FM20 - Cyprus (Fair Game)

[Jogo Bonito]

On 09/09/2020 at 13:54, Travis Bickle said:

Really impressed with your save @Jogo Bonito. 

May I ask, what are your sponsorship deals looking like? 

Sorry this was a slow response, but I think this was what you were looking to see? This is 1st February 2023.

Progress update to follow.

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2022/23

I concluded my last APOEL report at the end of October 2022, and had forgotten about the month-long World Cup in Qatar that would disturb the calendar

After a month off, the Cypriot league resumed at the end of November - and as you can see the break seemed to have allowed my squad to refresh nicely

In fact, both November and December saw 100% win ratios delivered as my record-signing striker Alerrandro burst in to form  

The transfer month of January continued in much the same vein, although my first league points were finally dropped at newly-promoted Agia Napa

The match was the first of two games where my squad was decimated by international call-ups (absentees went easily in to double figures)

That in itself was a bit of a problem, but my first four goalkeepers were all away and I had to draft in 18 year-old debutant Antonis Loizou who was in a previous youth intake

He didn't do badly and was able to maintain the common run of clean sheets, but it was good to get a proper squad back for the last outing versus Apollon Limassol

As you would imagine, the league table below reflects the massive superiority that APOEL now has over the rest of the teams

You will also see how the key stats are looking so far this season, and get a flavour of the club's financial strength at the end of the winter transfer window

Moving on to the transfer window, the first mention goes to departing midfielder Joao Schmidt

His five-month loan spell came to an end, and Atletico Mineiro rewarded him with a lengthy contract extension after seeing his excellent displays in Cyprus

I wasn't able to permanently offload any of three players surplus to my current requirements (Silva, Cucin and Gomez) 

The trio had only made a couple of starts between them this season, and loan deals where 100% of their wages would be paid was a reasonable compromise

I was also able to resist bids of £9 million from China for Diego Rosa (release clause met, he rejected them) and Christos Wheeler (I refused to sell)

And there were three incoming players to welcome too, I'll give a brief run down on these deals below 

The first man in was Benfica right-back Filipe Cruz for a fee of £700,000

With loaned-out Cucin and current incumbent Gabrielli due to leave in the summer as their contracts end, this was a move with an eye to next season  

The next man in was Dutch midfielder Leandro Fernandes of Juventus, as the short-term replacement I felt was needed for the departing Schmidt

As such, I deliberately went for a loan deal so that I can go after more suitable permanent targets in the summer transfer window

And the third and final transfer (the second on deadline day) was a first APOEL dip in to my well-known market of African players

I've been looking for two years to get a really strong, powerful and athletic right-sided centre-back to take over from Ricardo Ferreira, who will be released in the summer

Previously I had deliberately avoided picking Africans, but in the end the opportunity to sign Ousseynou Ba from Olympiacos just made too much sense

I actually had a pre-contract deal sorted for him to arrive in the summer, but overwrote that on the buy-now option to secure him early for just £400,000

I appreciate his first few years in FM are modest, but as recently as April 2020 both Arsenal & Liverpool were strongly linked with paying up to £20 million for him

Here are the player profiles as at signing date for the three new men, none of them have featured yet but they are warmly welcomed to sunny Cyprus 

I also need to give an early shout out for young Belgian midfielder Aster Vranckx, who will be arriving on 1st July 2023 after an audacious pre-contract swoop 

I have beaten off stiff competition from much bigger clubs to land  him, and look forward to his summer arrival after deciding not to pay £3.8 million to have him now 

I'm pleased to have resisted temptation to sign any more strikers, but even with two out on loan I still have enough (three) in the main squad

And young Spanish striker Pablo Moreno has scored a scintillating 33 in 24 (1) appearances for the Under 19 side already this season too

 I end this little report on a humorous note, after being shocked to see this player touted around

I didn't sign him despite the fantastic headlines that might have emerged from a spell at the club, but will keep an eye on how his career pans out

Edited September 21, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[karanhsingh]

Vranckx looks excellent, surprisingly never heard of him till now.

You must sign young Amauri for the laughs 

[Jogo Bonito]

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Vranckx looks excellent, surprisingly never heard of him till now.

You must sign young Amauri for the laughs 

Thanks. It's the first time I have ever signed Vranckx but he is a very talented prospect IRL. Very surprised I was able to take him to APOEL, especially on a free transfer.

I might have to consider the young Brazilian if he will sign a youth team contract and be eligible for the Under 19 side.

[warlock]

On 20/09/2020 at 19:50, Jogo Bonito said:

my record-signing striker Alerrandro burst in to form

Didn't he though? Good to see Brambilla still delivering for you, too 

(Late response: MrsW and I took a last minute chance to get out of London for a few days. A good time was had by both)

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Didn't he though? Good to see Brambilla still delivering for you, too 

(Late response: MrsW and I took a last minute chance to get out of London for a few days. A good time was had by both)

Yes, they are probably the two key players at the moment. In fact we can probably label them as Plan A & Plan B 

Pleased to hear you had a get away and that you both enjoyed it  

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2022/23

As I entered February in my 4th season at APOEL, the league was pretty much done and dusted but I still had to finish the job

My side was still in the Europa League (but would face Borussia Dortmund), and I was looking to retain the Coca Cola Cup in Cyprus too

Unfortunately, the German side put their poor results against APOEL in recent years behind them by claiming a 3-2 win after extra time to end any European dreams

I was disappointed as I had the upper hand over them in several recent seasons, and the game was there to be won until a late lapse of concentration cost my boys dearly

However, the league was wrapped up in the next outing as a 1-0 win away to AEK Larnakas saw the formality completed in early March

Progress in the Coca Cola Cup was as straightforward as the league itself, and by the end of March it was hard to keep the standards as high as before  

The above statement can be seen by how April started with successive draws (until then all league games had been won except for two earlier draws)

But the rest of the month went well, and despite one more draw in May I was able to end the season unbeaten in 32 league games with a 27-5-0 record

The season was wrapped up with a comfortable 3-0 win in the Coca Cola Cup final against Omonia

Here is the state of the club at the end of May, showing the financial strength despite missing about £20 million in lost CL money this season

The final league table shows the utter dominance of my side - just imagine what it would be like if I was actually spending some of my club's money!

And here is a brief competition review showing how it all went

I'm splitting this review in to two segments this time, so player stats and awards will follow shortly

[Jogo Bonito]

 

APOEL - Season 2022/23

Here are the player stats across the season in all competitions

It's time to say goodbye to Ferreira, Gabrielli and Toledo after good service from all of them over a number of seasons

Also departing will be Christoforou who was only ever on the books to boost Cypriot numbers, whilst loan-man Fernandes will also be returning to his parent club

As many as 17 or 18 players (including loaned out Gomez and Silva) will leave from the Under 19 squad too as numbers will be trimmed significantly ahead of the new season

Yet again, Brambilla won the fans player of the season award, mainly due to his number of assists and chances created

My big investment in striker Alerrandro paid dividends as he bagged a Cypriot record 25 league goals in 30 games (he scored 36 goals in all competitions)

Brambilla also won the Cypriot league player of the year as APOEL had a clean sweep in that one, and Allerandro was obviously the league top scorer

Not captured is the fact that Wheeler won the best Cypriot performer award for all Cyprus nationals around the globe

And finally here is a quick view of the Under 19 squad who also claimed a league and cup double

The three players highlighted Moreno, Mejri and Cruz will all be promoted to the senior squad for next season

Spanish striker Moreno scored an incredible 63 goals in 41 (1) matches at this level and I need to see if he can step up if given some cameo opportunities 

Portuguese right-back Cruz will now grab that role in the first team as Gabrielli departs, he can also cover for the right wing too

Mejri is a newgen left-winger signed from a club in Tunisia last July for £180,000 and will be a low-cost squad option hoping to get a few minutes from the bench next year

And here is the latest sponsorship summary from the end of May

Edited September 27, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

@Jogo Bonito That's a pretty comprehensive monopoly on Cypriot football . Just the European challenge remains, eh?

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

@Jogo Bonito That's a pretty comprehensive monopoly on Cypriot football . Just the European challenge remains, eh?

Yes, domestically it's been easy to dominate so far. In Europe we have always 'done well' but cannot quite take the extra steps (it all really depends on luck of the draw).

[warlock]

9 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

it all really depends on luck of the draw

Understood - there's a huge gap between the European Top 10 and just about everyone else. Hard to break through that barrier. Good luck, though 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

Understood - there's a huge gap between the European Top 10 and just about everyone else. Hard to break through that barrier. Good luck, though 

I think you're right. But I'll give it one more try.

Pre-season hasn't started yet but I've been told that Alerrandro is out for 6-7 weeks, which is a real blow. Benfica are chasing after my best centre-back Diogo Leite (promoted to be my new captain) but I rejected the bid. I've also been receiving regular offers from Brazil and China for Arana and Rosa, and offers from China for Wheeler (all rejected at around £10 million each).

So far my inward transfer business has been modest with just Vranckx and one other central midfielder joining on free transfers. The second arrival is my new vice captain and is a massive signing for a club of our size, especially as it's for just £10,000 per week in wages (I refuse to break the structure which sees my highest earner Leite on £16,500 per week after his 10% annual rise).

I'm looking for a strong, athletic and technical right-sided central defender to start alongside Leite if I can get the right one, but other than that I'm satisfied with the squad unless pre-season shows I need a top understudy to Alerrandro. All other bases are covered so it's not going to be a busy summer spending spree.

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

it's not going to be a busy summer spending spree

Sounds good! I'm just playing through pre-season 2020-21 with Man United (brief update in the relevant thread) as a change from the lower league slog. Proving to be a real struggle shifting the deadwood before I can restructure the squad away from the ageing elements . I think I've taken Darlington about as far as I can (first time I've ever got them to L1), and the Forest save is proving to be as much fun as usual after promotion to the PL so United is a change of pace while I figure out what to do next. Think I have at least one more EFL save in me for this FM. Met my SiL's new man for the first time last week and he was waxing lyrical about Shrewsbury so they might be a prospect.

[Jogo Bonito]

Man Utd have a solid base of good players to work from, especially now that Donny has arrived too. It makes sense to have a crack at that if Darlo & Forest have come to a natural end. Shrewsbury would be a really good one to take on, I haven't been in charge of them for a fair few years (when Lee Gregory was non-league, because I signed him in the first season) but I always plan to as I think they are very capable of getting promoted on FM and have a good core group, decent stadium and facilities.

[warlock]

48 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Shrewsbury would be a really good one to take on... I think they are very capable of getting promoted on FM and have a good core group, decent stadium and facilities

Good to know . I'll have a close look tomorrow.

[karanhsingh]

Nice work as always @Jogo Bonito. Do you think the squad you have built up could have a crack at the Europa League - then it might be interesting if you were to finish 3rd in your CL group and drop into the EL knock-out stages.

[Jogo Bonito]

I've had a few goes in the Europa League, and for a club from Cyprus it's not been bad. But I'll need a kind draw to really go far in either competition. I'm happy enough with the squad, especially for the coming season if I can get one more central defender. Here is a quick view of four years in Europe.

[karanhsingh]

Fair enough. Yes a good draw is imperative. If you are to reach the final you need at least one or two favorable ties along the way.

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24 - Preview, Transfers & Squad 

The key signings of the summer were both pre-contract deals that saw the arrival of two excellent young central midfield players on free transfers

Oscar from Real Madrid (and Castilla) has moved to Sevilla for around €15 million in real life this summer, and my new vice captain will be a key player at APOEL

The deal which sees Aster Vranckx join from KV Mechelen was agreed back in the winter, and the young Belgian should be a big player for APOEL also

On top of that, youth graduate Stavros Panagiotou has been loaned back in for another season from Man City

The right winger was sold for an initial fee of £5.5 million but has never actually left APOEL (it will be two and a half years back on loan by the time this deal ends)

And on deadline day, I decided to pay £2.8 million to FC Viitorul Constanța for Romanian central defender Virgil Ghiță after a late re-think

I'd virtually decided to use my midfielder Alef as the the understudy for the right-sided central position in the backline, but acted when he moaned at being re-trained for the role 

Here are the profiles of the three new first team squad members on the day they signed for APOEL

And here is the 23-man first team squad that will kick off the 2023/24 season (Ramirez had been offered out for transfer or loan, but nothing happened in time)

And here is a quick reminder of the club expectations and budgets for the new season

Edited October 1, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

Quite a collection of Brazilians you're putting together! Good luck with the new season - particularly in Europe 

[Jogo Bonito]

5 minutes ago, warlock said:

Quite a collection of Brazilians you're putting together! Good luck with the new season - particularly in Europe 

Cheers! I've been quite careful about foreign player limits, and made good use of the EU nationals rule on people like Brambilla.

The Brazilian contingent has grown, the first year or two was more Argentinians and a couple from Uruguay, with the best Cypriots added to meet HG quotas. Now that recruitment is better and easier, I've only kept a smaller number of Cypriots and used the spaces to have better quality youngsters from other places, especially as there is no need to register players under 22 in the domestic competitions.

This year sees no players from outside EU countries arriving, and I'll claim it as my first two Spaniards with new arrival Oscar and promoted youth team phenomenon Pablo Morena joining the main squad after his 63 goals for the Under 19 side during his first year in Cyprus. 

Europe will be tough, but with Oscar at the club and Alerrandro coming back from injury soon, I'll be hoping to at least make the CL group stages.

[warlock]

18 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

with Oscar at the club and Alerrandro coming back from injury soon, I'll be hoping to at least make the CL group stages

Reasons to be cheerful 

[Jogo Bonito]

29 minutes ago, warlock said:

Reasons to be cheerful 

Quite. Unless I don't qualify through those two rounds 

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24

Here is a brief update on how the 5th season has started at APOEL

The main reason for sharing this is to confirm that two rounds of CL qualifiers have been completed, and I have reached the group stages

The new boys Oscar and Vranckx have settled in well, and the promoted U19 players Cruz and Moreno have made contributions

Injured striker Alerrandro has returned from the bench and grabbed a goal in his 45 minutes of action too

The CL group could have been easier, so it's looking like 3rd or 4th at best again 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

The CL group could have been easier

Ouch . What were we saying about the luck of the draw?

[Jogo Bonito]

51 minutes ago, warlock said:

Ouch . What were we saying about the luck of the draw?

Indeed. Early September and the purpose of this season may be over already 

[karanhsingh]

Tough group there Jogo! 

Is Al Tamari still with you? I ended up watching a video of him last night and he looks really impressive! Can't understand why he's still kicking around in Cyprus. 

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Tough group there Jogo! 

Is Al Tamari still with you? I ended up watching a video of him last night and he looks really impressive! Can't understand why he's still kicking around in Cyprus. 

I agree with all of that! Yes, still with me and a very important player (but currently injured so not many appearances this season yet)

       

 

[karanhsingh]

Looks pretty good 

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24

With the rather tough CL group games looming on the horizon, September was going to be an important month for my side

After going all of last season undefeated in the league, It didn't help preparations for a trip to Barcelona by doing so on the back of a league defeat in Nicosia

And the trip to Spain didn't go well either, where I had no complaints over the 4-0 result in their favour

The team recovered with two league wins, but I lost the Super Cup (not for the first time) on penalties to end the month poorly

October was a better month, with three league wins keeping me ahead of the pack on home soil

However i was disappointed not to beat Fiorentina at home in Europe, as I thought that was my biggest chance of gaining points in the competition

But that disappointment was surpassed with a 1-0 loss away to Manchester City - a decent effort, but tragically defeated 1-0 by an 87th minute Sterling goal

In November the league form dipped a little with one win and two draws reminding me not to rest too many players for big CL games

However, I did manage to grab a narrow 1-0  win in the return fixture against the best team in Manchester to keep alive slim hopes of progress

Unfortunately, I couldn't back that up against Barcelona and fell just short with a narrow 1-0 loss at home against the group leaders

That means I am ahead of Fiorentina (with four points to their one) before travelling to Italy for the final group game 

A draw (which is certainly possible) would see me go in to the Europa League, but a loss would make that highly unlikely 

Here is the current league table, brief review of player stats and finances at the end of November

[warlock]

Gosh - life gets complicated sometimes, doesn't it? 

Not sure what you can take from all that except that balancing domestic dominance against European aspirations can be tricky sometimes. Hope that helped 

[Jogo Bonito]

21 hours ago, warlock said:

Gosh - life gets complicated sometimes, doesn't it? 

Not sure what you can take from all that except that balancing domestic dominance against European aspirations can be tricky sometimes. Hope that helped 

I don't know what to say either 

Loving the new layout 

[warlock]

56 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Loving the new layout 

Lots of space on the right for our own notes and observations 

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24

Picking up in December 2023, my team gained maximum points from three league fixtures and won the all-important final match in the CL group

Winning 3-2 in Italy against Fiorentina was a super result although being 3-0 up should have seen a more comfortable passage

The reward was a 3rd place finish and entry in to the Europa League where I have been drawn against KRC Genk

January was another good month, with three wins and a draw from four league games plus victory in both legs of the Coca Cola Cup

The latest injury set-back has seen right-back Filipe Cruz ruled out from 16th December (he won't be back until the end of March)

I'd earlier lost winger Musa Al-Tamari for two months, and that was after star striker Alerrandro missed six weeks in the early part of the season 

Still, the club is in a healthy financial position despite exiting the CL earlier than I would have liked, and the league table reflects APOEL's superiority

The big story of the transfer window was Henan meeting the £9 million release clause for midfielder Diego Rosa

In previous windows he had rejected any move to China, but this time he didn't and the sale went through on 7th January 2024

He leaves after making 49 league appearances (including 15 this season) for APOEL since arriving on a free transfer on 1st January 2022

I wasn't going to replace the departed Rosa until about 15 members of the squad summoned a meeting to moan about 'lack of depth'

This forced me to look at a handful of options, one of which was the chance to sign Xavi Simons on loan from PSG

But in the end I decided to go for another Brazilian instead, and passed on the signing of the young Dutch starlet

Therefore the only new arrival of the transfer window was the loan deal that brought Lyon midfielder Jean Lucas to the club until the end of the season

He is very similar in traits and style to Rosa, and should provide good options in the central midfield areas during his spell here

[Gunner 101]

The Coca Cola Cup  Still the best name for the League Cup. 

Unlucky losing Rosa but a nice healthy profit made on him after he arrived for nothing. 

Hopefully you can make it passed Genk in the Europa League. 

[karanhsingh]

Yes, best of luck in Europe. Are there some big clubs who have dropped down to Europa?

[Jogo Bonito]

7 hours ago, Gunner 101 said:

The Coca Cola Cup  Still the best name for the League Cup. 

Unlucky losing Rosa but a nice healthy profit made on him after he arrived for nothing. 

Hopefully you can make it passed Genk in the Europa League. 

Cheers, I agree on the Coca Cola Cup. Yeah I was very disappointed to lose Rosa but the £9 million profit was at least a consolation. Hopefully I put some good form together and I face Genk when on a high.

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes, best of luck in Europe. Are there some big clubs who have dropped down to Europa?

Thanks for the support. Here are the fixtures (16 teams) but the tree seems to indicate that Napoli, Lazio, CSKA Moscow, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Southampton and Arsenal are still in it too (I assume they join in the next round). In short, I doubt I will get past this round or the next one unless I am very lucky.

[karanhsingh]

12 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks for the support. Here are the fixtures (16 teams) but the tree seems to indicate that Napoli, Lazio, CSKA Moscow, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Southampton and Arsenal are still in it too (I assume they join in the next round). In short, I doubt I will get past this round or the next one unless I am very lucky.

Yes that's some big names still to drop in - I believe they must be the group winners hence getting a one round bye.

[thelemonizer]

Hi Im really enjoying this save of yours. I am a supporter of Apollon Limassol sad to see they have dropped on your save. Youve done a good job on improving Apoel especially with your financial approach; I also take finances importantly. 

 

The last main cypriot save i done was Agia Napa back in fm17. Got them promoted to the top division then got them as a stable top half team. Even signed Wayne Rooney, Nigel De Jong and Thierry Ambrose. That was a nice save

Edited October 9, 2020 by thelemonizer

[Jogo Bonito]

10 hours ago, thelemonizer said:

Hi Im really enjoying this save of yours. I am a supporter of Apollon Limassol sad to see they have dropped on your save. Youve done a good job on improving Apoel especially with your financial approach; I also take finances importantly. 

 

The last main cypriot save i done was Agia Napa back in fm17. Got them promoted to the top division then got them as a stable top half team. Even signed Wayne Rooney, Nigel De Jong and Thierry Ambrose. That was a nice save

Thanks, I am happy to hear you have been enjoying my Cyprus save. The nearest challengers to APOEL seems to change every year, but I don't recall Apollon Limassol ever being 2nd to me (I thought they would have done better). Agia Napa have certainly been promoted (maybe a few times) in this career, which has been good to see. This 5th season will probably be my last one here, but feel free to try and re-live those enjoyable FM17 times in Cyprus 

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24

League matches in February were going to take a back seat as the more important Europa League clashes would be my priority

That probably showed in the results as two wins were followed by a draw with Omonoia and then a loss to Anorthosi (2nd)

The first leg of the Europa League tie with KRC Genk was an exciting one, where goals after 70 and 75 minutes turned a 0-1 score to 2-1 in my favour

There was despair at conceding a stoppage time goal to make it 2-2, but out of nowhere Aster Vranckx came up with a 90+2 minute goal for a narrow 3-2 lead

The second leg in Belgium was going to be tough with their two away goals, but I hoped for a draw to secure a safe passage

However, my star striker Alerrandro stepped up on the big occasion and bagged a marvellous hattrick to give me an unlikely 3-0 away win and 6-2 aggregate victory

March started in bad fashion with a second consecutive home league loss, but I won the next couple before squaring up with Lazio in the Europa League 

The first leg on home soil was a really tight affair, but Alerrandro's 6th minute goal was enough to earn a narrow 1-0 win 

The Brazilian then grabbed another confidence-boosting hattrick in a 4-2 win over Omonoia before my boys jetted off to Italy

Again I felt I would be lucky to progress, but nerves were settled when stand-in left-back Christos Wheeler did Cyprus proud with the opener after just one minute

Naturally, Lazio fought back and two goals put them ahead on the night as my side battled to hold on to their away goals advantage

I closed the game down as best I could, and fortunately it was mission accomplished as the Italians couldn't put the ball in the net again on a memorable night for APOEL

On the back of this tremendous triumph I wondered how the final league game of the month might go, but the boys did a great job to win 4-0 away to Olympiakos Nicosia 

Here are the last-eight fixtures for the Europa League, where my next opponents will be Bayer Leverkusen

I'd say that APOEL are probably the weakest of the teams left, but other than CSKA Moscow I don't think I have done badly with the draw 

The Germans will be clear favourites of course, but I've beaten better teams than them in my five years here so it's not unthinkable if the team perform on the night(s)

After some stuttering form which had seen the gap cut to three points at one time, I'd like to think that the final six games will deliver another league title

I've now got Filipe Cruz and a number of other injured players ready to return, so it's definitely mine to lose

 

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24

As my 5th season was reaching an exciting period, I've decided to do a shorter review this time covering just the month of April

Dealing with the league form first, it's probably unprecedented to go three league games without a win in my time at APOEL

But luckily the fourth brought a win - and with Anorthosi losing their 30th fixture, my 5th league title was duly delivered with two games to spare

Progress was also made in the Coca Cola Cup, where home and away wins over Pafos booked a place in the final

The most important matches were of course the Europa League games against Bayer Leverkusen, with a semi final spot on offer for the victors

The home leg came first, and I could only claim a 1-1 draw despite being camped around their box for the last 30 minutes or more and chances going begging

The trip to Germany was therefore going to be a massive test, and I knew I had to score at some point

I didn't expect that to come after just four minutes, when right-back Filipe Cruz smashed home from just inside the penalty area

The Germans hit back, and by the break they were 2-1 up and ahead on aggregate

I only needed one goal though, and my luck was in when Alerrandro held his nerve to level from the spot after 81 minutes (2-2 putting my boys ahead on away goals)

Just like in the last round I needed to close the game down - and touchline shouts, tactical toning down and time wasting were all immediately called for

However, whilst waiting for the next break in play to click in the hosts grabbed another to go 3-2 ahead after 86 minutes

All the negative changes were cancelled, and I had literally no time to go and get another to see my side through

As time ticked on and I cursed my luck, the unbelievable happened though - when a German attack broke down on the edge of my box with 90+6 minutes on the clock

The ball was cleared away to Aster Vranckx in central midfield, where the Belgian carried it a little before sliding a pass in to the path of youth graduate Stavros Panagiotou

The right-winger was racing through the middle, and arrowed a low shot from the right side of the box and in to the far corner of the hosts net

That was 3-3 on the night, 4-4 on aggregate and APOEL would be going through again via the fantastic away goals rule

All those negative tactical changes were re-done and that was it, thank you and good night

Only it wasn't - with my defensive rock and captain Diogo Leite putting his first foot wrong in two years at the club by conceding a stupid late penalty

This was deep in to injury time, it was the right decision, and I was going to be knocked out in the most cruel fashion

By the time Dawid Kownacki strode up to the ball, the clock was showing 98 minutes which was already two minutes beyond the 96 that were to be played

This would be the last kick, there would be no come back and the whistle would blow

But like everything else that had gone before there was one final twist, and goalkeeper Konstantinos Panagi was the man that delivered it

The spot kick from Kownacki was hit low and hard, and very much deserved to be nestling in the back of the net

But my 'keeper had other ideas, diving full length to his left and palming the ball past the the post to see the game off in dramatic fashion

 

Here are the other results of an incredibly significant month, and a quick view of what awaits in the final month of May

As you can see, I have drawn Arsenal in the semi final and I am expecting my luck to finally run out there

Even if it doesn't the other semi final is Napoli v Atletico Madrid so it's probably time to accept my fate already

Here is the latest summary of the season, and the league table with just the two games remaining (plus Arsenal and the Coca Cola Cup final)

 

[Gunner 101]

Congratulations on the Europa run! And best of luck in the next round, be an easy tie that for you. 

 

[Jogo Bonito]

22 minutes ago, Gunner 101 said:

Congratulations on the Europa run! And best of luck in the next round, be an easy tie that for you. 

 

Haha. Real life Arsenal maybe, but not FM Arsenal. The last game made me a jibbering wreck so May might have to wait until tomorrow 

[Jogo Bonito]

APOEL - Season 2023/24

It was time for the final month of my 5th and final season with APOEL, and I was chasing two cups with the league already wrapped up

Unfortunately the dream of Europa League glory was ended by Arsenal who beat me 2-0 in London with a penalty and an 87th minute killer second goal

The home leg was always going to be tough, and although I had twice as many chances as them it was not to be as it finished 0-0 on the night

I was delighted to get that close, but of course a Semi Final loss in such a big competition always brings a tinge of disappointment too

Atletico Madrid beat Napoli in the other Semi Final, and then lifted the trophy on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Arsenal

I finished off the league season without any drama, and then clinched a 3rd consecutive Coca Cola Cup on the final day of the season to end in style 

Here is the final league table, interestingly all four losses were at home (and it was far from equal to my unbeaten season in 2022/23)

Here is a quick overview of the season with the performance graph, player stats and financial position of the club by the end of May 2024

And a brief run down of performance in all competitions this season

Here are the player stats for all players across all competitions

Yet again, midfield playmaker Brambilla won the Player of the Season award from the supporters

And the Brazilian won yet another Player of the Year award for the best player in the Cyprus league

Alerrandro won the top league scorer award, although 13 league goals wasn't as many as I would have liked 

 

[Gunner 101]

Unlucky there in the Europa League but a good effort nonetheless. 

Brambilla really has been a star for you hasn’t he! What’s the plan? Are you carrying on or? 

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, Gunner 101 said:

Unlucky there in the Europa League but a good effort nonetheless. 

Brambilla really has been a star for you hasn’t he! What’s the plan? Are you carrying on or? 

Cheers mate, yes indeed Brambilla has been excellent over four seasons. He was signed on a free transfer at the end of the first season (but was a target even before I took over) and has won the fans award in each of his four seasons at APOEL whilst only on wages of £2600 per week. Now, that's what I call a bargain!

I've finished my enjoyable spell in Cyprus now, it has been great fun though and the database was faultless.

Edited October 11, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

@Jogo Bonito A challenging but not unsuccessful final season in Cyprus, even if European success ultimately eluded you again. A bit of late catching up again on my part - MrsW dragged us away for another weekend which, despite my reservations, proved to be very enjoyable. I'll try to get a Forest update posted tomorrow - suffice to say that our second season in the PL is proving to be very troublesome indeed.

[Jogo Bonito]

4 minutes ago, warlock said:

@Jogo Bonito A challenging but not unsuccessful final season in Cyprus, even if European success ultimately eluded you again. A bit of late catching up again on my part - MrsW dragged us away for another weekend which, despite my reservations, proved to be very enjoyable. I'll try to get a Forest update posted tomorrow - suffice to say that our second season in the PL is proving to be very troublesome indeed.

Thanks, yes it was a good effort in the final season. Glad you enjoyed another break away, good to hear. Best of luck with your troubles at Forest.

[Svartowiz]

Nice save you got there, sad to see it end. I'm going to try out AEK Larnakas myself. My goal will be to win their first championship ever and in the long run establish the team as number one on the island. We already have a chance to qualify for the Europa League in the first season, so we cross our fingers for some European success as soon as possible.

We got a lot of Spanish influence in the squad and staff and it will be intersting to see if we're going to continue that tradition or if we try to move in a new direction. I would personally like to get some Scandinavian blood to the team, because I'm from Denmark myself.

I still haven't taken a deep look into the individual players, so I still don't know where our strong areas are in general, but one thing is for sure: our star striker and captain Ivan Trichkovski is going to be an important asset to the team.