[FM11] Forever Blue: The Final Journey

[AK22]

What do you think is realistic for Copa Libertadores? Knockout Rounds?

[deltablue]

At least. The group isn't too challenging so hopefully it'll be at least similar to how it went with Velez, reasonably comfortably winning the group, maybe get a relatively simple draw in the last 16 and make the Quarters, though by that time it'll get a lot more difficult, and at this point the group is finely balanced after 2 games with everyone on 3 points though a) we just had potentially the toughest game and b) it was right after the derby wih Cruzeiro which is the one state championship game that we'd have to put a lot of effort and energy in, and I don't think that necessarily means that we'd struggle to top the group, especially after doing so at Velez despite a couple of similar setbacks.

Hopefully the pre-season (and probably state championship) updates will finally come today. One player I was about to sign got injured for a couple of months and failed the medical (which is always very frustrating) and since the window goes all the way through to September for domestic-based players (and April for foreign-based ones, with another mid-season window for them later on) and it's still a while until the 'proper' league season I'm waiting to try and get him then before finally feeling my business is complete. Unfortunately I haven't had the best of luck this year meaning I've had to settle for turning the club into a sort of footballing daycare centre (even by my standards) but hopefully that will still pay off eventually.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Good first season in Brazil

[deltablue]

Thanks, and so far it looks like it'll be at least as good this time around.

Unfortunately after waiting for him to be fit again, the little blighter became yet another player to reject us for elsewhere but despite all that we seem to have done very well so far, despite things being so hectic that the second leg of the state championship final was actually played after the first national league game. I lost connectivity for a while just after finishing up for today and was back on a little late to spend a while sorting out multiple updates so that'll have to wait until tomorrow but there's definitely a lot to be happy about there.

It definitely feels great getting into a good run of playing for the first time in a while, especially as it's only happened occasionally in the past year or so and no doubt it helps that it's going pretty smoothly in-game.

[deltablue]

Summer 2024/5

The summer started with some good news. The end of last year I found out that Serginho was available on a permanent deal for just 140k. The youth intake also delivered a few good central defenders and forwards which was nice but not exactly what we needed.

From having very little money at the end of last season I found we had 15M in the new year but I still ended up with a little under 2M transfer budget, and that’s with the slider all the way to the end. That would cover a couple of strong signings if I was lucky but I decided to try and sell and add as much as I could to it. On the plus side with a lot of players signed last year sticking to a few quality signings where we needed them would probably the best approach and with the wage bill ever decreasing it would allow us have some in reserve for the future, especially with just one year left of a £500kpm state loan.

Unfortunately taking a patient approach to signings meant that many of the best available players moved before I decided I had enough of the scout reports to do anything myself so I ended up having to settle for very young players. However this should be of no surprise to anyone familiar with my careers as stocking up on young talent has always been something I’ve aimed to do. Unfortunately I had limited luck even with that as a few players chose to go elsewhere but I did get the full-backs that the squad so badly needed as with players released we started the season with just 2, including the 34yr old Max and I promoted someone from the youth team I might not have otherwise because of the lack of numbers.

I still felt that this year’s business was a very good bit of investment for later years even if we’d be looking like a footballing kindergarten in the meantime. Unfortunately it does mean I have a bunch of players who can’t play yet, as not only do players have to be at least 16 but a youth keeper who has turned 16 still doesn’t seem to be eligible (forcing me to buy a backup as Pegorari was sold to make way for a great young keeper who ended up going elsewhere) so maybe they have to be 16 at the start of the year, which does leave me a little shorter on depth than I expected, ironically especially up front where I’m actually getting rid of a couple of our excellent young forwards because we have too many to realistically accommodate.

Betinho being out injured for the first half of the year with a broken foot doesn’t help matters and the one player who is going out of the door so far (though it hasn’t gone through yet thankfully) is one of the few others old enough to play (a new signing and the main pairing of Serginho/Ze Carlos being our only other options for the time being) so with hindsight we could have really used him for the depth this year. Still I feel we can potentially manage as we are, injuries and the like permitting.

Signings

(Not technically a 'new' signing, more a case of turning a loan into a permanant deal)

Youth

Activity

[deltablue]

Jan/Feb 2025

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Uberaba (MG)

Ze Carlos (2)

The State Championship began against Uberaba. We had no new signings as of yet and a few of the younger players were on international duty and stumbled our way through the first-half. A kick up the backside at half-time helped and Ze Carlos scored a second-half brace to give us the win.

Tombense 0-3 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Serginho, Ze Carlos, N'Diaye

We were more convincing at Tombense. Serginho gave us the lead in the 17th minute, followed by Ze Carlos 5 minutes later. N’Diaye finished it off with a header.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Ipatinga (MG)

N'Diaye (2)

N’Diaye’s head made the difference again against Ipatinga, getting a brace of them late in the first-half.

America 0-2 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Coutinho, Ze Carlos

We went to America (MG) shortly before the Libertadores started so were generally in low gear. Coutinho eventually gave us the breakthrough in the 66th minute with Ze Carlos getting another 9 minutes later.

Atletico Mineiro 3-1 Cristal (Lib)

Serginho (3)

The Peruvians of Cristal (which happens to also be the name of a brand of bottled water in Mexico) were our first Libertadores opponents and Serginho got things going after half an hour. They equalized but Serginho restored the lead just before the break. The Uruguayan referee wasn’t going to get on Rogerio’s Christmas card list this year as he disallowed two goals in the second-half but Serginho eventually gave us a long-awaited 3rd to complete his hat-trick.

Atletico Mineiro 3-0 Uberlandia (MG)

Ze Carlos

An own-goal put us ahead against Uberlandia back home, Ze Carlos extending it in the 57th minute. Rogerio wasn’t having much luck with disallowed goals, suffering another but a second own-goal finished the win off.

Mar 2025

Cruzeiro 0-3 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

N'Diaye, Ze Carlos, Serginho

Cruzeiro and ourselves had won all our games so far without conceding a single goal but we soon put paid to their record in the ‘away’ (for we both share the World Cup stadium, at least in game) derby. N’Diaye dirtied their sheet in the 8th minute followed by Ze Carlos after 20. Serginho wrapped up a fantastic (especially given our previous derby disappointments) 3-0 win with 5 minutes left.

Indios 3-1 Atletico Mineiro (Lib)

Coutinho

We went to Mexico to face Indios next in the Libertadores and went behind in the 20th minute but Coutinho equalized before the half-hour mark. Unfortunately we were tired from the derby and fell away in the second-half to fall to a 3-1 defeat.

Caldense 0-3 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Serginho, Ze Carlos

We kept on keeping on at Caldense. Serginho had a shot deflected in after 35 minutes, getting one of his own a few minutes later and Ze Carlos got a late 3rd.

Atletico Mineiro 8-0 Mamore (MG)

Serginho (2), N'Diaye, Marcelo, Ze Carlos (3)

We finally got the sort of big win I’d been expecting against Mamore. Serginho gave us the lead in the 1st minute, followed by an N’Diaye header and an own-goal to make it 3-0 after just over half an hour. Marcelo and Ze Carlos made it 5 by the break, the latter getting 2 more in the second-half and a late Serginho second finished off an 8-0 win.

Atletico Mineiro 3-0 Nacional (PAR) (Lib)

Serginho (2), Ze Carlos

We easily saw off the Paraguayans of Nacional in the 3rd Libertadores game. Serginho gave us the lead after 10 minutes, Ze Carlos making it comfortable in the 27th minute and Serginho got another in the middle of the second-half to seal it.

Atletico Mineiro 4-0 Boa (MG)

Serginho, Ze Carlos (3)

Boa were our next victims, Serginho getting us up and running in the 3rd minute and Ze Carlos also scoring in the 32nd minute. He went on to get two more in the second-half to complete a hat-trick and a 4-0 win.

Democrata SL 0-5 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Ze Carlos (2), Serginho, Rogerio

We went to Democrata SL in the penultimate league stage game and Serginho assisted an own-goal in the 8th minute, Ze Carlos striking 5 minutes later. Serginho got a goal in the 27th minute with Ze Carlos and Rogerio giving us a 5-0 win in the end.

Apr/May 2025

Nacional (PAR) 1-3 Atletico Mineiro (Lib)

Ze Carlos (2), Serginho

A dodgy penalty saw us go behind early at Nacional but Ze Carlos equalized in the 12th minute and within 10 minutes Serginho and another Ze Carlos goal gave us a 3-1 win that all-but-guaranteed qualification.

Atletico Mineiro 0-0 Tupa (MG)

We finished the State league stage with our clean sheet record still intact but lost our 100% record with 15 shots, none on target and a key Libertadores group game coming up. It also spared them an immediate rematch in the playoffs.

Atletico Mineiro 0-0 Indios (Lib)

Indios were joint top of the group with us and I was hoping to take the decisive advantage but after Ze Carlos had an early goal disallowed we failed to make the breakthrough leaving it down to the last day.

Ipatinga 0-1 Atletico Mineiro (MG SF)

Serginho

Beforehand we had the state playoff semi with Ipatinga, away first. Fatigue seemed to be settling in and for the 3rd game in a row we struggled to get anywhere. Serginho did at least get us a winner with a couple of minutes left, just after having one disallowed.

Atletico Mineiro 3-0 (4-0) Ipatinga (MG SF)

Ze Carlos (2), Serginho

I made a couple of changes for the home leg which didn’t seem to make much difference until the second-half. Ze Carlos scored 10 minutes after half-time, getting another with Serginho seeing us through 4-0 on aggregate.

Cristal 1-4 Atletico Mineiro (Lib)

N'Diaye, Coutinho (2), Ze Carlos

We went to Peru in the last Group stage match and went behind in the 5th minute. N’Diaye equalized in first-half stoppage time with a penalty but we’d probably need a win to top the group. They had a red card when conceding the penalty and we kept pounding away against the 10 men, finally getting a goal from Coutinho in the 68th minute. That broke them and Ze Carlos gave us a 3rd, Coutinho getting another in the end. The Libertadores determined the knockout rounds by ranking the 1st and 2nd placed teams which I think is a good way to do it but it does mean that you can get the same team again and so it happened as we got to face Indios again.

Cruzeiro 1-0 Atletico Mineiro (MG Final)

Thankfully Cruzeiro were also in the Libertadores so we weren’t necessarily at a disadvantage in the state championship final, even if being in the knockout rounds meant the second leg of our final would be after the start of the league season. Both teams had trips to Mexico in midweek so the away leg was hardly hectic but they did score early in the second-half, the first goal we’d conceded in the entire competition. That livened the game up a little and we were a bit unlucky not to equalize but it still left the tie finely in the balance.

Indios 2-0 Atletico Mineiro (Lib R2)

I hoped we could do better in Mexico but we went behind in the 8th minute, and were soon 2-0 down. It was all we could do to limit the damage giving us with two home leg comebacks to try and pull off.

Atletico Mineiro 7-0 (7-2) Indios (Lib R2)

Serginho (4), N'Diaye (2), Coutinho

We hadn’t beaten Indios in any of our 3 encounters so far but we certainly made up for lost time now. Serginho pulled one back for us in the 10th minute and levelled the tie 7 minutes later. N’Diaye got a 3rd and even though a single away goal could put them through, Serginho put it past them with two more before the break and Coutinho even got a 6th right at the end of the half. N’Diaye’s second goal near the end gave us a deserved 7th as we went through in style. However it was at the cost of Rogerio being out for a couple of weeks and Coutinho for 3-4 months.

Atletico Mineiro 2-2 Fluminense (ND1)

Serginho, Vinicius

Like last year we started the main league season against Fluminense, but it did not start well and we went behind in the 19th minute. Things got worse in the second half as Azeez had an equalizer disallowed and Rabello’s injury left us a man down but Serginho equalized in the 70th minute and Vinicius put us ahead 11 minutes later. It wasn’t quite enough as they equalized in the last minute but it wasn’t a terrible result under the circumstances.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 (2-1 aet) Cruzeiro (MG Final)

Ze Carlos, Azeez

We finally finished off the state championship at home to Cruzeiro, who were in the middle of their Libertadores Quarter-final with Velez while our own tie against Boca was a week later and we had midweek off instead. They went down to 10 men in the 22nd minute but we were shorn of both wingers through injury and struggled to take advantage. Ze Carlos finally scored in the 78th minute and it went to extra-time where Azeez gave us a winner after 100 minutes.

As expected it's been a very busy season already but apart from one brief slowdown we seem to have coped with it very well indeed. It helps that Betinho and Coutinho aside we've been a lot luckier than last year in avoiding major injuries but that should take nothing away from a mostly unchanged side (I'm not one to keep rotating all the time as it never seems to work well) essentially having to deal with it all one thing after another. I was very lucky that I spotted so late on that Serginho had such a small 'future transfer' clause in his loan deal as I very nearly lost him and given our current striker availablity situation he's proven to be crucial. The partnership between him and Ze Carlos has yielded 42 goals in 24 games so far, the former doing better in the Libertadores, the latter at home and it's important that they're able to keep it up to some extent.

I'm very happy at winning the state championship and not just in a 'well it's a trophy' way. Firstly we definitely improved on our performances on last year, especially when it comes to facing Cruzeiro. The derby in the regular stage had a reversed scoreline last season with a 5-0 defeat in one of the legs of the final so to beat them so comfortably in the league stage and overcome them (though it was more of a struggle) in the final provided a clear yardstick of achievement that the games against the other sides mostly wouldn't unless we won by bigger margins (which we at least did a few times). The presence of Cruzeiro as a very strong rival (much like Norwich on FM13) definitely adds enough competition that it means something to win it ahead of them, especially after failing so miserably on my first attempt last time.

There is also the fact that we had a near-perfect record, being only just a worn out and distracted 0-0 draw denying us a 100% record in the regular stage and the first leg final defeat against Cruzeiro provided the only goal conceded in the entire competition, and even against mediocre opposition (which Cruzeiro as a team who are anything but) it's normal to concede occasionally so it's still something to be pleased about. Teams in continental competition in Brazil don't play in the cup so aside from the state championship the only prospect of winning trophies come from the continental competitions and the league title itself, all very difficult so it's generally going to be the competition to realistically aim for regular success in.

It's tough to assess our league chances as expectations are still very high and there's still a lot of potential for fixture congestion and tiredness to drag us down a bit. If we can avoid that and too much disruption to the squad than I hope we can make a challenge. We've very much matched my expectations in the Libertadores, and we might just be able to beat Boca as well but I'm obviously not expecting that much against one of the consistently strongest sides on the continent so it remains to be seem if we can keep it going. It would be fantastic if we can but I won't mind too much otherwise after a decent run and with an otherwise clear schedule for the league.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Always hard to judge the state comps but if nothing else your form is very good going in to the league season and the freshness you should have in your squad is a huge bonus for the Boca games

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

oi delta rebember me its LeedsUnitedForLife haha anyway start one on fm 15 mate

[DavidBeckham]

Absolutely smashing it in Brazil mate

[deltablue]

Always hard to judge the state comps but if nothing else your form is very good going in to the league season and the freshness you should have in your squad is a huge bonus for the Boca games

Well we're hardly that fresh, not least coming off a state final a few days earlier that went to extra-time but I know from Velez it can be even tougher for Argentine clubs at this stage so we'll see and it will be interesting seeing how much playing so many games with the Libertadores affects us even for a while after we're finished. We can at least judge state performances year on year and it definitely was an improvement which is nice.

oi delta rebember me its LeedsUnitedForLife haha anyway start one on fm 15 mate

Well, it has been a while. An excellent suggestion, with just two minor drawbacks. a) I don't have FM15 and b) I have no intention of getting FM15 or new FM's in general.

Absolutely smashing it in Brazil mate

Well we've admittedly had an easy ride in the state championships as aside from Cruzeiro, who are on a similar level to us, the other teams are mostly League 1/2 standard at best. Still pleased at how we've done in the main competitions so far though.

[AK22]

Blazing start!

Should be a good test against Boca too.

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

why not mate

[deltablue]

Blazing start!

Should be a good test against Boca too.

It was, but unfortunately it was a little too tough this time around.

why not mate

I just don't like that since FM14 the game has seemed a lot more 'High Pressure' than before. Stopped playing FM14 early on and from that point knew that the game had evolved beyond the point where it was a satisfactory balance of depth/realism and simplicity/fun for me.

May/June 2025

Atletico Mineiro 1-1 Boca Juniors (Lib QF)

Serginho

I knew Boca would be a major challenge and they went ahead after 12 minutes. I hoped to put up more of a fight than that and Serginho equalized just before half-time but we failed to seriously threaten for a win and a score draw in the home leg wasn’t a great position to be in.

Juventude 2-0 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

We went to promoted Juventude in the meantime and found ourselves under serious pressure. Defensively we were poor and they kept up their 100% start to the season scoring in the 28th minute and deservedly finishing us off in the 73rd.

Boca Juniors 5-1 (6-2) Atletico Mineiro (Lib QF)

We pretty much lost the Boca tie early on in the chocolate box as they scored twice in the first 22 minutes. Ze Carlos put us back in it as he scored after 40 minutes and we needed just one more for an away goals win but they scored again before the break and got 2 more in the second-half as we just collapsed.

Atletico Mineiro 0-0 Bahia (ND1)

We needed to get up to speed in the league against Bahia but we didn’t have much in the tank right now and didn’t deserve much more than 0-0.

Corinthians 1-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1) 600th career game!!!

N'Diaye

A re-arranged trip to Corinthians in midweek wasn’t what we needed right now, even as the 600th match of the career. N’Diaye gave us the lead in the 7th minute but he missed a penalty just before they equalized. An eventful day for the Senegalese defender was rounded off by a straight red as we tried and failed to get a first win.

Botafogo 3-4 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Ze Carlos (3), Serginho

Botafogo had started very well and would be another tough trip to make, especially with a few younger players away on international duty to add to numerous unavailabilities and it seemed depressingly predictable when they took a 6th minute lead but the rest of the game was anything but. Ze Carlos equalized just 3 minutes later and Serginho fired us ahead in the 18th minute. They equalized and I messed up a defensive sub accidentally taking the wrong player off for Max leaving us with 3 full-backs and the requirement to shuffle things around. Ze Carlos put us back ahead regardless a few minutes into the second-half and even though they equalized again, Ze Carlos completed a hat-trick in the 72nd minute. Toninho was sent off meaning the usual 3 centre-backs was now reduced to 1 but we held on to finally get a league win at the 5th attempt.

Atletico Mineiro 4-1 Sao Paulo (ND1)

Serginho (3), Betinho

Sao Paulo had just come off a Libertadores exit and we took full advantage, Serginho getting a first-half hat-trick. He later went off injured but Betinho came on and scored his first goal since his long injury and even though we conceded 5 minutes later it was still a great 4-1 win.

Portuguesa 2-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Ze Carlos

Ze Carlos gave us the lead after 10 minutes at Portuguesa but they managed to turn it around in the middle of the second-half to deal a slightly harsh 2-1 defeat.

Atletico Mineiro 1-0 Parana (ND1)

Betinho

It looked like our getting up to speed was faltering and despite being pretty dominant against Parana we struggled to break through and there was much relief when Betinho scored with just a few minutes left.

July 2025

Flamengo 0-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Gilmar

Gilmar’s first goal of the season gave us the lead late in the first-half at Flamengo and unlike Portuguesa we managed to hold on to it, but only just, not least as it involved a disallowed Flamengo goal.

Sport Recife 1-3 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Serginho, N'Diaye, Azeez

Serginho gave us the lead in the 33rd minute at Recife but he went off injured and they equalized in the 72nd minute. We pulled through with N’Diaye heading us back into the lead with 10 minutes left and despite having a goal disallowed, Azeez managed to get a 3rd near the end.

Atletico Mineiro 1-0 Ceara (ND1)

Rogerio

I expected a comfortable home win against Ceara but we fell rather flat. Rogerio saw us through with a 66th minute goal and encouraged, we could have got a second afterwards.

Atletico Mineiro 5-2 Cruzeiro (ND1)

Marcelo, Ze Carlos (2), Rogerio, Gilmar

I always enjoy the opportunity to have a go at our arch-rivals and we were helped when Cruzeiro had a man sent off in the 28th minute, immediately followed by Marcelo giving us the lead. They equalized but Ze Carlos scored a brace before half-time. Rogerio had shone and deservedly got on the score-sheet for a 4th before the hour mark. They scored a second but Gilmar sealed a 5-2 win with 15 minutes left.

Aug 2025

Santos 1-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Serginho

August was a very busy period starting at Santos and Serginho gave us a 2nd minute lead. However it was tough holding on, especially after Ze Carlos went off injured and they deservedly equalized in the 67th minute. However it was still unlucky that Azeez had a winner disallowed, denying us the chance to go top.

Atletico Mineiro 0-2 Gremio (ND1)

We played champions Gremio and unfortunately fell pretty far short, lamely conceding twice in the first-half. We improved and were a little unlucky not to get a goal back but otherwise we’d been clear second-best.

Vitoria 0-3 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

N'Diaye, Azeez, Vinicius

It was important that we didn’t let things slide for too long and I wasn’t confident going to Vitoria but N’Diaye put us ahead after half an hour. We pushed on with Azeez and Vinicius making it a comfortable 3-0 win in the end.

Palmeiras 6-3 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Rogerio (2), Serginho

We went to Palmeiras (who were now top, just) for the 4th game in 11 days but that didn’t explain what happened. Ronaldo went odd injured just one minute in with Kaka and Azeez joining him, meanwhile we went 4-0 down as we were woeful regardless. We actually looked like mounting an unlikely comeback in the second-half, Rogerio and Serginho giving us a quick double after 50 minutes, the former then giving us a 3rd but they hit us with two more late on.

Atletico Mineiro 1-1 Criciuma (ND1)

Rogerio

Criciuma was game number 5 in a fortnight and while we still had the energy we couldn’t find our finishing. Rogerio eventually gave us the lead from a penalty in the second-half but it wasn’t enough and we were unluckily hit for a late equalizer.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Vasco da Gama (ND1)

Gilmar, Ze Carlos

We had the only midweek off of the month before playing Vasco da Gama and while Serginho had an early goal disallowed, Gilmar deservedly put us ahead in the 22nd minute. It still looked touch and go for a while but Ze Carlos gave us another with 5 minutes left.

Internacional 0-2 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Ze Carlos (2)

Ze Carlos gave us the lead after 12 minutes at Internacional, giving us another in the 55th minute. They gave us a little scare when they scored with 5 minutes left but we had done enough to avoid too much trouble.

Fluminense 1-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Ze Carlos

Ze Carlos gave us the lead again at Fluminense in the 9th minute but we were up against it in an insanely hectic game (just as well I’m not a real manager because the media would have a field day with my rather nervous pitchside reactions). They had an equalizer disallowed with 10 minutes left but we didn’t quite get away with it as they still got one which I had to admit was a fair result.

As expected, the Libertadores and the late end to the state championship left us too tired to make a good start to the league, but I was delighted at how quickly we picked up. It took us 5 games to get a win and after 10 we were back up in 3rd. It had the potential to be a lot worse especially with high expectations (Libertadores qualification/Top 5) thrown into the mix and it would not have been good at all to wait too long before hitting form and/or climb up too slowly. A slip in form once we hit all those August games was also something I knew would be coming (and it was agonizing that we only just missed out on going top at the start of it) but like last year it's been mixed at worst. There are still going to be busy patches ahead but hopefully we can avoid slipping too badly, and it helps that things are much tighter at the top than last year, where we actually moved back up the table and gained a bit of ground on otherwise runaway champions Gremio later on.

I'm really hoping to claim at least one league title here and while it's probably not going to come this time around (we need a fairly clear run of weekly matches to rack up the wins, just as we did in the early stages of this season and last before congestion kicked in, and we're not going to have enough of that) it would still be good to get another strong finish at this relatively early stage of development and pretty much match last season despite all the extra games. Things are coming together nicely here in Belo Horizonte and I hope we can realize the potential before too long.

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

wish u would mate

[deltablue]

wish u would mate

Well I'm afraid my mind has long been made up.

Sept 2025

Atletico Mineiro 0-2 Corinthians (ND1)

The defence let us down early on against Corinthians and we soon found ourselves 2-0 down. We got our act together but couldn’t get anywhere after that.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Juventude (ND1)

Marcelo, Azeez

We had an early goal disallowed against Juventude after which a bright start faded away somewhat. Marcelo gave us a breakthrough just before half-time and Azeez added another right at the end.

Bahia 0-2 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Betinho, Marcelo

Betinho gave us the lead in the 24th minute at Bahia but I was worried when Rogerio had another disallowed for offside. Marcelo did manage to give us another from a penalty with 15 minutes left.

Atletico Mineiro 0-1 Botafogo (ND1)

We were rather unlucky against Botafogo. Ze Carlos had a goal disallowed, and as is often the way, they took the lead instead. We were still good value for at least an equalizer and it was disappointing to get nothing.

Sao Paulo, 3-0 Atletico Mineiro (ND1) 100th Atletico Mineiro match!!!

I reached my 100th Atletico match at Sao Paulo, but I knew it would be tough to get anything. We went behind in the 27th minute and they comfortably finished us off with 2 more in the second-half.

Oct 2025

Portuguesa 0-2 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Azeez, Rogerio

Things looked like getting even worse when Ze Carlos went off injured (thankfully only being out for a week) at the start against Portuguesa and Betinho struggled in his place, enough that he was taken off again for Azeez. The Ghanaian made a near-immediate impact, scoring just a couple of minutes into the second-half, and a Rogerio header gave us a 2-0 lead that we comfortably held despite a straight red card for Edu (which we really didn’t need as the only full-back neither in nappies or an old people’s home) in the 78th minute.

Parana 1-2 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Rogerio

We went to Parana who tried to confuse us by having both their central midfielders being named ‘Rafael’ but it didn’t do much good when an own-goal gave us the lead in the 4th minute. We failed to push on and shots were in short supply at both ends so it looked like we’d lost 2 easy points when one of the Rafael’s scored a penalty with 10 minutes left but Rogerio snatched it late on.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Sport Recife (ND1)

Rogerio, Tiago

We battered away in the first-half against Recife to little real effect but we finally broke through from a Rogerio penalty a few minutes into the second-half, Tiago quickly following with another.

Ceara 1-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Serginho

Promoted Ceara were having a good year and when we took the lead from Serginho in the 58th minute it was very much on the break. We very nearly held on but a late save from Renan Ribeiro ended up going in off Ronaldo to share the points but that was admittedly the most we deserved, and we remained 6 points clear of 6th, which was the important thing.

Atletico Mineiro 1-0 Flamengo (ND1)

Serginho

We completely dominated against Flamengo and deserved a lot more than a single goal against Serginho in the 3rd minute, though he also had another disallowed at the end of the half.

Cruzeiro 3-0 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

We had a bad time in the away derby, going behind after 5 minutes. Ronaldo and Betinho went off injured in the second-half and they inevitably got another.

Nov/Dec 2025

Atletico Mineiro 1-1 Santos (ND1)

Azeez

We went behind against Santos after 20 minutes but managed to avoid consecutive defeats as Azeez equalized with 10 minutes left, as we only just deserved a draw.

Criciuma 0-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Rogerio

We just about squeezed through in a poor game at Criciuma, narrowly deserving a win but only getting it from a Rogerio penalty at the start of the second-half.

Gremio 0-2 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Ze Carlos, Rogerio

I didn’t expect much from a trip to champions Gremio and we indeed found our backs against the wall but Ze Carlos returned from a low-morale induced spell on the sidelines to give us the lead after 40 minutes. Rogerio’s 64th minute penalty gave us a slightly surprising 2-0 win, and it helped that 3 of the 4 remaining matches were at home.

Atletico Mineiro 1-3 Vitoria (ND1)

Serginho

Rogerio set up Serginho to give us the lead after 15 minutes against Vitoria but we let it slip and they surged ahead 3-1 at the break. Rogerio missed a penalty as we pushed hard in the second-half but we failed to avoid a disappointing defeat, with half the team picking up suspension-triggering yellow cards.

Atletico Mineiro 0-1 Palmeiras (ND1)

We crashed again against Palmeiras, fighting hard and could have snatched a goal but we fell to one of theirs with 15 minutes left, which was a shame but they were clearly one of the strongest couple of teams on paper.

Vasco da Gama 1-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Rogerio

A top 5 finish was greatly under threat when we went to Vasco. They played a lot of the game with 10 men and we finally got a breakthrough from Rogerio in the 74th minute, but they hit us with an equalizer in the last minute with their only shot on target.

Atletico Mineiro 5-2 Internacional (ND1)

Vinicius, Azeez (2), Serginho, Coutinho

The final day game against Internacional was essentially a Libertadores playoff as they were ahead of us in 5th on one point of goal difference only. In the end it proved to be surprisingly easy. Vinicius gave us the lead in the 8th minute, followed by an Azeez brace and one from Serginho put us 4-0 ahead after just half an hour. They quickly pulled one back but failed to push much further. Coutinho even gave us a 5th with 10 minutes to go while they got a second consolation with a penalty, as we got not just 5th but 4th in the end.

There isn’t a massive amount to be said that hasn’t been said already. The season played out much like the last, with the exception of a slower start and finish, which is no surprise given the extra Libertadores games and the young squad. I wasn’t exactly pushing them all in but Ronaldo pretty much had to be thrown in as first-choice left-back for a season where he was just 16 for most of it and did pretty well, while 17yr old Gilmar had more time as the midfield playmaker, which wasn’t such a problem given his immense technical ability already even though he needs quite a bit more battle-hardening, and he’s not alone in that.

We’re cruising along nicely as we are but otherwise definitely need a lot more maturing over a few years to be able to push on. It doesn’t help that Sao Paulo clinched their 5th title in 6 years so we’ve got a heck of a battle to seriously compete with them even in the longer-term. Being in the Libertadores preliminary round adds an extra couple of games at the start and I have to admit that just missing out wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world but on the evidence of this year that shouldn’t drag us down that much.

Star Player: Ze Carlos racked up the goals in the state championship in impressive style but unfortunately he didn't really shine as much as I hoped in the First Division, and the same applies to Serginho. However the young target man still ended up with a good enough return all across the board to end up as the Brazilian Golden Boot winner (which takes state goals into account), beating his strike partner by a couple of goals.

I plan to get in one more season before I go away in just under a week’s time and will be back shortly before Christmas.

[AK22]

Just enough time to win the league then

[deltablue]

That'll be a bit of a long shot.

Summer 2025/26

We started the year in good shape. We had 23M in the bank, no longer had 500kpm loan repayments, the wage bill was down to 180kpw and with just over 50k we had the second-highest average attendance last season. We also had a lot of potentially valuable young assets and while I’ve always been hard-line about not selling players it gives the club plenty of future transfer income should it come to that. Unfortunately I only had 2.7M to work with and little excess wage budget so again had to try and raise a bit more but hopefully having a lot more at the end of the year might give me a lot more in the future.

There was relatively little that absolutely needed to be done, hopefully Palito would be eligible to play allowing us to compensate for Max’s retirement. I also decided to move quickly after missing out on a bunch of potential signings last year to get a young winger from Sao Paulo, replacing Rabello who was ok but a waste of one of the three foreigners allowed in the squad (technically only in the matchday squad but there isn’t much point having more) and also allowing us to rob a potential rival of a young talent.

In the end there weren’t many good targets out there so it ended up essentially being another year on stocking up on young talent, which did at least mean getting that extra full-back as well as a DM who could potentially be better than Marcelo and Tiago (very much on my ‘would be nice’ list for a while, and still is if I can find an older and more developed player in that position in the future), passing over yet another young forward (as we were over-stocked with them) there was still a sense of focussing on what we could do with and drawing as much as you can from the well of young talent in your nation is never a bad move. Otherwise the team would look much the same as last year which hopefully could give us a bit of a boost.

Signings

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

shame think u would really like fm 15

[deltablue]

shame think u would really like fm 15

From what I've seen on here of other people's experiences (and I'm talking about what's happened in FMCU careers rather than people complaining over on GD) I seriously doubt it.

Jan/Feb 2026

Democrata (SL) 0-10 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Vinicius, Serginho (6), Ze Carlos, Marcelo, Rogerio

We started the state championship at Democrata SL, and Vinicius gave us the lead in the 3rd minute. Serginho got a hat-trick after 21 minites, getting a 4th after Ze Carlos put us 5-0 up. Serginho got his 5th and our 7th in the 56th minute, Marcelo’s penalty and one from Rogerio making it 9 before Serginho’s 6th gave us a 10-0 win.

Atletico Mineiro 5-1 Danubio (Lib Prelim)

Serginho (4), Ze Carlos

We had Danubio in the Libertadores preliminary round, and two Serginho goals sandwiched one from Ze Carlos in the last 10 minutes of the second-half, and he gave us two more in the second-half to take him to 10 goals in just 2 games. Danubio got a late consolation but we were pretty much through.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Tupa (MG)

Serginho (2)

Serginho made it 12 for the season already with a goal in each half against Tupa, both ably assisted by Coutinho as we deserved even more.

Danubio 2-1 (3-6) Atletico Mineiro (Lib Prelim)

We were under a lot of pressure against Danubio, conceding twice in the first-half and going down to 10 men. The numbers were evened up and Ze Carlos got a goal with 5 minutes left as we kept a comfortable aggregate win.

Uberlandia 0-5 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Rogerio, Marcelo, Ze Carlos (2), Serginho

We had no trouble at 10-man Uberlandia, Rogerio gave us a 19th minute lead with a Marcelo penalty giving us another before the break. Ze Carlos got a second-half brace with a Serginho goal in between as we won 5-0.

Atletico Mineiro 1-0 Democrata GV (MG)

Azeez

We looked like drawing a blank despite our efforts against Democrata GV, not helped by Ze Carlos being out injured, but Azeez gave us the win right in the nick of time.

Caldense 0-4 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Azeez, Serginho, Marcelo (2)

Things were so comfortable at Caldense that I spent the time pokemon training. Azeez gave us the lead in the 2nd minute with Serginho making it 2-0 12 minutes later. A penalty in each half from Marcelo sealed a 4-0 win.

Tolima 0-1 Atletico Mineiro (Lib)

Ronaldo

A potentially tricky Libertadores group started away to the Colombians of Tolima, who we pounded in the first-half without making a break-through. It looked like we’d slowed down after the break but Ronaldo finally gave us a goal in the 63rd minute. They put us under some pressure but it would have been more if a stoppage time ‘goal’ from Serginho had been allowed to stand.

Mar 2026

Atletico Mineiro 3-0 Cruzeiro (MG)

Azeez, Serginho, Marcelo

Cruzeiro looked much stronger than before (Go Zeo!) but that didn’t stop Azeez and Serginho giving us a 2-0 lead after just 12 minutes. Another Marcelo penalty gave us a 3rd before the break as we dominated our arch-rivals once again, with special mention to the full-backs, Ronaldo and Edu.

Boa 0-5 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Azeez, Rogerio, Serginho, Vinicius

Azeez had been making the most of the opportunity brought about by an injury to Ze Carlos (to the point that the latter was being left on the sidelines despite being fit again) and he continued his run of form to give us a 9th minute lead at Boa. Rogerio soon gave us a second with Serginho making it 3-0 early in the second-half. Vinicius got the 4th before Azeez finished off a 5-0 win in stoppage time.

Atletico Mineiro 1-0 Penarol (Lib)

Ze Carlos

The young Nigerian’s form and luck ran out against Penarol. The first half was quiet but we very much turned the heat up after the break. Ze Carlos came on for Azeez and wasted little time giving us the winner at last.

Atletico Mineiro 4-0 Vila Nova (MG)

Serginho, Rogerio, Vinicius

Serginho gave us the lead after 5 minutes against Vila Nova, with an own-goal and Rogerio (gifted by a goalkeeping fumble) making it 3-0 after 28 minutes. An injury to Ronaldo (with no other left backs available at this stage though Palito could play in the Libertadores) didn’t hinder us too much as Vinicius managed a 4th in the 77th minute.

Estudiantes LP 2-0 Atletico Mineiro (Lib)

Estudiantes was the real tough team in our group and we went to Argentina not a little fearful. We held firm for a while but couldn’t keep them out forever and they eventually scored twice to cement their status as probable group winners.

Ipatinga 0-3 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

N'Diaye, Ze Carlos (2)

N’Diaye gave us the lead at the start at Ipatinga but otherwise it wasn’t one of our most energetic performances. Ze Carlos at least made it look reasonable with a second-half brace.

Atletico Mineiro 4-0 Uberaba (MG)

Serginho, Marcelo, Rogerio, Betinho

We warmed up for the return against Estudiantes by seeing off Uberaba. Serginho gave us the lead in the 12th minute but it was the second-half where things really burst into life. Marcelo scored a 64th minute penalty, Rogerio and Betinho rounding off a 4-0 win.

Apr/May 2026

Atletico Mineiro 3-0 Estudiantes LP (Lib)

Serginho (2), Ze Carlos

Even if we finished 2nd in the group (head-to-head results don’t come into it like in the CL and they have a massive GD advantage), getting something against Estudiantes would make a difference in who we might face. I was delighted to see us avenge our defeat in La Plata. Serginho gave us the lead in the 22nd minute, making it more comfortable in the 67th minute and Ze Carlos even gave us a 3rd in stoppage time. Sadly the better head-to-head record counted for nothing but the GD advantage had been slashed to just 2 so it was still a possibility. It also showed what we could do on our day against almost anyone.

America 0-2 Atletico Mineiro (MG)

Serginho, Rogerio

We finished the state league stage at America. It looked like we’d repeat the 0-0 draw we finished this stage with last year but Serginho broke through (it helped that they had gone down to 10 men) in the 56th minute, soon followed by Rogerio as we clinched a 100% record.

Uberlandia 0-3 Atletico Mineiro (MG SF)

Rogerio, Marcelo, Serginho

We went to Uberlandia in the first leg of the semi-final and though Serginho had a 5th minute goal disallowed (he has quite enough as it is), Rogerio still put us ahead almost immediately. Marcelo was our penalty expert, the 21yr old DM getting his 7th strike from the spot out of 8 so far this season in the 25th minute. Serginho finally got his goal in the 67th minute as despite having a trip to Montevideo in midweek we still all-but-cruised through to the final.

Penarol 1-2 Atletico Mineiro (Lib)

Betinho, Vinicius

Betinho gave us the lead in the 8th minute in Uruguay but he became the first of a couple of injuries that messed the team up a little and they equalized before the break. We still got a winner from Vinicius in the 50th minute which sealed qualification.

Atletico Mineiro 3-0 (6-0) Uberlandia (MG SF)

Vinicius, Serginho (2)

The home leg against Uberlandia was near-irrelevant but Vinicius still gave us the lead after 20 minutes. Serginho scored in stoppage time and again with 5 minutes left as a 6-0 aggregate win saw us through to the annual showdown with Cruzeiro.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Tolima (Lib)

I hoped we could get the big win we needed to top the group against Tolima but it just wasn’t happening as we just couldn’t convert the chances but a late Ze Carlos brace comfortably saw us make it 5 wins from 6 in the group stage, however that didn’t help us avoid a tie with Velez, my old club and the reigning Libertadores and CWC champions!

Cruzeiro 1-1 Atletico Mineiro (MG Final)

Marcelo

With Velez on the horizon we were far from at our best at Cruzeiro in the first-leg of the state final and went behind just before half-time. Ronaldo then got sent off but a Marcelo penalty in the 72nd minute kept the tie level, though again the home leg would be delayed.

Atletico Mineiro 1-1 Velez (Lib R2)

Betinho

From a personal point of view the Velez tie was massive but we were battered in the first-half at home and were very lucky not to be behind. I rang the changes at half-time to take off the tired players and despite Edu getting a straight red at the start of the second-half, it seemed to work as Betinho, one of the players brought on, gave us the lead in the 50th minute. Even at 36, Renan Ribeiro was still a quality keeper and he kept on keeping them out for a while but was beaten from a corner after 70 minutes leaving us with a tough task in Argentina.

Velez 4-1 (5-2) Atletico Mineiro (Lib R2)

Ze Carlos

Much like against Boca last year, they ruthlessly finished us off in the away leg. They took the lead in the 5th minute and were 3-0 up in the first half-hour. We had nothing to lose and we went for it in the second-half with Ze Carlos scoring on the hour mark but while we could have had a second, they finished us with a 4th on the night.

Atletico Mineiro 1-1 Fluminense (ND1)

Betinho

There definitely seemed to be quite a lot of repetition in the fixture lists each year and again we started the main league season against Fluminense, with the added bad news that Serginho would be injured for a couple of weeks. It was a hectic start at both ends but they took the lead in the 24th minute. Betinho gave us an equalizer in the 69th minute as again we shared the points.

Atletico Mineiro 2-0 (3-1) Cruzeiro (MG Final)

Ze Carlos, Kaka

We finally had the chance to settle things with Cruzeiro and even without the injured Serginho, who has scored twice as many goals as anyone else in the competition, and with Leo having to deputise at left-back, it was much simpler than last year. Ze Carlos gave us the lead in the 8th minute and while we didn’t need anything else, Kaka made it 2-0 anyway with 5 minutes left. A textbook case of job done with the minimum of fuss.

So far this season has panned out much like the last. We were actually even better in the state championship than last year but hit a a bit of a slowdown at roughly the same point, covering the state final, Libertadores knockout rounds and potentially the start of the national league as well, but maybe our earlier Libertadores exit will help is get back up to speed quicker this year.

For me the Velez defeat was a major disappointment, both in terms of performance and what it would have meant to me to beat them. It was very frustrating not being given much time in Argentina and see the team I was building rocket to success last year without me so I was always going to be up for taking them down a few notches. Unfortunately much like with Boca, we failed to take control of the tie in the home leg and were easily taken apart in the second-leg. Making a Libertadores challenge is definitely going to be a very tall order with fixtures in various competitions being packed in much more tightly, though maybe once the team has matured a lot more we might be able to cope much better. It's not all bad as hopefully we can get a much better start in the league (I think it took us 6 matches to get a first win last year) and see if we can get closer to the top.

I'm going to leave it there for a couple of weeks while I'm away (though I'll still be on regularly and posting). Unfortunately having a few things going on and the fact that I no longer play as much when I do have the opportunity meant that I had to settle for reaching the end of the State Championship rather than go for the whole year, and aside from the first few games which were done along with the transfer activity before that was posted everything is from today. However there is one bit of nice news to finish on...

It's a bit of a surprise with only a pair of State Championships (and not a very challenging one either, Cruzeiro aside) in the trophy cabinet but it's a nice reflection of how well I feel things have gone so far and my optimism that my time in Brazil will be a long and fruitful one. While I intend to eventually make a big European move that's only something I'll be thinking about far in the future, hopefully with at least one national title under my belt but we'll see.

[Dexter_Morgan]

I remember in the older FM's complacency could become a big issue, it could be the case that having it so easy in the state championships has had an effect in the CL?

[deltablue]

I remember in the older FM's complacency could become a big issue, it could be the case that having it so easy in the state championships has had an effect in the CL?

I don't think so, if anything I think it's worked the other way around in the past. When I first arrived at the club i was very worried that we wouldn't get anywhere near meeting the goal of Libertadores qualification because we were making heavy weather of the state championship sides and were heavily beaten twice by Cruzeiro while we were at it. However I had a feeling that the team wasn't really trying too hard (as well as needing to gel as there was a lot that needed to be done transfer-wise) and that we'd be able to step up our game when the main league season came around and sure enough we did, and for the most part have been able to do so against the state sides after that as well.

I think it's because we can't cope that well with lots of midweek games just yet, especially as they're packed in lot more tightly in the Libertadores (the second leg of the state semi adding another around the same time) and the same thing happens once August rolls around in the league. There's also the fact that Boca and Velez are incredibly tough sides (especially as the latter are the holders) so being less than 100% was always going to make things difficult to really compete.

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

its good match engine this year hehe

[deltablue]

Sorry it's been so long. Did get a little bit of playing time in between returning home and Christmas but it's been hectic and booze-filled. Did finally settle down to a big session yesterday but then this happened...

May/June 2026

Brasil de Pelotas 0-4 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Betinho, Kaka, Coutinho, Azeez

It was great seeing us get a stronger start in the league than last year, just as I hoped. Betinho have us a 10th minute lead at Brasil de Pelotas and we stepped up a gear in the second-half, Kaka, Coutinho and Azeez giving is a 4-0 win.

Internacional 0-1 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Azeez

Azeez gave us the lead in the 15th minute at Internacional, though soon went off injured and we had a hard time holding on, though we managed it.

Atletico Mineiro 0-1 Vitoria (ND1)

We had another hard-fought game against Vitoria, this time being the ones edged out with a goal after an hour. We seemed to suddenly be faltering and struggled to get anywhere at Ceara. Ronaldo got sent off with 10 minutes left but we were still able to get a winner from Betinho afterwards.

Atletico Mineiro 0-0 Santos (ND1)

We had a couple of games to squeeze in before a break for the World Cup. It was a very poor game with hardly any chances on either side but as we were the worse side (which was some achievement) I was relieved to get something.

Bahia 1-0 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

We were a little better at Bahia but not enough better and again it was no cigar as we fell to a 2nd league defeat of the season.

July/Aug 2026

Atletico Mineiro 0-1 Palmeiras (ND1)

We returned to action after the World Cup against Palmeiras but unfortunately the break didn’t do us much good. We went behind in the 37th minute and while we made a game attempt at coming back in the second-half we drew a blank for the 3rd game in a row.

Gremio 3-0 Atletico Mineiro (ND1)

Our miserable winter continued at Gremio, who went ahead in the 12th minute. In the second-half a penalty and a questionable goal allowed them to finish us off 3-0.

I must admit I saw it coming. I popped out of the room briefly while the game was processing after the Gremio game and even thought 'Have I been sacked?'. The mid-table was so tight that though we were way down in the bottom-half, we were just 3 points off 6th placed Gremio (who had of course just beaten us) but just one above the relegation zone. In the end this South American adventure just hasn't gone according to plan. At both Velez and Mineiro I felt I had a good thing going but with young teams that fell foul of fixture congestion. I very nearly went to River Plate (who I wanted to join in the first place when I planned to go to Argentina) but decided to head back to Europe.

Unfortunately the sacking meant that I couldn't get the level of club I was liked with regularly in Brazil (the likes of Marseille/Leverkusen) and a good club in a big league was unlikely. I was open to any top division club, even in a smaller nation if they had plenty of resources available, and not for the first time Partizan Belgrade became top of my 'want to go to' list. However, much like when I really wanted to join them in the 'Thunderbird Delta' career (as I was focusing on lower division clubs only and they were the epitome of the 'fallen giants' I wanted to go for) the vacancy just didn't come. I could have waited a lot longer if I wanted to but it would have taken a lot of patience. In the end I was mostly only getting offers from mediocre clubs (no offense to Estoril, REAC and Varazdin fans) in smaller leagues so decided to go for the 'second level in big nation' approach.

They play in blue, were good in the 80's and have an arch-rival who play in yellow and have had the upper hand in recent years (but the tide seems to be turning). Sound familiar?

[Lenzar]

Did this side beat Charlton 3-0 yesterday?

[deltablue]

Did this side beat Charlton 3-0 yesterday?

Nope

I didn't mean it as a deliberate tease (though I hoped someone would jump to the obvious but wrong conclusion), more a reflection of how much the two clubs have in common, and when I do go to Ipswich it'll probably be rather more obvious (and probably preceeded by a surprise departure from wherever I am at the time). I wanted to do it 'Stig introduction' style but felt it was too long to work, however to conclude...

It's not Ipswich, but they are Ipswichs' Italian 'cousins'...

Chapter 5: (More Than) A Season with Verona (Hellas Verona)

I took the Serie B plunge with Verona, who had been relegated the previous year and were stuck in 14th. They definitely had some quality there, though the depth (and as usual, squad age) could be better and a lot of teams had a few similarly good players. I wanted to try and make an immediate promotion push if I could but the pressure would be off for now. At least from the board. We had just over 7M in the bank but with a wage bill of 180kpw (though I’d try and do a little cull on it as much as possible in January) I knew it would go fast without promotion.

[deltablue]

Nov 2026

Verona 0-1 Bari (B)

The first game was against top-of-the-table Bari and were decent enough but they were our superiors on paper and a weak end to the first-half cost us.

Livorno 0-1 Verona (B)

Costanzo

A tough start continued at Livorno in 4th and most of the game was spent soaking up the pressure. However we broke through and took the lead in the 73rd minute from Target Man Costanzo (who seems very familiar, I think I signed him for Slavia in the ‘lost seasons’). They seemed to quickly equalize but it was disallowed. It was a lucky victory without a doubt (the sort that GD users keep complaining about) but a vital one if we were going to click into gear soon and work our way up the table.

Verona 3-0 Siena (B)

Panahi, Capobianco, Mertik

I hoped we could build on our win against Siena, who were bottom with just 6 points (from 14 games). It took a while to get going but Iranian midfielder and captain Panahi and forward Capobianco (who after two terrible games as a poacher was doing a lot better in and advanced role) gave us a 2-0 lead late in the first-half. Slovenian right-back Mertik had assisted both goals and deservedly capped off a man-of-the-match performance with a goal in the 72nd minute.

Foggia 0-3 Verona (B)

Costanzo (3)

For the 2nd time in 3 games we went to the 4th-placed side, Foggia this time. Costanzo put us ahead in the 37th minutes, and with the match looking like a very even affair on the balance of play, I was relieved when he did I again in the 68th minute. We were more comfortable after that and Costanzo even completed a hat-trick even though the scoreline flattered us a bit.

Juve Stabia 2-2 Verona (B)

Bamogo (2)

We hoped to make it 4 wins in a row at Juve Stabia and it looked good when the young Burkinabe winger Bamogo showed what he could do with a first-half brace, unfortunately going off injured as well. It looked like one of our more comfortable performances and we should have got at least one more but that changes when they pulled a goal back in the 64th minute and we couldn’t hold on, conceding an equalizer with 10 minutes left, which was very frustrating.

Dec 2026

Verona 0-3 Padova (B)

We returned to being on the back foot against Padova, who saw us off disappointingly easily, taking the lead just before the break and adding two more after the break. To make things even worse, having already lost Bamogo for over a month, his replacement Sterba also went off injured with Mertik getting an own-goal and a red card.

Verona 2-1 Cremonese (B)

Napoli, Daniel

We struggled to pick ourselves up against Cremonsese but stand-in winger Napoli struck a goal against the run of play a few minutes from the break. Defender Daniel headed in a corner in the 55th minute and though they scored a penalty with 15 minutes left we made sure there wasn’t a repeat of Juve Stabia.

Cosenza 2-4 Verona (B)

Capobianco (3)

We hoped to go into the Christmas break with a win at struggling Cosenza, though for a while it looked very unlikely. However we picked up late in the first-half with a Capobianco brace and an own-goal in the 54th minute made it 3-0. They still threatened and scored twice but Capobianco put it beyond them in stoppage-time.

Jan 2027

Empoli 1-1 Verona (B)

Sterba

We opened the year with a trio of away games (making it 4 in a row), starting at Empoli which seemed a bit of a distraction from a very hectic period of transfer activity. Both Bamogo and Costanzo were back from injuries but disappointed as we struggled to take advantage of our chances, however Sterba managed to give us the lead at last in the 57th minute. It wasn’t enough however as we lost the ball at the start of stoppage time which allowed them to equalize. Sometimes you see goals against you coming (even if it admittedly happens often enough that they’re sometimes false alarms) and I was genuinely like ‘No! No No No No No!!!’ as they advanced and again we dropped two costly late points away.

Novara 0-3 Verona (B)

Capobianco, Seferovic, Furman

Thankfully we proved to be a lot more convincing at Novara, with a few new signings in place. Capobianco gave us the lead in the 12th minute, with a quick double in the second-half from veteran Target Man Haris Seferovic (making his debut after signing as a free agent) and similarly aged midfielder Furman giving us a good 3-0 win.

Benevento 0-0 Verona (B)

We were hoping for another at Benevento, who were pretty close to the drop zone, but failed to perform up front and in the end were possibly the ones who were most relieved with a 0-0 draw.

Yes I have read the book, it was one of my first football books I bought and still one of my favourites, and I guess it goes a long way towards explaining my fondness for them and why those goodie-good upstarts Chievo are on my 'will not manage' list (only accompanied by Real Madrid and Norwich, with Wigan, West Ham and Espanyol being borderline cases). While I've only had one major stint with them, on FM07 (where I got them promoted in just 3 matches), it seemed oddly familiar to how I was regularly able to take Ipswich up and to success (back-to-back scudettos), and in fact that whole career was entirely in England or Italy, which for some reason has long been a favourite footballing nation. The first club I ever managed on FM was Siracusa, I've had very fondly-remembered stints at both Juve (with another about to blossom before my last laptop failed and wiped out a lot of seasons from this career) and Milan (with two legendary sides in the 'Delta's Darlings' career, along with rather less-successful times at over clubs, especially Serie C ones on FM 05/06.

Anyway after failing to make enough progress in Brazil and Argentina, it was very pleasing to get off to a strong start and climb up. Very soon we were on the cusp of the playoffs and I was hoping we'd continue to rise and make a challenge for 2nd (I dread having to try and go up through playoffs). Unfortunately while our form has been far from bad there have been a few draws that should have been wins and we've dropped off the pace enough that suddenly even being in the top 6 will require a lot more effort. There's still almost half the season to go so I can still easily imagine us doing that. I feel we have a very strong chance next year even if we can't quite do it this time but I really don't want to delay a promotion that is really a short-term must.

[deltablue]

January Transfer Update

As usual when arriving at a club in the autumn I was determined to offload as many players as possible to give myself a January warchest. In this case the number of players I could offload was very limited but it did the trick. As it happened as we were a club that were already very strong by Serie B standards there were virtually no standout options available, leading to a lot of ploughing through the shortlist and thinking carefully about who would be worth bringing in. It was more a shoring up of the squad as opposed to being able to improve it much, and there was still some areas that would need work, like a proper left-back, (who would have been a priority if there had been anyone suitable) and younger midfielders (ditto) but otherwise we were about as best-equipped as we could be right now.

(Free Agent)

(200k from Varazdin)

(Free Agent)

(825k from Lokeren)

(1.6M from Cluj)

[AK22]

Going to need a good run if you're to make it into the pound seats (auto promotion) come the end of the season.

Playoffs a distinct possibility, though, and you'd be one of the favourites too.

[DazRTaylor]

I know he is a pensioner, but Stefan Bell still looks impressive.

Tough sacking in Brazil...

[Dexter_Morgan]

Looking forward to this, always fancied a go at Hellas but never got round to it. Solid start and some decent signings there

[deltablue]

Going to need a good run if you're to make it into the pound seats (auto promotion) come the end of the season.

Playoffs a distinct possibility, though, and you'd be one of the favourites too.

Unfortunately nothing of the sort even began to materialize

I know he is a pensioner, but Stefan Bell still looks impressive.

Tough sacking in Brazil...

Sadly Atletico Mineiro is just the latest of a bunch of sackings during the teething troubles of building a potentially excellent young side (the second in a row in fact). It even makes me see the appeal of a 'no sacking' option even though otherwise I wouldn't be in favour of ideas like that.

As for Bell, it was a signing that made perfect sense. One of the problems of the 'Mattersburg' formation I use (so called because it was there I initially adopted it out of necessity during 'Thunderbird Delta', and more deliberately from Hoffenheim onwards) is the requirement for plenty of depth in central defence (at least 5, preferably 6 in the squad) and teams won't always have the ideal numbers or quality initially and this was one such place where I needed to get a couple more in, hence why I snapped up Bell as a Free Agent, followed by the promising young Plesnar later on.

Looking forward to this, always fancied a go at Hellas but never got round to it. Solid start and some decent signings there

Sadly we didn't really click in the rest of the season but I'm still optimistic we can get into gear in the new season. They're definitely an interesting choice as one of the potentially bigger lower league (well maybe not any more in real life) clubs in Italy.

Ah, so nice to have an active thread again Hopefully I can keep it up for a bit.

Feb 2027

Verona 3-2 Brescia (B)

Capobianco (2), Costanzo

We were finally back at home against Brescia and when Capobianco gave us the lead after 25 minutes there was a sense of ‘about time too!’ as we had 3-4 good chances before that. Unfortunately it looked like it would really bite us in the arse as they soon equalized and even took the lead early in the second-half. We fought back and Costanzo equalized in the 72nd minute. Time was quickly running out but Capobianco gave us the win in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, and even then they came close to levelling it!

Verona 0-1 Salernitana (B)

Salernitana would tough and went ahead after 15 minutes. They could easily have had another but we avoided that at least.

Cesena 1-2 Verona (B)

Capobianco (2)

We went to Cesena and took the lead from Capobianco in the 4th minute. Costanzo received a straight red card just 10 minutes later but Capobianco extended the lead before the half-hour mark. They pulled a goal back early in the second-half and Capobianco went off injured (thankfully he’d be pretty much ok in a week) but the numbers were evened up late on and we held on for all 3 points.

Verona 1-1 Ascoli (B)

Bell

We were a little lucky in the first-half against Ascoli as they had a goal disallowed and looked good value to take the lead anyway, though Bell put us ahead instead in the 35th minute. They were awarded a penalty in the 78th minute which allowed them a share of the points which was a little disappointing but an admittedly fair result.

Cittadella 2-1 Verona (B)

Ali

We couldn’t afford to drop more points at Cittadella but luck was not on our side. In the first 20 minutes we had a penalty claim denied and a goal disallowed. It soon hit our morale and they were easily able to hit us with a pair of second-half goals, with Ali finally giving us one much too late.

Mar 2027

Verona 3-3 Vicenza (B)

Plesnar, Campo, Capobianco

We were painfully soft against Vicenza (who are a sort of regional rival), who easily took a 2-0 lead in the first half and got a 3rd at the start of the second. However goals from Plesnar and Campo pulled it back to 3-2 by the hour mark and Capobianco gave us an unlikely point with 10 minutes left.

Modena 3-2 Verona (B)

Costanzo, Campo

I expected a trip to Modena (who were now top of the table and looked that strong on paper) to be painful and sure enough they took the lead in the 7th minute. Costanzo was much-missed during his suspension and managed to equalized in the 15th minute, and even though they re-took the lead just a few minutes later we kept pushing and Campo made it 2-2 on the stroke of half-time. It wasn’t quite enough as they seized control late on and eventually got their win but it as a good effort. However late on the idiot Costanzo got himself another straight red having only just come back off the last one.

Verona 3-0 Grosseto (B)

Kakuta, Agostinelli, Ros

We had a couple of key injuries before Grosseto but still managed to keep our hopes alive. The retiring Gael Kakuta gave us a first-minute lead, and we kept pulling goals down from the dustiest of shelves with Agostinelli (a forward who was only even on the bench because of Costanzo being suspended and Capobianco injured) and defender Ros scoring early in the second-half as we surprisingly won 3-0.

Torino 3-1 Verona (B)

Daniel

We hadn’t had the same result twice in a row this year and it didn’t change at Torino, especially not with Bamogo as the latest player out, and they were easily 2-0 up at the break. We looked like we might pull off a Vicenza-style comeback as Daniel got a goal a couple of minutes after the break and we had an equalizer disallowed but we fell away again and they got a 3rd. Capobianco came on having not recovered from his last injury, he ended up being hit with another that would rule him out until July.

Verona 1-2 Ravenna (B)

Ros

Unfortunately we fell to back-to-back defeats against Ravenna, playing reasonably well but being toothless up front. They weren’t so generous and took the lead after 25 minutes, with another right before the half-time whistle. Ros got one back with 15 minutes left but I knew we were headed for defeat.

Apr 2027

Bari 2-0 Verona (B)

I fully expected a trip to Bari to be a third defeat in a row, even with the much-needed return of both Bamogo and Costanzo. We weren’t as awful as I feared but they still took the lead at the end of the first-half. We came close to equalizing a few times but a controversial penalty gave them another in the 66th minute and finished us off.

Verona 2-2 Livorno (B)

Bubalo, Panahi

Livorno looked like piling on the misery when they went ahead in the first-minute but we appeared to turn it around with Bubalo (on paper probably our strongest defender and one of the key absences a short time ago) and Panahi giving us a 2-1 lead at the break. Unfortunately the former then got sent off and while the good thing about a flat back-5 is that even if you have sending off you still have a back-4, it wasn’t enough on this occasion to prevent an eventual equalizer, denying us a win that would have been great for our spirits if little else, though there were still chances to win at both ends.

Siena 0-1 Verona (B)

Kakuta

I wasn’t even that confident going to Siena (still very much last) and it ended up being a very even game which thankfully we managed to edge with a 79th minute Kakuta goal.

Verona 4-2 Foggia (B)

Panahi, Bamogo, Polimeno, Plesnar

We looked to get back-to-back victories for the first time this year against Foggia, which may not sound easy against the team in 4th but we ended up strolling the first-half. Pahani gave us a 3rd minute lead, with Bamogo and Polimeno (another forward getting a day in the limelight, helped by Costanzo being dropped for rock-bottom morale) make it 3-0 after just over half an hour. Owning up time now. I started writing about how it was a cakewalk a bit too early. They closed in with goals in the 57th and 67th minute and pounded away in search of an equalizer. Thankfully deleting the offending sentence (sometimes it happens the other way around when I pre-emptively write about a defeat and we end up getting a result, usually even a win) seemed to do the trick as we held out and the whole stadium let out a sigh of relief when Plesnar gave us a 4th with a few minutes left.

May 2027

Padova 3-1 Verona (B)

Seferovic

We looked like we had a good chance of getting something (maybe even a 3rd win in a row) from a tough trip to Padova but they hit us with a goal just before the break. Seferovic got what seemed like his first goal since the Berlin wall fell on the other side of half-time but it was a false dawn and they easily over-ran us afterwards, getting two more with another disallowed in between.

Verona 2-1 Juve Stabia (B)

Polimeno, Seferovic

3 of the remaining 4 matches were at home, starting with Juve Stabia. When Polimeno gave us the lead after 15 minutes we hoped to make it 3 wins from 4, and though they equalized at the start of the second-half and we needed a man-of-the-match performance from keeper De Micheli to keep them out further, Seferovic gave it to us in the 70th minute. When you’re hot, you’re hot.

Cremonese 3-1 Verona (B)

Bubalo

Cremonese was the last trip left and unfortunately they took a 12th minute lead. They extended it with a penalty, and though Bubalo gave us a goal back in the 79th minute, a second penalty gave them an easy win in the end.

Verona 2-2 Empoli (B)

Ros, Plesnar

We went behind in the 2nd minute against Empoli, though Ros and Plesnar made it 2-1 to us after half an hour. Unfortunately they equalized in the 50th minute and neither side could quite do enough to win afterwards.

Verona 0-1 Cosenza (B)

We finished the season against Cosenza, which was Kakuta’s last ever match as a player which unfortunately ended prematurely with an injury after 19 minutes. Unfortunately again the forwards were so anonymous they needn’t have bothered turning up and the only other thing of note was a Daniel own-goal after an hour that brought the season to a close in typically depressing style.

Having started so promisingly in Verona it soon turned into one of those seasons you want to just finish and move on from as quickly as possible, especially in a situation such as this. You’ve all seen me mention numerous times before (even including how I say it every time) about how very rarely do things click right away when arriving at an underperforming club mid-season and while it looked like we’d avert that this time after the first month or so, clearly it very much didn’t happen, and we very nearly fell back to where we started when I took over, which is especially demoralising after hitting the ground running so well.

No one shone on a consistent basis and the forwards who weren’t Capobianco or Costanzo were especially culpable, with just 2 goals between them all before late April (though the final month or so was a bit better) which was especially bad in the spring with the injuries to the former and suspensions and the poor morale of the latter, to the point I eventually gave up expecting anything from them. The 2027 results really say it all with no back-to-back results at all for so long followed by a few defeats, though it picked up briefly later on.

Next season is probably one of the most important in the career so far. Even if the board don’t outright expect promotion (and in a way our poor second-half of the season might lower our rep enough that they won’t), if we don’t we’ll find ourselves with little money, maybe a few key players leaving at it would suddenly be a lot harder to make a convincing promotion challenge. After the stagnation of South America I really want a 3rd promotion of the career which would then give me the board confidence to try and push on with little pressure and open a lot more doors for afterwards. I’m not sure what I can add over the summer but I know that with a strong squad mostly intact and a fresh start we should hopefully be much improved and capable of really going for it.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Shame the form couldn't continue but hopefully you can get a few players in and strengthen next season

[deltablue]

Shame the form couldn't continue but hopefully you can get a few players in and strengthen next season

Well, I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to do on that front but as you can see I had no problems with that in the end...

Summer 2027

The summer started off with some good news. The board expectation is top-half so while I felt that it would be a lot more difficult to go up if we didn’t this year, it wasn’t an ‘all or nothing’ situation as far as job status was concerned.

I managed to do a lot more than I expected with the squad. There were already a couple of ‘Bosmans’ coming in (with Slavia Prague really messing up on one of them as I wanted him in enough in January to try and go for a paid transfer but they priced themselves out of a deal), along with the first of a few more Free Agent deals (which have been very useful) for a good young central defender, which was a low-priority area now but it didn’t hurt. Next came the co-ownership decisions, both of which we won, vitally keeping the excellent young Bamogo as well as getting control of another very good young defender.

More Free Agent deals followed, the first for an excellent experienced German forward, which was important as a severe lack of attacking depth (not so much in theory but certainly in practice) was a major problem last season, then sealing a new midfield playmaker, not quite as young as I’d have liked but young enough so suit our purposes. That deal was actually started before the other but with a few MLS clubs also making offers we had to wait a while to finalize it.

The last piece of the puzzle was rather more frustrating to find. We had a lack of ‘proper’ left-backs in the squad (and full-backs in general though we at least had Ali), and while the presence of Daniel, a good all-round defender (instead of merely being a centre-back who happened to be able to play wide) meant it wasn’t as urgent as it would be otherwise but I still felt we needed such a player, even though there was no one outstanding and the best option had already moved, with the second best having an injury severe enough to be medical-failing and would only be available at the very end of the window. However while not as good as I hoped, the eventual signing still seemed useful enough for that purpose.

With pretty much all the budget left to spend I decided to go for it later on. It did require a little more selling to eke out everything I could but I first got yet another good defender (I’d established before that my formation is very DC-intensive so they’re always useful to have) followed by an expensive ‘star’ forward, risky but spending a lot of money on a quality striker has very much paid off quite a bit in the past. To cap off a very busy summer I also brought in one of the most promising young keepers in the country, though getting everything sorted to get enough budget to do so meant that the transfer activity dragged out almost right to the end of the window, unusually for me.

In a way I’d probably done too much, given the likely gelling issues preventing us from reaching our full potential this season as well but there was method in the madness. The various parts of the team that needed improvement had been sorted out (at least for the time being) with some extra quality as well thrown into what was already a strong side, which might help us have a good season anyway. I had thrown an awful lot of eggs into the basket this summer but it was now a very well-stocked basket indeed and if we do find ourselves held back a bit by the number of new arrivals then we’d still be in a far better position to challenge beyond that than I thought we would be.

(Free Agent)

(400k from Frosinone, though not technically a new signing as we already had him and merely gained full ownership)

(100k from Brescia, though we owned 50% already)

(Free from C****o)

(Free from Slavia Prague)

(Free Agent)

(Free Agent, and yes I'm aware of the aptness of having a Greek at Hellas)

(275k from Birmingham)

(600k from Parma)

(1.1M from Spartak ZV)

(800k in total from Roma and Palermo)

[DazRTaylor]

That keeper looks quality.

[deltablue]

That keeper looks quality.

I know! Sometimes with early signings, especially those sorted out months in advance, is that when a lot of players come in you feel a few of them (and the extra gelling troubles they bring) weren't necessary and in that context trying to squeeze him in as well (especially since it took a few rushed sales to get the budgetary room, and 800k is a lot for Serie B) seemed like an extra transfer I didn't need to make at that point but I could never resist the opportunity to secure such a prospect. He already looks as good as our existing first-choice (who is excellent at this own level in his own right) and while he probably won't play this year I feel that in the longer-term it going to end up being a great deal.

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

more more more hahaha

[Dexter_Morgan]

Hopefully these new signings will give you that little extra to make a promotion push, Markovic and the keeper are probably the pick for me

[deltablue]

more more more hahaha

Here you are...

Hopefully these new signings will give you that little extra to make a promotion push, Markovic and the keeper are probably the pick for me

Well, it's going to take some time to get things together after so many changes and that's the way it's panning out so far this year. I think this season will be more about keeping our heads above water than aiming high.

Aug 2027

Verona 1-0 Empoli (CI)

Costanzo

The season started against Empoli in the cup, with transfers not quite done. We were certainly bright enough but still seemed short of a proper cutting-edge. Costanzo finally saw us through with 5 minutes left.

Udinese 2-2p Verona (CI)

Capobianco, Daniel

We went to Udinese in the next round and despite being severe underdogs we held them at bay for a while, held out when they did start to put us under pressure and Capobianco’s penalty gave us a very unlikely lead near the end of the first-half. They went down to 10 men at the same time which didn’t stop them pushing very hard but a rare break saw Daniel put us 2-0 up after 70 minutes. It would have admittedly been utter robbery had we held on to it and a very quick double allowed them to level it with 10 minutes left and despite a Tournier red card evening the numbers we held out for penalties. De Micheli turned hero, saving both their first penalties while Capobianco and new Serbian forward Markovic (who had arrived first thing in the morning) scored ours. They converted their 3rd but debutant defender Iuliano and Campo saw us through.

Pescara 2-0 Verona (B)

We went to relegated Pescara for the first league match, which was also the 700th of the career. Unfortunately we were always going to be up against it and they comfortably dominated throughout, winning with a goal in each half, though I’d seen a lot worse performances under those circumstances.

Verona 2-6 Modena (B)

Markovic, Euler

Modena also looked tough, and had won their opening game 6-0. It took them just 6 minutes to take the lead against us and although Markovic levelled it in the 12th minute, we were let down by a defensive performance so bad that calling it ‘amateurish’ would be a compliment. The ‘5 at the back’ is very much a double edged sword. When it works it’s worth a lot of points from tough situations, but when it doesn’t it’s often an epic fail like this. They quickly racked up a 5-1 lead by half-time, getting a 6th while Euler at least kept the pride of the forwards intact. Just 2 games in and somehow I doubt we’re going up.

Sept 2027

Verona 0-0 Parma

We needed to do a lot better starting against Parma but fell disappointingly flat and only scraped a point because they were so wasteful and had a goal disallowed near the start.

Juve Stabia 2-2 Verona (B)

Markovic

The trip to Juve Stabia was pretty much an early ‘must-win’ and it wasn’t a good start to go behind in the 4th minute, an own-goal gave us a deserved equalizer (having been denied a penalty among other things) on the half-hour mark but they took the lead again in the 65th minute. We managed to fight back to get another point from a Markovic equalizer with 5 minutes left.

Livorno 0-2 Verona (B)

Bamogo, Costanzo

Livorno away seemed unlikely to be the game we finally broke our win-less run but after a solid first-half, Bamogo finally started to shine and gave us the lead at the start of the second. Costanzo soon gave us another as we held on without too much trouble, though we did lose Capobianco to injury for over a month.

Verona 0-0 Padova (B)

We were up against it against Padova but somehow we held on to a point to avoid slipping back down.

Oct 2027

Bologna 0-2 Verona (B)

Euler, Costanzo

A busy October started at Bologna and took the lead from Euler after just a few minutes. Costanzo again gave us a second-goal in the 24th minute and though it was far from plain sailing.

Verona 1-0 Grosseto (B)

Odstrcilik

We managed to get another against Grosseto but for a while it looked like it wouldn’t come as we struggled up front. Czech forward Odstrcilik (and one of the advantages of doubling up on laptops while playing is I can just look over at the other one for the spelling rather than bring up and minimize the game window a few times to get it right) came on for his debut and took just 6 minutes to give us a much-needed winner. He had seemed like one of the 2-3 players from this summer’s massive influx who seemed unnecessary with hindsight but it was good to see him prove his worth.

Cesena 0-0 Verona (B)

We failed to get a 3rd win in a row at Cesena, and actually found our backs against the wall quite a bit but we had excelled in fighting hard to pick our form up this season and we at least extended our unbeaten run to 7 games, 6 of those being clean sheets (including the past 5) for the veteran keeper De Micheli, still keeping the up and coming Raimondi (who actually did start against Parma and did very well for a 17yr old but was withdrawn after a knock) on the bench for now, though I was still considering a changing of the guard next year.

Verona 3-0 Atletico Roma (B)

Bamogo, Costanzo

Atletico Roma were easy pickings and probably our first genuinely comfortable win of the season. Bamogo gave us a 3rd minute lead, Costanzo (who seemed to have a knack for scoring second goals this season) adding another in the 35th minute, Bamogo completing a 3-0 win early in the second-half.

Foggia 1-0 Verona (B)

Our run was due to end and it did at Foggia. They had the upper hand for quite a while and took the lead in the 37th minute. We got our act together to a point, being denied a penalty and came very close to equalizing a few times near the end.

(I think I took the screenshot before the Foggia result processed, not that it makes a massive difference aside from being one place lower and a little further away from the teams near the top)

Putting too many eggs into the basket leads to a very unstable basket. I knew we'd probably struggle to click this year and so far I've been right. I got really worried after those first few games, and decided to change things a little tactically. I decided that we weren't quite 'together' enough to be too attacking so I turned it down to control and at the same time felt we were good enough to be less rigid and controlled and it seems to have yielded results to a point, even if they've been hard work to get. At the moment I'm still thinking mostly about getting comfortably in the top-half, riding the storm of the gelling issues, rather than being able to go up this year, even though if we win our game in hand at home to Piacenza (a reasonable possibility) we'll be just 3 points off 6th so if we can keep going in roughly the same vein as before (preferably with a few more wins here and there) we might be able to be in the mix later on but I feel we'll just have to bide our time.

[Dexter_Morgan]

As you say the gelling is an issue, i've had it on my save currently but just about getting away with it. I remember just how hard it was on FM 11 and 12 though to get your side going if you made a lot of changes.

I've also done a double check of the table and your 3 defeats and there was only really Foggia out of the 3 you should have done better on and of the draws only really Juve Stabia that you may have done better on so I think you are being a bit hard on yourself and the side at the moment, i'd be surprised if things aren't looking a lot better by the end of January tbh

[deltablue]

As you say the gelling is an issue, i've had it on my save currently but just about getting away with it. I remember just how hard it was on FM 11 and 12 though to get your side going if you made a lot of changes.

I've also done a double check of the table and your 3 defeats and there was only really Foggia out of the 3 you should have done better on and of the draws only really Juve Stabia that you may have done better on so I think you are being a bit hard on yourself and the side at the moment, i'd be surprised if things aren't looking a lot better by the end of January tbh

Yes, I pretty much expect a slow season after a lot of transfers, often with a massive improvement as things click the following year (as long I don't sign a lot more), it's just one of those patterns you notice.

It still feels a bit underwhelming. Foggia was a little unlucky (which will happen at least a few times a year) but as one of the stronger sides in the division we really shouldn't have been stomped on so easily by Modena, even if they were very good in their own right, especially not at home. A couple of the draws perhaps should have been wins as well. We're in a position where we've had a lot of catching up to do after a very poor start (thankfully avoiding the pressure from the board that I was dreading if we stayed near the bottom much longer or climbed too slowly) and it's mostly been grinding out results rather than looking convincing. Even if you accept the 'lack of gelling' effect and that there aren't that many more points we should realistically be getting there's still very little to be that pleased about so far.

[deltablue]

Nov 2027

Verona 3-1 Piacenza (B)

Costanzo (2), Euler

We had the chance to bounce back against Piacenza. Costanzo gave us the lead after just a few minutes and we very quickly deserved more, eventually getting another from Costanzo after 40 minutes. He was already starting to look a little tired along with Campo and with another midweek game next week I decided to take them off to keep them fresh, which seemed to backfire as they pulled a goal back in the 55th minute but Euler wrapped up a comfortable 3-1 win shortly afterwards.

Verona 0-1 Brescia (B)

We started with great spirit against Brescia but found ourselves going behind to an 8th minute that even the game considered to be dodgy, though that was partly balanced out by having a second goal disallowed. We didn’t really help ourselves as though the shot stats were equal at 8 apiece, we didn’t have a single one on target so an equalizer never really looked like materialising.

Portosummaga 0-0 Verona (B)

A lack of a cutting edge had let us down a lot of times this season already and it did so again at Portosummaga, where we were marginally the better in an uninspiring game. This month’s fixtures were all very winnable on paper so it was frustrating to only have 4 points from 3 games so far.

Verona 3-0 Ternana (B)

Karamidas (2), Capobianco

Veteran Greek playmaker Karamidas stepped up to the plate against Ternana, giving us a 3rd minute lead and eventually scoring another after an hour. After a few games of suffering misfiring forwards it was great to see Capobianco come on and give us a 3rd, though he did get a knock that would make him a doubt for the next game.

Verona 2-1 Cosenza (B)

Massimo, Odstrcilik

Cosenza looked tougher than our recent opponents and we spent a lot of the first-half soaking up pressure but Massimo gave us the lead, very much against the run of play, in the 28th minute. Holding onto the lead looked unlikely and sure enough they equalized in the 58th minute, and though a point would have been fair enough we snatched it in stoppage time from Odstrcilik.

Cittadella 0-0 Verona (B)

The trip to Cittadella was one of those games where both sides had their moments of pressure and could have gone either way but it didn’t end up going any way and we had to settle for 0-0.

Dec 2027

Catania 3-2 Verona (CI)

Iuliano, Capobianco

We went to Catania in the cup with little expectation of claiming another Serie A scalp, especially as they were up in 3rd. However I was amazed to see Iuliano and Capobianco give us a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes and even though it there was a long way to go it was at least a possibility, especially as we still kept attacking (I’m a firm believer that you don’t beat the big sides by running scared of them) and didn’t face anywhere near as much pressure as I feared, though they still got the inevitable goal back in the 33rd minute. We couldn’t quite hold on as Iuliano turned from hero to zero with a 72nd minute own-goal, and they got a winner with 5 minutes left, though we still had a few chances near the end that might have kept us in it and I was delighted with a great effort, and had the defence not given way late on we might have done it.

Cremonese 1-2 Verona (B)

Costanzo, Bamogo

We were a little worn-out when we went to Cremonese and though they had an early goal disallowed, still took the lead in the 55th minute. It didn’t look like we’d be able to come back but Costanzo equalized in the 75th minute and Bamogo knocked in an incredibly lucky winner right at the death.

Verona 1-1 Salernitana (B)

We had plenty of time to rest before playing 2nd placed Salernitana and made a spirited started but as the game went on the stronger the feeling was that we’d be punished for not making the most of it, which we were from a Massimo own-goal on the hour mark. We raised our game again later on and while it looked like we wouldn’t be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat this time, Costanzo scored in stoppage time for yet another result rescued right at the end.

Novara 1-0 Verona (B)

We went to Novara for the last game before the Christmas break, and just lost out in a very tense encounter. We were back to having no finishing power up front and that cost us. They had a goal disallowed early in the second-half but still managed a winner with 15 minutes left. However it was only our first defeat in seven and we remained 7th, not far off the playoffs.

Jan 2028

Verona 2-1 Torino (B)

Iuliano, Daniel

We returned against Torino, which seemed like one of those ‘punished for not taking advantage of early control’ games when they took the lead in the 37th minute after we looked depressingly uninspired up top yet again, but the defenders pulled yet another result out of the fire. Iuliano headed an equalizer in the 58th minute and Daniel got a winner 10 minutes later. Markovic was on a drought stretching to 672 minutes now but he was unlucky to have a late goal disallowed that would have ended it.

Verona 0-2 Pescara (B)

We had a tough couple of games starting against Pescara, who took the lead in the 10th minute and got another just before the break. There was a brief burst of life at each end of the second-half but otherwise they very much had the measure of us once again.

Modena 1-3 Verona (B)

Massimo, Odstrcilik, Campo

I was worried about going to Modena after the hammering they dished out at the start of the season, and the early stages of the game looked similarly one-sided. However we were a lot firmer at the back this time (which wasn’t difficult) and Massimo actually gave us an unlikely lead on the half-hour mark. This was followed by a disallowed goal from Odstrcilik and they ramped up the pressure once more after the break but the Czech got his goal in the 59th minute. They pulled one back with 15 minutes left and definitely looked capable of still denying us some points but they went down to 10 men and Campo sealed a 3-1 win in the 84th minute.

Verona 1-0 Juve Stabia (B)

Bamogo

Juve Stabia at home was the eye of the storm, with two more tough games to come afterwards. As it was we struggled to really get firing but Bamogo gave us the breakthrough at the start of the second-half. We deserved another but it wasn’t as convincing as I hoped. Still at least we got the result.

Feb 2028

Padova 1-1 Verona (B)

Bamogo

We started the month with a trip to Padova, just one point above us in that all-important 6th spot. They took the lead after less than 30 seconds and with the defence at sixes and sevens we looked there for the taking. However failing to do so cost them (it’s so nice to see that particular boot on the other foot). Bamogo roused himself from a lacklustre display to equalize at the start of the second-half and we might have even got the win. However on this occasion an away draw to keep us on their tail was something I was pleased with.

Parma 1-0 Verona (B)

We then had to go to top-of-the-table Parma, always the sort of game that’s dreaded. We gave as good as we got in the hectic opening exchanges but they took the lead and then pretty much besieged us for the rest of the game. It was amazing that they somehow didn’t get a couple more but that was down to young Raimondi. He had been given a run in goal since December and was having the best game of his career so far (admittedly this was only his 11th ever match), deservedly earning man of the match.

Verona 0-2 Livorno (B)

We were short of full-backs against Livorno and they found us relatively easy prey. They took the lead in the 14th minute, and got another early in the second-half. We went for it after that as we had little to lose and deserved a goal back but no cigar.

Verona 0-3 Bologna (B)

Clearly the tough games had knocked us off our stride somewhat and we had a major off-day against Bologna, who had a 3-0 lead at the break. Like against Livorno we powered forward but couldn’t even get a goal, or even a shot on target.

Piacenza 0-1 Verona (B)

Odstrcilik

We hoped to avoid a win-less month at Piacenza but our bad run had taken its toll on the team and morale was pretty low. We were able to step up the pace in the second-half but didn’t look like we were going to get anywhere with it so it was a relief to see Odstrcilik come on and give us a much-needed winner.

There are definitely some positives creeping into this season, but it's still a very mixed bag. You can probably make a drinking game out of my match reports this season with the number of times I mention both a lack of finishing power costing us and grabbing results right at the end.

It was disappointing failing to take advantage of a theoretically comfortable run of games in November but that didn't stop us creeping closer to the top 6. Having so many of the tougher remaining games close together early in the new year meant we took a bit of hit (not helped by injuries to Ali and Capobianco, two of our more reliable players) but hopefully the Piacenza win can help pick us up again. At least we how have most of the tough games over now and we might be able to use the easier run in to grab a play-off spot. It's a bit 50-50 as this season has mostly been about just about doing enough and an all-round team effort as opposed to anyone really shining more than occasionally, and we haven't had an especially good run of form at any point.

It doesn't matter that much to me if we do or not this time given this has essentially been a 'getting things together' season and should be in a far better position to challenge for promotion (which we've never looked like doing anyway this time) next year, but it would be nice to do it despite all that.

[DazRTaylor]

A solid season and a good foundation for a promotion push next season I think.

I feel you have had too many home defeats to be challenging. Four defeats in the last nine at home...

[Dexter_Morgan]

I think even with the spell of 4 without a win there's enough games left to make the playoffs, the teams above you seem as capable as you are of losing games which is encouring in my eyes, especially as the fitures from now seem to be in your favour a bit more.

[deltablue]

A solid season and a good foundation for a promotion push next season I think.

I feel you have had too many home defeats to be challenging. Four defeats in the last nine at home...

Unfortunately the Bentegodi has never been much of a fortress, my first two defeats at Verona (coming in an otherwise strong start) were both at home. At the moment we seem to be consistently inconsistent enough that our results have been fairly similar home and away and regardless of the opposition so it's not like QPR where we really need to take advantage of home games. Otherwise I agree we really haven't looked deserving of going up this time around.

I think even with the spell of 4 without a win there's enough games left to make the playoffs, the teams above you seem as capable as you are of losing games which is encouring in my eyes, especially as the fitures from now seem to be in your favour a bit more.

Well aside from that bad run (which seems to have had a bit of a hangover attached to it as well which hopefully we've managed to break with the Piacenza winner) we've been on a slow but steady rise up the table since our poor start to the season. We've already finished with 5 of the 7 teams above us and while it remains to be seen how well we can take advantage of that, since we're just 3 points off 6th we might be in with a decent chance even without that great a finish to the season.

[deltablue]

Mar 2028

Grosseto 1-2 Verona (B)

Odstrcilik, Costanzo

The trip to Grosseto saw close chances at each end from the start, but they took the lead from a penalty late in the first-half. Odstrcilik yet again turned super-sub as he levelled it almost immediately after coming on at half-time and Costanzo’s 82nd minute winner narrowly edged it for us.

Verona 0-0 Cesena (B)

Cesena were one of only two teams above us yet to play, and our likely playoff opponent if we snatched 6th. They had us under a lot of pressure from the start but Costanzo had a goal disallowed after half an hour, one of a few chances that might have given us another lucky win.

Atletico Roma 0-2 Verona (B)

Euler, Costanzo

We went to Atletico Roma and you’re all about to drink another finger as I mention yet again an inability to turn chances into goals. Euler came on (for Odstrcilik of all people) and managed to give us the lead on the hour mark and with the help of another 82nd minute Costanzo goal we were back to just a single point off 7th and 6th.

Verona 3-0 Foggia (B)

Euler (3)

Euler gave us the lead just 2 minutes in against Foggia, and after they had a legitimate-looking equalizer disallowed (though it was set up from a free-kick that was questionably awarded in the first place so in this case two wrongs did make a right) he scored again for 2-0. The German completed a hat-trick with a 56th minute penalty (which also saw Foggia go down to 10 men so I knew there was no way back after that) as we looked genuinely convincing for a change.

Apr 2028

Brescia 0-2 Verona (B)

Euler, Odstrcilik

Euler’s lob gave us the lead in the first minute at Brescia, and though we looked shaky for a while Odstrcilik did his super-sub act and scored his 6th goal of the season in what was just his 10th game (with only 4 starts) to make it safer after 60 minutes.

Verona 1-0 Portosummaga (B)

Euler

In Euler we finally had something approaching an in-form forward and while it was tough breaking through against Portosummaga his penalty gave us what was narrowly a deserved win in the 40th minute.

Ternana 0-4 Verona (B)

Bamogo, Keramidas (3)

Ternana were trying to lift themselves out of trouble with 11 points from their last 5 games, including 3 wins on the trot, but we went south and cut them down to size. Bamogo gave us the lead right at the start, followed by Keramidas in the 10th minute. The two combined for the latter’s second goal in the 58th minute and Ternana’s Greek tragedy was completed when he sealed a hat-trick 9 minutes later. That took us to the heady heights of 5th, with a 5 point safety margin to 7th.

Verona 2-0 Cittadella (B)

Ali, Iuliano

We looked like hitting a bit of a rut against Cittadella, not helped by Euler going off injured after just 10 minutes and Capobianco looking very rusty indeed having come on for his first appearance since an injury on January, but we were still able to pull off hard-fought wins. Ali gave us the lead in the 50th minute and though we could have no complaints if they equalized Iuliano gave us a rather flattering second goal in the 82nd minute.

Cosenza 1-0 Verona (B)

The easy games unfortunately came to an end at Cosenza, and so did our unbeaten run. It seemed like a return to the frustrations of previous seasons as Odstrcilik in particular (who for all his super-sub exploits never really did that well as a starter and had been on a drought since his last sub goal) wasted the opportunity to get a winner and we were punished right at the beginning of stoppage time.

For so long this season looking was like a dull and frustrating 'stop-gap' season, even if the possibility of scraping our way into the top 6 was always there, but it's suddenly taken a far more positive turn. The narrow Piacenza win not only shook us out of our rut but ended up being the beginning of a 9-game run where we only dropped 2 points and conceded once! We were actually looking surprisingly comfortable for the playoffs but then came that Cosenza defeat, which (and the Cittadella game to a lesser extent as well, even though we won) threatened to be a return to how we were for the rest of the season. Padova seem to be hitting a bit of late form as well to put us under pressure having been 5 points behind for a couple of weeks until the last round. Admittedly just as we got the tough games out of the way in Jan/Feb, we generally had the easy games in the past couple of months, and while we definitely still looked better the fact that there were still a few 'lucky' wins meant that we probably weren't as improved as it might seem.

The remaining fixtures are as follows...

Verona

Cremonese (h)

Salernitana (a)

Torino (a)

Novara (h)

Salernitana

Piacenza (a)

Verona (h)

Atletico Roma (h)

Cesena (a)

Padova

Torino (h)

Pescara (a)

Juve Stabia (a)

Modena (h)

The obvious key game is the trip to Salernitana. They've not been in great form of late (which is what helped us up into 5th in the first place when 6th seemed the limit of our ambitions even with a good run), winning just twice in the last 7 or 8 but then again they've had a tough run just as we had a little earlier in the year and I wouldn't put it past them to be able to pick it up again now, and indeed it's FM sod's law that they probably will for our game, which is very much a 'don't lose'. Padova on the other hand beat Salernitana just a couple of games ago and while they haven't been on enough of a run to judge them to be hitting a burst of late form, that's certainly a strong possibility, especially as they look like a potentially very good side, and that makes me very worried.

There doesn't seem to be that much difference in our run-ins, our own games can be described as 'not the worst but still potentially tricky', while Salernitana, aside from still having to play us (which I imagine their manager isn't entirely looking forward to either) they still have to go to Cesena, (though have two 'easier' teams) while Padova have still got to go to Pescara and play Modena. It looks like an incredibly even contest on paper and thankfully it's looking like '2 out of 3' though other teams having an especially good or bad end to the season could still come into the equation. We certainly have it a lot better on the final day and if we can stay in the top 6 the odds are very much in our favour, as well as the fact that we have the easiest 'tough' game though as a '6-pointer' it could very much go both ways.

[DazRTaylor]

Last match apart, you have certainly picked up your form somewhat!

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

nice stuff mate

[deltablue]

Last match apart, you have certainly picked up your form somewhat!

nice stuff mate

Well hopefully that was just a case of 'well we were bound to lose one eventually' and even though the relative ease of the opposition should be taken into account I did find myself being rather pleased at the improvement.

However I've just seen something worrying in the league rules (as I was checking that the higher placed team goes through in the event of a tie like in the lower divisions). In this version, the league table doesn't show the promotion and relegation playoff places during the season and I've finally discovered why. It turns out that if there's a gap of 10 points or more between the 3rd and 4th placed teams, the former goes up automatically. Much like with the 'higher placed team wins in the event of a tie' rule in the playoffs it does make some sort of meritocratic sense, as if the 3rd placed team was that much better than they'd clearly earned it over 4th-6th, and it's the same for the relegation playoff. At the moment with 2 games left the gap between Cesena and Modena is the maximum 9 points needed to have playoffs, though we're just a point behind so we might be able to keep Cesena 'in-range' if Modena can't. It would be a pity to get all hyped up about potentially being in the play-offs (especally charging into them late on the way we have been) and have it all be for nothing.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Brilliant run there I doubt anything other than a playoff will happen tbh

[deltablue]

Brilliant run there I doubt anything other than a playoff will happen tbh

Sadly not...

May 2028

Verona 4-1 Cremonese (B)

Euler (4)

The run-in started against Cremonese and Euler tore them apart like an effective tearing-apart thing. He gave us the lead in the 5th minute and after they had a penalty claim waved away he went on to complete a hat-trick after 33 minutes. They got a goal just before half-time so we weren’t home and dry just yet but Euler got his 4th in the 78th minute to final settle it.

Salernitana 0-1 Verona (B)

Odstrcilik

Unfortunately the other two teams won as well. The trip to Salernitana was the standout game and unsurprisingly it was a rather cagey affair, especially as Padova were losing (and ended up being slaughtered 6-1 by Pescara!) which suited us both to some extent. What they had the lion’s share of what chances there were but on came a certain Czech super-sub to give us an 80th minute winner. We were back to 5 points clear of Padova (and 4 of Salernitana) with just 2 games left and I felt that surely we were there this time. In fact we were only 1 point off Modena so 4th was up for grabs as well, and though we’d likely be facing them in the playoffs anyway we’d have the ‘higher placed’ advantage over them and if we finished strongly enough we might be able to ensure the playoffs actually happen by keeping within 9 points of Cesena.

Torino 0-0 Verona (B)

Torino away was one of those ‘should have taken our chances to win' games, as yet again Odstrcilik proved rather less capable as a starter (in case people wonder why he has so few, though a month’s leave when he would otherwise have had an opportunity didn’t help either) but he wasn’t the only culprit. Normally it wouldn’t matter so much as we still looked like being in the top 6 but Cesena won and Modena drew which meant we needed the other way around to happen on the last day to get playoffs.

Verona 0-0 Novara (B)

The final day proved to be crucial in a way I didn’t expect it to be. Cesena had to play Salernitana so their dropping points was certainly a possibility and with my eyes firmly on the live league table (which was just as well as not much of interest was going on in our game with Novara) I cheered when Modena drew first blood at Padova, putting them within the required 9 points. It got better early in the second-half when Cesena went behind. Unfortunately while they went on to lose 3-0, Modena conceded an equalizer. What was especially frustrating that if we had managed to properly perform against Novara (or Torino for that matter) and got a winner we’d have triggered the playoffs instead.

Damn! That’s a tough way to end a season for sure. All the excitement of a great late run to clinch what would have been a play-off spot only to be denied the opportunity by other factors. As mentioned in the previous post, I very much see the logic behind that rule but it’s tough to be one of the 3 teams who miss out on playoffs because of it. In a way I found out about it just at the right time as after Salernitana we were looking pretty safe in the top 6 and I was able to shift my focus on that 3rd/4th points gap. In fact during the final day I had to keep reminding myself that I was managing Verona, not Modena because it was their fortunes relative to Cesena that I was so strongly invested in.

Admittedly it’s hard to claim that for the majority of the season we looked anything like a team that deserved promotion, and I rarely go into them with much expectation so it’s not as if I was anticipating being able to go up in any case. However after such a poor start I feel very happy with being able to get 5th. In fact I’d have definitely taken it right at the beginning, even before we got just 2 points from the first 4 games and staggered on in very mixed fashion for months after that, even if it never really looked like it would be our year.

For all the issues regarding so many signings last summer, and the fact that a few seemed unnecessary, they pretty much all managed to prove their worth (well not so much Markovic but his couple of goals early in the season along with an assist still counted for something) one way or another so it didn’t work out so badly. There are still a few transfers to be made with the departures/retirements of a few older players, and the fact that De Micheli’s 19.5kpw wages mean he’ll probably be shown the door as well with Raimondi as an up and coming alternative (who despite a far worse clean-sheet record actually rated 0.02 higher, though over considerably fewer games).

It’s pretty clear what the aim is next year. After the way we mostly managed to finish the season and with a team that should be a lot more gelled we should have a far better season which means hopefully being able to really go for promotion. If Serie B is anything like the Championship then the top 2 is always going to be a tough ask no matter how strong you look but if all goes well we’ll see how our chances of that turn out. We especially need to click a lot better up front as Euler’s excellent spring made him the only player to get into double figures in the league and a far sharper attack would have made a big difference.

Star player: Though no one stood out consistently there were a few worthy of a mention and I've decided to give it to Bamogo. Having stood out as a potential star from the day I arrived I ended up having to pay to keep him last summer as he had been co-owned and he very much showed why it was worth doing. It's no coincidence that almost every time we put in a genuinely good performance, he was one of the best players. He ended up setting a new club record for assists in a season but we'll need him to be at least as good next year, if not better.