Gundo's FM08 Small club from a small nation European adventure challenge

[Jimbokav1971]

Ian Brown - not the former frontman of The Stone Roses (showing my age here) but a Botswanan regen I managed to get to the club on trial 2 seasons back. He started to force his way into the first team last season and will be my first choice right back this time.

Dodgee. I would LOVE to have a player called Ian Brown .

[Razer82]

Razer82 – Juventus Bucharest – 2010 / 2011 – Romanian First League

Manager Profile

League Table

Transfer Summary

Top Scorer

Euro Cup

Our first venture into Europe and I was extremely surprised to see us seeded for the first qualifying round where we were drawn to face Gorica of Slovenia. A comfortable 3-1 victory away from home all but sealed our entry into the second round and a 2-1 home win confirmed this.

We were again a seeded team for the second qualifying round where we met Droheda United a 3-0 home win and a 2-2 draw away saw us into the first round proper.

We were unseeded for the First Round draw and this would be our undoing. We were drawn with AZ and after being hammered 4-0 away I knew that we’d go no further in the competition, although we were able to redeem ourselves slightly with a 2-1 home win the second leg.

All in all I was very pleased we were able to make it as far as we did, the money will certainly come in handy in the future.

League

Diabolical seems to be the only way to describe our second season in the First League, a season that should have seen us making strides up the table instead saw us fighting to even prove that we belonged! We managed just 1 win in our first 17 games and were firmly rooted in the relegation zone for the majority of the first half of the campaign. We went into the mid season break firmly sat at the bottom of the table but only 1 point behind after beating Gaz Metan 4-0 (probably our best performance of the season so far) to cut the gap.

The second half of the season was just as bad as the first and with 2 games remaining our relegation back to the Second League was confirmed by a 3-1 defeat to league champions Otelul.

Cup

Seeing as our form was diabolical at the time of the fourth round – I knew that we would progress no further than this and we were easily dispatched 3-1 by CFR Cluj and that was the end of that.

After our 11th place finish last season I was expecting this year to be a year of growth in which our performances would improve and we’d either repeat our mid-table finish, which I informed the board would happen in order to be given a nice £825k transfer budget. I was hoping that our participation in the Euro Cup would provide an attraction. I think that may have been a bit of boost, but to be honest probably not a huge amount.

Our form problems may have been to do with the 11 new players that were brought in causing the team not to gel.

A little tour to the Faroe Islands was organised in the mid season break, in order to maintain high team morale and hopefully carry some kind of form into the second half of the season to try and pull us out of the relegation zone. This was not to be as we faced CFR Cluj, Rapid and Steaua in the first 3 games after the break. Losing 6 of the final 7 games sealed our fate and it was back to the Second League Group 2.

Co-efficient

Club – 9.026 (227Th)

Nation – 27.357 (14th)

ECC – 2

EC – 2

EV – 1

Relegation also meant no new contract – So that’s the end of this save, but I’m currently holidaying in Northern Ireland for a new game. Profile to come.

[kccircle]

Season Update - Cookstown Olympic - Northern Ireland - 2010/11

What a fantastic season. Having just missed out on the top two last year around I knew I would be there or thereabouts. In the end we dominated this division to such an extent that we were rarely not in top spot

Overall the league table looked like this.

I am in debt though and am concious of getting the boot for this having put in a lot of work to get this far. Because of this I decided to reduce my squad by a couple of players but this hasn't worked having lost £23k this season as opposed to £15k last season. I guess this wont change unless I sell a couple of players or qualify for either Europe or the All-Ireland cup.

Once again Lee Wells has been my star man. I was thinking about offloading him to cure my debt issue but his goals prove to valuable each season. I even bought a striker to replace him in readiness but I cannot seem to find it in me to let him go.

Other players to catch the eye include (once again) Darren McClarnon and new signing Willie Strachan.

Moving back to Lee Wells he has now scored (in all competitions) 76 in 90 games over three seasons. You can see why I've kept him. It's just frustrating that in each transfer window I have to fend off several request from other clubs for him.

Squadlist

Managers Profile

Managers Overview

Worlds Most Valuable Players

If only I could get a cup run going this game would be perfect, but, as already posted, I seem to get knocked out by some random teams (mainly non league)

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q244/kccircle/MostValuablePlayers.jpg

Cookstown Olympic - welcome to the Carnegie Irish Premier League

[CCFC 4 life]

AFan Lido season report 2008/2009

League

Not a bad first season, media thought i was 200-1 to win the league and was goin to get relagated. with an average squad age of 18 i gave my youth a chance. a couple of signings to strengthen the squad and the season was under way. managed to get a good run of games together at the start of the season and was challenging for a euro place, with a fairly good middle and a poor run towards the end managed to claim 10th place.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3117/gundoschallengeleaguetagb5.jpg

Cups

the cups i was in didn't go as well as i hoped going out in the second round of the Welsh cup and finished 3rd in the group in the welsh challenge cup

Finances

As i told the big man up stairs i would try to avoid relegation he gave me a transfer budget of 0 and a wage budget of 3.5k, Managed to keep the finaces in tact so the bored were happy me on that front. There will be no transfer money for next year as i have a 550 capacity stadium which does not generate any money at all.

Special Mentions

There were three players which helped my side avoid relegation these were;

Stephen Maher - A 20 year old who has been capped at under 19's for ireland. The AMC signed on a free from yeovil town, he contributed 11 goals and 7 assits with an avg rating of 7.29

Andy Johnston - A 17 year old who was called up from the youth team, the ST scored 14 and assited 8 with 10 MOM apperances, with his 7.21 avg rating

Luke harrington - A 21 year old defender who was signed on a free transfer, he had an average rating of 7.15, scoring 7 goals and 7 MOM apperances.

Going into pre-season now so hopefuly going to make a few new signings, get a good run in the cup and finish at least 9th

[DodgeeD]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Ian Brown - not the former frontman of The Stone Roses (showing my age here) but a Botswanan regen I managed to get to the club on trial 2 seasons back. He started to force his way into the first team last season and will be my first choice right back this time.

Dodgee. I would LOVE to have a player called Ian Brown . </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The name's what first caught my attention when I saw him on the player search screen. I checked it for a laugh and was surprised to see decent looking stats. He came on trial and rthe coaches were impressed. Let's just hope he doesn't have a fantastic year followed by 6 years of nothing, then a half-arsed comeback!

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm sure if you asked him he would just say "I wanna be adored".

He's also not worried about a good 1st season followed by a couple of poor one's because he would say "I am the ressurection".

We all know about "the second coming" too.

Now if he played in the FA Cup Final today and that hairy bloke with the stupid hat and the big drum was sick, his place could be taken but a petite attractive young lady because "she bangs the drum" and after a long and glitteriung career that spanned decades, there could be a statue errected in his memory that would be "made of stone".

Anyone got any more ?

[max1994]

Breaking news just in NK koprivnica a newly promoted Croation team have appointed Max Trayhorn as there new manager

Here is my manager overview

Full update when ive played a few games

PLEASE NOTE MY JUVENTUS BUCHAREST GAME IS CORRUPT SO IVE STARTED AGAIN

[Jimbokav1971]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

I'm sure if you asked him he would just say "I wanna be adored".

He's also not worried about a good 1st season followed by a couple of poor one's because he would say "I am the ressurection".

We all know about "the second coming" too.

Now if he played in the FA Cup Final today and that hairy bloke with the stupid hat and the big drum was sick, his place could be taken but a petite attractive young lady because "she bangs the drum" and after a long and glitteriung career that spanned decades, there could be a statue errected in his memory that would be "made of stone".

Anyone got any more ?

I wanna be adored.

She bangs the drum.

Elephant stone. I always thought it was just called stone.

Bloody hell. What a band they were .

[thezogsageordie]

I was reading through the thread and who is "Super Kyle"? What's his surname? And I was also reading the early banter and was wondering why you 4 don't just buy both strikers and stick them together?

[Ex_Arch_31]

Right, decided to give this a go in Wales with Newport YMCA (I chose them because of the name, I'll be honest)

Here's my "squad":

Here's me:

And here's an overview of things:

Time to go own.

[CCFC 4 life]

good look mate its quite hard in the welsh league, i was thinkin bout being newport YMCA but looked at there squad and that, but it looked way to hard

[DodgeeD]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

I'm sure if you asked him he would just say "I wanna be adored".

He's also not worried about a good 1st season followed by a couple of poor one's because he would say "I am the ressurection".

We all know about "the second coming" too.

Now if he played in the FA Cup Final today and that hairy bloke with the stupid hat and the big drum was sick, his place could be taken but a petite attractive young lady because "she bangs the drum" and after a long and glitteriung career that spanned decades, there could be a statue errected in his memory that would be "made of stone".

Anyone got any more ?

Plenty

What about when the whinging too-big-for-his-boots player finally leaves the team - "Bye bye badman".

And just before the ChampiÅŸons League final (for when we get there ) he will tell his teamates "This is the one" and inform his opponents how he will "Shoot You Down".

After all, this is "What the world is waiting for". I could squeeze one in about winner's medals and fool's gold but I'd better stop before I'm kicked off the challenge for bad puns!

[aaberdeenn]

who is "Super Kyle"? What's his surname?

Kyle Wilson, plays for Barrow.

[iacovone]

Some lovely Stone Roses puns here hats off to you jimbo for kicking it off

What a band indeed

[aaberdeenn]

Indeed, super band. Oasis are/were better though.

[Gundo]

Originally posted by thezogsageordie:

I was also reading the early banter and was wondering why you 4 don't just buy both strikers and stick them together?

That would mean running the English leagues (all) and the Swedish leagues (all) to be able to do that, so it wouldn't be possible in either this or dafuge's challenge. It's an interesting idea though, don't think anyone has tried it?

I'm not much of a 'Super Kyle' fan tbh. Burda was the best, is the best and will always be the best.

[Gundo]

Originally posted by aaberdeenn:

Indeed, super band. Oasis are/were better though.

I agree. I grew up with Oasis in their prime in the 90's, they're simple awesome.

[Frazza Pee]

Originally posted by Gundo:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by aaberdeenn:

Indeed, super band. Oasis are/were better though.

I agree. I grew up with Oasis in their prime in the 90's, they're simple awesome. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>green Days better

[iacovone]

Same here

[aaberdeenn]

It would be great to see how Super Kyle and Patrick Burda would fair as a strike partnership in the English lower leagues.

[iacovone]

No no no no Frazza Pee. That's a very poor shout.

[Frazza Pee]

How is it?

[iacovone]

Well this musical talk is all getting slightly off topic!

Back to the challenge and I'm out of my Champions League group \o/. We can finish top if we beat Chelsea away in the last game.

[aaberdeenn]

Green Day? don't think so. Sure they were pretty good and were popular but I don't think anyone will ever make as big an impact on the rock/pop scene as Oasis did.

[aaberdeenn]

Yeah, enough of the off-topic. I blame Jimbo to be honest.

[Frazza Pee]

Hello Green Day basiccaly invented Punk Rock

[aaberdeenn]

Oasis changed the music industry forever, Green Day didn't. Get over it.

[thezogsageordie]

I'll put a stop to this off-topic madness (great band ) by comparing the two to football.

Saying that Green Day invented Punk Rock is like saying Cristiano Ronaldo invented trickery within football.

Fact is, Green Day nor Ronaldo invented either

I'm never wrong!

Back on topic, I am quite impatient so my dafuge save is going onto the back burner and a Slovenian team is my next port of call, I'm really excited as it's two leagues! Although I haven't underestimated the colossal task ahead.

[DodgeeD]

Originally posted by aaberdeenn:

Yeah, enough of the off-topic. I blame Jimbo to be honest.

Personally, I blame the Botswanan Ian Brown!

[cookie15]

Originally posted by Gundo:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by thezogsageordie:

I was also reading the early banter and was wondering why you 4 don't just buy both strikers and stick them together?

That would mean running the English leagues (all) and the Swedish leagues (all) to be able to do that, so it wouldn't be possible in either this or dafuge's challenge. It's an interesting idea though, don't think anyone has tried it?

I'm not much of a 'Super Kyle' fan tbh. Burda was the best, is the best and will always be the best. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kyle who? There's only one Patrik Burda

[thezogsageordie]

On the Manager Overview bit I've looked at it every day and there are no new teams but the leagues have reset

[thezogsageordie]

Profile

In bizarre fashion, 30 year old Samuel Fuller has been appointed manager of Crensovci, just hours after former manager and confirmed psychopath Roy Keane walked out.

The press, excluding ourselves, The Sam, have yet to interview the young gun, but we have it in good faith that he is a former trainee accountant

[Quacky]

Intrigued by the tails of constant struggle in Switzerland I decided to go on holiday there and see what turned up. After a year I was greeted with two fine proposals FC Baden featuring a large standing area, pretty decent training facilities and a youth academy or FC Mendrisio-Stabio featuring no training facilities, a quite marvelous logo and intriguing kit who play at an unknown location, a quick google suggest this is actually the 4260 capacity Stadio Comunale di Mendrisio.

So off to the toilet I went to make my decision when I realized I had never played a club with an unknown stadium before and the kit is one thing you can't change so the worst team clearly won and off I went.

[DodgeeD]

Unknown stadium? Sounds like you've inherited a team of super secret agents! Maybe the opponents are blindfolded before being taken to the 'unknown' location in order to play.

Seriously though, I'd be intrigued to see what comes up on your match screen and news items for home games.

[Quacky]

It seems to come up at Mendrisio-Stabio Stadium on the match screen but it still says unknown on information screen. Therefore I have no idea what the capacity is, maybe its unlimited? All I know is 1700 people turned up which seems pretty decent.

[Mike_Cardinal]

Boo FF – Season 1 (2008) = Second Division East Svealand

Media Prediction: 7th

Final League Position 1st

Firstly, I apologise for the length of this post.

I began my time at Boo with a team full of players not tied down onto contracts, most of them looking pretty poor. Firstly, I set about getting a decent ass man and a group of coaches, as well as a decent quality scout who was set to become very busy. A few players were let go on frees, and only the goalie was deemed worthy of a first team place. I decided to tie a few players down as backup however.

It quickly became apparent that there weren’t many players to be had. A couple of signings were pre-arranged, but were apparently only decent signings and so I kept them as squad players. I signed a centre back on a free from Trelleborg called Mikael Bengtsson, who at 26 years old was soon to be my captain. My scout also recommended attacking midfielder Igor Talevski on a free who was snapped up, but aside from them he could only recommend loans. So I did so, bringing in no less than 8 loans for the season on 0% wages. Pre-season went well, winning all my 3 games, but Talevski got himself injured for a couple of months, so in came another loan, Stefan Zarkovic. It soon became apparent that loan striker Fredrik Jensen was something special, hitting two hatricks in pre season to come to a total of 7 in 3. He then got injured as well though, missing the first game.

I also had my two first choice wingers suspended for the first game; they apparently carried through from old clubs last season. Newly relegated Vasby away wasn’t a nice place to start, I would have settled with a draw to be honest. However, within 43 seconds my managerial career came to an awful start, a woefully deflected unlucky goal putting us 1-0 behind. We then decided to give 2 penalties away in the next 20 mins, both were converted and left us at a harsh 3-0 scoreline. So it reminded, despite us utterly bossing the game. My supposedly superb centre back left the game on a 4 rating and a very poor morale, which didn’t bode. Still, as a team performance, signs were that we would improve and live up to our expected mid-table finish at least. (Media Prediction was 7th). Our next game didn’t bode well. Our two first choice wingers were back, so it was full strength apart from Fredrik Jensen, whose place was covered by Albert Trestena, one of the “decent†signings that came with the club. We were at home to Skiljebo, who also were freshly relegated from the league above, on the back of a 7-0 opening day win. Never in a million years did I expect this to happen: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2dwdulf&s=3

Morale was back up high again. And that last game had set the tone, for from that point onwards; the goals flowed freely at both ends. Our forward players continued to be utterly devastating and outstanding in our 4-4-2 Diamond formation, the centre backs somehow kept getting poor ratings, despite being solid in terms of stats. Every goal we conceded was seemingly unlucky. We won the next two games in style, and then at home we lost 2-1 against Akropolis, predicted bottom and given no hope, none of it made any sense. I was constantly getting injuries, and my first team were fantastic, but the backups with the exception of Trestena were bordering on awful. We never seemed to have a full strength team, two or three players always injured at a time. And as such our performances were blowing hot and cold. After 3 straight wins, we followed it up with 2 consecutive defeats, meaning we were 7 points off the top and in 5th place after only 6 games. The fact that our best defender was injured was the main reason for our losses, our backups were a complete shambles and so opponents seemed to score every chance.

After that home loss against Akropolis, pre-season relegation candidates, our fortunes picked up. Despite still having injuries annoying us, we started to show some consistency, winning 5 games on the trot, one of which was a 4-2 victory over Hammarby TFF, pre-season title favourites and current holders of the league (they aren’t allowed to be promoted because they are just Hammarby’s B Team pretty much, so second place went up. It flattered them as well, they managed two late goals after going 4-2-4, we were dominant and winning 4-0). However, we were now at the halfway stage of the season, and Vasby had been sensational. Despite our recent form, they were still 5 points clear at the top, having dropped only 4 points all season. I was now faced with a must win game at home against them, if I wanted to have any chance of going up this season. If I lost, it would be pretty much impossible, bar a major slip-up from them. Still, I took courage from our good performance at their place, and how we had mainly lost due to poor luck more than anything. As well as this, for seemingly the first time this season, we were at full strength.

Things got off to an awful start. Inside 18 minutes, we were 2-0 down, and being played off the park. So, I made some tactical tweaks, and told my wingers to get forward a bit more. By half-time, the magical strike partnership of Fredrik Jensen and Moses Sewankambo had struck again, and levelled the match. I told the lads they were unlucky not to be winning, and out they went. Moses picked up a knock on the hour mark though, so on jogged Albert Trestena. He immediately took part in a great team move that resulted in the bottom corner, but Fredrik Jensen had been in an offside position and as such his goal didn’t count! With ten minutes left, a long ball went down the left. It was fed through to playmaker Stefan Zarkovic, who promptly smashed it in from 25 yards! What a comeback! But could we hang on? Immediately they switched to a 4-2-4. We weathered the storm for another 5 minutes, but as so often when teams attack us near the end of a game, we get another. An in swinging free kick from Zarkovic found the head of super-sub Trestena, and surely the game was sealed at 4-2. It was. Here’s the game:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ff67ep&s=3

So, Vasby’s unbeaten season had come to an abrupt end, their lead cut down to just two points, our winning run extended now to 6 games. We now also had a better goal difference by 5. But still, 10 games was a long way to go. My goal difference was happy to see underachieving Skiljebo again, who had never yet recovered from the 8-1 mauling they received at our place. We won 3-0 all from first-half goals, it might have been more, but we simply saw it out in the second half. It sent us top for an hour or so before Vasby thrashed Franke 6-2 to retain their place.

Next game however, ended my 7 game run of wins. It came, of all places, at bottom placed Varmbol, who had managed just 2 points all season. I lost 3-2, having crushed them 6-2 earlier in the season. Vasby of course won 4-1 away, so back to a 5 point lead it was, and my title hopes looked bloody screwed. Never on this game have I met such a team in a title race, it’s ridiculous as they just destroyed everyone. I could see them losing a few points perhaps, but I didn’t give myself any chance of winning enough to catch up, I’d lost the second easiest game of the season, and was livid. Why did Fredrik Jensen have to get himself suspended?! My harsh team talk shoved morale back down to generally Good, with a couple of Okays and Very Goods, but not the Superbs I’d been used to all season. I think this was the point when I first thought that playing in Vasby’s league was a hopeless cause, and I should be happy to be doing so well having expected a secure mid-table finish.

After that game we picked up again, with 3 straight wins. In a 4-0 win against Franke, I was going to cut the lead back down to 2 points again with Vasby losing 1-0, but Vasby equalised last minute against Nykoping, meaning it was 3 points difference with 5 games to go. I had the superior goal difference by 5, so it was looking within my grasp again! I was confident about my run-in, as it was against teams that I had all beaten in the first half of the season. However, three of them were away, and on the final day we were playing Hammarby TFF Away, probably the best team in the league on their day. My comfort was that Vasby had to play them away as well. I really needed to stay focused, and for them to slip up! A game later, my wishes were once again granted. Vasby only managed a 1-1 draw at Sparvagen whilst I breezed 3-1 past IFK Eskilstuna, meaning the gap was now down to one point, and my goal difference superior by 7! Despite not having been top all season, the momentum was with me at just the right time, with 4 games remaining. But despite having to play Hammarby, Vasby’s 3 other games were at home. This one was definitely going down to the wire!

One game later, Vasby had messed up once again. In a first half blitz that saw me race 5-0 up against Tyreso, they pulled one back and we then saw the game out, whilst Vasby oddly threw away a first half 2-0 lead at home, drawing 2-2, and meaning that incredibly we were now a point clear, and with our goal difference better by 11, it was in our hands. If Vasby lost at Hammarby, (who had won their last 6, and not conceded in 3 whilst Vasby had just had 3 draws on the trot) and we won at Sparvagen, then a win at home against Nybro (who we beat 3-0 away) would seal the title and leave us not needing to do anything away at Hammarby on the last day. It was a big ask though.

We did our bit, beating Sparvagen 3-0 thanks to a second half hatrick from Moses Sewankambo. And… oh happy days! Hammarby did theirs as well! They beat Vasby 2-0, meaning I was 4 points clear, and they themselves were only a point off Vasby, they had now won 7 on the trot and five without conceding. So, a win at home against Nybro would seal the title. Well, technically I only had to better or equal Vasby’s result, but they had already relegated Varmbol at home, who now were on 8 points and their only win of the season was of course against me! Nybro hadn’t won in 14, I’d won 6 on the trot, so surely it would be a formality?

After a very close and nervy start, a great ball over from the right found the head of Fredrik Jensen in the 37th minute. 1-0. A few minutes later, a long ball was lofted up, and the poor clearance fell straight to Stefan Zarkovic on what would likely be his last game for the club, he was going back to Elfsborg in a couple of days as was actually originally a loan to cover Talevski’s injury. Suffice it to say; once again he buried it into the top corner from 25 yards. Minutes later, Zarkovic again dispossessed a Nybro midfielder, stuck a through ball into the gap and Fredrik Jensen finished to make it 3-0! Surely the title was coming home now! Ahlstrom converted a penalty to make it 4, and a last minute winner from Jensen sealed his hatrick, the rout and the title! Vasby won 5-2, but it was irrelevant. We were going up! Here’s the match that did it: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=izlqi0&s=3

Here’s confirmation of our promotion: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=dfty5h&s=3

On the final day, amusingly we got our first draw of the season, 1-1 at Hammarby TFF thanks to an own goal. Bit of an anti-climax to say the least.

In other news, I came third in Second Division Manager of the Year (Remember that there are 6 branches of the Second Division). As well as this, 5 players ended up in the Second Division team of the year (that's for all 6 parts), but I could have easily filled every other position, oddly having a player with a higher average rating than whoever they chose in every position. I couldn't understand why they let Fredrik Jensen in the team but not Moses Sewankambo, who walked to the Second Division's Top Goalscorer Award despite him having 8 more goals and a .65 better average rating than Toni Nhleko. Me not getting Manager of the Year was also weird, we had more points than anyone else, a much better goal difference and unlike the 1st and second placed managers, were not a team who had been predicted to top the league, far from it!

But, screenshot time!

Final League Table: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=9ih05z&s=3

Boo Squad: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2aenew5&s=3

Transfers: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1zdyweb&s=3

Season Progress: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=352r76g&s=3

Season Fixtures: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=j0bm2u&s=3

Confidence: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=166hcv4&s=3

League Player Stats: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=307owuw&s=3

Players

Bjorn Akesson: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2jcsmk1&s=3

A great keeper that I inherited at the club, but he has been snapped up by a team a couple of leagues above us on a bosman. We have got a good young keeper on the way to replace him though.

Henrik Nilsson: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6stc85&s=3

Not particularly exciting, solid right back. One of many loans, so right back is a place I will need to look at for next year.

Jesper Arvidsson: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=vpw5ch&s=3

Great left back, chipped in with a few assists and a couple of fantastic strikes from free kicks. Another loan, but he’s 23 so I doubt that they’d let me have him back again.

Mikael Bengtsson: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=35kvm07&s=3

My captain, and I think he did decently well. Not quite as awesome as my scout suggested, but nice and reliable once he found his feet in the second half of the season. I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep him once again though, with LOTS of interest from other clubs. I should get over 10k for him though, which will be great considering our current overall balance is 7k!

Marcus Nilsson: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=mmsh7k&s=3

My other centre back on loan, and tbh I was a little disappointed. He missed a few games through injury, but generally speaking those were the games that we lost all season. His amount of tackles won was really not up to scratch, so I won’t be re-loaning him.

Christian Ahlstrom: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2r23hiw&s=3

Great player, crucial to our success. He was ever present, breaking up opposition attacks and passing the ball on with near perfect accuracy. He also helped out with a few crucial goals from penalties, I’d love to have him back for another season if possible.

Stefan Zarkovic: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=dyu63o&s=3

In all honesty, my personal player of the season. He came in to cover the absence of Telavski, but was incredible to the point where Telavski is now transfer listed by request after frustration of not getting in the team. Assists galore, my playmaker and the centre of the team. The boy does not score simple goals, I think they were all 20 yards at least, long range efforts and free kicks. The team’s chances of survival next year would be much improved if he came back on loan.

Ivo Pekalski: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2znpq41&s=3

Fantastic right winger. I’m sure you can notice the difference in reviews between the offensive and defensive players, but then look at our goals for column. He’s very young, and suffered one injury, but with him in the team we always were a threat down the wings. Right mid is the one position I have already planned for though, with a young bloke named Emil Salomonsson coming on a free in the near future who I have high hopes for.

Sebastian Eriksson: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15cbuzd&s=3

The second half of my team’s natural width. Would really like him back next year, he is great at beating his man at this level and putting good balls into the box, and don’t mind his stats, consistently he played through good through balls to our pacey attack.

Fredrik Jensen: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=fkw4t4&s=3

He missed the first three games through injury, but was well worth the wait. The stats do not lie. Nice and pacey, and excellent at one on ones, he scored a goal a game and came up with a lot of assists for his strike partner. These two were amazing, I’d love them back next year but we’ll see how things go. Neither have any interest in joining on a bosman sadly. He was so good, that he is now officially the first ever person to find their way into Boo’s favoured personnel, fantastic after just one season.

Moses Sewankambo: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=30rtizq&s=3

What can I say? Ever present, ever consistent, ever lethal. I cannot describe the amount of times he sneaked around the back of the opposition’s left centre back and found the bottom right hand corner of the net. An interesting statistic was this: in all but one game (the bizarre 3-2 defeat to Varmbol) whenever he scored, we won. And his goals quite often came in bundles, I’m sure there were 2 or 3 hatricks at least. He managed over a goal a game, and was deservedly comfortably the league’s top scorer. He’s 3 years younger than Jensen at 20 as well. I would love to bring my strike force back again, but both of their contracts run out this summer, neither will consider joining me permanently and there are lower Premier Division and middle-to-high First Division Elite sides sniffing around them, and I’m not sure that they would let me have them on loan.

Next season:

It’s going to be interesting. I have no idea what the standard will be like, but I can take courage from the team that went up from my league last year are walking to a successive promotion. However, with my ENTIRE TEAM looking set to leave or go back to their original squad, it’s going to be a challenge. All I’ve got is a right mid, a goalie and a couple of youth players on the way, and a scout. Also, quite amusingly a few weeks ago my chairman let my 33 year old backup centre back leave on a free transfer. They offer £0, apparently too good to refuse. Not that I particularly minded.

Will I be able to improve on this season’s season ticket sales of 14? (I managed an average of 350 attendance, but Boo are so obscure that the stadium is unknown, simply named Boo Stadium). I think I’ll be happy with safety next season, and try and secure a few more players on permanent deals to give me a stronger base on which to build.

If this post was horrendously long and you wish me to cut down my season reports to a more reasonable length in future, then please let me know!

[Mike_Cardinal]

Oh good God! That was much longer than I thought! I just typed it all on word and woah! Sorry about that, if anybody bothers to read it at all that would be appreciated, for the effort I put in. I wanted to have a Best Eleven thing in there, but still it hasn't come up and I've lost patience.

And about the unknown stadium thing, Boo are a similar case. The game has the stadium set as Unknown on the Information screen, but on matchdays it is referred to as "Boo Stadium". I have no idea if there are any capacity restrictions.

[thezogsageordie]

Mike, you said that Hammarby hadn't conceded in 3 then after beating your rivals for the title they hadn't conceded in 5, and I guess that proves I read the whole lot (excluding bit about players as I cba!)

Well played though, I'm in Slovenia and I was/am 5,000-1 to win the Division 2 so every team and his wife is attacking me like there is no tomorrow!

KUTGW

[Mike_Cardinal]

Thanks. In all honesty, it was bound to be mistake ridden. Who needs the ability to count anyway!?

I have just started the new season but will leave it for the night. Fans Player of the Season was the keeper, and my Best Eleven was as predicted so no real point.

All my loan players returned to their clubs with Boo as one of their favoured clubs so that's good for the future, and most are again listed for loan. Media Prediction is 7th, which out of 14 is much better than I anticipated. Board minimum expectation was Top Half Finish so my plans of just surviving look like they're out the window! The standard seems to be very similar, not much of a jump up at all. With a bit of luck, I think I can take this league, and then it'll get interesting, as the Elite and Premier Divisions are a class above judging from Cup results!

Glad someone bothered to read it anyway!

[max1994]

good start Mike good luck for next season

and conrats on winning the league and how long did it take for you to write it up

[thezogsageordie]

Crensovci Mid Season Update 2008/09 (Season 1)

Promotion Odds

Season Tickets

Well as you can see, I wasn't favourites to win the League and I had 17 Season Ticket Holders! Bad Times.

The good thing (I think) I noticed was that everybody set out to attack me, second game of season I was losing 2-5 with about 10 minutes to go and the team I was playing went 4-2-4!

I'll do a full report when Season finishes.

[Razer82]

Razer82 – Clough Rangers – Northern Irish Second Division

After the disaster that I had with Juventus Bucharest in Romania, I’ve opted for somewhere new and with the number of cups that are played Northern Ireland looks to offer something interesting.

So Clough Rangers are now under my control.

A few more details about the club.

GundoGundo – Can you please remove my Romania game from the list seeing as my contract was not renewed due to the clubs relegation from the First League.

[Mike_Cardinal]

Good luck in Northern Ireland Razer, and hopefully you can get some results on the counter attack thezogsageordie! Anybody with a Max & Paddy quote in their location is fine by me.

I'm not sure how long it took me to write up max, as I did it as I played the season, so really it was just however it took me to play the game, plus about half an hour I spent yesterday finishing it up and uploading the screenshots.

Also, you know how the assistant can tell you how well the current players are blending? Do you reckon that if I loaned all of last season's team again, would it reset the blending or resume it. I guess it wouldn't do much good because it's quite a complicated thing to work in.

[CCFC 4 life]

Well it looks like i will be starting again, due to me letting my little brother play on FM on my laptop, and he has acidently saved over my game

[iacovone]

Slavonija End of Season Update - 25/26 (Season 18)

League: 1st

Croatian Cup: Winners

Croatian Super Cup: Winners

Champions League: Out in 1st Knockout Round

I have mixed feelings about this season. Maybe I'm getting rusty but we certainly had a tougher year than I expected. In a harsh contrast to the 'Invincibles' of last season we suffered 6 league defeats along with a number of cup losses too. Not good enough for where I want us to go but I suppose we are in a state of rebuilding. The league campaign looked to be in danger but after the winter break we pulled away from the chasing pack and landed our 11th title

The Croatian Cup was taken seriously for a change and we waltzed into the final with ease. Once there it was a mere formality against Rijeka and we triumphed 7-4 on aggregate.

The Champions League was a familiar tale. We did well in our group and deservedly qualified (especially after beating Lazio home and away). We finished a point behind Chelsea, meaning we were set for a tough draw in the first knockout round. That we got as the current holders - Valencia were paired with us. Sadly the tie was effectively over for us after 20 mins of the home leg - we were 3-0 down! Despite getting a goal back and a rousing fight in the Nuovo Mestalla (4-4) we fell at this early hurdle. Shame but we've repeated our performance of last year in Europe. Much needed improvement asap.

Club News

Transfers

Here are a couple of the new boys:

Herman Akouz

Aleksander Jovic - started badly and became unpopular with the fans. However came back resoundingly and finished the season with plenty of goals

Marco Van Der Horst

Antun Skugor - plenty of potential here

£9.75mill has been paid to shareholders.

The board announced another 9,800 seats will be added to the Slavonija Stadium \o/

My Awards

Most Valuable -

Dubravko Siklic - A suprising choice for many but the sheer number of assists make him invaluable to us. A great season from the veteran left back and record appearance holder.

Special Mention - Aleksander Jovic - Overcame a tough start here to win over the fans.

My Player of the Season - Salvatore Milano - Consistently good all year, played a lot of games and did well. Also Fans player of the year Hope to get a few more years out of him before his pace deserts him.

Hot Prospect - Dado Bognar - May not have the best stats but his performances belie that fact. Good all year and the squad's best performer. Could make the left wing spot his own at this rate.

Under 19s

Won the league again but suffered a couple of defeats. Main prospect to look out for is Antun Skugor.

Seasonal Best XI

Overall Best XI - New additions include Boris Maric and Vegard Sivertsen.

Gundo - for you:

11 domestic titles

Uefa Coeff - 11th - 103.325

Nation Coeff - 12th - 30.575

[iacovone]

I've also decided the long term plan is to (hopefully) win the Champions League and then resign, take over at a recently promoted club back in the 2nd Division and do it all again! Thats the dream anyway...

[Mike_Cardinal]

Unlucky with the draw for the Champs League there Iacovone. I'm sure you'll get there at some point with all that promising youth coming through. That Sinisa Lucic looks like a complete club legend!

[thezogsageordie]

Crensovci End Of Season Update Season 2008/09 (Season 1)

As you can see from my previous post (Mid Season Update) I was 5,000-1 to win a 10 team league which basically meant, you have more chance of ******** in the Queens handbag than staying up! Well **** in the Queens handbag I did!

Table | Graph

7th and a nearly 1 Point per Game, I was ecstatic!

On the tactics front things have been up and down like a yo-yo powered by rockets! The press give me no hope, I'm something ridiculous like 20-1 to beat the top team, I draw 0-0, I play the bottom team, I lose

Aims For Next Season

Top half finish (5th or above)

1st round of the Cup

Strengthen squad

Win more games then I lose

Thanks for reading and sorry it's not as much as some people write!

[thezogsageordie]

I didn't realise the word Sting Hindu Italian Turkish (take the capital letters) was classed as a "swear word" I'll bare that in mind for the future!

[Mike_Cardinal]

Congrats on staying up geordie! (Is it okay if I just call you that as its much shorter?) Good solid base to build on there, hopefully you can push on next season. Ignore the press, I think they take what your squad is like when you take over rather than the team you actually put together. That's a pretty swish looking skin as well.