Silver_blue just bit me!

[Donners]

February, season 2020/2021

February began with the Italian Cup semi final away leg against Lazio. Hoffmann should have scored just before half time, but his shot at a mostly open goal hit the post. That proved costly, with Lazio hitting the front just after half time. They got another in the final ten minutes when Marini came out to get the ball but was beaten by a striker. Like the quarter final, a 0-2 away leg loss.

Sampdoria were our next league opponents, and took a lead in 13 minutes. Hoffmann again missed a chance to score, hitting a second half half-volley straight at the keeper. A beautiful pass from Lorenzi gave Frank a late equaliser, and he hit the bar a few minutes later, in the 79th. With just two minutes remaining, Sampdoria scored thanks to a player who was half a pitch ahead of the nearest defender, and had an open run at Tommasi. 1-2.

New signing Martin arrived as arranged last month.

Martin [19, M L, ENG]

A star with Millwall in the English First Division over the last two seasons, with 30 assists and 19 goals. Lightning quick, and with exceptional ball-control and passing. He was signed as a replacement for Webb, but will now rotate with him. However, he will miss the next month through injury.

2020 Millwall Supporters’ Player of the Year

We took the lead against Verona in 40 seconds through Frank (who made his international debut a few days earlier), with help from a Balestrieri cross. Frank made it a brace in the 20th but eight minutes later Verona pulled one back. Frank sealed the game and his hat-trick after a great long pass from De Bellis floated over the keeper in the 67th. A header from Münch in the 88th capped off a fine 4-1 win. After a poor 19/20 from Frank, and a pretty flat start to this season, he’s scored 12 goals in the last three months.

Schuchardt returned from injury against Udinese, and helped set up a 4th minute Fontana goal. They looked to have equalised in the 40th, but it was ruled out due to an earlier free. Fontana took advantage two minutes later, extending the lead to the final score of 2-0.

Our third round UEFA Cup match was against Zilina, with the first leg at home. Frank continued his fine form, putting us ahead in the 28th with what turned out to be the game’s sole goal.

A huge game to end the month, against second-placed Juventus. Fontana had a few goes for no result in the first half and with a scoreless second half, 0-0 was the final result.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Juventus | | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 49 | 26 | +23 | 53 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Bologna | | 27 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 47 | 25 | +22 | 53 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Ancona | | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Lazio | | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Brescia | | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Milan | | 27 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Genoa | | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 43 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Cagliari | | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 35 | 32 | +3 | 42 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Avellino | | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 37 | 42 | -5 | 40 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Inter | | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 26 | 20 | +6 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Palermo | | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 40 | 43 | -3 | 36 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Fiorentina | | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 42 | 44 | -2 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Bari | | 27 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 39 | -3 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Sampdoria | | 27 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 31 | 42 | -11 | 29 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Verona | | 27 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 31 | 51 | -20 | 29 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Udinese | | 27 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 25 | 47 | -22 | 27 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Napoli | | 27 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 26 | 43 | -17 | 26 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Chievo | | 27 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 33 | 36 | -3 | 23 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Perugia | | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 22 | 41 | -19 | 21 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Ascoli | | 27 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 31 | 54 | -23 | 21 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

March, season 2020/2021

We took a 1-0 lead into the away leg of the UEFA Cup third round game against Zilina. We were never challenged, but Frank completed it with a header in second half injury time. Deportivo will be our fourth round opponents.

In contrast, we took a 0-2 deficit into the Italian Cup semi final against Lazio. It took just five minutes for Frank to score one of the goals we needed. A Webb header was cleared off the line in the 36th but Hoffmann beat the keeper to a loose ball in the 60th to level the aggregate. We went to extra time, where I brought on Fontana, Taylor and López – among our best penalty takers. The game did indeed go to penalties. Hartwig and De Bellis scored our first two, while theirs were saved and off the post respectively. López scored number three, and theirs was also put through. Fontana could have won it with our fourth, but he hit the bar. Their fourth was scored, but Webb could still win it with our fifth…but he hit the post. Lazio scored their fifth, making it 3-3. Taylor was successful with our sixth, as was Lazio’s player. Dupuy got the next, as did Lazio. Number eight was taken by Frank, who had it saved. Lazio scored theirs for the 5-6 penalty finish. After all our trouble of coming back from a 0-2 deficit, it was for nothing.

Still, there was another cup competition that we were still alive in – the UEFA Cup. Deportivo were our fourth round opponents, with the first leg away. It took them barely a minute to score, but they had a player sent off in the first half. I attacked, hoping for an away goal with our numbers advantage, and it looked like we had it in the 66th. Webb put Frank into the area, one-on-one with the goalkeeper and his shot got past…only to come back off the crossbar. A defender rose up to head it clear, but only succeeded in putting it into his own net. Not the most convincing goal, but 1-1 nonetheless, which was the final score.

Back to the league, against Palermo. Eroglu Mancino got a rare run and earned us a 3rd minute penalty when tripped in the area. Hartwig put it through. Palermo had quite a few shots after that, but put many off target. In contrast, a Jason Lorenzi shot from 25 yards in the 42nd deflected off a defender and into the goal. He did it from 30 yards without the aid of a deflection late in the game for a 3-0 win.

Napoli followed. Fontana and Frank combined for the latter to score in the 25th , and four minutes later Fontana scored one himself. A solid 2-0 win.

Martin started on the bench for the first time against Cagliari. Selvarajan López put us ahead in the first half, using his height to head in a Mancino corner. Mancino was unlucky not to score mid-way through the second, with his header just turned over. We conceded a penalty in the 69th which allowed Cagliari to pull level. With 15 minutes to go, they suddenly moved ahead with a second goal, and we could not answer. Martin debuted late in the game, but it was a huge loss, putting us eight points behind the top two.

We had just the slightest of leads going into the UEFA Cup game against Deportivo – a 1-1 aggregate, with an away goal. Hoffmann extended it in the 17th and Frank made it 3-1 in the 32nd from a Webb cross. Hartwig and Hoffmann came extremely close with a free and header respectively before Martin came off the bench and crossed to Schuchardt for a 4-1 aggregate win.

[Donners]

April, season 2020/2021

A big start to the month – the UEFA Cup quarter final against Juventus, currently second in the league. We probably can’t overtake them there, but could get some revenge by knocking them out here. A perfect cross from Hoffmann gave Frank a tap-in for a 10th minute home lead. Webb and Hartwig put shots over while Juventus started to look a bit more dangerous. However, Hoffmann put us in a safer position with a great solo effort in the 72nd, and we finished with a 2-0 win.

The stakes were high in our league game against Inter – a loss would surely end any title chances, while a win would only give us a faint hope. Webb put us ahead in the 27th and though we should have led by more, we looked quite solid. Inter came out of nowhere to get one through in the 82nd, but it was ruled offside. 1-0 was enough to keep us in touch.

We took a 2-0 lead into the away leg against Juventus in the UEFA Cup, but having twice come back from that in our cup games, there was no hint of complacency. Terranova scored early to strengthen our position, though Juventus made it 3-1 in the 32nd. A penalty to Juventus in the 40th, and suddenly the game was alive. They came close on several occasions to scoring a third, but a penalty to Hartwig in the 85th sealed it. 2-2 for the game, 4-2 on aggregate and a semi final place for Ancona.

Mid-table side Genoa were next in the league. We should have gone ahead with a penalty in the first half, but De Bellis put it over. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Genoa went ahead in the 52nd with their first shot. Terranova responded nine minutes later, and we almost went ahead in the 62nd, with a Webb header cleared off the line. In the 80th, Webb fired a low, hard from outside the area. It beat the keeper, but slammed off the post – then came off the back of the keeper and dribbled into the net. Not pretty, but three points.

Werder Bremen were our UEFA Cup semi final opponents. The away leg was entirely uneventful, finishing scoreless.

A good chance for three points against bottom-placed Chievo. Unfortunately, we were mostly outplayed and never really looked like scoring. It was only through good work from Thomas and Dupuy at the back that we held on for one point.

That left us ten points behind league leaders Bologna, our next opponents. Terranova had four shots in the first half for no success, while Bologna had a goal disallowed. Tak Cheong Williams headed in a 58th minute corner and we held that lead for the rest of normal time. Two minutes into injury time, though, Bologna scored from a corner to end it 1-1.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Bologna | | 30 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 54 | 26 | +28 | 62 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Juventus | | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 55 | 28 | +27 | 62 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Ancona | | 30 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 45 | 22 | +23 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Brescia | | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 55 | 41 | +14 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Lazio | | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Milan | | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 49 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Genoa | | 31 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 49 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Cagliari | | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Inter | | 31 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 45 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Avellino | | 31 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 40 | 49 | -9 | 42 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Fiorentina | | 31 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 46 | 47 | -1 | 40 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Bari | | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 43 | -1 | 40 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Verona | | 31 | 11 | 5 | 15 | 42 | 57 | -15 | 38 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Palermo | | 31 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 43 | 54 | -11 | 36 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Sampdoria | | 31 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 49 | -17 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Napoli | | 31 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 47 | -18 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Chievo | | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 36 | 37 | -1 | 28 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Perugia | | 31 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 44 | -17 | 28 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Udinese | | 31 | 8 | 4 | 19 | 27 | 56 | -29 | 28 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Ascoli | | 31 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 37 | 58 | -21 | 27 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

May, season 2020/2021

The home leg of the UEFA Cup semi final began even, with a 0-0 draw in the away leg. Despite a few corners, we didn’t really get a shot at goal, and nor did Werder Bremen. The game went to extra time, but like the previous 180 minutes between the sides, it was uneventful, and the game went to penalties. I brought on Fontana and López as specialist penalty takers, but it was Hartwig and De Bellis with our first two. It was 2-2 after as many shots, and both sides scored on their third, with López successful for us. A goal from Schuchardt and save from Marini put us ahead, and gave Fontana the chance to win it from the spot. Just like in the Italian Cup, he missed, and Werder Bremen scored to pull level. Chi Yuen Webb’s penalty was also saved, and a success for Werder Bremen’s sixth shot gave them the win. Another disappointing cup finish.

Four games to go, all in the league. A top-two finish was out of the question, so it was just a matter of holding onto third. Most of the players from the last game had to be rested against Bari. Hoffmann and Terranova came close a few times before Williams headed in a 56th minute Balestrieri corner. 1-0 was the final score.

Even a draw against Avellino would pretty much seal third spot. After a quiet first half, they scored soon after the break, but Frank quickly brought us level. Eroglu Mancino came off the bench and scored in two minutes from a Hartwig corner. He then set up Frank in the 73rd for a 3-1 lead, which proved valuable with a penalty to Avellino in extra time giving them a second.

K. Werner and Nasser Bonetti got a debut and rare run respectively against Brescia. Eroglu Mancino also started on the pitch and scored in the 16th. I was prepared to release him rather than meet a significant wage increase, but he’s making it difficult. Balestrieri followed up from a tight angle in the 24th and Mancino scored his second, and our third, seven minutes later. 3-0 at the end of the game. Unfortunately, we lost França to Lazio as their new manager, which was even more damaging than it would have been a few months ago, as I’d made him assistant manager while re-signing coaches. I still had former assistant Giacomo Tafuro, having re-signed him as a coach, but had just signed him to a five-year deal and didn’t really want to do another.

I finished the season with a second-string side against Perugia, giving German midfielder Aaron Kientz a debut. They didn’t get a shot all game, but we wasted several and finished scoreless. A flat end to a pretty disappointing season.

[Donners]

The season in review

Summary

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Juventus

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Juventus | | 38 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 69 | 33 | +36 | 81 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Bologna | | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 69 | 32 | +37 | 78 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Ancona | | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 56 | 26 | +30 | 72 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Cagliari | | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 65 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Milan | | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 64 | 42 | +22 | 64 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Lazio | | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 58 | 46 | +12 | 62 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Genoa | | 38 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 57 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Brescia | | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 61 | 57 | +4 | 55 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Fiorentina | | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 60 | 58 | +2 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Avellino | | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 52 | 56 | -4 | 52 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Inter | | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 51 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Sampdoria | | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 47 | 53 | -6 | 49 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Palermo | | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 53 | 69 | -16 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Verona | | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 47 | 63 | -16 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Bari | | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 44 | 51 | -7 | 45 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Ascoli | | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 56 | 75 | -19 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Udinese | | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 33 | 65 | -32 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | R | Napoli | | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 35 | 60 | -25 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Chievo | | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 40 | 53 | -13 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Perugia | | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 57 | -26 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 3rd in Italian Serie A

Squad Screen

| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Pass | Tck | Drb | Sh Tar | Av R | Value |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DR | | De Bellis, N | 46 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 72 % | 3.52 | 0.47 | 50 % | 7.30 | £7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Webb, C* | 45 (1) | 3 | 10 | 0 | 74 % | 3.15 | 0.70 | 61 % | 7.17 | £10.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Marini, S | 44 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 46 % | - | - | - | 6.95 | £2.4M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Bon, K | 43 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 72 % | 2.95 | 0.99 | 42 % | 7.09 | £5.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MR | | Balestrieri, A* | 41 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 58 % | 3.44 | 4.63 | 57 % | 7.59 | £18.25M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB7 | | Lorenzi, J | 38 (2) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 76 % | 2.58 | 1.20 | 45 % | 7.15 | £8.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Hoffmann, M | 37 (2) | 12 | 6 | 4 | 70 % | 1.30 | 2.08 | 84 % | 7.23 | £9.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Frank | 36 (5) | 23 | 6 | 12 | 68 % | 1.08 | 1.24 | 73 % | 7.61 | £9.25M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB3 | | Thomas | 34 (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 71 % | 1.85 | 0.23 | 100 % | 6.89 | £2.9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Dupuy, S | 31 (2) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 74 % | 2.21 | 0.26 | 66 % | 6.91 | £1.9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Hartwig* | 28 (4) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 78 % | 2.34 | 1.62 | 32 % | 7.03 | £14.25M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Schuchardt, T | 27 (4) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 81 % | 3.13 | 0.61 | 40 % | 6.90 | £5.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Léandri, F | 23 (5) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 85 % | 2.71 | 0.30 | 37 % | 7.07 | £5.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB2 | Unh | Münch, R | 23 (3) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 76 % | 2.89 | 0.36 | 56 % | 6.96 | £6.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Terranova | 18 (9) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 73 % | 1.05 | 1.41 | 38 % | 6.96 | £12.25M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | Wnt | Williams, T | 17 (5) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 77 % | 3.40 | 0.27 | 100 % | 7.09 | £2.3M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB1 | | Fontana | 15 (5) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 75 % | 0.61 | 1.48 | 61 % | 6.80 | £2.7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DL | | Bucchi, S | 15 (2) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 74 % | 3.77 | 0.74 | 100 % | 7.06 | £3.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| GK | | Tommasi, L | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 % | - | - | - | 6.14 | £1.2M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB5 | Req | Legrand, T | 10 (9) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75 % | 2.01 | 0.72 | 43 % | 6.89 | £5.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Fatihi, Y | 9 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 % | 1.67 | - | 66 % | 6.80 | £2.9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB4 | | López, S | 9 (5) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 78 % | 2.96 | 0.39 | 100 % | 7.00 | £1.2M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Gutiérrez, A | 6 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 % | 3.48 | 0.58 | - | 6.50 | £2.9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | Unh | Mancino, E | 6 (1) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 63 % | 1.08 | 1.98 | 54 % | 7.71 | £775K |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| ML | | Martin | 5 (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 64 % | 4.01 | 5.06 | 100 % | 7.20 | £2.6M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB6 | | Taylor, B | 4 (11) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 % | 2.79 | 3.38 | 33 % | 6.93 | £4.1M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Patterson | 3 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 % | 2.41 | 1.03 | 25 % | 6.78 | £375K |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | Inj | Bonetti, N | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 % | 1.50 | - | 100 % | 7.00 | £2.7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | Unh | Werner, K | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 % | 1.00 | 1.50 | 75 % | 6.50 | £5.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Wnt | D'Alessandro, W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 6.00 | £425K |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | Unh | Kientz, A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 % | 5.00 | - | - | 7.00 | £3.4M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | | |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Another flat year, and I am quite fortunate to still be the manager. To be fair, first place was an excessive expectation, and I was never really sure we could make it. The attempt at a five-man midfield coincided with weak results, though I’m unsure whether it was the cause or not. Whatever the reason, we were knocked out of the Champions Cup by Red Star and had a very slow start to the league. That formation was long gone by the time of our disappointing exits in the Italian and UEFA Cups, where we were knocked out on penalties despite several good takers. Our league finish was about right, but was not enough to satisfy the board or fans.

Player-wise, Hartwig was well down, Tommasi fell right out of the side and Terranova didn’t do a great deal. However, they were more than covered by the rise of Frank and very solid performances from almost all regulars, from Lorenzi to Williams to Dupuy to Webb.

We’ll likely lose quite a few players at the end of this season, but have the depth to keep up in the top few sides. Unfortunately, I think we need the title for my career to extend beyond next season, and I simply don’t believe we are capable of it.

[Donners]

Wrapping it up

De Bellis and Balestrieri were named to the Serie A Team of the Year, and De Bellis was also Defender of the Year. I signed former Ghanaian international and Juventus star Stephan Appiah as my new assistant manager rather than signing a coach to a new contract. Mancino rejected several contract offers of around £6K (up from £200), demanding £9K, which I felt excessive.

With other players including Terranova, Hoffmann, Münch, Patterson and D’Alessandro, I signed numerous players on trial, but was unimpressed with all but 17-year-old goalkeeper Tze Chung McKenzie and forward Kishore Boulanger.

Around the world: major awards and results

Ancona Supporters’ Player of the Year:

Frank

World Player of the Year:

Won-Chul Parisi (Milan) (4th time!)

World Footballer of the year:

Moxlisi Marzio (Milan)

England:

Manchester United

Spain:

Celta

Champions Cup:

Atlético Madrid

UEFA Cup:

Celta

[Donners]

The Transfers

Transfers In

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Date | Person | From | Fee |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2020 | Legrand, Tsz Shing | Monaco | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2020 | Fatihi, Yoshihisa | Rostock | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2020 | Schuchardt, Tatsunori | Schalke 04 | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5.7.2020 | Kientz, Aaron | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2020 | Gutiérrez, Abdullah | Zaragoza | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11.8.2020 | López, Selvarajan | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19.10.2020 | Bucchi, Suwareh | Bari | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14.2.2021 | Martin | Millwall | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £0 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Transfers Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2020 | Lang, Amit | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2020 | Messner, Nurullo | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2020 | Webb, Albert | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2020 | Mayer, Dileep | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2020 | Armstrong | Norwich | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2020 | Bovo, Petter Marius | Ipswich | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.11.2020 | Piccolo, Igor Carlos | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.11.2020 | Fiore, Paul | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £0 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Staff In

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 26.5.2021 | Appiah, Stephan | Free Transfer | £0 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £0 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Staff Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21.5.2021 | França | Lazio | £600K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £600K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

No real impact from the new signings, despite many hanging around the seniors. Schuchardt, Legrand and López were useful at times, while Bucchi and Kientz showed promise. However, it’s hard to see any of them excelling in the future. Martin is the best prospect.

None of the released players did anything much at their new sides. The biggest loss was assistant França.

[Donners]

Pre-Season 2021/2022

I picked up a few new players from the youth academy, but they never wind up going anywhere, so who cares? I was given a transfer budget of £352M and once again told to win the title.

28-year-old Jean-Sylvestre Nobile was signed as a short-term replacement for the pending loss of Terranova and Hoffmann, and German Under-21 international midfielder/forward Petru Adrian Schneider also joined. They were followed by 23-year-old Italian midfielder/forward Dipankar Standaert.

Villarreal made a £425K bid for D’Alessandro, which was quite nice considering he was about to be released. Another £190K came from Bradford for a first option on K.Werner, with the option to buy for £8.25M. I managed to re-sign Mohd Hoffmann for three seasons with a slight wage cut. I’d expected the deal to be rejected. Had I known the wages would be accepted, I would have gone for only two seasons.

Patterson, Terranova, Ramzi Münch, Eroglu Mancino and coach Stéphane Wiertelak were all released at the end of July.

[Donners]

The Squad

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st in Italian Serie A

Squad Screen

| Pkd | Inf | Name | Squad Status | Basic Wage | Contract Expiry | Offer Options | Asking Price |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MR | | Balestrieri, A* | First Team | £30,500 | 31.7.2025 | None | £18.5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DL | Wnt | Bon, K | First Team | £5,000 | 31.7.2022 | None | £5.75M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DR | | De Bellis, N | First Team | £12,750 | 31.7.2025 | None | £7M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| ML | | Hartwig* | First Team | £35,000 | 31.7.2023 | None | £5.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Hoffmann, M | First Team | £14,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £9.5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Lorenzi, J | First Team | £18,500 | 31.7.2024 | None | £8.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Webb, C* | First Team | £23,500 | 31.7.2024 | None | £10.5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Wnt | Bucchi, S | Rotation | £4,000 | 31.7.2023 | None | £3.6M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Dupuy, S | Rotation | £6,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £1.9M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Fatihi, Y | Rotation | £4,800 | 31.7.2023 | None | £3M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Fontana | Rotation | £13,000 | 31.7.2022 | None | £1.5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Frank | Rotation | £11,000 | 31.7.2023 | None | £11M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Gutiérrez, A | Rotation | £7,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £2.9M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Kientz, A | Rotation | £2,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £3.4M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Legrand, T | Rotation | £5,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £5.5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB6 | Inj | Léandri, F | Rotation | £11,000 | 31.7.2022 | None | £5.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB2 | | López, S | Rotation | £7,000 | 31.7.2022 | None | £1.2M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| GK | | Marini, S | Rotation | £9,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £2.4M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB3 | | Martin | Rotation | £5,500 | 31.7.2024 | None | £2.8M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB4 | | Nobile, J | Rotation | £6,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £2.2M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Schneider, P | Rotation | £3,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £3.9M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB5 | | Schuchardt, T | Rotation | £16,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Standaert, D | Rotation | £4,900 | 31.7.2024 | None | £5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Taylor, B | Rotation | £10,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £4.2M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Thomas | Rotation | £13,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £2.9M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB7 | | Tommasi, L | Rotation | £8,500 | 31.7.2022 | None | £1.2M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB1 | | Williams, T | Rotation | £6,750 | 31.7.2023 | None | £2.3M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Binder, R | Backup | £4,600 | 31.7.2022 | None | £3.6M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Req | Bonetti, N | Backup | £7,000 | 31.7.2022 | None | £100K |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Inj | Fiorentini, A | Hot Prospect | £230 | 28.7.2022 | None | £1.4M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Wnt | Werner, K | Hot Prospect | £2,100 | 31.7.2024 | None | £6.75M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Lst | Márquez, K | Not Needed | £10,000 | 31.7.2022 | None | £875K |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Total Players: 46

Wage Budget: £2,000,000

Total Weekly Wages at 6/8/21: £323,620

Goalkeepers

Solly Marini [29, GK, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 4, 92, 0

Has his best season at the club, cementing his first team spot and picking up three Man of the Match awards. Still contracted for two more seasons, which makes his improvement even more pleasing.

Lingjing Tommasi [29, GK, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 7, 236, 0

In contrast to Marini, Tommasi dropped off significantly and only played fourteen games. He actually conceded just nine goals in these, which isn’t bad at all, but Marini looked the better player. Possibly in his final season at Ancona.

Defenders

Kishore Bon [24, D RL, FRA – Capped at U21 level] – 7, 120, 1

Attracted attention from many clubs, and considering he’s in his final contracted season, he may be sold soon. He’s a very useful part of our defence, but at least we’ve got a few other options.

Suwareh Bucchi [21, D/M L, ITA – 12 U21/2] – 1, 17, 0

Actually signed as a long-term prospect, but broke into the side with solid Under-20s performances. Looked quite good there despite a lack of pace. Good passer, but probably won’t play much.

Nelson De Bellis [24, D RC, ITA – 5/0] – 5, 222, 9

Finally showed his true ability last season, just after signing a five-year deal. One of the best defenders in the league, let alone the club.

19/20, 20/21 Serie A Team of the Year; 2020 European Footballer of the Year third placed; 2021 Serie A Defender of the Year

Syed Dupuy [31, Sw/D C, FRA – Capped at U21 level] – 10, 217, 7

Signed for two more seasons due to his consistent performances at the back. He will continue his rotational role.

Yoshihisa Fatihi [27, D LC, MAR – 28/0] – 1, 15, 0

Didn’t have much to do last season, and does not appear to be a particularly useful player. Unfortunately, I signed him for three seasons, so will have to find something for him to do.

Amir Fiorentini [20, D/DM RC, ITA] – 3, 13, 0

Showed nothing on loan at Empoli, and probably won’t have much of a role this season.

Abdullah Gutiérrez [29, D RLC, ESP] – 1, 10, 0

As above.

Selvarajan López [32, D/DM C, COL – 44/3] – 1, 14, 1

A decent player, though probably about to be released at the end of the season due to his age.

Thomas [26, D RC, GER – 9/0] – 2, 73, 4

Reasonably good last season, but not quite as good as I’d hoped. Still an important player at the back.

Tak Cheong Williams [23, D LC, ENG – Capped at U21 level] – 5, 76, 2

Couldn’t get a spot in the side in the early part of the season, but became a regular in the second half. Headed in a couple of useful goals and should play occasionally.

Midfielders

Adhemar Balestrieri [25, M RL, ITA – 21/0] – 5, 171, 11

Another great season from the winger, made better by a new four-year deal. He’s on a lot of money now, but deserves it with such great recent form.

2019, 2020 European Midfielder of the Year runner-up, 2021 European Midfielder of the Year third placed; 20/21 Serie A Team of the Year; 20/21 Serie A Player of the Year third placed

Regin Binder [22, DM R, GER – Capped at U21 level] – 2, 9, 0

Couldn’t get a spot in the seniors and didn’t stand out in the Under-20s. Almost certain to be released.

Nasser Bonetti [24, M C, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 2, 6, 0

Got a couple of games at the end of last season but doesn’t really have the ability to get a regular run. Like Binder, set to be released.

Hartwig [30, F LC, GER – 38/11] – 10, 312, 60

Disappointing last season in his move back to the midfield. Missed several games through injury but wasn’t that flash even when he was on the pitch. Contracted for two more years, so needs to improve.

19/20 Supporters’ Player of the Year; 2020 Serie A Player of the Year runner-up

Aaron Kientz [20, AM/F C, GER – 1 U21/0] – 1, 1, 0

Debuted late in the season and looked okay. Not an exceptional talent and may not go much further.

Felix Léandri [27, DM C, FRA] – 2, 57, 4

A decent player who puts in reliable performances, but hasn’t really sealed a first team spot. Will need to in order to earn a new contract.

Tsz Shing Legrand [27, AM/F RC, FRA] – 1, 19, 1

Looked okay in his first season, but not really enough to live up to his ability. Can play several positions, but all have plenty of competition.

Jason Lorenzi [24, M RLC, ITA – 9/4] – 2, 61, 6

A good season from the young international, scoring several goals from long range and contributing well in the middle. One of our better players.

Kirill Márquez [32, M RC, MEX – 56/3] – 2, 12, 1

Didn’t play at all last season and will be released in July.

Martin [19, M L, ENG – 1 U21/0] – 1, 10, 0

Had only a brief run in the seniors after being signed due to injury, but could be a top player with his pace and ball skills.

Dipankar Standaert [23, AM RC, ITA – Capped at U21 level]

A new signing, Standaert played well for Parma a few seasons back but wasted several years at Brescia. Quick and tall enough to have an impact.

Tatsunori Schuchardt [27, DM C, GER – 14/1] – 1, 31, 1

A solid season, though not as good as I’d hoped for. Will have to work hard to maintain a regular rotational spot.

19/20 Schalke 04 Supporters’ Player of the Year

Babatunde Enitan Taylor [26, DM R, ENG – Capped at U21 level] – 2, 29, 0

A decent player, but just doesn’t have the versatility to play regularly. Still around for two more seasons, so may get a bit of a run.

Chi Yuen Webb [29, M RLC, ENG – 26/4] – 10, 302, 27

A veteran of the club, Webb picked up ten assists last season playing all over the midfield. He’s still one of our better players.

12/13 Italian Young Player of the Year runner-up; Part of World Cup 2014 winners England; 14/15, 16/17 Italian Serie A Team of the Year

Forwards

Fontana [31, S C, ITA – 1/0] – 8, 207, 85

Played his role well last season, scoring at a rate of once every four games, which is good enough for somebody fourth in line. In his final season at Ancona.

Frank [27, S C, GER – 1/0] – 3, 99, 46

Recovered from an off season to strike in a career-best 23 goals for 20/21. Deservedly made his international debut in January. A very important player, especially with Terranova gone.

18/19, 20/21 Supporters’ Player of the Year

Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann [29, S C, GER – 21/7] – 11, 319, 118

Re-signed for three more seasons – probably one too many. Should still be a first team player, but I need to start finding other options.

16/17 Supporters’ Player of the Year

Jean-Sylvestre Nobile [29, S C, GER]

A short-term cover for our lack of forward options. Scored 41 goals in two good seasons at Wolfsburg, but couldn’t find a regular spot aside from that. Very good in the air and quite quick for his size.

18/19 Wolfsburg Supporters’ Player of the Year

Petru Adrian Schneider [21, AM/F C, GER – 4 U21/8]

Nope, that Under-21 scoring record isn’t a typo. Schneider has only played 12 senior games with Wolfsburg, but is very tall and could be useful as a forward.

K.Werner [21, F C, GER – 3 U21/0] – 2, 2, 0

Valued very highly considering he’s never really done much. Looks exceptionally talented, but that doesn’t always equal results. Will get a chance, though.

[silver_blue]

This is excellent, btw. Just spent the last couple of days reading the whole thing in my breaks at work.

[Donners]

How could anything bearing your name be any less than excellent?

Sorry for the sluggish updates - uni takes up a hell of a lot of time.

The Likely Side:

(4-4-2)

GK – Solly Marini

LB – Kishore Bon

CB – Thomas

CB – Syed Dupuy

RB – Nelson De Bellis

LM – Hartwig

CM – Jason Lorenzi

CM – Chi Yuen Webb

RM – Adhemar Balestrieri

CF – Frank

CF – Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann

Sub – Selvarajan López

Sub – Tatsunori Schuchardt

Sub – Lingjing Tommasi

Sub – Tak Cheong Williams

Sub – Jean-Sylvestre Nobile

Sub – Martin

Sub – Felix Léandri

The Staff

Stephan Appiah (Assistant)

Giacomo Tafuro (Coach)

Gilberto Vallesi (Coach)

Roberto Bocchino (Coach)

Roberto Corti (Coach)

Giannicola Pinotti (Coach)

Giuseppe Venturelli (Coach)

Å°mit Davala (Coach)

Massimo Tabai (Coach)

Antchouet (Coach)

Massimo D’Ambrosio (Physio)

Abdel Karim Villalba (Physio)

David Jarrett (Scout)

Rob Campkin (Scout)

Julian Carrera (Scout)

Tim Davies (Scout)

Rahman Rezaei (Scout)

Søren Colding (Scout)

Michael Mifsud (Scout)

All up…

Unquestionably a strong side, though we need a quality young forward and still have quite a few players to clear out. There’s some good young players coming along, so I’ll need to balance our need for plenty of wins with the need to evaluate them.

[Donners]

August, season 2021/2022

I turned down a £7.5M bid for K.Werner, which upset the player. It seems silly to turn down that much for an unproven player, but I want to see if he’s any good, considering we don’t really have any other top young forwards.

Ancona 0 drew Ravenna 0

Ancona 0 drew Lyngby 0

Ancona 1 [Nobile 27] d. Brondby 0

Ancona 1 [Frank 52] drew FC Midtjylland 1

Like last season, we started in the Champions Cup third round qualifiers. The first leg against Maribor was away. Hoffmann came close to scoring in the second half, putting the ball inches wide, but that was all. Nobile debuted late in the scoreless draw.

Ancona 1 [López 39] d. Sora 0

A big ending to the month, with a £7.25M bid from Milan for Kishore Bon. With Bon in his final contracted year, it was not an unattractive offer, but Milan are direct opponents and even rivals. I negotiated it to £9M, which they accepted. The deal went through, and with Bon on £42K there, I probably wouldn’t have been able to re-sign him anyway. Tak Cheong Williams will take over at left back in his absence.

[Trigz]

This story just goes on and on doesn't it

Kudos for your persistency in this story, and also of course the quality of your writing. Well done!

[Donners]

To be fair, my updates have been a bit slow, but I do favour the epic.

September, season 2021/2022

We started off in the Champions Cup against Maribor. The away leg was a scoreless draw, so we needed a goal here. It was a quiet game with few chances for either side, but a Hoffmann corner from a Hartwig corner proved the difference between the sides in the end. And to think both those were set to be released at the start of last season…

Some odds: 15-2 to win the Champions Cup (equal second-best, behind Newcastle and equal to Manchester United and FC Bayern) and 8-1 for the league (second-best behind Juventus).

Our first league game was away against Bologna. They led after 24 minutes and we never came close to scoring.

Another first – our first Champions Cup group stage match. It was against Manchester United, a side we have a tremendous record against. Also in our group are Porto and Partizan. Lorenzi missed four long shots, which turned out to be our only shots for the game. Man U finished scoreless as well, and our season looks to be off to a rocky start.

That was not helped with a match next against Inter. It took a good save from Marini to keep out a second minute shot, while Lorenzi continued to miss from outside the area. We thankfully got a penalty in the 29th when Fontana was tripped, and Hartwig put it through. De Bellis almost put through an own goal, with Marini just deflecting it. He couldn’t stop a perfect cross in the 72nd, but it took just 20 seconds for us to retake the lead through great work from Fontana (long pass) and Hoffmann (goal). Unfortunately, the game wasn’t over yet, and the failure of López to clear the ball in the 85th allowed Inter a second. That was the last goal of the game, leaving us to settle for a 2-2 draw.

[mattie]

God on the few times i've psoted on this, i've always said well done, but the past few times i've said, is this game still going lol, it's brilliant writing, should be read by anyone, but get up early, and expect a late night, after reading it all...

[Donners]

And scarily enough, there's still more to come...

October, season 2021/2022

Any chances of a positive start to October looked grim with Palermo taking a 30th minute lead against us. Hartwig missed a few shots, including a free on the edge of the area, but scored his second penalty in as many games just after the break. Fontana should have put through our second in injury time after taking a Balestrieri cross in the area, but his close-range was tipped over and we finished with a draw.

Our second Champions Cup game was away against Porto. A header from Frank inside the 6-yard box was somehow turned away, and he again failed to score from inside the area later in the first half. Naturally, Porto scored at the near post in the 27th. Hoffmann finally got us on the board in the 52nd, and two minutes later we suddenly took the lead through a Hartwig free kick. They took only four minutes to pull level again, and 2-2 is how it finished. Five games without a win.

No wins in three league games as well, so a good performance against Verona would be very handy. Lingjing Tommasi got his first senior start of the season. Thomas scored the needed goal in the 14th from a Hartwig corner while Balestrieri, Hoffmann, Frank, Hartwig and Lorenzi came close from outside the area in a dominant first half display. That one goal was the difference in the end, though with 14 shots we should have won by more.

Better finishing against Udinese would be useful. Again we took the early lead through a headed corner, this time López with the header and Martin with the corner. Martin set up another goal in the 43rd, passing through the defence for K Werner to hit home his first for the club. From one goal from fourteen shots to two goals from three shots. A win nonetheless.

A win was exactly what we needed against Partizan, with draws in our first two Champions Cup group games. A Hoffmann header from point blank range was saved in the 21st, but a minute later Frank blasted in a goal straight past the keeper. Standaert and Hoffmann forced saves before Hoffmann scored a 58th minute penalty for a 2-0 result.

The last game of the month was at home to Parma. Webb hit the bar with a half-volley and later in the first half he crossed over to fellow midfielder Martin for the goal. A late Parma chance at an equaliser came back off the bar, and we picked up our fourth straight win after a flat start to the season.

[mattie]

Donners, can you/i add me/you to msn, i wanna talk about tips for writing such, great, long, un-boring stories.

[Donners]

Okay, but considering I'm only online for a few minutes every couple of days, I don't think there's much I can tell you [assuming I had anything useful to tell in the first place...].

November, season 2021/2022

There was only a three day break before our game against Bari. Webb went off injured in only nine minutes. They took the lead in the 28th while we constantly missed from outside the area. A De Bellis header from a Martin corner early in the second half brought us level, and in the 84th it was Webb’s replacement, Legrand, with another header from a corner to give us the win.

Roma were our next opponents, again with a three-day break. A Frank volley was barely tipped away in the 4th. Lorenzi missed repeatedly from outside, as usual, having seven shots in the first half with no goals. Roma came from nowhere to score in the 63rd and with 14 shots to three, we were somehow behind. Frank came off the bench to level the scores in the 76th with a powerful strike. Three and a half minutes into second half injury time, a pass from Chi Yuen Webb found defender Abdullah Gutiérrez open in the otherwise crowded area, and the unlikely saviour struck it through. We certainly deserved to win, with 19 shots to three, but it was a fortunate finish.

A win in our fourth Champions Cup game, against Partizan, would give us a good chance of progression. Fontana missed an open goal in the 6th after Frank’s shot was parried. He hit the post later in the half and had a goal disallowed in the second. Partizan scored from a rare chance in the 68th, leaving us behind despite dominating all game. I brought Hartwig off the bench, and with eight minutes to go he hit a 25-yard volley which deflected off a defender and into the net. Three minutes later, Frank passed into the area for struggling partner Fontana, who finally scored his first of the season, giving us the win. Again it was a lucky finish, but we were clearly the better team.

Somehow we’d jumped to second spot in the Serie A, and could strengthen that position against Cagliari. It took only a minute for our first goal, with Webb and Frank combining with a wonderful series of passes before setting up Hartwig for an open shot into the net. Cagliari hit back in the 31st and the game saw few chances after that. A sloppy Williams tackle gave Cagliari a second goal from a penalty in the 61st, but a dozen minutes later Hoffmann was clear in the area, with the keeper stuck at the far post. For some reason, he hit it straight at the keeper, who parried it back to Hoffmann. With the keeper still at the far post, he aimed at that spot AGAIN, and again it was parried! This time, however, it went to Frank, and he at least had the sense to put it into the open part of the net to give us a 2-2 draw. That was the end of a seven-game winning streak, but we only really deserved one point. Frank was put out for a month with a hip injury. Knowing that my job rests on a good league finish, I arranged a £1.6M purchase of 30-year-old left back Wright from VfB Stuttgart, to go through at the start of January. I don’t often make purchases, particularly players that old, and particularly when their contract ends at the end of the season anyway. However, I think it’s important to finish off the season very strongly, and Wright could be the player to help us do that.

K Werner partnered Hoffmann against Sampdoria, with Frank and Fontana injured. Neither side ever looked like scoring in the 0-0 draw.

[Donners]

December, season 2021/2022

A Champions Cup game to kick off the month, against perennial victims Manchester United. Unusually, they hit the bar early, and then took the lead from a 15th minute corner. They then got another from a penalty just before the break, and we had no answer. All the results went against us, suddenly knocking us out of the top two in the group with one game to go, as well as hurting our wonderful record against Man U. The only good news was the decent debut of promising German midfielder/forward Petru Adrian Schneider.

The toughest league match so far next – away against Milan. Marini got sucked into leaving the goal to chase star striker Won-Chul Parisi, who put through a goal into the open net. He scored again in the 27th and completed his hat-trick in the second half. Milan scored another two, including one to former Ancona midfielder Alexandre Rasch, to beat us 0-5. That was our biggest loss since 2011/2012, and fourth game without a win after seven victories in a row.

Our first Italian Cup opponents were Verona. The first leg of the second round was at home. They had a player sent off early, and though it took a while, we went ahead in the 65th, with Balestrieri heading in a Martin corner. Schuchardt set up Lorenzi for a shot just outside the area, and for once it actually worked. 2-0, to get us slightly back on track.

Back to the league to take on Vicenza. Once again we conceded a penalty, which put them ahead in the second minute. Hartwig equalised with a free from the edge of the area a few minutes before half time and on the other side of the break Hoffmann scored from a Balestrieri cross. Hartwig missed a couple of late chances, but 2-1 was good enough.

A big challenge next, with our final Champions Cup group match against Porto, a side we have a good record against (two wins, two draws). Ancona, Porto and Man U all had eight points, but we had the worst goal difference. A draw might get us through if Man U lost to lost to Partizan (unlikely), but a win would put us ahead of Porto. Martin lost the ball in the area when he looked set for a dangerous cross, but he managed to win it back after a corner and score himself in the 35th. Man U were up 3-1 at half time, so we had to hold the lead. A Hoffmann header was cleared off the line in the 67th and he had a shot saved from close range four minutes later. Hartwig missed twice late, and Porto had just one chance left – a free from well outside the area. Williams headed it back to the taker, but his second pass floated over the defence and gave a Porto player a shot from the edge of the area. It beat Tommasi, but came back off the post and was smothered. 1-0 was all we needed to finish second in the group and make it through to the next stage. We drew regular opponents FC Bayern for the second round.

A 7th minute Lorenzi free from 25 yards put us ahead in the league game against Fiorentina. Hartwig missed one solo effort, but scored from a Balestrieri cross later in the half. He added a second just before the break – the 100th league goal of his career. The injuries to Fontana and Frank gave him a chance to play up forward, and he hasn’t disappointed. The half time and full time scores were the same – 3-0.

We didn’t need to do much to progress to the Italian Cup quarter final, having already beaten Verona 2-0 in the home leg. The away leg was mostly uneventful, though we did score four minutes into second half injury time just to rub it in.

The year ended with a tough league game against Brescia, directly above us on the table in second. Frank, back from injury, forced three saves in a minute in the first half while Hartwig hit one straight at the keeper. Naturally, Brescia scored from their first shot of the game (we’d had eight on target with no success). Hoffmann managed to send another close-range shot straight at the keeper as we ended a run of five wins with a 0-1 loss.

[Donners]

January, season 2021/2022

The yearly awards saw Hartwig third-placed as European Footballer of the Year, with De Bellis runner-up European Defender of the Year and Adhemar Balestrieri named European Midfielder of the Year. Defender Wright arrived for £1.6M as planned:

Wright [30, D L, ENG – Capped at U21 level]

A quality player despite his lack of versatility, with height, pace and skill. He spent many years at Liverpool without much success, but was a regular at Everton after a £3.2M move, and played well for four years at VfB Stuttgart after a £1.9M purchase. Tak Cheong Williams has done well at left back, but he’s now free to play in the centre of defence.

With some deadwood to be cleared out at the end of the season, I arranged a large number of signings. Five, to be precise – a goalkeeper, three defenders and a striker. I also received a £7.25M bid from Newcastle for midfielder Jason Lorenzi, which I accepted. That was a decent deal considering I only paid £825K for him three years ago, and while he was a 25-year-old Italian international and a regular in the side, midfield strength is not a problem at Ancona. He wasn’t the only one to go. After mediocre performances from K Werner in his few senior appearances, I sold him to FC Bayern for £7.75M. I did however reject £3.7M bids from Roma and Vicenza for Suwareh Bucchi, despite his poor form this year, and a £5.7M Sampdoria bid for Tak Cheong Williams.

Wright debuted against Juventus, with Schuchardt taking over from Lorenzi in the middle. A great run from Balestrieri gave Hartwig a shot on goal in just 20 seconds, but it was tipped over. Juventus hit the post in the 15th while Hoffmann forced a few saves. Hartwig came agonizingly close at the end of the half, with a shot to an open goal that went slowly enough for the keeper to get to it on the line. The second half was also scoreless, resulting in a 0-0 draw.

A bit of an easier game against Ascoli, after a few tough ones. Hoffmann, as usual, missed a chance, putting a chip above both the keeper and the bar. A good pass from De Bellis gave Webb plenty of time to lead up for a 30-yard curling shot which put us ahead late in the first half. Hoffmann stole a defensive pass in the 51st but naturally put it over the bar. Martin managed to score from a great solo effort with 20 minutes to go, charging down the left and somehow scoring at the near post from an impossible angle. Schuchardt hit the post with a volley two minutes later as we completed a 2-0 win.

Hoffmann continued to struggle in front of goal, hitting the post twice in the first six minutes against Avellino. He finally scored in the 7th, but couldn’t really miss after a Balestrieri pass found him open ten yards out. Frank beat the keeper to a high ball for a second in the 19th, and those two goals were the difference in the end.

With Milan rampaging through the league, with 14 wins and two draws in 18 games, we couldn’t afford to drop any points against Lazio. A 25-yard strike from Hartwig was exactly what we needed, and a 39th minute goal to Frank with help from Hartwig put us in an even better position. As usual, we failed to extend it in the second half, but the 2-0 result got us the three points. I accepted a £5M bid from Chelsea for Suwareh Bucchi, since he had been overtaken by Wright and Williams at left back. That took us to a new record of £23M received for transfers over the season.

Juventus were our opponents in the Italian Cup quarter final, with the first leg away. The first half was scoreless. Juventus had a few shots in the second, but we came closest when Legrand headed a Martin corner from close range. It went straight at the keeper though, and a few minutes later we were on the back foot with Dipankar Standaert sent off for a second yellow. We played the final ten minutes a man down, but avoided conceding a goal. Indeed, we actually came close to scoring when a pass from Léandri put Hartwig through on goal, but his shot was just turned away.

We took on Genoa in the league. De Bellis came close with a great long shot which was turned away, as was a Léandri header. Léandri got his revenge in the 59th when the keeper ran out to collect a corner, tapping the ball into the open goal. Frank and Webb forced parries, keeping up the pressure as we cruised to a 1-0 win.

A scoreless first leg in the Italian Cup semi final meant the home leg against Juventus would seal our fate in the competition. Hartwig put us up with a 31st minute penalty. A Webb header was cleared off the line in the second half, and with 17 minutes to go Juventus scored from a free, putting them ahead on away goals. Webb again came close with a late header while a Legrand shot was tipped over. Two late Ancona crosses were cleared, and despite looking the better side we were knocked out on away goals. We also lost Hartwig to a groin strain for three weeks. I sold Lingjing Tommasi to Cagliari for £550K, since he was about to be released anyway, and loaned out young striker Yiu Tong Navarra to Atlanta.

Cellar dwellers Inter were our final opponents of the month. Léandri scored from outside the area with a curling shot in the 33rd and Frank had a shot tipped over. A quiet second half was all we needed to take the three points.

I arranged three more transfers for the end of the season – a Spanish midfielder and two promising young German midfielder/forwards – and turned down a £17.25M bid from Manchester United for Balestrieri.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Milan | | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 44 | 11 | +33 | 50 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Brescia | | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 16 | +13 | 41 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Ancona | | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 41 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Juventus | | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 34 | 14 | +20 | 36 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bologna | | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 33 | 24 | +9 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Cagliari | | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Vicenza | | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 36 | 33 | +3 | 28 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Genoa | | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 27 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Avellino | | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 29 | -7 | 27 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Fiorentina | | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 40 | -3 | 26 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Sampdoria | | 20 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 21 | 25 | -4 | 26 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Verona | | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 28 | -6 | 25 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Roma | | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 26 | 25 | +1 | 24 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Lazio | | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 26 | -5 | 24 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Parma | | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 40 | -15 | 24 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Bari | | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 20 | -4 | 21 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Palermo | | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 33 | -6 | 21 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Ascoli | | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 22 | 33 | -11 | 19 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Udinese | | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 27 | -12 | 17 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Inter | | 20 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 38 | -19 | 13 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

February, season 2021/2022

A few lesser lights such as Aaron Kientz, Tsz Shing Legrand and Petru Schneider got a run against Palermo in the league. After a flat first half, Legrand sent a wonderful shot at the goal from long range, but missed by inches. Webb scored from a header two minutes later for the lead. De Bellis extended the lead in the 72nd from a penalty. We were left two players down for the final five minutes, with Webb and Fatihi injured after I’d made three subs, but we retained the 2-0 lead.

Only a few days later, it was a match against a fellow top side, Bologna. Dupuy managed to score early in the first half from a De Bellis corner and despite being placed 5th in the league, Bologna never challenged us. Schuchardt sealed it in second half injury time from 25 yards.

Despite seven straight Serie A wins, we were still eight points behind Milan after 23 games each. Hence, a headed goal from Dupuy in the 37th to give us the lead against Verona was very welcome, just to keep us in touch. Kientz sent two shots straight at the keeper after good crosses from Martin and another Martin cross was wasted by Schneider in the second half. Léandri also wasted a chance after getting one-on-one with the keeper, putting it wide. Balestrieri returned from injury with 20 minutes to go, and had some work to do when Verona scored in the 77th. Of course, that was their first shot to our thirteenth, yet the scores were level. Schneider couldn’t get around the keeper in the 89th and Balestrieri sent a last-minute effort straight at the keeper. Just as all seemed lost, late in the final minute of injury time, Balestrieri had a corner. I brought on López to use his height, but it was left back Wright who rose up for it and nodded the ball into the net. 2-1, 48 seconds beyond the allocated injury time, and there wasn’t even enough time to get the ball back to the centre. We certainly deserved the three points, but got a bit lucky with the finish.

A good chance to extend our winning streak to nine against bottom-placed Udinese. However, we started very slowly and had few chances. Despite having the ball in our forward half for almost all of the final 15 minutes, with seven corners, we just couldn’t score. A very costly waste of two points, particularly with Milan losing their last game.

To have a chance at the title, we couldn’t afford to waste any more against Cagliari. A 9th minute De Bellis penalty helped. Kientz hit the post with a tremendous shot from just beyond half way, allowing Hoffmann to tap in the rebound for a rare goal this season. Aaron Kientz has been quite impressive in his four senior games this year. Frank scored our third from a Martin corner at the start of the second half. 3-0, and with a draw to Milan – their third straight game without a win – we pulled within three points of the top.

The month ended with a game against Parma. Kientz was forced off early with an injury but Martin continued his tremendous season with a great solo goal. A few minutes later he crossed to Hoffmann for a 2-0 lead in the 35th. That was the final score.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Milan | | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 56 | 21 | +35 | 60 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Ancona | | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 37 | 16 | +21 | 57 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Brescia | | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Juventus | | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 41 | 17 | +24 | 49 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bologna | | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 32 | +13 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Vicenza | | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Avellino | | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 33 | 34 | -1 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Genoa | | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 36 | 33 | +3 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Lazio | | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 28 | 35 | -7 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Cagliari | | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 33 | 38 | -5 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Roma | | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 35 | 36 | -1 | 31 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Fiorentina | | 26 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 43 | 47 | -4 | 31 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Sampdoria | | 26 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 24 | 36 | -12 | 31 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Parma | | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 29 | 48 | -19 | 31 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Ascoli | | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 29 | 39 | -10 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Verona | | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 39 | -15 | 26 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Palermo | | 26 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 32 | 42 | -10 | 25 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Bari | | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 29 | -11 | 23 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Inter | | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 33 | 46 | -13 | 23 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Udinese | | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 15 | 33 | -18 | 18 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

March, season 2021/2022

We faced old rivals FC Bayern in the second round of the Champions Cup. Frank and Hoffmann missed through fatigue while Hartwig was injured, denying us a lot of scoring power for the home leg. It was an even game with few chances. Williams was sent off in the final minutes for a second yellow card, but we avoided conceding an away goal.

Back to the league against Bari. Hoffmann had one saved from close range but had better luck with a header in the 52nd. A clever pass from Frank gave him a second ten minutes later and one minute into injury time he completed his best game in a long time with a third goal. With Milan losing to Brescia, we were second only on goal difference.

Roma next. Frank scored from a Balestrieri corner in the 32nd minute and just before half time Frank made it a brace after a good Martin cross. He was not able to complete his hat-trick, but with a 0-1 loss for Milan – their fourth loss in their last six Serie A games, with just two in the 22 before that – we moved on top of the table.

Defenders De Bellis and Williams were suspended for our second leg of the Champions Cup second round against FC Bayern. This leg was away, after a scoreless home draw. Marini saved an early chip but was beaten in the 11th. A great long pass from Thomas found Hoffmann in the area later in the first half, and he was able to storm through the defence to strike in our first. That gave him his sixth goal in his last five games, after five in the previous 25 games We held the lead on away goals only briefly, with a second to FC Bayern just before half time. We didn’t get a shot on goal after that, and were knocked out of the Champions Cup at the second round – our second-worst finish in 11 tries. At least now we can focus entirely on winning the title.

We dropped to second on the table almost immediately after taking over top spot, but only after Brescia played when we didn’t. A draw against Sampdoria would be enough to have us back up. After a few wasted chances, Webb buried one in the top corner from 25 yards out mid-way through the first half. Unfortunately, he undid his good work by conceding a penalty in the 38th, allowing Sampdoria to draw level. A minute before half time, they scored again to snatch the lead. Hartwig missed a good chance at the end of a run in the 80th and Sampdoria scored a third on the counter-attack despite being blatantly offside. Martin charged through four defenders only to put the ball over the bar and complete a bad game – our first Serie A loss since late December. Brescia and Milan drew level with Ancona on points, sending us to third on goal difference.

We had the chance to do a plenty of damage to one of our title rivals, with Milan our next opponents. We were belted 0-5 in an earlier game, but they’ve looked a lot more vulnerable in the last two months. A Wright header from the midfield somehow got through all the defenders and left Hoffmann open in the area, but as usual he hit it straight at the keeper. Hoffmann didn’t even get a shot off when he made it into the area in the 50th – he was tripped, and we received a penalty. Hartwig was on the bench due to poor form, but De Bellis made no mistake from the spot. Of course, that was the cue for Milan to score from their first shot a minute later. In the 65th, a former Ancona player (Alexandre Rasch) and player I should have signed for free (Won-Chul Parisi) combined to give them the lead, and they scored again in the final minutes just to rub it in. Brescia also lost, but Milan moved three points clear.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Milan | | 30 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 62 | 24 | +38 | 66 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Brescia | | 30 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 63 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Ancona | | 30 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 44 | 22 | +22 | 63 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Juventus | | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 59 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bologna | | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 51 | 35 | +16 | 53 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Genoa | | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 43 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Avellino | | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 36 | 40 | -4 | 42 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Vicenza | | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 40 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Cagliari | | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 42 | -5 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Sampdoria | | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 30 | 39 | -9 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Roma | | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 37 | 38 | -1 | 38 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Lazio | | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 29 | 37 | -8 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Ascoli | | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 41 | -9 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Parma | | 30 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 32 | 58 | -26 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Inter | | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 50 | -5 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Fiorentina | | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 44 | 52 | -8 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Verona | | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 32 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Palermo | | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 39 | 48 | -9 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Bari | | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 37 | -16 | 25 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Udinese | | 30 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 17 | 40 | -23 | 20 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

April, season 2021/2022

Two straight league losses had made my board unhappy and damaged our title chances with just eight games to go. The first of those was against Vicenza, and it got off to a frustrating start with a Hartwig free barely tipped away. Hoffmann missed everyone with a cross, but Martin ran onto it and passed back to Webb. He lined up a long shot…and hit the post. Frank and Balestrieri missed from inside the area early in the second. Tsz Shing Legrand replaced Hoffmann in the 54th, and 15 minutes later he received a pass from Frank and struck it home for the lead with just his third goal for the club. Marini made a great save from a Vicenza free a few minutes later and through good defending from Williams we held on to win. There was plenty of bad news, though. Milan and Brescia remained ahead of us, each winning their games. We also lost Solly Marini for a week with an injury, and I was informed key winger Adhemar Balestrieri needed a rest.

With no backup keeper after the sale of Tommasi, I reluctantly called up 18-year-old English keeper Tze Chung McKenzie against Fiorentina. He didn’t look very good, but nor did my other two Under-20s keepers. Legrand replaced Balestrieri on the right wing. Brescia had already lost their 32nd game, so even a draw would put us into second. Frank scored from a Martin cross in the 7th and ten minutes into the second half, that very winger did the same for Hoffmann for his 12th assist of the season. Milan drew their game, and our 2-0 win brought us to just one point behind them.

Avellino, the side that defeated Brescia in their last game, were our next opponents. We have a very tough final six games, but dropping points in any of them could be dangerous. Marini returned, but Balestrieri was rested again. As so often this season, Martin set up our first goal with a cross, this time struck through by Hoffmann in the 16th. Frank scored Ancona’s second in the 60th after a cross from the in-form Martin. With five games to go, we already have as many points as last season, where we came third.

Another of those tough games was against third-placed Brescia. Williams was ruled out for a fortnight through injury, but otherwise we were at full strength. Martin reversed roles early, receiving a Balestrieri cross, but his shot was saved. His return to a more familiar role of sending in the cross saw a Hoffmann shot parried, but in the 46th he swapped back, receiving a cross from Frank and this time putting it in. Rarely has there been a more obvious candidate for Supporters’ Player of the Year than Martin. We held off a few late attacks, and 1-0 was enough for three more points.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Juventus

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Ancona | | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 50 | 22 | +28 | 75 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Milan | | 33 | 23 | 4 | 6 | 67 | 26 | +41 | 73 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Brescia | | 34 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 67 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Juventus | | 32 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 47 | 20 | +27 | 60 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bologna | | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 42 | +15 | 56 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Sampdoria | | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 39 | 44 | -5 | 49 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Avellino | | 33 | 14 | 6 | 13 | 42 | 43 | -1 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Roma | | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 47 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Cagliari | | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 44 | 46 | -2 | 47 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Genoa | | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Vicenza | | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 54 | 50 | +4 | 44 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Ascoli | | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 36 | 45 | -9 | 42 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Lazio | | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 38 | -8 | 41 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Parma | | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 35 | 63 | -28 | 38 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Inter | | 33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 51 | 58 | -7 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Fiorentina | | 34 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 47 | 60 | -13 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Bari | | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 27 | 43 | -16 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Palermo | | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 43 | 55 | -12 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Verona | | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 51 | -17 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Udinese | | 34 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 22 | 46 | -24 | 24 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

May, season 2021/2022

4th placed Juventus to kick off May. Thomas and Martin were suspended and Hoffmann missed through injury. Juventus scored in the 47th after a forward somehow got far away from all the defenders and despite having twice as many shots, we couldn’t score. We now have six losses for the season – the same as we had when we won the title in 13/14 and 17/18. We also had six losses in the last two seasons, where we finished 4th and 3rd, but have half as many draws. Thankfully, Milan also lost their game, but they have played one fewer than us and are only two points behind.

Milan hammered Inter 5-1 to move on top again with just three games to go. May 8th shaped as a big day, with all sides playing. We faced 11th placed Ascoli, but Milan had an almost certain win against 19th placed Verona. Indeed, they scored twice in the first five minutes, while Ascoli looked the better side in our game. However, Wright came forward just before half time and passed to Hoffmann, and Hoffmann scored again through a Martin cross in the second half. Both Milan and Ancona finished with 2-0 wins, and they stayed a point ahead. That win was our 24th, equal to our best ever in 18/19. We came second to Milan that season despite finishing with 84 points – exactly what we will have if we win our remaining two games…

The first of those was against Lazio – definitely the easiest of our recent games on paper. Milan faced 20th placed Udinese, continuing their simple run home. We attacked early, but lost Balestrieri to injury and failed to score. Milan went ahead in the 24th while we were still level at half time. Hartwig came close from nearly half-way, and with 75 minutes gone we were still level. A draw would definitely end our title hopes, with Milan three goals up, so we had nothing to lose. I switched to an attacking formation and Martin immediately came forward and crossed to Hoffmann for a goal. Four minutes later, though, Lazio equalised. A Frank header was cleared off the line in the 84th and Martin put a shot over. Our attacks in the final seconds were cut out, and our title dreams ended with a 1-1 draw. I turned down jobs from Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux, but annoyingly lost assistant Stephan Appiah to Lecce as their new manager.

Fontana, Felix Léandri and Selvarajan López had their final Ancona game against Genoa. Aaron Kientz came off the bench to score in the 72nd from a Legrand cross for a club record 25th league win. Still, it was only enough for second spot.

[Donners]

The season in review

Summary

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Milan

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Milan | | 38 | 27 | 4 | 7 | 81 | 30 | +51 | 85 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Ancona | | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 54 | 24 | +30 | 82 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Brescia | | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 52 | 26 | +26 | 79 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Juventus | | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 56 | 24 | +32 | 71 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bologna | | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 64 | 49 | +15 | 60 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Roma | | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 53 | 44 | +9 | 57 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Cagliari | | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 49 | 50 | -1 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Sampdoria | | 38 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 46 | 51 | -5 | 54 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Avellino | | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 53 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Genoa | | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 51 | 48 | +3 | 52 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Vicenza | | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 65 | 65 | 0 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Ascoli | | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 40 | 48 | -8 | 48 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Fiorentina | | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 56 | 64 | -8 | 44 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Lazio | | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 32 | 45 | -13 | 42 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Parma | | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 38 | 70 | -32 | 41 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Inter | | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 60 | 74 | -14 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Palermo | | 38 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 49 | 62 | -13 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | R | Verona | | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 39 | 58 | -19 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Bari | | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 50 | -21 | 37 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Udinese | | 38 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 28 | 57 | -29 | 27 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2nd in Italian Serie A

Squad Screen

| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Pass | Tck | Drb | Sh Tar | Av R | Value |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| GK | | Marini, S | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 % | - | - | - | 6.66 | £2M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DR | | De Bellis, N | 45 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 72 % | 3.63 | 0.54 | 53 % | 7.22 | £11M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB6 | | Webb, C | 43 (2) | 3 | 5 | 1 | 74 % | 3.19 | 0.61 | 48 % | 7.07 | £9.25M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Thomas | 39 (1) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 77 % | 2.54 | 0.23 | 100 % | 6.75 | £2.7M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB3 | | Hoffmann, M* | 38 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 64 % | 1.10 | 2.27 | 75 % | 7.21 | £3.3M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Inj | Balestrieri, A* | 37 (2) | 2 | 7 | 7 | 53 % | 4.28 | 5.02 | 56 % | 7.62 | £24M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Williams, T | 37 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 % | 2.05 | 0.41 | 100 % | 6.95 | £2.5M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB4 | | Hartwig* | 35 (2) | 11 | 5 | 3 | 75 % | 2.20 | 1.41 | 49 % | 7.08 | £5.5M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| ML | | Martin | 35 (2) | 5 | 16 | 8 | 65 % | 3.90 | 5.77 | 52 % | 7.92 | £3.7M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Frank | 32 (4) | 10 | 9 | 5 | 67 % | 0.78 | 0.88 | 62 % | 7.42 | £13.5M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Dupuy, S | 32 (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 79 % | 1.94 | 0.06 | 100 % | 6.91 | £1.1M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DL | | Wright | 25 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 71 % | 3.67 | 2.04 | 50 % | 7.36 | £5.25M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Léandri, F | 19 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 77 % | 2.83 | 0.44 | 37 % | 7.05 | £4.8M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | López, S | 15 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 74 % | 2.41 | 0.21 | 100 % | 6.74 | £130K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB1 | | Schuchardt, T | 14 (9) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 78 % | 4.11 | 0.68 | 47 % | 6.96 | £4.7M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Fontana | 9 (4) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 74 % | 1.03 | 0.23 | 43 % | 6.69 | £350K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MR | | Legrand, T | 8 (14) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 73 % | 2.71 | 0.81 | 40 % | 6.95 | £5.25M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB7 | | Gutiérrez, A | 7 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 68 % | 2.95 | 0.54 | 100 % | 6.82 | £2.2M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB2 | | Kientz, A | 7 (4) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 72 % | 2.15 | 0.13 | 73 % | 6.91 | £4.4M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Standaert, D | 5 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 % | 3.22 | 0.29 | 100 % | 6.69 | £5.25M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Nobile, J | 4 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 % | 0.66 | 0.22 | 100 % | 6.82 | £2M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB5 | | Fatihi, Y | 3 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 % | 2.98 | - | - | 6.44 | £2.7M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Schneider, P | 3 (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 77 % | 1.20 | 1.40 | 80 % | 6.75 | £4.1M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Taylor, B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 % | 4.17 | 1.67 | - | 6.00 | £4M |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Lst | Binder, R | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 4.00 | £900K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | McKenzie, T | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 % | - | - | - | 7.00 | £925K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Once again we’ve fallen short. To be fair, we did not do particularly poorly, with 25 wins and only six losses for the season, but we wasted several opportunities to cement top spot. We also failed in the Champions and Italian Cups.

A lot of the blame must go on senior players who just didn’t perform. Normally reliable players like Fontana, Tommasi, Marini, Thomas, Hartwig and Webb were well down on their usual performance. However, that should have been balanced by the contributions of new or improved players like Williams, Legrand, Kientz, Wright and, of course, Martin.

Hoffmann was our leading scorer with 16 – the equal-lowest number for our leading scorer along with my very first season at Ancona. Our total goals for were also our lowest in a decade.

At least there were some good signs. I made plenty of new signings and we are set to clear out some deadwood. Young players like Martin, Williams, De Bellis and Balestrieri will hopefully form the core of our side over the next few years, though I will likely have a tough time re-signing Martin. I will have an even tougher time holding onto my job, with the board unhappy with my performance.

[Pred]

I'm loving this story Donners. You can pip Milan for the Scudetto next year, I know it! The board will be groveling at your feet once you've lifted some silverware.

[Donners]

I appreciate your confidence, though I don't necessarily share it.

Wrapping it up

Balestrieri was runner-up as Serie A Player of the Year and made the Team of the Year, I was runner-up Manager of the Year and Frank was third as Foreign Player of the Year.

I signed Slovenian Dalibor Stevanovic as my new assistant and snapped up a few 17-year-olds with vague promise.

Around the world: major awards and results

Ancona Supporters’ Player of the Year:

Martin

World Player of the Year:

Won-Chul Parisi (Milan) (5th time! Our former players K.Braun and Francis Horjak were second and third)

World Footballer of the year:

Ranjan Munoz (Atlético Madrid)

England:

Chelsea

Spain:

Real Madrid

Champions Cup:

Atlético Madrid

UEFA Cup:

Porto

2022 World Cup

Germany

[Time^-]

Keep up the excellent work mate, been reading this for 6 days now and finally caught up, very enjoyable read!

[Donners]

Thanks.

The Transfers

Transfers In

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 28.6.2021 | McKenzie, Tze Chung | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 30.6.2021 | Boulanger, Kishore | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2.7.2021 | Nobile, Jean-Sylvestre | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3.7.2021 | Schneider, Petru Adrian | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2021 | Standaert, Dipankar | Brescia | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.1.2022 | Wright | VfB Stuttgart | £1.6M |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19.6.2022 | Barnard, Chi Yan | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £1.6M |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Transfers Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21.6.2021 | Baglieri, Abdelhamid | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21.6.2021 | Berardi, Wilfried | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 25.7.2021 | D'Alessandro, Wilfrid | Villarreal | £425K |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2021 | Patterson | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2021 | Terranova | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2021 | Münch, Ramzi | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2021 | Mancino, Eroglu | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5.8.2021 | Bernal, Mohammed | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17.8.2021 | Barsotti, Mirsad | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 26.8.2021 | Bon, Kishore | Milan | £9M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3.1.2022 | Lorenzi, Jason | Newcastle | £7.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9.1.2022 | Werner, K. | FC Bayern | £7.75M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22.1.2022 | Bucchi, Suwareh | Chelsea | £5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 27.1.2022 | Tommasi, Lingjing | Cagliari | £550K |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.1.2022 | Grasso | Genoa | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13.6.2022 | Cornacchia, Shane | Free Transfer | Free |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £30M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Loans Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 29.1.2022 | Navarra, Yiu Tong | Atalanta | Loan |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £0 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Staff In

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | From | Fee |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3.5.2022 | Suárez, Eugeny | Free Transfer | £0 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12.6.2022 | Stevanovic, Dalibor| Free Transfer | £0 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £0 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Staff Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2021 | Wiertelak, Stéphane| Free Transfer | Free |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.5.2022 | Appiah, Stephan | Lecce | £650K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £650K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Wright was the only stand-out of the new signings, having an immediate impact as planned. Standaert and Schneider showed some promise, but Nobile did next to nothing.

We made a club record of £30M from sales. Ramzi Münch was a star for Liverpool after leaving for free and Bucchi looked good at Chelsea but overall we did quite well.

[Kwik05]

Been reading this and finally caught up, this is one of the best story's here.

Keep it going.

[hermolt]

Wonderful stuff, Donners..I still have your R+D story on my PC in word format somewhere (a lot of copying and pasting), and have done all 15 pages of this one in the past 3 days whilst my PC struggles with FM. KUTGW!

[Donners]

Ah, the glory days of Rushden. I wouldn't mind Andy Burgess right now... Thanks for the kind words.

Pre-Season 2022/2023

Four new players from the youth academy, £15M out to shareholders, a transfer budget of £408M and the usual expectation to win the title at the start of the season.

With a few new defenders (and plenty of other players, who will be covered in the squad section) arriving at Ancona, I sold Tak Cheong Williams to Sampdoria for £5.5M, and released Bonetti, Léandri, López, Márquez, Binder and a few younger players. I re-signed Frank, Hoffmann, Gutiérrez and Marini until 2025 on equal or lower wages, while my assistant re-signed Francis Stéphan and Amir Fiorentini.

Ancona 2 [Martin 30; Webb 63] d. FSV Frankfurt 0

Ancona 0 drew VfB Leipzig 0

Ancona 1 [Franco 58] lost to St. Pauli 3

Ancona 2 [Dupuy 34; Frank 86] d. Sambenedettese 1

Ancona 2 [Franco 27; Hoffmann 70] d. Albinoleffe 0

Ancona 0 lost to Prato 1

As the pre-season ended, I completed a transfer, selling Solly Marini to Genoa for £2M and replacement goalkeeper Lombardi.

Despite our recent failures, we were named 3-1 favourites to win the title, with Milan, Juventus, Bologna, Brescia and Roma behind us. Montpellier, Schalke 04 and Anderlecht are in our Champions Cup group. We were also named favourites for that, equal with Manchester United and Arsenal, and ahead of Celtic, Dortmund and Atlético Madrid.

[Donners]

The Squad

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 1st in Italian Serie A

Squad Screen

| Pkd | Inf | Name | Squad Status | Basic Wage | Contract Expiry | Offer Options | Asking Price |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MR | | Balestrieri, A* | First Team | £30,500 | 31.7.2025 | None | £24M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DR | | De Bellis, N | First Team | £12,750 | 31.7.2025 | None | £13.75M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB5 | | Franco, H | First Team | £12,250 | 31.7.2025 | None | £7.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Förster, A | First Team | £10,000 | 31.7.2027 | None | £7.5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB4 | Wnt | Hartwig* | First Team | £35,000 | 31.7.2023 | None | £3.2M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Hoffmann, M* | First Team | £12,000 | 31.7.2025 | None | £3.1M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| GK | | Hofmann, S | First Team | £12,000 | 31.7.2025 | None | £2.1M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Webb, C | First Team | £23,500 | 31.7.2024 | None | £9.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Carson, A | Rotation | £5,000 | 31.7.2025 | None | £4.8M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB7 | | Cervantes, A | Rotation | £6,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £2.4M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB3 | | Cooper, A | Rotation | £7,500 | 31.7.2025 | None | £3.8M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Dupuy, S | Rotation | £6,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £1M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Frank | Rotation | £9,250 | 31.7.2025 | None | £13.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Kientz, A | Rotation | £2,500 | 31.7.2023 | None | £4.3M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Legrand, T | Rotation | £5,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB1 | | Lombardi | Rotation | £15,000 | 31.7.2025 | None | £3.3M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| ML | | Martin | Rotation | £6,250 | 31.7.2024 | None | £4.8M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB6 | | Müller, K | Rotation | £2,300 | 31.7.2025 | None | £5M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Nobile, J | Rotation | £6,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £1.3M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Schuchardt, T | Rotation | £16,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £4.7M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Loa | Standaert, D | Rotation | £4,900 | 31.7.2024 | None | £5.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB2 | | Thomas | Rotation | £13,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £2.7M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Wohlfarth, S | Rotation | £8,000 | 31.7.2026 | None | £3.3M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DL | | Wright | Rotation | £15,000 | 31.7.2024 | None | £5.25M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Fatihi, Y | Backup | £4,800 | 31.7.2023 | None | £2.7M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Gutiérrez, A | Backup | £8,500 | 31.7.2025 | None | £2.2M |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Total Players: 41

Wage Budget: £2,000,000

Total Weekly Wages at 28/8/22: £309,569

*Note that the squad table and total wages don’t reflect many of the re-signings mentioned in the pre-season.

Goalkeepers

Satish Hofmann [26, GK, GER]

Annoyingly has different spelling of his surname to our own Hoffmann, but is a potentially first team keeper. Has only played 72 senior games despite many seasons at HSV, but will rotate equally with Marini early on.

Lombardi [29, GK, ITA – Capped at Schoolboy level]

Replaces Solly Marini, who had a poor season. Has had a great record at Genoa over the past three seasons, and seems of roughly equal ability to Marini.

Defenders

Azmin Azram Cervantes [28, D/DM C, MEX – 46/2]

One of three new defenders at the club. Cervantes has spent most of his career with Oberhausen in the German Second Division, where he’s been a star. Big and reasonably quick, with excellent long-range shooting ability. Perhaps better suited to a defensive midfield position than centre back.

18/19 Oberhausen Supporters’ Player of the Year

Aymen Cooper [26, D R, ENG]

The second new defender, Cooper is a very quick right back. He has reasonable defensive skills despite a lack of size, and has been a solid player with Sheffield United in the English Premier Division. Perhaps a rotational role.

Nelson De Bellis [25, D RC, ITA – 16/0] – 6, 267, 13

Despite the increased competition at the back, still definitely the first choice for right back. Had another good season last year, and is hopefully only just approaching his peak.

19/20, 20/21 Serie A Team of the Year; 2020 European Footballer of the Year third placed; 2021 European Defender of the Year runner-up; 2021 Serie A Defender of the Year

Syed Dupuy [32, Sw/D C, FRA – Capped at U21 level] – 11, 250, 9

From two new defenders to two absolute veterans of the club. Dupuy is getting on in years, but his remarkable size remains a valuable asset. Won’t get as many games as the last two years, but still has a role to play in what’s probably his final year at the club.

Yoshihisa Fatihi [28, D LC, MOR – 30/0] – 2, 24, 0

Didn’t play well last season. The only thing keeping him near the seniors is the departure of Williams, leaving us a little weak at left back.

Abdullah Gutiérrez [30, D RLC, ESP] – 2, 21, 1

May have a role to play, filling in occasionally at left back, and may continue that for three seasons under his new contract.

Thomas [27, D RC, GER – 9/0] – 3, 113, 5

Has not been impressive since joining for £1M, and now faces plenty of competition for centre back. Still contracted for two seasons.

Satish Wohlfarth [25, D C, GER]

A possible replacement for Dupuy, Wohlfarth is very good in the air and quite a solid defender. He played over 250 games for Norwich in the English First and Premier Divisions, and is contracted for four years, so will have plenty of time to prove himself.

Wright [30, D L, ENG – Capped at U21 level] – 1, 25, 0

The unusual signing, considering his age and the fact that I actually had to pay, worked very well. Wright held down left back perfectly and gave me the freedom to make £5.5M from Williams. Should have at least two good seasons left in him.

Midfielders

Adhemar Balestrieri [26, M RL, ITA – 25/0] – 6, 210, 13

A great season from the star winger in the first year of his new contract. Certainly earned his wage increase, and last year’s European Midfielder of the Year will continue to be a major part of our side.

2019, 2020 European Midfielder of the Year runner-up, 2021 European Midfielder of the Year third placed, 2022 European Midfielder of the Year; 20/21, 21/22 Serie A Team of the Year; 20/21 Serie A Player of the Year third placed, 21/22 Serie A Player of the Year runner-up

Artur Förster [22, AM C, GER – Capped at U21 level]

Seemingly a tremendous bargain for no transfer fee and £10K per week wages, I signed Förster to a five-year contract. He lacks height and is not especially quick, but has tremendous crossing, passing and shooting ability. He’s spent most of his career in the Spanish Second Division with Celta’s “B†side, but I hope he can stand up in the Serie A.

Haitham Franco [25, AM RC, ESP – Capped at U21 level]

Another player from Spain’s lower leagues, this time with Rayo “B†in the Third Division. Very well-rounded but not outstanding in any way. In hindsight I didn’t need to sign him, especially on pretty high wages.

Hartwig [31, F LC, GER – 49/16] – 11, 349, 71

Once a star of the side, I’m having trouble finding a spot for Hartwig after two flat seasons. This is his last contracted year, and he may spend it rotating between left wing and forward before being released.

19/20 Supporters’ Player of the Year; 2020 Serie A Player of the Year runner-up; 2021 European Footballer of the Year third placed

Aaron Kientz [21, AM/F C, GER – 2 U21/0] – 2, 12, 1

For the second time in his two seasons, forced his way into the seniors with quality Under-20s performances and didn’t look too out of place. May not have the pace to be a top player, and is demanding too much to be re-signed.

Tsz Shing Legrand [28, AM/F RC, FRA] – 2, 41, 3

Has not done enough to break into the side considering his age, but since he’s contracted for two more seasons, I may as well use him on occasion.

Martin [20, M L, ENG – 2 U21/2] – 2, 47, 5

A star in his first full season with Ancona, named Supporters’ Player of the year and racking up 16 assists and 8 Man of the Match awards. First choice for left wing, even ahead of Hartwig.

21/22 Supporters’ Player of the Year

K. Müller [21, AM/F R, GER – 10 U21/0]

Not an especially promising player, with mediocre performances at Deportivo “B†and no really striking skills. However, he’s valued at £10.5M. Go figure. Will play mostly as a forward.

Petru Adrian Schneider [22, AM/F C, GER – Capped at U21 level] – 1, 8, 0

Made it to the seniors with strong Under-20s form but failed to cement his spot. Will struggle to get back in.

Tatsunori Schuchardt [28, DM C, GER – 18/1] – 2, 54, 2

A quality player, but with plenty of competition for a central midfield spot. Did not play much last season, though he was solid when he did.

Dipankar Standaert [24, AM RC, ITA – Capped at U21 level] – 1, 13, 0

Mostly redundant now, and like Schneider will struggle to get back to the seniors.

19/20 Schalke 04 Supporters’ Player of the Year

Babatunde Enitan Taylor [27, DM R, ENG – Capped at U21 level] – 3, 31, 0

Another redundant player. Did nothing in the Under-20s and will soon be released.

Chi Yuen Webb [30, DM RLC, ENG – 31/6] – 11, 347, 30

Entering the twilight of his career, though still contracted for two more seasons. Will slowly phase out of the midfield and be replaced by younger players.

12/13 Italian Young Player of the Year runner-up; Part of World Cup 2014 winners England; 14/15, 16/17 Italian Serie A Team of the Year

Forwards

Ayissoudou Carson [26, S C, ENG]

A direct replacement for Fontana, as an “impact†player off the bench. Carson has tremendous finishing, long-range shooting and heading skills and could provide crucial goals when called upon.

Frank [28, S C, GER – 1/0] – 4, 135, 56

Had a bit of an off season, with only ten goals in contrast to 23 the previous season. Without much competition, will still get a regular first team run.

18/19, 20/21 Supporters’ Player of the Year; 21/22 Serie A Foreign Player of the year third placed

Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann [30, S C, GER – 23/7] – 12, 357, 134

Started the season very slowly but eventually managed 16 goals for the season – his best since 16/17, and second-best in 12 seasons. Now draws level with Briotti with 13 seasons at the club.

16/17 Supporters’ Player of the Year

Jean-Sylvestre Nobile [30, S C, GER] – 1, 11, 0

Did not score in 11 games, and will face increased pressure from Hartwig, Müller and some of the younger players.

18/19 Wolfsburg Supporters’ Player of the Year

[Donners]

The Likely Side:

(4-4-2)

GK – Satish Hofmann

LB – Wright

CB – Syed Dupuy

CB – Satish Wohlfarth

RB – Nelson De Bellis

LM – Martin

CM – Artur Förster

CM – Chi Yuen Webb

RM – Adhemar Balestrieri

CF – Frank

CF – Mohd Nizaruddin Hoffmann

Sub – Lombardi

Sub – Hartwig

Sub – Thomas

Sub – Azmin Azram Cervantes

Sub – K. Müller

Sub – Aymen Cooper

Sub – Haitham Franco

The Staff

Dalibor Stevanovic (Assistant)

Gilberto Vallesi (Coach)

Giacomo Tafuro (Coach)

Roberto Bocchino (Coach)

Roberto Corti (Coach)

Giannicola Pinotti (Coach)

Giuseppe Venturelli (Coach)

Å°mit Davala (Coach)

Antchouet (Coach)

Massimo Tabai (Coach)

Massimo D’Ambrosio (Physio)

Abdel Karim Villalba (Physio)

Eugeny Suarez (Physio)

David Jarrett (Scout)

Rob Campkin (Scout)

Julian Carrera (Scout)

Tim Davies (Scout)

Rahman Rezaei (Scout)

Søren Colding (Scout)

Michael Mifsud (Scout)

All up…

Five of the players I named in the “likely†side last season are gone from the club altogether, and seven new players have been added to it. There’s always an unknown element involved in entering a season with that many new players, and with my job in jeopardy, that’s not a pleasant situation. The quality is there, no doubt, but we need at least a top-3 finish and possibly some cup success as well, which is a big ask of an untested side.

Midfield is definitely our strength, with more than enough players for every spot. You know you’re doing well when a player like Hartwig is sitting on the bench. We’re lacking a bit of depth up forward, but players like Hartwig, Kientz and Müller will fill in there on occasion.

[Donners]

September, season 2022/2023

The season kicked off with Ancona facing Chievo. We went out full-strength. Hofmann made a great save in the 38th, but they scored in the 53rd after controlling much of the play. We couldn’t even get a shot on goal, and as usual started the season poorly.

We had to do better in our second game, against Vicenza. Franco made his debut and came close to scoring from a good run in the 6th, but curled the ball the wrong way. Vicenza took the lead before half time from a corner, and Frank missed the chance to equalise, hitting the post in the 45th. Webb missed badly in the 59th after being set up by great work from Mohd Hoffmann and a Wright shot was saved. Our attempts at an equaliser only saw Vicenza score a second, and after just two games our season is already almost over – and my career at Ancona may be over in a matter of weeks.

I made a series of changes in hopes of improving in the Champions Cup against Schalke 04, with Lombardi, Gutiérrez, Thomas and Carson coming in. Carson scored on debut in the 21st after a parry from a Frank shot. Balestrieri scored in the 53rd, but Schalke 04 pulled one back eight minutes later. They equalised in the 77th and with a late Frank shot saved, we had to settle for a disappointing draw.

We desperately needed a league win, and had to do it against title contenders Roma. Lombardi got another chance, as did Carson. Frank missed in the 16th, but a free kick from Schuchardt in his first game of the season went into the top corner from 25 yards. Lombardi made some tremendous saves in the second half, but finally conceded in the 79th. 1-1 the final score. One point from three games, while Milan have nine.

[Donners]

October, season 2022/2023

Three league games without a win. We desperately needed to change that against Inter. Lombardi remained in goal and Hartwig got a run as a forward. Hartwig and Hoffmann had a few chances, but wasted them all in the first half. Inter scored in the 15th, but Balestrieri brought us level a few minutes before half time after a pass from Cooper. Both sides had shots on goal in the second half, but Lombardi held up well for us. With five minutes to go, Hartwig had a chance to score, only to see his header parried. However, Tsz Shing Legrand had come off the bench to replace Hoffmann, and pounced on the rebound to put us ahead. Webb was sent off for a second yellow card a few minutes later, leaving us with a tough few final minutes, but we held on to finally win.

Though the league was the key to my future, success in the Champions Cup would be useful. Hartwig, Hoffmann and Cooper were rested against Anderlecht, but we snatched an early lead through Frank. He made it a brace from a Martin cross later in the half and we suddenly had two wins in a row.

Hofmann was getting unhappy at not playing in the seniors, so despite Lombardi’s good form, I brought him back to the starting keeping spot against Genoa. A free from Cooper in the 37th floated perfectly into the area for Franco to head in his first goal for Ancona. He almost scored a second in the 73rd, with a chip that was just tipped over. Cervantes came off the bench as a defensive midfielder to help out the defence, and we easily held on to record our second league win.

Spezia next in the league. Frank missed a chance to head into an open goal in the first half and Hoffmann put one straight into the keeper’s hands. However, he crossed to Frank in the 37th for our first. His almost-namesake, Hofmann, made some good saves, but they equalised in the 57th from a lucky deflection. That deflection cost us two points, with a 1-1 draw the final result.

We got a positive start to our game against Juventus thanks to the referee, with an opponent sent off in the 4th for disputing a decision. A beautiful run, spin and shot from Martin gave us the lead in the 21st, but Juventus equalised in the 39th. Martin scored again moments before half time from a Wright cross, but despite Juventus’ numbers disadvantage, they scored a second in the 65th. 2-2. Hofmann turned a shot away in the 76th, while at the other end Frank was tackled just as he was about to fire in a shot. With only four minutes to go, Martin passed to Wright in the area, and the defender struck it home. 3-2 in the final minutes, and that’s how it remained at the end. A good win, with Wright and Martin outstanding.

Back to the Champions Cup, to face unbeaten Montpellier. Frees from Hartwig and Schuchardt in the first half were on target but held. Hofmann made a quality save at the end of the half. Dupuy took a free in the 59th and floated it in for Webb to head home his first goal of the season. Montpellier scored in the 70th to finish the game in a draw.

Parma in the league to end the month. The first half saw a few missed shots at both ends, but just a minute into the second half Tatsunori Schuchardt took the ball in the centre circle, strode forward unopposed and buried it in the back of the net from 35 yards. A cross from Martin in the 83rd deflected off a defender and into the path of substitute Aaron Kientz, who scored our second of the game for a 2-0 win.

[Donners]

November, season 2022/2023

With only a three-day break between the last game of October and the first of November, against Bologna, several senior players took a break. One of those who came in was Ayissoudou Carson, and he scored in the 11th after a good Franco pass. Bologna missed two shots before Carson managed to get open in the area and score his second mid-way into the first half. Frank won the ball from an opponent moments after the kick-off and chipped in our third goal. Just a minute later, Bologna scored their first – three goals in three minutes, but we still had a 3-1 lead. That lead was cut to just one goal in the 60th, but Carson continued his rampage five minutes later, volleying in a Martin cross for his hat-trick. Bologna went quiet after that, and we walked out 4-2 winners.

Our next game, against Fiorentina, was not nearly as interesting. We had just one shot for the game and neither side managed to score.

We went into our fourth Champions Cup game level on the table with opponents Montpellier. Carson changed that in the 38th with our first goal, and with poor finishing from Montpellier, Frank headed in our second just on half time for a 2-0 lead. That’s how the game finished, and we are set to qualify to the next stage.

It took Webb only ten minutes to put us ahead against Cagliari. Hartwig missed several shots, but we had plenty of chances and eventually sealed the game in the 81st through Frank.

Brescia put us under some pressure in our next league game, with Hofmann forced into a few first half saves. Schuchardt missed a few long-range efforts but eventually in-form striker Frank raced past a defender and slotted the ball into the back of the net for a 65th minute lead. Thanks to a late Hofmann save, we held onto that score for another win. After such a terrible start to the season, we’re now sitting on top of the table, with Milan stuck in the middle.

Lazio were struggling quite badly, and we added to their problems with wingers Balestrieri and Martin combining for the latter to score in the 36th. Martin had a shot saved in the 44th, but it spilled into the path of Frank for our second goal. A straightforward 2-0 win.

Our progression in the Champions Cup was virtually assured, but Frank pretty much made certain of it within 45 seconds of our game against Schalke 04. He hit home a cross from Carson, and though that was our only goal of the half, we had all of the play. Frank had another shot on target in the first minute of the second half as well, and while this was saved, this time it was Carson who was there to score from the rebound. Frank scored his second of the game, and tenth of the season, I the 60th from a Martin cross to seal the 3-0 win.

An excellent month, with the title back within our reach and promising signs in the Champions Cup.

[Donners]

December, season 2022/2023

Despite Milan struggling in the middle of the table, with Ancona on top, it would be very satisfying to get a win against them. Webb and Hoffmann forced saves in the opening minutes, but superstar striker Won-Chul Parisi scored for Milan in the 36th. Three minutes later, he had another, and we were suddenly 0-2 down. We had eight shots on target to their four, but simply could not manage to score. The end of a 16-game unbeaten streak, and a very annoying loss against the side that has repeatedly denied us the title.

Inter, another struggling powerhouse, were our second round Italian Cup opponents. Once again we dominated the game, with ten shots. They had just one, but unlike us, they scored. A 0-1 home loss, putting our cup campaign in trouble and leaving me rather annoyed again.

We had to improve our ratio of shots to goals against Sampdoria. Almost the entire side was replaced due to fatigue, but again we struggled to mount much offence. Thomas and Lombardi did well at the back to hold them off, leaving the game scoreless at half time. It took until the 74th minute for the deadlock to be broken, with Aaron Kientz (replacing the disappointing Hartwig) scoring from a Hoffmann cross. We held on for the final minutes for the win.

The side switched entirely again against Anderlecht. We’d already progressed from the group, so it was a mostly pointless match. In contrast to our previous games, we looked good early and scored in the 17th through Frank. Martin put through another five minutes later after a tremendous run, and in the 30th Franco scored a 30-yard free kick for a 3-0 lead. He launched another rocket nine minutes later from 25 yards – 4-0 at half time. The second half was much quieter as we easily progressed to the second round to face Paris-SG.

Back to the league against Ascoli. Franco was again on fire, scoring the opener in the 14th. It was a good overall team performance and we deserved the three points.

We had to score at least once in the Italian Cup second round match against Inter, having lost the home leg 0-1. Instead, it was a former Ancona player, Alexandre Rasch, with a goal in just two minutes. Hoffmann was active in the first half, but was constantly cut off by the defence. Martin gave us a chance in the 67th, running around two opponents to score, but we still needed another goal to draw level on aggregate. Hoffmann and Hartwig missed sitters in the final minutes and Inter scored again, for a 1-3 aggregate. Both Hartwig and Hoffmann have had poor seasons so far. Hartwig will be released at the end of the season, but Hoffmann is contracted for two more seasons.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Ancona | | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Palermo | | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 17 | +11 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Bologna | | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 29 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Milan | | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 18 | +10 | 29 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Fiorentina | | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 29 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Chievo | | 16 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 17 | +12 | 28 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Napoli | | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 27 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Cagliari | | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 26 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Genoa | | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 25 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Brescia | | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 25 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Sampdoria | | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 23 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Avellino | | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 23 | -3 | 21 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Roma | | 16 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 19 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Lazio | | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 24 | -9 | 17 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Spezia | | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 34 | -15 | 16 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Inter | | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 26 | -8 | 15 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Parma | | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 14 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Ascoli | | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 26 | -15 | 13 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Vicenza | | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 19 | 46 | -27 | 12 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Juventus | | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 27 | -12 | 11 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

January, season 2022/2023

2023’s first game was against Napoli away. It was a dour struggle, with just three shots between the sites for the entire match. Franco missed one of ours, but Webb headed through a 90th minute corner from Martin to snatch three points in the final minute. Hartwig came off the bench for his 361st and final Ancona game. He was a great player for us over the last decade, but his performances this season have not justified his large wages. Better to make some money from him while I still can. Here is his career profile:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

Hartwig - Ancona Career 1/8/11 - 14/1/23

================================================================================================

No Year Apps Gls Con Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

32 2011/2012 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.25

32 2012/2013 9 (14) 2 0 2 2 0 0 6.87

32 2013/2014 18 (9) 3 0 5 7 0 1 7.04

32 2014/2015 19 (10) 5 0 4 7 0 0 7.21

32 2015/2016 41 (2) 8 0 11 5 0 3 7.23

32 2016/2017 37 4 0 18 9 0 1 7.30

32 2017/2018 40 (1) 6 0 9 6 0 2 7.39

32 2018/2019 28 (3) 3 0 6 4 0 1 7.16

32 2019/2020 45 25 0 9 8 0 7 7.49

32 2020/2021 28 (4) 4 0 4 6 0 0 7.03

32 2021/2022 32 (5) 11 0 5 6 0 3 7.08

32 2022/2023 6 (6) 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.83

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTAL 304 (57) 71 0 74 61 0 18 7.29

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOB: 27/6/1991

Position: F LC

Nationality: German

International Caps/Goals: 52/19

Total Career Games: 403

Previous Clubs: Elche (26 games, 6 goals), Elche B (26, 22)

Achievements:

07/12/12 - Inter-Continental Cup winners

27/04/14 - Serie A Champions

17/05/14 - Italian Cup winners

03/08/14 - Italian Super Cup winners

02/04/16 - First international cap against England, aged 24

01/06/16 - European Champions Cup winners

02/09/16 - European Super Cup runners up

31/05/17 - European Champions Cup winners

01/09/17 - European Super Cup runners up

08/12/17 - Inter-Continental Cup winners

13/05/18 - Serie A Champions

30/05/18 - European Champions Cup winners

05/08/18 - Italian Super Cup runners up

07/12/18 - Inter-Continental Cup runners up

29/05/19 - European Champions Cup runners up

26/05/20 - 2020 Italian Serie A Player of the Year runner up

29/06/20 - 2019/2020 Ancona Supporters' Player of the Year

01/01/21 - 2021 European Striker of the Year third placed

01/01/22 - 2022 European Footballer of the Year third placed

10/07/22 - Germany: 2022 FIFA World Cup winners

</pre>

Franco continued his strong form of last month, scoring in the 39th against Avellino from a free kick. They didn’t manage a shot on goal for the entire game and Martin was again excellent on the wing. That 1-0 win was evidently an impressive performance, as I received and rejected job offers from Avellino, Como, Fulham, Reading, Blackburn and Juventus after it. I also turned down a huge £24.5M bid from Manchester United for Adhemar Balestrieri, since he’s still contracted for two seasons.

Palermo were our opponents three days later, and Franco struck in just 12 minutes from a Martin cross for the lead. They took it to 1-1 four minutes later and thanks to a 25-yard shot, Palermo lead 1-2 at the break. It only took three minutes into the second half for Ancona to draw level again, with Mohd Hoffmann finally scoring his first of the season. A Martin shot with 16 minutes to go was barely turned away and Franco missed a long-range volley in the final moments. 2-2.

Chievo next. Lombardi made three early saves before conceding in the 26th. Balestrieri set up Frank for an equaliser nine minutes later, and with Martin missing and Carson having a shot saved in the final five minutes, we had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

We lost Balestrieri, Fiorentini and De Bellis for our game against Vicenza due to a combination of injury and suspension. Aymen Cooper was forced to join them on the sidelines with an injury only a few minutes in, leaving me with three right backs out. Thankfully, I still had Thomas and Gutiérrez. Martin was tackled in the area in the 25th, and the ball spilled straight to Carson for an opportunistic goal. He forced another couple of saves before the break, then scored ten minutes into the second after Frank headed a long Wright pass to him just outside the box. Franco set him up for his hat-trick in the 79th, but his shot was parried. Again though, Carson was in the right place, and struck the rebound home. 3-0, thanks to Carson’s hat-trick. Brighton, Hull, Charlton, Millwall, Nottingham Forest, Udinese Manchester City, Norway and Bari offered me their managerial positions, but as usual, were turned down. No, I don’t know why everybody’s being fired.

I made a rare purchase, albeit an accidental one. I’d negotiated a contract with Milan’s Allistair Schreiber thinking he would join at the end of his contract in July, but didn’t realise the contract wasn’t protected. Thus, he joined immediately for £3.8M.

Allistair Schreiber [24, AM RC, GER – Capped at U21 level]

One day I’m going to have a first XI of all German players… Schreiber starred at Bologna for a few seasons, but faded away at Milan when signed in 19-20. He has superb ball skills and could be a useful playmaking midfielder.

He debuted against Roma in the last game of the month. Lombardi made several early saves, but at the other end we were able to score in the 34th from a Franco header. Despite having many shots on goal, Roma constantly wasted their chances. In contrast, Frank and Carson were on target several times each, with the latter scoring in the final minutes. 2-0.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Ancona | | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 47 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Cagliari | | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 19 | +14 | 39 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Chievo | | 21 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 41 | 24 | +17 | 38 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Bologna | | 21 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 34 | 19 | +15 | 38 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Palermo | | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 38 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Milan | | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 36 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Brescia | | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 23 | +7 | 36 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Genoa | | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Fiorentina | | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Napoli | | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 33 | 20 | +13 | 32 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Sampdoria | | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 30 | 27 | +3 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Avellino | | 21 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 28 | -2 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Spezia | | 21 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 25 | 36 | -11 | 28 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Inter | | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 31 | -6 | 22 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Roma | | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 25 | -8 | 20 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Parma | | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 35 | -17 | 20 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Lazio | | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 37 | -18 | 20 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Ascoli | | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 19 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Vicenza | | 22 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 29 | 57 | -28 | 17 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Juventus | | 21 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 36 | -19 | 13 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[Donners]

February, season 2022/2023

We received a bit of luck in the opening minute of our match against Inter, with a Frank shot hitting the post and rebounding off the keeper into the net. Dupuy wasn’t as fortunate when he hit the crossbar in the 10th and Franco had several shots saved. Chi Yuen Webb scored from 25 yards late in the game to complete the win.

Four days later, we took on Spezia. Mohd Hoffmann played his first game since scoring his only goal of the season in late December. His partner Frank helped him double that tally in the 15th with a pass into the area, and with a neat run past a defender he scored again ten minutes later. Our fourth straight win, and third straight 2-0 win.

Thomas continued our good form with a 17th minute goal against Genoa, heading in a Schuchardt free. A Dupuy header a few minutes later was barely turned away, while we lost Martin to a knock. De Bellis knocked the ball loose in the area in the 36th, giving Genoa an easy equaliser. They scored again right on half time and despite an accurate free from Schreiber in the 69th, couldn’t regain parity.

A quiet first half against Juventus was followed by a worrying second half. Juventus scored from a free in the 55th, and despite some desperate defending, we conceded again in the 90th. Two losses in a row is a bad sign from the top side. Cagliari and Chievo have also struggled this month, but Bologna and Milan (despite their poor start to the season) are closing fast.

Ayissoudou Carson put us back on track against Parma, scoring from a loose clearance in just the second minute. Webb, Schreiber and Carson continued to threaten the goal in the rest of the half, and early in the second Carson scored again. Jean-Sylvestre Nobile came off the bench to finally score his first goal for the club, completing the 3-0 win.

Carson missed a chance to score in the first minute against Fiorentina, but defenders Dupuy and Cooper set up winger Balestrieri in the 34th to open the scoring. Webb scored from 25 yards with the aid of a deflection at the end of the first half. Wingers Balestrieri and Martin starred as usual in the 2-0 win.

[Donners]

March, season 2022/2023

We returned to the Champions Cup with a second round game at home to Paris-SG. We received a penalty in the 18th, but Nelson De Bellis hit it straight at the keeper. Carson put two shots over the bar, and Lombardi had to make a great save to avoid conceding an away goal. A scoreless draw was the result.

De Bellis did a better job from the spot against Cagliari, scoring it in the 21st. With only 15 minutes to go, the title contenders equalised through a diving header, and again we finished with a draw.

Another title contender, Bologna, provided our next challenge. Frank gave us the lead in the 9th and after missing a few shots himself, Carson passed to Allistair Schreiber to score from 30 yards late in the first half. Cooper and De Bellis closed Bologna down at the back and we cruised to the 2-0 victory.

Back to the Champions Cup, needing to score against Paris-SG away to avoid penalties. Unfortunately, they got the best possible start, putting one on the board in the opening minute. A Franco header was saved, and we lost in-form striker Carson to a knock in the 18th. Paris-SG went to a near-unbeatable 2-0 lead in the 38th, and with Schreiber and Frank having shots saved early in the second, it looked all over. A penalty in the 81st was put through by Wright, giving us a bit of a chance, but it was just too late. That knocked Ancona out of the Champions Cup, but we can now focus on winning the league.

With eight league games to go, we could almost seal the title with wins in March’s remaining two. The first of those was against Brescia. We missed a few chances early, with Schreiber hitting the bar and Carson’s header saved. Petru Adrian Schneider, in his first senior game of the season after strong Under-20s form, also got close to scoring, but was tackled just in time. Brescia came close with a couple of frees, but Balestrieri finally set up Carson for the lead in the 55th. Brescia continued to fight, equalising with 11 minutes to go. Not only could we not score again, we only avoided going behind with help from the post. Luckily, nearest rivals Milan also drew their game.

We finished the month against Lazio. Carson set up Martin for the opener in the 29th as we dominated the first half. Balestrieri was everywhere in the second half, though it was the combination of Franco and Schneider that saw our second goal scored in the 84th. Schneider made it a brace a few minutes later – his first two goals for the club – and our 3-0 win was made sweeter by Milan losing to Genoa 1-3. Six games to go, and we have a big lead at the top.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Milan

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Ancona | | 32 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 21 | +27 | 67 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Milan | | 32 | 18 | 5 | 9 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 59 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Bologna | | 32 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 54 | 32 | +22 | 55 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Fiorentina | | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 55 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Cagliari | | 32 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 46 | 30 | +16 | 51 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Palermo | | 32 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 51 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Genoa | | 32 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 52 | 48 | +4 | 51 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Sampdoria | | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 47 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Napoli | | 32 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Brescia | | 32 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 46 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Chievo | | 32 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 45 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Spezia | | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 40 | 51 | -11 | 45 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Juventus | | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 42 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Ascoli | | 32 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 34 | 48 | -14 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Lazio | | 32 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 32 | 54 | -22 | 35 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Avellino | | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 32 | 49 | -17 | 34 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Inter | | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 36 | 47 | -11 | 33 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Parma | | 32 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 29 | 50 | -21 | 31 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Roma | | 32 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 29 | 44 | -15 | 30 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Vicenza | | 32 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 39 | 76 | -37 | 23 |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[suppitty]

Just checking in. You're doing a great job, and good luck. Hopefully you will hold off Milan this time.

[Donners]

I sure hope so...

April, season 2022/2023

It would take a hell of a month to mess up what looks to be our third Serie A title victory. Still, we couldn’t take Ascoli lightly, despite their low placing on the table. Martin took a much-needed rest, while Schneider moved to an attacking midfield spot behind Frank and Carson. Frank put an early free over but scored from a header just on half time. Schneider scored his third in two games with a deflected header four minutes into the second and Carson capped it off with a third in injury time. Milan also won, but we remain eight points clear with only five games to go.

Speaking of Milan, we could pretty much ensure the title win in our game against them. Martin returned, but Balestrieri was suspended. They had several early shots, forcing Hofmann to make two saves. Frank hit the bar with one of our few shots. They had thirteen shots to our three in the first half, but it was scoreless at the break. Hofmann played a great game but finally let one through in the 83rd. Once again we failed to beat our rivals, and worse yet let them in with a shot at stealing the title from us. I rejected job offers from Lyon, Modena and Sheffield Wednesday.

We couldn’t afford to drop another game against Sampdoria. Allistair Schreiber scored from a Balestrieri cross in the 14th and though Carson had a shot cleared off the line, Juventus’ 4-2 defeat of Milan combined with our 1-0 win took us eight points clear with three games left.

A game against Napoli ended the month. Schuhardt controlled the midfield, scoring the only goal of the game. Milan won their game, but it made no difference. Our third Serie A title win was complete.

[Donners]

May, season 2022/2023

With the title win sealed, I was able to give a few lesser lights a run against Avellino. Jean-Sylvestre Nobile missed one early shot but scored just before half time from a long Fiorentini clearance. That was the game’s only goal. I turned down a job offer from Inter, and received £1.8M from them after Jason Lorenzi played his 50th game for them.

A win in our final game would result in a total of 82 points for the season – equal-best with last season. Attacking midfielders Schneider and Legrand combined to put us ahead of Palermo in the first half, but they drew level in the 68th with help from a deflection. Amir Fiorentini ensured a happy end to the season, hitting in a late Franco corner for the 2-1 win.

[Lyle]

I've just read the whole thing in one sitting.

Took me all day.

Superb.

[Donners]

Thanks.

The season in review

Summary

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st in Serie A

Squad Screen

| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Pass | Tck | Drb | Sh Tar | Av R | Value |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Martin | 41 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 62 % | 4.48 | 5.83 | 66 % | 7.85 | £9.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB4 | | Frank* | 38 (3) | 15 | 10 | 8 | 68 % | 1.00 | 1.13 | 63 % | 7.46 | £13.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB5 | | Wright | 38 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 68 % | 3.78 | 2.22 | 85 % | 7.47 | £2M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB7 | | De Bellis, N | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 72 % | 3.43 | 0.49 | 85 % | 7.16 | £15.25M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| ML | | Webb, C* | 37 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 74 % | 2.94 | 0.40 | 70 % | 7.03 | £2.9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Balestrieri, A* | 34 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 60 % | 4.85 | 4.55 | 54 % | 7.79 | £24.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Dupuy, S | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 76 % | 2.52 | 0.18 | 62 % | 7.03 | £600K |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB2 | Req | Carson, A | 30 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 68 % | 0.61 | 1.68 | 73 % | 7.10 | £5.5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MR | Inj | Franco, H | 27 (4) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 71 % | 3.05 | 0.60 | 50 % | 7.06 | £9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Thomas | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 76 % | 2.38 | 0.12 | 100 % | 6.89 | £2.8M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| GK | | Hofmann, S | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 % | - | - | - | 6.80 | £2.1M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB1 | | Lombardi | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 % | - | - | - | 6.91 | £3.1M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Cooper, A | 21 (1) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 64 % | 4.53 | 0.78 | - | 7.05 | £3.3M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Hoffmann, M | 19 (1) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 65 % | 1.25 | 2.23 | 77 % | 7.15 | £1.7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Schuchardt, T | 18 (2) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 75 % | 4.40 | 0.45 | 60 % | 7.30 | £5M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DL | | Gutiérrez, A | 11 (3) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 76 % | 2.48 | 0.99 | 50 % | 6.93 | £1.7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DR | Wnt | Fiorentini, A | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 58 % | 4.36 | 1.91 | 100 % | 7.27 | £1.7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB6 | | Schreiber, A | 10 (3) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 62 % | 1.99 | 1.80 | 75 % | 7.08 | £8.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Cervantes, A | 8 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 % | 2.31 | 0.22 | 100 % | 6.80 | £2.3M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| SB3 | | Förster, A | 6 (11) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 % | 2.77 | 3.77 | 40 % | 7.06 | £7.75M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Legrand, T | 6 (6) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 77 % | 3.31 | - | 40 % | 6.67 | £4M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | Inj | Schneider, P | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 74 % | 1.03 | 0.69 | 66 % | 7.33 | £6M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Wohlfarth, S | 5 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 % | 2.39 | - | 100 % | 6.40 | £2.9M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | Kientz, A | 4 (12) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 82 % | 3.23 | 0.92 | 53 % | 6.81 | £1.7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Unh | Müller, K | 4 (9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 % | 3.71 | 0.71 | 33 % | 6.85 | £7M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | Inj | Nobile, J | 2 (2) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 % | 0.46 | 1.37 | 100 % | 7.00 | £1.4M |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | | |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Our equal-most successful season in the Serie A points-wise, with our third title win. Not a bad result at all.

The Champions Cup exit was a little disappointing, and we also fell short in the Italian Cup. Worse yet, neither the board or fans are particularly excited about winning the title at all. Was it really that long ago they were happy just to avoid relegation?

With a little help from Milan’s poor start, and very strong performances from our newer players (ie. first to third year at the club), we were deserving winners of the title. The problem now is following it up next year.

[Weegie]

Just read this mamoth story in one sitting.

Was excellent and i really enjoyed it.

But i would have one piece of advice: Buy players!

Fair enough, your skinflint spending has got u this far, but with a budget of £400m+ you could easily buy a few young world-class players on long contracts to ensure success for the next few years.

otherwise, KUTGW

[Donners]

TBH, I've never been a fan of spending much. I find that my purchases rarely make huge impacts, and that I can achieve equally good results with free signings. Plus it keeps the board fairly happy to keep costs low, and, as you say, it's got me this far...

Wrapping it up

Martin was a worthy winner of the Serie A Young Player of the Year award, and fellow winger Balestrieri was runner-up Player of the Year, as well as making the Team of the Year. Wright was third-placed Italian Player of the Year despite being English [what bug are we up to?]. I was named Manager of the Year.

Coach Roberto Corti and physio Massimo D’Ambrosio retired. I arranged the signing of veteran midfielder Ismail Ramos, and I’m considering goalkeeper Saul Giannoni, though the fact that I already have two senior keepers is a strong factor against it. A number of Under-20s players were released.

[Donners]

I]Around the world: major awards and results[/i]

Ancona Supporters’ Player of the Year:

Martin

World Player of the Year:

Won-Chul Parisi (Milan) (6th time!)

World Footballer of the year:

Salvatori (Arsenal)

England:

Manchester United

Spain:

Atlético Madrid

Champions Cup:

Porto

UEFA Cup:

FC Bayern

[Donners]

The Transfers

Transfers In

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st in Serie A

Transfers

| Date | Person | From | Fee |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19.6.2022 | Barnard, Chi Yan | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22.6.2022 | Canham, Nodirjon | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 28.6.2022 | Bartlett, Pedro Rodrigo | Free Transfer | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2022 | Wohlfarth, Satish | Norwich | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2022 | Carson, Ayissoudou | Q.P.R. | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2022 | Cooper, Aymen | Sheff Utd | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2022 | Cervantes, Azmin Azram | Oberhausen | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.7.2022 | Hofmann, Satish | HSV | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2022 | Förster, Artur | Celta | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2022 | Franco, Haitham | Rayo | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1.8.2022 | Müller, K. | Deportivo | Free |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 27.8.2022 | Lombardi | Genoa | £0 - P/Ex |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 28.1.2023 | Schreiber, Allistair | Milan | £3.8M |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £3.8M |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Transfers Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st in Serie A

Transfers

| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20.6.2022 | Graziano, Zama | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20.6.2022 | Torre, Atef | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20.6.2022 | Pisani, Chi Lai | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24.7.2022 | Williams, Tak Cheong | Sampdoria | £5.5M |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | López, Selvarajan | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | Márquez, Kirill | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | Bonetti, Nasser | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | Binder, Regin | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | Antonioli, Adamu | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | Barbieri, Marcelino | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 31.7.2022 | Navarra, Yiu Tong | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2.8.2022 | Fontana | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2.8.2022 | Léandri, Felix | Free Transfer | Free |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 27.8.2022 | Marini, Solly | Genoa | £2M - P/Ex |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9.1.2023 | Hartwig | Man Utd | £1.3M |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £8.75M |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Staff Out

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Date | Person | To | Fee |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 26.1.2023 | Stevanovic, Dalibor| Atalanta | £190K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | Total | | £190K |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Plenty of players in for mixed levels of impact. Wohlfarth and Cervantes showed little, while Müller spent most of his time whining about not being in the first team. However, Cooper was a solid defender, Lombardi and Hofmann provided our best goalkeeping team in a long time and Carson was arguably our best striker. Franco was strong in the midfield and Förster showed some promise. Schreiber cost more than I intended, but looked okay.

We didn’t lose a great deal. Indeed, we got by far the better of the Marini deal, not only getting £2M, but also a first team player, while he played just two games for Genoa. However, many released players did far better at other clubs than they did at Ancona. Léandri did very well at Chelsea and Fontana scored a few goals in Serie A. Hartwig was also good at Man U. Kirill Márquez starred in Germany despite his age, Binder became a regular at Bologna, Bonetti played a full season in Serie B and Williams was solid, though I think £5.5M was good compensation.