nie jem frytek Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Maybe Sevilla doesn't want Adjei, because he doesn't have EU passport? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 7 minutes ago, nie jem frytek said: Maybe Sevilla doesn't want Adjei, because he doesn't have EU passport? Didn't think of that, although it looks like he won't be staying with us either, he is currently in Sevilla C squad available for loan so I have tried to sign him back. Hopefully he will realise Europa League football is better than Sevilla's third team Also exiting the door is Leroy Fer, he had a few injuries but was a good player. Not sure if I am happy about this or not as it is a decent fee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 Panic over as he is back In other news, a tougher draw than I would like Also the board now have expectations Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 7 A good start to the Europa League campaign as we make full use of home advantage although that away goal does make me nervous Couple of new signings so far. Fulton was released by Swansea and is better than Fer, he turned down a loan move to me last season but he relented eventually. I also spent £1M on a keeper, he is young but way better than I have already have and it is one of the weaker spots in the team and he will be my starting no1 this season Also as you can see Bul has gone. I wanted to keep him but after the board nearly sold Mbabu until I intervened. I didn't think they would agree but I am happy to get £20M up front and there's a hefty sell on clause. A one season wonder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 I think it is time to say goodbye to 3-3-4, when we win it's really pretty but then we get way too exposed and get smashed 5-0. I have signed 2 players and with no back ups if either gets injured I will probably resort back to it at times. Both these guys arrived on frees, Vilakazi looks a great prospect and has already been capped 20 times and has a 8 figure release clause and Bacuna has been around a while and has plenty of experience. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 It has been a very busy window so far! Lokilo returns to us again on loan from Palace, Gaston Correa makes the move from Nacional permanent. Mchunu and Iseka both sign but go out on loan, Mchunu needs to develop more and Isaka just because the chance to earn £1M off a free player just from a loan was too good to pass up. This guy is pure class, grabbed him on a free from Argentinos Juniors. Going to be the focal point in my new formation My hunt for a permanent replacement for Bul proved difficult so I returned to Sevilla and grabbed another striker Was on loan at Lokeren last year and did alright, wasn't very prolific but with the squad we have he will have better service. Will compete with Adjei Also a very happy trip to Serbia for all 31 fans who made the trip. Actually playing these qualifiers with no strikers as Adjei is at the Olympics and I signed the two boys on loan too late. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nie jem frytek Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Is it me or all your newgen players are bald? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 21 minutes ago, nie jem frytek said: Is it me or all your newgen players are bald? Pretty much, Gonzalez and Matic literally have the same face. Noticed on this years fm that the regen faces are all very similar Sampdoria is the toughest draw I could of got we will have to be at our best to beat them but at least I will have some strikers for this round. That is it for today, tomorrow I will introduce you to my new "conservative" 4-2-4 formation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Excellent steady progress over the last 2 seasons in the top flight! I think the 21.5M£ fee for Bul will come very handy to give you plenty of scope to build the squad to your liking, as proven by the sheer amount of signings. I am expecting you to knock at the door of the Belgium title over the next couple of years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 "Conservative" 4-2-4. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 7 hours ago, noikeee said: Excellent steady progress over the last 2 seasons in the top flight! I think the 21.5M£ fee for Bul will come very handy to give you plenty of scope to build the squad to your liking, as proven by the sheer amount of signings. I am expecting you to knock at the door of the Belgium title over the next couple of years. Yeah I really want to push on and consolidate ourselves as a top 6 club and get amongst the bigger boys. My aim this year is top 6 and we will look at it again next year 2 hours ago, Keano16 said: "Conservative" 4-2-4. I know... I can't resist attacking football but I need full backs/wing backs as I am getting too exposed! Big win in Italy was very surprised at how negative they played, from this stage I would be gutted to not get to the groups De Pena was a very good player but he has been unhappy for nearly a year now and keeps kicking off, he had a 7.75m release but no one was coming close to that and with just 18 months left on his deal I decided to cash in. Not to worry I got a very handy replacement as Benfica loaned me this guy for the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 We made it! When they scored I thought maybe the floodgates would open but we held out and when they pushed for the 2nd goal they needed we caught them on the break to seal the win. We entered the group stage draw as 4th seeds which isn't surprising. We have a very tough group but at least we should get some bumper crowds from it and thus some decent pay days, the £2.23M for qualifying helps as well. Now onto the tactic, I have only one forward now but I have Rolon Martinez as a shadow striker. Both wingers are set to support and the MC/DMC are both ball winning midfielders. Eventually I will phase out the wingers and convert the full backs to complete wing backs. I am currently scouting for wing backs, Vilakazi I will re-train and he is still young but I can't see him sticking around too long as he is fairly talented. Elsehwre Agent Owusu goes back on loan at VW Hamme for the season as at least he will play regular football there. He done alright during the Olympics with Ghana but he is 5th choice here. Final player out was Sean Aerts he joins Antwerp in the 2nd division for £115,000, he was with me from the start but he wanted first team football so I let him go. That is a very eventful transfer window hopefully finished now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 That is a strange looking tactic too. I'm personally not a fan of having midfielders in a vertical line like that, I find it not a great way to cover space. Remember the formation you see on screen is your defensive shape. Anyway it's working, if you knocked out Sampdoria with it! Great result there! The Europa League group is absurd though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 8 hours ago, noikeee said: That is a strange looking tactic too. I'm personally not a fan of having midfielders in a vertical line like that, I find it not a great way to cover space. Remember the formation you see on screen is your defensive shape. Anyway it's working, if you knocked out Sampdoria with it! Great result there! The Europa League group is absurd though. I may move the positions slightly with the DM/CM then. The group is way harder than I anticipated but I guess it will take a while to get our seedings up End Of September Update A good start to the campaign and we picked up some decent results against some fellow top 6 candidates I have been rotating Gonzalez and Adjei to decent effect and the midfielders have all chipped in with some goals. Definitely fulfilling my ambition so far of aiming for the top 6. We eased into the 7th round of the cup with relative ease In the Europa League we have exactly 3 more points than I thought we would have! Finally I signed one more player as this guy was offered by his agent and I felt he was too good to pass up. will compete with Martinez for the Shadow Striker well and can also deputise on the wing as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 November Update Shocking scenes as we win 3 league games 1-0 in a row! Some good results in the league as we keep the pace with the leaders was gutted to lose against Anderlecht last game after taking the lead, if we had won we would of gone top. Also our Europa League group is perfectly poised after 5 games where anyone can qualify still, we face leaders Newcastle at home a win would see us leapfrog them and guarantee us qualification. In other news I raided Africa again and picked up three new players, two of them will link up with the U'21 side and may well go out on loan. Out of the three players Ibrahim Kone is the only one to go straight into the first team. He has tremendous physical stats and will be a decent back up for Correa. So many gems at this level in Africa and at no real cost even if they don't develop I am not losing a lot of money. A few of my players have been attracting overseas interest again so the aim will be to remain whole in January Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Just when I had given up hope! Love a last minute winner, Mark Hughes was giving it loads of chat before the game and now his side haven't even qualified, bottle jobs! Last week Martinez was moaning about joining a bigger club even though no one is interested in him but I am sure he has put himself in the shop window, his minimum release is £12.25M and I think whoever gets him off me that'll be a steal. Also Anderlecht finished 3rd in their Champions League group and drop into the Europa League. Gent and Genk both qualified 2nd in their group like ourselves and Oostende never made the groups after overcoming Hibernian and Molde were drawn against Lyon in the last play off and crashed out. Either way not bad at all for all for the Belgium sides. The draw could of been a lot tougher but we will still have to be at our best to qualify to the next stage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Done for the night, I have managed to steal this guy from under West Brom's noses with the lure of European football so he will be joining our ever growing African contingent. What a beast, 6"6! I can get him in the summer for free but they've also said I can have him now for £16,000. Think he would develop better sitting in my reserves or playing regular football there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitner Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Following! Good Luck. And about the defender, if your facilities are better, bring him in. If not, let him play. Cheers, Bitner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 4 hours ago, Bitner said: Following! Good Luck. And about the defender, if your facilities are better, bring him in. If not, let him play. Cheers, Bitner Cheers, they actually have better facilities than me so I have decided he can stay there till June, I have got the board to agree to upgrade the training and youth facilities but they are still pretty bad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 January Update Been a busy few months, as you can see we sneaked past Gent on penalties in the Croky Cup and we reach the semi finals again where we will face off with Genk. The league has been going very well and we were sitting top for a few games but we haven't won in the last three games, we played most of the game against Genk with 9 men so I am not surprised we got beat there. The big surprise is how bad Club Brugge are doing, they've won just one game all season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 We are proving to be quite the cup team this year! Great result here and highly unexpected against the team sitting 3rd in Ligue 1. When I won the home leg 1-0 I was hoping to just hold out for a draw but we ended up putting 4 past them. Also Anderlecht and Gent both got past their sides meaning we have 3 sides in the last 16, this has got to surely help with the co-efficients. Got a shock draw as it is an all Belgium affair guaranteeing one of us in the quarters and Anderlecht have a fairly favourable draw in Malaga to. Interesting times ahead After getting past Genk in the semi finals we reach our first ever Croky Cup final and it will be an all Brussels affair as we take on our noisy neighbours and reigning holders Anderlecht. Good times ahead Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 March Update Bit of a mixed bag here, a few good wins but losing two home games is unacceptable, gutted to lose again to Anderlecht. Still we are comfortably in the top 6 and we get the gap between us and Genk slashed as we only retain 50% of our points and we have ten more games to do some damage, happy to finish 4th in the regular season, Club Brugge managed to pull off a few wins at the end to stop themselves from getting relegated. I got offered an interview there but didn't even consider it. They have a 18 year old CB I am trying to unsettle as I want to have more Belgian lads in the squad as I keep raiding Africa and now South America (I'll fill you in later on my transfer activities) We also keep the European dream alive with this dramatic comeback! Just need to keep it tight at home and the quarter finals beckon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 Gent knocked out Inter Milan last round but we managed to hold them off at home after some heroic saves from the great Dane Henning Larsen, heavy wears the crown as he has lost his hair already. I think there is something in the water in Brussels. So we make the quarter finals and it is another all Belgian affair as we take on rivals Anderlecht. Delighted with this draw as it guarantees one of us in the semi finals which can only help the league. Some big clubs in the quarters but judging from my bank account we do not get half of the away gate so I just want the best draw to get as far as possible. A little prequel to wet the appetite for these games is just the matter of the Belgian Croky Cup final against yes you guessed it Anderlecht. We will meet or big city rivals 7 times this season! It has been a few years since I have lifted a trophy with this mob and to get one over these guys before the quarters would be a great mental advantage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 Champions! Our first cup success. Delighted with this and we got a decent pay out from the big gate too. Our stadium capacity and general lack of fans is hurting us financially if we want to keep improving. Eduardo Gonzalez has been on fire this season and I made enquiries to his parent club Barcelona but they are after silly money, Adjei has been limited to the bench mainly and has struggled to recapture his form. We are being propped up by loan players at the moment and that is something I would like to fade out but at the moment the best players available will still only join part time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 Just couldn't get that 2nd goal to send us into extra time, what a run though. I never thought at the start of the season we would get this far so I am delighted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 A decent few results for us in the Championship group saw us finish 3rd as we overtook STVV who stumbled at the end. Anderlecht managed to catch Genk but couldn't quite take the title again having won less games. It turned out to be a season of disappointment for them after they lost the cup final and then crashed out to Olympiakos in the Europa League semi final. Happy with how the season went, we were a little off the pace in the title race but we are getting closer. We lose a few top players who return to their clubs on loan. Top scorer Gonzalaz returns to Barcelona, Adjei and Matic go back to Sevilla, Lokila to Palace and Straetman returns to Benfica. The main aim is to target a permanent striker and to try and hold onto our key players. I managed to get Rolon Martinez to sign a new deal eliminating his £12.25M minimum release as I reckon I can get a lot more than that for him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 I am still looking for permanent signings but keeping these 2 for another season is a big coup, Gonzalez scored 25 goals in all competitions and was our top scorer and Straetman chipping in 11 goals and 9 assists from left wing and if I can keep him fit will be a key player again. Might be a chance to give some of the African contingent some time to shine. Some of the players values have also sky rocketed with Adeyemi being worth £4M and has Celtic interested in him. Rolon Martinez is being courted by Arsenal and is kicking off so has likely played his last game for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 After having three sides reach the last 16 of the Europa League the Jupiler League has seen its reputation improved as we rise to 11th in Europe, this has also seen the Country rise up the co-efficients table and it means we now have a team starting in the group phase again and Genk will take the honours and if Anderlecht come through the qualifiers could have 2 sides in the Champions League. We also now get a team automatically qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League which I presume will be us as we won the cup and finished 3rd. After our European adventure we have stormed up the rankings gatecrashing the top 100! I managed to convince Rolon Martinez to sign a new deal eliminating the £12.25M minimum release clause and I planned on holding onto him but just in case the board sold him behind my back I decided to sell I got £12.5M up front and will get £1.25M a month for a year and there's potentially another £13M in add ons plus 50% of profit sell on. A very good deal that will see us keep healthy considering our budgets are rapidly expanding and our revenue through home games, sponsorship and the league is minimal. We are still only expected to sell 700 season tickets and so there's no cause for increasing the capacity or getting a new stadium despite havng the funds, we averaged under 4,000 fans even in the Europa League with the likes of Newcastle and Villarreal in our group! Plenty of wheeling and dealing been going on as the next lot of potential African starlets arrive in Brussels Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 So 9 new faces so far here is who we have brought in Class act for us and was surprised I managed to get him for just £20,000 a week. Will probably take the DM spot from Correa and I have got him on a three year deal with a decent minimum release free so if he does pack his bags before we will be well compensated. Paid his £3.7M release from Malmo, he is better than Bacuna who has a very low minimum release fee and with age on his side he will be a big player for us, I had to settle for a £22M release fee his agent insisted on and he is on more money than I would like but I had to convince him to join me and not Champions Genk. With both Adjei and Matic returning to Sevilla I grabbed this guy from Chelsea I tried to sign him from Braga 2 years ago but unsurprisingly he chose Chelsea. He spent 18 months on loan with Eupen and he scored 25 league goals for them in his only full season in the league and he has got better since then so I am excited to see how he does for us. Exciting prospect snapped up from South Africa, already been capped and there is a few players vying now for the AMC spot so it will be interesting who steps up, may well go out on loan this season. Went back to Uruguay to where I snapped Correa from, another freebie and has been capped plenty of times at U'20 level and I may train him as an AML, has good potential and may well pop out on loan this season. Signed for £29,500 from a third tier French side, has great determination and at just 16 is one for the future. On loan from Atletico a very good winger at this level and he's quite cheap on wages, with Wikheim unhappy and wanting to leave I grabbed this guy for the season to compete for the right wing spot A freebie primarily a right winger but is very versatile which might come in handy. I mainly signed him as he had hair and I wanted to see if he would become bald once he joined.... Looks a good prospect I had been tracking him a while and his contract expired at Boca, not sure if he has peaked ability wise but I thought it was worth a punt for £5,000 a week. I have quite a few players who can operate in the middle and a few clubs want him on loan so he may well go out on loan if I can get him regular football at a decent standard. There is still more in the works and some of the old guard are leaving. Some of the players that have got us this far are unhappy and now want bigger things and because of our success their value has sky rocketed. Currently negotiating to leave are Adeyemi, Dilrosun and Wikheim. Martinez has already left and Thomas Joss a young Cameroonian I signed and was out on loan left for Cercle Brugge for £210,000 it was his minimum release fee from when I signed him, he wasn't going to feature much anyway so I am not too worried. Also leaving on a free after their contracts expired are 33 year old Buyens who was Captain but he dropped a fair bit stat wise last year so I didn't renew his contract and then Henkinet joined Roselare on a free he was replaced by Larsen as first team keeper and was unhappy so I let him go on to pastures new. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 Lucky has finally joined, I am glad I didn't pay the £16k to snap him up earlier as he looks even better than he did 6 months ago! This guy could be quite the bargain, I snapped him up on FM16 in a Norwich save and he developed into a decent Premier League player I am hoping for more of the same here. Just £1.6M on the transfer list and thankfully his agent gave me a heads up, think he earned his fee for this one. Some sad news though as Daniel Vilakazi departs, Bournemouth met his £12M release fee and his refusal to sign a new contract sawq him depart for the Premier League, I will keep an eye on him just to see how good he gets. We got to the quarters of Europa League and Bournemouth are struggling in the Prem but this would probably happen in real life as the lure of England and the wages they offer would dwarf what I could offer him. Good luck son and the hunt for a new left back starts. Here just shows you why pre-season is taking forever to complete a full list of my dealings. 9 players out on loan wih most of my promising youngsters from Africa will be getting regular football and hopefully show me who has got what it takes to become the next Jupiler League star. Tom Adeyemi left he was making noises about a better deal and to be honest he has done well but I am able o sign better players now and he happily joined Wednesday in the Championship. Wikheim, Bacuna and Fulton all left for their minimum release fees, Bacuna was actually rated at nearly £5M so Champions Genk got a steal there. Fulton went to Austria and Wikheim joins Montpellier. At least in Johannesson, Gauld and Ramos I have replacements ready made. Yanzi goes back to Argentina for some more development I feel a season for Belgrano playing every week will do him better than warming our bench and £140k a month is good for us. Leya Iseka departs having never played a game for us, he was unimpressivbe in his loan spell in Holland so when the bid came in I figured let him go. We are now cash rich and with our debt cleared and no new stadium required as we have no fans I aim to year in year out improve the facilities. I am looking for a replacement for Vilakazi but due to the league restrictions I need 6 home grown Belgian players in the match day squad so am scouring Belgium now for talent now before I get myself into a situation where I have no substitutes. Some of the U'21 players will eventually take up that mantle but I need some solid players for now. Looks like we don't go in the Group Stage after all as ourselves, Genk and STVV are all in this round, STVV have the hardest draw against Liverpool. Ours is alright to be fair! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 Another great performance boosted by our loyal 11 away fans who saw us finish the job off in Israel. Next up a relatively straight forward tie (I hope) as we meet this Slovenian mob I hadn't heard of before. Elsewhere STVV predictably went out against Liverpool and Gent made it through to the play off round and Anderlecht also drop into Europa League play off qualifier after getting dumped out of the Champions League 3rd round qualifier. Genk made it to the Champions League play off round where they will meet Omonoia Nicosia. I needed more Belgians in the squad so I dipped back into the transfer market Joins for £2M from Genk a very solid defender and will be a capable back up for Lucky/Mbabu/Mason. May well push for a starting place I needed a new left back after Vilakazi left and I managed to eventually procure this guy from Club Brugge, a very promising left back who cost me £4.5M a bit more than I would of liked but I feel he has got plenty of potential and as he will start for us he might improve very quickly. Transfer window is almost over, still a few deals being discussed, some potential loan moves and I am hoping to get one big player over the line but we shall see! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 We safely navigated our way to the group stages again thanks to a more comfortable draw this year, getting seeded for the last round helped, Anderlecht made it through as well although Gent failed to qualify so just 2 teams in the group stages for us this year, Anderlecht understandably were top seeded and we got an improved seeding of being in the 3rd pot and our group is still tough it isn't as bad as last year and as far as how the draw could of gone there was certainly worse groups we could of got put in. Genk qualified for the Group Stages and will meet Monaco, Zenit and Malaga which seems quite a well balanced group in which they could potentially qualify from. So the transfer window is now shut. There was some late drama of course and whilst I wasn't pictured in my Landrover I was certainly busy. Out on loan went O'Brien to OHL and Borry to Tubize for the season. Both have contracts expiring end of the season and aren't in my plans so I figured playing regular football this season would help them get a favourable move. O'Brien for a while was going to be my long term keeper but we improved quicker than he did and then Larsen came over to us and that was the writing on the wall. Nicholas Dhlamini hasn't featured much yet and I got an offer from Oostende where they will pay us £46,000 a month if playing and £92,000 if they don't, they will play him as a striker and he should future quite prominently and I feel it will help him establish himself here next season. The final player to leave on loan is a strange one as Moussa Kouakou a young Ivorian I signed last summer who I rate as the next Yaya (no one else does) he played 4 times last year and scored once and with me at the moment playing a 4-3-3 dropping the AMC to play 2 MC's he wouldn't feature much, got an offer from title rivals Genk to pick up his wages for the season and play on rotation, now he probably wont feature all that much so I asked for £60,000 a month to sweeten the deal and they accepted. I feel even if he doesn't play all that much he may well come back a better player due to their better facilities and increased amount of coaches to increase specialisation. Getting paid £600,000 to improve your own player seemed like a no brainer. So with 4 players leaving that opened a couple of slots up and this guy turned me down in July said we wasn't big enough but in the end he chose Belgium over the scrap heap. Clearly a talented player and quite versatile, probably wouldn't start in my strongest 11 but the fact he can play anywhere in the middle from DM to ST impressed me. His best position is CM where he will compete with the likes of Gauld for a starting spot. This was a deadline day deal bonanza. Rigo is 1) talented and 2)Belgian and thus was a no brainer. Was on the transfer list at Spurs and picked up for £3M and the wages are very reasonable. Joined Spurs from PSV for £2.2M went on loan to Swansea but didn't play and then had an average season at Zwolle in Holland. Pleased with this signing and now feel I have quality in depth as well. This was going to be my big signing he had a £15.5M release for teams playing in Europe but he wanted £77,000 a week which I just can't and won't pay right now, he joined AC Milan anyway and would of no doubt of joined them over me had I still been in the race. Be interesting if Gent fall off the wayside or re-invest in some new players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 We've had a good first few months and we are in a strong position to challenge for the league. I was exicted to start the season with a Brussels debry and despite taking the lead we quickly squandered it. We bounced back with five wins on the trot before being unable to break down Eupen's defence. A big win to round off September with new boy Ryan Gauld scoring 5 times, he has been instrumental so far this season and looks like a tremendous acquisition. Club Brugge look like they have rebounded well after last seasons brush with relegation and Genk have taken the early advantage in their bid to reclaim their crown and Gent despite losing their star striker on deadline day have started well. Europa League has seen us play 2 games we grabbed a well earned draw in France and then stunned the Scousers in Brussels with Gonzalez grabbing a hatrick. Gonzalez has a fairly sizable minimum release fee and he would be tempted to join us permanently. We have the money so I am just weighing up whether I think it is sensible business, I have tried bidding under that amount and Barcelona are not budging. Elsewhere it took us extra time to breakdown a 3rd division side, I rested a few players but still not very inspiring. We lost the Super Cup to Genk 1-0 but I forgot to screenshot it. Overall good progress so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Had a bad spell here losing three times with two games being to league rivals and has seen us drop off the pace. Losing to Mechelen was disappointing but we returned to form in the last game to Club Brugge. We are still in the top 6 and although a gap has emerged as long as I don't lose any more ground when it gets to the Championship group it will be a very open title race. At least in Europe we have been flying, Gonzalez leading the way with 11 goals in the competition. We have already sealed qualification and as long as we don't lose at Anfield we will qualify as group winners. I am happy to have already qualified and we have hit the boards target in Europe. Anderlecht sit 3rd in their group and are in danger of not qualifying unless other results also go their way. Genk are bottom of their Champions League group and sit on 4 points alongside Zenit with 4 as well, Malaga have 5 points whilst Monaco have ran away with the group. Genk travel to Russia to see if they can pull off an upset. I am rooting for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 We have been absolutely on fire in the league, we had a great win first up against Anderlecht with Ryan Gauld scoring again, he has probably been the best signing of the lot. We managed to win 7/8 of our games only dropping points home to Lokeren. We are right back in the mix at the top just a point behind Genk. Anderlecht and Gent are still with us and it looks like this one will go down to the wire making the Championship round even more important. Elsewhere we made the Croky Cup semi finals again where we take on Zulte over two legs, the other semi final is Anderlecht v Genk so we could get a repeat of last years final. In Europe we got a lot tougher draw than I would of hoped and Anderlecht were drawn with Napoli so it could be a bad year for our coefficients if neither of us progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Transfer Window American full back will compete with Johannesson for the right back spot, I had no natural right back cover and was forced to play Mbabu there when in need. Looks a great prospect and has featured heavily for the national side. Tried to sign him 2 years ago on a free from New York but he opted to sign a new deal but this time I managed to convince him to come to Europe. Recommended by my new scout Daniel Van Buyten. Signed from Red Star for £500,000 where has scored 11 in 45 games. Was put in my U'21 side but I got an offer from STVV where he will be a regular and he happily moved their temporary he has played three times so far without scoring. Yes he is bald as well. Another prospect looks like a great prospect he was on a youth contract still for Auckland so only cost £425,000 in compensation, only found him by accident while scouting Winston Reid. Has joined Werder Bremen on loan. Yep another baldy A bald back up for Larsen, on a free from Colo Colo. Can't work out why his value is so high. Got this guy from Malmo who I raided earlier for Johannesson, he also had a minimum release fee and I picked him up for £3.1M, will be in the first team squad and will compete for a spot in the middle of the park. Finally a permanent striker and I have been tracking him for 18 months now, I nearly signed him when two years ago when he left Portugal for Cyprus. He has been in good form for Omonoia with 33 goals in 53 games. Picked him up for his minimum release fee of £4.8M I didn't want him till the end of the season but unless you do it right then the clause because defunct and they just reject it. I may well play 2 up top and play him alongside Gonzalez as I weigh up whether I will pay the release for him as well. Also he isn't bald. So out the door was Borschilla who was getting very unhappy and joined Inter for £4.2M up front with add ons. Victor Wanyama wants to leave after Sevilla showed some interest but the Spanish giants have yet to bid for him and I would hold out for his £10.5M release. Andy Mason and Kevin Mbabu have been attracting interest and Loftus-Cheek is getting homesick so these three may well be out the door end of season as all three have release clauses in their deals. I also got my first Premier League interview offered, biggish club but sitting in 18th. Didn't interest me yet as still plenty to do in Brussels Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 It started so well but they rallied back and got 2 crucial away goals, Gauld popped up with a winner so as long as we avoid defeat we will be ok. Here is hoping. Anderlecht lost 3-1 to Napoli at home which will be hard to come back from We made the final again although we did make hard work of it. We will have a repeat of last years final, can history repeat itself? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Needn't have worried they folded completely. Gonzalez killing it again, I have decided if he is willing to join permanently then I will do everything I can to sign him! Next up we got a decent enough draw there was certainly tougher teams and we will still need to be at our best as Olympiakos got to the final last year. I rested a few players for this tie so I rested a few players in the game against Genk so we dropped to 4th but it is still tight, i'll post up the league standings after the regular season has finished Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Fabulous win in Germany! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said: Fabulous win in Germany! I was shocked myself! Another impressive away win sees us reach the quarters again, couldn't of asked for a tougher draw though One man team? not far off As for the league, it is looking good, we lost to Oostende though which is highly upsetting since they only won 3 games all season. Dropped points with Genk and Gent but other teams also lost ground in the run in so we finished 2nd in the regular season and the top 4 is looking very tight after losing half our points Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Can't blame Wanyama's 4th red card for losing the cup final the damage was already done, we just faded in extra time and the best team won, gutted. Andre Villas-Boas has got Anderlecht firing again this season since he took over. Surely more than 100 fans would fancy a trip to Stamford Bridge? After a very credible performance in the 1st leg where we held them to a 2-2 draw we struggled as you can see from the match stats as Chelsea showed a great proficiency for retaining the ball, on the upside we did score with our only shot on target. I brought Larsen back into the fold after his injury but it looks like it was too soon as he dislocated his shoulder while catching a ball. Was it hit with venom? Either way I have lost my keeper for the important run in and hope the young Chilean I signed in January can rise to the occasion. Finally I bit the bullet, it is a lot of money for us but he has been phenomenal this season scoring 38 goals in all competitions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 6 minutes ago, argento said: Surely more than 100 fans would fancy a trip to Stamford Bridge? They did. 102 went. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 We bottled it, we performed woeful in the Championship round. We had Gonzalez injured for most of it and Larsen was out for the whole round but I still expected more. Losing both times to the eventual top 2 was what done the most damage as then we have to rely on them to drop points elsewhere. Still we got to the cup final, made the quarters of the Europa League and finished 4th in the league so overall it was still a fairly successful season. We have Gonzalez permanently now after he agreed a £26.5M transfer from Barcelona and Bob Straetman is also staying after agreeing to a free transfer from Benfica after spending 2 years here on loan. I am going to have a tactically rejig as I want a top 2 finish next year and try and have a crack at some Champions League action! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Thanks to our good finances we can improve our facilities again I had to convince the board for this one, we only sell out when we face Anderlecht and we only get at the most 8,000 for Europa League games because some of the ground is standing, it isn't costing much so in a few years it will pay for itself. On my Peruvian save I managed to get attendances up to 32,000 but I was a regular in the Libertadores and we haven't qualified for the Champions League yet but then again I feel that we would of attracted more fans than we have on the basis of our success, where are these plastic fans?? We may not have improved our situation domestically but because of our Europa League exploits we have made a good improvement again. Should help again when the group seedings are announced. Our league reputation improves again Great news for Belgium as by this guide it should mean the league winner will also be top seeded! Lets see if Genk can fare better this year with this now in play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 No pressure then..... Unless we can be more consistent against the top teams we will always struggle against the top teams. A few players have left/arranging to leave Kone £1.9M - West Brom - Defensive midfielder but fell by the wayside after we purchased Wanyama found himself 3rd choice with Correa establishing himself as well. Loftus-Cheek £4.4M Nice - talented midfielder but Nice met his minimum release fee Mchunu £12M Wolves - The 2nd South African to depart for a struggling Prem side. Good player who will no doubt become better still I think they overpaid so who cares. I have already acquired a better replacement. Zinchenko £9.5M Marseille - Would of been his year to star on the wing with Ramos going back to Madrid but Marseille met his minimum release. His versatility in the end cost him as he was a stop gap for when I had injuries never making one his own. His value has already skyrocketed to £14.75M, still got him on a free. So those 5 players leaving recoups what I paid for Gonzalez. Think I am ditching the wingers this year and going 4-3-3 down the middle with an AMC as a shadow striker. Kouakou improved a lot in his season with Genk and I am hoping his title winning experience will only help us. Because of the ever revolving door here in Brussels I will do a proper squad review tomorrow. As I a typing now it seems more minimum releases are being met and so it could be back to the drawing board.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 Introducing the next batch of bald warriors. Gonzalez and Straetman you've already met and have spent 2 years with us already Serbian international and a steal for £8.75M from PAOK he has been performing well in Greece and will make my first 11. Had a £4.7M release and figured he would be good competition for the middle of the park. I know I've added a lot of CMs last year but I am playing 3 CMs this season. Class centre back and only 18, snapped up for £7.25M from Club Brugge will definitely be starting for us. Scouts recommended him, probably 5th choice centre back but he is still young and plenty of time to improve. Elsewhere in the World n entertaining final, shout out to the Reggae Boyz for making it to the last 16, notable absentees Belgium. Ex-Anderlecht manager Rene Weller is sacked after failing to get out the group, don't worry I turned the job down! Goodbye Victor thanks for the memories. Knew he wouldn't stick around but we got a good season out of him alongside 5 red cards and a healthy profit. Genk at 4/1 looks good money having won the title 2 years on the bounce. We are favourites but I still think it will be tough to win. Need to improve out consistency Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 Out Kevin Mbabu £5.25M AC Milan - Unhappy here for the last 12 months so out he goes Anthony Owusu £225,000 Oostende - Agent Owusu failed to make the grade and off he goes Loan moves out Yanzi goes back to Argentina again this time for a better club in his homeland as he joins Lanus, we also make £250,000 a month out the deal. I have signed him on a new long term deal to 2027, we will have made over £3M off him just in loan moves and hopefully he will come back a better player. Mathias Gonzalez joins Standard for the season he struggled for game time last year so hopefully he will get a regular game in Liege, young Serbian striker Roland Somogyi heads to Holland to link up at Gronigen for more game time and Alberto Dumitru heads back to Romania for another season to join FCSB for another year. It is make or break for him as at 22 he needs to step up this season otherwise I will sell him end of the season. In Signed as he is Belgian, has been at Monaco last few years but never played for him and he joins for £3.8M. Back up for now but big potential, glad to have increased the home grown contingent in my squad as some games last season we couldn't fill the bench because of restrictions. Another bald addition, can I eventually have an all bald squad? Of course i can. Cost £11M up front with add ons, been chasing him for last 2 seasons but couldn't get his club to release him. Having to pay a lot of money to get Belgian players but at least they are quality players who add to the team, his versatility will help a lot. Found him when checking out various U'21 European nations, he was linked to Arsenal so I struck quickly signing him for £500,000 he will be in the U'21 side for the foreseeable future. At just 16 he will become a home grown talent in a few years which will help with European competition squad restrictions. I have spent £66M this year and recouped £47M in fees. I don't think anyone else will join unless a huge player becomes available The European adventure begins in Sweden Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
argento Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 We cruised past Hammarby and head into the final play off. Elsewhere out the other Belgian clubs in Europe - Standard Liege face Basaksehir in the Europa League after getting past Hearts, Gent ave qualified for the group stage automatically. Anderlecht have made it to the best placed play off in Champions League but have been drawn out alongside Schalke in a very tough draw but if they lose they will at least drop into the Europa League. Genk qualify automatically for the Group Stage. Great draw for us, we should be winning this one. He hasn't even available for loan but £300,000 for a back up player who will play regularly and under better facilities so a no brainer, the fee alone will pay back half his transfer fee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Reading through to catch up...man, I'd fallen behind. Tremendous progress, especially in Europe. Love all the transfer wheeling and dealing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITFC_Blue Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I have the same problem with RKC Waalwijk in Holland. I literally have no more than 150 away fans at any away game ... yet, when i've played a few friendlies during pre-season in places like Andorra and Luxembourg, I get over 700-800 fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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