Colorado Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 How you playing the matches? Your going through the game very fast compared to me. Your doing really well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 How you playing the matches? Your going through the game very fast compared to me.Your doing really well! :lol:thanks! I have a lot of time on my hands! It also took me 30 games into the first season to figure out how to print the screen on my mac to post screen shots so will be longer between updates form now on in. Who are you managing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 How very flattering, a big club but 19th in the championship and plenty of work left to do at Bochum Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 What a month of two halves. A very frustrating defeat at home to Nurnberg as we dominated the game but could not put the ball in the back of the net. The draw against the Hoff also frustrating as we took the lead late only to be pegged back in injury time. So I was not feeling too confident for the next 2 matches against last seasons runner up Gladbach and the mighty FC Bayern. We fully deserved the win over Gladbach and Gelashvili like in the previous game came off he bench to grab a late goal, this time the defence held firm until the end. And as for FC Bayern, this must rank as one of my most accomplished victories in all my time playing CM/FM. Though they battered us we held firm at the back with an outstanding performance from our two centre backs and a couple of world class saves from our keeper, our goal came on the counter attack then we spent the last 20+ mins defending our box to secure a famous victory. We lost to them in the cup in the next game with a much changed team but did ourselves proud and pushed them all the way again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Now this would be hard to turn down as they are a club I really like and they have some awesome players. If they approach I have a very hard decision to make Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
berty1978 Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Great start to your career and winning at Bayern, looks like you've got a very good defensive tactic set up as you're not conceding many goals. Is Phil Neville getting much game time? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Talk about being Mr popular with manager-less clubs If it came to a decision between the 2 I would lean more towards Dortmund as I am not a big fan of FC Bayern, though I have always wanted a peak Philip Lahm in my team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Great start to your career and winning at Bayern, looks like you've got a very good defensive tactic set up as you're not conceding many goals. Is Phil Neville getting much game time? Thanks! Was a Mourinho running down the touchline moment in my living room at the Bayern result, though without anywhere near as much the importance. Yes we do play a very defensive formation. 3 DM sit in front of the back 4 with 2 of them set to make regular forward runs, found it courtesy of tomtuck on the tactics forum and has worked for us ever since our 5-0 win over Aalen in BL2. Phil Neville is getting plenty of game time and playing really well, he let Ribery out of his pocket for some air at full time in the victory over Bayern. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Have asked to delay for a week. Need to think about this one... Rejected FC Bayerns approach Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 More flattering news. I would reject this if it came in, Bale has gone to United so wouldn't get to mould my team round him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 I rejected Dortmund. Felt that there's still plenty to more to do with and achieve at Bochum. Also rejected Spurs. Though I was wrong about Bale going to United as mentioned earlier, they did have a bid accepted for him, for s surprisingly low £27m but mustn't have tied it up, suppose I imagined that it would be a done, fair play to Bale, a footballer with loyalty? Or maybe Fergie wasn't wiling to splash the cash on wages/agent fees. Anyhow I continue at Bochum, I would love to get them in to the ECL but there is plenty of work to be done before that is a reality. We have a decent chance if my key players avoid injury. We only have the league to play for so we shouldn't suffer with fatigue in the final weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Wow, the offers coming in! What starting rep did you use? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Wow, the offers coming in! What starting rep did you use? Yeah! Not sure why I am the most wanted give the other mangers out there. Professional footballer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
berty1978 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I would have said stay at Bochum too, good decision as you're looking good in the league so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 I would have said stay at Bochum too, good decision as you're looking good in the league so far. yes, I believe it was the correct decision would be nice to stick round at least until the end of the season and see if we can stir things up at the top of the Bundesliga Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 There is not enough money in the world to temp me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Reasonably good November, didn't deserve anything from the Leverkusen game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 December was a month that could end up costing us dear when the points are added up at the end of the season. The defeat at Frankfurt was fully deserved as we played terribly and a better more clinical team would have put double that past us. Was very happy with our response at home to rivals Dortmund and should have won the game as we dominated possession and had the better chances, but our striker Necid is lacking confidence in front of goal and hasn't scored since September. The game against Furth was a cracker both teams having 20+ attempts at goal we took more of our chances and a hatrick for Gelashvili has convinced me he will be first choice lone striker. If only we had been so clinical against Hamburg as again we had the more chances in the game but were poor in front of goal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Despite dropping 4 points I think we should have had we head into the winter break in a very good position and with 2 more points we will assure our safety (yes I am not ruling out a complete collapse). We really need a top striker, not easy with no more money for signings or wages. I thought Necid would kick on after his positive start but he has been poor for the last two and a half months and I have lost faith in him. Gelashvili can do a job but he is very inconsistent and I believe he needs to be partnered up front to perform every match, something which I cannot fit into our style of play.Will see if I can sign someone on loan is about the best I can hope for I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Won't really get us much in but nice of the board to recognise that we are not clinging on by the skin of our teeth Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Back into the season after the winter break and a poor showing to get the campaign back underway. Put in a much better display in the next game and thoroughly deserved the victory with a brace from our loan signing Ibrahima Toure form AS Monaco. We lost Necid, our faltering striker to injury for 3-4 months so a replacement was more necessary that it already was. Tried to sign him on loan during the sumer before we bought Necid but we was not interested, guess another 3 months in the Monaco reserves and seeing us doing pretty well in the BL changed his mind. Happy to have him on board and hope he keeps turning in these kind of performances. On another note we got our first South American scout so will be looking for some quality to bring in for next season as many of our players are in their lates twenties to mid thirties and a few want a bit too much money for their ability to sign new contracts. Big overhaul planned for the summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Not a great February but ended up picking up 4 points in the last 2 games though we deserved more in the Schalke game and should have taken the victory. So angry about the Mainz result as we were simply hopeless in front of goal. 2-0 down at half time against Stuttgart got a goal back but couldn't recover another before conceding again. Didn't play well against FSV but 3 points were much needed as I thought the wheels were starting to get a bit loose Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 At least you picked up a few points in your last 2 games, hopefully you can keep going well enough to grab a European spot of some sort. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Thanks but rejected Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 At least you picked up a few points in your last 2 games, hopefully you can keep going well enough to grab a European spot of some sort. Yeah that is the aim now to get into Europe. Won't be too disappointed if we miss out on ECL though the money would be very gratefully received. I am getting a lot of offers for other jobs and feel I might have taken Bochum as far as they can go. May feel differently if we make ECL though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 It appears that we are in free-fall and it feels that way too. No win all month and we've only won two game since the winter break. It's almost a turn around on what we did last season. At least we are safe from any threat of relegation, but I feel our european hopes slipping away Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 May have struggled recently but you've done well to keep away from the relegation zone which is the most important thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Thanks for the mention, nice to see my thread inspired you, Great start in Germany and well done to turn down so many big offers, Alot of us would of jumped at them Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 May have struggled recently but you've done well to keep away from the relegation zone which is the most important thing. Yes and I am glad for that. Think we are going to need a lot of new faces to push forward for next season. Don't want to fall foul of 2nd season syndrome. Thanks for the mention, nice to see my thread inspired you, Great start in Germany and well done to turn down so many big offers, Alot of us would of jumped at them Thanks. Dortmund were difficult to turn down but it's not time for them yet. Would like to manage them with Gotze and Lewindowski so may have to go there if the offer comes up again in the next few seasons. Definitely no chance of their manager getting sacked anytime soon as they've run away with the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Only 3 games in April. We deserved at least a point against Hanover, they grabbed an 80th minute winner in a very even game. A great win and much needed 3 points against Leverkusen. The Dortmund game looks worse than it was as we edged possession but they were so clinical in front of goal and we were down 2-0 in the first 10 mins. This victory for Dortmund earned them the title with 3 games to spare. We are 7th which is the last Euro Cup qualifying place, which we would like, though may get it in 8th if Schalke win (and they should) the German Cup against 2nd divsion Freiburg. More importantly there is over £2m prize money different between 7th and 8th place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 No idea how we won! But we'll take it everyday... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 And there it is the end of the season for Bochum. As above a very unlikely win on the balance of play against Frankfurt, a deserved win over Furth and a disappointing loss on the last day against HSV as we deserved more from that game and Adler in goal made some awesome saves. 7th place finish is something I am very proud to have achieved with the squad we have, I doubt we will do as well next season unless we have a good bit of our £20m prize money to spend on new players. We have an old squad and many are past their prime, we do not have enough depth to bring in youngsters and work them into the team so we will need proven quality at cheap prices. Should be a testing and no doubt frustrating, at times transfer window. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 So Schalke go and lose to Freiburg in the German cup, not sure what's happening with Euro Cup as we don't have an EC next to our name. I knew I shouldn't have tempted fate stating they would win it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 I should think so too. We had a media prediction of 14th and the board wanted us to consolidate (I am taking that means don't get relegated) so yes they should be happy Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 If I'm honest, I'm a little disappointed to only be 3rd given how we overachieved Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 This I do like though.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 And elsewhere the winners were..... Premier League 2013 1st Chelsea 2nd Man City 3rd Man Utd 2014 1st Man City 2nd Chelsea 3rd Arsenal Seria A 2013 1st Barcelona 2nd Real Madrid 3rd Athelic Madrid 2014 1st Barcelona 2nd Real Madrid 3rd Real Sociedad La Liga 2013 1st Juventus 2nd AC Milan 3rd Napoli 2014 1st Napoli 2nd Roma 3rd Inter Bundesliga 2013 1st Dortmund 2nd B Gladbach 3rd FC Bayern 2014 1st Dortmund 2nd HSV 3rd Schalke Portugal Premiera League 2013 1st Sporting 2nd Benfica 3rd FC Porto 2014 1st Benfica 2nd Sporting 3rd FC Porto Turkey Premier League 2013 1st Galatasaray 2nd Fenerbache 3rd Sivasspor 2014 1st Galatasaray 2nd Fenerbache 3rd Genclerbirligi Ligue 1 2013 1st OM 2nd PSG 3rd Saint-Etienne 2014 1st PSG 2nd Montpellier 3rd AS Monaco Champions League 2013 1st Man Utd 2nd Real Madrid 2014 1st Barcelona 2nd Man City Europa League 2013 1st OM 2nd Galatasaray 2014 1st Spurs 2nd Sporting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 I am thinking of adding a few more leagues. I thought my computer would struggle with this many but turns out it's ok. So I will increase the German league down to the 3rd division, England to League 2, bring in the 2 dutch leagues, Scottish prem and 1st division, Russian prem and Greek super league. Depending on how the game runs I may delete or even add more. Can anyone suggest any interesting leagues to include. I am thinking of opening up South America at some point, just not quite yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hardly what I wanted but more than last season. Looks like we'll be looking at what's left over from the released players and getting some loans in Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 So I will be staying with Bochum for the start of the season and see how things progress. In a ideal situation I would stay here another 2 or 3 seasons and aim for breaking into that top 4 and get the ECL football. Not sure I see that happening as I don't think we'll ever get the spending power to allow us to do it. We're still not showing as in europa league and now I'm not bothered if we are not as I would like to have sole focus on attaining a good league position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 I suppose we were the obvious choice for overachievers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 As for player awards we didn't get anywhere near. The only place we came near the top was 2 of my players in top 5 of red cards. We are a dirty team but that's our style with what we got and I am not going to apologise to anyone for it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 I will however do a managers praise of the season for those in my team worth a special mention The back 4 again were the stand out performers, on loan Steve Mouyokolo from Wolves was a very handy loan and chipped in with 4 goals and won the fans player of the year award. again was solid at the back once again also bagging 4 goals. Our keeper, Andreas Luthe was excellent in many games and Nikoloz Gelahvili was once again our top scorer with 11. And our finest young player was Leon Goretzka who turned in some good performances and averaged 7.44 in league appearences (19 starts) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
berty1978 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Just missed out on Europe but a great first season in the top flight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Just missed out on Europe but a great first season in the top flight. Cheers dude. Now that I have got over the disappointment of our drop off in the 2nd half of the season I have reflected a bit more on what was a really good season for a team with our ability. I'm most impressed with our defensive capabilities, this is largely down to our very defensive formation, and we make ourselves hard to beat, only champions Dortmund conceded less goals than us. Our biggest problem is of course scoring and with only 38 goals in 34 games we need to find a 20 goal a season striker and more creative wide players to provide more chances for us to get a 1.5+ goal a game average. Our right inside forward is 34 now and will not be a starter next season, I have a guy coming into that position and need to recruit on the left too as the guy playing there is 33. We have another left sided player, who spent most of last season injured, but he is very inconsistent, and, despite being 4* rated by our coaches, does have the same influence as the 33yo. May be I should give him a run in the 1st half of the season and look in January window if it doesn't work out as I suppose a striker ought to be my main target now. I have also been toying with the idea of dropping the 3xDM formation and pushing them to 3xCM or 2xCM and an anchor man. I don't usually take control of friendlies but perhaps I will this year to see how these work out. I feel it will leave us too exposed at the back, though I have a couple of signings at the back tied up that may be able to handle a greater workload. Unfortunately for my (real life) employers I will be spending most of my day thinking about these things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Pre-season has been a frustrating period again as we struggle to sign players. We are so desperately in need of a decent striker but all the ones that clubs are willing to let go out on loan don't fancy Bochum. We've signed a couple of out of contract players in Lucas Neil, £10k a week ain't too bad and is apparently our best defender, Juan Rodriguez adds to our DM and we've brought in a right back for £575k. We've strengthened our options at right and left inside forwards. But there were better options who went elsewhere. Got a few more deals awaiting confirmation and will post the full ins and outs of the summer once the window closes. Friendlies has confirmed that we cannot play with 3xCM and have reverted to our tried and tested 3xDM formation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Pre-season Friendlies Up until after we played Ajax I tried the 3xCM formation but this clearly was not working. It was not so much about losing but we didn't play well and didn't create the increased amount of chances that I had hoped. When we reverted back to out normal formation we looked a lot better and got results so it's a no brainer really Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Straight forward win in 1st of German Cup Not as good as Bayern and Mandzukic Never seen a player score 9 in one game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Transfers In Lacina Traore is probably the most notable Out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbilly Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Very good start to the season again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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