FM16 The Sammarinese Challenge.

[leonavich]

Tamagnini accepts call up at 15

In an interesting turn of events, dual national, Tamagnini has accepted a call up by Breakenridge Sr. despite showing signs of becoming a very promising player and being touted as a possible future Italian player.

After initially rejecting the invitation, he then accepted a call up after Breakenridge reached out due to injury to key player Vannucci. A surprising move for a 15 year old who has initially decided against representing the country of his birth. In his statement he noted

Leon is a great manager and one I have always admired growing up in San Marino. I hope to make him proud at both club and national level and that has swayed my decision. I am proud to represent my country and this badge. I thank the Italian press and fans for their interest in me, but I must stay true to my nationality.

Leon was pleasantly surprised, but was happy that the young kids of today were starting to favour San Marino.

The current youth academy graduates contain 11 Dual Nationalities, however Tamagnini was the only one to accept his call up. The others have remained unavailable for comment, but it is believed Breakenridge reached out to a few of those he deemed as future potential national players.

[leonavich]

Breakenridge Rejects Youth Criticisms

San Marino will face Ireland in their upcoming European Qualifier in an important match for both sides looking to qualify for the tournament in 2048. San Marino currently have 6 points from their 2 games whilst Ireland have 4 and the media has done nothing to ease the tension of the match by adding fuel to the fire, targeting Breakenridge's selection choices.

The average age of 24 comes due to the inclusion of 4 debutants in Leon's squad, at the ages of 15, 16, 19 and 20

While also having a few of the more recently capped players also joining the 23 man squad, There is a vast spread as Dini gets another call up at the age of 37 to add to his 223 caps, while Berti will have the last of his matches in this International fixture list as he looks to retire at the end of the season at the age of 36.

Breakenridge had to say

It is ridiculous stating that our side is too young when you consider we have 7 players over the age of 30. Yes, there are 10 players under the age of 21 but between them, they have 76 caps and that is including the 4 debutants! In fact, one of our better players this campaign is only 17 and he has 19 international goals from 28 caps. We are choosing to introduce the younger lads at opportune times to give them the experience they will need for later on when they get the chance to compete in major tournaments.

The fact we are choosing to include some of these faces in this fixture is a sign that we are confident they will perform against an opponent that is clearly underestimating us.

The Sammarinese manager has a reputation for making the press and rival managers eat their words and his comments today look like he means business as San Marino look to make it 3 from 3.

[leonavich]

San Marino Dominate With Fearsome Display

After the comments mad over the weekend, San Marino were ready to show the world that they know what they are doing and though they only scored twice, the display was very convincing as they walked away 2-0 winner in an utterly one sided match.

A new record was made with Marcello Tamagnini becoming the youngest player in the European Championship Qualifiers, whilst his namesake got on the scoresheet and veteran Stefanelli added the other. The 2-0 win sees them currently sit in first with 9 points from their 3 games, whilst the loss leaves Ireland in third behind Turkey.

San Marino have not lost since their third place World Cup defeat to Uruguay, going 7 games unbeaten with 6 wins.

[leonavich]

Final Fixtures Sees Treble An Improbable Possibility

Leon's side have a tough set of fixtures ahead as they gear up for their second leg Champions League match against Real Madrid, but have quietly slipped under the radar as they look to complete an unlikely treble. San Marino are currently 2-0 down against Real Madrid in the Champions League after the first leg, and 3 points behind Internazionale with just 6 games to go, lending to the casual observer, that their season in those competitions may be cut short. However, they have a game in hand on Inter, which could see them behind only on head to head and are due to face them in the season curtain closer, whilst they now face Real Madrid at home, where they are known to be very strong with a potent attacking 3.

Real Madrid are also missing key players in defense, Fernando and Carioca, for the tie due to injury and suspension and first choice keeper, Honerbach is questionable, prompting the Spaniards to field a weakened backline against a side that has scored 102 league goals in their 32 matches at just over 3 goals per game.

Should Titani be able to exploit a weaker Real Madrid side, they have a very real possibility of facing Inter in the next round, however there is also a chance of landing Greek side Olympiakos. Should the draw end favourably, San Marino will go from under dogs to favourites and an unlikely treble, but it all starts with overturning a two goal deficit at home, against Real Madrid tonight!

[leonavich]

The Dream is still alive!

San Marino scored 3 first half goals to put themselves in the drivers seat, and had enough resolve to close out the match by shutting Real Madrid's attacks down.

With a penalty opportunity early in the second half, San Marino had the chance to put the game beyond doubt, but Cabrera missed the hattrick (Canini would of got it - I dislike the hattrick player takes the penalty) and this left a nervy 40 minutes of football to be played.

Real Madrid struggled to impose themselves on the match as San Marino retained possession at a whopping 60%, but never looked like getting another chance as Real Madrid did enough to thwart anything near the final third, but Titani played clever passing and used the width to keep Real Madrid at bay near the half way line.

The win sees them now set to face Manchester City in the Semi Finals, who easily progressed against a West Ham side who were clearly outclassed 6-1 on aggregate.

The win has given confidence, but also looks set to take a toll as they struggled to overcome Livorno in their following Serie A game. A 3-2 win enough to keep them in the title race with 5 games to go.

New Takeover Plot Couldn't Come at A Worse Time

Just a week after triumphing against Livorno, A new unnamed consortium is the latest in a string of suitors looking to take over the soon be vacant President position. With current President Egidio Viola still adamant on departing the club for the right bidder, the timing could not be worse as it is set to unsettle the players in their final few games of the season. This was evident in their 2-2 draw with 17th placed Roma over the weekend, who now sees them 1 point ahead of Inter, having played one game more than their rivals.

Should Inter capitalise on the advantage, they will go into the final 4 games of the season with a 2 point buffer.

Inter Surprise Leaves Titani Fans Bouyant

San Marino have drawn their previous two encounters after their latest 3-3 home match against Fiorentina. The draw had set a Somber mood within Titani as Inter looked favourites to capitalise on the two Titani results, hoping to claim all 6 points and set a 4 point lead heading in to the final 3 games. However, Inter have done quite the opposite, managing to lose their last two fixtures, most notably against Livorno, who San Marino most recently narrowly beat 3-2.

In a heavily one sided game, the smash and grab win has put San Marino in the drivers seat, with a 2 point lead and just 3 games remaining in the title race. The last of which, is a battle between the two remaining challengers. Fans and media outlets are sure to enjoy the final matchday, should Inter and San Marino remain within touching distance come 2 weeks time!

[leonavich]

San Marino Win Battle but the War is Far From Over

San Marino have displayed some uncanny rearguard action to displace an out of sorts City side this evening. The home win puts them in good position to attempt a defense of their Champions League title, looking to be the first team to go back to back since Manchester City did it themselves, back in 2038 and 2039.

The result sees the second tie go back to Manchester, where two of the worlds best attacking sides will go head to head. San Marino will require another defensive performance as Manchester look to add to their impressive home record, having only lost only 5 games at The City of Manchester Stadium in the past 3 years.

Bologna Can't Spoil Party

Navarro was ruled out before the match due to some niggles against Manchester earlier in the week. The Captain and key striker was being given every opportunity to get fit for the second leg in Manchester, giving Cavallaro and Breakenridge a rare start together.

After taking an early lead after just 7 minutes, Bologna looked set to add some spice to the final 2 games of the season, however Breakenridge and co. had other plans as the young striking pair showed signs of what the future could hold, netting a goal apiece to give San Marino the lead.

Titani held out for a 2-1 win, whilst once again, Inter failed to produce a win, only picking up 1 point in their match against Fiorentina. Their 86th minute penalty keeping their season alive, as they now have a 4 point gap to bridge. Inter are reliant on San Marino dropping points in their next fixture, and will be required to then beat the Blue and Whites to pip them to the title.

San Marino have been in good form after a slip up earlier in the season put their campaign in jeopardy, however recent results have gone in their favour, prompting the treble whispers to once again circulate.

UPDATE:

Somehow I totally overlooked it until I saw the screenshot above, Navarro also broke the most goals in a match, netting 5 in an 8-1 romp over Napoli.

[leonavich]

San Marino Run Continues

Manchester knew what was required and performed admirably, but the San Marino train just cannot be stopped right now, as they held on for a 2-2 draw to progress through to their second consecutive final. In what was a Manchester dominant game, their first goal after 16 minutes really got them going and Manchester City pushed forward in search of the equaliser. San Marino did countering plays and they did counter attack right, when just 4 minutes later, a clearance took just 4 touches to get them down the other end and a Breakenridge finished to make it 1-1.

The tie was now poised heavily in San Marino's favour as City required a further 3 goals due to the Titani away goal leaving City needing a 4-1 win. They pushed and managed another shortly after, but the constant pressing played its toll and San Marino netted again to level.

The final will see San Marino now play against Inter, who dispatched Olympiakos 4-1 on aggregate, who are also challenging them for the Serie A title. As the end of the season looms, it is a two horse race in two separate competitions. At one stage Internazionale looked certain favourites in the league, and were in hot form going into the Champions League knockout rounds, however tables have turned as they are now playing catchup, just keeping pace with San Marino.

Can they keep up for the final few weeks, or will San Marino run away with a famous treble... One that no one saw coming until they were on the verge of history.

[leonavich]

San Marino Clinch Title

San Marino have won 1-0 against Benevento to clinch the title with a game to spare. The sky blue side dominated the game from start to finish, but it was only through a late strike to recently returning Navarro, that San Marino were able to clinch the trophy.

Returning from injury, Navarro came of the bench to score his 49th goal of the season in just 54 games. He is 1 goal away from reach 50 goals for the second time in a season, with his previous being 53, also in 54 games. Navarro has 3 more matches in which to better his previous total, the Italian Cup Final against Giulianova, the Champions League Final against Inter and match day 38 of the Serie A also against Inter.

I would like nothing more than to take home the trophies, more so than my own personal records. If achieving those records and scoring those goals helps the team win our final games, then that is just a bonus.

San Marino go in as favourites for their final three matches, with their captain and top scorer set to start since his ankle injury 12 days ago.

Ronaldinho Given start in final Serie A game after announcing retirement plans

Ronaldinho has struggled to make the first team over the past few seasons, but is a house hold name known to many of the San Marino contingent. Signed for Free back in 2040, he became the lynch pin for 5 seasons, helping guide the side to 5 straight Serie A titles. The year of his drop from the starting line up led to the first time since his first season that the club did not wint he Domestic title.

He was a fit box to box player, who would get onto the ball and find passes with ease. His replacement came more in a change of formation as his legs could no longer continue the way they once did, with Zafferani and Cabrera the new leaders of the midfield.

His retirement was met with a fantastic way to bow out, claiming the Serie A title, with the chance to be a part of another treble winning team.

San Marino lost their final match 1-0 to Inter thanks to a Benhamed goal 60 minutes into the match.

[leonavich]

Takeover Completes Under Dark of Night as Breakenridge Kept Clueless

Marco Santarelli was announced as the new President of San Marino over night, much to the surprise of Manager Breakenridge, who was last told the takeover was on the rocks.

The takeover could not of been at a worse time, as the team is fighting on all fronts, in the League, Cup and Continental campaigns. However, this may explain why the club, and more so the manager, had little idea that the deal had actually been finalised, until told they had a position at the club next year.

Breakenridge said

It is good to know that I am respected by the new owners, though I had no knowledge the deal was even near completion, let alone fully sanctioned and the new owners in place with only a few games to go. We will continue to do our jobs, we are professionals and this is just another day for us.

Breakenridge was in little doubt over his position, having just picked up the Title after losing it to Fiorentina last season, whilst also on the verge of both the Cup and Champions League.

BREAKING NEWS AS SAN MARINO ANNOUNCE MASSIVE LOSSES

More chaos has been coming out of San Marino recently as it appears the consortium has taken debts out against the club to the tune of £2B in order to secure the funds and acquire the club.

The news comes after the £4 Billion valued club had filed a clause for administration after going from near £2B to -£1.85B overnight, however the club had cash reserves available to minimize the damage and have done enough to avoid administration in the short term. The club has now been values at £0 and has a debt of £680M according to the auditing board.

The new President, Santarelli was not available for comment, but his assistant of communications told the press

The Club is in a healthy position and stress there is no need for the fans, players or staff to be worried. This is standard business practice and the club will be back in a healthy position shortly once all the finances are resolved and the takeover has all the i's dotted and t's crossed

Fans are fearful that the deal was conducted under secrecy due to the impending mess and it is unclear as to why this was forced through prior to the conclusion of the season. It is believed that the income form the conclusion of the league, Cup and Continental competition would supplement part of the debt, along with the cash injections from the reserve to minimize the cost and debt restructure required for the buyout of the club.

[leonavich]

So, I'm on FM14, which as the 2 billion pound bug i believe, but hopefully we have enough cash injections to resolve it. Apparently, the projected balance is going down to 650M in debt, so if that works out it should be fine. But I have also noted another thing....

Navarro is away on International duty for the Champions League Final?!

While we have been winning, I am not too impressed by the last few in game events!

I am about to travel, so will complete the CL game in about an hour or so, however the Italian Cup has already been played to a 4-2 victory

[leonavich]

TIM Cup Victory Leaves San Marino One Win Away From Sweep!

San Marino were without Navarro, who was taken away from the squad due to Mexico's participation in the Gold Cup. Mexico had requested Navarro be rested due to his recent injury and San Marino reluctantly obliged, citing their star players health comes first, and he would be rested for that purpose only. San Marino took an early 2-0 lead before Giulianova pulled one back. Right on halftime, Giulianova struck their second, to make it 2-all going in to half time, and the tide of the match had swung towards Giulianova's favour.

The second half was tentative, but San Marino held on long enough to ebb the flow of the Giallorossi attacks until Roales struck 67 minutes into the match, after weaving between two defenders in the box, and blasting it into the top right corner.

From there, Titani never looked back as Breakenridge was reciprocated by Roales to score their fourth in the 81st minute, and end the match 4-2. San Marino had one game left, and they were in fine form!

Treble?!... How About Quintuple! San Marino Fight For Five

Coming in to the Champions League Final, San Marino had already claimed the Super Cup, beating Udinese on Penalties after a 1-1 win. They then completed the Club World Cup comfortably, beating Chivas 4-2. They kept their Italian Cup dream alive until last week, beating Giulianova, also 4-2 and took the League with a match to spare, beating Inter to the Title 79 to 78 end of season points.

This left just one more trophy for the season... The Champions League. A Treble of the Major 3 tournaments loomed - The League, The Cup and The Continent. Not only that, it was a chance to claim 5 trophies in the Domestic Season.

Inter again, was the team trying to stop the dominance of San Marino, but it took just 3 minutes for San Marino to take the lead, Conti heading home from the first opportunity of the night. Just 2 minutes later and another header, this time to Cavallaro from a cross, put them 2-0 up and left Inter with it all to do.

The match kept up the frantic pace, as Inter were next to strike, 9 minutes in and keeping the match alive. Then, nothing happened - for for 70 minutes. The game flowed back and forth, but it wasn't until the 84th minute, that the match had its next talking point, with Breakenridge netting home at the near post.

From there, Petrov had a brain snap, lunging in and receiving his second yellow. The Red card all but ending the match, Zafferani volleying home from close range being the final nail in the coffin.

The Quintuple was complete, one of the most successful seasons for San Marino and for football. It was going to be difficult to top, but San Marino were in prime position to do so with a young set of players leading the front line. A wonderful send off for Ronaldinho and a great way to move forward, into the future of the club.

[amosbastian]

I guess this is punishment for having auto saves turned off . Something happened yesterday with my computer that reset a lot of settings of some of my programs (I accidentally clicked restart instead of shut down, so I pressed the button on the case to force shut down), including Steam. When I started up my computer today it said that Football Manager wasn't even installed, and after fixing that I got this message. I think I will continue with this challenge, but it's pretty demotivating. If I do continue, I'll probably do updates like leonavich and maybe do a youth only / only sign Sammarinese players save instead. Oh well...

[leonavich]

sorry to hear amosbastian do you have any backups of the save file?

You may get lucky and have a system restore point from not too long ago as a last resort?

Hope you stick around and keep going, I like your updates

[Murfy95]

Does anyone know if you still get fired from NT if you dont qualify after 4 qualification campaigns in fm 16?

[toonbalmy87]

I guess this is punishment for having auto saves turned off . Something happened yesterday with my computer that reset a lot of settings of some of my programs (I accidentally clicked restart instead of shut down, so I pressed the button on the case to force shut down), including Steam. When I started up my computer today it said that Football Manager wasn't even installed, and after fixing that I got this message. I think I will continue with this challenge, but it's pretty demotivating. If I do continue, I'll probably do updates like leonavich and maybe do a youth only / only sign Sammarinese players save instead. Oh well...

I have 3 of those happen to already one point i had San Marino 20th in world in 3 seasons

[toonbalmy87]

Takeover Completes Under Dark of Night as Breakenridge Kept Clueless

Marco Santarelli was announced as the new President of San Marino over night, much to the surprise of Manager Breakenridge, who was last told the takeover was on the rocks.

The takeover could not of been at a worse time, as the team is fighting on all fronts, in the League, Cup and Continental campaigns. However, this may explain why the club, and more so the manager, had little idea that the deal had actually been finalised, until told they had a position at the club next year.

Breakenridge said

It is good to know that I am respected by the new owners, though I had no knowledge the deal was even near completion, let alone fully sanctioned and the new owners in place with only a few games to go. We will continue to do our jobs, we are professionals and this is just another day for us.

Breakenridge was in little doubt over his position, having just picked up the Title after losing it to Fiorentina last season, whilst also on the verge of both the Cup and Champions League.

BREAKING NEWS AS SAN MARINO ANNOUNCE MASSIVE LOSSES

More chaos has been coming out of San Marino recently as it appears the consortium has taken debts out against the club to the tune of £2B in order to secure the funds and acquire the club.

The news comes after the £4 Billion valued club had filed a clause for administration after going from near £2B to -£1.85B overnight, however the club had cash reserves available to minimize the damage and have done enough to avoid administration in the short term. The club has now been values at £0 and has a debt of £680M according to the auditing board.

The new President, Santarelli was not available for comment, but his assistant of communications told the press

The Club is in a healthy position and stress there is no need for the fans, players or staff to be worried. This is standard business practice and the club will be back in a healthy position shortly once all the finances are resolved and the takeover has all the i's dotted and t's crossed

Fans are fearful that the deal was conducted under secrecy due to the impending mess and it is unclear as to why this was forced through prior to the conclusion of the season. It is believed that the income form the conclusion of the league, Cup and Continental competition would supplement part of the debt, along with the cash injections from the reserve to minimize the cost and debt restructure required for the buyout of the club.

seriously 1.2Bilion in debt how have you managed that

[leonavich]

Debt Restructure and Fire Sales Keep Club afloat

On the verge of administration, Titani have had a difficult few months after the sale of the club to a new consortium. Mitigation methods have been put in place to temporarily float the club until a longer term solution can be designed by the head of board. The first steps taken were to inject cash into the club via dipping into the clubs Investment Fund Reserves, with 2 separate £100M deposits and one £300M deposit withdrawn from the reserve. This moved the club to a debt of £1.4B, from the £1.94B debt they had initially reported.

New sponsorship deals, trophy payouts and TV rights have San Marino earn a further £200M and reduce the debt to around £1.2B.

As of the start of the July transfer window, San Marino have Sold of a host of their key players in an effort to minimize debts further, with some sales sure to hurt their depth and starting lineup. They generated £113M in transfer revenue to bring the debt to £1.1B

The sales provided the club a minimum balance to allow them to file for a restructure of debt, which has enabled them to make their way out of the red, with a £442M loan

The hope of the restructure, is to allow Titani to keep the remaining core set of players and to try and remain competitive this season, whilst also trying to manage a budget for players coming off contract to be resigned. Captain Navarro, despite high interest had no official bid, whilst Peters, Zafferani and Cabrera, who are all core players in each of the key parts of San Marino spine, also remain.

Retaining these players and key youths will allow them remain competative this season, as they look to defend a treble winning season with a much thinner squad.

[amosbastian]

I am really confused how you lost £1.5B in 1 month leonavich. What happened?

[leonavich]

I am really confused how you lost £1.5B in 1 month leonavich. What happened?

In FM14, I think there was a bug that would kick in should the club eclipse 2B. It said we had made 1.8B that financial year and we had a value of around 1.7B at the time, so we in effect went from 2B to almost 4B, then all of a sudden were 2B in the red.

I found this on it when it happened, and it seems the injections helped, as we have restructred twice. The first, as per the above to go to a 442M loan, and then again to reduce it to 92M, so we are almost back to breaking even.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/382056-Club-ran-into-2billion-debt-after-Consortium-Takeover

However, this has just happened

If he goes, I will be very upset. I have lost a few players as you can see form the previous post and I have had no say (you can see in the above image, the board is accepting due to the finance situation). He is just starting to develop and actually looks pretty decent. Due to the overall talent reducing, he has risen to 4 stars though, from 3... Trying to look at the positives!

If he, Canini or Navarro get sold, I will be pretty done with the save. So far Navarro has turned down City and Giacomo has turned down Giulianova once each.

I am getting bids left right and center and if any more go, we will be in some serious trouble as I can't even bring any in to cover due to no wages (we are over our wage budget by 1M +)

I have been hesitating playing over the weekend due to this, and only loaded it up for the screenshots above.

I'll play a few weeks now and see what happens.

[leonavich]

Update: He has turned down the above deal, they have come back with another 5.5M, including 2 others for Martin (M) - 25M and Franzese (M) - 2.7M

Update 2:

Livorno and Benevento enter Franzese talks for 3M

Giulianova bid unsuccessful due to break down over wages

Breakenridge bid on by Real Madrid for 5.25M

This is torture, I cannot counter offer or anything!

Update 3

Martin is a Giulianova Player for 25M

Update 4

Available wage budget is 688K

I need to get this to 1.5M, but no transfer funds to shift

Update 5

Franzese signs for Livorno for 2.7M

Giacomo stays!

Interest from Napoli, Real, Giulianova, Man U, Barca - ARGH!

[leonavich]

Italian Cup is up - Not sure if I want to play this now as it is almost midnight and I have a busy work week....

Also, all these transfer deals and speculations are doing my head in.. Tamagnini bid from Napoli now... 3M failed, up to 4.5M now

Update: grrrr... It is against Giulianova and they are starting Martin! I feel like I have to play it now.

[leonavich]

We lost 5-4 on penalties after 2-2 in regulation time

Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come.

[leonavich]

Exodus from San Marino Stadium as Titani crawl back in to stable position

Tamagnini is the latest to leave, Giulianova taking him after Breakenridge Jr. decided against signing with them. The deal was for a paltry £5.75M and is the second such transfer by the club, raiding an already depleted San Marino side, Martin being the other just last week.

San Marino have so far lost 9 first team squad members to transfers and 2 to loans, crippling the squad to 20 players, which is now calling on their youth players to fill in the numbers to round out their 23 man squad.

The sale of all such players thus far is totally £147M but could further increase with Breakenridge, Navarro, Tsoukis and a few others still being approached. The club has now reduced their debt to £49M, coupled with a £92M loan, and £11M p/m repayments.

The club is still open to additional player sales, which has worried manager Breakenridge Sr.

We are in a position now that out squad is extremely thin. Any further departures and out ability to complete will be significantly reduced. We have already lost the Italian Super Cup among the turmoil and I fear with such results already, year long sustainability will be difficult. There is a strong group of players and we have still have a majority of the core that got us here, so I know we will still fight as best we can to make the fans proud.

San Marino are thus far living up to their managers words, since losing the Italian Super Cup, they have defeated A.C. Milan in the European Super Cup, 2-1 as well as beating Internazionale on the Serie A opening match day, 3-1 at home.

[leonavich]

Just took a 2-0 loss to Juventus... They are predicted to come mid-table. The window has closed so the damage will be contained for 6 more months, let's hope we can hold on to what is left and we can be respectable this year.

[leonavich]

San Marino Administration era over at the 11th Hour

San Marino have overcome Administration today as the board have announced they are now financially stable. The paperwork was submitted just hours before the deadline day window shut, allowing them to escape any penalty for being under administration during the season proper, which constitutes the time the club competes outside of the opening season transfer window in the summer.

This comes at the close of the transfer window in which they shipped out a total value of £152M in player transfers, a new club record. As well as taking £500M in from the clubs Investment Fund, the club also generated approximately a further £250M in TV deal, sponsors and merchandising. This enabled the club to raise £900M in both traditional and voluntary means to bring the total debt down to just under £1B.

Coupled with the injections into the club, equating to over 50% of the raised revenue, the administrators were able to agree with the board, on a debt restructure on two separate occasions to dwindle the remaining balance to £442M and then again to £92M.

This debt has since been paid of to amount to £64M remaining, and the club has now been able to meet the minimum requirements to remove the administrators and run the company as a board of directors again.

The board had this to say on the clubs website this afteroon.

To Tiani Fans and staff,

We knew that timing this was key to prevent any knock on effects to the club financially or their positioning in the league. The purchase was pushed through at the end of last season, with a valuation of £4B, so as to conduct the financials during the off season to give the club and the consortium the best chance of resolving any payments whilst not resulting in any point deductions or fines towards the club and the new owners. A resulting cost was financed against the club, using their existing £2B evaluation, whilst the additional funds were put in place. Administration was always going to be a stance we wanted to avoid and did so as long as possible. Unfortunately, we required this to occur during the transfer window to procure the minimum requirement needed before the season started to avoid any point deductions for being under administration.

The values were worked out very accurately by the financial team and as a result, through the income streams, only £150M was required to meet this target. Our sales totaled this value, allowing us to submit the application on Transfer Deadline day, and avoid any repercussions by exiting administration by the allocated time of the Italian FA.

The club will still be undergoing further financial stability as the remaining details are ironed out, but rest assured, the turbulence is behind us and it is clear skies ahead. The board and directors would like to thank you all for your faith and patience as we look to continue the clubs strong traditions and compete on all fronts this season.

Thank You Sincerely,

Marco Santarelli

The club have had a rocky start to the season, losing the Italian Super Cup, but winning the European counterpart. They also have one win and one loss in the current Serie A campaign and sit 7th.

[coady]

I can't stay motivated in my save with San Marino now I can't have the NT team job for 10 years, with a golden generation emerging. I really hope that is fixed for FM17. I've started a new journeyman save instead and will attempt this challenge again next year. I'll keep track of the current saves on here though, especially Leonavich's bizarre issue too.

[leonavich]

Sorry to see you not keeping up the save.

I have noticed a few of the updates have dried up, so hoping its just some temporary hiatuses. I enjoy reading up on people's progress.

I'll try to keep a steady flow going in some resemblance to news \ story type updates, unless people would like me to change it to a more yearly approach? I find it hard to motivate myself to just one big update, rather I prefer smaller ones as I play based on events, because I'm immersed in the world at the time.

[leonavich]

San Marino working towards budget equilibrium

Months after the financial crisis during the San Marino take over, the club are still feeling the pinch as the dust slowly settles. The club has now stablised to have a healthy debt of £79M which is being paid of in £11M monthly installments.

The only outstanding current issue that is still hitting the club hard, is the wage budget, which cannot yet increase until the finances equate to a positive upturn, which poses a real problem come December, if players nearing 6 months are not resigned to longer term deals. The current wage budget is just short of £800K, whilst the total expenditure is beyond the £1.6M mark, leaving a huge hole of £800K to be filled on a weekly basis.

Some such players who are nearing the end of their contract are stars Zafferani and wonder kid Cavallaro, who could command wages in excess of £70K and £15K respectively. Luckily, there are only a few players this coming window who are key and may be persuaded to take reduced deals temporarily until the side is able to pay them appropriate wages.

Stars Like Dini may be forced to hang up their boots should a significant wage drop be agreed upon

San Marino and Manager Breakenridge Sr. still have 2 months to find a solution to the problem at hand, however there looms a more prominent longer term issue in the Financial Fair Play regulations that the team is currently set to fail, as they have attributed losses to the tune of £1.8B, which is being appended to last seasons value. This means come July, should the team not have a turn around of a similar value, they are likely to be hit with a fine or further penalties such as point reductions or European exclusion. Due to the circumstances, it will be interesting to see what, if any actions will be taken upon San Marino, or if they will find a way to overturn their cash flow problems within the 9 remaining months.

Leon reaches 2,100 games, but still has an Old-hammager to beat!

Breakenridge will reside over his 2, 100th match this coming weekend, in what is a huge milestone, having been at the club for over 35 years and leading the club to many records and titles one could only dream of back when San Marino where sitting in the Serie C1. However, on such a mark, our statisticians have found all current managers who have been seated at their current club for more that 5,000 days... Only to find that Breakenridge is not the longest serving manager! Lee Johnson of Oldham was appointed way back on the 18/3/2013 as their manager whilst Leon was appointed on 14/7/2013 to navigate San Marinos successes. This separates them by just 4 months, or a total of just 118 days.

Johnson had this to say

Congratulations to Leon for reaching such a milestone. It is indeed a difficult thing to manage a club for so long, especially one as reputable as San Marino. My hat goes off to him for his achievements and I hope that one day we will be able to face off against each other. We have steadied ourselves in League one in recent years, but it is far from the facilities of San Marino Stadium so hopefully if such a fixture is agreed between us long serving folk, San Marino won't mind hosting!

The fixture is currently being arranged and is said to be hosted as a charity match to raise funds for developing Oldham facilities as well paying of some of the Titani debt. Also, 10% of all proceeds will be donated to Grass Roots football in developing countries through the Grass Roots Survival fund. The match is believed to potentially raise £450K with £400K being split among the sides and £50K going to the charity's cause.

Alfonso De Lucia is the only manager from the Serie A currently in the list, having reached 5,100 days in charge just 2 weeks ago.

[Ceching You Out]

leonavich -- I've appreciated your long running updates. Very fun to see you taking the 2 billion bug in stride and working your way through it.

After a clandestine, half-baked attempt at combining this challenge with the youth only one, I've started again. This time I'm allowing myself transfers, although the goal is to shift to youth-only once I can establish myself in the relative financial comfort between Serie B and Serie A. Then as my youth develop, I'll take over the national team. The club squad on FM15 is on the old side, so there's a rush to promotion before the best players begin breaking hips and complaining about kids on their lawn. Otherwise stagnation is a real risk.

A few quirks of my game -- I insist on using an unconventional 3 at the back formation with no WBs; this is Italy after all. I also persist with a lot of "Instant Results"; I've never been one for much in-game tactically tweaking so why not take this predilection to the logical extreme? I'm in it for the long-haul, but I've also got the pedal to the floor. I'll post more of a proper update after finishing the second half of my first season.

[toonbalmy87]

My computer is killing me 3 times iv had to restart from August even though i was in February arghhh

[leonavich]

We shall see how the bug impacts come January when some players enter the final 6 months. I am at the end of November now, so I should get there tomorrow. I haven't played to quickly as I am trying to squeeze in as much savings and money making things as I can, whilst also having less available time in the last few days.

Safe to say, we are struggling quite a bit and are some way away from the the title. I wouldn't say out just yet, but we have some ground to cover. I'll look to get an update out tonight to highlight were we are at, as my original thought of January is taking me too long

[leonavich]

My computer is killing me 3 times iv had to restart from August even though i was in February arghhh

Could you try a rolling save every other week? I started doing that after losing a few saves. Does add to the time taken though.

[leonavich]

San Marino struggle to keep pace with Debt and Small Squad Crisis continuing

San Marino are currently sitting in 5th, but the gap between them and retaining their title is growing by the week, as Juventus currently hold a 10 point buffer on Titani and 5 over their closest rivals Fiorentina.

Juventus' rise this season is somewhat remarkable, having come from 8th last season, and a total of just 57 to 30 after the first 11 games this season, only losing 1 and conceding 6.

While Juventus dominate the landscape as they once did, San Marino face some serious questions as they sit just outside the Champions League positions. They are firing at will this season, leading the scoring charts with 35, 9 better than any other side, however their defense is the worst in the top 8, with 19 being put past them and almost 2 per game.

The issue stemming from their most recent transfer window, where their defense and midfield took a hit, including key defensive figures, Martin, Feijao, Rocha, Dos Santos, Gravina and Daneli.

San Marino need to find a way to shore up the backline if they are to keep pace with a rampant Juventus side, as their title hopes start sinking. After only 11 rounds, this is surely going to add to an already painful start to the season, set to be made worse if funda cannot be found to resign key players such as Zafferani and Cavallaro to longer deals.

[toonbalmy87]

Could you try a rolling save every other week? I started doing that after losing a few saves. Does add to the time taken though.

iv decided to do it monthly

[leonavich]

Oldham friendly draws 10 Thousand as funds raised help all involved

During the International break, San Marino put on a display against local League 1 side Oldham. Oldham may have lost 5-1, but the event was a success as a whole and may see an annual match setup to help raise funds in future. The Grass Roots charity as well as both clubs have come out winners between regular match fixtures this Thursday as 10 thousand have come to watch a surprising mix of youth and star talent.

Navarro, back from a niggle, scored twice whilst youngster Adorante got on the score sheet in a game that entertained. The only disappointment of the evening was the injury to Hernandez, which sees him set to undergo tests tomorrow, however the club doctors have state his withdrawal was more of a precaution that of a concern and the injury is likely to not hamper his chances of playing next week, after the international break.

Breakenridge and co are due to face the Faroe Islands and England this international break and did not partake in the match as a result.

The finances have steadied for the club, however they are not getting better and with 1 month until the window re-opens, Titani are at risk of losing their players coming off contract unless something can be done and done quickly.

[toonbalmy87]

just managed to creep into 2nd place play off for World Cup 2018 & I get Italy so if i get hammered i will get sacked

[Ceching You Out]

San Marino Calcio - Serie C/B - 2014/2015

Squad / Transfers / League Results

Philosophy:

• Reach the relative financial comfort between Serie B and Serie A as quickly as possible using transfers. Once we're financially stable, switch to youth development and take over the national team.
  
  
• Unconventional 3 at the back formation with no WBs; this is Italy after all.
  
• Only "Instant Results" (at least initially). I've never been one for much in-game tactically tweaking so why not take this predilection to the logical extreme?
  

Targets for This Season:

• Just one -- promotion! We're horribly unhealthy financially speaking and have a rather old squad. It's only a matter of time before our budgets are slashed and/or fragile hips start to break.
  
• It'd be nice to add young depth if it's available but it's not critical if we can get promoted.
  

Serie C/B:

• We burned through the first 9 games with a hundred percent record. Surprisingly, Pisa kept touch with us by only dropping four points themselves. Then either our tactic was found out, other sides clicked, or we hit the meat of our schedule -- only 3 wins from the next 10. We entered the winter break level with Pisa and another competitor.
  
• Along the way we picked up a couple older players for depth, although we trusted that our best 11 needed minimal rotation. During the break we signed an even more elder CB that looked to be a starter on paper, but he struggled physically and became depth as well.
  
• Scouting was a nightmare. Plenty of range and the scouts look decent enough but even after watching a player for two weeks they'd have revealed less than 50%. Signing players turned into a lottery that I was hesitant to play.
  
• Our form moderately improved in the second half of the season. Pisa matched it though and we finished a deserved second a few points back. Of course in our first promotion playoff game we left our shoes untied and the season came to an end.
  

Serie C Cup:

• Lost the first or second game. Hardly worth mentioning.
  

Youth Intake:

• Even less worth mentioning at this point. The best player was three stars total; only three were better a single star.
  

Targets for Next Season:

• Challenge for promotion. With our wage budget dropping as a result of massive losses unaffected by our play on the field, this will be harder. Two of our three best players are on the wrong side of 30. They're not getting any younger.
  
• Drop the expensive dead weight. Replace with younger players on the upward swing of their career.
  

[QSF25]

Quick question what type of manager are we allowed to play? Licence pro with international reputation?

[amosbastian]

Quick question what type of manager are we allowed to play? Licence pro with international reputation?

Step 16. Add your Coaching Badges and past playing experience. Please note that for the purpose of this challenge, even if you have played Semi-Pro and even if you have coaching badges in real life, this is a game rather than reality and you must enter that you have no coaching badges and that your past playing experience is Sunday League Footballer.

As it says on the 1st page

[Ceching You Out]

San Marino Calcio - Serie C/B - 2015/2016

Squad / Transfers / League Results / Youth Intake

Philosophy:

• Reach the relative financial comfort between Serie B and Serie A as quickly as possible using transfers. Once we're financially stable, switch to youth development and take over the national team.
  
  
• Unconventional 3 at the back formation with no WBs; this is Italy after all.
  
• Only "Instant Results" (at least initially). I've never been one for much in-game tactically tweaking so why not take this predilection to the logical extreme?
  

Targets for This Season:

• Challenge for promotion, and it will definitely be that. I'm rebuilding the squad on the fly to get younger, but the budget has shrunk from $2.8M on salaries to $2.0M.
  
• Find players who are potential starters for the next few years.
  

Serie C/B:

• A near complete overhaul of our roster over the summer. Anyone who wasn't a clear-cut starter was let go to clear the ridiculous wages. This included the one San Marino national player in the squad, Mirko Palazzi; he's primarily a LB but between his performances in his secondary position, wages, and complaints about playing time he wasn't going to last.
  
• I still haven't figured out how to get my scouts to give a more complete picture of players they evaluate. The new guys were best guesses at free agents -- some of them were exciting when they actually joined the team (Cuomo, Bruinier), some were decent with upside (Paulis, Moroni, Mariani), and some were disappointing (Messina). I had hoped to do a little better in the transfer market.
  
• Not quite the same start as last year. We stayed in touch with the front-runners, but were unable to close the gap. At the break we had to settle for occupying 3rd, 4 points back from the leader.
  
• The second half of the season confirmed my suspicions -- we're just not an outright title favorite this year. We've got most of the right pieces, just not quite enough to keep our stop-gaps from getting exposed. We did hang on to 4th by the skin of our teeth when results elsewhere went our way after a humbling loss on the last day.
  
• That took us to the playoffs where we snuck our way through the quarters and semis. In the final we ran into a side that was home to several players I'd been jealously eyeing to sign in the off season. A 1-1 draw at home plus the previous results made promotion feel preordained. We promptly lost 2-1 in the reverse, all three goals coming in the first 10 minutes.
  
• The most outstanding player across both seasons -- the man (from) La Mantia. Scored a boatload last year and did the same this year.
  

Italian Cup:

• A win then the boot to Livorno. Not too concerning.
  

Serie C Cup:

• Booted in the first round by Ascoli, who took home the double this year.
  

Youth Intake:

• My expectations should probably stay low as most players lacked promise yet again, but one potential star arrived this year -- Lorenzo Lazzari. If my staff is to be trusted (and they aren't), he has leading Serie B potential.
  

Targets for Next Season:

• Fill the missing gaps in the first 11 and develop a little depth to carry us through any injuries.
  
• Which should in turn help us win the league or at least secure promotion. Things are starting to look promising.
  

[toonbalmy87]

Season 2

Club



Squad

League Table

Finances

Transfers

Tactics Tactics - I had to sets of tactics the 2nd one was when my left winger went down with a broken leg so decided use my best team which was 3 CMs and a RM

Key Players

Bulu

Kudimbana

Lumanza

Andelkovic

Youth Candidates

Pregnolato

Raschi

Morri/Report

Volpinari/Report

International



Fixtures

World Cup Qualifying

World Cup Play-Offs

World Cup Play-Offs

[leonavich]

wow that is some serious winning Toonbalmy

Beating Italy twice! and in only 2017, well done.

What does your group look like (when it gets drawn)?

Would be interesting to see how far you can go at such an early stage.

[toonbalmy87]

wow that is some serious winning Toonbalmy

Beating Italy twice! and in only 2017, well done.

What does your group look like (when it gets drawn)?

Would be interesting to see how far you can go at such an early stage.

My group is Uruguay who i drew with 1-1 U.S.A won 2-1 and Holland who are my last game and I won 4-1 Portugal next and Ronaldo takes over the freaking game i got beat 8-3 my Goalie scored a 30yd free kick so i am happy Portugal Won the World Cup so it makes me feel a bit better but Australia came 3rd and they beat Argentina in third place play off

[pezza96]

My group is Uruguay who i drew with 1-1 U.S.A won 2-1 and Holland who are my last game and I won 4-1 Portugal next and Ronaldo takes over the freaking game i got beat 8-3 my Goalie scored a 30yd free kick so i am happy Portugal Won the World Cup so it makes me feel a bit better but Australia came 3rd and they beat Argentina in third place play off

how many regens are in your nt?

[toonbalmy87]

how many regens are in your nt?

13 in total from a squad of 22

[pezza96]

13 in total from a squad of 22

not bad, I thought i didnt recognise some of the names, any chance of an SS of some of your best ones?

[toonbalmy87]

not bad, I thought i didnt recognise some of the names, any chance of an SS of some of your best ones?

yeah i will pop them up with the next update

[toonbalmy87]

I can beat Holland but I cant beat Malta finished 2nd in European League losses against Malta seriously Malta first game fair enough had a man sent off and 1st choice GK was injured but 2nd game full team and got beat 1-0 2 shots on target to our 20 meh!!!!

[leonavich]

I love the counter attack sometimes!

This goal saw Titani through to the Italian Cup final with a 2-1 win. Whilst Juventus has the better of them in the league thus far, the small squad is putting up a hell of a fight. But while they have won this battle, they have a 6 point deficit to overturn if they are to win the war.

[leonavich]

Navarro Gets Balon d'Or for second time as San Marino Struggle for Finance

Navarro is the first person in 8 seasons, since Francesco Rodriguez, to win the prestigious award twice in a row. Rodriguez won it 4 consecutive seasons whilst at United showing the longest reign since Robin Albertus achieved the same whilst at Barcelona. No one has had such a run however, as Lionel Messi, who won the award an unprecedented 12 consecutive years.

Navarro is the third San Marino player to win the award, after Martijn Oosting and Ayoub Yilmaz, but the first to win it twice.

Despite such good individual news, the team itself is struggling to maintain its self imposed repayments and are relying heavily upon end of year payouts to help them survive the season as they slip beyond £160M in debt.

The team currently sit in third behind Juventus, who have a 6 point lead, and Fiorentina, who they are tied on 47 points with after 21 matches.