[FM20][FM21][FM22][FM23] Calcio

[Daws88]

Tempted to start a save with AC Milan, but main question is do I wait until after the transfer update?

[Kostropaty]

If somebodys really into italian football, we re currently running an online career save -Bari, Perugia, Monopoli, Pro Vercelli, Lucchese already picked.
No restrictions about clubs- if you pick ones like Bari you need to take into account this amount of pressure when not winning the league. We re playing during the evenings and nights, sometimes falling asleep while losing away to Giana Erminio.

Still is quite easy to loan relatively good players, but making them commited 100% in Serie C is the other thing.

The objective is to land in fav. clubs or take your serie C club to the highest level.
We re using a  Steam chat to communicate, Two Poles ,Samoan Manc, Mourinho from London and Glaswegian Sunderland fan speak barely any Italian apart of "Porco Dio!".
 

If you re a fascist ( Padova or Triestina ) or if you re a communist  (Ternana and Livorno ), doesnt really matter - all still available. We will eventually deal with it in the game.
If you re dedicated enough to lose your time in such a manner, feel invited.

"kostropaty" on steam

[Kostropaty]

Well , serie C looks quite easy when comparing to english L1 or german 3 liga. Players from big foreign clubs are keen to come here on loan, even to the newly promoted Lucchese. When playing with other human managers, the pool of interesting transfer is at least divided. Asking about realism - certainly its not a thing here I guess, but our initial concept is to bring back the glory days for italian club football like in 80 and 90s. Some interesting signings here:
Lucchese
- Inacio, Tomas Silva (both Sporting CP), Paolo Bernardo (Benfica), Cardoso (Maritimo B), Amilicar Silva (Monaco II), Rovaglia (Chievo), Papetti (Brescia) , Dalla Mura (Fiorentina)
Pro Vercelli
- Pembele (PSG), Diarra (Lorient) , N'lundulu (Southampton) Dabo (Nantes) , Geubbels (Monaco), Hristov (Fiorentina), Moro (Lazio)
Perugia
not too active on the market, however got Buongiorno from Toro.
Bari
Otasowie (Wolves), Bakkali (Anderlecht), Surridge (Bournemouth)
Monopoli
Connell (Celtic), Di Serio (Benevento), Angileri (Samp)


 

[adam_8999]

15 hours ago, Kostropaty said:

 

This sounds superinteresting. When do you usually play? What days, time?

[Kostropaty]

5 hours ago, adam_8999 said:

This sounds superinteresting. When do you usually play? What days, time?

Well, every night lol. From 10 PM CET onwards. During the daytime game is sometimes loaded just to provide some extra time for browsing, scouting, tactical settings etc. Just add me in steam so I will be able to send you an invite.
"kostropaty" user on steam, Serie C online (carrer mode) server name.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Kostropaty

[adam_8999]

On 19/01/2021 at 23:22, Kostropaty said:

Well, every night lol. From 10 PM CET onwards. During the daytime game is sometimes loaded just to provide some extra time for browsing, scouting, tactical settings etc. Just add me in steam so I will be able to send you an invite.
"kostropaty" user on steam, Serie C online (carrer mode) server name.

That might be a little hard for me. Was hoping for a couple of evenings.

[Kostropaty]

3 minutes ago, adam_8999 said:

That might be a little hard for me. Was hoping for a couple of evenings.

Just try and then we will see how it goes. For sure its not for everyday practice as I just restarted my normal work activity after broken collarbone. We re working, some have kids /families etc. but to be fair last few days were italian crazy.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Kostropaty

[JRS192]

Not had a chance to play since my last update, but a few changes to the squad.

Jens Peter Hauge moved to Lyon for £16mill - I had debated keeping Hauge, but want to push Colombo upfront. No problems here except...

Now the squad was upset over a perceived lack of depth in the attacking midfield position. I was personally not too worried - we have Maldini, Zaniolo, Castrovilli and Vazquez, with Bennacer also capable of moving up. To pacify them, I decided to look at a short term option as initially planned. In comes Atalanta captain Alejandro Gomez for £8mill. A bit more than I'd want to pay for a 34 year old, but is a phenomenal technician who should offer a good squad option for a season or two. 

I'm also under pressure from Lucas Hernandez to let him move to Chelsea. I have sort of pacified him by suggesting we'll challenge for the Champions League (He thinks we can't challenge despite making the final last year). I'm therefore planning for his eventual exit, and have moved for Riccardo Calafiori for £26mill - he immediately moves to Monza on loan to get some first team minutes.

(Should point out now that Monza currently has Plizzari, Gabbia, Birindelli, Pogeba and Calafiori on loan - it's great having a Serie A team to loan young players to!)

Edited January 22, 2021 by JRS192

[JRS192]

Daniel Maldini's looking for a pay-rise. I send Romagnoli to go do him in - Paolo's chuffed!

[JRS192]

A fairly decent run sees us top of the Serie A after 10 games - drawing only to 5th place Bologna and 3rd place Atalanta. We comfortably disposed of last season's challengers Lazio. 

CL has gone reasonably well for us up to now - the loss to Man City was particularly difficult to swallow as Kessie was red carded 6 minutes in and Milenkovic scored an own goal. Even with 10 men, we outperformed them on xG. 

I've finally been able to get shot of Jorginho, I persuaded Lampard to cancel the contract. 

Struggling to get goals out of Colombo. He was last season's 2nd top scorer for Monza but bar the PSV game he's largely been a non-entity. Belotti's still firing though.

Papu Gomez is proving to be an absolute animal even at 34. 5 goals from a squad rotation role. 

[adam_8999]

On 2021-01-22 at 12:47, Kostropaty said:

Just try and then we will see how it goes. For sure its not for everyday practice as I just restarted my normal work activity after broken collarbone. We re working, some have kids /families etc. but to be fair last few days were italian crazy.

Ill add you tomorrow since Im not home. We can see how it goes! 

[Kostropaty]

End of regular season, 3 out 5 human managed teams already promoted-Pro Vercelli, Perugia and Bari. Monopoli and Lucchese in the playoffs. Two clubs with a serie A history got relegated to D -Piacenza and Foggia.

[DaveMUFC]

I'm actually quite upset at the moment with my Parma save. 

Have been overachieving all season (in April now), keeping up towards the top, and in the European spots majority of the time. 

More recently, my teams gone to pot, dropped late points against relegation fodder, and I've had a crucial run against Lazio, Inter and Juve. 

Lost 1-0 to Lazio while playing very well, as my goalkeeper decided to kick the ball into their striker to score into an empty net. Then I followed that up with a loss to Inter, 1-0 again, while I had an xG of 1.35 vs their 0.35, which meant they overtook me for 7th place. Juve up next, which will be an almost guaranteed loss. 

This game can really put you in a downer sometimes... 

[DaveMUFC]

So with 2 games left, I was left in 8th place, just outside the European spots. 

Last game was against 2nd placed Roma, and I somehow managed a 1-0 win over them, while rivals for 7th, napoli and Atalanta, both dropped points, meaning I finished 7th!

Except Atalanta won the Italian cup against Juventus earlier and ended up in 8th, so took away my Europa league spot... PAIN!!!!

[Kostropaty]

We re storming the serie A direction with foreign influence. Mr Boniek would be jealous concerning his spells at Lecce and Avellino.
 

 

[JRS192]

Made it to 1st January, Season 3. We currently sit 2nd in the Serie A - level on points with league leaders Inter, but with a game in hand.

We finished 2nd in our Champions League group, with the 2nd string fumbling a loss against PSV to allow Man City to top the group. We now face Carlo Ancelotti's Barcelona in the First Knockout Round; as we did at the same stage last season. I'm expecting another tough match, with them adding Kulusevski and Bernat to their squad in the summer. 

We play Udinese in the first round of the Italian Cup this month, followed by Juventus in the Italian Super Cup. 

This season has been a bit disjointed as we had the World Cup in November. Italy winning every knock-out game on penalties to win the thing! Mancini left following the win, and while I applied for the job, Gasperini got it in the end. Atalanta are now running with a Caretaker Manager until the end of the season - interesting to see who comes in as they still have a great squad.

In terms of our squad, I'm not expecting to make any additions unless someone becomes available. This is what the first team currently looks like - welcome any thoughts. 

Edited January 29, 2021 by JRS192

[JRS192]

14 hours ago, JRS192 said:

In terms of our squad, I'm not expecting to make any additions unless someone becomes available. This is what the first team currently looks like - welcome any thoughts. 

He says - I've moved Rugani on to Real Sociedad for £10.75mill. He wanted to leave and I have plenty of centre backs.

Emanuel Vignato comes in from Bologna for £41mill - This is with one eye on Bennacer's situation, he's currently crying because I won't let him join Barcelona. If he moves in the summer, I'll likely move Castrovilli back into the midfield. Vignato would then serve as his replacement. 

[MWE]

Finished my first season with Sassuolo

Finished 6th in the league and came runner up in the Italian Cup

I sold Marlon, Caputo, Defrel, Romagna and Obiang and got 12.5m for all of them

Only purchase was Vavro from Lazio for £1.9m

[JRS192]

Looks like you've had a great season @MWE! What's the plan for the summer? 

Surprised you let Caputo go; he was banging 15-20 goals a season for Sassuolo on my save.
 

Edited January 31, 2021 by JRS192

[MWE]

27 minutes ago, JRS192 said:

Looks like you've had a great season @MWE! What's the plan for the summer? 

Surprised you let Caputo go; he was banging 15-20 goals a season for Sassuolo on my save.
 

Was a very good season I was expecting to struggle 

Caputo was old thought I would cash in on him

Will just try and get a few better players in and try and clear out some of the reserves got a very high wage bill

[Gilberto Silva]

Started a Sassuolo save today.

Does anyone have any ideas for a Jeremie Boga replacement? Fairly certain I will need to sell him either in January or the summer window. Would love to get Saint-Maximin but probably impossible.

What's the deal with having so many affiliated Serie A clubs too?

Edited February 1, 2021 by Gilberto Silva

[goonergez]

Hey guys. Currently reading through this thread and it makes for an engaging read. I’m currently plodding along with Deportivo in Spain, but am already beginning to hunt around for a new challenge. I’ve decided to use this years edition to attempt some things I’ve never really done before. Minus a save with Juventus probably ten years ago I’ve never really hit Italy so that’s going to be my next stop. 
 

Does anybody have any team suggestions for me? I want to start at the bottom so somebody ideally within the bottom playable leagues. Also what sort of tactics will work in this country? Italy is obviously famous for being slow paced and defensive so for example I can’t imagine a high intensity pressing tactic would be particularly successful. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[CrazyTacooo]

В 28.12.2020 в 13:29, stgahoy сказал:

Georginio Wijnaldum - €0 end of contract

Nice move. I've decided to evaluete demo just to see if it's me or Pirlo fails at his workplace. And I did exactly the same. Aslo signed Di Maria for free as I have no faith in Bernardesci and Di Maria can be a good replacement for a season or two, while Kulusevski improves.

Keeping my eye on Eric Garsia of course.

It's a pity I couldn't sign Donnaruma as free agent as well. Also he yet to extend his contract IRL.

Also planning to buy Morata, not sure about McKennie tho. He's good IRL but in game it's not Juve level

Can't imagine selling Dybala tho. Here's why

On the overall it's pretty satisfying save, now considering bying a full game.

Edited February 4, 2021 by CrazyTacooo

[Muttley84]

On 2/2/2021 at 08:16, goonergez said:

Does anybody have any team suggestions for me? I want to start at the bottom so somebody ideally within the bottom playable leagues. Also what sort of tactics will work in this country?

5-3-2 I think its very doable right not in Italy, having 3 cb certainly gives a defensive mindset to the team, and you can also use your wb for that... If you are feeling more brave I guess you could try a 4-3-3 also.. either with wings/inside fwd or a couple of amc behind the lone goalscorer.

Given that Lega Pro has 3 groups, you really have a lot of options there, from fallen giants like Palermo, Bari, Catania and so on... to tiny teams like Giana Erminio, Olbia, Pergoletesse or Bisceglie. I would suggest you to give Foggia a chance.

[MWE]

Finished my 2nd season

Very good season 5th in the league, runners up in the italian cup again, quarter final of the europa league

Kehrer and Yazici both very good signings

 

[oze07]

Anyone how roma's finances are looking after a few seasons?  Think I want to try a save with them and try to bring back the holy trinity days. Zaniolo as the trequartista. 

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: 2020/21 Mid-Season Report

I've not really been enjoying this years edition of the game, only really a couple of daFuge challenges and a two season spell with Deportivo la Coruna, despite my many many hours of gameplay. I've moved away from my normal though and have been attempting saves that I wouldn't have contemplated in previous years. Now it has taken me to Italy and the lower leagues to try and find an enjoyable and successful save. I debated attempting Palermo (I probably will at some point in time) and Bari, but eventually settled on Perugia. A well renowned team but currently plying their trade in Serie C, the bottom playable league within Italy. My aim is to take this team as far as I can, over many years in charge.

The first season in charge brought with it plenty of expectations, with the league title expected to enter our trophy cabinet. The board wanted the league title, and with it promotion into Serie B.
Personally the league title looked a real possibility, and the inherited squad looked more then decent for this level. Defensively we had two very good looking central defenders, with 31-year old former Watford man Gabriele Angella and 22-year old Flippo Sgarbi. Experienced 29-year old winger Marcello Falzerano looked a real good attacking option, and in midfield we possessed a real gem. 21-year old former Arsenal man Vlad Dragomir was somebody I wanted to build this team around. The young Romanian looked a real talent, and very quickly I offered him a new three year contract which he was eager to sign.

The board presented me a decent transfer budget of over £250,000, although the weekly wage bill was fairly high. Thankfully the squad looked strong enough that we didn't need to bring in much, and instead I focused on a new winger and the opportunity to clear out some of the more fringe players. We raked in just over £300,000, selling two players who I didn't see as a part of my plans here. Firstly central midfielder Marco Moscati was sold to Pisa for £250,000, and then striker Andrea Bianchimano left for Ponteprada in a £53,000 deal. Neither of them were going to feature in my plans, so shifting them on was a quickfire way to bring in some funds.  Arrival wise we made just one signing, bringing in a new option to play in the wide midfield positions. 25-year old Brazilian man Murilo was signed from Livorno of Serie B for just £20,000. He was on the transfer list their, and I felt he could offer us a new attacking option.

The season started well as we strung together a good unbeaten run and climbed our way to the top end of the league. Summer arrival Murilo had hit the ground running, and had bagged six goals in his first seven matches for the club. We weren't overachieving, but we were playing solid football and getting results. My quick tempo high pressing modified 4-5-1 (a defensive midfielder and two inverted wingers) working wonders early on. We wouldn't suffer a defeat until our tenth match, losing 1-3 away to struggling Ravenna. Two more defeats in our next four matches hurt us and saw us slip as low as 6th in the league table.

Spoiler

We've reached the winter break sat in a good position to push on and win promotion back to Serie B. The club was relegated last season, so an immediate return would be very pleasing indeed for the fans. Central midfielder Vlad Dragomir has been the standout performer, contributing both goals and assists from his box to box midfield role. Unfortunately for us he keeps being called up to the Romanian national side, and has missed a number of games for us. Most frustratingly he has yet to actually appear for them either, so he's missed games for us for nothing really. Hopefully we can push on in the remainder of the season and clinch the title. We are on a seven game winning streak at the moment, and the side is playing some really good stuff.

The only blot on our copy book so far was an early exit from the Italian Cup. We drew Avellino of a different Serie C group, and crashed out at the first hurdle on penalties. A 1-1 draw was disappointing enough, and we missed plenty of chances throughout the game and extra time to progress.

--------------------------------------------------

Honours:

none

[Jogo Bonito]

@goonergez I'm going to be on my first managerial career in Italy too (alongside Reading and York). Good luck with Perugia!

Edited February 7, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[goonergez]

55 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@goonergez I'm going to be on my first managerial career in Italy too (alongside Reading and York). Good luck with Perugia!

Love this news! Who’s the lucky team?

[Jogo Bonito]

I always thought i would manage Palermo (love the club colours, the kits, the island of Sicily) but after a long drawn out personal/work situation that dragged on for 11 months of 2020 and ended in disappointment in November, I can't bring myself to manage a team so close to Malta. So instead, it's going to be mid-lower end of Serie A as my Italian debut. I'm 90% sure it will be....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something I post in the FMCU forum 

[goonergez]

26 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I always thought i would manage Palermo (love the club colours, the kits, the island of Sicily) but after a long drawn out personal/work situation that dragged on for 11 months of 2020 and ended in disappointment in November, I can't bring myself to manage a team so close to Malta. So instead, it's going to be mid-lower end of Serie A as my Italian debut. I'm 90% sure it will be....

I won’t ask you to explain your situation, as much as it intrigues. I look forward to seeing you in here soon though. 

Edited February 7, 2021 by goonergez

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I always thought i would manage Palermo (love the club colours, the kits, the island of Sicily) but after a long drawn out personal/work situation that dragged on for 11 months of 2020 and ended in disappointment in November, I can't bring myself to manage a team so close to Malta. So instead, it's going to be mid-lower end of Serie A as my Italian debut. I'm 90% sure it will be....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something I post in the FMCU forum 

I am predicting you will either manage Bologna, Genoa or my long shot is Benevento cos of their lovely kits.

Either way I look forward to seeing who you end up managing.

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, goonergez said:

I won’t ask you to explain your situation, as much as it intrigues. I look forward to seeing you in here soon though. 

 

28 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I am predicting you will either manage Bologna, Genoa or my long shot is Benevento cos of their lovely kits.

Either way I look forward to seeing who you end up managing.

Thanks for your interest. And apologies for the plug, it won't be recurring but I thought anyone interested can take a look as i progress if they feel inclined to do so.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, Jogo Bonito said:

 

Thanks for your interest. And apologies for the plug, it won't be recurring but I thought anyone interested can take a look as i progress if they feel inclined to do so.

 

You should still post small updates in here buddy as you are very good at writing interesting posts on here and not everyone looks on both this thread and the career section but its up to you. I don't think anyone would mind you posting about your career in here as well.

[JRS192]

Great to see so many new updates in the thread, it's been fairly quiet of late!
 

On 04/02/2021 at 21:37, Muttley84 said:

5-3-2 I think its very doable right not in Italy, having 3 cb certainly gives a defensive mindset to the team, and you can also use your wb for that... If you are feeling more brave I guess you could try a 4-3-3 also.. either with wings/inside fwd or a couple of amc behind the lone goalscorer.

I would be conscious that Italy has quite a lot of teams that play 5 man defences - the key is to look at ways you can stretch these teams, or get players into space. I'm having joy with a 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree with very attacking wing-backs, though still sometimes have problems against the likes of Lazio with their horrible 5-4-1.
 

On 05/02/2021 at 18:54, MWE said:

Finished my 2nd season

Very good season 5th in the league, runners up in the italian cup again, quarter final of the europa league

Kehrer and Yazici both very good signings

Another great season for you - top 4 next! Squad looks very small - must be managing their fitness well!
I see the GK situation's getting quite interesting with Pegolo retiring and Consigli leaving - are you going to run with Turati or bring in some experience? 
 

7 hours ago, goonergez said:

Perugia FC: 2020/21 Mid-Season Report

Great post! I recall Dragomir being very good upto Premier League level on older versions - great player to build around. 

 

26 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks for your interest. And apologies for the plug, it won't be recurring but I thought anyone interested can take a look as i progress if they feel inclined to do so.

Looking forward to reading this! Be sure to keep us in the loop over here!
 

[goonergez]

5 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

You should still post small updates in here buddy as you are very good at writing interesting posts on here and not everyone looks on both this thread and the career section but its up to you. I don't think anyone would mind you posting about your career in here as well.

I’d appreciate you posting in here if I’m honest @Jogo Bonito. I don’t tend to venture far away from this portion of the forums and I’m keen to keep an eye on your save.

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: 2020/21 Season Review

My first season as manager of Perugia has drawn to a close, and when I left you we were at the winter break sat at the top of the Serie C league table. An immediate return to the second tier was a realistic possibility, and meeting the expectations of the club. Confidence was high at the club, and we were well set to go on and potentially lift the trophy.

In the end we enjoyed a fantastic season as promotion and the league title were secured with time to spare. We may have started off slow, but we found our groove around the midway point and never looked back. Our season ended up breaking league records for the most wins, most points and most goals scored. We also ended the season with a league record 11 matches unbeaten, having levelled the previous record on another occasion as well earlier in the campaign. Striker Jacobo Murano was the biggest disappointment to our squad, although not helped by the good form of summer arrival (my only signing) Murilo. The winger started the season up top for us due to injury and really hit the ground running.  Where Murano struggled with just 3 strikes, Murilo thrived with an impressive 13. Not bad for a winger being played out of position as a lone striker. It was the central midfield partnership of Christian Kouan and Vlad Dragomir that really set us up though. They scored 7 and 6 respectively as well as laying on 10 assists between them. Both of them are just 21-years of age, and could form a real successful partnership long term for us.

Winning our section put us into the Serie C Super Cup alongside AlbinoLeffe and Bari who won their respective portions too. First up was AlbinoLeffe, and we didn't reach the heights of the regular season losing 0-1 at home. Away at Bari we performed superbly and two early goals from winger Mattia Minesso helped us pick up a 2-0 victory. That result meant we were relying on Bari to beat AlbinoLeffe in the final game to give us the trophy. They drew 0-0 which meant we finished in 2nd spot and missed out on a second piece of silverware.

In all honesty it was a fantastic season where we managed to achieve exactly what was expected of us. Promotion was really the only priority and despite a few shaky moments early doors we were never really in doubt. Once things clicked into gear, we never really looked in any danger at all.

All in all it was a fantastic campaign, and I am delighted with what has panned out for us. Winning promotion may have been expected of us, but it still feels like a huge achievement for me. Focus now shifts to the summer though, and trying to strengthen the squad to be able to deal with the step up. I don't feel like we need to do much, but an out and out goal scorer is a real priority. Murilo did well in that role for us, but he's a winger really and was playing out of position. There is also a fair few older players in our squad, and I will be looking at how we can bring in some younger options to gradually fade out some of those guys. Next season is all about ensuring we don't suffer relegation straight back down, and it'll be an exciting summer trying to build a squad capable of doing that.

------------------------------------------

Honours:

2020/21 Serie C/B Winners

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by goonergez

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: 2021/11 Preview

My first season in charge here was a successful one, as we dominated Serie C to win the league title and with it an immediate return to Serie B. We missed out on the Serie C Super Cup which was a disappointment, but didn't take any gloss off of a fantastic opening season. The players really stood up, and we had some really good performances from all across our squad. We broke records for most goals, most points and most wins, as well as stringing together a league record of eleven matches unbeaten to end the campaign. Nine of our first team squad were included in the leagues top eleven, and veteran midfielder Salvatore Burrai was awarded the leagues best player award. To cap it all off I received the Manager of the year award and also our under-20s team won their division as well. The future looks really bright for this football club.

Despite such a dominant display last season, expectations will understandably shift more negatively this time around. Promotion brings with it a new set of challenges, and the step up in quality should prove pretty significant. The board want us to battle bravely against an immediate relegation, and for me safety is the only priority. Anything more than that would have to be considered as a serious over achievement. I was given a transfer budget of a little over £400,000 and there was plenty of room in the weekly wage bill to bring in some new faces. 
That is despite a deal of £91,000 for the club to complete a permanent deal for winger Mattia Minesso. He was at the club on a loan with agreed permanent deal before my arrival, and performed really well.

Experienced winger Gianluca Di Chiara completed his pre-arranged transfer to Reggina, having spent the entireity of last season with them on loan. He would've been a talented player for us, but joined them in a £675,000 that was agreed before my arrival. Young central midfielder Amara Konate was allowed to leave having been very much on the fringes here last season. The youngster didn't fit in my plans, and we raised a decent sum of money in selling him to Pescara in a £130,000 deal. Contract expirations saw five leave, with three of them having featured in match day squads last season. Backup goalkeeper Paolo Baiocco, left back Alessandro Favalli and central defender Salvatore Monaco allowed to go. We also managed to clear the wages of 34-year old striker Federico Melchiorri, as he completed a free transfer to Vicenza.

Arrival wise we conducting some business, although not excessive amounts. I was confident in the squad that got us promoted last time around, and for me it was about adding some depth to our squad in case of injuries and suspensions. The only real priority position to fill was up top, where we needed an out and out goal scorer to come into the club. After much hunting around we moved to sign 19-year old Alessio Piazza from Leece on a loan deal. He will be with us until the new year, and hopefully if he performs well enough we can extend beyond that as well.

Offering some cover to the squad we moved to bring in two players at opposite ends of their careers. Firstly came 34-year old Daniele Dessena on a free transfer from Brescia. He offers some valuable experience in midfield and can also play in the holding role as well.  Then 19-year old central defender Nello D'Onforio, who was picked up at the end of his deal with Napoli. He's raw, but looks to have some talent that hopefully we can aid in development. We also moved quickly to sign 27-year old Simone Pasa after his release from fellow Serie B side Pordenone. He can play at centre half or in midfield, and that versatility was a big draw in bringing him into the club. 22-year old winger Alessio Zerbin was plucked from parent club Napoli on loan. We needed some cover for the flanks, and his deal was a really good one for the club as we don't have to pay a penny towards any wage contribution.

We also completed two deals of players who were key men for us last season. 26-year old goalkeeper Andrea Fulignati was superb for us last term, and joined at the end of his contract with Ascoli. He kept 12 clean sheets and conceded just 28 goals last time around, and hopefully he can bring that form with him as a permanent member of our squad. Left back Carlo Crialese was a real key man for our defence last season, and the 28-year old joins on loan from Pro Vercelli for another season.

It was somewhat surprising that we had such a quiet summer really. I struggled to find players of real out and out quality, hence the focus on adding some depth to our squad. I feel like we've recruited well though, and we're well set up to enjoy a good season.

------------------------------------------------

Honours:

2020/21 Serie C/B Winners

[Jogo Bonito]

Nicely done. The Serie C Super Cup seems a bit pointless, so I was pleased to hear it doesn't have any impact on promotion. Best of luck in Serie B!

Parma transfer preferences are to sign Italian players and sign players from lower levels of the domestic game (they have about a million scouts and about the same number of lower level affiliate clubs). At some points we may end up with one or two similar names because of this. 

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: 2021/22 Mid-Season Report

After promotion from Serie C last season, we had a positive summer in the market as we looked to try and secure survival in the higher league. Plenty of new arrivals joined the club, although not all of them to break into the first team. I had tried to keep the core of our squad together from our promotion campaign, and had spent most of the summer bringing in some depth to help during the long season ahead.

We shocked most with our start, going unbeaten through our first nine league matches, winning four of them. This took our overall unbeaten run in league football to 21 matches before we finally suffered defeat. In fact we had continued on from last season in a lot of aspects of our play. Up front we struggled, with Murilo taking the spot from summer loanee Alessio Piazza very early on. He found the net a few times, but in all honesty nobody was really scoring regularly enough. In midfield Christian Kouan and Vlad Dragomir continued there fine partnership, and Salvatore Burrai was just as impressive as he was last year. Defensively we were shipping more goals, but all the while we were picking up regular points I wasn't too downhearted. It's something we will have to look to improve going forwards, but at the moment it isn't anything to be alarmed about.

Our really strong start has given way somewhat, but we still have to be pretty happy with our league position. In pre-season I said how my only aim was to gain survival in this league, and at this time we are well set up to do just that. We're not home and dry yet, but we've taken big strides towards safety and that is incredibly satisfying. Yet again we disappointed in the Italian Cup this season, although a red card went a long way to our elimination from the competition. Two late goals saw off Juve Stabia 2-0 before we lost out after extra time 2-5 away at Pisa. An 8th minute red card to Flippo Sgarba went a long way to my side running out of puff during an extra half hour period.

Our main striker Murilo is unhappy at the club and wants a transfer away. He's annoyed at being played up front rather than as a winger, but I just can't make space for him out wide. His contract is up in the summer so I think I will try and cash in on him now whilst we can. Other than that I don't see much happening. We need to look to bring in a striker but that's about it. I won't panic if we can't find one either. Overall we have to be pleased with our start though, and safety is in sight already. Hopefully we can keep a decent run of form going at some point to secure a second season at this level.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Honours:

2020/21 Serie C/B Winners

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: January 2022 Update

The month of January has now passed, and I thought I would give a quick update as to the happenings here at Perugia. We'd had a pretty solid spell up until the winter break, and were sat within the top half of the league table. I don't expect us to stay that high up if I am honest, but safety is a real possibility already and that is a real bonus. I didn't expect us to play as well as we have, and although we haven't won many games we have proven very difficult to beat. With the transfer window opening I looked to shift a few players on, and then bring in a couple of new faces. Nothing drastic, but we certainly weren't going through the month without bringing anybody into the club. My main priority was a striker, with current top scorer Murilo unhappy at the club and seeking a move away. In the end we raked in a lot of money, shifting on a number of players who weren't key components of our side.

Departure wise we let a few players leave, raising funds and clearing room on the wage bill. Winger come striker Murilo did get his transfer out of the club, joining Catanzaro for £120,000. A profit of £100,000 over a season and a half is pleasing, although we do lose a significant player. He leaves the club having scored 18 league goals in 57 appearances, and will always be remembered by fans' as the top goal scorer during our promotion winning campaign. The big sale saw 19-year old winger Mattia Russo leave to join Venezia. He was on a youth contract here and chose to depart after only a couple of substitute appearances for us. It was disappointing to lose such a talent, but the money will help us long term and he wasn't quite in my plans yet. For me the most disappointing deal was another player who left whilst on a youth contract with the club. Winger Andrea Mancino left to join Udinese having enjoyed a breakthrough season with the club. We did try to keep him here with the offer of a new contract, but in the end he departed.  Defensive midfielder Simone Paza was moaning about a lack of football, and I decided it was sensible to take the money offered by Cosenza. He wasn't a player I wanted to lose, but we can't turn down money like that and especially on a player who wasn't featuring in the first team regularly. Fringe players Mardochee Nzita and Jacobo Murano weren't featuring in our first team, and so we took the money to raise another near £200,000. Young summer arrival Nello D'Onofrio left the club on loan for the rest of the season to join Pro Patria. He'd made a sole substitute appearance for us, and the 19-year old central defender leaves to hopefully play a lot of football in the Serie C/A. Not included on the above list is that striker Alessio Piazza returned to parent club Leece after a disappointing loan spell with the club. He made a handful of appearances in our first team but failed to score a single goal and was not kept on at the club.

Bringing new players in actually proved difficult, as the board started to get in the way. They were unhappy that we signed too few younger players in the summer, and they stepped in to block any deals I chased for players over the age of 23. I'm fully on board with their ideas of signing younger players and developing them, but it didn't help me right now. Seeking a regular goal scorer was a priority, and ideally I wanted somebody established and proven. Finding that with a player below that age threshold turned out to be really difficult, and ended up with me spending more money than I would've hoped.

Hunting a striker I eventually set my sights on 23-year old Icelandic man Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen. He was attracting interest from some bigger clubs, including Spanish side Sevilla. He was on the transfer list, but his club were holding out for a fee of around £400,000 which was a little more than I really wanted to pay. We haggled and hassled with them, before Sevilla offered him a contract to sign him on a free transfer at the end of the season.  In the end we did match his clubs expectations, and laid a contract on the table for him to arrive in the summer instead. Even at this stage I was unconvinced though. Thankfully for us, the player agreed a deal to join Sevilla in the summer, and I was left to hunt around for a new target.

At this stage my scouts came to me about a potential loan signing, and within moments I was set. 20-year old Mohamed Daramy of FC Copenhagen was recommended, and I decided he was the man I wanted to spearhead our front line. The Danish side wanted around £100,000 per month for any loan deal though, and I figured that was too much. Having raised so many funds though, I decided to shift focus and try to bring him to the club on a permanent deal. It wouldn't be an easy transfer to conclude, but with a clever arrangement of future fees I felt we could get it over the line. We negotiated with his club right up until the end of the transfer window, and were struggling to get a deal agreed. Despite the potential transfer fee rising and rising it was a deal I wanted to get done. I could see the player being a real club legend, and he was a definite long term answer to our problems. We finally managed to get a bid accepted for him on deadline day, but the player wouldn't discuss terms with us to sign. We shifted focus back to a loan deal, and managed to complete our deadline day move to finally get our man. We're covering his wages, but thankfully there was no loan fee involved. Hopefully he will love his time here with us between now and the end of the season and then we can look to turn the move into a permanent one.

My biggest worry now is the future of young central midfielder Christian Kouan. His contract with us ends in the summer, and I don't think we are going to convince him to stay. I'm not surprised, he has probably outgrown this club and I can see why he would want a move away. If he goes it will significantly damage our midfield though, and break up the fine partnership between him and Vlad Dragomir. On the topic of the Romanian, we offered him a new three year contract with a significant pay rise, which he signed with minimal hesitation. Some Serie A clubs are sniffing around Kouan though, and the thought of losing him is starting to become more realistic. To potentially counter that we have completed a pre-contract agreement for a new central midfielder, but I will leave the coverage on that until the preview for next season.

On the field we faced just three league matches on return, before the transfer window closed anyways. First up was probably the most winnable game, with both Hellas Verona and Cremonese flying high up the table. We produced a really good performance to beat Crotone, even though we had to play without a natural striker. Young winger Andrea Mancino played the role (before his departure), and actually managed to score his first goal for the club. I was left very pleased to end our run of six matches without a win in the very first game after the break. I had much less confidence in our chances in the next two matches, playing two sides sat within the top five. We should've beaten Hellas Verona really, conceding two goals in stoppage time to throw away a 2-1 lead. The final game of the month saw us again drop points from a winning position, although we should be happy with how we performed. Can definitely consider ourselves unlucky not to have gone unbeaten through a tough three fixtures.

-------------------------------------------

Honours:

2020/21 Serie C/B Winners

Edited February 9, 2021 by goonergez

[Jogo Bonito]

@goonergezTo me that looks like very steady progress. Being hard to beat is a positive to work from. Hopefully the time and effort put in to the Daramy deal will pay off for you.

Cedric Gondo is the striker I am going to be keeping tabs on. It says he is on loan from Lazio at a Serie B club in 2021, but his FM history doesn't seem to reflect that he is a Lazio player. Hopefully that might lead to him being available for free in the summer as a 'future prospect'. His second nationality as Italian will mean not using up any of those precious non-EU spots if it happens.

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: 2021/22 Review

I left you at the end of the January transfer window, with my club having completed a deal to sign FC Copenhagen forward Mohamed Daramy on a loan deal until the end of the season. We came very close to absolutely smashing our club record transfer for him, but in the end had to settle with bringing him in on a loan deal. The departure of Murilo had left us hunting a goal scorer, and I had hoped his arrival would spark a really good end to the season for us. At the closing of the window we sat in 9th place, but our form had dipped after a strong start and we were heading down the league rather than up it.

After a really bright start to the season, we didn't really have to worry too much about potential relegation. We still needed to pick up points, but to be honest we probably only needed about ten points to secure our spot for next season with the magical forty point mark.  I had no doubts in our ability to win three or four games which meant the remainder of the season was a bit of a free pass really. We certainly weren't going up, and unless we suffered a complete humiliation we weren't going down either.

From the return of football things looked poor. We seemed to have lost any ability to defend, and we were shipping far too many goals. Mohamed Daramy never got going for us, and it meant we were struggling to score at the other end too. We put together a run of four straight wins from matchday 31 though which prevented us from completely stuttering our way through the season. Thankfully we had given ourselves a big enough cushion that relegation was never really any more than the tiniest of threats to us. Back to back 1-0 wins over Cosenza and Leece basically secured our survival, and we were able to coast our way through the last six games of the campaign. We never really embarrassed ourselves, a 0-5 hammering at home to Empoli aside. Defensively we will have to improve though, and to a certain level its now back to the drawing board for me and my team. As mentioned before, scoring goals was a huge issue for us and that is shown in our top goal scorer. Our highest tally ended up being Mohamed Daramy with a pretty disappointing tally of just 7. In his defence he was only here for the second portion of the campaign and actually did pretty well. This is something that will have to improve.

For me this season was all about securing a spot in Serie B for another season, and we ended up doing that with ease. Relegation was never a fear for us, and after a strong start we had set a platform for a really impressive campaign. We've got another season at this level to come, and that means we can start to build towards improvements. The long term goal is to reach Serie A, although I do feel that even with a really good summer in the transfer market we are some way short of that at the moment. The second half of the season was almost a trial for Mohamed Daramy really. I had hoped he would impress me enough to want to bring him here on a permanent deal, as the fee his club are chasing is simply huge. In all honesty I shouldn't even consider the kind of money they would want, but he showed in glimpses what he is capable of. I hoped he would hit the ground running and prove a cut above this level, but he started really slowly.
In the end he found a bit of form, but his slow start has me a little nervous. I'm not sure whether to move for him or not and it'll probably depend on how much his club want for him. After starting without a goal in his opening seven matches for us he did impress though, scoring 7 in his next 8 matches. Food for thought for sure. 

The most disappointing piece of news for us is that central midfielder Christian Kouan has agreed a deal to leave the football club. He's been a real key component in our midfield since I arrived, and losing him will leave a big hole in our engine room.  He will ply his trade with Atalanta in Serie A, after making 110 league appearances for the club. To lose a player of that talent and on a free transfer as well is absolutely devastating to us.

--------------------------------------

Honours:

2020/21 Serie C/B Winners

[Jogo Bonito]

A comfortable season @goonergez and plenty to be encouraged about. Those small puzzles to solve (replacement in the engine room), striker, and general defending will need some genius decisions but I have every faith you will do well enough on them. I guess a top-half finish should be your objective, and if things go well it may see you edging for loftier spots. As usual, a nice read.

I'm still writing up the prelude to my Parma career, but have added some staff and tactical context in my latest update. Once I have written about the squad I will be ready to go with pre-season.

 

 

[goonergez]

10 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A comfortable season @goonergez and plenty to be encouraged about. Those small puzzles to solve (replacement in the engine room), striker, and general defending will need some genius decisions but I have every faith you will do well enough on them. I guess a top-half finish should be your objective, and if things go well it may see you edging for loftier spots. As usual, a nice read.

I'm still writing up the prelude to my Parma career, but have added some staff and tactical context in my latest update. Once I have written about the squad I will be ready to go with pre-season.

 

 

I have been keeping a keen eye on your Parma thread. It’ll be a good read as ever!

I have pretty much finished pre-season now, but have returned to work today after a couple of days off coz of the snow. Should have an update ready later but fair to say it’s been a busy one for Perugia!

[PGP]

Are you searching for a striker? I would recommend M'Bala Nzola, Spezia. He is a goal scoring machine for me in Hellas Verona. 23 goals in 46 games. Playing him has pressing striker together with another striker.

[goonergez]

3 hours ago, PGP said:

Are you searching for a striker? I would recommend M'Bala Nzola, Spezia. He is a goal scoring machine for me in Hellas Verona. 23 goals in 46 games. Playing him has pressing striker together with another striker.

I’ll definitely check him out later when I’m back in game. Spoiler alert but we have loaned Daramy for this season so hopefully we’ve temporarily solved our problems. But long term I need to address the position for sure

[goonergez]

Perugia FC: 2022/23 Season Preview

After promotion in my first season we did potentially even better last season by clinching safety and enjoying a really impressive campaign in Serie B. We put in some impressive performances on our way to an 11th place finish, which is way more than anybody associated with the club was expecting. I don't expect much more yet though, with safety very much on our minds again for this coming campaign. Granted my long term aim is to compete within Serie A, but at the moment I am happy just to keep building this side up gradually. Defensively we need some work, and in attack we need a really regular goal scorer. The summer market would be an important one for us, as I looked to add some quality to our squad and help us to another successful campaign.

The summer started with some of the worst news, as holding midfielder Salvatore Burrai opted to retire from playing. The 35-year old had been a really key part of our midfield, and this season alone popped up with 10 goals and 7 assists. In fact he won the league top player award. Losing him was a big loss, not helped by the fact another option in that role also opted to retire. Daniele Dessena hadn't featured much for us after his arrival from Brescia last summer, but now we had lost two really good defensive midfield options. The board took last seasons achievements and decided that this season we should be looking for more of the same. They want a mid-table finish, and presented me with a quite ludicrous £3,000,000 transfer budget. Financially the club isn't in bad shape, but there was no way I was going to spend anywhere near that much money.

We didn't actually lose many players over the summer, although our midfield took a hit. Christian Kouan completed his free transfer to Atalanta, and then Daniele Dessena and Salvatore Burrai both moved into retirement. Youngster Arthem Onishenko was allowed to leave at the end of his contract here, but was no more than a cover option. Backup player Vincent Vanbaleghem left to join Guingamp on a free transfer at the end of his contract with the club. We also allowed promising forward Tammaro Ferraro to join Gubbio on loan for the season, hopefully to play regular football at Serie C level.

Our first piece of business on incomings was to work on a deal with FC Copenhagen to keep striker Mohamed Daramy at the club. We agreed a one year extension to his loan to keep him at the club after an impressive spell last time around. He bagged 7 goals in his last 8 games for us and I am hoping he can carry that sort of form on this coming campaign. His deal with his Danish club ends at the end of the season, so hopefully if he proves good enough we can move quickly to snap him up on a permanent deal. We also moved to keep another loanee at the club, although on a permanent deal. Left back Carlo Crialese has spent the last two seasons with us and performed consistently well. We moved to sign him on a free transfer from Pro Vercelli and I am pleased he's staying here. Christian Kouan would prove a difficult player to replace, and his departure left a gaping hole in the centre of our midfield. We moved to counter that with the signing of 22-year old Abdallah Basit on a free transfer from Benevento. He doesn't look quite as strong, but hopefully will prove a positive signing. We did well to clinch his signature as a number of other Serie B clubs were desperately trying to get him. Hopefully we've picked up a real bargain.

Losing so many midfield players was painful, and meant the majority of the summer was spent trying to bring in reinforcments for that area on the pitch. 24-year old holding midfielder Marco Toscano was probably the pick of them, arriving on a free transfer from Entella. He looks a perfect replacement for Burrai in our holding midfielder role.

We also matched our new transfer record with a £100,000 deal to bring in 23-year old Dutch midfielder Tom Van De Looi from Brescia. Another really good option for us, and he should prove a great signing. 26-year old winger Marko Jankovic was picked up on a free from SPAL, and I am excited to see him play for us. 22-year old left winger Alex Cossalter came in to offer some cover, joining on a free transfer from Bologna. He'd scored 10 goals in 34 appearances in Serie C on loan over the last couple of seasons, and is a good backup option. Further backup came in with the arrival of 24-year old Mario Ierardi. The right back arrived from Vicenza on a free transfer. We added another striker too, breaking our club record transfer fee to snap him up from Pontedera. We then parted with £100,000 to sign 24-year old Christian Tommasini and I am delighted. He's been a regular for them in Serie C, and hopefully will prove an able backup to Daramy within our squad.

We finished the summer with a bang though, breaking our transfer record for the second time over the window. 26-year old centre back Valerio Mantovani was signed from Salernitana after their promotion from Serie B. He cost us a whopping £400,000, but looks to be a real class act. I'm sure he will become a real key part of our defensive line and justify every penny we spent on bringing him into the club.

A busy and tough summer gives way, and brings with it an air of excitement. We've lost some really big players, but brought in some very talented individuals too. Safety isn't a worry for me, and instead it will be interesting to see if we can get close to last seasons achievements. I'm hoping we can sneak something similar, and a top half finish would be the icing on the cake. It won't be easy but I feel we're in good shape. A lot will depend on Mohamed Daramy showing the sort of form he did at the end of the last campaign. Hopefully he can and others can chip in with enough goals to help us pick up regular points.

--------------------------------------

Honours:

2020/21 Serie C/B Winners

[Jogo Bonito]

It all sounds promising. I'm not at all familiar with most of the new signings, but trust your judgment that they are the right fit. Best of luck for the new season.

[PGP]

20 hours ago, goonergez said:

I’ll definitely check him out later when I’m back in game. Spoiler alert but we have loaned Daramy for this season so hopefully we’ve temporarily solved our problems. But long term I need to address the position for sure

Oh. If Daramy doesn't perform, you should go for Wahid Fahir. He is also danish and have been great for me. 23 goals in 47 Serie A games. Good luck with Daramy.