[FM12] Taking Liechtenstein to the Top

[TheGreatTraveler]

Not your best pre-season.

[cerud]

YEah, tough pre-season, but having the extra cash should help with operations and bringing in players of decent calibre.

[B.W.G]

Put yourself through a tough pre-season facing the bigger teams in Switzerland,actually quite surprised you didn't arrange a friendly against FC Vaduz.Good luck for the new season

[Scarman]

@noikeee - Pretty much, it seems to be a constant struggle with the board and the finances to improve anything at all

@TheGreatTraveler & cerud - Was a pretty tough preseason, but for a greater cause. I lose way too much money throughout the season not to do something like this haha

@B.W.G - I was considering it, but I think I want my first game against them to come in the league. I want them to be fielding a full strength team when I beat them

[Scarman]

Slight change in updating, "influenced" by some of the other threads that have much better layouts haha

FC Ruggell July - September 2014 Report

July 2014

Started the season in the worst way possible, losing 3-1 to Niederweningen. The team had no desire whatsoever, and absolutely embarrassed themselves in front our their fans. After this game, decided it was time for a change. New formation, dropped quite a few underperforming players. The result was a much better performance, although still a loss, to Dübendorf.

August 2014

We needed a win to start the month, and we got it in a good performance over Winkeln SG. We followed this up with two consecutive 1-0 losses, the first one in the Swiss Cup to AC Malcantone. We dominated the match, but just couldn't score an equaliser. It was a similar story against Amriswil, where we couldn't snatch the point despite having many good opportunities. Our final game of the month was another frustrating one, taking a 3-1 lead over Kreuzlingen before slumping to a draw. 4 points picked up during the month, although it seemed more like 5 points dropped.

September 2014

A much better month, starting with a 2-0 win away to Aegeri. Was hoping for a point here but we managed to win all three in a dominant performance. We followed this up with a 3-1 over Lachen/Altendorf. It was another fantastic effort against what should have been a stronger team, going by form. Then we played AC Malcantone, who are quickly becoming our bogey side. Another completely dominant performance, another 1-0 loss.

And there we are after 8 games, sitting in mid table. After July being a horror month, we are slowly improving. The Swiss Cup exit was very disappointing, but now we have more time to focus on the league. Hoping to be in around 5th place by December.

[deltablue]

Bit more of a challenge this time I see.

[Scarman]

deltablue - Much more of one, though if we didn't have that slow start, who knows where we'd be?

FC Ruggell October - December 2014 Report

October 2014

After losing the final match of September, I needed a win to get away from the bottom 3. Effretikon provided that, although the 2-1 loss did not do them justice, as they at least deserved a draw. We then hosted an over-performing Rüthi, where despite our dominance, we couldn't break them down.

November 2014

November singled 4 tough matches, the first against Baar who were sitting just above us prior to the game. In a great performance, we ran out 2-0 winners. Then a run of 3 frustrating draws came our way, first 1-1 to Giubiasco, who despite their league position probably should have won. That was followed by another dominating performance against Ibach. The draw there singled the halfway point of the season. The return game to Niederweningen was much more even then the first game, and it showed in the result with a 2-2 draw.

December 2014

December was a month where I was hoping to pick up 4 points, and my players didn't disappoint me. We ran riot over Dübendorf 3-0, before again dominating but not breaking down a team, this time Amriswil.

We got to our 5th place, where I was hoping, but at this stage I think we can only get to 3rd over all. That lead at the top, while not insurmountable, might just prove too much of a challenge.

[Scarman]

Liechtenstein 2014 Report

Senior

Manager | Fixtures | Euro Qual. Group | Rankings

A poor effort from the pride of the nation this season, not even getting a draw. As a result, they sunk to a new end of year low in the rankings (at least during this save), and still they are content with this manager. No real shock I suppose.

U21

Manager | Fixtures | Qual. Group

Is there some light at the end of the tunnel? Wins over Andorra and Luxembourg, and a draw to Denmark, shows this squad at least has some fight in them, though nothing in qualification again.

U19

Manager | Fixtures | Qual. Group

Wins over Wales, Georgia and Andorra, plus a draw to Georgia, shows the nations youth can at least win some games! Maybe the senior squad needs some lessons in football.

[center]Liechtenstein World Rankings

|Season | Points | Previous Rank | Current Rank | Difference |
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|Start  |   -    |       -       |     119      |     -      |
|2011   |  184   |      119      |     145      |   -26      |
|2012   |  103   |      145      |     185      |   -40      |
|2013   |  161   |      185      |     137      |   +48      |
|2014   |   72   |      137      |     187      |   -50      |
------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[TheGreatTraveler]

Lichenstein not doing to well I see......But good Job in being mid table.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell 2015 Youth Intake

Another year, another intake which only adds players of similar quality to my team. However Luc Zech did stand out, as I need a decent ball winning midfielder, so he is now my YP5. We'll see how good he really is in a few years time.

Luc Zech (YP5) - Coach Report

These players also show potential first team ability, but I'm not entirely sure about them yet.

Marcel Bock

Sandrio Mies

Hans Dieter Schäfer

Phillip Wagner

Fabian Oswald

Finally, my current lot of youths defeated the candidates 4-2.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell January - March 2015 Report

January 2015

Alot of games played this month, although we won none in the league. We began the year poorly with a 1-0 loss to relegation side Winkeln, before turning that around in the Interregional Amateur Cup (IAC) with a 1-0 win over Widnau to progress to the Championship Group Stage. However, we were then thrashed by Kreuzlingen 4-1, and I suddenly was worried with how my team was going to play the season out. Shades of last season were creeping into my mind. However, two wins to fellow league sides Dübendorf and Amriswil in the IAC pushed them away, before losing 2-1 to Aegeri and 2-0 to 3rd tier side Baulmes finished off the month poorly.

February 2015

We continued our bad form into February, losing 3-2 to Lachen/Altendorf after leading 2-1. Their winner came in injury, so it rubbed salt into the wound. Another injury time goal against AC Malcantone consigned to a 1-1 draw at home. It was a frustrating month.

March 2015

Fortunately, we regained some form in March. We defeated league leaders Rüthi 2-1 away, before coming home to thrash Effretikon 5-2. Striker Nils Schmidt scored 2 goals on debut, with the team finally coming together.

And now we sit in 8th, with all but no chance of being relegated. With 3 games to play, I'm hoping to improve to at least 7th, but 6th if I'm lucky. My final games are against Baar, Giubiasco and Ibach.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell April - May 2015 Report

April 2015

Only one game in April. I was hoping for a point here, and was delighted when we went out to an early 2-0 lead. However, youth and inexperience cost us, as it has on many occasions this season, and we let in 3 goals to lose.

May 2015

At this point, I was hoping to still rise to 7th place in the league to gain some respectability. A 3-3 draw to last place Giubiasco was very annoying, however this time we had to fight back from 2-0 down. It showed that there is character in the team, and they won't o down without a fight. The final game was against Ibach, a team 3 points above us in 7th. A win would see us overtake them on superior goal difference, and we didn't disappoint our home fans, runnning out 2-0 victors.

And there we have it, a win, a draw and a loss enough to pull us into 7th place. End of Season update to come soon.

In the meantime, take a look at the Liechtenstein U19 squad. 9 players are currently contracted to us (Marc König is currently out on loan, therefore doesn't appear with our squad). Quite an acheivement. Bit surprised there's only 3 FC Vaduz players, although they more then make up for that in the U21's, with more then half the squad made up of their players. Our only representation in the U21's is Lennart Jokubowski (YP3).

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell End of Season Review

Squad | Club Information | Club Facilities | Finances | Transfers

2e Ligue interrégionale Group 4

Table

A pretty up and down season. We couldn't really put teams away. I think this may be because of the inexperience, and hopefully this season will help a lot of the youngsters out. At our best, we could easily dominate most teams, it really is just a matter of consistency, and not dropping a lead.

Swiss Cup

Fixtures

Speaks for itself really, shocking campaign.

Interregionale Amateur Cup

Fixtures | Group

A better campaign, making it through to the Championship Group stage. We beat both the teams in our league, but couldn't best the 3rd tier side in a pretty decent display.

Key Players

Oliver Spalt - Really flourished at Attacking Mid, having a hand in so many of our plays and scoring a few as well.

Markus Wagener - Scored 10 goals to help us. Has a decent strike rate for a 19 year old, and should only improve as he gets older.

Youth Prospects

Horst Kind (YP1) - Another solid if unspectacular season at left back.

Patrick Riedel (YP2) - Another player that shone in the new system. Provided 5 assists from the midfield.

Lennart Jokubowski (YP3) - Not a great season. Didn't really play to his ability, but did pick up some caps for Liechtnstein U21's.

Thomas Nowakowski (YP4) - A season to forget for the young striker. Broke his foot in December so spent 5 months on the sidelines, and has declined accordingly.

Luc Zech (YP5) - Played a couple of games, will get a better chance to show his ability next season.

[center]FC Ruggell Season by Season

|Season | Tier | Position | Swiss Cup | Europe | Acheivements|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|2011/12|  6th |   1st    | 1st Round | Nope   |  Promotion  |
|2012/13|  5th |   1st    | 4th Round | Nope   |  Promotion  |
|2013/14|  4th |   5th    | 4th Round | Nope   |  None       |
|2014/15|  4th |   7th    | 1st Round | Nope   |  None       |
--------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[deltablue]

Hopefully a return to a promotion push next.

[B.W.G]

Still young so they will get better with experience and as a bonus,you got a victory over the champs

[Scarman]

@deltablue - Hopefully, the players have a bit more experience, I mean most of my team is under 20 so the inconsistency will be there.

@B.W.G - That was actually their second straight promotion! If you look back to our 2nd season, when we were in the 5th tier, they finished mid table. The next year they got promoted and last season promoted again. Pretty unbelievable really.

FC Ruggell Pre Season 2015/16

I again arranged a heap of friendlies against the top tier sides. First off was a mini league against Zürich, Young Biys and Basel which I fully expected to be the Whipping Boys in haha. We didn't actually do too bad against them to be honest. Then we played friendlies against Grasshoppers, Sion and Neuchátel Xamax, and got thrashed by all of them.

We ended off the preseason by arranging a "Liechtenstein Cup", against the Liechtenstein clubs either below us or in our league (in Schaan's case). As I expected, we dominated those teams. So we are better then Triesen, Triesenberg and Schaan. Now we have to overtake the other 3.

Finances | League | Season Tickets

Season Tickets remained at 57. Finanaces went up a lot. I didn't actually realise that the league would draw TV revenue, but I suppose the allure of Zürich, Young Boys and Basel gathering preseason was too much for the camera crews to stay out of Liechtenstein I need all the money I can get though, I only survived last season through cash injections from my chairman. Might actually need to arrange two leagues against top sides to break even in the future.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell July - September 2015 Review

First off, I persuaded the board to give me another Junior Coaching upgrade. We're now on a "Good" level. Am I right in saying that there's only two more levels, Excellent and Exceptional?

July 2015

We began the season away from home against former 3rd tier side Winterthur U21. It was a little unfair as their team only consisted of one actual player, so it was no surprise that we dominated. The surprise of the month was our first home game of the season against Baar. We ran riot, thrashing them 4-1 to skyrocket us to the top of the table. A great start to the season.

August 2015

As fantastic as July was, there is always a month that shows off our youthful inconsistency. This started at Amriswil, losing 2-1 in a tight game I think we should have gotten more from. This was followed up with us bowing out of the Swiss Cup 1st Round a second season in a row. The next game was extremely frustrating though.

In a tight game against Lachen/Altendorf, we shot out to a 2-1 lead by half time. Unfortunately, Horst Kind (YP1) was forced from the field with a long term hip injury (6 months). Markus Wagener also had injury problems, and although he could play on, I wasn't going to risk it at 39% fitness. So two substitutes used, after half time, Marco Wilfinger goes down injured, leaving us with no more subs. Finally, in an attacking play, Oliver Spalt goes down with a broken foot (6 months), leaving us with 10 men.

This was bad enough, but while he was down on the ground, Lachen/Altendorf broke away with their numerical advantage and scored. So much for fair play. Then the manager had the audacity to tell the press he didn't like the way my team played. I've never actually been more annoyed at a virtual manager before haha.

The final game of the month was a 2-1 loss to Niederweningen, and we ended August without a win.

September 2015

After that month of eventfulness, we started September with a solid 1-0 win over Aegeri, breaking our winless run. This was followed by a frustrating 1-1 draw with fellow Liechtenstein club Schaan. We probably didn't deserve anything from this game, but I was happy with the point. We ended September defeating Kreuzlingen 2-0 on home soil, dominating the affair and getting some payback for their 4-1 thrashing of us in January.

There you have, a solid start to the season with two months of no losses and a month of no wins. Lachlen/Altendorf sit comfortably on top, with a 5 point advantage, though it is early days and they've given up table topping leads the past two seasons.

[deltablue]

Much better so far.

[Scarman]

deltablue - Yep, I'm hoping to maintain some pressure on top spot but it's been a bit hard.

FC Ruggell October - December 2014 Review

October 2015

Coming off the back of a solid start to the season, our next opponent was relegation candidate Bazenheld. As seems to be the pattern, we dominated but couldn't find a way through their defence. Full credit to them though as they earned a valuable point. Then we played AC Malcantone, and I had high hopes for winning. Those hopes were dashed when Patrick Riedel (YP2) threw himself into a challenge and got sent off. From them, it was one way traffic, as they ran out 3-0 victors. A poor performance at home. Luckily though, we went back to winning with a solid 1-0 win away to Team Ticino U21, finishing the month with 4 points.

November 2015

This month was almost a mirror image of October, starting off with a 0-0 draw where we couldn't break down the opposition. This was followed by a 1-0 loss to Ibach. However, compared to the Malcantone match where we were dominated, it was us that controlled proceedings. However, a goal on the break to Ibach pushed us 10 points behind them and Lachen/Altendorf at the top, and the promotion push looked out of reach. We ended the month with a 2-1 win to complete the second month in a row that went 0-0 draw, loss, 1 goal win. Another 4 points, and we moved to the final month of 2015.

December 2015

We knew we would have to win both games to keep in the promotion race, and things started brilliantly with a 2-0 win over Baar. In an even game, it was (surprisingly) our clinical finishing that won it for us. We then played Amriswil, who were 4 points clear of us in 3rd. Another clinical display saw us run out 3-0 winners, and within touching distance of 3rd. This game also saw the return of Oliver Spalt from a broken foot, and he didn't disappoint with a goal. Top spot is still a way off, but a lot closer than it looked a month ago.

So we end the year 6 points off promotion. We're not out of the race yet, but i'm not sure whether we have the capacity to win the required games this season. At least we're well and truly clear of the relegation fight. January will be the telling month. We have not won a league game in January for the past 2 seasons, and if that continues this season, we have no chance of promotion.

[B.W.G]

Good season so far and not too far off top spot.Hopefully the teams above you slip up and you can capitalize

[Scarman]

B.W.G - I guess it all depends to how we perform against them, we've still got to play Lachen/Altendorf and Ibach.

Liechtenstein 2015 Review

Senior

Manager | Fixtures | Euro Qual. Group | Rankings

They managed a win to Luxembourg, but suffered many heavy defeats, most notably 10-0 to Russia, 7-0 to Ukraine and 7-1 to Chile. This saw them slip down to 202nd in the world. Malta and Azerbaijan are still ranked worse then them out of the European teams, but this is a sorry place to be for the nation.

U21

Manager | Fixtures | Qual. Group

I think this is the first time I've seen a Liechtenstein team, no matter which age, not bottom in their group. Solid effort by the U21's, with a win over Latvia and a draw with Slovakia lifting them off the bottom.

U19

Manager | Fixtures | Qual. Group

The wins over Hungary, Georgia and Iceland all came in friendlies, so no real change in their qualifying adventures, bottom with no points.

[center]Liechtenstein World Rankings

|Season | Points | Previous Rank | Current Rank | Difference |
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|Start  |   -    |       -       |     119      |     -      |
|2011   |  184   |      119      |     145      |   -26      |
|2012   |  103   |      145      |     185      |   -40      |
|2013   |  161   |      185      |     137      |   +48      |
|2014   |   72   |      137      |     187      |   -50      |
|2015   |   49   |      187      |     202      |   -15      |
------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[cerud]

Could be a good year for your domestic club. It's pretty close between four and top position. Congrats so far

[TheGreatTraveler]

Atleast the young lichenstein teams are doing better that the senior ones.

[Scarman]

cerud - Thanks It's been pretty close, but this season isn't for us. January cost us again :/

TheGreatTraveler - Yeah, hopefully some of those results will come through to the season side when they become good enough to play.

FC Ruggell Youth Intake 2016

Another year, another batch of youngsters.

Arvid Keller - YP6

A good looking right back, unfortunately we have plenty of cover for that position. Will probably challenge my current right back next season

Besides Keller, I signed 5 more players from this batch. The physical attributes have improved this season, so hopefully that's a sign of things to come.

Marcel Wolters

Johannes Horn

Willi Behrens

Mario Wolf

Bernd Dreher

The match between my youths and the candidates finished 4-2 to my current youths.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell January - March 2016 Review

January 2016

Ah January, always our collapse month. 3 seasons in a row we haven't won in the league, although at least picking up a couple of points this season shows we may be on track to reverse this trend. The first match was a 1-1 draw to Niederweningen. No real complaints here, we were both evenly matched. Then the IAC game to Breitenrain came, and we got thrashed by them 4-0. Basically of the opinion that we wouldn't get a point if we got promoted to 3rd tier at the moment. Rüthi is coming last with 11 points this season. The 3rd match was awful, getting thrashed 4-1 by Lachen/Altendorf and basically ruining any chance we had of promotion. The final game, a 0-0 draw with lowly Aegeri was also hard to swallow, after we dominated but couldn't win.

February 2016

February began with a match to fellow Liechtenstein club Schaan, where we ran out 2-0 winners in a tight affair. We followed this up with a 1-1 draw to Kreuzlingen, with our coming via a hilariously own goal, where their defender must have thought he was a striker when he volleyed the ball into the net.

March 2016

Not much to say this month, a great win, followed by a disappointing loss to AC Malcantone putting us out of the promotion race.

Well, it looks like Lachen/Altendorf is not going to drop their lead this year and actually win promotion. Hoping to move up to third in an extremely congested mid table.

[deltablue]

You're not kidding about how crowded it is!

[TheGreatTraveler]

Win means go up to third.

Defeat means go down to 9th.

Tough season, looks like it's very evenly matched.

[Scarman]

You're not kidding about how crowded it is!

Win means go up to third.

Defeat means go down to 9th.

Tough season, looks like it's very evenly matched.

I know, it was a crazy season. We were lucky to end up where we did.

FC Ruggell April - May 2016 Review

April 2016

I wanted to reach 3rd place, and that pursuit started very well against Dübendorf. We won the game 1-0 in a relatively even affair. This pushed us to 5th place due to other results, but will still had a great chance of finishing 3rd.

May 2016

We followed that up with a great 2-0 win over Team Ticino U21, where Patrick Riedel scored one of the goals of the season, taking the shot first time and drilling it top corner from the edge of the area. This put us to 3rd place by 1 point, and we remained their even after a disappointing loss to Ibach.

And there's the final table. Lachen/Altendorf finally got promoted after three seasons of challenging. Only 2 points seperated 3rd though 7th, showing how even the competition is in the 4th tier. Overall, a great season, one I hope to improve on.

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Transfers

The finances are terrible. The only way I can make money is via pre-season leagues. So I guess that will be my income source for a while.

Youth Prospects

Horst Kind (YP1) - Had a great season, having the highest average rating. Won Fan's player of the Year.

Patrick Riedel (YP2) - Also had a pretty decent season. Nothing spectacular, but was solid enough.

Lennart Jokubowski (YP3) - Had a pretty poor season, couldn't cement a first team place and didn't play well when he did start.

Thomas Nowakowski (YP4) - Had a pretty bad season as well. I guess I can blame his long injury lay off last season, but he scored no goals. Has decent attributes, so may go on a scoring streak if he gets one.

Luc Zech (YP5) - Didn't feature much due to the performances of other players. Performed alright, but no real superstar as of yet.

Arvid Keller (YP6) - Started one game and played well, also got his first U21 cap at the age of 15. One to watch.

[center]FC Ruggell Season by Season

|Season | Tier | Position | Swiss Cup | Europe | Acheivements|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|2011/12|  6th |   1st    | 1st Round | Nope   |  Promotion  |
|2012/13|  5th |   1st    | 4th Round | Nope   |  Promotion  |
|2013/14|  4th |   5th    | 4th Round | Nope   |  None       |
|2014/15|  4th |   7th    | 1st Round | Nope   |  None       |
|2015/16|  4th |   3rd    | 1st Round | Nope   |  None       |
--------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[cerud]

That's crazy how crowded the table was, but speaks to the level of competition you have. A 3rd place finish is a hard fought battle. Congrats

[deltablue]

Looks like a tough battle to go up in future.

[B.W.G]

That was too close for comfort,hopefully giving your a youth a few seasons to develop will help with the promotion push.

[Scarman]

That was too close for comfort,hopefully giving your a youth a few seasons to develop will help with the promotion push.

Looks like a tough battle to go up in future.

That's crazy how crowded the table was, but speaks to the level of competition you have. A 3rd place finish is a hard fought battle. Congrats

Thanks fellas. It is a really even league, all it takes is one team to string together a couple of great results, and then they're pretty much uncatchable. If we had beaten both Lachlen/Altendorf and Ibach in the second half of the season we would have gone up, but things just didn't want to go our way.

FC Ruggell Pre-Season/July - September Review

Didn't really have internet access, so I played through to September. The preseason fixtures were pretty self explanatory. We played leagues against top tier sides for our only potential revenue raising for the season, managing to get to 600k in the black. Then I checked to see if we could upgrade the coaching budget, unfortunately for months now it has just been the cut back option. So I checked to see if we could build youth facilities, due to not actually having any. Thankfully the board accepted, but it's still in the planning phase and we may not have enough money when the time comes around. If we do, we have to wait until October next year for them.

July 2016

We began the season against our old bogey team AC Malcantone, and again couldn't come away with the win. A tight 0-0 affair at home still better then the 3-0 thrashing they gave us last season. We then went to newly promoted Sementina and came away with a well earned 2-1 win.

August 2016

We started August at home to relegated Rüthi, where a tight 1-1 match ensured us of an unbeaten start to the season, furhter increasing that run in the Swiss Cup, defeating Puplinge 2-1 to progress past the 1st Round for the first time in 2 years. We followed that up with a 1-1 draw away to Baar, before getting a historic 1-0 win over 3rd tier side Malley in the Swiss Cup 2nd Round. That spurred us on to finish to month with a 1-0 away win to Kreuzlingen.

September 2016

September started spectacularly with a 4-1 thrashing of Dübendorf. Nils Schmidt scored a hattrick, and all in all, has been phenomenal this season. We then played Bazenheld at home and got another frustrating 1-1 draw. The Swiss CUp 3rd Round went well and we progressed beating Ascona 2-1. This sets us up with 6th tier side Fulenbach in the 4th Round. We finished the month with another disappointing draw, 1-1 to St Gallen U21.

Thhere we have it, fantastic unbeaten start, disappointing 6th place and 5 draws. This seasons shaping up to be an odd one already. We need to start winning the tight games in order to be promotion candidates though. Thankfully, no team has really taken the league by the scruff of the neck yet.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell October - December Review

October 2016

October was a fantastic month, with us winning all four games. It started with a 3-1 win over last season promotion candidates Ibach, their league position a true testament to the leagues equality. We followed this up with a trip to newly promoted Chur, where we ran out 2-1 winners, before travelling to meet Fulenbach in the Swiss Cup 4th Round. In a surprisingly tight match, extra time was required for us to win, with Nils Schmidt grabbing his second hat trick this season. The final match against fellow Liechtenstein club Schaan ended in a 1-0 victory to us.

November 2016

Novmeber started with a must win game against Amriswil. Only a goal difference separated us, and we managed to run out 1-0 victors at home. A trip to last place Schmerikon followed, where we picked up our biggest win of the season, 5-0 in a fantastic performance. Another away trip followed, this time to 1st tier Sion in the Swiss Cup 5th Round. We played brilliantly, and began to dominate when they had a player sent off. Unfortunately, they managed to sneak home a winner late in injury time to deny us a chance of taking the game to extra time, and maybe penalties. We ended the month with the first game of the second half of the season, running out 3-1 winners over AC Malcantone.

December 2016

December saw us back to our old selves, sort of. It began with a draw to Sementina, a game which we should have easily won. Luckily, we bounced back with a crucial 2-0 win over Rüthi, before dropping a 3-0 halftime lead against Baar to scrape a draw. That was a truly pathetic game.

Kreuzlingen match us at every turn, and despite us not losing a game in the league yet, we still aren't top. January will be the crucial month. We haven't won a league game in January for 3 seasons, and our first game in January is, surprise surprise, against Kreuzlingen. If they win, it is essentially season over as they have played too good this season. Draws have really cost us so far. This coming month is one of the most important I have faced in football manager.

[Scarman]

Liechtenstein 2016 Review

Senior

Manager | Fixtures | World Cup Qual. | Rankings

Another year for Liechtenstein, though at least they managed two wins over fellow European minnows. A change of management (I applied, but didn't get the job) did little to stop the defeats. They gained 5 place in the rankings.

U21

Manager | Fixtures | Qual. Group

A decent year, which included not finishing last in their qualifying group, and a couple of other good wins. Another change of manager here, I had no luck in applying though.

U19

Manager | Fixtures | Qual. Group

A better year, not finishing last shows some signs of improvement. YP5 Luc Zech showed his authority at this level, scoring the winner against Estonia. Another management position I was unsuccessful in applying for.

[center]Liechtenstein World Rankings

|Season | Points | Previous Rank | Current Rank | Difference |
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|Start  |   -    |       -       |     119      |     -      |
|2011   |  184   |      119      |     145      |   -26      |
|2012   |  103   |      145      |     185      |   -40      |
|2013   |  161   |      185      |     137      |   +48      |
|2014   |   72   |      137      |     187      |   -50      |
|2015   |   49   |      187      |     202      |   -15      |
|2016   |   66   |      202      |     197      |   +5       |
------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[B.W.G]

Very good first half to the season.

[deltablue]

Hope you can go all the way.

[Scarman]

Thanks I couldn't have dreamt for a better start. It would be awesome to finally get promotion this season.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Lienchenstein is improving!

January will be your give or take month, and I feel you need a good month to stay in the promotion race.

[Scarman]

Lienchenstein is improving!

January will be your give or take month, and I feel you need a good month to stay in the promotion race.

Slowly but surely. I won't say much before the January - March update, but we did lose to Kreuzlingen. However, there's also only 2 points between 1st and 3rd now, and the team that is currently on top isn't one of us two.

FC Ruggell Youth Intake

A pretty rubbish year if I say so myself. Only two players stood out, and neither of them star quality.

Sebastian Schneider - Has some decent technical attributes, but pretty rubbish elsewhere.

Philipp Seitz - Has got the right technical and, to an extent, mental attributes for a centre back, but needs to desperately improve his physical. Hopefully his determination will make him improve. If he does, I will probably reconsider him for Youth Prospect status.

Also, continuing my tradition of signing at least 1 youth keeper, Dominic Riedel has been signed.

The match between my youths and the candidates was somewhat surprising, finishing 2-2.

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell January - March Review

January 2017

The first game of the new year was played against 3rd tier side Schaffhausen, where we lost 2-0. I had expected this, and was just hoping that we would sustain no injuries for the crucial game against Kreuzlingen. Fortunately, we didn't, but we still managed to lose, pushing Kreuzlingen out to a 6 point lead at the top. At this point, I figured this January would be the same as our previous 3. But then we found some form, dispatching Dübendorf 2-1, and coming from 2-1 down to defeat Bazenheld 3-2.

February 2017

Only 1 game this month, and what a game it was. We destroyed St Gallen U21 5-0, with Philipp Wagner getting a 9.8 rating with 1 goal and 3 assists.

March 2017

March turned out to be a vital month. First game was a very disappointing home loss to Chur. However, Amriswil and Kreuzlingen played each other the same day, with Amriswil coming out on top. This put Amriswil top with 48 points, Kreuzlingen 2nd with 47, and us third with 46. The other game this month ended in a 3-1 victory over Ibach, with Amriswil also winning, while Kreuzlingen losing their match.

It's tight at the top, and we're in for a grandstand finish here. In true Football Manager style, our first match in April is away to Amriswil. They could wrap up the title there, while if we win we take the drivers seat with matches at home to Schaan and Schmerikon. But it would be foolish to count out Kreuzlingen now, after their wonderful season.

Also, could we be about to experience our first board takeover?

[Scarman]

FC Ruggell April - May/End of Season Review

April 2017

This months only game was extremely important. A loss would see us all but out of the promotion race, while a win would see us go top. Neither of those options happened, and Amriswil would have to settle with a 0-0 draw with us.

May 2017

The last two games of the season were home games, and would have to hope Amriswil would slip up on their run home. We started off with a solid 2-0 win over Schaan, but Amriswil and Kreuzlingen both won, leaving the top three separated by 2 points again. The final game of the season saw us win 3-0, and while Chur was at one point leading, Amrisiwl came from behind to claim top spot.

An unbelievable season. The draws agaisnt St. Gallen U21, Baar and Sementina really cost us. Those should have been easy wins, but they were the games that cost us. Either way, a fantastic season, and I'm hoping to improve by 1 place next season.

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Transfers | Squad

Finances only in the black due to the money earned during preseason, so I'll look to build on that this coming preseason.

Star Player

Nils Schmidt - Scored the most goals this season, got the most assists and won the most Man of the Match awards... yet, he sure was our best player this season.

Youth Prospects

Horst Kind (YP1) - Declined this season due to a long term injury. No longer even close to being the best left back in the team, so will probably just be back up from now on.

Patrick Riedel (YP2) - Had another great season as a ball winning mid.

Lennart Jokubowski (YP3) - After an average last season, suddenly found form and became a key player.

Thomas Nowakowski (YP4) - Had a terrific season up front. I'd say he is now over that broken foot that kept him out for 4 months. Maybe the fact that him and Schmidt came through the youth system the same year contributed to their success up front.

Luc Zech (YP5) - Didn't find many first team opportunities due to the 1st team playing so well.

Arvid Keller (YP6) - Played extremely well when given an opportunity until a torn hamstring struck him down at the end of the season. Already has won 5 U21 caps for Liechtenstein and is only 16 years old, definitely one to watch.

[center]FC Ruggell Season by Season

|Season | Tier | Position | Swiss Cup | Europe | Acheivements|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|2011/12|  6th |   1st    | 1st Round | Nope   |  Promotion  |
|2012/13|  5th |   1st    | 4th Round | Nope   |  Promotion  |
|2013/14|  4th |   5th    | 4th Round | Nope   |  None       |
|2014/15|  4th |   7th    | 1st Round | Nope   |  None       |
|2015/16|  4th |   3rd    | 1st Round | Nope   |  None       |
|2016/17|  4th |   2nd    | 5th Round | Nope   |  None       |
--------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

We also had one last present for the season - the board allowed us to increase the Junior Coaching budget, meaning we are now on an excellent level However, the plans for the youth facilities were scrapped due to lack of funds. If I make the money in the preseason, I'll try and get it back on track.

[B.W.G]

So close to getting promoted,hopefully you'll be able to do it next season.

[deltablue]

I love the matter-of-fact 'nope' for Europe.

[noikeee]

I imagine this would've been a frustrating season, coming so close to promotion after being stuck at that level for 4 seasons, but this slowing down of progress may actually be good in the long-term for your youths as they gain experience to attack the following tier - very good news on the junior coaching front too to go along with that. Surely next year you're looking into going up tho?

[Scarman]

So close to getting promoted,hopefully you'll be able to do it next season.

Thanks

I love the matter-of-fact 'nope' for Europe.

I was wondering if someone would point out the bluntness of that haha. I'd imagine there will be at least 50 "Nope's" before I can write qualified or something similiar there

I imagine this would've been a frustrating season, coming so close to promotion after being stuck at that level for 4 seasons, but this slowing down of progress may actually be good in the long-term for your youths as they gain experience to attack the following tier - very good news on the junior coaching front too to go along with that. Surely next year you're looking into going up tho?

Yes and no. They do gain more experience and they have progressed rather well, but most of them are now at a stage, even though they still have at least 3 stars left to fulfil, where their progress is stunted due to a need to train full time. I can't provided that at the moment so it looks like this quality is going to be here for a while. And yeah, anything other than promotion this season will be classed as a disappointing season.

FC Ruggell PreSeason 2017/18

Fixtures

As you can see, I focused again on the top tier sides to gain money, before facing even teams in a warm. Both games ended in possibly the worst penalty shoot outs I have ever seen.

Finances | League

Finances gained close to 600k because of the leagues, though most of that will be gone by the end of the season. Lacheln/Altendorf has become the 3rd of 5 teams to come straight back down after winning the league. I'm gonna take this as a sign that the step up is brutal.

It was an eventful preseason off the field as well, with a board takeover threatening my position. Fortunately, they allowed me to stay on and because of the finances, agreed to start planning youth facilities. Hopefully they won't have to cancel these ones.

[Flamers]

KUGTW this seems like a challenge which will keep you going for a while!

[Scarman]

Cheers Flamers xD

FC Ruggell July - September Review

July 2017

Opening day again put us in a tough away fixture, this time to recently relegated Lacheln/Altendorf. Our last game against them ended in a 4-1 win for them, so we were looking not to repeat that scoreline. The game was a relatively even affair, and it reflected in the final score with a 2-2 draw. Our next game was against newly promoted FC Contone, who we dispatched rather unconvincingly 2-1.

August 2017

August started with a bang. Two away trips handed us two 4 goal victories, the first a 5-1 thrashing of Baar in the league, with Thomas Nowakowski (YP4) scoring a hattrick, before heading to Maur in the cup and turning on the style in front of their fans, winning 4-0. We seemed to suffer from overconfidence in our next game against newly promoted side Appenzil, losing 2-1, before finishing the month in the cup with a 2-1 victory over FC Forward-Morges

September 2017

September put us up against Rüthi, a must win game for us seeing we were slipping away from top placed Schaan, currently 5 points ahead of us. Nowakowski again starred with 2 goals in the 3-0 win, before a trip to AC Malcantone ended in a 2-1 victory. Then it was time for another newly promoted side to give us headaches, with Aadorf running out 3-2 victors in a game we dominated. Unfortunately, they scored two early goals and we couldn't recover. The next two games were equally unconvincing, with us beating 6th tier side Puidoux-Chexbres 1-0 in the Swiss Cup 3rd round, before running out 3-1 victors over Bazenheld after conceding another early goal.

Schaan has picked up a very early 6 point lead over us after our disappointing start to the season. The two losses to newly promoted sides were real kick in the guts, but also showed us that we are still not completely above this level. Schaan unbeaten record is scary, as I didn't expect them to be doing this well. At the same time, Lachlen/Altendorf are doing much more poorly than I imagined.

In player news, Thomas Nowakowski (YP4) has shone so far this season with 10 goals in 11 games, including 8 in the league. Considering he scored 12 in 20 last season, this is a great achievement for him, and shows the progress he has made since his broken foot a few seasons back which kept him out for 4 months.

Also updated some of the stuff in the top posts, including the 100 appearances, which now show the seasons the players were with the club

[deltablue]

Pity Schaan are so far ahead, reasonably early days though.

[Scarman]

Definitely too early to call it yet delta, Kreuzlingen were leading by 6 after 18 games last season and ended up 3rd. Schaan have still got to play us, and we haven't lost to them in competitive fixtures yet, with 4 wins and 2 draws.

[cerud]

A good start to the league. Having only a single promotion spot makes it a tough run!