FM21 - Il lavoro Italiano - The Italian Job (Parma Calcio 1913)

[karanhsingh]

22 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Cheers. Why always him? 

Very winnable unless your first draw is against possibly the strongest team in the competition: Bayer Leverkusen 

Yes there's always one or two of those clubs floating around. 

I lost to Roma in said season in the quarters. They went on to win the thing. 

[Jogo Bonito]

I expected some good teams, but to draw one in the very first match was extremely unlucky. Anyway, pre-season update will follow later before we get on to our European exit 

[Jogo Bonito]

Here is a quick review of the summer goings on at Parma, with Lorenzo Di Parmalat keen to trim the various squads whilst also improving the quality in the ranks

There were two members of the first team squad released at the end of their contracts (aged 34 and 33 respectively) plus a further 12 let go from the other squads

Loan options to buy were not taken up on Andrea Conti (through choice) and Roberto Gagliardini (because he wouldn't agree to join) 

A number of other players were moved on - but only Simone Colombi, Yann Karamoh & Mario Balotelli had any first team minutes last season

Di Parmalat felt there were four key areas that needed attention - with an extra right wing-back plus central defenders, central midfielders and strikers on the shopping list

The manager was also very keen to avoid loans if at all possible, as he expressed a strong preference to have just permanent players fighting for the cause

A number of deals were done, but only a handful would be destined for involvement in the main squad in the coming campaign

Di Parmalat worked to the board philosophy of 'young' and 'Italian' and at times even combined the two traits in to one player

The central defence pool was boosted by the arrival on free transfers of Juan Cruz Komar from Argentina and Andrea Cistana after he ran out his contract at Brescia

In attack, Lucas Alario completed a pre-agreed £5m move after a successful year on loan last time out - and several others were added with an eye to the future

Jackson Muleka & Almoez Ali came in as non-EU players and were immediately loaned out for extra development

Young Italian Lorenzo Columbo was grabbed from AC Milan for an initial fee of £5m and will compete for occasional minutes with club-grown prospect Andrea Adorante

Andre Anderson is a raw Brazilian-born attacking midfielder trained in Italy by Lazio, and he will serve as understudy to Manuel Lanzini

The right wing-back hole was initially for the U20 squad, and was more than adequately filled by Wilfried Singo with a bargain £400k fee paid to Torino for his services

Central defender Caleb Okoli and central midfielder Thomas Schiro will join the U20 group alongside future first-team left wing-back Matteo Ruggeri

Considerable hours have been spent and wasted trying to land a 'premium Italian midfielder' but as the season begins this has not yet been successful

Two of the top targets Manuel Locatelli & Gaetano Castrovilli were always unlikely this summer - even though a £12m bid for the latter had been accepted by his club

More disappointing was that the aforementioned Gigliardini refused to convert his loan move for £6.5m despite 34 appearances at Parma last season

To rub salt in to the wound, he still would not join on loan again or even permanently after a new £8.5m bid had been agreed with Inter Milan to do so 

This prolonged attempt started before (and continued after) a £6.5m bid for Mattia Zaccagni had been negotiated with Verona and a contract agreed by the player himself

But with plans to meet at the airport arrivals lounge in place, news came through that he had been poached at the last minute by AC Milan for a lower fee than we had offered

Since that debacle, a higher fee was agreed by his new club to snatch him away - only for the player to reject fresh advances without any signs of remorse

With some discontent at the club to not complete either of these deals, Di Parmalat decided it was time to make a tough call to American owner Kyle Krause

Momentarily forgetting the time difference, Krause apparently wondered if Di Parmalat was offering his resignation

But that notion was not on the agenda, the purpose for the call was to request that Director of Football Marcello Carli was relieved of his duties

The relationship had worked quite well in the first season, but Di Parmalat had learned of a potential upgrade through another of his old Parmalat connections

The chats went on late in to the night before it was finally agreed that a compensation package would be offered - as long as there was no doubt the new man would join

A somewhat shocked Carli reluctantly accepted his days at the club were over on 11th August - and his replacement Claudio Ranieri was unveiled later the same day

It was a busy day for the media men, as they were also forced to deny that new kits were on the horizon after 'leaks' made by blogger https://www.fmcustomkits.com/

There is no doubt these kits look fresh and exciting - but for now the sponsorship with Cetilar remains firmly in place

Word on the grapevine is that one day the Parmalat name may be featured again on the famous club shirts - but nobody at Parma has commented on that speculation just yet

On the pitch, preparations have gone fairly well as the following series of results demonstrates 

There are now just a handful of days to go before the new season starts officially - with the first game being Leg 1 of a tricky Europa Conference League draw

There were groans of disbelief after being paired with Bayer Leverkusen in that competition, but Di Parmalat will now have to get his troops ready for battle 

The club expectations had been set out by the board before the draw, but it is believed they will be lenient when assessing the outcome of that tough test

And as Di Parmalat and Ranieri work to try and secure that 'missing midfielder' here is a quick look at the 23-man first team squad the manager has at his disposal

Only one of these 23 - Adi Nalic from Sweden - is not either Italian or has Italian second nationality or has been trained 'in nation' at a club in Italy

His inclusion since last season is for a specific purpose as Di Parmalat may perhaps be struggling to leave the glorious past behind him

Sepe (Buffon), Gravillon (Thuram), Komar (Sensini), Ferrari (Cannavaro), Ghiglione (Fuser) and Emerson (Benarrivo) are all nationality & style matches of their peers in defence

Grassi (Baggio), Lanzini (Veron), Nalic (Brolin), Inglese (Chiesa) and Alerio (Crespo) are all back to the future clones in midfield and attack

Frenchman Boghossian hasn't yet been cloned so Thuram (son of Lillian) is doing that job for now

The U20 squad does have a raw Colombian forward called Asprilla to replace unrelated namesake Faustinho after Balotelli's departure as 'the maverick striker' in the pack

And there is an actual son of Veron in the U20 group too, after he was lured from Argentiinos Juniors (his dad is Chairman) last summer

There are now nine men who have played for or managed Parma involved either as Director or at First Team training ground level as highlighted in Parma Violet 

And beyond that, there are another seven men working at Parma who have played for the club in the past - plus Pedro Verde who is the uncle of Juan Sebastian Veron 

The new season awaits, Forza Parma

[goonergez]

Great post as usual my friend. Very excited to see what goes on this season! Good luck with Leverkusen, I imagine that’s about as tough a draw as you could’ve got!

[Jogo Bonito]

8 minutes ago, goonergez said:

Great post as usual my friend. Very excited to see what goes on this season! Good luck with Leverkusen, I imagine that’s about as tough a draw as you could’ve got!

Thanks very much.

Ready to take on our German superiors now. Yes, I think we got the best club in the competition at the very first hurdle. It was so tempting to quit and re-launch but I want to be honest win lose or draw 

[Cheez3y]

Alario for 5 mio is a steal.

Also I like the Qatari!

[Hootieleece]

Back to the Future!

The Swede needs to go.....his meatballs aren't good with Barilla! LOL!

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Hootieleece
added words I forgot

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Alario is a bargain at £5m. I am liking your comparisions from the old players of Parma to the players you have now.

 

[Ewan0404]

Another solid update. 

Looking forward to the season ahead. 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, Cheez3y said:

Alario for 5 mio is a steal. Also I like the Qatari!

I agree on Alario, he did a great job last season. Whenever I have seen Almoez Ali I really quite like him, he has good stats in FM21 so why not. If his loan works, I can include him in January or next year.

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

Back to the Future!

The Swede needs to go.....his meatballs aren't good with Barilla! LOL!

 

Meatballs and pasta sounds good to me. But the actual current sponsors are Cetilar. I hope all their treatments are legit for athletes and doping tests.

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Alario is a bargain at £5m. I am liking your comparisions from the old players of Parma to the players you have now.

 

Thanks, it was always the plan to go fully retro. Nearly there on that now.

1 hour ago, Ewan0404 said:

Another solid update. 

Looking forward to the season ahead. 

Thanks very much. Hopefully it will go well.

[warlock]

Good luck with the new season, and with that first European venture.

Being able to spend most of your money on squad depth and future prospects is a good place to be 

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, warlock said:

Good luck with the new season, and with that first European venture.

Being able to spend most of your money on squad depth and future prospects is a good place to be 

Thanks, the transfer window has closed and even Claudio Ranieri couldn't work his magic. There were no more new recruits so certainly not a 'dilly ding dilly dong' moment there.

[Jogo Bonito]

With his chase for a new star central midfielder having failed, it was time for Lorenzo Di Parmalat to send out his side for the 2021/22 season opener

Having been handed the hardest tie of the Europa Conference League 4th Qualifying Round, it was a start that threatened early season disappointment

But home grown youngster Andrea Adorante made an amazing impact from the bench on his debut to earn a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg

Verona were edged out 1-0 as Serie A began, and this boosted the side to come away with a 1-1 draw in Germany to earn a place in the European group stage

The good start continued in to September with Di Parmalat masterminding a 2-0 win over Inter Milan

But a draw with Braga in Portugal commenced a run of five games without a win as the bright start dimmed a little in September

Two losses had been handed out, and with three blanks in five it was clear that goals were hard to come by

It was important that there was a pick-up in form during October, and a sequence of four wins and a draw saw an unbeaten month with no goals conceded

Included in this batch of results was a vital win over IFK Norrkoping which kept the side in with a shout of progression from the group at the halfway point

Defensively Di Parmalat was very satisfied - and he hopes that his strikers will grab some goals if they can put injury problems behind them

Both Lucas Alario & Roberto Inglese have missed a number of games so far, but youngster Adorante has stepped in admirably to help limit their absences

The squad has recently been impacted by a couple of significant injuries that will affect the side for a lengthy period of time though

The first of these came on 3rd October when left wing-back Emerson damaged cruciate ligaments which rules him out for 8-9 months

His understudy Giuseppe Pezzella will be handed the jersey, and young summer signing Matteo Ruggeri has also featured after being promoted from the U20 squad

And in the very last game, striker Inglese sustained a hip injury that will force him to miss the next three months of action

Youngster Adorante has already filled in for both him and Alario already this season, and will now have an unexpected opportunity to get even more minutes on the pitch

The standings at the end of the month sees Parma sitting in a lofty 4th, although AC Milan and several others do have a game in hand

Di Parmalat is still pleased with the efforts of his side so far, but has expressed some concern over the goal return with only eight in the nine league games to date

Defensively though, the shape of his side with three central defenders is forming a solid foundation - with just four league goals conceded

We'll be back for another Parma update soon, with European football high on the priority list during what will be an important period for the club 

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[SixPointer]

Can your break into they UCL spots this year? Early suggestion is yes!

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, SixPointer said:

Can your break into they UCL spots this year? Early suggestion is yes!

Not sure but there are some good teams below (AC Milan and Atalanta particularly) and I think the loss of Inglese may harm those chances. Europa League remains a tough enough target - time will tell 

[SixPointer]

18 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Not sure but there are some good teams below (AC Milan and Atalanta particularly) and I think the loss of Inglese may harm those chances. Europa League remains a tough enough target - time will tell 

I have every faith! Look forward not behind 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

three blanks in five it was clear that goals were hard to come by... an unbeaten month with no goals conceded

Ah, the vagaries of an FM season . Looking good so far!

[Jogo Bonito]

5 minutes ago, warlock said:

Ah, the vagaries of an FM season . Looking good so far!

Cheers, yes ups and downs. But generally going well 

[Ewan0404]

Bayer Leverkusen is a rough tie in qualifying, good result though.

Maybe a European trophy on the cards 

Also I am sure that there is a benefit to finishing top in the group in that you skip the first knock out round.

[Jogo Bonito]

22 minutes ago, Ewan0404 said:

Bayer Leverkusen is a rough tie in qualifying, good result though.

Maybe a European trophy on the cards 

Also I am sure that there is a benefit to finishing top in the group in that you skip the first knock out round.

Interesting cheers. Disappointed to lose to Sheffield United but still in touch with the top two so will try to finish in pole position!

Yes, when I got the draw with Leverkusen I was really tempted to save and quit (joking, but did question my luck).

[Jogo Bonito]

At the end of October, things were going fairly well for Parma - 4th in Serie A and still in with a good shout of qualifying from the Europa Conference League

But long-term injuries to left wing-back Emerson (8-9 months) and striker Roberto Inglese (3 months) were hampering the efforts of Lorenzo Di Parmalat

November started brightly with a comfortable 3-0 away win in Sweden, but two disappointing draws followed on home turf

The first was one of many occasions where a lack of guile could not break down a stubborn defence and bottom of the table Chievo ground out a drab 0-0 draw

In addition to this there was yet another significant injury from that match, with midfielder Alberto Grassi ruled out for 3 months on 21st November

The next game was equally frustrating for Di Parmalat as Braga claimed a 1-1 draw - although a home win in the final group fixture would see his team through

The month ended with yet another draw, but this was a much more encouraging 0-0 away to AC Milan

December started with a narrow 1-0 loss at Juventus in Serie A, although it was a really good show against the dominant league leaders

A long-overdue league win finally came with victory at Sassuolo, which teed up the final round of Europa Conference League group fixtures

By now topping the table, Di Parmalat felt that this was a game his side should win - and that would seal qualification to the next stages

Unfortunately, Sheffield United simply became the latest side to head home from Parma with a 0-0 draw as a lack of creativity again saw expectations dashed

That result kept The Blades in 2nd, but Braga beat group failures IFK Norrkoping and jumped to the top - thus Di Parmalat's side were eliminated from the competition

The month was concluded with another loss at home to Napoli (2nd) and a 2-2 draw away to Sampdoria to extend a miserable run of results

A very heavy January would see a mammoth seven league fixtures plus a Coppa Italia game against AS Roma

The new year got off to a good start with a fine 3-2 win over Atalanta but then it went quickly downhill for Di Parmalat again

The next four games yielded no goals, three more 0-0 draws and a 1-0 loss to Roma as the cup game was surrendered too

These were difficult times for Di Parmalat, but he rallied the troops to claim a 1-0 win over Verona which ended the four game goal drought

Unfortunately it wasn't enough to spark a prolonged upturn in form though, as a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan immediately halted any momentum

The last game of the month still remarkably gave Di Parmalat's side an opportunity to climb back to 6th

But it wasn't to be as a 93rd minute Torino leveller against the run of play helped the visitors to an undeserved 2-2 draw  

It's fair to say that a three month period delivering only three league wins and lame exits from two cups had not been satisfactory to either Di Parmalat or the fans

Despite all the gloom mentioned above, a top-six finish is still a possibility with 16 games to go

The performance graph shows nothing dramatically good or bad, the finances are good, and the team stats show defensive strength

But a marked improvement is needed - and fast - if the season is not to peter out

The transfer window finally saw some deals completed that filled the gaps in quality identified in the summer transfer window

Whilst it looks like goals are the real problem of Di Parmalat's team, the manager was adamant that it was central midfield where most improvement was needed

And after being unable to agree transfers for any of his four original summer targets, a new name was suddenly on the agenda - and this one worked

Rolando Mandragora was the man, with the defensive midfielder identified as an affordable and capable force in the middle of the park

A fee of £6.25 million secured the Juventus player on 2nd January 2022, and he is expected to make a big contribution

The Italian is a native of Naples where his father ran the local football school established by Paolo & Fabio Cannavaro (the latter an ex-Parma favourite of course)

The other big arrival of the window was the much sought after modern version of ex-midfielder (now U20 Coach) Alain Boghossian 

The ideal man for this role was Baptiste Santamaria - a Frenchman now playing in Germany for Freiburg who possessed similar traits and the same nationality 

The fee of £10 million paid on 8th January 2022 was more than Di Parmalat would have preferred, but he was convinced the new pairing was the right one for Parma 

The third and final deal of the window saw another left wing-back added with Emerson ruled out for the season

This one was a bit of a bargain with only £2.6 million needed to prise Luca Pellegrini from Juventus as an alternative to the current options in the squad

There were no significant departures, although there are two or three first team players who will be released in the summer

The squad is now better balanced, and with the return of Inglese there is some optimism that the remaining months will be better for Parma

There have also been two pre-contract deals done for the summer, with the following options coming in to the club on economically sensible terms

But that is the future - now is the time for Parma to burst in to life again 

There will be more news from Parma coming soon, as the rest of the season is played out to conclusion

Edited March 2, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

That was a long, cold winter . You did well to stay within touching distance of the European qualification places. I'd certainly be one of those to suggest that goals are a problem (if not the problem) but I like the transfer business... I've been a big fan of Mandragora and Pellegrini for a while. Hopefully, they can give you a bit of defensive solidity and creativity. Onwards and upwards 

[Jogo Bonito]

10 minutes ago, warlock said:

That was a long, cold winter . You did well to stay within touching distance of the European qualification places. I'd certainly be one of those to suggest that goals are a problem (if not the problem) but I like the transfer business... I've been a big fan of Mandragora and Pellegrini for a while. Hopefully, they can give you a bit of defensive solidity and creativity. Onwards and upwards 

Cheers! Goals definitely ARE the problem, but the solutions are not always what you think they should be. The thought process is that the central midfield positions needed to have better technical players, but with them having more bite, determination and quality too. By having a stronger heart, the plan is to give more attacking freedom to the second wing-back on the right and to the AMC. 

Had the 93rd minute Torino goal not been scored last time out, we would be 6th and the whole picture would have looked much brighter. All ifs and buts of course.

[warlock]

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

the solutions are not always what you think they should be

Agreed. I recall one of the FM masters (Cleon?) saying years ago, something to the effect: if your strikers aren't scoring, the problem usually isn't your strikers. But whatever the problem, I'm sure you'll find the solution!

[Jogo Bonito]

7 minutes ago, warlock said:

Agreed. I recall one of the FM masters (Cleon?) saying years ago, something to the effect: if your strikers aren't scoring, the problem usually isn't your strikers. But whatever the problem, I'm sure you'll find the solution!

You have far too much confidence in my ability - but I will do my best.

I have clear memories of a real life team who couldn't score and were bland and dull. The manager signed a defensive midfielder and got absolutely slated for it. The new player performed exceptionally well, allowing others to express themselves more in attacking areas - and the side got promoted. A similar impact could see Parma rewarded with European football - if the manager is good enough. The strikers do still need to score goals of course, but if we offer them more then they might do so. 

[JRS192]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

This one was a bit of a bargain with only £2.6 million needed to prise Luca Pellegrini from Juventus as an alternative to the current options in the squad

 

Great signing!

[Dong21]

Considering the number of long-term injuries your squad has suffered, I think your league performance to date is commendable. Hopefully your recent upgrade in midfield helps you turn all those 0-0s into wins! Good luck for the run in.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, JRS192 said:

Great signing!

Cheers. I didn't have a left-back on the agenda, but with Emerson missing most of the season there was a lot of demand on Pezzella and young Matteo Ruggeri. The latter is still eligible for the U20 team so I have put him back down to that level and now Pellegrini can fight Pezzella for the shirt.

10 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Considering the number of long-term injuries your squad has suffered, I think your league performance to date is commendable. Hopefully your recent upgrade in midfield helps you turn all those 0-0s into wins! Good luck for the run in.

Thanks. I agree there has been a bit of a hit on the team, but I think central midfield wasn't great regardless of injuries. Now I feel I have the right type of players, but still need to find a way to turn draws in to wins. You're right, there are far too many 0-0 draws and that needs to be improved. Defensively there really isn't a problem, hopefully that will stay the case when I find the solution at the other end! Europe was particularly disappointing, and in the summer any budget given will have to go on another quality striker. I have invested in youth for many of the attacking players but so far most of that hasn't paid dividends.

[SixPointer]

Some solid transfer business. Am sure the goals will come. Few tweaks 

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, SixPointer said:

Some solid transfer business. Am sure the goals will come. Few tweaks 

Thanks, I hope so too (and do expect improvement). Similar issues to those you found at Odd when goals were hard to come by.

[Hootieleece]

I think that all teams....finally do run into a goal dry spell....I am having similar issues in Grenoble....

But I must say we tend to play like Man City Last Season of Liverpool this.....goal dry spells and open at the back.....because the AI puts 10 men in goal....and has become clinical on the counter attack.

[Cheez3y]

The Seria A is all about consistency and building long term, thats what I noticed with my beta save every year.

And thats what you are doin.

Place 3rd to 9th is a pretty small gap, everyhing is possible.

 

Great to see my Cagliari up there.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, Cheez3y said:

The Seria A is all about consistency and building long term, thats what I noticed with my beta save every year.

And thats what you are doin.

Place 3rd to 9th is a pretty small gap, everyhing is possible.

Great to see my Cagliari up there.

Cagliari were strong last year too. I aim for consistency and ideally an improvement on last year (7th).

2 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

I think that all teams....finally do run into a goal dry spell....I am having similar issues in Grenoble....

But I must say we tend to play like Man City Last Season of Liverpool this.....goal dry spells and open at the back.....because the AI puts 10 men in goal....and has become clinical on the counter attack.

Yes agreed. Evolution rather than revolution is what is required. At least I'm not conceding many, which is a good base to start from.

[SixPointer]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks, I hope so too (and do expect improvement). Similar issues to those you found at Odd when goals were hard to come by.

 

4 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

I think that all teams....finally do run into a goal dry spell....I am having similar issues in Grenoble....

But I must say we tend to play like Man City Last Season of Liverpool this.....goal dry spells and open at the back.....because the AI puts 10 men in goal....and has become clinical on the counter attack.

Definitely agree! I think the AI are a lot smarter and workout how to defend against us! Which i think is good. Much more realistic. Tweaking game to game helps. Which is like real life. In past times I’ve had one great system and it’s lasted me 3/4 seasons so am enjoying being challenged into being creative more often 

[Jogo Bonito]

26 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Definitely agree! I think the AI are a lot smarter and workout how to defend against us! Which i think is good. Much more realistic. Tweaking game to game helps. Which is like real life. In past times I’ve had one great system and it’s lasted me 3/4 seasons so am enjoying being challenged into being creative more often 

Yes, 100% in agreement there.

[Jogo Bonito]

With 16 games remaining, Lorenzo Di Parmalat was keen to lift his side from 8th in to European qualification spots

It had been a poor run over recent months, but the optimistic nature of football fans and managers was suggesting this was an achievable target

However, three games in to the final period, it became clear that this was more likely to see a campaign that would be simply fizzling out

With just one point from three 'easier' games, Di Parmalat was at a loss to work out what needed to be changed

The visit of relegation threatened SPAL probably came at the right time, and his side finally managed to scrape a 1-0 win in the last fixture of February

March began brighter with a long-overdue away win at Brescia and a brave fightback to rescue a late point at home to a decent Bologna side

The short month ended with another home draw, but this was also a satisfactory result against a high-flying Lazio side 

April was going to be crucial, but it took an own goal and a late winner to edge past bottom side Chievo in the first outing of the month

Somewhat surprisingly, the team played really well next time out with a massive 3-1 win over floundering AC Milan who were also scrapping to push in to 7th

Next up was a trip to the runaway league-leaders, and despite a really spirited show it was Juventus who came out on top with a 2-1 victory over Di Parmalat

Under-performing Sassuolo were dismissed routinely, but another tough away day saw a 2-0 defeat at Napoli (2nd) to keep Parma out of the European spaces

May would deliver the final four games of a difficult season, and a late goal was enough to beat Sampdoria 1-0 in the first of them

But a third consecutive away day against top five opponents ended in familiar style with a 2-0 loss to Atalanta

Benevento were next and they visited with Parma's on-loan striker Almoez Ali leading their attack - and just one point separating four teams from 5th to 9th in the table

The improved home form brought about a 2-0 win for Di Parmalat's side - and that meant four teams were fighting for two places on the final day

Parma would visit mid-table AS Roma, whilst Fiorentina travelled to Udinese and Cagliari visited Torino

Unfortunately there is no happy ending to this story as Roma raced in to an early lead and added another before a late rally from Parma saw it finish 2-1 to the hosts  

Di Parmalat had needed a minimum of a point - and ideally a win - to make any impact on the sides above, and the fourth straight away defeat was a real let-down

As it happened, both Fiorentina and Cagliari won their away games anyway so it was irrelevant and a finish of 8th was one place lower than last season

The season before had delivered 60 points and a goal difference of +15 to finish 7th - so it was a similar campaign but marginally worse

Here is the final Serie A table for 2021/22

And here is the summary at the end of May 2022 

The performance graph tells that there were only a couple of minor spikes in the latter stages of the season, and no real momentum was ever achieved

Defensively there was little to complain about with the 4th best defence in Italy, but the lack of goals was clear during the entire campaign

End of season competition & TV payments saw the financial status of the club shoot up from around £15 million to over £40 million 

During the run-in it had been decided to sell midfielder Gaston Brugman to Dinamo Moscow for £1 million as his contract was about to expire

And in April it was decided to cash-in on young striker Lorenzo Colombo who had not impressed, even though his U20 goal record was impressive enough

This one may come back to haunt the club, but there was a reason why this risk was taken

The sale of Colombo was sanctioned as striker Cedric Bakambu was signed in March on a free transfer after a good spell in China

Although he arrived in March before the free transfer deadline passed, Bakambu was not allowed to be registered for Serie A until the next season 

This was a bit of a blow as his experience may have helped, but his value did immediately rocket to £16 million and hopefully he can perform well in 2022/23

January had also seen Di Parmalat make an astonishing attempt to re-sign Mario Balotelli from AEK in Greece

He had not made an appearance for them by that point, and a one-year contract on wages less than his current £27k per week was dangled in front of him

The one-year deal & squad player status was accepted, but Mario started off asking for £60k per week and Di Parmalat quickly put the phone down and ended the talks

That had long been forgotten by May, but the manager admits to having a chuckle when this news emerged on 1st May 2022

Mario had made just two appearances for his new club at an average rating of 6.5, but sometimes player's opinions of themselves are very out of line with reality

Anyway, back to Parma and this was a club who had enough problems of their own to sort out

The good news was that the board were happy as their expectations had been met again by Di Parmalat

And here are the player stats across all competitions in what must be said was an injury-ravaged campaign

Goalkeeper Luigi Sepe won his second Player of the Season award, whilst Lucas Alario was top scorer as he had been the year before

The two players with contracts ending this summer will be released, and there are two incoming players from pre-contact signings arranged in January 

Four left wing-backs seems excessive, but Emerson had missed nine months and the others had been in and out through injury themselves

One of those four will probably need to be sacrificed, along with one or two of the attacking midfielders 

That could mean moving on Manuel Lanzini with just a year left on his contract at high wages, or it may be Andre Anderson or Jacopo Dezi who rarely feature

To wrap this up, it's been a really difficult, frustrating and ultimately disappointing second season for Di Parmalat

But after a period of reflection, he has announced that he is determined to give himself another crack at it - see you again soon

Edited March 7, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

23 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

With 16 games remaining, Lorenzo Di Parmalat was keen to lift his side from 8th in to European qualification spots

It had been a poor run over recent months, but the optimistic nature of football fans and managers was suggesting this was an achievable target

However, three games in to the final period, it became clear that this was more likely to see a campaign that would be simply fizzling out

With just one point from three 'easier' games, Di Parmalat was at a loss to work out what needed to be changed

The visit of relegation threatened SPAL probably came at the right time, and his side finally managed to scrape a 1-0 win in the last fixture of February

March began brighter with a long-overdue away win at Brescia and a brave fightback to rescue a late point at home to a decent Bologna side

The short month ended with another home draw, but this was also a satisfactory result against a high-flying Lazio side 

April was going to be crucial, but it took an own goal and a late winner to edge past bottom side Chievo in the first outing of the month

Somewhat surprisingly, the team played really well next time out with a massive 3-1 win over floundering AC Milan who were also scrapping to push in to 7th

Next up was a trip to the runaway league-leaders, and despite a really spirited show it was Juventus who came out on top with a 2-1 victory over Di Parmalat

Under-performing Sassuolo were dismissed routinely, but another tough away day saw a 2-0 defeat at Napoli (2nd) to keep Parma out of the European spaces

May would deliver the final four games of a difficult season, and a late goal was enough to beat Sampdoria 1-0 in the first of them

But a third consecutive away day against top five opponents ended in familiar style with a 2-0 loss to Atalanta

Benevento were next and they visited with Parma's on-loan striker Almoez Ali leading their attack - and just one point separating four teams from 5th to 9th in the table

The improved home form brought about a 2-0 win for Di Parmalat's side - and that meant four teams were fighting for two places on the final day

Parma would visit mid-table AS Roma, whilst Fiorentina travelled to Udinese and Cagliari visited Torino

Unfortunately there is no happy ending to this story as Roma raced in to an early lead and added another before a late rally from Parma saw it finish 2-1 to the hosts  

Di Parmalat had needed a minimum of a point - and ideally a win - to make any impact on the sides above, and the fourth straight away defeat was a real let-down

As it happened, both Fiorentina and Cagliari won their away games anyway so it was irrelevant and a finish of 8th was one place lower than last season

The season before had delivered 60 points and a goal difference of +15 to finish 7th - so it was a similar campaign but marginally worse

Here is the final Serie A table for 2021/22

And here is the summary at the end of May 2022 

The performance graph tells that there were only a couple of minor spikes in the latter stages of the season, and no real momentum was ever achieved

Defensively there was little to complain about with the 4th best defence in Italy, but the lack of goals was clear during the entire campaign

End of season competition & TV payments saw the financial status of the club shoot up from around £15 million to over £40 million 

During the run-in it had been decided to sell midfielder Gaston Brugman to Dinamo Moscow for £1 million as his contract was about to expire

And in April it was decided to cash-in on young striker Lorenzo Colombo who had not impressed, even though his U20 goal record was impressive enough

This one may come back to haunt the club, but there was a reason why this risk was taken

The sale of Colombo was sanctioned as striker Cedric Bakambu was signed in March on a free transfer after a good spell in China

Although he arrived in March before the free transfer deadline passed, Bakambu was not allowed to be registered for Serie A until the next season 

This was a bit of a blow as his experience may have helped, but his value did immediately rocket to £16 million and hopefully he can perform well in 2022/23

January had also seen Di Parmalat make an astonishing attempt to re-sign Mario Balotelli from AEK in Greece

He had not made an appearance for them by that point, and a one-year contract on wages less than his current £27k per week was dangled in front of him

The one-year deal & squad player status was accepted, but Mario started off asking for £60k per week and Di Parmalat quickly put the phone down and ended the talks

That had long been forgotten by May, but the manager admits to having a chuckle when this news emerged in May

Mario had made just two appearances for his new club at an average rating of 6.5, but sometimes player's opinions of themselves are very out of line with reality

Anyway, back to Parma and this was a club who had enough problems of their own to sort out

The good news was that the board were happy as their expectations had been met again by Di Parmalat

And here are the player stats across all competitions in what must be said was an injury-ravaged campaign

Goalkeeper Luigi Sepe won his second Player of the Season award, whilst Lucas Alario was top scorer as he had been the year before

The two players with contracts ending this summer will be released, and there are two incoming players from pre-contact signings arranged in January 

Four left wing-backs seems excessive, but Emerson had missed nine months and the others had been in and out through injury themselves

One of those four will probably need to be sacrificed, along with one or two of the attacking midfielders 

That could mean moving on Manuel Lanzini with just a year left on his contract at high wages, or it may be Andre Anderson or Jacopo Dezi who rarely feature

To wrap this up, it's been a really difficult, frustrating and ultimately disappointing second season for Di Parmalat

But after a period of reflection, he has announced that he is determined to give himself another crack at it - see you again soon

How dare you not pay Super Mario what he wants. You should be ashamed 

I got a feeling Bakumbu is going to be a great player for you.

Enjoying reading your progress with Parma.

[Jogo Bonito]

4 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

How dare you not pay Super Mario what he wants. You should be ashamed 

I got a feeling Bakumbu is going to be a great player for you.

Enjoying reading your progress with Parma.

Thanks, it's been a challenge to me so that is a good thing. I would love this kind of challenge at EFL League 1 or 2 level but I will give it another year.

Mario probably wouldn't have bothered turning up to sign a contract anyway. Too busy with fireworks in his bathroom I imagine...

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks, it's been a challenge to me so that is a good thing. I would love this kind of challenge at EFL League 1 or 2 level but I will give it another year.

Mario probably wouldn't have bothered turning up to sign a contract anyway. Too busy with fireworks in his bathroom I imagine...

True but we all love Mario on here. He is one of the few characters left in a world of boring footballers.

 

[Cheez3y]

Ahhh..missed the euro spots. But maybe this will be a positive next season.

Bakambu should be a great transfer, he is too good for China.

 

Selfishly I like what Cagliari did this season.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

True but we all love Mario on here. He is one of the few characters left in a world of boring footballers.

That's true. I'm going to try and cull a few players and see if I can get something out of Asprilla instead.

Just now, Cheez3y said:

Ahhh..missed the euro spots. But maybe this will be a positive next season. Bakambu should be a great transfer, he is too good for China. Selfishly I like what Cagliari did this season.

Yes, I just couldn't do enough to make that extra jump. Definitely a missed opportunity there. Bakambu is not my usual type of signing due to being over 30, but he has always scored goals in real life, and done well in FM21 so hopefully he can give me a good season. If not, he should have a re-sale value at least. Cagliari have had two good seasons, qualifying for Europe twice now.

[warlock]

@Jogo BonitoAnother enjoyable read, even if the season didn't pan out the way you hoped. Good to hear you're going again.

But re-signing Mario?!? What have you been drinking?  

[Jogo Bonito]

22 minutes ago, warlock said:

@Jogo BonitoAnother enjoyable read, even if the season didn't pan out the way you hoped. Good to hear you're going again. But re-signing Mario?!? What have you been drinking?  

Yes, your summary is right - and good to know it's an enjoyable failure. The Mario decision was luckily taken out of my hands by his greed. So at least that ended up well 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[SixPointer]

Tough just missing out! Super Mario has to be one of the most unique characters in football history 🤣

[Dong21]

A great piece of business from you to get Bakambu on a wage of just £12.5k p/w! If I recall correctly from when I looked at him on one of my saves, he was on £200k p/w+ out in China 

[Jogo Bonito]

25 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Tough just missing out! Super Mario has to be one of the most unique characters in football history 🤣

Yes it was tough, but we weren't good enough so no complaints. I think AEK let Mario go and he is on trial at some lower European league club.

2 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

A great piece of business from you to get Bakambu on a wage of just £12.5k p/w! If I recall correctly from when I looked at him on one of my saves, he was on £200k p/w+ out in China 

Yes I wasn't expecting to get him on those wages either, hence I took a punt on him. I've never managed him before so this was possibly the last chance I would get. I also chose China as my training camp destination this season as I thought it may help our global appeal.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Love this. Can't wait to do Parma and finally win that elusive Scudetto.

[Jogo Bonito]

29 minutes ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Love this. Can't wait to do Parma and finally win that elusive Scudetto.

Thanks very much. The way I'm going, you'll get there before me 

There's an Italian thread on the GPTG forum, it will be good to see how you get on with Parma.

I'm nearing the end of pre-season and have so far spent no money and recouped £24.2 million since selling Colombo to Man United on 9th June. I've got a couple of midfielders on the target list, with one having agreed terms on a move costing us £8m. He'll become a first team regular if it comes off and will be paid £50k per week (highest earner at the club).

I'm struggling to free up a non-EU spot for Dennis Bonaventure though, even though I sold at least one non-EU player so far this summer. That means I have a £10m asset that cannot currently be registered (even for pre-season friendlies). I have tweaked the midfield a little bit, and bizarrely the solution to a lack of goals seems to be replacing the AMC with a DM and very slightly adjusting the roles of the two central midfielders. The proper season hasn't started so it may go up in smoke, but the pre-season tour of China went really well and the first game back on home turf was even better.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

13 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks very much. The way I'm going, you'll get there before me 

Doubt it, haven't even started my Parma save. I am thinking about doing what I did with old CM 01/02, and do a two teams at the same time save, with Manchester United and Parma, sicne the two are my favourite teams. But I am a little bit scared of it, given how much more complex FM is compared to the old CM. I actually played CM for almost 20 years, until I got into FM21 .. 
I digrees, I want to lead Parma back to glory and their first Scudetto, even Champions League, but not sure when I will have time.. in any case, will follow your game for sure.

[Jogo Bonito]

Yes I started on FM06 and this is so much more time consuming every year. CM01/02 to this will be a massive difference, but of course you are much more in control/engaged. That also means more things can go wrong, like player morale etc.

I'll post an update later which will show the squad, transfers (mainly out), and a few other bits and pieces from pre-season. I've also got a staff list as I think I have 11 former Parma players on the staff now, plus there are three ex-Parma managers here too. The sons of Thuram and Veron are in the squad but not established and there is a Colombian forward called Asprilla!

Then it's on to season 3.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Jogo Bonito