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

[deltablue]

I like it as it is.

[SnakeXe]

I like this format as well, it's good to see the league table each update especially.

[noikeee]

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering whether it was too much to keep up with, or too heavy in terms of pictures (the page taking ages to load).

[noikeee]

Analysis, highlights and numbers – 2013/2014 season

Tactics

The most attacking of my various combinations, and which I’ve been playing regularly lately because the opposition in the Euro Playoffs allowed for more risk – in theory.

Squad

Top 5 key players of the season

5. Fredy Montero (ST) – Good but not made as much impact as I expected him to, a long injury didn’t help.

4. Jair Céspedes (AML) – Arrived in January in superb form but never quite followed that up the rest of the season.

3. Mathías Abero (DL / ML) – Excellent in both full-back and winger roles.

2. Jorge Caballero (DC) – Undoubtedly a great signing, most MOM mentions from the entire squad (5). Got himself a Paraguay cap since arrival.

1. Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo (AMR) – By far the top goalscorer and most assists too, which emphasizes how disappointing my forwards were. Nevertheless very good season from Jeanvion.

Match of the season

Most definitely the best performance of the season, we taught a lesson to the eventual champions, a club who spent a ridiculous amount of money last Summer and just can’t be compared in terms of budget to us.

Awards

None.

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
13/14    Westerlo (BEL)        Jupiler Pro League (1) - 8th           2nd in Euro Playoffs Group, Belgian Cup semi-finalists

[deltablue]

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering whether it was too much to keep up with, or too heavy in terms of pictures (the page taking ages to load).

Well, as you're talking about that (which I didn't realize you meant) it is a bit, I remember seeing your post asking for feedback and I was thinking 'when the page stops shifting because of all the screenshots appearing I will'. It's rarely that annoying but it is one of the reasons why I almost always use links. Perhaps there are a few like tactics that are interesting but can be done without.

[AK22]

I like the format. If I've got the time, I'll read the detailed bits, but if not, I can skim through, looking at the pictures

Anyway, good first season with Westerlo. Unlucky to miss out on Europe.

[noikeee]

Well, as you're talking about that (which I didn't realize you meant) it is a bit, I remember seeing your post asking for feedback and I was thinking 'when the page stops shifting because of all the screenshots appearing I will'. It's rarely that annoying but it is one of the reasons why I almost always use links. Perhaps there are a few like tactics that are interesting but can be done without.

Yeah I do remember myself having the same issue with a few other threads around when I was on a slow connection, haven't had it much lately tho. It's a tad frustrating because I think it looks better this way but with the forum having a mammoth 100 posts per page it may be a bit too much.

I like the format. If I've got the time, I'll read the detailed bits, but if not, I can skim through, looking at the pictures

Anyway, good first season with Westerlo. Unlucky to miss out on Europe.

That was sort of what I was aiming at with the format.

Tks, don't think that was that much of a season but I'm fairly happy with it to kick off things in the club - am now leaning towards staying in Westerlo for a long while.

[noikeee]

Pre-season: June/July 2014

Transfers (in)

I went absolutely fuc*ing mental and hired 18 players, almost all of still them in diapers. All free transfers!

Arthur Lecat (DM / MC) – 18 year-old Belgian with 4* PA and good enough to be a backup DM already.

Francisco Alex (AMC / MC) – Excellent experienced playmaker who will be first choice for the position most likely.

Tomás Costa (M / MR) – Spectacular flop a couple years back for my club FC Porto, but rather very good for my team albeit he doesn’t fit my current tactics!

Anthony D’Alberto (DR / WB/M/AMR) – Another young Belgian with potential but backup atm.

Konstantine Tskipurishvili (ST / AMR) – Lightning quick young Georgian who shall be another backup.

Errol Hines (M/AMR) – 18y.o. backup Jamaican winger.

Aleksa Bajic (AMC/ ST) – 2nd choice for AMC, a very exciting Serbian youngster.

Koffi Djidji (DC) – Rotation 21 y.o. centre-back w/ 4* of PA.

Nermin Djerlek (MC) – One of the most exciting of all the youngsters with 4.5* of PA.

Jürgen Coppens (DM / D/MC) – Almost equally as exciting, and Belgian which is always a plus given the homegrown rules.

Rune Rasmussen (DL) – 18 year old Danish full-back who is already very good despite his age! Probably the very best of all the youngsters.

Other players I hired but currently in the U21s or loaned or something, were Stavros Iliadis (AML), Cédric Mingiedi (MC), Miro Saarinen (DL), Lamisha Musonda (AMC), Alan Romanov (DC), Brandon Mechele (DC), Jorgen Rogiers (DC).

Transfers (out)

I also went mental here, for different reasons because I wanted to stabilize the club financially so won a pile of money by selling half of my team. Chinese playmaker Zheng Zhi went for 40K€, rubbish midfielder Oftense Nato for 30K€, overpaid striker Ahmed Al-Suwaileh for 130K€ (a relief!), backup centre-backs Alexandre and Arnaud De Greef for 70K€ respectively, attacking midfielder Lucas Silva for 100K€, striker Fabián Bordagaray for 325K€, keeper Mike Vanhamel for 100K€. Also leaving on frees were midfielder Rodolfo Rodriguez and Dickson Agyeman.

But what annoyed the most was having to sell Mathiás Abero, one of the club’s top stars, and cheap too. He wouldn’t renew his contract (which was running out next Summer) and was paid very highly – so I had to let him go to Panathinaikos for 180K€.

All of this did sort the finances as we’re now 771K€ in the green.

Fixtures

Friendly: Barendrecht 1-8 Westerlo (Djidji, Montero, Yulu-Matondo, Perea(2), Alexandre, Liliu(2))

Opposition were utter rubbish but that’s a great start to the season.

Friendly: Bennekom 0-5 Westerlo (Yulu-Matondo, Montero(3), Agyeman)

Got bored with friendlies and already left this one to the assman.

Friendly: De Treffers 0-2 Westerlo (Bajic, Yulu-Matondo)

Again.

Friendly: RKVVL 0-4 (Francisco Alex, Perea(2), Bah)

Again. Mohammed Bah is a youth player.

Friendly: SC Veendam 0-1 Westerlo (Montero)

And again.

Friendly: Westerlo 0-2 Viktoria Plzen

Another one.

Friendly: Westerlo 1-2 Union Berlin (Liliu)

Yet again.

Friendly: Oberhausen 1-7 Westerlo (Céspedes(3), Montero(2), Perea(2))

Decided to take care of the final friendly after two losses, and the team were amazing. Oberhausen aren’t THAT rubbish.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League: About to start.

Cofidis Cup: Likewise.

Summary

Crazy crazy summer, I think our squad isn’t any better than last year but I’m still pumped up for this season and it feels nice to have the club sorted – the finances sorted, tons of players with potential hired, and after much much dealing I got many first team players to renew their contracts which were running out the end of the year. I think Westerlo have got a future and I’ve signed a new 3-year contract.

[deltablue]

Clearly they have a future, you just signed their future.

[noikeee]

Clearly they have a future, you just signed their future.

Thanks, I did hire a very nice bunch of kids!

[noikeee]

August 2014

Transfers (in)

Aleksandar Jovanovic (DC) (120K€) – My final signing was this aussie centre-back, rather expensive but adds another solid, necessary option, given that Stef Wils is getting old and may need replacing soon. Aleksandar is a monster in the air.

Transfers (out)

Peruvian keeper Diego Penny leaves after an unsuccessful six months at the club, back to his homeland to Léon de Huánco, for 190K€.

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 6-0 Lokeren (Céspedes, Perea (2), Montero(2), van der Heijden(og))

WOW, what a start! We completely annihilated them – even if it was only 1-0 at half time. And it all started with an excellent solo goal from Jair Céspedes, dribbling through the middle of the Lokeren defensive line.

Jupiler Pro League: OH Leuven 2-5 Westerlo (Céspedes (2), Francisco Alex, Perea, Tomás Costa)

I’ve no idea what am I doing so wildly different but it’s working. It was 4-0 at half-time!! Both teams had about an equal amount of chances tho, which is weird.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-3 Genk

Now that was a shock, from hero to zero. We were losing 3-0 at the 30 minutes mark and never could come back from it. Clear cut chances = 1-1. How random.

Jupiler Pro League: AA Gent 0-0 Westerlo

After 3 games of all out attack, I decided to go for ultra defensive and it worked. We made an excellent game and should actually have won it.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 3-1 Beerschot AC (Perea, Montero, Tomás Costa)

We found ourselves losing 1-0 after 3 minutes, but turned it round quickly and added a penalty kick goal in the second half. Rachid Farssi got sent off later in the game but it was too late for our opponents. Fun game.

Player of the month

Luis Perea (ST) – In last season’s 6 months for our club he didn’t score a single league goal (but starred in the cup), this time his stats already read: 4 goals, 3 assists and 2 MOM mentions in 5 games. Very well done, Luis.

It was Fredy Montero who was chosen as the league’s Player of the Month award tho, he did have a great month too.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: We haven’t entered the draw for it yet.

Summary

A very good start, would call it brilliant if not for the Gent game which went horribly wrong. It’s all looking very positive at this moment, I just need to find some balance because our intermediate tactic isn’t working, it’s either the gung-ho 4-1-3-2 or the very defensive 4-1-4-1.

[noikeee]

Squad - 2014/2015

Look at those player potential stars. Look at them. They are so pretty.

[noikeee]

September 2014

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: FCV Dender 1-5 Westerlo (Liliu, Montero, Perea (3))

Very easy win over recently promoted Dender who aren’t very good. Luis Perea got an hat-trick and could’ve scored another one if he wasn’t so wasteful.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-1 KV Mechelen (Tomás Costa, Montero)

Went for a slightly more cautious version of my attacking 4-1-3-2. It worked in this difficult match, but it took two shots from just outside the area.

Jupiler Pro League: Anderlecht 1-3 Westerlo (Tomás Costa (2), Perea)

Excellent result! We set out very defensively, did found ourselves losing but remarkably turned it around, even if it took two penalty kicks converted by Tomás. This match puts us top of the league table!!

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 5-0 Charleroi (Caballero(2), Liliu(2), Donayre(og))

Very comfortable win, which got particularly easy after Charleroi’s DM Ken Leemans got sent off in the 8th minute.

Player of the month

Luis Perea (ST) – Again it was a coin flip between either of my Colombian forwards, Perea and Montero, I’ll pick Luis again for his wonderful hat-trick against Dender, also got a goal in the Anderlecht game and an assist vs Charleroi.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: First opponents are lower league side Visé at home next October.

Summary

What a fantastic start to the season, it just keeps getting better and better. I don’t think we can keep going at this level, the high morale effect is functioning as a platform for every next result and once it drops we’re not going to be this good. But I’m definitely confident of making the Championship Playoff this time, and who knows, maybe time to qualify for Europe now? The title is a bit of a pipe dream atm tho – this is just a good run, let’s not get carried away shall we?

[deltablue]

I vote we get carried away for as long as it feels good.

[AK22]

Looks like the new signings are starting to click already!

As you've beaten Anderlecht in their own back yard, I consider you as definite title contenders now!

[Rikulec]

Great month, keep it up!

[noikeee]

I vote we get carried away for as long as it feels good.

Looks like the new signings are starting to click already!

As you've beaten Anderlecht in their own back yard, I consider you as definite title contenders now!

Great month, keep it up!

Thanks guys, we had a little setback after those games but still keeping up with the lead pack.

[noikeee]

October 2014

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Club Brugge 0-2 Westerlo (Céspedes, Montero)

Another astonishing performance and result, I am delighted with my players. Club Brugge were level on points with us so this was a very important match for the early league lead, amazingly we restricted them to a mere 4 shots all game long. On their stadium.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-0 KV Kortrijk (Liliu)

Bizarre one, Liliu scored one then got sent off immediately afterwards, thankfully Kortrijk weren’t dangerous at all despite the man advantage.

Jupiler Pro League: Sint-Truiden 3-1 Westerlo (Montero)

So the great run suddenly crashes. We were outplayed, and lost 1st place in the table to Standard.

Cofidis Cup: Westerlo 2-0 Visé (Horemans, Tomás Costa)

I gave a chance to a few kids and whilst they were effective, scoring 2, we weren’t very convincing against a team much weaker than us.

Player of the month

Fredy Montero (ST) – Continuing his epic season with another two goals, this time his victims were Club Brugge and Sint-Truiden. Now up to 7 goals.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Qualified for the seventh round (last 16), yet to be drawn.

Summary

If we were making a serious title bid I’d be p*ssed about the loss to Sint-Truiden but can’t really complain when we’re keeping up that high in the table, and we’ve again caused sensation by winning convincingly away at the mighty Club Brugge. Meanwhile, the club is under takeover discussions! Apparently it's an internal director or something, and there hasn't been any talk about managers, I hope it remains that way.

[noikeee]

November 2014

Transfers (in)

An unscheduled transfer here as my scouts found two young promising Danish players available on a free… Unfortunately the most promising of them escaped us and signed for a Icelandic club instead – yes you read that right, he preferred Iceland.

Jens Skovsbol (MC) – 4* of PA and still 17 which means he comes just within time to become homegrown 3 years from now.

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Zulte Waregem 4-2 Westerlo (Liliu, Bajic)

Strange game: few chances, lots of goals. We’re doing poorly lately in these away matches against mid-level teams, probably need to review my strategy again.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 5–1 Mons (Liliu, Céspedes, Perea, Johnson(og), Montero)

Mons scored in the very first minute through a free kick but we turned it round still in the 1st half then it turned into an easy win later on. However we lost key players Caballero and Céspedes to injuries. Céspedes was in superb form and may stop for 2 months.

Jupiler Pro League: Standard 1-0 Westerlo

We ran out of upsets and lost at the home of Belgium’s most powerful side at the moment, without harassing them much, still did ok to restrict them to few chances and a single goal.

Jupiler Pro League: Lokeren 2-0 Westerlo

Ouch. Help, we’re self-destructing. Tight game, the luck wasn’t on our side, then they scored the 2nd when we were desperate to equalize it.

Player of the month

Liliu (MR / AMRL) – Continuing a stellar season with 2 goals and 1 assist this month. He’s relegated last year’s #1 Westerlo star Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo to the bench!

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Cercle Brugge away right next, then if we win Beerschot AC or Wetteren in the quarters. Good draw.

Summary

Not a good month, 1 win 3 defeats and the win was expected. Nevertheless the league table still looks pleasing, 4th is very nice. Our real goal is 6th place to make it into the Championship Playoff and while we’re on course to make it, the likes of Lokeren are getting dangerously closer, only 4 points behind us.

[noikeee]

December 2014

Fixtures

Cofidis Cup 7th Round: Cercle Brugge 0-3 Westerlo (Bajic, Montero(2))

We scored in the first minute through Bajic, and then grabbed a convincing win over this 2nd tier side. This despite being most of the game down to 10 men after young Hugo Horemans saw the first red card of his career for a crazy tackle.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-0 OH Leuven (Francisco Alex, Perea)

As easy as expected, Leuven are rubbish and we clinched it early in the 1st half.

Jupiler Pro League: Genk 3-0 Westerlo

We set out to bore everyone to death and managed it for a while, even after Tomás Costa got sent off (we’re having quite a few discipline problems lately!!), but eventually they cracked our fortress and we fell apart.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-1 AA Gent

We did well to dominate the game after a 3rd minute owngoal but it wasn’t our day.

Jupiler Pro League: Beerschot AC 1-3 Westerlo (Caballero, Perea, Djidji)

Good finishing in a tightly-fought match gave us a solid away win.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-0 FCV Dender (Liliu, Céspedes)

Unconvincing win with both goals in the 2nd half, I would’ve expected to do more against the last placed team.

Player of the month

Koffi Djidji (DC) – Bit of a strange one, he’s probably only 4th centre-back in the pecking order, but was moaning he deserved a go at the first team and actually performed really well once I decided to cave in to his request.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Again playing a 2nd tier side as we attack the two-legged quarter-finals in January to face Wetteren.

Summary

Despite the two losses to Genk and Gent, we’re still keeping up there with the top sides and crucially, also won a few points this month over the teams trying to get into the top 6, namely Sint-Truiden and Lokeren. And we’re looking very good for reaching the semi-finals in the cup for the 2nd consecutive season.

[direstark]

i like the use of that attacking tactic , i swear by my 4-5-1 and diamond 4-4-2 to great effect in the dutch leagues in particular , may try your twist i never have just one standard cm

[noikeee]

i like the use of that attacking tactic , i swear by my 4-5-1 and diamond 4-4-2 to great effect in the dutch leagues in particular , may try your twist i never have just one standard cm

Frankly I've been all over the shop this season, been ultra-attacking or ultra-defensive depending on the games!

Been over a week away from FM now but found some time to play tonight, here's coming the January 2015 update.

[noikeee]

January 2015

Transfers (in)

Cristian Guerra (GK) (free) – Promising 20 yo Chilean keeper.

Youssouf Koné (ST / AMR) (60K€) – Massive star in the making, this Ivorian teenager already is talented enough to be one of the best strikers at the club, and is rated a full 5 stars for potential.

Ulisses Dávila (AMC / ST) (loan) – Very classy player on loan from parent club Chelsea. He’s played for us for 6 months in the season before I arrived, and scored 4 in 11 then, I will be expecting good things from him.

Jente Daniels (WBR / DR) (free) – Promising Belgian wing-back I found in the U19 national squad.

Kurt Theys (DC) (free) – The scout told me good things about him but I now doubt it as he’s only rated 2 stars of potential by the assman.

Transfers (out)

Time to make some money to offset the running costs of the club. I sold Rachid Farssi for 30K€, forward Jorge Córdoba was loaned for 22K€ plus some future fee clause, and I managed to con FCV Dender to buy me two youngsters that seemingly weren’t going anywhere, for ridiculously huge prices: Kostantine Tskipurishvili went for 220K€ and Anthony D’Alberto for 375K€. Remarkable.

Fixtures

Friendly: Tournai 0-3 Westerlo (Koné(2), Montero)

Friendly to maintain match fitness, with a nice debut from new signing Youssouf Koné – scored a brace.

Cofidis Cup Qtr Final 1st Leg: Wetteren 1-1 Westerlo (Collée(og))

Not very happy to draw with a team from the 2nd tier but it sets up the 2nd leg nicely with the away goal.

Friendly: Westerlo 1-2 Lyon (Céspedes)

I only agreed to this friendly to make money. We used mostly backups and only lost by one, which was alright.

Jupiler Pro League: KV Mechelen 0-2 Westerlo (De Decker, Dávila)

Awful game of football turned into a 2-0 win in the final 10 minutes as we benefitted from a penalty kick and a monumental defensive co*k-up (their defender passing the ball to an unmarked one-on-one Ulisses Dávila).

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-0 Anderlecht (Djidji, Casco(og))

Holy upset!! We defended all game long, reducing Anderlecht to little danger, whilst also taking our chances in set pieces and in the counter.

Cofidis Cup Qtr Final 2nd Leg: Westerlo 2-1 Wetteren (Montero, Dávila)

Much tougher than I expected, as we had to turn the game around after Wetteren scored first. Credit for them for the fight they gave us, but we’re onto the semi-finals again.

Jupiler Pro League: Charleroi 0-2 Westerlo (Céspedes, Perea)

Well, that was a perfect repeat of the Mechelen game all over again, rubbish game but we somehow score 2 right at the end.

Player of the month

Rune Rasmussen (DL) – Not really getting himself involved in goalscoring or assists or anything like that, but bloody excellent form regardless. MOM in the first leg of the cup quarter-final. The kid’s only 18 and he’s this good already!!

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: I am delighted to be meeting Jupiler Pro League’s last placed team FCV Dender in the semi-final, leaving the other remaining sides Anderlecht and Standard to face each other. That’s a great draw, and another golden chance to play a final, but we had one just like this last year and squandered it.

Summary

A truly great month! 2 league wins away, a home win over top opponents, and a cup semi-final reached. Plus we hired two excellent players in Koné and Dávila, and sold unnecessary players for big profit. Qualification for the Championship Playoff is now just a mere formality - let’s see how far we can take this season from there.

[noikeee]

February 2015

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-0 Club Brugge

We did our usual bus-parking exercise, whilst focusing on holding onto possession as much as possible. And it worked again, despite a 73rd minute red card for Caballero.

Jupiler Pro League: KV Kortrijk 0-2 Westerlo (Jovanovic, Perea)

Even game, we had better finishing than them and won 2-0 away again.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-0 Sint-Truiden (Montero)

Nice solid win albeit we were a little wasteful. Mathematically qualifies us for the Championship Playoff.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-0 Zulte Waregem (Céspedes, Dávila)

Quite a weird game, they dominated the match but we were the ones who scored.

Player of the month

Glenn Verbauwhede (GK) – Superb month from my keeper with 4 clean sheets in 4 games and a MOM performance against Zulte Waregem. A shame that he’s been intent on leaving the club at the end of the season on a Bosman for ages now.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Semi-finals next month against FCV Dender.

Summary

Another great consistent month, I am delighted to have gotten 10 points from 12 possible and not even have conceded a goal. We’re firmly in 3rd now too, 2 matches to go before it all enters the final stage, time to consider whether I should move to a more balanced tactic because all of the final stage matches will be against top sides and I always go ultra-defensive in those.

[noikeee]

Westerlo - Youth intake 2015

Best player

Well, that was sh*t.

[deltablue]

Anyway, still have a shot at the title in the playoffs.

[noikeee]

Anyway, still have a shot at the title in the playoffs.

Yes indeed, it's all so tight there that anything can happen.

[noikeee]

March 2015

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Mons 3-1 Westerlo (Céspedes)

I rested almost all of my starting 11 thinking of the cup semi-final 3 days afterwards. It backfired.

Cofidis Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg: FCV Dender 0-6 Westerlo (Tomás Costa(2), Liliu(3), Perea)

Or maybe it didn’t backfire at all, as the cup game turned into a pi*stake. 6-0, all goals scored in the first half!!

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-0 Standard (Montero)

When we set out to not concede, we don’t. This closes the regular stage of the league nicely, albeit if we wanted to move one step forward and challenge for the title, beating Standard who are in 2nd just above us, would’ve been a priority.

Cofidis Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Westerlo 1-2 FCV Dender (Koné)

Well we’re through to the final obviously, but this was sh*t. Even if I fielded a team of kids and backups. Dender had a ton of clear cut chances.

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Club Brugge 0-1 Westerlo (Céspedes)

We were absolutely superb defensively and scored in our only shot of the match! Great way to start the final stage!

Player of the month

Jair Céspedes (ML / AML) – Don’t think I’ve named him before, but the Peruvian winger has been on very good form all season and had a few magnificent performances recently. 2 goals and 2 assists this month.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League final league table:

Current Championship Group standings:

Cofidis Cup: Facing Standard in the final next May.

Summary

Delighted to have reached the cup final! On the league front I have no idea what we can do, the playoff table is very very tight. Top 2 go into the Champions League. Meanwhile a new board took over the club and took a very long term bank loan (ends 2040) to stabilize the club’s finances. You never want to see your club in debt but that actually seems sensible.

[noikeee]

April 2015

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Westerlo 4-0 Genk (Caballero, Liliu, Montero, Perea)

I risked going a little less cautious into this to try to catch them as they were the league leaders, and the result was nothing short of phenomenal! Astonishing performance, I am delighted with my players. We move to joint 1st with Genk!

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Westerlo 2-2 Anderlecht (Liliu, Perea)

Frenetic game of football, total classic for the spectators, but as a manager I am disappointed we dropped a lead twice. Genk pull a table lead again.

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Standard 1-0 Westerlo

An early goal ruined our game plan and we never threatened to equalize. Standard overtake us for 2nd.

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Westerlo 2-0 Zulte Waregem (Dávila, Liliu)

A worrying start to the match as we didn’t shoot until the half hour mark, but then it all worked out nicely.

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Westerlo 1-0 Club Brugge (Caballero)

Game plan executed to perfection, it was an extremely dull affair just like I wanted and then we scored the winner in a corner. With this we move back to a Champions League place (2nd) and pretty much clinch qualification for the Europa League at least. 3 points behind leaders Genk with the next game being against them…

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Genk 1-0 Westerlo

Absolutely vital match as we knew winning here would put us in a realistic position to win the title, so we set out do it, but weren’t inspired and moreover conceded a 86th minute goal which kills our hopes entirely.

Player of the month

Rune Rasmussen (DL) – The Danish teenage fullback remains on very consistent top form and put in a blinder of a game against Zulte Waregem getting the MOM award.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Facing Standard in the final next month.

Summary

3 matches to go in the league and albeit the title is surely lost now, this is still shaping up for an historical season for the club, as we’re just hanging on to a Champions League qualification slot and are also within a shout for winning the club’s second ever domestic cup (first and only was in 2001, also reached the final in 2011). In both fronts our opponents are the very rich Standard, who pay their players exactly 5 times more than us, and we still have to face them again in the league. It’s going to be an absolutely thrilling month of May.

[deltablue]

Should be a close cup final.

[noikeee]

Should be a close cup final.

This is hilarious, you'll soon understand why. :D:D

[noikeee]

May 2015

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Anderlecht 3-0 Westerlo

Oh dear, this could prove very costly (Standard move back into 2nd) and comes at completely the wrong time in terms of morale. We weren’t dominated at all tho, they just had far better finishing than us.

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Westerlo 1-2 Standard (Montero)

We did equalize early in the 2nd half but then they scored again. They beat us to a Champions League place but we also mathematically clinch a very honorable 3rd.

Jupiler Pro League Championship Group: Zulte Waregem 2-0 Westerlo

With everything decided I did give a chance to 2 or 3 kids but was still disappointed with a pretty bad performance.

Cofidis Cup Final: Westerlo 0-5 Standard

Disastrous. We conceded a goalkeeper owngoal early on, and were forced to attack, but it only made things worse, and worse and worse. Standard lift the cup.

Player of the month

Rune Rasmussen (DL) – Yep Rune again. He was the least sh*t of my regular starting players in this appalling month.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Lost the final to Standard.

Summary

This was still an excellent season, but I sure as hell didn’t expect to finish the season in such a low note, after all we’ve done. I’m most definitely very disappointed. 5 consecutive defeats ending in a 5-0 drubbing in the final… ouch. The consolation prize is that 3rd is the club’s best ever league finish position. We will enter the Europa League in the 4th qualifying round, looking forward to that next season, hopefully our reputation will have increased substantially too.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Ouch!!!!

But still, great season though.

[noikeee]

Analysis, highlights and numbers – 2014/2015 season

Tactics and usual starting eleven

This was the most balanced of my 3 trained tactics, the others being a 4-1-3-2 similar to this but with attacking mentality and the 3 midfielders pushed into the AMR/L/C line; and a very deep 4-2-3-1 with 2 DMs and 1 ML, 1 MR, 1 MC, lone striker upfront.

Squad

Top 5 key players of the season

5. Luis Perea (ST) – Top scorer on 16 goals and the guy I trusted the most on the lone striker role for difficult games, however had a few psychological issues (nervous, complacent etc) and went into a goal drought in the last couple of months.

4. Liliu (M/AMR) – The Brazilian winger completely outshone Yulu-Matondo who was the absolute king of this position last season. Liliu was stunning in the first half of the season, and albeit went missing later, still ended on 13 goals which is brilliant for a winger.

3. Rune Rasmussen (DL) – Undisputed owner of the DL position for the whole season with very good performances despite not getting himself involved in the attack (0 goals, 1 assist). That would already be remarkable but he’s also an 18 year old kid who just arrived at a foreign country!

2. Fredy Montero (ST) – Extremely good at the start of the season, lost a bit of his killer instinct later on but still finished on 14 goals, 11 assists. Probably the most spectacular of my players when on fire.

1. Jair Céspedes (M/AML) – Whereas he may not have reached the heights of Montero or Perea at the peak of their powers, Jair was consistently bright throughout the whole season, finishing the season with a record of 10 goals, 11 assists, which is very good for a winger.

Match of the season

Westerlo 4-0 Genk

The absolute peak of the season, as we spanked the future champions and moved into a joint lead with them, already in the final stage of the league. Unfortunately it only went downhill from here.

Awards

Jupiler Pro League Manager of the Year – Cláudio Alegria (3rd)

Jupiler Pro League Goalkeeper of the Year – Glenn Verbauwhede (3rd)

Jupiler Pro League Best Average Rating of the Year – Luis Perea (3rd)

Jupiler Pro League Golden Eleven – Jair Céspedes (on the bench)

Jupiler Pro League Young Player of the Year – Rune Rasmussen (2nd)

Season Summary Mentions

Jupiler Pro League Highest Average Rating - Jair Céspedes (7.29)

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
13/14    Westerlo (BEL)        Jupiler Pro League (1) - 8th           2nd in Euro Playoffs Group, Belgian Cup semi-finalists
14/15    Westerlo (BEL)        Jupiler Pro League (1) - 3rd           Qualified for Europa League, Belgian Cup finalists 

[noikeee]

Ouch!!!!

But still, great season though.

You bloody bet that hurt, what a massive f*ck-up at the end. Never expected my squad to choke so badly.

[noikeee]

Pre-season: June/July 2015

Transfers (in)

Busy transfer season here:

Henrique Miranda (DL / WBL) (free) – I hardly needed a leftback having Rasmussen but he’s sheer class.

Lisandro Magallán (DC) (free) – 21y.o. centreback moving at the right time to Europe, not commanding as he’s a little shaky in the air but good pace, tackling and quality mental stats.

Zac McMath (GK) (free) – USA international and one of two excellent keepers we signed this transfer season.

Julius Holm (MC / MR, AMC) (free) – 18 y.o. on the verge of first-11 quality and with brilliant potential, will retrain him to AMR.

Remi Naert (ST/ AMR) (free) – Another 18 y.o. superstar in the making, Belgian to top it off which is such a bonus given the restriction of 6 Belgian homegrowns in the match squad.

Jonas Andersen (ST / AML) (free) – Shall be slightly behind Naert in the pecking order but this 17y.o. Dane is super promising too.

Silvio Proto (GK) (free) – The other great keeper, 12 caps for Belgium says it all, top class, I was amused that Anderlecht couldn’t hold on to him so he left on a free but then had nowhere to go so settled for us.

Islam Abdel Aty (M/AML) (loan) – I’m pi*sed he’s only on loan, because this 19y.o. Egyptian is yet another star in the making, probably on par with Céspedes on current ability for the left wing.

Juan Carlos Espinoza (DR / DL, WBR) (200K€) – I may have overpaid, but really really really needed a right-back, he’s miles better than all the other available in the squad.

Also hired keeper Guillaume Hubert who would’ve been good enough for a 1st team place but finds himself as 3rd option with the arrivals of McMath and Proto at the same time, a young attacking midfielder named Radouane Benali, and a young right-back named Dalibor Maksimovic.

Transfers (out)

Hordes of players left. Glenn Verbauwhede went on a Bosman despite all my efforts to retain him, opening up the opportunity for my revolution in keepers. I also let Wim De Decker’s contract run out. I managed to get money for a long list of players tho: Lukas Schwaiger, Lamisha Musonda, Oscar Ruiz, Leandro Silva, Bright Edomwonyi, Stavros Iliadis, Günther Vanaudenaerde, Jente Van Gucht, Jorgen Rogiers, Stefaan Roef, Aleksandar Jovanovic and Jorge Córdoba. All together we cashed in 750K€.

Sum TV and prize money from the last season, and the finances now suddenly look remarkably positive. We have 3.2M€ in the bank!!! And the Europa League to come.

Fixtures

I’m not even going to bother writing much, we just played a few friendlies, all of them with the assman in charge.

Competitions

Everything yet to start. We’re entering the Europa League in the 4th qualifying round iirc.

Summary

Looking good, this may be an exciting season, maybe an outside shot at the title? I am playing at a super slow rate tho, been ages since I posted, plus FM crashed twice for me which annoyed to no end and set me back. It happens every time I click the “ask assistant for loan reports” button. Needless to say I won’t click it again.

I messed up picking the captain tho, Fredy Montero had the highest influence plus good determination, so I ignored the assman’s advice and went for him. Half of the team was annoyed with it.

[deltablue]

You're not short of good youngsters.

[Nobby_McDonald]

A very good season despite the finish.

[noikeee]

You're not short of good youngsters.

Well yeah, the whole business model I'm trying to implement here is to buy them young and promising, develop them and make them first team stars or sell them for more. Over half of my first team squad is made of exciting under 21s.

A very good season despite the finish.

Thanks, time to move on to the new season now, I already have some news.

[noikeee]

August 2015

Transfers (in)

Geovanny Ortiz (MC) (free) – Already broke into the Ecuador national team at the age of 18, that says it all really.

Cris Martínez (AMC, ST) (free) – I’m not entirely sure he’s all that but he’s highly rated by my staff as one of my best AMCs and STs.

Cidinho (AMC / AMR) (220K€) – I could’ve done with a little more versatility as I often use a trio of MR/ML/MCs and he doesn’t fit there but a quality player indeed and my new best AMC.

Cristian Villagra (DR / DL, WBRL) (free) – Great full-back, no doubt one of the best players in the squad now. I’m paying him like a prince though.

Also hired young Slovenian defensive midfielder Andrej Music who shall be in charge of the U21 squad’s audio system, and yet another keeper, Jasper Otte. He’s not very good but the story about that is that I really needed another Belgian homegrown to allow for more versatility in the league match squads. I hadn’t noticed Belgian keeper Guilaume Hubert didn’t count as homegrown…

Transfers (out)

Somehow I managed to sell midfielder Nermin Djerlek to Boavista for 800K€ plus 25% profit from next sale. He supposedly had big potential when he arrived but never developed his skills and it’s getting late for it. I’m delighted with this deal. Also, full-back Thabo Matlaba left on a loan to Sint-Truiden, so I could save on his wages.

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Anderlecht 0-0 Westerlo

Our typical strategy of “let’s make this as dull as possible” for these matches, worked perfectly.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 2-0 Antwerp (Montero, Perea)

Fairly routine, easy win.

Jupiler Pro League: Beerschot 1-1 Westerlo (Abdel Aly)

Bizarre game as I rested most of the squad thinking of the Europa League. We conceded in the 1st minute thanks to a massive defending f*ck-up, then scored in the last minute of extra time through a penalty.

Europa League 4th Qual. Round 1st leg: Mainz 2-1 Westerlo (Montero)

Considering we could’ve drawn Man City, I was pleased to get Mainz. However we were outplayed all game long and things looked very grim, yet somehow Fredy got an away goal right at the end of the match, giving us a slight glimmer of hope.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-2 Genk

I know Genk are the champs but this was still pretty bad, I should’ve used the defensive tactic.

Europa League 4th Qual. Round 2nd leg: Westerlo 6-2 Mainz (Perea(4), Liliu, Tomás Costa)

Awesome, terrific, exhilarating. I thought we were completely done when Mainz scored early, instead our team pulled a tremendous comeback tying the round, then scored another 2 to make it 4-1. Then they got one too and we feared they’d score another to go through on away goals, instead we got a penalty and another great counter made it 6-2. Sublime game by Luis Perea scoring 4. To top it off, we cashed in over 1M€ of prize money.

Jupiler Pro League: Lokeren 2-1 Westerlo (Perea)

Appalling. After such a great performance in Europe, I have no idea why we’re so consistently bad in the league so far.

Player of the month

Luis Perea (ST) – Rasmussen back there as left-back has been on brilliant form as ever, but it’s got to be the guy who scored a poker (double brace?) in Europe.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Not drawn yet.

Europa League: Our group consists in Juventus, Twente and Dinamo Bucharest. We’re unlikely to go through but will do our best, surely we can get a result against Dinamo and perhaps hassle Twente a little?

Summary

Pretty bad start in the league but I am delighted to have clinched the qualification for the Europa League Group Stage!

[noikeee]

Squad - 2015/2016

The squad is gigantic, I know. There's at least 3 players I wanted to sell and couldn't, the rest is just me not knowing how to restrain myself not to hire too many players, and struggling with the homegrown rules hence being forced to hold on to mediocre Belgians.

[deltablue]

Not great so far.

[SRL88]

Tough start but still plenty of time to go yet.

[noikeee]

September 2015

Transfers (in)

Hired a 16yo Czech def. midfielder named Vaclav Stepanek.

Fixtures

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 1-4 Standard (Perea)

Oh ffs, how much worse can this calendar get, we’d already played Anderlecht and Genk, now Standard too? And it turned into a total fu*king nightmare when they basically scored with their first 3 shots – we were hammered despite not really playing any worse than them. We need some easy games to get into some form.

Europa League Group Stage: Juventus 1-0 Westerlo

This was pretty funny because Juve played a very narrow formation while we set out more defensive and narrow than ever, so they invariably tried to play through a barrier of about 30 players. Eventually they did get a goal but I’m pleased with my players.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-0 Sint-Truiden

Disappointment again, we failed to be dangerous and I was a little wary to risk too much.

Jupiler Pro League: KV Kortrijk 0-2 Westerlo (Caballero, Martínez)

Slightly lucky win with two late goals in a tight match, but bloody well we were starting to NEED a win badly.

Player of the month

Rune Rasmussen (DL) – Consistently the one player who never embarrasses himself, albeit he did have a very rare bad game against Standard, but then so did the whole team. MOM against Sint-Truiden.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: 2nd tier side Waasland-Beveren are the first opponents, away.

Europa League:

Summary

I’m starting to feel the pressure a little bit here. The early season calendar was unbelievably difficult but we’ve certainly not made the most of it, and I haven’t stabilized a starting 11 yet. Europe’s being a bit of a distraction too.

[noikeee]

October 2015

Fixtures

Europa League Group Stage: Westerlo 1-3 Dinamo Bucharest (Caballero)

Another total disaster. Two penalty kicks and a red card in 10 minutes killed the game early against us.

Jupiler Pro League: Westerlo 0-1 Zulte Waregem

Oh dear, epic fail, we couldn’t have lost this game. Waregem are dead last. Things are now really bad in the league table and I’m starting to wonder whether I should resign.

Jupiler Pro League: AA Gent 2-1 Westerlo (Yulu-Matondo)

In normal circumstances this would’ve been nothing to be ashamed of, but I badly, badly need a win.

Jupiler Pro League: OH Leuven 2-1 Westerlo (Henrique Miranda)

Surely I must be about to be sacked. Unacceptable.

Europa League Group Stage: FC Twente 2-0 Westerlo

Hardly unexpected.

Cofidis Cup 6th Rnd: Waasland-Beveren 1-2 Westerlo (Naert, Horemans)

At least that run of 5 consecutive defeats is over, but we struggled to beat a 2nd tier team and indeed had to turn the match around.

Jupiler Pro League: KV Mechelen 0-2 Westerlo (Naert, Céspedes)

Finally, a proper performance. We won it fair and square, and away.

Player of the month

Remi Naert (ST) – I gave the young forward a go in the cup game out of the bench and he delivered, so I stuck with him for the following game... he promptly repaid me by scoring and stealing the show.

Competitions

Jupiler Pro League:

Cofidis Cup: Not sure who we’ll face next.

Europa League:

Summary

This very quickly turned into a nightmare season, I must build on the last 2 wins otherwise the sack is coming. Thankfully November’s calendar features only home matches, albeit Club Brugge and Anderlecht aren’t exactly comfortable opponents.

[Scarman]

Not much going your way this season.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Better tuurn it around. And soon.

[rancer890]

MLS represent with a couple of those real players you got!

Hope you can turn it around quick.

[SRL88]

Finding it a lot tougher than last season.

[noikeee]

It's all really gone completely wrong, issue #1 is that I'm missing a lot more the homegrown players that left than I thought. Silvio Proto has been a poor replacement for Verbauwhede and a keeper makes such a big difference, I can't pick anyone else because he's homegrown and I'm so tight on homegrowns. Letting De Decker go too turned out to be a bad idea as Coppens and Lecat are both injured and now I have no-one for defensive midfielder, Vanadenaeurde was too old but nevertheless was another homegrown giving us loads more versatility in team choices.

Then appointing Fredy Montero as captain was a morale disaster, Villagra has been a dreadful signing, Martinez and Cidinho have shown glimpses of the quality that made me hire them but haven't been anywhere near consistent enough, my centre-backs and wingers which all continue from last year have all been on abject form. The overblown large squad is also making a lot of players unhappy they're not playing, and it's hard to keep all viable options match fit.

I've decided I'm not resigning and will try to resist the sack as much as possible, it's going to be almost impossible because we're so far back in points, but if I resist I have a quality foundation of promising youngsters to attack the next season even if I forfeit this one. It's gotta be just a matter of band-aiding the squad issue by issue.