[FM19] The Great San Marino Challenge

[Skidz1892]

29th September 2023

Not gonna lie; my proudest moment as San Marino manager. 2-0 down at home, and then Daniel Arzani just went crazy; 1 goal, 3 assists.

[Lewis89]

National Team Update 2034

UEFA Nations League B Group 1

    

Being in Division B, I knew we was in for a tough test, being paired with Austria(19th) and Greece(37th) meant we was heavy favourites for relegation. We managed to defy the odds and stay up, finishing in 2nd place. Getting a point of Austria, and a win against Greece were big results, as were the 4 friendlies played this year, all against sides in the FIFA top 50. 

EURO 2036 Qualifiers

Now maybe I am being delusional here, but I think this is our best ever chance of finishing in 2nd and maybe sneaking a play off place. Spain should be way too strong for the whole group, however the other 3 sides, we can beat. Im looking forward to getting these games underway. 

Squad

Getting better each year, but we still lack players in a few areas. We are desperate for a striker, Valentini 19a is still the best we have. I am trying to convince a dual nationality striker to turn his back on Italy and play for us. He straight up refused at first, but is now having chats with me everytime I ask, so I am hopeful he will give in soon. We also need centre backs and a left winger. Minus that, we have the core of a pretty good team. 

Nation Overview

We are ranked 75th in the world, which is a big improvement from the start of the game, but in all honesty, I feel we are alot better than that. We have only climbed 3 places in 12 months and thats slow progress considering the wins against sides in the top 50. 

U21s

        

A disappointing year to be honest, I thought we could push for 2nd maybe, but ended up in 4th. 

U19s

             

A much better performance here though, managing to steal 2nd place and with it, qualify for the 2nd QR. Thats where our campaign ends though, as Germany and Italy will more than likely spank us. I am going to prioritise the U19s over the U21s for this campaign though, just to see if we can sneak into the finals.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Lewis89

[Lewis89]

Youth Intake Day 2035

            

I am delighted with this years intake, not only do we have 3 really good players, but the fact that all are San Marino eligible. ST Tamagnini 35a is the pick of the bunch, apparently he is a generational talent, but we will see about that. He does look ridiculously talented already though, shame he is dual nationality and will most likely never play for our national side. Next in line is CB Buscarini 35b, this is a really important one for us, as we are lacking CB's for the national side, and we have a potentially really good one here, no dual nationality either so happy days. Third pick is GK Simoncini 35c, another lad who could be a good player, dual nationality but I dont think he will be ousting Ceravolo 25c as Italy's number 1 anytime soon. The other 2 lads shown are both LW's Vagnini 35d and Mularoni 35e. This is a position the national team is lacking in, and although they wont ever be stars, im hoping I can develop one enough to at least make us a bit more stronger depth wise. 

[Lewis89]

Season Review 2034/35

Competitions 

    

Another steady but unspectacular season. With our youth only policy now into its 4th season, I was happy we managed to finish in 2nd place. As long as we can continue finishing in the top four, our job is safe, and we can continue developing youngsters. In the Champions League we were unlucky to lose to Man United on the away goals rule. The best news this season is we finally won the Italian Cup. Its only taken us 17 Seasons. We also wont the UEFA Super Cup and Italian Super Cup. We also sealed a first ever U20s Division 1 title. You will see from the above shot, Atlanta have been the dominant side at this level, so beating them in the final was a great achievement and shows our focus on youth is really starting to work.

Squads

        

Above is the Senior and U20s squads at the club. A few players filter between both, particularly the youngsters who dont play for the senior squad often just yet. But we had 17 HG players play games for the first team last season, and that should rise again this year due to the promise shown by the U20s side in winning the league. Going through the two squads, I am almost at the point where I could sell everyone who didnt come through our academy, and maybe fight for a Europa League place, but then I would maybe get sacked and it will be challenge over. 

Next Season.

Same again really, just need to keep getting more national side eligible players into the first team. 

 

[Hatton90]

Finally got round to starting this, and have finished the first season now. 

Season 1 Review - 2018/2019

I decided to take over the national team as well as the club team from day one, in the hope that I can get the tactics similar at this early stage. This could help the youngsters coming through, not only at my club side but the local San Marino teams too. Firstly, our start with the club side of things:

San Marino Calcio

I decided to try and keep it as homegrown as possible and place a few rules on the players that I can sign. I would only sign when I absolutely had to, (in terms of long term injuries or players being sold), or I could sign San Marino nationality players that need game time. I was hoping that this would force me to play the youngsters as soon as possible and that this would aid their development. This meant that I only ended up signing 2 players this season, both coming in the second half of the season, and both because of long term injuries. (Although I think the AI had signed some players before I took over). 

I thought it was a decent season to be fair, we only lost 5 games, a record beaten by only the champions of the league, although 14 draws need to be bettered next year. Our defence was great but we just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. This is highlighted by the fact that our top 2 scorers was a midfielder (Gasperi with 10) and a winger (Gasperoni with 8). As our self imposed transfer ban, I'm hoping that our strikers find form next season. We didn't lose a game in the whole of 2019, only conceding 6 goals in this time aswell. This equates to 17 games, although 6 were 0-0 draws. If we can carry this on, I don't see why we can't get promoted next season. 

I forgot to get a screenshot of the Youth Candidates when they became available but I did tag 5 of the players (only 1 or 2 will be good enough for our club, but the others are likely to do something at National Team level) Annoyingly, our best youth product was Italian only nationality so did not get a tag. I won't not use him because of this but he will be below others in the pecking order that are SM nationality. 

 

I think Baldacci's determination could see him become a regular starter for the National team, but all in all I'm happy for the variety as the other 4 will cover all of defence and midfield which means I shouldn't struggle for good players in positions for the National team. Towards the end of the season, I gave Baldacci and Casadei some game time off the bench, and some starts for the former. This resulted in Baldacci getting his first goal for the club on the last game of the season to secure 4th place with the winner in a 3-2 win. I will try and get some more game time next season for these 2 especially. 

 

Our best X1 mirrored nearly exactly our strongest eleven apart from Grandoni at LB (he was used as a sub) and Marconi should have taken his place (7.08 rating apposed to 6.97). Our 2nd top scorer in Gasperoni didn't make it, but I rotated the 2 winger spots between 3/4 players as they all performed well so that's not too surprising. There was even a spot on the bench for youth recruit Gabriele Baldacci 19a. ( 1 goal in 8 games 6.8 rating)

Next season, I see no reason why we can't challenge the top spots more and maybe sneak into the playoffs, especially if our defence remains tight. The board just want top half again, which I am happy with. It's great to have low expectations, means less chance of getting sacked suddenly. 

 

Sorry for the long post, I will put the NT in it's own separate post. 

 

[Hatton90]

National Team Season 1 - 2018/2019

I never expected anything in the first year but I do think I managed to exceed expectations in the National Team. 

I think we done very well in the Nations League, finishing 3rd with 5 points. Could have beaten Moldova aswell but they equalised in the 95th minute. We were also very unlucky against Malta with a 94th minute equaliser going against us. Berardi is my current top scorer, with 3 goals for me, which is the only 3 goals he has scored for San Marino. He is rated as our best player and only 22, so even though he is on the wing, I hope he can overtake the great Selva soon. We have been pushed up to 196th in the world rankings and I hope strong showings in the Quals will increase this. I'm hoping for a 4th place finish, above Israel and Malta which is where I currently sit. It will be tough to get anything from Denmark and England, and I will have to hope to nick a point or two off Romania. I have already put Baldacci in my national team squad and will look to start bringing off the bench in my next set of fixtures. 

[Bubbles_DK]

I've been searching for a DB file that works with the latest update. @Hatton90 can you help me with a link ? :-) 

Edited April 29, 2019 by Bubbles_DK

[Hatton90]

35 minutes ago, Bubbles_DK said:

I've been searching for a DB file that works with the latest update. @Hatton90 can you help me with a link ? :-) 

I couldn't find one due to the league structure changes. I just used the 10.2 update instead. Not much difference apart from player transfers and they won't matter as those players won't be around once you get high enough

Edited April 29, 2019 by Hatton90

[Skidz1892]

Huge mega update. I've just moved house and have had awful internet issues.

 

1st January 2024

Crashed out of the cup at the first hurdle. Yet again another late late goal consigned us to defeat. Really need to find a way to increase the teams concentration; the amount of last minute goals we concede is ludicrous.

We’ve been very inconsistent this year, and it’s frustrating watch. We’ve thrown away so many points from winning positions, we could be points clear at the top. Maurizio Albani has picked up from where he left off last season, getting a goal every other game.

Stand-out players so far:

Maurizio Albani, ST, 23 apps, 10 goals, 4 assists, 81% pass success rate, 1 POM at 7.23

Kristian Riis, DCR, 12 apps, 1 assist, 89% tackle rate at 1.46 tackles per match, 82% pass success rate, 1 POM at 7.21

Samir, DCL, 23 apps, 1 goal, 89% tackle rate at 1.47 tackles per match, 87% pass success rate, 4 POM’s at 7.20

Enrico Reggini, MCL, 19 apps, 3 goals, 3 assists, 92% pass success rate averaging 108.13 passes per match, 89% tackle rate at 2.08 tackles per match at 7.18

Alban Lafont, GK, 25 apps, 11 clean sheets, 86% save percentage averaging 5.72 saves per match, 1 POM at 7.15

 

11th March 2024

Youth intake day, and we’ve been pretty lucky. Three good-to-excellent prospects; two Sammarinese and one dual-nationality.

I’ll be training Selva up as a Right Inside Forward and Michelotti as a Left Winger. That will help us with our wide attack. It means that in a few years time, we could have three midfielders, two wingers and a striker all at a strong level. With Valli hopefully joining them in developing as I hope, there’s only the rest of the defence to sort out really!! Exciting times ahead for the San Marino national team!! I just hope that Selva chooses San Marino over Italy…

 

26th April 2024

It’s a shootout between San Marino and Lazio for the Scudetto. Five games are left to play, and three points separate us. In our favour!! If we can at least match their results, we’ll win the league, which would be a huge triumph for us. We play them in the penultimate match of the season. I just hope that it doesn’t go that far… At the other end of the table, Inter have toiled all season. They should be safe from the drop, but are in 16th. I think that’s their highest placing so far this term. Maybe I’ll see if they’ve any players who want to abandon ship…!!

 

4th May 2024

THANK YOU FIORENTINA!! Last year, they couldn’t win for toffee, and this year they’ve only gone and beaten Lazio. That moves us 3 points clear, with a game in hand, with 9 points for them to play for. We’re so close…

 

5th May 2024

Thanks for nothing. The lads were probably already celebrating winning the league because, aside from Mason Mount, no-one showed up today. The first half was frankly ridiculous, and we should’ve been 5-0 down. We were that bad. But then leading 2-1 and throwing it away to lose 3-2 was poor.

 

19th May 2024 - 15.00

D-Day. San Marino vs Lazio, 1st vs 2nd. Us vs them. David vs Goliath. Lazio have to win to keep their dream alive. We just need a draw, not that we’ll play for it. We’ve had a really strong season at home, and I’m hoping for another win. With Lazio likely to attack, that may just play right into our hands with our counter-attacks. “Counter-attack at home” I hear you say. Well, it’s worked out excellently so far!!

 

19th May 2024 - 17.00

FORZA TITANI!!

An own goal was our golden ticket to our maiden Scudetto, and I’m so proud of the team (and, yes, myself). It wasn’t the greatest match ever, but we don’t care!! Following our abject failure in the Italian Cup, this more than makes up for it.

Looking at next season, we only need to get a few players in. Our RB, Nicola Gaeta/Francesco Cassata, is the position that needs a boost most of all, but we also need a good back-up striker and a right winger. Other than that, I’ll be on the hunt for some good, cheap talents to bolster our youth ranks, and make some good money for the club for the future. We’re too far away from winning the Champions League, but we’ll go as far as we can. But, more importantly, we’ll be going for the Cup (didn’t I say the same thing last year?!). It’s being too elusive for my liking.

 

28th May 2024

This has been such a productive year. Not only in terms of winning Serie A, but our reputation and the progress that our players are making.

And looking at this table is so satisfying. Seeing us at the top of the pile, Juventus not even making the Champions League, and Inter and Roma both struggling to make mid-table seems like there’s a changing of the guard. And we’re at the front of it.

We only lost 3 league games between January and May, which was fantastic for us. One against Juventus, which I can’t complain about (even if they did finish 5th), and one against Cagliari after we’d wrapped up the league.

 

Stand-out players of the year:

Samir, DCL, 42 apps, 1 goal, 88% tackle rate with 1.58 tackles per match, 87% pass success rate, 5 POM’s at 7.19

Enrico Reggini,  MCR, 35 apps, 7 goals, 4 assists, 92% pass success rate with 100.36 passes per match on average, 87% tackle rate with 1.90 tackles per match, 2 POM’s at 7.19

Maurizio Albani, ST, 43 apps, 21 goals, 9 assists, 82% pass success rate, 3 POM’s at 7.16

Mason Mount, MCL, 26 apps, 10 goals, 3 assists, 89% pass success rate, 88% tackle rate with 1.76 tackles per match, 5 POM’s at 7.14

Alban Lafont, GK, 42 apps, 21 clean sheets, 87% save success with 5.60 saves per match, 1 POM at 7.12

 

15th June 2024

It’s happened; Maurizio Albani is now San Marino’s top scorer for the national side. He managed to score a brace in a friendly with Andorra, which now puts him on 12 goals for his country. At the age of 20. What a talent.

 

3rd October 2024

Luca Selva has been called up to the Italian U19 squad. I noticed about a week ago that his nationality had changed to Italian, should’ve known that would mean that he would represent them instead of San Marino. I hope that he turns out for the San Marino national team in the future, but it’s doubtful. Gutting, really. Thankfully, he’s the only high-potential dual nationality player that’s come through the academy.

It means that we’ve got 6 six players who could (and should) be in the San Marino national first XI. More than halfway to a semi-decent side is great progress when you take into account that it’s only been 6 years since the start of this challenge.

 

 

[duesouth]

First of all, I just want to say how good this thread has been as a reader - I've really enjoyed all the progress updates!  I'm a new FM player - I played CM a ton in my younger years and after re-loading CM03/04 a couple of years ago, I decided to become slightly more current (although still not close to being so according to my teenage daughter!) and buy FM19.

I loved managing small sides on CM03/04, so this challenge seems perfect for me.  I wouldn't say I'm a great FM player yet, to date I've had 4 okay seasons managing an amateur Danish 2nd division club (in at the deep end - had a couple of good players and lost them for nothing after 6 months as they were on amateur contracts!) and a little success with Barnet in the National League, the highlight being an FA Trophy win.  So, I might be biting off more than I can chew..., but I found myself drawn to this challenge!

I managed to get a custom database loaded last night (took me a while, but got there!) and went for club and international manager from the start.  I figure I can dovetail the two hopefully sooner rather than later to help develop younger players quicker - and try to get any dual nationality guys a cap before Italy come calling, although from reading that figures to be a challenge down the road.

I spent a couple of hours last night going through everything before even pressing "Continue" once, so only played a couple of weeks.  The San Marino Calcio squad looks fairly good.  The board want a playoff place and there's a decent base to build such a challenge.  I figure I need to find a striker and a couple of wide options though.  I've got 5 strikers in on trial, so I'll see who shines in the pre-season.  I'm thinking about my keeper - I have a young sammarinese national with good PA, but he's not there yet - not sure yet whether to roll with him, or get a loan signing in to help get us promoted.  Perhaps the latter, as good PA at Serie D isn't going to equate to national team impact at this stage of the challenge.

I've requested team reports from some bigger teams - not sure how many loan options Serie A teams will give me, likely more from B or C I would imagine, but I'll see.  I figure getting some big hitters in on loan will be an important factor in season 1.  I employed a Chief Scout who recommended a 4.5 CA central defender who's on an amateur contract, so will try to get him onboard tonight - nice to be on the other side of amateur contracts after my Denmark save!

One thing I did was to change the Head of Youth Development.  I've signed a sammarinese national with better stats, not sure if that will help the intake, likely it will just be luck.  The youth team right now is full of Italian nationals, so hopefully that first intake will have 1 or 2 who might have longer term San Marino national team potential.

I haven't spent much time on the national team yet.  I did love the super-low expectations though - finish bottom is my goal - now that's something I can do!!

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 8 (Serie A) 25/26

Club overview

So after last seasons disappointment I really wanted a successful year... and I got it! We comprehensively won the league before humiliating Inter 7:0 in the final of the Italian Cup! I think it's safe to say we're probably the best team in the league now. 

Despite dominating Italy we weren't great in Europe. We had a tough group in the CL, finishing 3rd behind Chelsea and PSG, before getting a tricky tie against one of the stronger teams left in the EL, Marseille. We went out 3-1 on aggregate. Disappointing.

Oh, but we did get 4 points out of Roma. Our win came at home 6-1, which was enjoyable!

Finance, facilities and transfers

We're pretty bloody rich now. My captain (and also best midfielder) left for City for £55m, whilst wonderkid striker moved to the red half of Manchester for £49m just before the start of the season. We replaced them by spending £12m on their replacements. Not bad business.

Facilities are now top notch, except the youth facilities (which are currently in the middle of a final upgrade). The board are upgrading our capacity to 26,413, so we move to Cesena's stadium for most of next season.

Youth intake

The less said about this intake the better.

Next season

Although I quite enjoyed battering the league last year, I’d take top 4. Making the final of the Italian Cup would also be nice. A better run in Europe is needed.

National overview

Not bad. We finished second bottom on 7 points in our Euro Qualifying group, with some respectable results along the way. Stand out moment was hammering Moldova 5-0 in the final game. We're up to 149 in the world now.

Elia Tomassini now sits on 38 national team goals. That's double his club career!

Edited May 19, 2019 by robredo87

[SuperSeagull_1999]

After spending ages trying to import Serie D, I have finally managed to get it to work. The only problem is the I then had to use the in-game editor to make myself the manager of the club and national sides. Excited to see how badly I do. Good pre-season with 3 wins and 2 draws one being 2-2 against Monaco reserves looks promising.

[SuperSeagull_1999]

WOW. So after a 4-1 loss to Moldova in my first international game, Nicola Nanni scored a hat trick in a 3-1 win over Luxembourg. 

[SuperSeagull_1999]

Season 1 ends in double disappointment.

[duesouth]

I'm probably not going to get through a season that fast - work tends to get in the way, unfortunately - that and I take my time with games.  As such, here's an early season one update.

San Marino National Team

My first competitive action of the season was the National Team and the European League.  Away to Belarus, ranked 82nd in the world was the first test.  Lacking up front, I went with a TM(s) in Stefanelli.  I went with a pretty defensive set up - all four at the back on defend (mainly as no one looked like they could do anything but), a defensive midfielder in front of the back four and then a ball winning midfielder on defend in the midfield four.  Both wingers were inverted, ideally I'd play with one and the other a normal winger, but slim pickings forced my hand.  The remaining midfielder was on attack.

Despite 22 shots, the hosts only got 9 on target as my back line was pretty solid.  My plan was to counter, but I didn't feel we had enough movement up top, so replaced the target man with someone who I called up from the U21 squad - Nicola Nanni.  He's a dual nationality guy and I wanted to get him his first cap anyway.  And so it was on the break, he had a little more pace and on 59 minutes, his pass set up right IW(Att) Filippo Berardi to finish a counter attack worthy of Italy (almost!).  From there, it was backs to the wall at times - but we held on to secure a cracking win!

With another game 3 days later, and the boys having worked so hard in Belarus, it was a case of forced rotation for the home game against 172nd ranked Moldova.  The lack of depth worried me, and so I played with an Anchor Man - Luca Censoni - who is a DC or MC(def) - so a round peg in a square hole, but as he's normally a centre half, I hoped I would get away with it.  I replaced both wingers as they were below my 90% threshold.  I also gave Nanni a start up front.  This game was one way traffic - even more so than the Belarus game.  Without our keeper Benedettini, this game would have been over before half time.  As it was, we were fortunate to go in at the break at 0-0 - although the best chance fell to Nanni who put his shot straight at the keeper, when either side would have been a goal.

Some of the boys were tiring, so a couple of changes - but it was still 0-0.  With 6 minutes to go, I could have taken off any one of three players who were tired.  I elected to pull off the right winger, Vitaioli (winger-sup) and replace him with Belarus match goal hero Berardi, making him an inverted winger on attack, and changing the other inverted winger to support.  On 90 minutes, Berardi picked up the ball on half way, cut inside and drove at the Moldova defence.  A nice cross found left IW Tomassini in space from about eight yards, but at a narrow angle.  His shot was saved - but he got the rebound.  That shot was blocked, but the rebound came to Berardi, who got away a shot, but again it was saved.  The rebound came to him and at the fourth time of asking, he stroked the ball into the far corner to spring jubilant celebrations!  Fortunately, I remembered to hit pause before jumping out of the dugout (a.k.a. my chair) - quickly changing some duties to defend and ensuring we slowed the game down.  Despite late pressure and five long minutes of added time, we held on for a second 1-0 win!  So, that leaves us top after two games - and up 8 ranking spots - although staying there is another matter!  But a good start and I'm definitely into this save, that's for sure!

San Marino Calcio

A long but busy pre-season was completed.  The busiest personnel were my scouts, as they were sent to Serie A/B teams to get team reports as I searched for suitable loan players.  I also brought in a number of trailists, four of whom were signed (all on a non-contract basis as hot prospects, which helps with the wage bill).  I also signed five on loan, a keeper, centre half, attacking midfielder, right sided winger and a striker.

The Serie D cup was first up - and a pretty dull 0-0 game went straight to penalties.  Both teams scored all 5 - and a sixth - but it was our free agent pick up Mariani who had his penalty saved.  That was that - but no recriminations to anyone in terms of a penalty shootout.

Fortunately, my Serie D Group D debut was much, much better.  An away trip to Sasso Marconi saw us come away with a fine 4-1 win.  We opened the scoring on 23 minutes, a free kick from the left saw the initial header saved from CD Salcuni - but loan striker Djibril was on hand to smash home the rebound for the deserved lead.  A set piece also led to our second.  A corner was cleared - but Djibril picked up the loose ball outside the area, span and crossed the ball - for CM Tommaso Minocci (on loan from Fiorentina) to hit a stunning left foot volley past the keeper, who could only admire the shot as it flew past him.

Things looked even better after half time, Mariani made up for his penalty miss in the last game, by earning a penalty, which CM Gasperi finished perfectly for a 3-0 lead on 63 minutes.  4 minutes later though, we let them back into the game, this time it was us giving away the penalty which was converted for 3-1.  But, fear not, we controlled the game and it was another goal from Djibril to cap a man of the match performance on 81 minutes, peeling away at the far post to nod home a perfect cross.

Fingers crossed for the rest of the season!

Edited May 18, 2019 by duesouth

[duesouth]

January Update - Season 1 - 2018/19

San Marino National Team

It was a case of down to earth with a bump after two wins in the first two games.  I was hopeful of at least a point against Luxembourg, but that hope evaporated very quickly as they took advantage of our weakness (left back and left midfield) to ping in two crosses in the first six minutes, both of which were converted for a 0-2 deficit.  We never recovered and they were comfortable winners, adding a third in the second half.  In the next game three days later, we did better - we took the lead on the road against Moldova through 17 year-old Mauro Bonini (who became San Marino's youngest ever goalscorer).  However, a debatable penalty changed the game and they scored twice just before half time to make my team talk a very different one.  They added a fourth before Filippo Berardi continued his goal scoring form with a consolation (his third of the season).

The next two matches were pretty good.  We lost at home to Belarus - 1-0 - but we were unlucky to go down to 10 men on 52 minutes, when Tosi was sent off for a firm, but not dirty challenge.  It changed the complexion of the game and they scored shortly after.  The final game in the league saw us take on Luxembourg again.  We managed to win 1-0 with Nicola Nanni getting his first San Marino goal late in the first half.  We couldn't add a second, but the defense was solid and we took the three points.  That meant we finished third in the table, a point behind Moldova and three behind Belarus, who were promoted.

In general, it wasn't a bad campaign - but we do need to get greater quality at the full backs particularly and on the left of midfield.  The European Championship campaign will be tougher, that's for sure.  The draw has seen us matched against Holland, Romania, Montenegro and Malta - perhaps could have been worse, but still tough enough.

San Marino Calcio

The league campaign is going really, really well.  After 18 games, we're top of the table - if only by 1 point.  The Highlight has been the home game against then 5th placed Calvina.  They looked like a decent team, probably the best we'd seen to date, moving the ball very quickly - and as such took a 1-0 lead fairly early.  I feared the worst, but we showed some real determination to battle back for a 2-1 win.

Loan striker Nasif Djibril (Bologna) has been the main goalscoring threat with 8 - but a few others have chipped in from midfield.  I've been playing a 4-1-4-1 for the most part - but have used a 4-5-1 in a couple of games, primarily to get DM Stefano Pellini to keep a DLP quiet (which has worked).

One nice surprise has been young DR Marco Mazzotti, who was signed on a long term contract before I took over.  He's 20 with 2* CA, but 3.5-4.5* PA - his average rating has been 7.21.  The only problem is that playing him means San Marino international Alessandro D'Addario gets left out of the team.  Could it be San Marino Calcio would give the national team a run for their money if they were to play each other?!

The finances were starting to get a bit concerning, but the board has injected some much needed cash.  In a 1st vs 2nd clash at home, we drew only 330, so it's your typical lower league issues.  We did take advantage of a 2 week break to schedule a friendly with Inter, which drew a full house - and was televised to make us £18,000 in all.

I've managed to get through the transfer window unscathed, with just 3 players going out on loan.  I elected not to bring anyone in, as the squad seems pretty happy right now and I didn't want to risk anyone getting upset with lack of playing time.

Edited May 24, 2019 by duesouth

[Skidz1892]

 

It seems that I’ve left off my transfers. I’m delighted with my transfers this window.

Daniel Arzani, for £20m to Arsenal was just too good to turn down. They initially offered my £12m, and I thought they’d run when I countered for £20m, but they just accepted it. Spot on!!

Kristian Riis played pretty well for me, but after he got injured and lost his place to Raffaele Poli he started to get frustrated with a lack of games. Managed to sell him to West Brom for £7.5m. The second centre-back they’ve bought from me in two seasons. They’ve got problems..

Francesco Cassata got wind that Inter were interested in him, and after I told him that I wanted £20m for him, he began to make some noises. Managed to get £14.25m upfront, and £5m in potential add-ons.

 

Raffaele Poli was on loan with an optional future fee of £10m. I took advantage of that as he played pretty well for me, and he’s only 20. Bargain.

Rhian Brewster decided to run down his contract, and so I brought him in to the club. He’s a great prospect, even though he’s now 24, but I’m hoping to push him into the higher echelons. He’s good, but could get even better.

Claud Adjapong is my new right back. It was the position that I desperately needed to upgrade moste, and so I did. He’s 26, Italian, in his prime years, and I think that £15.5m was a steal for him.

Alessandro Rossi went down with Verona, so I managed to get him for £3.4m due to a relegation release clause. He’s my back-up striker (even though he’s actually better than Albani, he won’t get in my starting XI). The fans are disappointed that I’ve bought a striker who was relegated, but he did get 12 league goals for them, which is acceptable. Especially for £3.4m.

Matteo Gabbia was running down his contract with Milan, and refused to speak with me, until I put in a formal bid for him. I managed to steal him away from Inter, Lazio and Sassuolo by bidding for him instead of waiting. £1.4m was a small price to pay for piece of mind. He’ll be warming my bench as rotational DM. I’m trying out a 4-3-3 with 3CMs and two wide-men, so he won’t have a regular place for now.

[Skidz1892]

28th October 2024

And the plaudits keep on coming. 20 years old, and already San Marino’s top national scorer of all time, and now the leading scorer for San Marino Calcio.

He’s just turned 21. If he continues at the rate he’s going, he’ll be a certifiable legend.

 

18th January 2025

Completely forgot to do my yearly update on the 1st, so it’s two game-weeks late.

We’re top of the league, and leading by quite a distance. It’s remarkable just how solid we are defensively. We’ve conceded 9 goals in 20 games with 11 clean sheets. Brewster has been outstanding as Raumdeuter on the right, and his partnership with Adjapong has been vital.

We’re 11 points clear at the top, and it’s exciting for us. We’re also through in the Champions Cup. We topped the group with a game to spare, so I let the kids loose against OL. They lost, but it was able to get them some match experience and rest our key players.

Stand out players so far:

Rhian Brewster, AMR, 23 apps, 6 goals, 5 assists, 2.13 dribbles per match, 4 POM’s at 7.23

Samir, DCL, 25 apps, 2 goals, 91% tackle rate with 1.16 tackles per match, 86% pass success rate, 2 POM’s at 7.22

Moritz Grab, AML, 23 apps, 8 goals, 5 assists, 1.54 dribbles per match, 81% pass success rate, 5 POM’s at 7.21

Claud Adjapong, DR, 24 apps, 1 goal, 3 assists, 90% tackle rate with 2.21 tackles per match, 4 POM’s at 7.16

Mason Mount, MCL, 23 apps, 6 goals, 4 assists, 90% pass success rate, 83% tackle rate with 1.93 tackles per match, 2 POM’s at 7.10

 

7th March 2025 - Youth Intake Day

A hugely disappointing youth intake this year. The best prospect is potentially average, and the next best is potentially below average, and they’re both Italian. If they were Sammarinese, that would’ve softened the blow a bit more, but overall I’m rather underwhelmed.

 

24th April 2025 - 21.00

Our first Italian Cup Final. We’re playing against Roma. We haven’t been playing very well lately (even though we trounced Cagliari 6-1 in our last match) so I’m quite apprehensive about our chances.

Let’s just go out there and see what we can do!!

 

24th April 2025 - 23.00

Winners!! A clinical 2-1 win has seen us lift our maiden Italian Cup. And, I’ve decided that at the end of the season, I’ll be handing in my notice. We won the league last year and we’re sitting at the top of the tree this year. I can chalk off winning the league and the cup in Italy, and even though every team is a million miles away, we can win the Champions League with a San Marino domestic team.

Besides. The earlier I can improve the San Marino league reputation, the earlier I can improve the National Team.

 

4th May 2025

CHAMPIONS!!

We’d played on Saturday 2nd May 2025, and were 12 points clear over Lazio who had 4 games left to play. Genoa managed to stun Lazio, winning 2-1, making us proud champions for the second successive season.

And with that Scudetto in the bag, I have tended my resignation. We’ve done the Double and are not in Europe, so there’s nothing more to play for this season, and with that in mind, I’ll be moving onto pastures new.

I’ll be on the hunt for a Sammarinese domestic team to take over. It’s going to be a huge challenge to make a San Marino league team a European titan, and I may need to upgrade a few teams in order to increase the league’s credibility but I’m going to be driving them as hard as I can to be the pinnacle of football. My theory is that by increasing the league’s reputation overall, that will increase the quality of players coming into the clubs.

 

25th May 2025

We were so far ahead in the league that it just became a matter of when we’d be champions than if. We had some absolute superstars this season.

Stand-out players this season:

Mason Mount, MCL, 46 apps, 19 goals, 10 assists, 88% pass success rate, 83% tackle rate with 2.26 tackles per match, 5 POM’s at 7.25

Rhian Brewster, AMR, 42 apps, 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 chances created, 8 POM’s at 7.22

Samir, DCL, 48 apps, 4 goals, 90% tackle rate with 1.12 tackles per match, 85% pass success rate, 2 POM’s at 7.18

Moritz Grab, AML, 45 apps, 10 goals, 9 assists, 21 chances created, 6 POM’s at 7.16

John Kitolano, DL, 37 apps, 3 assists, 80% tackle rate with 1.53 tackles per match, 83% pass success rate, 4 POM’s at 7.09

 

Notable mention to Maurizio Albani again. 42 apps and 19 goals. Just shy of a goal every other game.

 

4th June 2025

Following an interview, I’ve been unveiled as the Manager of Libertas. The team is in a bit of a sorry state but it’s exactly what I was expecting. I’ve been given a transfer budget of £1m, which is far above what I was expecting. It’s exciting in terms of money, but I will need to find some good players who will want to drop into a lower reputation league. Hopefully my World Class reputation will entice some people to join my revolution.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Skidz1892

[Lewis89]

On 30/05/2019 at 15:41, Skidz1892 said:

28th October 2024

And the plaudits keep on coming. 20 years old, and already San Marino’s top national scorer of all time, and now the leading scorer for San Marino Calcio.

He’s just turned 21. If he continues at the rate he’s going, he’ll be a certifiable legend.

 

18th January 2025

Completely forgot to do my yearly update on the 1st, so it’s two game-weeks late.

We’re top of the league, and leading by quite a distance. It’s remarkable just how solid we are defensively. We’ve conceded 9 goals in 20 games with 11 clean sheets. Brewster has been outstanding as Raumdeuter on the right, and his partnership with Adjapong has been vital.

We’re 11 points clear at the top, and it’s exciting for us. We’re also through in the Champions Cup. We topped the group with a game to spare, so I let the kids loose against OL. They lost, but it was able to get them some match experience and rest our key players.

Stand out players so far:

Rhian Brewster, AMR, 23 apps, 6 goals, 5 assists, 2.13 dribbles per match, 4 POM’s at 7.23

Samir, DCL, 25 apps, 2 goals, 91% tackle rate with 1.16 tackles per match, 86% pass success rate, 2 POM’s at 7.22

Moritz Grab, AML, 23 apps, 8 goals, 5 assists, 1.54 dribbles per match, 81% pass success rate, 5 POM’s at 7.21

Claud Adjapong, DR, 24 apps, 1 goal, 3 assists, 90% tackle rate with 2.21 tackles per match, 4 POM’s at 7.16

Mason Mount, MCL, 23 apps, 6 goals, 4 assists, 90% pass success rate, 83% tackle rate with 1.93 tackles per match, 2 POM’s at 7.10

 

7th March 2025 - Youth Intake Day

A hugely disappointing youth intake this year. The best prospect is potentially average, and the next best is potentially below average, and they’re both Italian. If they were Sammarinese, that would’ve softened the blow a bit more, but overall I’m rather underwhelmed.

 

24th April 2025 - 21.00

Our first Italian Cup Final. We’re playing against Roma. We haven’t been playing very well lately (even though we trounced Cagliari 6-1 in our last match) so I’m quite apprehensive about our chances.

Let’s just go out there and see what we can do!!

 

24th April 2025 - 23.00

Winners!! A clinical 2-1 win has seen us lift our maiden Italian Cup. And, I’ve decided that at the end of the season, I’ll be handing in my notice. We won the league last year and we’re sitting at the top of the tree this year. I can chalk off winning the league and the cup in Italy, and even though every team is a million miles away, we can win the Champions League with a San Marino domestic team.

Besides. The earlier I can improve the San Marino league reputation, the earlier I can improve the National Team.

 

4th May 2025

CHAMPIONS!!

We’d played on Saturday 2nd May 2025, and were 12 points clear over Lazio who had 4 games left to play. Genoa managed to stun Lazio, winning 2-1, making us proud champions for the second successive season.

And with that Scudetto in the bag, I have tended my resignation. We’ve done the Double and are not in Europe, so there’s nothing more to play for this season, and with that in mind, I’ll be moving onto pastures new.

I’ll be on the hunt for a Sammarinese domestic team to take over. It’s going to be a huge challenge to make a San Marino league team a European titan, and I may need to upgrade a few teams in order to increase the league’s credibility but I’m going to be driving them as hard as I can to be the pinnacle of football. My theory is that by increasing the league’s reputation overall, that will increase the quality of players coming into the clubs.

 

25th May 2025

We were so far ahead in the league that it just became a matter of when we’d be champions than if. We had some absolute superstars this season.

Stand-out players this season:

Mason Mount, MCL, 46 apps, 19 goals, 10 assists, 88% pass success rate, 83% tackle rate with 2.26 tackles per match, 5 POM’s at 7.25

Rhian Brewster, AMR, 42 apps, 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 chances created, 8 POM’s at 7.22

Samir, DCL, 48 apps, 4 goals, 90% tackle rate with 1.12 tackles per match, 85% pass success rate, 2 POM’s at 7.18

Moritz Grab, AML, 45 apps, 10 goals, 9 assists, 21 chances created, 6 POM’s at 7.16

John Kitolano, DL, 37 apps, 3 assists, 80% tackle rate with 1.53 tackles per match, 83% pass success rate, 4 POM’s at 7.09

 

Notable mention to Maurizio Albani again. 42 apps and 19 goals. Just shy of a goal every other game.

 

4th June 2025

Following an interview, I’ve been unveiled as the Manager of Libertas. The team is in a bit of a sorry state but it’s exactly what I was expecting. I’ve been given a transfer budget of £1m, which is far above what I was expecting. It’s exciting in terms of money, but I will need to find some good players who will want to drop into a lower reputation league. Hopefully my World Class reputation will entice some people to join my revolution.

Hows the domestic league doing? Think it starts with 1 semi pro side and ranked something like 198th. 

Good luck in san marino, im 6 years in (so similar date to yourseld) and we have 4 semi pro sides atm. 

[Fletchdt]

What database are people using to get Serie D activated?  

[duesouth]

10 hours ago, Fletchdt said:

What database are people using to get Serie D activated?  

I used the one in the OP of the thread, but wasn't happy with it, particularly in terms of the San Marino League.  So, I've started again using Claassen's - it's not updated for 19.3, but for the purposes of this challenge, it doesn't matter.  Good luck!

[Fletchdt]

12 hours ago, duesouth said:

I used the one in the OP of the thread, but wasn't happy with it, particularly in terms of the San Marino League.  So, I've started again using Claassen's - it's not updated for 19.3, but for the purposes of this challenge, it doesn't matter.  Good luck!

Thanks - Tried the one you have suggested but it doesnt work, its says there isnt enough teams loaded for the leagues when im setting up the game

Edited June 6, 2019 by Fletchdt

[duesouth]

12 hours ago, Fletchdt said:

Thanks - Tried the one you have suggested but it doesnt work, its says there isnt enough teams loaded for the leagues when im setting up the game

If you set the database version back to 19.1 in the top right hand corner, it should work - at least it did for me.  It doesn't work with the latest database release, 19.3.

[wynter]

So started this a few days ago. Waited for San Marino to get Promoted which took 2 seasons on simming, kept trying in year one at the reload date and honestly rolled no dice after about 50 attempts. After Season 2 we got them first time so we took over San Marino in 2020/21.

Before that though, we started with the NT to build their National Rep and hopefully attract better youth prospects by going up the rankings.

Year 1

Big Wins over Belarus and Luxembourg, ranked in the worlds Top 100 were a nice boost putting us at 189th.

Year 2

Absolutely walloped by Portugal but in our last game of the year somehow took points from Wales.

Year 3

Admittedly I gamed the system a little. Set up friendlies with Higher Ranked Teams, but focused on ones I thought could be susceptible to an upset. Worked well with Namibia, less well with North Korea. Trudged through the Europe League Friendlies coming 2nd in our group.

All in All 178th after 3 years of effort.

In the League we're quite comfortable. Slated for Playoffs as things stand and I'll be getting my first intake at any moment.

[Fletchdt]

23 hours ago, duesouth said:

If you set the database version back to 19.1 in the top right hand corner, it should work - at least it did for me.  It doesn't work with the latest database release, 19.3.

Thanks for the tip. I may just wait till they get promoted like wynter did.

[wynter]

1 hour ago, Fletchdt said:

Thanks for the tip. I may just wait till they get promoted like wynter did.

Big tip would be wait 2 seasons, think one of the teams had 5000 rep to SMs 3450 so the 5000 team just got promoted almost every time. Year 2 should help them pop up more regularly.

[wynter]

Magic comeback in Extra time sees us through to the Serie B.

All players above made our Youth Intake. Only one star and I need to blood him ASAP.

[Fletchdt]

 

4 hours ago, wynter said:

Big tip would be wait 2 seasons, think one of the teams had 5000 rep to SMs 3450 so the 5000 team just got promoted almost every time. Year 2 should help them pop up more regularly.

Well done on promotion. What date in game did you save the game to be able to re-load if San Marino didnt get promoted? 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Fletchdt

[wynter]

58 minutes ago, Fletchdt said:

 

Well done on promotion. What date in game did you save the game to be able to re-load if San Marino didnt get promoted? 

Cheers Italy turns over June 30 so save the 29th and keep going 

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 9 (26/27)

Club overview

We're the dominant force in Italy now. Juve ran us close but we managed to win most of our games against the teams near the top. Points lost were mostly to lower teams when playing a rotated team.

We got to the final of the Italian Cup for successive seasons but got absolutely trounced by Napoli 6:0. Probably our worst performance since I took over. One to forget.

Nothing to shout about in Europe as usual. Knocked out in the group stages of the CL again in a group featuring Spurs, Dortmund and Dynamo Kiev. Not the strongest opposition, but lost to each of them once. Poor. We navigated ourself through into the second round of the EL (beating Celtic 6:1 on aggregate), but pulled Chelsea in the second round. We lost 3:5 over the two rounds. We really don't have a good record against Chelsea, but they do have a pretty strong team.

One one and lost one vs Roma this season. We still haven't done the double over them! Wouldn't mind pulling them in the Italian Cup next season...

Finance, facilities and transfers

Loaded. £209m in the bank! I sold a few first teamers who'd values had rocketed after back-to-back titles. Notably a CB to Spurs for £55m. We also have a lot of players out on loan bringing us a lot of revenue in.

Facilities are almost at the max (just one more youth facility increase to go). The stadium increased to 26,413 and the board immediately announced another project to increase to 31,000. The population of San Marino is only 33,000!

Youth intake

Another pile of tosh! We're due a bloody good one soon.

Next season

We should challenge for all domestic titles whilst getting some good playing time for the San Marino kids. We should be going deeper in Europe so I'd like a couple of knockout round wins in either competition really.

National overview

We're really flying now! We won our Nations League C at the first time of asking. We landed in a pretty poor group with Iceland and Armenia, so I was confident of staying up, but winning it was a great effort!

We have a decent side now. Solid at GK, RB, RM, LM and have two good STs. We really lack CB's and CM's so I'm really hoping we get some quality in through the intakes sooner rather than later otherwise I think we might start stagnating.

We've risen to 131st in the world. Good progress.

[wynter]

First Season in the Serie B and our most impressive achievement in the Italian Cup

Christian Capone has carried us through 4 Serie A Teams and exploded vs Lazio to send us into the final with a dominating display.

Final vs Napoli which'll be a huge match.

In the League we're cruising towards the playoffs, miuch better former over the 2nd half of the season so we should get a Top 8 and Playoff Spot. Promotion will be tricky though.

Youth Intake was average.

Volpinari was the best Sammarinese player, decent CB and could have a Rotation/Backup role in the First Team if we train him properly.

[wynter]

Our Last 11 Matches to end the season went well. Up to that point I'd been simming everything except the cup matches because LLM doesn't really interest me, but the quality of players we had meant I could fall back on some of my favourite systems and enjoy the match engine so with Dynamics finally in the Green I stuck with my 4-1-4-1 which we beat Lazio 6-3 with. 

Near perfect form to end the season had us enter the final day 2 points of 1st and equal with 2nd. But we lost and results led to us entering the playoffs at the Semi-Final Stage which I'll cover next.

We did lose the Italian Cup Final though, got off to an early lead but Napoli were simply too good.

[wynter]

Just want to highlight one of the best Playoff performances ever.

Down to 9 men inside the First Half, we salvaged a 1-0 loss off the back of our Keeper saving 2 pens and putting in a deserved man of the match performance in a game we could have easily lost 3/4-0 in any other universe.

Even with 2 key players suspended for Leg 2 we struck back with a vengeance and rolled through the Final to secure promotion to the Serie A.

Due to the Italian Cup Run saving our finances we got a 7.5mil TB and a 150k P/W Wage packet to use in attracting players and concocting a survival bid. Keeping a lot of the same core XI from this season by renewing loans for Gabbia, Bouah, Luinetti, Rovella and Catanese. Meanwhile we've signed Capone and Metz on frees. We're going to piggyback off the good dynamics to start the season as strong as possible with a better quality striker hopefully leading from the front.

[Skidz1892]

 @Lewis89 I’ve played the first season as Libertas (I’m still struggling with internet), and I managed to go the whole season undefeated, even while my strikers were tosh. Playing so defensively for so many years really boosted my defense coaching stats; we conceded less than 10 goals all season, and never more than one in a match. We won the league and the San Marino cup as well.

Unfortunately, even having a World Class reputation manager was not enough to boost the league’s rep at all, and we are ranked at 131st in league rankings, the same as when I joined. All teams in the league are Semi-Professional, with the exception of Domagnano, La Fiorita and Folgore who are Professsional. I’ve been asking for months, but “people love to root for the underdog”.

So, we went into the Champions Cup at the Champions First Qualifying Round. We beat Hapoel Be’er Sheva over two legs (2-0, 1-1), Djurgardens in the next (1-1, 1-1 won on pens), but then lost to Dundalk (1-1, 0-2) to drop us into the Euro Cup qualifiers where we face Legia. Even if we don’t beat them, I’ll be happy. We’ve lost one game in 6 in Europe, so that would raise our reputation, especially as we had three games on tv.

But, if we make the group stages of Europe, that will really boost the reputation of Libertas, and the league by association. All I need is the initial push to get the ball rolling!!

In terms of our facilities, we’ve got a decent setup. It’s not amazing, but at the end of the day, we’re unknown in an poor quality competition. The thing that’s helping is that we’ve banked a load of money and can’t spend it. Our ground is crap but I don’t want to ask for a new one yet while our reputation is so low, and our training facilities need upgrading but the owners won’t even entertain that yet, probably because we only train part-time. I’m focussing on the youth coaching and investment as that happens each year, and the San Marino domestic league has a maximum of 7 foreign players in the match day squad, and Italian players are foreign.

Still have lots to do, but it’s all about Europe now, and turning professional. 

[Skidz1892]

GROUP STAGE!!

We managed to beat Legia 2-1 over two legs, grinding out a 1-0 win at home in the first leg with a stunning defensive display, and then getting a goal in extra time to draw away 1-1.

We’ve been drawn with Sassuolo, Hertha BSC and LOSC, which is as tough a draw as we could’ve picked. We’re not going to get anywhere in the competition, but we obviously want to make ourselves proud. If we can get one win, that will help our coefficients and our reputation.

[wynter]

Solid living in the Serie A, made Europe each time and the squad is slowly coming together. Biggest perk though was I found a Sammarinese HoYD who's been great.

Since he was installed we've got in some great regens. Lost 4 who were amazing to Italy for now, but we've had a lot of Pure Sammarinese guys who I'm integrating into the First Team

Volpinari is our rock at the back and also the main First Team player in the club, Righi and Ugolini came into the squad this year though our intake and I'll probably be looking to integrate them in 1-2 years. Righi I'm moving to Centre Midfield for a DLP/Mezzala role while Ugolini will be our AP. Bianchi I'm giving 10-20 games a season while Bindi fell off a little so I've opted to loan him out for game-time and development. Biggest things we need in the next two intakes are Gks and Fullbacks. We have a GK who opted for Italy and so I sold him to PSG, but I'm keeping an eye on him for 4/5 years to see if I can sway him back.

[duesouth]

As I saw one or two issues with the database I was using, I decided to abandon my save and start again - this time using Claasen's database.  I liked @Lewis89's idea of having a second team, one in the San Marino league to keep the save interesting - so elected to go with one manager for San Marino Calcio/San Marino National Team - and another for San Giovanni, a team who has won nothing according to Wikipedia.

San Marino Calcio

Unlike my first save, the season got off to a slow start - too many drawn games.  Indeed over the season, I only lost 3 games - but despite that it was the playoffs.  I had a great run of form, but lost it at the wrong time.  The end of season I drew 2 and lost 1 - and then lost in the first round of the playoffs.  I was disappointed initially at not getting promotion, but I figure another season in Serie D will allow a few young players to get some time.  I've already used the off-season to jettison a number of out of contract players, so the squad is looking much leaner now.  I need to find some answers up front though, as the strikers I had were awful.

San Marino Calcio Youth Intake

CD Riccardo Gatti highlighted this class - I was struggling to find a second first choice CD and he went straight into the team.  He also went straight into the National Team.  There's plenty of promise for the future here.

San Marino National Team

Not much to say here.  I did pretty well in the Nations League in attempt one - but lost every game this time!  I'm playing a number of 16 year olds - short term pain for hopefully slightly less longer term pain!!  The European Championship campaign has been oddly better - with a home win against Azerbaijan.  I also scheduled a friendly against a team higher in the rankings (South Sudan) and managed to beat them 2-1 with an injury time winner.

San Giovanni

The San Marino League allow 11 foreign players to be registered - and Italian = foreign.  On taking over San Giovanni, they had 15 Italian players and not a great deal of quality.  The squad was thin and the U19 squad was empty.  So, it was a case of signing as many free agents as possible and releasing some of the Italian players.  This is an amateur club, so releasing a player comes at no cost to the club - although other teams can poach your players for nothing, so it's not all good news.

The first part of the season was hard work against the better teams - but I managed to qualify for group 1 of the second stage.  On the last game of the season, we needed to win to finish 6th and therefore get a Championship Playoff place - and we managed it.  In the Cup - we also made it to the semi-final, so the schedule was busy for a thin squad.  I elected to give the playoffs priority.  The quarter-final we played Libertas and won the home first leg 2-0.  The second leg was tense, especially when we went down 1-0 - but we held on to progress.  In the meantime, the Cup semi-final with some young players getting a chance struggled against Tre Penne - losing 3-0 away in the first leg (two late goals).  The home 2nd leg we went 1-0 up and then went for it, but they hit us twice on the break to mean we lost 5-1.

In the second leg of the playoff semi-final, we were up against La Fiorita - who finished top.  I wasn't expecting much - but was given hope by the home leg - a 1-0 win with a goal from our left winger Riccardo Drogoni.  Still, I was fully expecting to lose the second leg - but we held on for a 0-0 draw and we were in the final!

The Playoff Championship final was against Tre Penne who had just stuffed us in the Cup semi-final.  Again, expectations were low - but playing our usual 4-1-4-1, we kept it tight and were in the game just enough to give me hope.  After 90 minutes, it was still 0-0 - and then came two massive moments.  Two of their players already on yellow cards got second yellows - and all of a sudden they were down to 9 men.  I knew we might never get a better chance, so went on the attack.  I didn't think we were going to score - but on 120 minutes, our midfielder Ugolini, just inside the penalty box - with his back to goal - was hacked down and we had a penalty!!  Up stepped 36-year-old striker Giovanni Tani - who hadn't scored in 10 hours of play to take the penalty.  The keeper went the right way, but the penalty was perfect and on 121 minutes we were 1-0 up!  The final whistle went 30 seconds later - and in a major upset, we had won the Championship!

San Giovanni Youth Intake

A 5* CA CD Federico Gasperoni was the jewel of the crown.  Unfortunately, I couldn't play him in the league as you can't register youth intake players until the start of the next season.  His debut was in the cup - although by then he had already played for the National Team!  There's some real promise here, that's for sure.

2019/2020 Season

The hope with San Marino Calcio is promotion.  I do need to find a couple of strikers from somewhere though...  With San Giovanni, it will be take the money from Europe to help us build - an unexpected early save windfall.  The National Team will be to try not to lose too heavily and wait for a second Nations League campaign.

[duesouth]

2019 San Giovanni in Europe

Having won the league and qualified for the CL prelim - I wasn't expecting much.  My team is young and I only finished 6th in the league.  I drew Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) on a "neutral" site - but in Gibraltar.  We went 1-0 down, but went 4-4-2 and came back to 1-1 - but their left back hit a 25 yarder and that was that.  That meant we were into the Euro cup qualifiers - and drew a side from Luxembourg.  Now, I did think we might stand half a chance here.  The first leg was open and we won 4-2 - it was 4-1, but they got a second late on, which left me nervous for the second leg.  We lost 1-0 - but just got through.  We then drew Cork City - and they were clearly a better team.  We got through 1-0 overall - a free kick the difference in the home first leg.  Oddly, they went 4-4-1-1 for the home second leg and we were comfortable.  I knew the adventure was over when we got Rosenborg in the next round - and so it was.  We lost 1-0 in the first leg at home, and actually played pretty well.  The second leg was 0-0 and I started to look for a goal, but their winger was twice as fast as anyone we had and they got 2 goals.  So, a fun little journey - and for sure punching above over weight so early in the save.  The finances look pretty good too...

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by duesouth

[kahuna399]

After 14 years of playing FM/CM I'm finally starting this challenge..... first thing I've noticed is money is going to be an issue Haha

 

Wish me luck. Will post tonight with an update 

[kahuna399]

On 16/06/2019 at 10:35, duesouth said:

As I saw one or two issues with the database I was using, I decided to abandon my save and start again - this time using Claasen's database.  I liked @Lewis89's idea of having a second team, one in the San Marino league to keep the save interesting - so elected to go with one manager for San Marino Calcio/San Marino National Team - and another for San Giovanni, a team who has won nothing according to Wikipedia.

San Marino Calcio

Unlike my first save, the season got off to a slow start - too many drawn games.  Indeed over the season, I only lost 3 games - but despite that it was the playoffs.  I had a great run of form, but lost it at the wrong time.  The end of season I drew 2 and lost 1 - and then lost in the first round of the playoffs.  I was disappointed initially at not getting promotion, but I figure another season in Serie D will allow a few young players to get some time.  I've already used the off-season to jettison a number of out of contract players, so the squad is looking much leaner now.  I need to find some answers up front though, as the strikers I had were awful.

San Marino Calcio Youth Intake

CD Riccardo Gatti highlighted this class - I was struggling to find a second first choice CD and he went straight into the team.  He also went straight into the National Team.  There's plenty of promise for the future here.

San Marino National Team

Not much to say here.  I did pretty well in the Nations League in attempt one - but lost every game this time!  I'm playing a number of 16 year olds - short term pain for hopefully slightly less longer term pain!!  The European Championship campaign has been oddly better - with a home win against Azerbaijan.  I also scheduled a friendly against a team higher in the rankings (South Sudan) and managed to beat them 2-1 with an injury time winner.

San Giovanni

The San Marino League allow 11 foreign players to be registered - and Italian = foreign.  On taking over San Giovanni, they had 15 Italian players and not a great deal of quality.  The squad was thin and the U19 squad was empty.  So, it was a case of signing as many free agents as possible and releasing some of the Italian players.  This is an amateur club, so releasing a player comes at no cost to the club - although other teams can poach your players for nothing, so it's not all good news.

The first part of the season was hard work against the better teams - but I managed to qualify for group 1 of the second stage.  On the last game of the season, we needed to win to finish 6th and therefore get a Championship Playoff place - and we managed it.  In the Cup - we also made it to the semi-final, so the schedule was busy for a thin squad.  I elected to give the playoffs priority.  The quarter-final we played Libertas and won the home first leg 2-0.  The second leg was tense, especially when we went down 1-0 - but we held on to progress.  In the meantime, the Cup semi-final with some young players getting a chance struggled against Tre Penne - losing 3-0 away in the first leg (two late goals).  The home 2nd leg we went 1-0 up and then went for it, but they hit us twice on the break to mean we lost 5-1.

In the second leg of the playoff semi-final, we were up against La Fiorita - who finished top.  I wasn't expecting much - but was given hope by the home leg - a 1-0 win with a goal from our left winger Riccardo Drogoni.  Still, I was fully expecting to lose the second leg - but we held on for a 0-0 draw and we were in the final!

The Playoff Championship final was against Tre Penne who had just stuffed us in the Cup semi-final.  Again, expectations were low - but playing our usual 4-1-4-1, we kept it tight and were in the game just enough to give me hope.  After 90 minutes, it was still 0-0 - and then came two massive moments.  Two of their players already on yellow cards got second yellows - and all of a sudden they were down to 9 men.  I knew we might never get a better chance, so went on the attack.  I didn't think we were going to score - but on 120 minutes, our midfielder Ugolini, just inside the penalty box - with his back to goal - was hacked down and we had a penalty!!  Up stepped 36-year-old striker Giovanni Tani - who hadn't scored in 10 hours of play to take the penalty.  The keeper went the right way, but the penalty was perfect and on 121 minutes we were 1-0 up!  The final whistle went 30 seconds later - and in a major upset, we had won the Championship!

San Giovanni Youth Intake

A 5* CA CD Federico Gasperoni was the jewel of the crown.  Unfortunately, I couldn't play him in the league as you can't register youth intake players until the start of the next season.  His debut was in the cup - although by then he had already played for the National Team!  There's some real promise here, that's for sure.

2019/2020 Season

The hope with San Marino Calcio is promotion.  I do need to find a couple of strikers from somewhere though...  With San Giovanni, it will be take the money from Europe to help us build - an unexpected early save windfall.  The National Team will be to try not to lose too heavily and wait for a second Nations League campaign.

any chance of a pic of Gasperoni?

[Jean0987654321]

Has anybody found a db for the recent patch?

[MWE]

8 hours ago, Jean0987654321 said:

Has anybody found a db for the recent patch?

I'm after one as well so I can give this a go.

[duesouth]

21 hours ago, kahuna399 said:

any chance of a pic of Gasperoni?

Of course:

[kahuna399]

5 hours ago, MWE said:

I'm after one as well so I can give this a go.

I had to modify it to make it work, only started yesterday.

So as i was filling the divisional gaps, i put the SM calcio youths into the league systems while i was fixing it, i though i may as well haha

[kahuna399]

2 hours ago, duesouth said:

Of course:

nice indeed

[kahuna399]

Anyone looking to start a save on this, I had to fix the system to start the other day.

Note that the u18s and 20s have been entered into the league systems in this database and for 1 more added thing i added the San Marino Academy as a feeder club

italy fix.fmf

[kahuna399]

UPDATE 1

 

So this Serie D is annoying with the playing age restrictions !!!

 

But most importantly San Marino got their first win in 80+ games

 

Calcio wise things are going well, and I've included the 3 signings that have me most excited. The top San Marino player, a young lad i picked up and a former Serie A player

 

mission 1 of winning a game with the national team done

 

next stop get out of Serie D with Calcio

[JLC9912]

The beginning

Well, I'm excited to start this challenge. I've been planning and analyzing for several days how I could do it in the best way and that's why I decided to start with 2 teams (San Marino Calcio and SS Virtus of the San Marino league) and of course, the selection. I also start with the national license C and as a weekend footballer.  

Finally, as it is about making San Marino achieve the World Cup, I think it is essential to seek to have the best facilities and youth preparations, so I will use the philosophy so that the board is more willing to improve the whole quarry. 

 

First contact

When I see the players from both teams I realise that the roster is quite short and with clear deficiencies on the flanks. At the national team level the clear deficiencies are in the midfield so I see that we are going to suffer a lot to be able to control the games. 

It should also be added that, since the game is starting in June 2018, is half the season in the San Marino league, so the SS Virtus is in the terrible 14 position. 

 

Tactics

After the brief analysis of the three teams, I decided to use three different tactics but they will be used by everyone. First a 4-1-4-1 that will be the base of San Marino Calcio and the selection, and a 4-4-2 diamond for the SS Virtus. Additionally I will use a 4-2-3-1 as a reserve for more affordable games. 

I will be very aggressive with all three teams so I will use very offensive instructions that seek to play very direct, press very high and counter-attack to seek to win the games. 

 

I hope to bring great advances in this challenge soon. 

[kahuna399]

Can anyone explain how ye all do such nice layouts here ? i put my pics in and then just listed down in a line  as you can guess, im pretty new at the forum world haha

Edited June 22, 2019 by kahuna399

[robredo87]

San Marino Challenge - Season 10

San Marino Calcio overview

So we managed to win the league for the third season running, but other than that we didn't pull up too many trees. 4 of our losses came in our last 7 games, which was a bit odd. Roma are still annoying me (we beat them at home and then lost 5-1 away this time), but it's Napoli that are really starting to push my buttons. Having hammered us 6-0 in the Italian Cup last season they went on to knock us out in the QFs this year as well as beating us in the Super Cup. I want revenge next season!

Having expressed a desire to go further in the CL we did in fact manage to impress a little more than usual. We waltzed through our group consisting of Leverkusen, A. Madrid and Basel and were rewarded with a 1st KO Round tie against the might R. Madrid. Wonderful. In two crazy ties, this is how it ended...

A cracking tie overall and perhaps my favourite win since taking over. We obviously then pulled PSG in the CL QF and lost 4-2 on aggregate. They eventually went on to win the competition as well as winning everything else they possibly could inside one season. 

Finance, facilities and transfers

Very rich, top facilities and +£141m in transfer dealings. Hopefully the same next season!

Youth intake

Still, nothing! We've had absolutely nothing for years now. So badly need CB's and CM's. These dual-nationality beasts would be amazing for the NT should they ever accept a call up (Poggiali has only played friendlies for Italy so there's still a chance). Fingers are very crossed.

Next season

Same as last year. Challenge for everything domestically as well as pushing the powerhouses harder in Europe. Not too fussed about our poor record in Europe, but it would be nice to go a bit deeper to be honest.

Edited June 22, 2019 by robredo87