(FM19) Dario Argento presents: 'Saving Football 2: Vivere e Frodare in Italia'

[Deisler26]

 

15 May 2019

Serie D Promotion Playoff Final

Sterlino, Bologna

Reggio Audace 2 -4 (AET) Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

 

What a ridiculous roller coaster of a game! I thought then Mazzantini put the ball against the keeper on the breakaway in the 89th minute, all was lost. But he put away an even tougher chance in the 92nd minute and then deflections and comedic defending allowed us to take the lead, then seal the deal to win promotion to Serie C!!

 

 

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

2018/19 Season Review

A very good season! We stormed out in front for the first half of the season, but then some very iffy performances and results saw us fall behind a rampant Cesena. But we recovered to finish 2nd in Serie D, Group F. This put us in the Ptomotion Playoffs where we won two straight to see us promoted back to Serie C at the first time of asking.

Final Table

Results

Stats

Awards

Review

Commercial Summary

 

[MarcxD]

2018-2019 Savoia review

Not as good as the first half of the year and stopped varying tactics which got us back into winning ways and was enough to get promoted.

Best Eleven Squad Youth Intake

Turned pro.

[ToMexico!!]

Congrats on the title win @MarcxD 

[ToMexico!!]

Mid-Season Break 2019/20 - Serie C/C

Two losses in the league, the other in the cup. Didn't want to be in the cups anyway. 

Salernitana have been imperious, we managed a 0-0 draw with them which I was pleased about. Many of the teams seems to be unable to cope with our threat down the wings. One thing I need to sort is we've had four red cards and collected 58 yellow cards, both the most in the league. 

[deltablue]

Lake's Eleven Preview

Deltablue has entered the lists...

It's taken a week, but I finally feel ready to make a start on this. I hope this isn't seen as an 'easy' start (and I very nearly went for Pavia instead because of it) but I've gone for Como. I remember when they were briefly in Serie A, and I'm sure it was their president at the time (later of Genoa) whose company made a 'hit the ref' game in protest at refereeing decisions. They ended up getting relegated 3 times in a row to Serie D, and while they had managed to get back up to Serie C for a while (before going down again last season), they've risen no higher.

Finances

That wage bill looks like it might be rather high for down here, but I can't complain too much about starting with 500k in the bank, and having an actual budget to spend, if I can use it.

Tactics

I'm taking a bit of a gamble here, moving away from my beloved Mattersburg to something that theoretically should be a lot more solid, especially getting rid of the winger to reinforce the midfield, which is also more defensive in nature. Specific roles might change a little still.

Star Player... This defensive beast.

Young Stars

Thankfully there are plenty of 4-5 star teens, all of whom are at least 1.5 stars already. I sometimes don't pay much attention to that, but a few actually seem like they might end up being good.

 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

9 minutes ago, deltablue said:

Deltablue has entered the lists...

The one fraud to rule them all.

[B.W.G]

San Marino Calcio - Serie D/D

Pre-Season - 2019/20

Season Preview - Transfers

Pre-Season Fixtures

First Team

Under 20's

Under 18's

Key Players

Michele Foglia

New signing from Pro Vercelli,was surprised to see him come to us as there were more reputable teams in the division such as Bari and Cesena after him.Will be our first choice left inside forward for the season,rated as the best player in the team.

Stefano Pellini

Pretty much played the whole of last season bar the odd game missed through injury.Will be looking for him to carry on his form from last season.He is one of the better players who I don't want to lose this season.

Matteo Gasperi

My first choice AMC who plays in the attacking midfielder role,didn't do too badly last season as he scored 18 and provided 13 assists in 40 games.I will definitely need him to carry on that sort of form from last season.Does have the potential to be a decent Serie C/B player in the future.

Hot Prospect

Nicola Valli

No one should be surprised by this pick he is first choice back up for MC and AMC position,made six appearances and got a goal which won our goal of the season award.His personality is now balanced instead of unambitious and his determination has now gone up to six instead of five.Has made an appearance for San Marino u21 and scored.If he has a good season then we may struggle to keep him as we have had enquiries from Serie B teams

Manager's Thoughts

I have done as much as possible to help ensure surviving this season as this is the first season o f my three year plan of survive-evolve-win.We're still in the Serie C cup as we knocked out Vis Pesaro who are actually in the same division as us so that was encouraging.Not really too bothered by the rest of pre-season.Can't invest money into my youth facilities for junior coaching and youth recruitment so it seems I have a tight board to deal with,I do wan't to be out of this league as soon as possible as the squad rules are very annoying so I will have to rely more on my youth for my stay in Serie C.May the rise of San Marino continue!

[MarcxD]

15 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Congrats on the title win @MarcxD 

Cheers!

Savoia 2019-2020 mid-season update

Very much a mid table season where winning and losing seems to be just as likely. As I am doing this youth only I won't be getting any new players in in January.

At least we are looking good to not get relegated and the young squad is developing.

[deltablue]

Lake's Eleven 2018/19 Pre-season

I perhaps went a bit too overboard, getting 2-3 players who in hindsight were un-necessary as I had to plug a few holes in the squad. First of all, that excellent defender I showed above? He was our only right-sided defender. There was a Slovene youngster as well but he was out on loan and couldn't be recalled. I would also rather have him in central defence, and we were already a little short on numbers there as well. An early attempt to get a brilliant 40-yr old on a free was thw...

(Whoops, the internet briefly cut-out as it was posting and I clearly lost a lot of the text. Will try later. Or leave it this way as it's funnier)

[Deisler26]

 

 

 

 

Coppa Italia Serie C, Group E 

Group Stage, Matchday 1

Rimini F.C 1912 0 -2 Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

A relatively easy win over our local rivals. Simples.

 

Coppa Italia Serie C, Group E 

Group Stage, Matchday 2

U.S Triestina Calcio 1918 0 -2 Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

This was a mite tougher, we were battered from pillar to post, only for the backup keeper and midfield to come up trumps on the counter. 

 

 

[smp20]

After a disastrous couple of months early on we managed to turn our season around and finished comfortably in mid-table and I'm very happy with that. We've been getting decent crowds for this level .

League Table

Bari, as expected, ran away with the league finishing 24 points above 2nd place Messina. If we could have turned some of those losses in to draws (ideally 0-0s) we could have climbed up a few more places.

Transfers

I went in early to add depth to the side, though out of this lot only the top 3 became regulars - Arcuri at right back, Lugliese at left back and Fragiello as our TM.

Player Stats

Two players stick out here thanks to their ratings above 7.0 - goalscorer Caruso and destroyer Pagano. We had a fairly settled first 11 bar a rotation at left back and 3 players rotating at centre back.

Key Players

Comito is a good young talent and was ever-present for us this season. He won't sign a new contract though so we're likely to lose him

Somewhat of a surprise performer, Pagano has learnt to play 'in the cage' a la Whelan...

His finishing is crap but his general rounded attacking attributes has meant he's a big threat at this level, scoring 20 league goals.

Fragiello was the best TM we could find and he's contributed well with 10 goals and lots of headers won.

Tactics

We've moved from Cautious to Defensive as our default mentality.

[ToMexico!!]

Gela - Serie C/C - 2019/20

Expected to finish dead last, I wanted mid tabled and we managed to finish in an impressive 2nd place. 

Salernitana ran away with it, finishing second put us into the quarters of the play-offs. 

After beating Monza, we drew Pisa and they were a much better side, they went on to lose in the final against Vicenza though. 

Just 1870 crosses this season, Cuzzilla my LWB made the most at 742, he ended the season with 19 assists. On loan Cappelleti scored 18 goals playing in a combination of winger and striker. 

We're in the red purely because we paid competition bonuses of over 300k for finishing 2nd in the league. 

Season | League          | Pos | League Cup  | Coppa Italia   | Europe | Top Scorer       | Most Assists  | Most Crosses     | Finances | Ave Attendance
18/19  | Serie D Grp I   | 2nd | 3rd Round   | n/a            | n/a    | Correnti (29)    | Cuzzilla (14) | Cuzzilla (702)   | -100k    | 1666
19/20  | Serie C/C       | 2nd | 1st Round   | 2nd Qual Round | n/a    | Cappalleti (19)  | Cuzzilla (20) | Cuzzilla (742)   | -300k    | 2433

 

[MarcxD]

Savoia update 2019/2020

We started smoothly to the new year but ran into some tougher runs as well - still made the play offs but we were never going to get promoted yet.

Not that bad of a first season on the level really.

Best Eleven (season) Best Eleven (overall) Squad Youth Intake Transfers

[wynter]

He wanders the city at night. Walking through the streets he finds a peaceful reprieve from the chaos of Telleus. 7 months in and he’s learned. He’s struggled every day, but somehow, some way he’s frauded his way through. Not the greatest student, nor the most loyal disciple. His return to the world of football draws closer with each passing day. At least that’s what Emma, the secretary tells him as he hands over his cheques.

“Just a few more months of teaching and you’ll reach the Blue Emperor level, one step on your way to the glory of fraudulence.”

Blue Emperor, to Turquoise King and then maybe hopefully, the Ocean Fraud.

“Mr. Fuller?”

He takes a swig of his Budweiser, the last hold he has on his Americanism as he turns his head towards a middle aged man, surrounded by some very intimidating guards in suits.

“You’re looking for the bald American over at the hostel.”

The laugh echoes through the quiet street but there is no humour to it.  "Very funny Mr.Fuller, very funny." The man says before he clicks his fingers. The guards begin to move towards him and despite the cold weather, a bead of sweat runs down his face.

“Alright, alright, alright. What do you want?” He concedes, edging away from the advancing group, ready to turn tail and run into the night if need be.  

"That's better." The man says and the guards stop moving once again."

“I represent a small club, in a very big city Mr. Fuller.” The man tells him. “And we’re looking for the man to make that small club the biggest. Would you like to give it a try?”

His break has finally arrived, and he may be terrified of what he's getting himself into, of the man in front of him but who knows if it'll ever come again?

“And what city is that?”

[B.W.G]

San Marino Calcio - Serie D/D

Mid-Season - 2019/20

Fixtures

League Table

Manager's Thoughts

This has been so much better than I thought it would have gone.Amazing run in the league in which I now want a playoff spot at minimum and we are having a good cup run in the Serie C Cup.Still close at the top between us and Cesena but we did beat them in the league with a 4-2 victory.My biggest concern has been our finishing hasn't been good enough as of late so will look at getting a new striker during the transfer window.As for the Serie C Cup we have a two legged affair against Fano in the semi-final.I hope we can finish off in style but no matter what happens,it has been a excellent season with regards to the boards expectation of fight bravely against relegation.

[smp20]

Wow very nice work @B.W.G!!!

For anyone that's interested to see what it's like to play on a clay pitch....

 

[smp20]

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the promotion 

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

RELEGATION WATCH

Yes, we are in the s*** already this season. 

 

This is not going well. We've seen an uptick in form however, the Gubbio loss was tight and we battled back from 0-2 down in the last game, only to lose in the last minute 

[Deisler26]

Clearly the most fraudulent result of the season...

[Deisler26]

This being the quick af youth player that I bought up from the U-18's who had two games for us, extremely effective in both...

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

 

I was approached by a Bundesliga.3 side and I attended the interview. Rather disingenuously, however, as what I really wanted was this...

Paid more, so it's harder for them to sack me haha!

[wynter]

Admittedly while doing the narrative I've been through S1, and I was going to split them into actual updates but Laziness has taken root.

A man down in the playoffs and we still dominated the match, straight into Serie C and it'll take some savvy signings to make a survivable side.

[B.W.G]

San Marino Calcio - Serie D/D

Youth Intake - 2019/20

The Prospects

The Future Stars

Daniele Urbinati

Probably the sort of player I've wanted for a while as he has no problem with playing the poacher role.He is supposedly the sixth best striker in the team but that's not really true as one of those options is my first choice winger while another striker is leaving at the end of the season. Will spend quite a bit of time developing the stats I need so he will be the perfect poacher for us.

Daniele Rossi

Another useful player as our AMC is pretty weak at the moment and he is immediately fourth choice.Will need quite a bit of work in training as I use a attacking midfielder in the attack role so he isn't fully trained for that role yet but I feel he can make some contribution in the future.Only downside is his personality and determination but I know they can change as this happened to Nicola Valli from last years intake.

Matteo Bonifazo

Last of the better players from the intake,definitely not the best but could become a good enough player for Serie C or possibly the bottom end of Serie B.My biggest concern is that his determination stat is really low.He is going to need a lot of work but I have enough time to develop him as he is currently sixth choice right winger,I also need to train him to be more accomplished as an inside forward.

Manager's Thought

Not the best intake but this is going to be standard for quite a while as the club as no money and we are currently in the red.This means I can't improve Junior coaching,youth recruitment or improving the youth facilities.Maybe this will be improved in about five years time.

[B.W.G]

Right down to the wire,I've definitely got the tougher run in so I will need to win the game against Triestina to put all the pressure on Cesena.

[Peter G]

So following an invite from @Deisler26 I am joining the ranks of frauds. Obviously the most important thing is who to be? Who can I trick into allowing me to manage them? 

 

Welcome to Cassino

Cassino Calcio are the team I am in charge of. They hail from the city of Cassino which is perhaps more known for the MonteCassino battle in WW2 which claimed many lives. Currently sitting in Serie D they have played higher in their past but are a recently reformed team, reforming in 2010. They competed in the Serie C2/C in 2010 before double relegation to Excellenza. They were promoted in 2016/17 back up. We are of course, Semi-Professional with Adequate facilities and fairly basic youth coaching. Some work to be done with a wage budget of £5,307 p/w of which £4,533 p/w is already spent. Of course, there is £0 available for transfers. We do at least have a healthy bank balance. Predicted 8th, this will be fun. Hopefully. A nice white and blue trim.

 

Now, to find me a Cassino shirt to buy..

[Deisler26]

Welcome! We are all here to help you be at your most fraudulent 

[smp20]

Welcome aboard @Peter G! Meanwhile in Locri...

[B.W.G]

San Marino Calcio - Serie C/B

End of Season - 2019/20
Transfers

Six in,two out as I prepared for life in Serie C/B with the aim of Survival.

Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2

Competitions

Serie C/B

This ended up on being a competition involving a near bottling of the team who came top and a team who completely bottled their end of the season.It was down to us and Cesena for the title,we won and drawn one of our last six while Cesena won two and drew one of their last six.Cesena would then go on to bottle the playoffs where they lost to Monopoli.Serie B here we come!!!!

Serie C Cup - Winners

Final - First Leg - Final - Second Leg

Easily knocked out Vis Pesaro in the group.We then knocked out Alessandria,Bari and Arezzo thanks to very late goals before a early goal against Giana Erminio sent us through to the semi-finals.We faced Fano in the semi's where I'm not sure how we won the first leg as we were out played by quite a bit,the second leg was a even affair so a draw was fine as we went through 3-2 on aggregate. As for the finals,I really can't say the best performing team won,this was more of the best finishing team won as we were outplayed in both legs.

Serie C Super Cup - Winners

Slight tweak of the tactic I was using from the end of the regular season,worked wonders as we didn't really struggle here.Third trophy this season for our treble.

Players Stats and Awards

Season Review - Overall Best XI

Player's Stats - Player's Awards - Team of the Season

Manager's Thoughts

Genuinely surprised with how the season went as my original intent was survive and then I changed that to playoffs but to win the league at the first attempt is astounding considering how bad our form was in the latter part of the season in the league but we wen't the biggest bottlers.Can't say I deserved to win the Serie C Cup but we did deserve the Serie C Super Cup.I've already made some major changes for our season in Serie B as I've bought a entire new defence,a centre midfield and a winger but we are really going to need to strengthen all positions as I think there are only two or three players who I can really count on next season in my current team.

On the financial side of things,we are boned even with new sponsorship deals.Average attendance as gone up but it's not covering the costs as  we are currentt sat at -£446k in the red.The owner loves the clubs so I don't see a takeover in the near future so I will be struggling for the foreseeable future.As for facilities,there is no way in hell they will be getting improved.Hopefully a season in Serie B will help us financially but I doubt it unless we go on a amazing cup run or sell out every game.Going to need a lot of luck next season!

Season     Division       League      Italian Cup     Serie C/D Cup     Continental    Avg.Att       Notes
2018/19    Serie D/D       1st            N/A            Winners           N/A           356        Promotion!
2019/20    Serie C/B       1st            N/A            Winners           N/A           802      Treble Winners!

Season     Stadium Capacity    Corporate    Data Analysis   Training     Youth       J.Coaching    Y.Recruitement
2018/19         5,500          Adequate         N/A         Average     B.Average     Average       Fairly Basic
2019/20         5,500          Adequate         N/A         Average     B.Average     Average       Fairly Basic

 

[Deisler26]

Congratulations man! First one up to Serie B!

[wynter]

Transfers in for the season. Two permanent ones in regens in the Serie D/E that I thought had high potential.

Pietro Fontanive

Already turning out for the U19 Italy Side, where I first saw him and realised he was a steal.

Davide Bernardi

Offers a ton of creativity out on the right flank and a great hand for the division already. Upgrading facilities and coaching to get him to kick on will be pivotal.

Steel to the backline and some more up front, the biggest signing though is Ravaglia.

Should not be playing this far down, and definitely not for free. Chievo are idiots and he could practically keep us up himself if he wanted. With the quality around him though, we can definitely push at a back-to-back promotion.

[Bartrcm]

I don't know how I missed this thread. Meet the new manager of Mezzolara.

One question: I can continue this save if I get relegated?

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

1 hour ago, Bartrcm said:

I don't know how I missed this thread. Meet the new manager of Mezzolara.

One question: I can continue this save if I get relegated?

You can continue if you get sacked 10 times in a row! Anything goes with us frauds.

[ManUtd1]

4 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Anything goes with us frauds.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

2 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

It's an Italian fraud thread so it's pretty much mandatory

[Bartrcm]

2 hours ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

You can continue if you get sacked 10 times in a row! Anything goes with us frauds.

Great! Thanks!

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

2019/20 Half Season Review

 

It's a dogfight down there at the bottom of Serie C/B. Settling now for a relegation playout place

 

Sadly, we're still in Serie C/B Relegation Watch(TM). Those early struggles were alleviated somewhat by the 3 game unbeaten streak, but we cant seem to put together any real form. 

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

 

January 2020 Transfer Window

Well, we were pretty busy this month, with all the players leaving out of contract in 18 months and we were too deep in debt to renew the main players (GK Jacopo Moscatelli & MC Michele Moroni) 

Time for some of the the youth system to step up.

[B.W.G]

@Bartrcm Best of luck at Mezzolara

@Deisler26 Good luck for your second half of the season,although I am jealous you get a transfer budget 

 

San Marino Calcio - Serie B

Pre-Season - 2020/21

Season Preview - Transfers

Favourites to go down which is no surprise really,we did strengthen quite a bit but when you have a transfer budget of £0 it got quite difficult so I targeted young players being released from the big clubs.I am happy with how my defence is now but my attacking is really lacking as I am changing my tactics for this season.The bottom three are all strikers with potential but they are lacking in the current ability as due to my rep,getting a good striker in was next to impossible.

Pre-Season Fixtures

Used these games to get use to the new tactic which seems to be working,the friendly against Atalanta was encouraging as they came 11th in Serie A last season.We also started our Italian Cup campaign,we easily beat Fano 4-1 which was quite surprising as I did struggle against them last season in Serie C/B,the next round was a surprised as we knocked out Bologna.Okay they did have ten men but  I am still counting it as a Cup upset as they finished 10th in Serie A last season!

The Squad's

Senior Team

Squad 1 - Squad 2

Under 20's

Squad

Under 18's

Squad 1 - Squad 2

Key Players

 Jacopo Serge - Lorenzo Di Livio - Nicola Valli (YP1C) - Cece Pepe

I am going to be absolutely honest,my teams are far too big so expect to see a massive culling from the end of this season.Anybody not good enough will be released or sold (the latter is unlikely!) as we are going to need any  available wage budget to attract better quality players in the near future.

Manager's Thoughts

My first thought is I need a miracle with regards to finances as we are (as of doing this) -£547,928.Had no transfer budget so had to rely on free transfers,I am pretty confident we will survive and that is because our defence is the strongest area of the team by far.The attack will probably let us down as we have one quality striker so will need the midfield to chip in with goals.My rep is another problem as we are still regional and even though we offered more wages to players who were available,they joined the bigger clubs.As for improving facilities,all I am going to say is that I doubt it will happen with this chairman as he doesn't really help us now even when we struggle.

Time is running out for some players as there will be a culling at the end of the season where possible as I will be getting rid of about twenty players.My goal is survival and try to build my clubs rep up but this could be the brick wall for the time being until I can improve things so I am expecting at least two seasons in Serie B before I can challenge the top teams of the division.Time to get this show on the road.

[Bartrcm]

Thanks @B.W.G: BTW for me it will be a youth only challenge.

Played yesterday 1 game, and got humiliated by my U20. It will be a very long season.

[smp20]

Nice work on promotion to Serie B @B.W.G and welcome to the land of frauds @Bartrcm!

[smp20]

[Deisler26]

@B.W.G It'd be alright, but I'm Youth Only 

[Bartrcm]

Thanks @smp20. Congrats with your promotion. Are you still allowed to play on clay in Serie C?

[smp20]

[smp20]

6 minutes ago, Bartrcm said:

Thanks @smp20. Congrats with your promotion. Are you still allowed to play on clay in Serie C?

Cheers - yes we are, let's hope I can in Serie B as well 

[smp20]

[smp20]

Damn. I forgot this fact and the whole point of appointing Adams, on double my own wage, was to create a link with Britain and sign players from there. As a Serie B side we can't sign Non-EU players....

FU Brexit!!!

[Bartrcm]

1 hour ago, smp20 said:

Cheers - yes we are, let's hope I can in Serie B as well 

Wow, incredible. Already promoted to Serie B; What a great performance.