laBOMBA's World Class Journey

[laBOMBA]

2021-2022 Mid-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

Standings (January) - Champions League

The first few games were great, but then Graciani picks up a 4 month injury which means he misses the whole Group Stage for the Championship League. That sucks as he bangs the goals in like no one else. Our form dropped slightly because of this while Genk is having another great start to the season so we are destined to follow in their slip stream for now. At the mid season break, we sneaked up to 2 points from Genk, after we convincingly won from them at home with 4-1.

Like last season, we get into the group stage of the championship league straight away. We play in group D together with Palermo, Arsenal and Shaktar. Clearly, we are destined for 4th spot again. I actually thought Palermo wasn't that strong, but their history shows otherwise: they won the seria A 5 times in the last 6 years. Also, with Graciani injured, I'm missing a strong player up front, so this campaign is going to be interesting. First game in Donetsk was not too bad. Even though the score says 1-1, the shots on target are more like 16-3. So we got lucky, but then again we have a strong defense with Duran at the back. Palermo was a lot more efficient up front when they paid us a visit: 2-6! We then traveled to Emirates stadium and played really well. We were up 0-1 for most of the game. Arsenal then scored 2 goals in the last 20 mins and we lost 2-1. Similar story when they came to Brugge, but this time we only conceded one so we ended in a 1-1 draw. The important game at home vs Shaktar should decide who finishes 3rd, but we also manage to draw this one 1-1. Not bad considering I was missing Yildirim and Nzoghe due to international call ups, I had a few injuries and the capped players were tired from their international games earlier in the week. Wisniewski played his very first professional game in this match. For our last game, we have to travel to Palermo while Shaktar welcomes Arsenal. At this stage Shaktar and us are eliminated, but we're still fighting for a 3rd spot. We're both on 3 points and the same goal difference so we're in 3rd spot by scoring more goals than they have. Let's hope they lose to Arsenal and we either get a point, or lose with little difference. Shaktar lost with a massive 1-4 score and we, believe it or not, win in Palermo with 0-1! Seems like we have 1 shock result every season during the group stage.

We qualify for the Europa League where we draw Dinamo in the 2nd round.

I got a few other job offers, but I rejected all of them:

During the qualification for the World Cup, Belgium came 2nd in the group stage and had to play a qualifier against Romania which we lost on away goals. The coach got the boot and I thought: "I'll give that role a crack" and submitted my resume. To my big surprise, the association was interested and they offered me the job! I wasn't going to take on a national role until later in my career, but I couldn't say no to my home country, so I took it! My first game will be a friendly vs N.Ireland in march.

We are also planning another youth facilities upgrade. A second one since I took over the club!

We received a transfer offer for my best player, Ignacio Duran, which we couldn't refused because of his release clause. Napoli offered $12.25M, which is more than double that we bought him for. We probably couldn't keep him at Brugge anyway so I'm happy we got a lot of money from him.

New signings:

Matteo Nizzetto - I was really surprised he agreed to move to Brugge seing he has a good future at his club Udinese as well. He might get more playing chances with me though.

Martín Pozzi - Looks like a great player with a bright future

And a loan from Bayern:

Ali Sefa - Might help us forget the loss of Duran

[deltablue]

Well done getting the national job.

[laBOMBA]

Well done getting the national job.

Cheers. I'll promise not to call up too much Club Brugge players.

[laBOMBA]

2021-2022 End of Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standing - Championship Group - Progress - Matches 1 - Matches 2

We got close to Genk throughout the 2nd half of the season but missed composure to finish the job and jump over them in the league. We didn't lose, but we drew a few games while Genk kept winning. They are having an amazing season and finished the League in first spot with 23 wins, 5 draws and only 2 losses. We ended up 5 points behind in 2nd spot.

Our youth development has been very successful this season with both the U21's and the U19's blitzing the leagues. Even the U21 league stats and the U19 league stats are all with players from Club Brugge. It won't take long before these players break through into the Senior Squad. Our youth academy also produced Milan Lievens, one of our most exciting prospects.

The championship group has the following teams (in order of standings in the League): Genk, Club Brugge, Anderlecht, Standard, STVV and Lierse. We draw our first 2 away games vs Anderlecht and Genk, and then go on a 3-game winning streak (Lierse, STVV, and Standard). We then lose a game vs Lierse, and win a thrilling game at home 2-1 vs. Anderlecht. This puts us into first place with 5 points ahead of the nr 2 Anderlecht. Genk has completely collapsed and only got 3 points out of 7 games. We play them next and their bad form continues which helps us get a 5-1 victory. We only need 2 points out of the next 2 games. We draw 0-0 in Sint Truiden, but it was enough as Anderlecht failed to get points. We retain the Pro League title!

The Europa League went ok. Dinamo Zagreb was no match for us as we beat them twice: 2-3 in Zagreb and 4-0 at home. Bayer 04 Leverkusen is next. They have 2 really good teenage strikers so it will be up to our defence to mark them tightly. We play at home first and get totally blown away by their pace of their attack. Our defenders couldn't keep up and we lost 2-4. I had to put everything on attack in Leverkusen and changed my tactics around. It worked as we had most possession, and best chances, but we weren't very efficient with our chances. We win 1-2, but it wasn't enough to qualify for the Quarter Finals.

After the season, I got an offer to manage Ajax. I had to think long and hard about this one but I decided to stick with Brugge. Even though Ajax is better, rich and have great facilities, the fact that Brugge is developing a great youth system, and the fact that it is my favourite club made my decision easier.

Results:

Pro League: Winners!

Cup: Lost to KV Mechelen in 7th round (again)

European Champions League, Group Stage: 3rd

Europa League: 2nd round loss to Leverkusen

MVP & Top Scorer: Alain Christian Nzoghe

Best 11:

Best Formation: 4-2-3-1 Deep

GK - Ahmed Yildirim

DL - Ewerton

DC - Ali Sefa / Ignacio Duran

DC - Teun Van der Plas

DR - Håkon Hagen

DMC - Bram Rutten

DMC - Christos Lebrun

AML - Josh Dunleavy

AMC - Michel Aparaugo

AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe

ST - Daniel Graciani

Best Goals this season:

,

,

,

(first goal for the club),

Season 2021-2022

National Service: Belgium

Not much happened this season with the national team as we failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, which the previous manager got the boot for. We just played a few friendlies, mainly for me to be able to see what type of players we have, and what tactic to apply. We played a friendly vs. N.Ireland which we won 3-1. Then we also helped our neighbours Holland prepare for the World Cup by giving them a game. We played ok, but are no match for them. We still "only" lost with 2-1.

World Cup Results.

[laBOMBA]

2022-2023 Pre-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

Tunisia offered me the role to manage their side, but I rejected. Why would a Belgian, in charge of Belgium, leave his country to manage a (in my humble opinion) lesser good country?

I've been looking around to buy a few good players: The attack is sorted with Graciani, Nzoghe and Dunleavy, midfield with Pozzi, Nizetto, Rutten and Lebrun, but after Duran left the club and Ewerton still wants to leave, I need some backup in defence.

The board gave me more money again: $48.8M for transfers and a wage budget of $620K. With the new players coming in, there is $26.1M transfer budget left, and I am spending $375K on wages. I reckon we're a money making machine! And with the new stadium being finished at the end of this season, we'll skyrocket on a European scale... I hope...

The transfer money has been spent on following players:

Jacaré - probably my best buy. I bought him to play on Hagen's spot since he is on the way down, but he could also play in Ewerton's spot. I spent a lot of money on him, but he really fits my tactic as a right back since I require them to move up and get some crosses in. With his pace and his crossing, he'll be a major threat to any defence.

Rodolfo De Felippe - another great buy. Fast defender that can participate in the midfield if required. He'll also be a great near post attacker on corners.

Olaf Hille - I can't believe I got this guy for free. Schalke didn't think he was good enough, but I reckon he can manage really well in my division. Just give him a few seasons.

Adem Saglem - Also got this Turkish/German for free from Stuttgart. He might be good, but he's got a long way to go. A bit of a gamble, but hey, he didn't cost me anything.

Diego Teagno - I got great expectations from him. He is a very similar player to Pozzi, but maybe more of a striker than Pozzi. I managed to steal him away from Varese before the major Italian clubs got an interest in him.

Hervé Navarro - Not that his name sounds Belgian, but he sure is. Future Pro League leading goalie according to my scout. I hope he's right. He came for free from Mons.

Tsutomu Kawai - The only player with good potential my scout could find in Asia. Interesting to see this guy is already a member of the national side, but has a thing or 2 to learn before he can be starting eleven in Brugge. Hagen is helping him out and teaching him everything he knows.

Media Prediction: 1st

Board Expectations:

• win Pro League
  
• reach finals of Belgian Cup
  
• qualify for European Champions League Group Stage. Odd, as we've been qualified for that one 2 years in a row without having to play a single qualification game.
  
• couldn't care less about the Super Cup (but we won it anyway by whopping AA Gent's @ss 5-0)
  

[HotChocolate]

Nice bit of club hopping but you seem to have found your feet at Club Brugge.

[laBOMBA]

2022-2023 Mid-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings (January) - Champions League Standings

We have a great start to the season and claim first spot straight away. Graciani is doing his usual great performance for the first few games, and then getting injured for a few months. Yep, he's missing most of the Groups stage of the Champions League again. The pro league feels like a walk in the park. We beat a team with 5 goals difference here and there, and win against direct contenders for the title. We did have a freak loss/draw as well, but usually quite random or when my players were tired from the Cup and Championship League games. At mid-season, we were comfortably first.

In the Champions League, our coefficients have gone up so we're now in the bowl amongst the other 3rd seeds. We still draw a tough group with At.Madrid, Juventus and Fenerbace. At least with Fenerbace in our group we have a good chance to end 3rd in the group. Our first game against At.Madrid at home was really frustrating... seriously, 5 clear cut chances for us, and only 1 goal... 2 clear cut chances for Madrid yet they get to score 4 goals... We played well even though the scoreboard showed 1-4 after the game.

In Fenerbace, we play well again but soon faced a 2-0 score. Yelling at the squad during half time helped as we came back to 2-2. They scored another and with less than 1 min to go, we managed to slide the ball past the goalie again. Happy with the 3-3 as a loss would not be good at all.

For our next game, we played the perfect game and

. Everything just went right. The tactic worked beautiful and the players performed great with 18yo Pozzi claiming the main role. Really surprised by the result, but also ecstatic.

We were kind of confident of playing a good game in Juventus as well, but that wasn't the case. A shamefull 4-1 loss with hardly any chances for us. We also lose in Madrid 2-1 but that was expected. We are faced with a situation now, that if we win our last game at home vs. Fenerbace and At.Madrid wins in Juventus, we would qualify for the knockout phase! We demolish Fenerbace 5-0, and the other game turns out to be a thriller with At.Madrid pulling of the win with 2-3. Phew , we qualify for the next stage.

That next stage is going to be insteresting as we play Napoli.

I signed 3 new players in January:

Miroslaw Vlaovic - signed him for free! Looks like I found my top noch goalie.

Lothar Maurer - good defender to head incoming crosses away. Should claim Van Der Plas' spot in defence.

Yoann Guilou - french defender for the future

Best Goals:

[laBOMBA]

2022-2023 End of Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings - Progress - Championship Group - Match Results 1 - Match Results 2

Both Fiorentina and Everton asked me to manage them, but I declined. I want to keep going with Brugge as I feel I am on my way to make them into a club that can maybe win a major European title one day.

I can be fairly short with the rest of the season: we didn't lose a single game, won the league and qualified for the Championship Group. In the Championship Group, we have to play Genk, Beerschot AC, Anderlecht, AA Gent and Standard. None of these teams could stop us from claiming our 4th title in a row and we easily won the Championship Group as well. 4th title for Brugge in a row, 3 of them with me as manager.

The Cup was a lot better as well: we reach the final (as the board requested) and win an easy

. We win the double!

The Champions League was very good as well. In the 1st Knockout Round, we win a convincing

. I was kinda expecting them to change their tactic since ours was working really well against theirs, but in their home game, they still played the same way. We had most possession again and drew 2-2. It turned out to be a fairly easy knockout game. The quarter Final will be totally different as we play a very strong Real Madrid. We lose in Madrid with 2-0 and could not compete at home either. We were 1-1 for a while, but they scored another 2 bringing the final score to 1-3. Nothing to worry about as they quite strong with this player in their ranks: Jaime Aizpurua. Actually quite happy with the results.

What frustrates me this season, and the previous seasons as well, is that the Belgian press doesn't have any recognition for my achievments. You would think that winning the double and getting as far as the Quarter Final in the Champions League would make me manager of the year? I didn't even get a nomination! Really pissed off about that!

Results:

Pro League: Winners!

Belgian Cup: Winners!

Champions League: Quarter Final loss to Real Madrid

MVP: Alain Christian Nzoghe

Top Goalscorer: Daniel Graciani, he was injured a lot but when he played, he scored a lot: 30 goals out of 33 games

Best Youth Prospect: Vic Vandendriessche

Formation: 4-2-3-1

GK - Miroslav Vloavic

DL - Ewerton

DC - Teun van der Plas

DC - Rodolfo De Felippe

DR - Jacaré

DMC - Bram Rutten

DMC - Christos Lebrun

AML - Josh Dunleavy

AMC - Martín Pozzi

AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe

ST - Daniel Graciani

[deltablue]

Commanding title.

[Moonshine]

Why do your regens have shirts?

[laBOMBA]

Why do your regens have shirts?

I like to add a few graphics here and there.

[laBOMBA]

2023-2024 Pre-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

We got our new shiny 40802 seater stadium and I feel we're ready to make our mark in Europe.

New Players for this season are:

Juan Manuel Vivaldo - had my eye on him for a while, did a $13M bid and was able to offer him a contract. It's a great buy as he would be one of my best players

Hans-Georg Franz - I got him for free. My scout thinks he could be good in the future... We'll wait and see about that.

Anthony Peeters -Offered him a contract and he accepted to come over from Mons and play in our u19 squad.

Floriano -I got high hopes from him. Very mobile player and squeezes himself through the tiniest gap. I already bought him when he was 16, but he could only come over to Belgium when he turned 18.

Germán Ruiz - he would play on the opposite flank than Floriano in the future. He'll play a few games this season as well.

Mikel Velay - young Spanish DMC for the future.

Media Prediction: 1st

Board expectations:

• Win Pro League
  
• Reach Group Stage Champions League
  
• Reach Finals Belgian Cup
  

I also noticed that my reputation has gone up to "World Class"! It basically makes me the best manager around and that was where my challenge would take me. I guess I have to think of a new set of goals now...

After a little bit of thinking, I realised this is a good opportunity to get a few achievements that I haven't done yet in the LLM way throughout the different FM versions. Things to achieve:

• Win the Seria A in Italy
  
• Win the Liga BBVA in Spain
  
• Win the World Cup
  
• Win the Champions League. I have won the Champions League before (FM11), but I'll put this on my list for this save as well
  
• Be a one club manager and bring a lower club to the top of the country. I'll do that with a new manager once I reached retirement age and hopefully achieved all of the above.
  

[deltablue]

Proper big-club stadium capacity now.

[laBOMBA]

Proper big-club stadium capacity now.

Yeah, but it's already too small. We're getting sellouts every home game again. Sounds like we'll have to do an upgrade fairly soon.

[SRL88]

Great work getting a new stadium. Sounds like you need an ungrade already ha.

[laBOMBA]

If only I could pursuade the board that this would be a good thing. They should realise that we're consistently in the group stage in the Champions League, and even qualify for the knockout rounds so there is big money up for grabs during those games. Even the Pro League games get sold out or thereabouts. An extra 10000 seats would be nice.

[laBOMBA]

2023-2024 Mid-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings (January) - Champions League

As expected, the season starts very well for us. We didn't lose a single game halfway the season and were comfortably first. Our rival for the past 3 seasons Genk had a terrible start. Standard stepped up to claim second spot in the ladder 15pts behind us!

With a good sized squad, I could finally rest my best players the game before a champions league game. With a fully rested squad, I should do well. We meet Arsenal, Palermo and the Danish AGF in our group. The fully rested squad really helped as we only consolidated 2 goals, and won every single game:

Club Brugge - AGF 3-0

Palermo - Club Brugge 1-2

Arsenal - Club Brugge 0-2

Club Brugge - Arsenal 1-0

AGF - Club Brugge 1-6

Club Brugge - Palermo 2-0

We were group winner by the 5th game and qualified for the first knockout stage where we will meet Man Utd. If we can beat them, we'll have to be considered as outsiders for the Champions League crown.

With a "world class" reputation, suddenly everyone knows you. I noticed that it becomes relatively easy to offer contracts to young promising players. Suddenly they are honoured to work with me while last season they believed their future was at their club of origin. More updates about these signings when they arrive in Brugge at the end of the season.

One new signing during january:

Michael Severs - American AML/ST that is borderline first team. If he improves a bit, he ll be a great player.

[Golden1807]

Is winning the Champions League with Brugge the aim now? that would be quite an achievement

[laBOMBA]

Is winning the Champions League with Brugge the aim now? that would be quite an achievement

I want to stay at Club Brugge for at least 5 seasons. This is my fourth season with the club so if I win the Champions League this season, or the next, that would be awesome. I keep getting better and better players though and I feel the club can compete with the biggest clubs in Europe which would mean I'd like to stay a bit longer at Brugge as we could have a crack at the CL-title. If it doesn't happen, then I'll likely continue my journey at either a Spanish or Italian giant. I've been offered a contract for a lot of money at AC Milan and Tottenham, but refused so far.

[SRL88]

You have done a great job in Belgium. You deserve a chance on the bigger stage.

[laBOMBA]

You have done a great job in Belgium. You deserve a chance on the bigger stage.

Soon I'll accept one of these offers from bigger clubs. I just want to take my favourite club as far as I can.

[laBOMBA]

2023-2024 End of Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings - Champions Group - Matches 1 - Matches 2

As predicted, we easily win the Pro League and qualify for the Champion Group together with Standard, Lierse, Genk, Beerschot AC and Charleroi. Anderlecht had a terrible season and finished 7th. My former club KAS Eupen finally got promoted last season and played their very first season at the highest level. Their season was terrible as they could not win a single game, and only got 4 points and 10 goals throughout the season.

Thanks to our great efforts during the season, we start the Champions Group with a 12 point lead over the nr.2 Standard. We only draw once, against Standard, and win all our other games quite easily. It's been a crazy season with only 4 draws and 0, indeed z-e-r-o losses. Quite amazed we did that. Just check these stats and you'll start realising how much difference there is between us and the rest of the Pro League.

We didn't win the Belgian Cup as we lost to Standard in the semi final. 2-0 in Standard and 1-1 at home.

The Champions League was quite exciting for us. We first play at Old Trafford and lose 1-0 with a goal that should have been disallowed due to

. What was the ref thinking? At home we play quite well and get a an even amount of chances. Vivaldo, who barely scores anything, scored in the first half 1-0. We keep our level high and create a chance here and there. Until in the 83rd minute, Floriano runs along the left wing on a counter attack while Nzoghe has followed on the opposite side of the pitch. Floriano sees it, crosses, and Nzoghe has to tap the ball in an empty goal as the goalie was out of position. 2-0! We keep defending well and keep the 2-0 on the scoreboard. I couldn't believe it!

The QF draws us against Ajax, and if we go through, we would play the winner of Sevilla-Barcelona in the SF.

The first leg vs. Ajax was ok. We win 3-2, but had to fight back from 0-2. What really annoyed me is that we got 2 red cards as well. De Felippo tackled their striker going to goal which is an immediate red. Fair enough that he did that as we were 3-2 up and 2 minutes to play. But then my captain Nzoghe complained with the ref and received a 2nd yellow so he had to hit the showers as well! Completely unnecessary! I fined him 2 weeks wages after that and he thought it was unfair. In Amsterdam we concede a goal straight away. The score stayed like this up till the 84th minute when I decide to go in attacking mode. Ajax gets a counter and easily makes it 2-0. I should have gone for a bit more experience in my line-up as both my teenagers (Floriano & Ruiz) got a CCC and missed composure to finish it. I should have played Dunleavy and Oparaugo instead. Thats it for us in Europe this season... Bummer, I would have hoped for more.

Later, Schalke wins the final with a 2-1 win over Barcelona. Barcelona's best player received a red card in the 4th minute.

Even though I kept requesting for an expansion during the stadium and never got it, the board decided to do it anyway, and with an extra 16000 seats as well. Sweet!

Oh yeah, I still didn't win manager of the year in Belgium. This time I came 2nd behind the Standard manager.

Results:

Pro League: Winner!

Belgian Cup: lost to Standard in semi final

Champions League: QF loss to Ajax.

MVP: young kid Floriano who is labelled as a wonderkid

Top Goalscorer: Who else but Graciani?

Alain Christian Nzoghe wins the Pro League Golden Boot as well.

Best Formation:

4-2-3-1

Best 11:

GK - Miroslav Vlaovic

DL - Juan Manuel Vivaldo

DC - Rodolfo De Felippe

DC - Lothar Maurer

DR - Jacaré

DMC - Christos Lebrun

DMC - Bram Rutten

AML - Floriano

AMC - Martín Pozzi

AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe

ST - Daniel Graciani

Best Goals:

,

Season 2023-2024

Belgium

The qualification rounds for the European Championships for Belgium were relatively easy. Liechtenstein and Cyprus were easy wins, Slovakia and Greece a bit harder. We do end up 2nd behind Greece and qualify for the European Championships in Spain.

European Championships:

Our group consists of Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Not too bad as I consider Russia to be less strong than countries like Spain, Italy, Germany,....

We had a mixed preparation to the Championships with a 3-1 loss to Germany, 3-1 win to Wales and a 3-1 loss to Croatia.

Our first game vs. Russia was great! Even though we conceided 2 early goals, we managed to claw 2 back, and even score a third with 5 mins to go! Needless to say Russia put everything on attack and they managed to squeeze one in in extra time, 3-3. Not a bad result. Ukraine was way too strong for us in the next game: 1-0. Surprisingly as they had a gazillion shots at goal, and we only had 2 off target all game! The must win game vs Bulgaria should bring us either 2nd or 3rd in our group and qualify for the 2nd round. We played well all game and knocked them back 4-1. Ukraine is first, Russia 2nd and we qualify as best placed third.

We meet hosts Spain in the 2nd round. It was one of those games where you stare at the screen, jaw drops, take glasses off, bang head against table, put glassed back on, check the screen again, take glasses off, bang head some more... just look at these stats. We play really well, had the best chances and still lost with a massive 1-6. We did not deserve this.

Two days later I handed in my resignation. Not only because of the result, but also because I'll never win a World Cup with Belgium. I'll try applying for jobs with better nations. I applied for Italy and Germany, but both of them laughed at my application. Funnily enough, England and Russia offered me the job. I took England's job offer as they have more skilled players to possibly do really well in the next World Cup.

European Championship Results:

2nd Round:

Belgium - Spain 1-6

Norway - Denmark 0-3

Portugal - Ireland 1-0

Italy - Holland 3-1 et

Turkey - France 0-1

Ukraine - Greece 2-1

Sweden - Germany 1-3

Russia - England 1-0

QF:

Denmark - Spain 1-1 (Spain on penalties)

Portugal - Italy 2-1

Russia - Germany 1-2

Ukraine - France 1-3

SF:

France - Portugal 1 -1 (France on penalties)

Germany - Spain 3-4 et

Final:

Spain - France 2-5

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 Pre-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

My contract with Brugge runs out at the end of this season. I get paid $14000/week and when Brugge offered me a contract for $13750 until 2028, I got really annoyed. 4 consecutive Pro League titles, 1 Cup win, and I brought the club to 21st spot in the UEFA rankings and they offer me a lower wage? That felt like a kick in the guts. I reckon this will be my last season with Brugge. Man City offered me a contract the week before for $41000/week which I rejected. If a big Italian or Spanish club offers me a contract at the end of this season, I'll likely accept.

We had to say goodbye to 2 of my key players since foreign clubs offered their release clause:

Juan Manuel Vivaldo - Palermo paid us $11.75M for his services

Jacaré - went to Fiorentina for 15.25M

We also said goodbye to Xaxá and Michel Oparaugo as I found they were sitting on the bench too much and they could be of good use in another club. They went to Feyenoord and Catania.

As said before, my World Class reputation made sure that young good players accept my contract offers. New signings this season:

Rodrigo - got him for free from PSG. I believe he can fill in for Graciani when he is tired or unavailable to play. Might get him to tutor Rodrigo.

Christian Fedeli - coming over from Lazio for $3.6M, this talented fast player can bolster into a quality player for Brugge soon

Pierpaolo Campana - coming over from Parma for free. A good poacher, or could also play in Pozzi's spot right behind the lone striker.

Miguel González - He was most expensive buy: $5M from Universidad Católica. I needed a quality defender, he'll be really good in midfield too.

Sébastien Eboule Bille -free from Bastia, this French wing back will have to fill in for the gap my 2 wing backs left when they got poached

Daniel Raponi - fast young winger. Looks good for the future

Media Prediction: 1st

Board Expectations:

Pro League: 1st

Belgian Cup: Win the Cup

Champions League: reach the playoff, which we have done without playing a single game in the past 4 seasons. Stupid board...

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 Mid-Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings (January) - Champions League

I tried to steer away from my usual 4-2-3-1 approach as I got a new load of Italian Attacking midfielders/Strikers in, and they are all eager to play and ready to take up a spot in the starting 11. In my usual line-up they have to battle it out with Graciani and that is pretty hard for those kids as Graciani is head and shoulders above the rest. With 4-3-3, I can at least swap them around and play whoever performs best. Also, Teagno just had his first cap for Italy in the past European Championships so I'm afraid I might lose him if I don't play him regulary.

With the 4-3-3 formation, our no-loss run from last season was abruptly finished by a 1st round loss to STVV 2-1. It was a bit surprusing, but then again, they had a really good run the first quarter of the season. It was a one off loss as we kept beating the opposition quite easily with the 4-3-3 formation. Including a massive 9-0 over last seasons title contenders Standard.

We were placed first at mid season, and had a lead of 7pts over Anderlecht. The STVV 1st round game has been the only loss so far, and the new 4-3-3 tactic works like a treat.

You would think that being 2nd seed for the Champions League would draw easier opponents in your group. We were bottom in the 2nd seeds list, and we drew all the highest ranked teams in seed groups 1, 3 and 4, respectively Real Madrid, Olympic Marseille and Dinamo Zagreb. It's going to be tough.

It was tougher than last season, but overall we did ok. Real was too strong and OM was about our level. We got lucky OM dropped points to Dinamo so we could go through as 2nd placed.

We meet Sevilla in the first Knockout round. They have been consistently finishing in the top3 in Spain over the past 5 seasons.

Results:

Club Brugge - OM 1-1

Real Madrid - Club Brugge 3-2

Club Brugge - Dinamo 3-0

Dinamo - Club Brugge 1-3

OM - Club Brugge 1-1

Club Brugge - Real Madrid 1-2

Even though my scouts worked hard, and I have a bit of cash to spend, I didn't buy any players during the January transfer window. I could use another defender, but at the moment we're doing well with what we got.

[deltablue]

Well done squeaking through from that group.

[laBOMBA]

Well done squeaking through from that group.

It was a great season in Europe, check out following update.

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 End of Season update

Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

Pro League Standings - Progress - Champions Group - Matches 1 - Matches 2

As predicted, we won the pro league after the champions stage quite easily. Only 1 loss against Genk, to bring our total losses to 2. We won the league with 5 games to go. It gave our key players a rest so they can focus on the cup and the champions league.

If there is one thing we do really well, it would be our efficiency. This showed in the home game for the Champions League vs. Sevilla. We only have a handfull of chances, while they have a lot more possession and shots at goal, and we still win with 2-0. The away game was great as well as we won it with 1-3. We then have to play ManU in the quarter and either Real or Bayern in the semi final if we get through.

We kicked ManU out last season, and we've done the same this season. A great 4-1 victory at home, and the away game quickly became obsolete when Nzoghe scored the a goal early in the game. We ended up winning 2-3.

Real Madrid is next. De Filippo marks their star striker very well and he couldn't do anything major all game. Real scored only once by Ewerton missing his tackle and the other striker has a clear run at goal and scores the only goal of the game.1-0 in Madrid is not a bad result. At home, we conceide a goal in the 4th minute. We now have to score 3 times to go through. At half time, we managed to score and were 1-1. We keep most possession and have a chance on target here and there. With 20 mins to go, Graciani scores the 2-1 and we are starting to believe in an upset by knocking Real out of the Champions League and going through to the final. We had a few chances still, but nothing hit the nets and the final score was 2-1. Gutted.... so close, but just out of reach. Real later wins the final 2-1 over Napoli who are having a ripper of a season in both Champions League and Seria A. Funnily enough, Sevilla wins the Spanish League. How come we can beat the league winner easily, but not the 2nd placed team?

We qualify for the cup final quite easily as well. We meet Lokeren and win 2-0. Another Cup for our trophy cabinet.

I decided I have done my best with Brugge and didn't extend my contract. They had a major increase in facilities during my reign, and their future at the top in Europe is secured. Club Brugge is now 16th on the UEFA Coefficient list, the richest club in Belgium and 26th richest in Europe.

Free as a bird, I am open to listen to any decent contract offers from other clubs while I focus on bringing England to the world cup next season. At Madrid offered me a contract but I rejected as I still had to play the Belgian Cup final.

What consistently annoyes me every season in the Pro League, and again this season, is that I don't seem to be able to win manager of the year. This season I wasn't even shortlisted even though we won the league, the cup and reached the semi final of the Champions League. Even Lothar Maurer has the best average rating of the league, but when the best performing player award is handed over, he ends up third! It feels like the Belgians don't appreciate the efforts of Club Brugge.

Results:

Pro League: winner

Belgian Cup: winner

Champions League: semi final loss to Real Madrid

MVP: Lothar Maurer

Top goalscorer: Daniel Graciani

The awards my players got this season:

Alain Christian Nzoghe got the golden boot, but wasn't even nominated for the Ebony Boot (best african player)

Miroslav Vlaovic is best goalkeeper of the Pro League and the Champions League. He is in the best 11 of the Champions League together with 8 Real Madrid players.

Christos Lebrun got most assists in the Pro League, which is odd as he usually starts on the bench.

Best formation: 4-3-3

Best 11:

GK - Miroslav Vlaovic

DL - Ewerton

DC - Rodolfo De Felippe

DC - Lothar Maurer

DR - Sébastien Eboule Bille

MC - Miguel Gonzalez

MC - Martín Pozzi

MC - Floriano

ST - Daniel Graciani

ST - Diego Teagno

ST - Alain Christian Nzoghe

Best Goals:

,

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 update

England

2024 Matches - 2025 Matches

The English team looks good enough to challenge for a World Cup title, however it will be hard against the 2 South American nations Brazil and especially Argentina. Spain is a contender as well, and you can never look besides Germany or France. Nation Standings

The qualification for the World Cup should be easy with the following nations in our Group: Ukraine, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Andorra. The first game in Ukraine was my first one for England and we started off with a narrow 1-2 win. We then win 4-0 against Andorra and have a suprising loss to Slovenia. N.Ireland and Scotland are won fairly easy with both games 4-0.

The next round of matches turned out to be very succesful with no real dangers as we beat Ukraine and we take a good lead over Slovenia by beating them away with 4-0 as well. Seems like our magic scorline.

We only needed one win in the next 2 games: in Northern Ireland, and at home vs. Scotland.

We absolutely hammered Northern Ireland with an amazing 2-8 victory, and qualified for the World Cup. The last game at home vs. Scotland had no importance for either country, but we won it with 5-0 anyway.

I have a bit of mixed feelings for the draw for the World Cup. We play against Belgium, Cameroon and Iran. Cameroon is 7th in the rankings and will be very though. Iran should be ok, but I'm also worried about Belgium. They easily won their qualification in a group with Russia and only lost 1 game. Belgium also recruited Graciani as he has been handed a Belgian passport since he lived in Belgium for the past 5 years. He has 6 caps and 5 goals at the moment.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good work Bomba.

[laBOMBA]

Good work Bomba.

Cheers mate

[laBOMBA]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]0[/ATTACH]

No good jobs came up until early December. Tycoon run Burnley sacked their manager, but I didn't want to apply for it as I wanted to manage in either Spain or Italy. Luckily, the Lazio manager got the job and I got his at Lazio. A 3 year contract for $21.5k/week.

2025-2026 Mid-Season update

SS Lazio – Italian Seria A

Lazio has won a few titles before, but not a great deal. It also never won a European title. The facilities are ok, although it could use a few youth upgrades. I hope to build a new stadium one day as they pay a bit of rent each year.

Lazio was 6th in the seria A when I took over. Not a bad spot as the media prediction is 10th.

Key players:

Rubén Santacreu - great playmaker. Even though he is 32, he easily the best player of the squad. Curious to see how long he can keep playing at this level.

Mauro Ibáñez - good winger, should provide a lot of assists

Guychel Lando Fusu - good wing back. Getting a bit older but should be of good use for a few more seasons

I had to deal with a few injuries to key players. It was also a bit awkward to find a good tactic with the current squad which made us lose the first 3 games. We sneaked in 1 win before the January break and found out that the good old 4-4-2 is actually the best tactic. We recuperated a few injured players over the break, and I also brought in a few staff members and 2 new players. Both strikers as I felt the current attack force was not good enough for the top of Seria A.

New players:

Fabrizio Rossi - he moved from juve to chelsea a few seasons ago but was mostly benched there. It was time for him to return to Italy.

Constant Diaby - was voted 2nd best young player at the last Africa Cup. He was playing for Zamalek and was very eager to progress his career in Italy.

With these new players and an injury free squad, we should do alright. Even though the board expects a respectable league position, I hope we reach European qualification by finishing in the top 7.

[laBOMBA]

2025-2026 End of Season update

SS Lazio – Italian Seria A

League Standings - Progress - Matches 1 - Matches 2

Rossi and Diaby turned out to be good buys as they both performed well. This showed in our team scoring a lot more goals in the 2nd half of the season than in the first half. We climbed up the ladder and were in a great 3rd spot with one game to go. The top 2 (Juve and Palermo) were too strong for the competition, and they had a big gap with us and Napoli. We were battling for 3rd spot with Napoli and AC Milan. Our last game was against league winners Juve. We lost and both AC and Napoli passed us in the ranking. We just missed to qualify for the champions league because of that, but we got into the Europa Cup. That sucks as we were placed 3rd for quite a while.

Results:

Seria A: 5th

Italian cup: previous manager lost to AC Milan in 4th qualifying round

MVP & Top goalscorer: Constant Diaby

Best formation: 4-4-2

GK - Dennis Schaap

DL - Guychel Lando Fusu

DC - Costel Cojoc

DC - Matías De Los Santos

DR - Islam Khalifa

ML - George

MC - Rubén Santacreu

MC - Brinco

MR - Mauro Ibáñez

ST - Constant Diaby

ST - Fabrizio Rossi

Best goals:

[SRL88]

Nice move to Lazio .

[laBOMBA]

2026 World Cup

England

We played 2 preparation games in which I try 2 different tactics. A 4-1-3-2 without wingers against Saudi Arabia which we win with a less than convincing 1-0. And we play Israel with the formation I played at Brugge: 4-2-3-1 with 2 attacking wingers/inside forwards. It works well as we won 4-0. So I'm considering playing this tactic, and the one I did the qualification games with: 4-4-2, with the wingers moved up into an attacking role.

The World Cup Squad

This 4-4-2 attacking tactic worked very well against Iran as we beat them with a huge 1-7 score in our first World Cup game. Hattrick from Tottenham player Grant Rimmer.

Our second game against Belgium was good as well. We apply the same tactic as the previous game, but with less success. We do win the game, but it took, blood sweat and tears. Our defender got red carded while we were 2-0 ahead deep in the 2nd half. The final score stayed at 2-0 for England. My home nation wasn't very happy with me.

Both Cameroon and England were already qualified at this stage since we both won our first 2 games. I played the Brugge tactic against Cameroon with a few new faces but it turned out not to be such a good tactic for England. A bore 0-0 draw.

The 2nd round against Italy was going to be a lot tougher. Back to the 4-4-2 attacking and we actually have the upperhand at the start of the game. We score the first 2 goals, but Italy gets one back before half-time. Still in attacking mood, we get a counter and score the 3-1 with 20 minutes to go. I changed the tactic to a heavily populated defence but it fails initially as Italy gets another one in. They tried for a third one, but it failed so we ended up winning the game with 3-2!

Quarter final is against Egypt. I actually consider Egypt to be an outsider for the Word Cup Title. They have players in the best clubs in Europe. Just look at the quality of their squad: Ibrahim Fathy, Haytham Zahran, Yassin Samir, Yehia Hassan, Mohamed Shokry, Islam Khalifa, Ahmed Fahmy,... and look at which teams they play

They have beaten Spain in their group round and kicked Croatia out of the World Cup. It showed they were strong as it was very hard to create a few chances while they seemed to find the gaps in our defence quite easily. In one of our rare attacks, Rimmer goes down in the box, we get a penalty, but Dawson missed it. A following attack sees Turner getting the ball on the left wing, dribble past his defender and shooting it straight into the top near corner. The goalie got a hand to it but t was a great kick. Undeserved, but we lead 1-0. Egypt keeps pushing and get a goal in with 5 mins to go. Extra time didn't impress anyone so we went to penalties. Egypt misses the first two, we miss the 3rd and 4th penalty (Dawson again!). Then Egypt misses their last penalty so it's up to Nightingale to score the winner... and he does! We go through even though it should have been Egypt. Result

We meet Holland in the Semi Final. Again, they dominate in the first half but we manage to score the first goal, an own-goal by the dutch defender who didn't see the cross and it bounced off his back into the goal. Lucky! Holland comes back before half time with a great goal 1-1. The 2nd half was terrible. My defender, who played his first world cup game due to injuries and suspensions of my other defenders gets a straight red early in the 2nd half. With Holland being this overwhelming and us being a man down I assumed it was a lost cause. That wasn't the case as we managed to score! Actually, the same dutch defender scored another own goal trying to clear the ball while no English player was close! What are the chances? Holland didn't score again so we go through to the final! Undeserved again... We also have a terrible discipline as a few players are suspended and we also have a few injuries. I should have brought more defenders in the squad. Result (I don't think Robin Kamphuis will sleep well that night), Match Stats

The final is against host nation Mexico. This game was more to our standad as we mostly dominated throughout the whole game. They get a few chances, but we got a few better ones and actualy scored with a nice goal from Heston. Later, Dawson fired in a free-kick and we were leading with 2-0. Mexico couldn't come back and England wins the 2026 World Cup! Result,

including 2 splendid goals!

A bit of mixed feelings with the title as I didn't feel we were the strongest team, but I guess that's football... we just got lucky.

World Cup Results - Player Stats

Englands winning World Cup squad:

GK - Richard Harris

DL - Jason Firth

DC - Dan Baker

DC - Jermaine Lange

DR - Kevin Kane

MC - Simon Dawson

MC - Lenell Nelson

AML - Craig Cooper

AMR - Stuart Heston

ST - Ben Turner

ST - Grant Rimmer

To my surprise, Ben Turner was voted best player of the World Cup. A bit odd as I wasn't going to include him in the squad at first but due to Nightingale being suspended for the first game Turner played a few games and actually performed better.

Since we organise the 2028 European Championships, we don't need to play any qualification games. We only play friendlies for the next 2 seasons and we kicked off with a great 1-2 win in Brazil. At first I thought the World Title was a bit of luck, and we weren't the strongest squad, but after a good win in Brazil I feel we are one of the best teams around.

including a wonderful goal from Rimmer.

[SRL88]

Excellent tournament .

[laBOMBA]

2026-2027 Season update

SS Lazio – Italian Seria A

I got a few youth players in my Lazio squad as I couldn't afford any better players with my limited transfer budget of $15M. It was still ok to get a few players in, including 2 youth prospects from Club Brugge who I know will do well as they were being followed by ManU and other major European clubs. The season started quite badly. Losses to Atalanta and Siena made me worry about my future at the club and the board feels I should perform better. I didn't feel comfortable at Lazio and felt it would take a lot of effort to bring this team to glory in the Seria A. Besides this feeling, I also prefer the satisfaction of building a team from zero, to an international stronghold. So I decided to quit my post at Lazio, but remain in international management as I developed a taste for winning international titles.

With winning the World Cup, my reputation went up to World Class again and lots of clubs were interested in signing me, but since I was on holiday most of the time, I missed a few opportunities with big clubs. In a way, that turned out to be a good thing as in June, when I returned from holiday to play a game with England, the Italian manager Ugo Di Iorio decided to retire and leave a vacant post at Barcelona. Not long after, Barcelona offered me the job and I did not have to think about this offer as I accepted without even looking at the squad, club finances etc... Ugo has been the manager since 2014 (that's 13 years!) and last won the League, but also the Champions League. Same story as with Brugge, I have big shoes to fill.

I'll try Barcelona for a season (even though I signed for 5 seasons) and see if I want to continue managing one of the most successful clubs in the world. I really want to get back to managing a small team though.

[laBOMBA]

2027-2028 Season update

Barcelona FC – Spanish Liga BBVA

Media Prediction: 1st

Board Expectations:

Win the BBVA

Final of Champions League

Final of Spanish Cup

The squad is ageing with most good players between 29 and 33yo. They are still awesome players, but not for much longer.

As you expect from a team full of champions, the performances were great. Although we drew here and there, Real didn't lose points at all. They had a great season and won more games than we did so they became the winners of the league. We ended 2nd.

The champions league was ok. The group stage was easy with Dortmund, Fiorentina and M. Haifa. We only lose 1 game against Fiorentina while the rest is easily won. Next we beat Chelsea in the knockout round, push Man City aside easily in the Qtr Final and reach the semis where we lose against Atletico Madrid. Damn Madrid teams...

We did better to win the Spanish cup over the club that knocked us out of the Champions League, Atletico Madrid.

MVP: Carlos

Top Goalscorer: Carlos

GK - Miroslav Vlaovic

DL - Gastón Cerutti

DC - Vincent Oueslati

DC - José

DR - Carlos Ochoa

MC - Juan Romano

MC - Luciano Jara

AMC - José Antonio

AMC - Alexandr Zaitsev

AMC - Pierpaolo Campana

ST - Carlos

I actually had more fun with England and preparing for the European Championship. So I decided to quit my job at Barcelona. They're a team full of champions, but they're not my champions. I didn't put the team together. So I'm going to resign and focus on England, the European Championship and qualification for the world cup.

European Championship:

We started off great in our group against Poland, Holland and Wales.

England - Poland 3-0

England - Holland 1-1

England Wales 6-0, lots of goals from our grey haired striker Dan Nightingale.

We then meet France in the 2nd round. Very close game but overall lucky to have scored one more than France. It could have gone either way: 2-1 win.

Romania was a little bit easier in the Qtr Final and we win with a convincing 2-0

We get Spain in the SF, and they are a very strong squad. It turns out to be very difficult and we failed to win the game. Spain goes through with a 3-1 victory. Spain eventually wins the European Championship.

Past Eur.Champ winners

Past World Cup winners

Maybe we can retain the world cup title in 2 seasons.

[laBOMBA]

2028-2029 Season update

England

The nations we have to play to qualify for Italy 2050 are Poland, Czech Republic, Bosnia & Herzegovina and FYR Macedonia.

These are the results up to end of season 2028-2029:

England - Macedonia 4-0

Czech Republic - England 1-3

England - Poland 2-0

Bosnia & Herzegovina - England 0-1

Macedonia - England 0-1

We also play the confederations cup and play Argentina, France and New Zealand in the group stage. Easy 5-0 against NZ, a great 0-1 victory over Argentina and France is also pushed aside with 2-0. We meet Spain in the semi final and completely dominate, but no goals... even in extra time no one scores. The dreadful penalties will decide. These were our penalties: post, goal, post, post, post! Did they make the goals smaller? Spain also missed 2, but got 2 in at least. Stupid! We beat Italy for 3rd spot and Argentina wins the final over Spain. We did great and beat some big teams so I'm confident for a good result in next years world cup.