all I felt was ****** off! I actually felt that we deserved Serie B football, in all honesty, and so my reaction was pretty downbeat, especially after such a horrible run where I Was starting to question everything about my managerial abilities! Clearly the squad that I assembled wasn't strong enough or good enough for Serie A football. I absolutely have to strengthen the team. I can't face another season like this. I won't put up with it. So clearly, this summer is going to be all about bringing in better quality in order that we can secure a safe league position in a more respectable fashion next season! Information & Screenshots: Final table: | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | ECC | Fiorentina | | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 83 | 48 | +35 | 79 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | ECC | Ascoli | | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 76 | 44 | +32 | 78 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | ECC | Palermo | | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 64 | 40 | +24 | 71 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | EC | Catania | | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 70 | 41 | +29 | 69 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | EC | Genoa | | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Inter | | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 73 | 40 | +33 | 68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Milan | | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 61 | 40 | +21 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Lazio | | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Udinese | | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 67 | 60 | +7 | 55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Juventus | | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 52 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Torino | | 38 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 50 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Sampdoria | | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 50 | 52 | -2 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Roma | | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 34 | 41 | -7 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Napoli | | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 50 | 58 | -8 | 44 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Bari | | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 43 | 72 | -29 | 37 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Siena | | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 32 | 58 | -26 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| [b]| 17th | | Verona | | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 27 | 62 | -35 | 31 | [/b] | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Varese | | 38 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 84 | -54 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Cagliari | | 38 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 43 | 73 | -30 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Empoli | | 38 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 34 | 69 | -35 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Italian Cup: As you can see from the result images above, we went out early on. Transfers: IN: | Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.7.2020 | Spatola, Cosimo | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.7.2020 | Conti, Flavio | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6.7.2020 | García, Tokia | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7.7.2020 | Arca, Quique | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22.7.2020 | Paulinho | Fluminense | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22.7.2020 | Serdar Kayan | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 26.7.2020 | Gissi, Dylan | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.8.2020 | Daley, Keammar | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| So here is one of the big reasons we struggled so badly this season. I wasn't able to bring in the quality needed for Serie A. These would all be great signings for a Serie B side. Most were not good enough for Serie A. None were really a great success. Spatola scored few, Conti was too young to make a big impact whilst Garcia did okay. Kayan was a backup, Gissi performed poorly at times and Daley had experience but was too old. The two to make an impact were mainly Paulinho, who is only on loan anyway, and the goalkeeper Arca. The keeper is probably the one player who is Serie A quality in fact! OUT: | Date | Person | To | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Pasquali, Matteo | Bologna | £230K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Foglia, Ciro | Siracusa | £35K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Righini, Luca | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Anzalone, Massimo | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Kike | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2020 | Scala, Matteo | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8.8.2020 | Gallo, Agostino | Zaragoza | £350K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £625K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| No real surprises here. Made a tiny bit of money from sales but otherwise it was just getting rid of dead wood that wouldn't be able to help us out in Serie A. Squad Statistics: | Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas R | Tck | Drb | Sh T| Yel | Red | Av Rat | Nat | Value | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | Hol | Quique Arca | GK | 39 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55% | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 6.64 | ESP | £2.1M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | Hol | Domenico Vetere | D (RLC) | 34 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 76% | 4.05| 0.48| 50% | 5 | 1 | 6.69 | ITA | £1.4M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCR | Hol | Niklas Backman | D (C) | 27 (1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 68% | 2.43| 0.11| 20% | 5 | 0 | 6.82 | SWE | £725K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DCL | Hol | Pavol Cech | D (C) | 14 (4) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 70% | 1.49| 0.19| 33% | 0 | 0 | 6.74 | SVK | £1.6M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | Hol | Jordan Ikoko | D (RL) | 11 (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 75% | 2.16| 0.33| 33% | 4 | 1 | 6.55 | FRA | £22K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | Hol | Keammar Daley | M (R), AM (RC) | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 75% | 2.56| 2.20| 31% | 8 | 0 | 6.67 | JAM | £675K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCR | Hol | Paulinho | DM, M (C) | 36 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 82% | 4.61| 0.22| 25% | 13 | 0 | 6.76 | BRA | £375K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MCL | Hol | Danilo Pereira | DM, M (C) | 6 (17) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77% | 2.55| 0.39| 0% | 6 | 1 | 6.58 | GNB | £975K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Hol | Aaron McQuade | M/AM (L) | 21 (10) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 78% | 1.94| 1.36| 52% | 3 | 0 | 6.65 | NIR | £975K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCR| Hol | Marc McCullough | ST | 17 (7) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 78% | 1.49| 0.26| 28% | 1 | 1 | 6.40 | NIR | £1.3M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | STCL| Hol | Alessandro Litterio | AM (RLC), ST | 14 (17) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 81% | 1.72| 2.33| 42% | 5 | 0 | 6.57 | ITA | £1.6M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | Hol | Luca Nunziata | GK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71% | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 6.80 | ITA | £800K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | Hol | Andrea De Vito | D (RL) | 9 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75% | 3.17| 0.11| - | 5 | 1 | 6.57 | ITA | £160K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | Hol | Tommaso Benedini | SW, D (C) | 3 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62% | 1.54| - | 0% | 1 | 0 | 6.41 | ITA | £120K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | Hol | Serdar Kayan | DM, M (C) | 3 (8) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 82% | 3.35| - | 33% | 2 | 0 | 6.88 | TUR | £875K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | Hol | Cosimo Spatola | ST | 28 (4) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 78% | 1.38| 1.81| 35% | 7 | 0 | 6.79 | ITA | £2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | Hol | Filippo Boniperti | M/AM (L) | 3 (1) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 83% | 1.35| 2.03| 50% | 1 | 0 | 7.40 | ITA | £160K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | Hol | Luigi Pagani | AM (C), ST | 22 (12) | 3 | 4 | 1 | 78% | 1.76| 0.81| 37% | 5 | 0 | 6.59 | ITA | £575K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Dylan Gissi | D (C) | 36 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 65% | 2.33| - | 16% | 10 | 1 | 6.50 | SUI | £1.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Tommaso Strambi | GK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ITA | £100K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Emanuel Biancucchi | M/AM (RLC) | 8 (9) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 80% | 1.23| 0.78| 25% | 2 | 0 | 6.73 | ARG | £80K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Tokia García | M/AM (C) | 35 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 86% | 2.76| 0.20| 13% | 4 | 0 | 6.78 | FRA | £1.7M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Nicola Rossini | D (RL) | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 78% | 3.43| 0.23| 0% | 5 | 1 | 6.81 | ITA | £1.3M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Flavio Conti | M/AM (L) | 16 (13) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 76% | 2.37| 0.87| 33% | 5 | 0 | 6.71 | ITA | £1.8M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Hol | Cosimo Di Benedetto | AM (RC), ST | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0.00| - | - | 0 | 0 | 6.70 | ITA | £220K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Key players: We were so poor that I don't think I should post any! Spatola was top scorer with 7 in 28 games. Luigi Pagani created the most assists with 4 in 22 matches. Wide man, Aaron McQuade, got the most man of the match awards recording 4 over the course of the season. He also scored the second goal against Inter that kept us up. If I had to pick one player, it would probably be Paulinho with his excellent pass completion and tackles per game ratios. He would be my player of the season. But let's not muck about here with meaningless platitudes. There were too many players out of their depth this season. I have to resolve this in the summer! Next Season: Survival again. This time more comfortably. The squad definitely needs an overhaul. I'll try not to go crazy but we need some players who are Serie A quality. This will be a key summer for me as a manager. If I can't secure the necessary signings I can see myself in trouble again next season and possibly getting the sack or having moving on one way or another. 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! 2017/18 A.C. Perugia Calcio Serie B N/A (Left after 16 games with the team in 18th place) 2017/18 Brescia Calcio Serie B 10th (Joined after 16 games with the team in 14th place) 2018/19 Brescia Calcio Serie B N/A (Resigned after 34 games with the team in 13th place) 2019/20 Hellas Verona F.C. Serie B 2nd (Joined after 15 games, team in 14th place) - Promoted! 2020/21 Hellas Verona F.C. Serie A 17th 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 - 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! My Brescia Calcio Record (2017 - 2019 [497 days]): P W D L F A Win % Competitions Won / Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 24 19 19 82 76 38% My Hellas Verona F.C. Record (2019 - Present [537 days]): P W D L F A Win % Competitions Won / Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 67 26 14 27 78 78 38% Serie B Runners-up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I think even after a rubbish season I'd be beside myself with a win over Inter to stay up on the final day! Great job staying up with a side that had no right to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 I think even after a rubbish season I'd be beside myself with a win over Inter to stay up on the final day! Great job staying up with a side that had no right to. There were a few reasons why I didn't celebrate. Firstly, because I had prepared myself for relegation and was looking to do some rebuilding in Serie B thinking that we could come back stronger. So I had mixed feelings about staying up. Secondly, and probably the main reason, was because I played about two months or so all in one sitting and just couldn't win a single game. I was raging! Imagine having sat there watching defeat after defeat and then going into the final game. I was just so ****** off by that point! But yeah, it was pretty cool to beat Inter on the final day, so I guess I should be more pleased with that! The points tally, though, shows you how bad we were. 31 points means relegation in any normal season, surely! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Reminds me of my first attempt at Serie A with Messina! I was round the missus' dad's house so I had to remain stoic whilst my team lost game after game after game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Well done on staying up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 You survived, and that's all that matters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Reminds me of my first attempt at Serie A with Messina! I was round the missus' dad's house so I had to remain stoic whilst my team lost game after game after game. Oh yeah, you had a relegation with them first time around, didn't you? Could easily have had the same thing happen to me. I mean, staying up by 1 point due to a final day win and other results going your way is a fine, fine line, isn't it! I think I shouldn't have 'binged' on FM whilst in a relegation battle. I could have kept a cooler head had I just played a few games at a time. Instead, I was absolutely raging and in a foul mood come the final game. You might find it strange but I was just like, 'stayed up by 1 point, okay' then closed down FM straight away feeling exhausted by it all! Well done on staying up. Thanks Nobby! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 You survived, and that's all that matters. Indeed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 So, I planned that when I got to Serie A and spent a season at this level, I would then 'unlock' the rest of the nations and leagues that I have loaded. Basically, I should explain, if I haven't already, that at the moment I have 'manageable teams' set to Italian only. I'll now 'unlock' the rest of the nations by setting this to 'all'. The whole idea of this save was, of course, to serve an apprenticeship in Italy and to gain some 'lessons in calcio'. Then, I said I would potentially move abroad, so that could be an option in the not too distant future. At this stage, I'd like to spend more time building at Verona and I really want to see out my contract at the very least. And I'd really like to establish myself further in Italy. But it'll definitely be interesting to see what kind of jobs I get linked with or get offered. I've already been linked with Spurs (possible chance to replace Rafa Benitez)! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Feeling much more confident about next season and also think it will be quite a bit more enjoyable. The board backed me in the transfer market with some half decent funds for once and I think I've done pretty well in the transfer market. We should have enough quality across the park to be comfortably safe this season. I'm excited to see how we can do! Pre-season preview coming soon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 Project 5 - Season Three at Hellas Verona F.C. - Season 2021/22 Preview Board Expectations: Serie A - Safe mid-table (media predictions are for 17th place) TIM Cup - First round My Expectations: Serie A - Safe mid-table TIM Cup - Will see how far we can get but will definitely be lowest priority Budgets: Transfer: £14m Wages: £209,635 (£215,580/week currently) Balance: -£6,792,585 Squad: | Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Nat | Height| Weight | Age | Value | Ability | Potential | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Luca Nunziata | GK | ITA | 6'0" | 11 st 6 lbs | 28 | £800K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Quique Arca | GK | ESP | 5'11" | 12 st 12 lbs | 23 | £2.2M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Torben Larsen | GK | DEN | 5'9" | 11 st 13 lbs | 19 | £325K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Domenico Vetere | D (RLC) | ITA | 5'10" | 12 st 8 lbs | 26 | £1.3M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jordan Ikoko | D (RL) | FRA | 5'10" | 9 st 12 lbs | 27 | £450K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Nicola Rossini | D (RL) | ITA | 6'1" | 13 st 3 lbs | 25 | £1.2M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Robert Gardner | D (RL), WB/M (L) | NIR | 5'9" | 11 st 6 lbs | 20 | £350K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Niklas Backman | D (C) | SWE | 6'1" | 12 st 8 lbs | 32 | £725K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dylan Gissi | D (C) | SUI | 6'4" | 12 st 10 lbs | 30 | £1.1M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Pavol Cech | D (C) | SVK | 6'2" | 13 st 3 lbs | 26 | £1.7M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Drissa Diarra | D (C) | MLI | 6'3" | 13 st 12 lbs | 22 | £2.3M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Danilo Pereira | DM, M (C) | GNB | 6'1" | 10 st 12 lbs | 29 | £950K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Serdar Kayan | DM, M (C) | TUR | 5'10" | 12 st 1 lbs | 21 | £975K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Loa | Paulinho | DM, M (C) | BRA | 5'8" | 11 st 2 lbs | 21 | £400K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Int | Keammar Daley | M (R), AM (RC) | JAM | 5'8" | 10 st 5 lbs | 33 | £575K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Flavio Conti | M/AM (L) | ITA | 6'4" | 14 st 0 lbs | 21 | £950K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Aaron McQuade | M/AM (L) | NIR | 6'3" | 14 st 2 lbs | 21 | £1.2M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Tokia García | M/AM (C) | FRA | 5'3" | 9 st 6 lbs | 27 | £2M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Lucas Villafañez | AM (RC), ST | ARG | 5'7" | 10 st 3 lbs | 29 | £925K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Alessandro Litterio | AM (RLC), ST | ITA | 5'10" | 11 st 11 lbs | 24 | £1.2M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Cataldo Quercia | AM (LC), ST | ITA | 5'11" | 11 st 6 lbs | 17 | £5M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Luigi Pagani | AM (C), ST | ITA | 6'2" | 13 st 12 lbs | 23 | £775K | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Michael Okeke | AM (C), ST | NGA | 6'2" | 12 st 6 lbs | 23 | £6.75M| | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Cosimo Spatola | ST | ITA | 6'2" | 13 st 0 lbs | 24 | £2.1M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Marc McCullough | ST | NIR | 6'2" | 13 st 5 lbs | 21 | £1.6M | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Transfers: INS: | Date | Person | From | Fee | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2021 | Okeke, Michael | sc Heerenveen | £6.75M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3.7.2021 | Paulinho | Fluminense | Loan | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4.7.2021 | Villafañez, Lucas | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4.7.2021 | Gardner, Robert | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4.7.2021 | Larsen, Torben | Free Transfer | Free | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7.7.2021 | Diarra, Drissa | Sampdoria | £2.2M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9.7.2021 | Quercia, Cataldo | Marseille | £5M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.8.2021 | Chena, Dardo | Tacuary | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £14M | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Seven free transfers and one loan. I finally got some backing in the transfer market and I think that I spent well here. Michael Okeke will be the big signing for us. A quality forward who will definitely improve us in attack. Drissa Diarra is the other player that I'm tipping to make a big difference. He is a solid centre-back who will be a rock at the back for us. I spent quite a bit on a youngster called Cataldo Quercia. He's a 17-year-old. A risky move to spend the bulk of my transfer fees on a kid but I'm hoping this guy will be special in the future and so I decided to take the risk. OUTS: | Date | Person | To | Fee | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2021 | Boniperti, Filippo | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2021 | Ignomiriello, Michele | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 30.6.2021 | Di Benedetto, Cosimo | Free Transfer | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2021 | Strambi, Tommaso | Benevento | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2021 | De Vito, Andrea | Bologna | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2021 | Benedini, Tommaso | Livorno | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1.7.2021 | Perticara, Federico | Frosinone | Free | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Total | | £0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| All end of contract situations. Decided to let these guys go. None of them were first team names. It was really just a case of getting rid of a few fringe players. Key Men: Quique Arca - We signed this young keeper last season. He still has a bit of developing to do but he already looks like the real deal. A quality keeper. Michael Okeke - My biggest and best signing this summer. He is a real athlete - just look at that agility, balance, pace and strength. He has a decent work rate, good anticipation and off the ball movement. Then he has an excellent first touch, great finishing and the ability to take on his man. All in all, I'm expecting big things from this guy! Drissa Diarra - A big, strong, solid centre-back who should give us a huge boost defensively. He has already played for Sampdoria in Serie A, so has experience of the league. He has all of the stuff you want from a commanding centre-back such as good tackling, marking and heading ability. Plus superb work rate, great team work and positional awareness. Manager thoughts: I'm very optimistic. I think I've done great work in the transfer market. I think we'll be safe. We're got a solid defence built on Arca and Diarra plus an attack that will get goals through Okeke. I predict lower mid-table safety and hopefully a few shock results along the way. We're still quite a long way from where I would like to be as a team overall. The fullback positions and wide positions aren't as strong as I'd like. Also, in the centre of the park, I like to have a playmaker dictating the play. I have two possible candidates but they are both young and, at this moment, aren't as suitable as I would like for this role. We'll see if they develop this season or whether I need to go out to buy a player to fill this role. One thing is that I feel confident we can consolidate and establish ourselves in Serie A this season, which is the main mission now. I'll be pleased to be safe and to improve on last season significantly. 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deltablue Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Okele's physicals make him very dangerous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeXe Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Okeke looks top-class! Good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 They certainly do, Deltablue. For some reason, Dardo Chena's transfer was cancelled. I don't know what happened. I must have missed the message. Anyway, it has left me looking for another midfield player. I was hoping that guy was going to be my missing link in terms of the creative midfield player that I was looking for. Back to the transfer market to try to find an affordable alternative. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 Okeke looks top-class! Good luck Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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