[FM12] The complete world encyclopedia of insults shouted at virtual football players

[noikeee]

Thanks guys, it's all gone easier than I expected so far.

[noikeee]

August 2012

Transfers (in)

Only one transfer this month, a loan from Brazil:

Willie (AMC / ST) – Cheap extra option for AMC.

Fixtures

Super League: Delémont 3-0 Zürich (Roberts(2), Keita)

Wow, that’s a superb result, I’m delighted. Even if it wasn’t as one-sided as the scoreline makes it seem.

Super League: Servette 1-1 Delémont (Sani)

Good result but we could’ve won as Servette played with 10 almost the entire second half.

Super League: Delémont 0-2 Basel

No shame here, Basel’s comfortably Switzerland’s best side.

Super League: Thun 0-0 Delémont

Plenty of chances for both sides, we even hit the bar in injury time, but it’s the first 0-0 of my career.

Super League: Lausanne 1-1 Delémont (Roberts)

We did well to equalize late on, if we had lost Lausanne would’ve caught us from last place.

Player of the Month

Starting to come good, scored 3 of the team’s 5 goals this month.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: First opponents are lower league side Chippis, away.

Summary

Looking good, it’s awesome to be in 3rd place, but in this extremely tight league we’re only a mere 3 points above the dreaded 10th place which gives relegation. It all promises to be a very exciting season.

[noikeee]

Squad - 2012/2013

The full roster that will attack the new season for Delémont:

[noikeee]

September 2012

Fixtures

Super League: Delémont 1-0 Grasshoppers (Pinedo)

Lucky to scrap a late winner in a corner in a dull uninspired game.

Super League: St. Gallen 2-4 Delémont (Szlykowicz, Sani(3))

Wow. We were playing awfully and being comprehensively outplayed, even briefly losing by 2-0, when Emmanuel Sani decided to have a blinding game scoring an hat-trick, one of his 3 goals a sublime lob.

Super League: Luzern 5-2 Delémont (Szlykowicz, Sani)

Wild goalfest as we paid the price for trying to play an open game. A very abrupt end to a great run. Moreover Gilson Silva picked up a 10 month injury… oh dear.

Schweizer Cup: Chippis 0-2 Delémont (Rodriguez, Ammari)

A hilariously never-ending festival of missed chances.

Super League: Delémont 1-1 Young Boys (Rigo)

Good to get a point against a top team, not so good to throw away a lead against 10 men.

Player of the Month

Could’ve been Emmanuel Sani for that astonishing performance versus St. Gallen, but Johnny scored and/or assisted in every league match this month.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: Next up are FC Wabern. Who?

Summary

I’m quite pleased with how things are going, despite being well aware that 16 points in 11 games isn’t a tally that would usually give us 3rd place. We’re benefitting from the fact no team in this league other than Basel gets a decent consistent run of form.

[noikeee]

October 2012

Transfers (in)

A scouting trip to Denmark proved inspired:

Daniel Meineke (GK) – Promising keeper I picked up on a free, already near the level of my #1 choice Sebastien Robert, at the age of 19. 4,5* PA.

Jimmy Jespersen (AMC / MC, ST) – I’m placing big hopes on him and his 5* of PA.

Joachim Thygesen (ST / AMC) – Another 5* of PA. I think my staff are trolling me, I can’t possibly have just signed two future Michael Laudrups and one half-a-Schmeichel.

Fixtures

Super League: FC Zurich 3-2 Delémont (Rodriguez(2))

Good old Mike tried his best, scoring a brace after coming from the bench, but we lost deservedly to a superior side even if we had clearer chances.

Schweizer Cup: Wabern 0-3 Delémont (Rodriguez (2), Lowinsky)

As expected.

Super League: Delémont 0-0 Servette

We were lucky to get out of this with a point after a dreadful home performance against a team that dropped to dead last with this result.

Player of the Month

Not sure whether I should be happy he’s outperforming my theoretical better forwards, or worried that we seem to be relying on a third-choice 32 year old striker and his… hints of pace. Either way, 4 goals this month.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: Third round opponents are Bellinzona who we faced last year in the Challenge League.

Summary

Boring month with only 3 competitive matches. Plenty of the season to come up yet and I believe we need to cling on to that 3rd place for as long as possible, scrapping as many points as possible from every match, as we may really need them later on. The whole league feels like a giant relegation battle – and then Basel.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Basel are dominating. Surprised that Young Boys aren't up there too.

[deltablue]

Good job keeping up such a strong first season up.

[B.W.G]

Good start to the season and it seems second place isn't too far out of reach.

[noikeee]

November 2012

Transfers (out)

I released on a free the veteran midfielder Anthony Sirufo, who was about to retire at the end of the season anyway.

Fixtures

Super League: Basel 3-0 Delémont

I didn’t even bother to attack to avoid being battered. It didn’t work.

Super League: Delémont 2-1 Thun (Szlykowicz, Jarosch)

Quite pleased to grab a league win again, it’s been a while. Particularly against the 2nd placed in the table. A team meeting helped to motivate the team for this very scrappy game.

Super League: Delémont 1-0 Lausanne (Ortlechner(og))

Another lucky win in an extremely tight game – we benefitted from an early owngoal. I’ll take the 3 points.

Player of the Month

Everyone was very average this month so better pick my top class but unspectacular player who was suspended for the Basel shambles, and then did well in the other two matches.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: Bellinzona away right up ahead in the 1st of December.

Summary

Well the trouncing at Basel was to be expected, otherwise the 2 wins were a great boost even if we were quite lucky in both games. The field is starting to spread apart a little in the league and while it’s still early days, the top 5 places give European qualification, even the 2nd place goes to the Champions League. I’m daring to starting to think of it a bit.

[TheGreatTraveler]

You have a nice 8 point Cushion from relegation, not bad. The win to Thun gives you chances of being in the CL next season.

[noikeee]

December 2012

Transfers (in)

I signed two guys on frees:

Mirko Barbero (DM / MC) – I needed a backup DM after releasing Sirufo on a free and this kid fills that role, whilst also having 4* of PA.

Juan Albín (AMC / AML, ST) – I sort of bankrupted the club with the loyalty bonus and agent fee to bring him in, but it’s got to be worth it, he’s easily the most talented played in my whole squad now. 5* of CA…

Fixtures

Schweizer Cup: Bellinzona 2-3 Delémont (Sani(2), Duventru)

I’d like to thank our opponents for opening up highways for Emmanuel Sani. Nice to see Duventru scoring his first of the season too, he’s been underwhelming compared to last year.

Super League: Delémont 1-4 Luzern (Pinedo)

Would be the understatement of the century to say everything that could’ve gone wrong, went wrong. By 10 minutes we were losing 2-0, and they’ve only had had one shot – Guillaume Katz scored in his own goal the other one. Then 20 minutes later he scores another owngoal. Awesome.

Super League: Grasshoppers 0-0 Delémont

Superkeeper bug. Thankfully the superkeeper played for us – Sebastién Robert. I can’t believe we went out of this without conceding, it got to a point it was funny, they even hit the woodwork twice in succession.

Friendly: Delémont 0-2 Basel

First of the winter break friendlies – and it’s not like I thought we’d win this one.

Player of the Month

Emmanuel is amazing on his day, it’s just a shame his days come once every 3 months or so. It came against Bellinzona with a brace and MOM performance.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: Still waiting for the St. Gallen game in the quarter-finals.

Summary

Not a very positive month, we were amazingly bad against Luzern, wildly lucky to get a point from the hoppers, barely scrapped the win against lower league Bellinzona in the cup. And dropped a bit off the pace at the top of the table, now down to 4th. The good news is we seem clear from relegation at this stage, we’re at the halfway mark still but looking much closer to Europe than to a return to the Challenge League.

I’m on holidays this week and looking forward to play a little faster, hopefully finish this season. I’m playing this career very slowly due to lack of time and I don’t want that to kill my motivation because what I really fancy in FM is going way into the future.

[noikeee]

Winter break - January/February 2013

Transfers (in)

One loan:

Deivisson (DC) – Cheap backup centre-back for the rest of the season.

Transfers (out)

I finally managed to get rid of the overpaid centre-back Jimmy Kollar, who went on a free to Tuggen. And I once thought I’d be able to get a very big paycheck for him.. well no.

Fixtures

Friendly: Delémont 1-0 Aarau (Duventru)

Another friendly.

Friendly: Delémont 4-0 Baden (Pinedo(2), Breton (og), Keita)

Yet another.

Friendly: Aalen 4-2 Delémont (Pinedo(2))

And another.

Friendly: Sion 1-2 Delémont (Duncan, Pinedo)

This is boring.

Friendly: Delémont 4-0 La Sarraz (Albín(2), Szlykowicz, Sani)

Enough.

Super League: Delémont 1-1 St. Gallen (Ammari)

Slightly unlucky not to win this but we were not convincing. We lose Pinedo to an injury for at least 7 weeks – when he was on blindingly good form and there’s no other decent right winger.

Super League: Young Boys 1-2 Delémont (Rigo, Duventru)

A great win in a difficult stadium even if Young Boys may be struggling.

Player of the Month

Magnificent game against Young Boys with 2 assists, given a 9.0 rating.

Competitions

Super League: Forgot to take a screenie. 4th place.

Schweizer Cup: Still waiting for the St. Gallen game in the quarter-finals.

Summary

The winter break sucks arse and feels like a waste of time playing, no progress in over 2 months basically. I think FM’s a bit too slow so have removed a bunch of lower leagues from a couple nations that I don’t think I’ll be visiting at that low a level.

[noikeee]

Youth intake 2013

Best player

Dreadful. I’m only signing Ruben and even then I highly doubt he’s ever going to be anywhere near good enough.

[noikeee]

March 2013

Fixtures

Super League: Delémont 1-0 Zürich (Roberts)

Darryl Roberts breaks an 8 hour goal drought to give us the 3 points in a match that could’ve gone either way.

Super League: Servette FC 4-0 Delémont

Our worst performance of the season so far, 1 single shot in 90 minutes against a team like Servette isn’t acceptable at all.

Super League: Delémont 1-3 Basel (Sani)

Having to face Basel is the last thing we needed after that Servette match.

Super League: Lausanne 1-2 Delémont (Roberts, Szlykowicz)

Lausanne are dead last now and this fixture came exactly when we needed it.

Super League: Thun 1-0 Delémont

Massive injury crisis, early Roberts red card, and another failure.

Schweizer Cup: Delémont 1-1 St. Gallen (a.e.t.) (4-2 pens.) (Sani)

Took us 120 minutes, but we’re in the semi-finals. We got an extra-time lead through Emmanuel Sani but Matthew Edile nearly thrown it all away for us as he got a red card and then St. Gallen equalized from the free-kick. We held on for the remaining 10 minutes, it went to penalties, and despite Roberts missing the first one, we scored all the others and beat St. Gallen.

Super League: Delémont 0-3 Grasshoppers

Another disaster. No wonder, we had about half of our team injured or suspended, and the other half exhausted from the mid-week cup marathon.

Player of the Month

Couple of very impressive defensive performances from the young midfielder this month.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: The semi-final is away, and against Thun.

Summary

We’re falling apart. Champions League? Yeah right. This is still quite a positive season, but if I stick with this club for next season (and at this moment I’m leaning towards that), I’ll look into making a large reevaluation of the squad.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Looks like Laussanne is going down, 10 points adrift. Maybe make a push for EL? you;re only 3 points away.

[deltablue]

More than positive.

[noikeee]

Looks like Laussanne is going down, 10 points adrift. Maybe make a push for EL? you;re only 3 points away.

Yes, it's remarkable just how bad Lausanne suddenly have become, 3 points in the last 10 games, so that's relegation settled.

Europa League is closer than that, we're in 5th and 5th gives qualification depending on the Cup winner, 4th gives qualification for sure.

More than positive.

Well, thanks. I know it's been good, what's p*ssing me off is that when we're bad we're very bad, some heavy defeats lately so that's why I sound so negative. Also the league's midfield is still really tight, 2 points separate 4th from 8th, I think in a normal season our points tally wouldn't have been enough to be sitting 5th.

[noikeee]

April 2013

Fixtures

Super League: Luzern 3-0 Delémont

Ouch. The team was still very tired and we put in another abysmal performance. We’re in very bad form at the moment.

Super League: St. Gallen 0-1 Delémont (Lowinsky)

I tried a tactical twist, Szlykowicz on a MC position and Albín as playmaker on AMC, telling the team to hold the ball as much as possible. It worked remarkably well and we grabbed an important result to boost morale, whilst putting in a performance like I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

Super League: Delémont 0-1 Young Boys

Very disappointing, I thought we’d build up on the result of the previous match.

Schweizer Cup: Thun 3-1 Delémont (Pinedo)

I usually would be frustrated that the cup run ended so close to the final, but this was another very bad performance from us and Thun deserved to go through.

Super League: Zürich 3-1 Delémont (Roberts)

I’m starting to get tired of being battered.

Super League: Delémont 1-3 Servette FC (Sani)

A team meeting went horribly wrong and it shown on the pitch.

Super League: Delémont 0-4 Thun

3 goals down on the first half, 1 player sent off, another player injured after all subs were over, it doesn’t get any more depressing than this.

Player of the Month

By player of the month I mean least sh*t player of the month, remarkably Dylan has come out of this shambles with some credibility.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: Lost in the semi-final to Thun.

Summary

Well now it’s all really fallen apart. I always knew there was a danger of this happening despite the very strong beginning to the season, but we’ve entered a poor morale/poor results spiral of doom and can’t seem to get away from it. I didn’t help neither with a disastrous team meeting. We’re still fulfilling the minimum goal of not going back down to the Challenge League, and added to it a nice cup run, but I’m now thinking of leaving the club at the end of the season when the contract runs out. I think it’s best for both me and the club, they need a morale injection from somewhere.

[noikeee]

May 2013

Fixtures

Super League: Basel 3-1 Delémont (Sommer(og))

Well, it’s Basel, I knew this was coming, we weren’t too bad actually. 6 defeats in a row, new record!

Super League: Delémont 2-0 Lausanne (Rigo, Roberts)

Trust Lausanne to allow us to get a win, we really needed it, however Roberts was sent off and then Jarosch got injured which meant we ended the game on 9 men!

Super League: Grasshoppers 2-2 Delémont (Albín, Katz)

So close to a great win, we led this game twice and had more chances than them.

Super League: Delémont 0-1 Luzern

Both our full-backs Pellegrini and Edile got shown 2 yellow cards and that ruined our game plan.

Player of the Month

2 assists this month playing as AMR, against Grasshoppers and Lausanne.

Competitions

Super League:

Schweizer Cup: Lost in the semi-final to Thun.

Summary

A much better month but we couldn’t improve the league position, and finish the season in 9th. I’m really torn here on whether I should leave the club or ask for a new contract (and they want me to stay, offered contracts twice, I rejected both). This season got depressing on its final stages, and we’re 1M€ on the red in terms of finances so there’s good reasons to move and look for a new challenge. On the other hand, straightening this club and settling it on the top tier is a big challenge as well, and we have some really exciting youngsters. Opinions?

[TheGreatTraveler]

I say Leave. You've done enough for them already by simply getting them promoted AND surviving 2 seasons in a row, and I feel you should look for a job elsewhere.

[noikeee]

Analysis, highlights and numbers – 2012/2013 season

Tactics

Slightly different now as I’ve moved one of the DMs to MC, given playmaking duties to our AMC, and given up on the target man. This 11 was the most usual starting lineup albeit I’ve tried billions of combinations.

Squad

Here’s some numbers, stats and sh*t, yo:

Top 5 key players of the season

5. Matthew Edile (DL) – I could’ve done without the 2 red cards, and with a much better ability to tackle (or defend in general), but somehow he was our best defender.

4. Dylan Duventru (AML) – 2 goals and 4 assists looks very bad compared to what he did last season, but he still was one of our most convincing players.

3. Sidi Keita (DMC) – I could’ve picked any of our 3 usual DMs as they’re all reliable but Sidi’s got an extra level of class about him.

2. Emmanuel Sani (AMR / ST) – Top scorer on 10 goals, amazing on occasion, anxious and useless most of the time.

1. Johnny Szlykowicz (AMC) – The only player in the team that seemed to make the transition from the 2nd to the top tier seamlessly.

Match of the season

A superb early season win that propelled us to a great start.

Awards

Swiss Cup Team of the Year - Delémont

Season Summary Mentions

None.

Career overview

[b]Season   Club (nation)         League (tier)                          Notes[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/12    Delémont (SWI)        Challenge League (2) - 1st             Promoted
12/13    Delémont (SWI)        Axpo Super League (1) - 9th            Avoided relegation, Swiss Cup semi-finalists 

[noikeee]

20th of June 2013

With a level of indecisiveness that would've made a woman proud, I ask for a new contract and sign it, only to resign two weeks later and start looking for a new job. No idea on where I'll land next.

[ManUTactician247]

No idea on where I'll land next.

In an airport

[AK22]

Still, a great job well done with Delémont. Definitely no shame in leaving now.

I can see you getting a top tier job in a mediocre European league, i.e. Norway, Hungary, something like that.

[noikeee]

In an airport

No sh*t?

Still, a great job well done with Delémont. Definitely no shame in leaving now.

I can see you getting a top tier job in a mediocre European league, i.e. Norway, Hungary, something like that.

Spot on, that was what I was aiming at, and the job I got is very much along those lines. Not too far away from Switzerland actually.

[noikeee]

Westerlo - 6th of July, 2013

My new job is in Belgium, and my team plays in the rather ugly/boxy-looking Het Kuipje:

I could’ve gone to the English League Two to manage Shrewsbury, or to the Liga Orangina in Portugal to manage the recently relegated Beira-Mar, but I took KVC Westerlo in Belgium instead. I wanted to try another country I’ve never managed in before, and staying in a top tier was almost obligatory given that was where I was with Delémont.

Westerlo are a settled mid-table Jupiler Pro League, and have been there hopping between 6th and 14th place for the past 16 seasons – so that’s the opposite of yo-yo Delémont all over the place. They have qualified for Europe a couple times but been pretty much rubbish each time, best result was in the 2011/2012 season (already within my FM world) when they beat Split and PAOK in the qualifying rounds then lost to Schalke before the groups.

Likely key players:

Günther Vanaudenarde (DR / WBR) – Brilliant full-back!

Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo (AMR / MR, ST) – Pacey winger.

Stef Wils (DC / DM) – Very intelligent experienced defender, lacking the physical attributes I like in defenders tho.

Finances and transfers

Westerlo are well off financially with 1.1M€ on the bank (albeit also a loan debt of 400K€), indeed I have a luxurious 331K€/month wage budget – of which 244K€/month are in use – and even a transfer budget of 277K€. It’s all a huge increase from what I had in Switzerland.

Goals for this season

The Belgian league has a funny format where it’s all divided in mini-groups mid-season, I’m aiming at just about making the championship group (top 6), or be among the best in the following group who fight for an European spot. The media only predicts a 15th place however, so I may be a little optimistic. The board puzzlingly only wants me to “learn from the experience of playing in the Jupiler Pro League”. I removed the Belgian league third tier recently (before even dreaming I’d take this job), I hope I didn’t mess anything up here with that.

[Scarman]

Good luck with Westerlo! I love the Belgium leagues, some of the most fun leagues in the game.

[noikeee]

Good luck with Westerlo! I love the Belgium leagues, some of the most fun leagues in the game.

Thanks, I certainly hope it'll be fun!

[noikeee]

Pre-season: July 2013

Transfers (in)

Jorge Caballero (DC) (85K€) – Excellent centre-back who I am convinced will be a top signing.

Leandro Silva (DR) (free) – Youngster with some potential, 4* of PA.

Oscar Ruiz (AML) (22K€) – Arrived from Libertad together with Caballero and will fill the AML spot as we desperately needed players for that position.

Fabián Bordagaray (ST / AMR) (free) – We really needed strikers and I am delighted to bring him in, he looks class and can do the right-winger position too.

Transfers (out)

I got rid of William Vanvoorden, Roy Wohrmann, Jens Michiels, Marcão and Jimmy Mulisa on frees, whilst also loaning Oftense Nato for a 10K€ fee to De Graafschap.

Fixtures

Friendly: FC Brussels 0-0 Westerlo

If every game in Belgium is going to be this boring I may as well resign right now.

Friendly: Westerlo 3-0 Vaduz (Al-Suwaileh, Liliu, Zheng Zhi)

Or not quite. I missed hammering my friends there in Liechtenstein.

Friendly: Virton 0-3 Westerlo (Liliu, Abero, Zheng Zhi)

This team is actually looking good.

Friendly: Westerlo 1-4 Nîmes (Caballero)

Spoke too soon.

Friendly: Pacy 0-2 Westerlo (Al-Suwaileh, Bouteiller(og))

Decent finish to the pre-season.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League: Starts early August.

Cofidis Cup: I have no idea in which round we’ll enter.

Summary

I’m finding it more difficult to build the squad than I expected, have had to search the transfer market extensively and have not found many players that we could use to improve our level.

[noikeee]

Goals

Bit of a special feature here as I forgot earlier to post the video of this amazing Emmanuel Sani goal a couple months back for my Delémont side:

[video=youtube_share;CmzdAMQpHEE]

And a fun Bordagaray goal in his debut match for Westerlo, coincidently my first official match in charge of the club as well (more info soon on my August update):

[video=youtube_share;DQ_v2djoSqk]

My vids are on 1080p, make sure to choose that unless you like watching unrecognizable blurred pixels.

[noikeee]

August 2013

Transfers (in)

Jorge Córdoba (ST) (free) – Another very good striker, unfortunately got a serious injury almost immediately upon arrival.

Kylian Hazard (AMC / MC) (free) – Promising youngster, brother of the famous Eden Hazard I believe?

Lucas Silva (AMC / MC, ST) (free) – Great attacking midfielder, will put one hell of a fight to 1st choice Zheng Zhi.

Jente Van Gucht (DC) (10K€) – Another promising Belgian youngster.

Lukas Schwaiger (GK) (free) – Yet another youngster, but he comes from Austria.

Alexandre (DC) (75K€) – Good centre-back who was stuck in Venezuela playing for Caracas FC.

Wim De Decker (DM) (free) – I didn’t really need another DM but this Belgian international is better than all of the many I had in my squad.

Transfers (out)

Jonas Bogaerts (40K€) and Wouter Scheelen (35K€) were sold, Arnaud De Greef was loaned for a 3K€ fee, and Stig Engelen released on a free.

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: AA Gent 4-2 Westerlo (Bordagaray, Yulu-Matondo)

Hectic start to the season! We did well to have more chances than them in a difficult away fixture, but still lost and didn’t take a 1 man advantage after they had their full-back sent off. Bordagaray scored a great goal on debut.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-0 Antwerp (Bordagaray, Liliu)

Delightful to watch, we dominated the match.

Jupiler Pro League: Beerschot AC 0-2 Westerlo (Yulu-Matondo (2))

Quality performance with my right winger excelling, scoring a brace.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-0 KV Mechelen (Caballero)

Very, very lucky to get a win here: after we were outplayed all match, we scored in the 92th minute.

Jupiler Pro League: Charleroi 0-4 Westerlo (Lucas Silva, Yulu-Matondo, Vanaudenaerde, Bordagaray)

We put a brilliant showing both attacking and defending. Superb result.

Player of the Month

4 goals, 1 assists, 1 MOM award, despite being very annoyed with me because I won’t let him move to a bigger club.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: I still have no idea in which round we’ll enter.

Summary

Very pleased with this start! We’re playing an expansive, flowing version of football with 2 robust DMs to cover the highly attacking front 4 and my two superb full-backs (Mathiás Abero and the unpronounceable Günther Vanaudenaerde) bombing from the back. It’s all very positive stuff and pleasing to watch.

[noikeee]

Squad - 2013/2014

With the transfer window now over, this is how my squad looks like:

Pretty pleased with this now, and there's another 3 south american stars arriving on frees on January.

[deltablue]

I see you're meeting your Westerlo.

[noikeee]

I see you're meeting your Westerlo.

Pretty certain that's a pun, but I don't get it.

[noikeee]

September 2013

Transfers (in)

Fredy Montero (ST) (free) – Probably irresponsible to hire a ST when I already had 3, plus 2 other players who can do the position, plus a ST lined up to join in January. And I usually play a lineup with only 1 striker! But I couldn’t let go such an amazing player!

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-3 Genk

No resemblance whatsoever to the last few matches, we caused no danger and they were incredibly efficient.

Jupiler Pro League: OH Leuven 1-0 Westerlo

We slowly took control of the match, then conceded one when we didn’t deserve it, and couldn’t turn it around.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-1 KV Kortrijk (Yulu-Matondo, Kumedor(og))

I played an attacking 4-4-2 wide diamond and dominated the whole game, we should’ve won by a bigger margin.

Jupiler Pro League: Lokeren 0-0 Westerlo

Tried a much more defensive approach to this match and we held on to the draw – just. Had a few scares late in the game…

Player of the Month

Not many players shone this month, but our Chinese playmaker had a very good game against Kortrijk (MOM in fact, with an assist), and held his own in the other matches.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: We’ll finally enter in the 6th Round, facing La Louvière (3rd tier team) at home late October.

Summary

Not as good a month as the Genk and Leuven matches went very badly. It’s hard to read the potential of this team with any degree of precision yet.

[noikeee]

October 2013

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-1 Mons (Caballero)

Disappointing, Mons are penultimate in the table, we should’ve won this and played better.

Jupiler Pro League: Sint Truiden 0-0 Westerlo

We’re getting quite good at scrapping 0-0s when we feel like trying it.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-1 Anderlecht (Zheng Zhi, Yulu-Matondo)

What a match, I’m so proud of my players. I played a very defensive version of my 4-2-3-1 but put lots of emphasis in trying to hold onto the ball as much as possible and play out of defence. The result was that we frustrated Anderlecht for most of the game, whilst also having most of the ball and eventually making use of it to win the game.

Cofidis Cup: Westerlo 3-0 La Louviére Centre (Montero (2), Al-Suwaileh)

We set out to steamroll the minnows and met the expectations. Fredy Montero scores his first 2 for the club, ending a lengthy goal drought that had started in his previous club.

Player of the Month

Has been a very successful signing so far, can’t recall a poor performance yet, MOM and goal scorer against Mons this month.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: I don’t know who the next opponents will be yet.

Summary

A positive month, really enjoyed the win over Anderlecht and have now developed a set of varied tactics that I tweak according to the opposition and the way the games evolve. Currently constantly switching between a game-controlling 4-2-3-1, a gung-ho 4-4-2 wide diamond and a very defensive version of the 4-2-3-1. Am also using a varied array of shouts.

[noikeee]

November 2013

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Standard 1-3 Westerlo (Yulu-Matondo, Abero, Bordagaray)

Brilliant, brilliant result, winning by 2 goals away at the league leaders is just superb (and it was their first defeat), Zheng Zhi even missed a penalty too!

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-1 Club Brugge (De Decker)

We tried to pull the same stunt we used to beat Anderlecht and Standard, but the game plan nearly went to hell when we conceded a goal in the very first minute. A late penalty gave us the equalizer, and another great result.

Cofidis Cup: Westerlo 3-1 KV Mechelen (Montero (2), Caballero)

Took us a while to get the hang of this game but we pulled it off with a determined display in the 2nd half. Fredy Montero becoming a bit of a cup specialist with another brace.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-0 Zulte Waregem

Very poor performance, not at all on par with what we’ve been doing lately. 20-3 for the opposition on shots…

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-2 AA Gent (Montero, Abero)

Bloody hell, so close to another great win over a top side, unfortunately they bounced back from 2 behind to equalize already in injury time. Montero was amazing for us, a magnificent goal and a superb assist.

Player of the Month

What a player, he’s been very good as a left-back and even better as a defensive winger in the big games. On stellar form at the moment, goals and brilliant exhibitions against Standard and Gent this month.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Now into the quarter-finals where we’ll meet KV Kortrijk in a two-legged round in January.

Summary

Considering just how tough the fixtures for this month were, I’m very, very pleased with what we did. Only worry is that we don’t seem as good at controlling a match when we must set out to win, than when given the underdog tag - we’re much more comfortable sitting deep and frustrating the opposition. Mid-season still, but we’re currently well on course for a top 6 finish which would qualify us for the Championship Group.

[Rikulec]

Championship will probably be out of reach, but you can fight for the third place. Keep up!

[noikeee]

December 2013

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Antwerp 0-0 Westerlo

Even cagey game, I don’t mind these results when we play away but it must bore the spectators out of their minds.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-1 Beerschot AC (Montero)

Not good, we should be winning games like this.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-0 Charleroi

We dominated the match, had about a billion set pieces but failed to score.

Jupiler Pro League: KV Mechelen 1-0 Westerlo

Disappointing performance and we could’ve lost by more.

Jupiler Pro League: Genk 1-0 Westerlo

Tough to take, we put up a fight but a goalkeeping error by Verbauwhede ruined it all.

Player of the Month

With the attacking players gone missing, the defensive have shone and Caballero continues on brilliant form, MOM in the 0-0s against Antwerp and Charleroi.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Waiting for the quarter-finals against KV Kortrijk.

Summary

Not a good month, maybe I’ve become too cautious with our tactics but we forgot how to score goals. I’ve been playing with ML/MRs every game, maybe time to use AMR/AMLs again. The loss to Genk may prove to be costly, we lost the top 6 position to them.

[noikeee]

Championship will probably be out of reach, but you can fight for the third place. Keep up!

Tks, I really don't think we can get into the actual championship fight, those teams up there have far more resources than us, what I'm aiming at is a top 6 position which qualifies us for the title deciding mini-league (and a few european spots).

[noikeee]

January 2014

Transfers (in)

Jair Céspedes (AML / ML, AMC) (free) – Really good left winger, we badly needed one.

Diego Penny (GK) (free) – With Verbauwhede having a great season, I probably could’ve done without him but he’s our best keeper in theory, in practice will start as 2nd choice.

Luis Perea (ST) (free) – Transfer agreed a long time ago, before hiring Fredy Moreno, nevertheless a very good forward.

Jacob Nielsen (DC, DMC / MC) (loan) – Our parent club Chelsea decided to send him our way and I was delighted to receive him, in fact I had already tried this loan in the Summer but they didn’t agree to it then.

Transfers (out)

Loaned out a few players: Forward Ahmed Al-Suwaileh went to NAC Breda so I could save on his extortionate wages, youngsters Stefaan Roef and Jente Van Gucht went to clubs where they can get some first team football.

Fixtures

Cofidis Cup Quarter-Finals 1st Leg: KV Kortrijk 1-2 Westerlo (Wils, Perea)

About bloody time we got a win again, our new signings Céspedes and Perea pulling the strings, albeit it took a goal in injury time.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 4-0 OH Leuven (Córdoba, Lenaerts (og), Yulu-Matondo, Wille(og))

We benefitted from two own-goals and some above-average finishing, but still one of the best matches of the season, excellent win.

Jupiler Pro League: KV Kortrijk 2-3 Westerlo (Wils, Córdoba, Yulu-Matondo)

Fun wild game, we were slightly more dangerous than them and scored one more.

Cofidis Cup Quarter-Finals 2nd Leg: Westerlo 1-1 KV Kortrijk (Perea)

Not as comfortable a game as I’d have liked, we trailed for most of the game, but we’re through to the semi-finals.

Player of the Month

3 assists and 3 MOM mentions in the 3 games he’s played for the club in the starting 11. An excellent arrival to Belgium! Won the Player of the Month award.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Semi-final opponents are Sint-Truiden, I think we’ve got a genuine big chance of reaching the final here!

Summary

I decided to play a much more expansive branch of football this month, and it paid off, with 2 league wins and the qualification for the cup’s semi-finals. We’re still 7th but fighting strongly to reach our goal of 6th. Unfortunately the remaining 7 fixtures of the league are quite difficult, they include consecutive games against Anderlecht, Standard and Club Brugge.

[deltablue]

It's up for grabs now.

Oh and it was a reference to how Napoleon 'met his waterloo'. It was either that or quoting 'Abba' (who won Eurovision with a song called 'Waterloo') and this didn't seem the right crowd for that sort of thing.

[noikeee]

It's up for grabs now.

Oh and it was a reference to how Napoleon 'met his waterloo'. It was either that or quoting 'Abba' (who won Eurovision with a song called 'Waterloo') and this didn't seem the right crowd for that sort of thing.

Okay then.

[noikeee]

February 2014

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-0 Lokeren (Céspedes)

Pretty good, we could’ve scored more.

Jupiler Pro League: Mons 2-1 Westerlo (Córdoba)

A little unlucky but no excuses for losing to the last placed in the league.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-1 Sint-Truiden (Córdoba)

Decent rehearsal for the cup match but they were probably a little more dangerous than us.

Cofidis Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg: Sint-Truiden 2-0 Westerlo

Oh dear, that’s the cup dream over most likely. Very harsh result IMO, it was an even game.

Jupiler Pro League: Anderlecht 2-1 Westerlo (Liliu)

Not a terrible effort but we couldn’t engineer an upset this time.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-1 Standard

Started pretty well but then De Decker got sent off stupidly and that didn’t help us.

Player of the Month

No-one shone this month but I’ll pick Glenn for his MOM performance against Sint-Truiden in the league match.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Hanging on in the semi-final against Sint-Truiden but it’s very unlikely we’ll turn it around.

Summary

A poor month – even considering the very difficult calendar – takes us out mathematically of my goal of a top 6 position, and Sint-Truiden also open up a gap for 7th spot. The last 2 fixtures are pretty much meaningless as the 8th position is almost certain, we should be focusing now on the European Places Playoff which will come after that. Injuries to my three 'bero's - Caballero, Abero and Montero - who are key players, haven't helped.

[deltablue]

He looks like a pretty good keeper.

[noikeee]

He looks like a pretty good keeper.

He is, I'd have thought the high eccentricity would result in him doing wild stuff but haven't seen him dribbling forwards or anything like that.

[noikeee]

Westerlo - Youth intake 2014

Best player

Vanderbergh has a long way to go but 4.5 stars is very exciting, everyone in the club agrees he's going to be a star. Also signed Gómez and Linetty.

Talking about youngsters, I haven't mentioned Hugo Horemans yet. This is a player I inheritted at the club already but looks superb for a 16 y.o., including full 5 stars potential recommendation from the assman, and I'm starting to give him the odd first team chance. Westerlo looks like a great breeding ground for strikers, even if they seem to come lacking in finishing - but that can be trained.

[noikeee]

March 2014

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Club Brugge 3-1 Westerlo (Yulu-Matondo)

I really could’ve done without Farssi deciding to get a daft red card on the 6th minute, but we held on remarkably to go into half-time 0-0, then even equalized with 10 men but Club Brugge scored 2 in the final 10 minutes. I gave the hugely exciting 16 year old Hugo Horemans a first team chance and he became Westerlo’s youngest ever player – whilst making the assist to the goal!

Jupiler Pro League: Zulte Waregem 1-2 Westerlo (Caballero, Córdoba)

We set out to have some fun in the final match of the regular season and it turned out to be lots of fun indeed! 7 clear cut chances and Jorge Córdoba scoring a superb solo goal.

Friendly: Westerlo 4-0 Etoile Bxl Capitale (Perea(3), Caballero)

Little bit of a morale-boosting, match fitness keeping friendly in the off-week before the Euro Playoffs start.

Jupiler Pro League Euro Playoffs Grp B: Lokeren 0-0 Westerlo

Not a very good start to the playoffs, we were lucky to come away from this with a point.

Cofidis Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Westerlo 2–0 Sint-Truiden (aet) (2-3 p.k.) (Céspedes, Bordagaray)

Awesome, what a fantastic match! We ultimately lost on penalties but I can be very proud of my players. Despite Stef Wils being sent off, we scored 2 in the final 10 minutes and tied the semi-final dramatically. We so nearly made the final…

Jupiler Pro League Euro Playoffs Grp B: Westerlo 3-2 Beerschot AC (Horemans, Córdoba, Lucas Silva)

I decided to play ultra-attacking all game long and it turned out to be a thriller, we could’ve hammered them but the finishing wasn’t all that. Hugo Horemans breaks another club record becoming the youngest ever goalscorer (and the Belgian league’s youngster ever scorer), plus he got another assist too.

Player of the Month

We’ve not had reliable goalscorers this season but Córdoba lately has been the closest thing to it, goals against Zulte Waregem and Beerschot this month.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Those were the regular stage final standings, whereas this is how the Euro Playoffs are looking like:

Cofidis Cup: Defeated on penalties in the Semi-Final versus Sint-Truiden

Summary

I’d say things are looking on the up again, but the chances of making it to the Europa League are still slim because only one team from the 8 in the playoffs gets to play in the final for that spot, and even then you have to play one team from the Championship Playoff. Gutted that we nearly pulled a miracle and made the Cup final but just about missed out.

[noikeee]

April 2014

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League Euro Playoffs Grp B: Westerlo 2–0 Charleroi (Yulu-Matondo, Caballero)

We’re getting good at dominating games at home now, quite pleasing.

Jupiler Pro League Euro Playoffs Grp B: Westerlo 1–1 Lokeren (Montero)

Bloody hell, we didn’t deserve to concede the late equalizer. Fredy Montero scored a monster of a volley in his first match returning from a long-term injury.

Jupiler Pro League Euro Playoffs Grp B: Beerschot AC 3-1 Westerlo (Lucas Silva)

Another game with tons of chances, they were luckier than us and turned the game around after we got the first goal. We drop the 1st place in the group to Lokeren with 1 match remaining.

Player of the Month

Remarkable game against Charleroi including a goal.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Defeated on penalties in the Semi-Final versus Sint-Truiden

Summary

1 fixture to go, we need to win at Charleroi and hope Lokeren doesn’t win at Beerschot, to keep going in the competition. Disappointing, even more so because if it wasn’t for the undeserved late equalizer at home to Lokeren we’d be through.

[noikeee]

May 2014

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League Euro Playoffs Grp B: Charleroi 2-2 Westerlo (Céspedes, Yulu-Matondo)

We had the lead but we conceded a late equalizer (yet again) from long range, and it didn’t matter anyway as a 10-men Lokeren won at Beerschot.

Player of the Month

MOM in this month’s only game, with an assist.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Defeated on penalties in the Semi-Final versus Sint-Truiden.

Summary

That’s it, season over already – at the start of May! I think it’s been highly fun at times but also very frustrating: being on target for the top 6 finish then crumbling apart at the wrong time of the season; coming from the dead in the cup semi-final only to lose on penalties; playing very well in the Euro Playoffs but watching our opponents take their chances. Ultimately I’d say it was a good season but not particularly remarkable, I’m sticking for another year at least, but I’ve got a big job to do as I screwed up the finances this season and we’re 1.3M€ in the red.

I'd like some tips from whoever's reading this on the career format, I'm going to far more detail than my previous venture into FMCU, but haven't generated much interest. Thinking of doing updates every 3 months instead of every month maybe, albeit I'm enjoying this.