HorusFM
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Posts posted by HorusFM
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My goalkeeper bagged a cup final winning penalty - only too right he gets that trophy in hand.
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Finally had chance to go back through this. I love your writing (and you know I always have), it just reads so easily.
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On 29/10/2021 at 14:11, neilhoskins77 said:
Jenkinson, hi and welcome to our little corner of the boards.
As a Newcastle fan, I'm delighted someone is taking over from Steve Bruce......literally, anyone will do.
I second this. Good luck! One of my favourite stories on the forum was a Newcastle one.
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Hey guys. Hope everyone is well. If anyone gets chance, watch Ted Lasso. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a programme as much as I have this one. It gives me such FMS vibes.
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August 17th 2018
Pre-season was over. Tina had mentally prepared for everything the first few months had taught her, but she still felt supremely unprepared for what was about to come. An opening season bout against Udinese was the best she could have asked for really – they were middle of the table and would present a sturdy yet winnable test.
She didn’t feel anxious, not yet. That would kick in tomorrow.
One thing occurred out of the blue since the previous Bayern friendly, in that two players had decided to leave the club and accept offers elsewhere. Tina had partially been involved in one, but another occurred out of her hands, leaving her without a player in a key position, but felt it didn’t matter in the long run.
Sami Khedira had left the club after joining on a free transfer in 2015 from Real Madrid, and had done a great job in three resulting seasons. Having started his career with Stuttgart, the Germany midfielder had made the choice to return home once knowing they had come in with a bid, and re-joined his first club for £4m. He would leave a hole, but his desire to go home had superseded his desire to stay any longer in Turin.
The other player to leave during the end of pre-season period was Mehdi Benatia. The 31-year-old Morocco defender had spoken of his concern regarding the arrival of Jamaal Lascelles, and that was confirmed by Tina in a private meeting with him. He had taken it well, and despite making over 30 appearances since joining on-loan the season before last, he had already found chances tough to come by. Benatia had joined for roughly £13m, but left the club with a profit on their hands when Paratici negotiated a £20m deal to send him to Germany. Having previously played for Bayern, he was now heading to Dortmund and left the club with the best wishes of everyone.
Today was an important day and decisions needed to be made about squad registration. There were rules, regulations and limits on registration, so Tina had a hard time at the start navigating the minefield. Four hours later, the files were submitted to the Federcalcio.
Goalkeepers
Mattia Perin (HG), Carlo Pinsoglio (HGC), Wojciech Szczesny
Defenders
Andrea Barzagli (HG), Leonardo Bonucci (HG), Jamaal Lascelles, Raffaele Alcibiade (HGC), Giorgio Chiellini (HG), Joao Cancelo, Juan Cuadrado, Lorenzo Del Prete (HGC), Alex Sandro (nEU), Mattia De Sciglio (HG), Patrice Evra
Midfielders
Emre Can, Leonardo Spinazzola (HG), Simone Emmanuello (HGC), Miralem Pjanic, Blaise Matuidi, Federico Bernardeschi (HG), Douglas Costa (nEU), Matheus Pereira (nEU)
Forwards
Paulo Dybala (HG), Willian Jose, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Mandzukic
Key
HG – Homegrown
HGC – Homegrown at club
nEU – Occupies non-EU slotFrenkie de Jong (U22), Rodrigo Bentancur (nEU, U22), Cristian Bunino (HGC, U22) were not included in the 25 registration slots because they are U22 and don’t need to be registered to play for the first team. The inclusion of Emmanuello and Alcibiade was down to needing a minimum of 4 homegrown Juventus players.
The team was ready – but was Tina?0 -
July 2020
So we begin our campaign ready to set the world on fire from lowly Luxembourg. Having been in the job for only a week, I haven't made any changes, and as there are no staff at the club, haven't updated anybody on that yet. I've got an advert out for an assistant manager, and after that I'll decide who recruits who. We brought in the aforementioned assistant manager, a head physio and a head of youth development. We are still advertising for a scout.
The cup draws gave us an away trip to next tier up Reisdorf (Coupe de Luxembourg) and FC Olympia Christnach (Tier 5, Coupe FLF).
Our pre-season wasn't far from catastrophic, nor was it decent. We struggled against all opposition except Jeunesse Gilsdorf, a higher tiered team who did put out a weakened youth side. We just weren't connected as a unit, and whilst I was playing a rather basic 4-4-2, I did expect just a slight bit more against similar opposition. Three losses out of six total games isn't to be sniffed out however and we will take that into the season starter as best we can.
Transfer deadline day fell right on the end of July, and we went into it realising that we were sorely understaffed in the player department. We had found ourselves guilty of being complacent since taking over, and in the end went on a spree that has likely not improved us in any way. The pick of the bunch was Steve Graser, who will bring some steel to our defence, but at 37, I don't foresee him being here beyond the end of the season. Safet Nikolic has come straight in as our new captain thanks to his leadership abilities, while Bryan Bossi will take up between the sticks immediately.0 -
So here we have my only players at the club. As you can see from the outset, our position in the fifth tier of Luxembourg is evident by the quality on show. Our best player, Marjan Vuksanovic, has spent his entire career in Luxembourg, and sadly has achieved next to nothing during that time. He is however our best player by a long shot, and also the only real player we have. Everybody else is fictional, added to the purpose of allowing us to be competitive instantly. Lucas Bolas is a decent enough winger for this level, while the incorrectly named Cristiano Ronaldo Roberto could become decent, if we can find any way to make him so. Here are our three best players below.1 -
So whilst looking for a new challenge, I re-visited the Steam download store and found myself a couple of potential leagues to visit for the first time. Malta, Estonia and Moldova came close, but Luxembourg won out just down to it's sheer size and standing within the football world. I downloaded Weiry's database changes for a five tier Luxembourg, and set about picking a side from the lowest available, opting for Tricolore Gasperich. (as per all my FM save games, I name my manager after one of my favourite players from that previous save.)
I haven't set myself the sole target of youth only, as for the short term we will suffer incessantly at the hands of thiefs and vagabonds, but the long term aim will be to nurture the clubs own youth talent. For now, we will make signings where needed and work from there. The club currently operates in tier five of the Luxembourg system, a ten side division which sees 27 games total (three against each). 1st and 2nd go up as promoted, with no relegation spots as this is the lowest tier.
We will also compete in two cup contests.
Due to world events there was no contest for 2019-20 of the Couple de Luxembourg, so the previous holders are 8 time winners FC Dudelange, while Coupe FLF has no previous history, so we are treating it as a brand new trophy. It looks from the outside to be a lower league only contest, which could be worth partaking in. Only time will tell.
Onto the final part of my starting update, we find ourselves looking at a very empty bank account. Almost empty that I am even wondering if they opened one to begin with. The club is completely amateur at current, and the squad I have inherited will follow in the next post, but for now, here is the bank and the facilities.
As you can see, everything is as basic as can possibly be with this club. Having briefly checked the facilities under the hood, as expected they are all at 1. There is lots of work to do here.0 -
August 15th 2018
It was raining in Paisley, which in truth was probably nothing new. Dalglish sat staring at his computer screen, urging the download to finish. He screwed his face up at having to have paid for a subscription to the website. It angered him at leaving a physical presence of himself on there. But he needed it at the same time and the risk was worth it in his conspiracy laden eyes.
He got up and poured another cup of coffee. Drinking it had become a habit now, and the coffee pot was always percolating through the day. Just like the subscription, he needed it.
The video finished downloading just as he sat. The Juventus press conference from a few days back. Signing up to the Juventus fans site wasn’t necessary for him to view this video, it was pretty much everywhere anyway. But it came with extended coverage and up-close extras. And it was the up close he wanted. It was what he craved.
He watched it fully.
He knew he wasn’t a pervert or a stalker. He had only tried sending ten letters in the past to her. She had never replied of course, and while it did bring a rise of anger from him, he let it pass knowing one day she would. She would.
He watched again, this time finishing his coffee.
He got up and wiped his hands on his grease and stain ridden trousers. He could hear stirring in the other room which brought a groan. He just couldn’t be arsed today with the rigmarole of getting him dressed. He wished he could afford care.
“Coming dad,” he grunted before heading into the other room. The smell in the house was rancid at best and Dalglish knew that. He didn’t care anymore. No-one came.
He walked past his shrine and paused briefly. The pictures of Tina were taped to the wall in no real structure. Dalglish wasn’t one for organisation until it came to his internet whereabouts. He gently touched one of the pictures and continued down the hall.
What he wouldn’t give to visit Turin and see her again.0 -
Thanks mate. This has been dragged on and off for so long that I recently just sat down and let it flow out. Sometimes, you just gotta push it a bit more.
*******
| ------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Staff Role | Age| Nation | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Tina Powell | Manager | 35 | WAL | | Landon Donovan | Assistant Manager| 36 | USA | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Fabio Paratici | DoF | 46 | ITA | | Stefano Braghin | HoYD | 54 | ITA | | Franco Baldini | Coach | 57 | ITA | | Vittorio Quagliarella| Chief Scout | 67 | ITA | | Emanuele Randelli | Head Physio | 52 | ITA | | ------------------------------------------------------|| ------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Position | Age| Nation | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Wojciech Szczesny | GK | 28 | POL | | Carlo Pinsoglio | GK | 28 | ITA | | Mattia Perin | GK | 25 | ITA | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Leonardo Bonucci | DC | 31 | ITA | | Andrea Barzagli | DR/C | 37 | ITA | | Medhi Benatia | DC | 31 | MAR | | Jamaal Lascelles | DC | 24 | ENG | | Giorgio Chiellini | DL/C | 33 | ITA | | Joao Cancelo | D/WB/M/AMR | 24 | POR | | Juan Cuadrado | D/WB/M/AMR | 30 | COL | | Lorenzo Del Prete | D/WBR/C/ | 32 | ITA | | Patrice Evra | D/WBL | 37 | FRA | | Alex Sandro | D/WB/ML | 24 | BRA | | Mattia De Sciglio | D/WB/RL | 25 | ITA | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Frenkie de Jong | DC/DM/MC | 21 | NED | | Emre Can | DC/DM/MC | 24 | GER | | Miralem Pjanic | DM/M/AMC | 28 | BIH | | Sami Khedira | DM/MC | 31 | GER | | Rodrigo Bentancur | DM/MC | 21 | URU | | Blaise Matuidi | DM/ML/C | 31 | FRA | | Douglas Costa | M/AMR/L | 27 | BRA | | Matheus Pereira | M/AML/C | 20 | BRA | | Federico Bernardeschi| M/AMR/L/C | 24 | ITA | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Paulo Dybala | AMC/ST | 24 | ARG | | Willian Jose | AMC/ST | 26 | BRA | | Mario Mandzukic | AML/ST | 32 | CRO | | Cristiano Ronaldo | AMR/L/ST | 33 | POR | | Cristian Bunino | ST | 21 | ITA | | ------------------------------------------------------|0 -
12th August 2018
Fabio Paratici can work absolute wonders. The Italian director of football had worked some absolute deals this summer, and finalised it all with the wonderful capture of Frenkie de Jong. The 21-year-old was officially unveiled as a Juventus player, and Europe stood up to take notice. Barcelona had been super keen on the deal, even submitting a duplicate bid, but they had lost out to superior gamesmanship from Fabio. If Tina ever doubted his ability, this confirmed he was one of the best.
Landon had set about welcoming him to the rest of the players after her first meeting with Tina and the other staff. Fabio had done good. The young midfielder had only cost £33.5million, the board stumping up the rest having noticed that de Jong would be a long-term investment with a very talented Juventus-based future.
The transfer dealings had been phenomenal, but also a far cry from anything Tina had ever been used to. The figures being thrown around were just absolutely mental, and a distance away from her Livingston and St Mirren days.
But there were other things going on currently too. Tina’s former personal assistant, Jessica Jones, had followed her to Italy having been offered the same role. She had been with her at St Mirren, but hadn’t yet been able to join up with her boss again due to needing to finalise a house sale in Scotland. But she was finally sorted and on her way. Her flight was due to land in four hours, and Tina had happily offered to pick her up. She was still hopeless at finding her way around Turin, but the airport was easy enough for her. The woman was ambitious, and to enjoy Turin whilst working with her friend, was a no-brainer.
She found herself super excited to see her friend. Having been surrounded exclusively by men for the best part of her time in Italy so far, she was missing that female connection. The pair were great friends and she couldn’t wait to link up with her outside of work and be a woman again. Working in this environment made her forget sometimes that she was still a woman and enjoyed a spot of shopping. Amazon wasn’t quite cutting the same impact, and she couldn’t remember the last time she went clothes shopping, which was quite frankly a travesty in Turin.
5pm came and went, and with Jessica in tow, the pair went for a meal.
Sometimes it’s just nice to do normal things and be a human.£1,000 and four shops later, her bank balance was groaning.
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Thrilled once more to see this appearing on my feed. <3
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Thankfully, the emperors new clothes that a couple of my players donned didn't hinder their ability to hold on to our lead.
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9th - 11th August 2018
There were big movements going on at the club as Tina woke up to a very enticing offer for Moise Kean. News had clearly travelled quickly over his imminent departure, and clubs were far happier to see past his behaviour than she had been and was willing to be. Napoli had instantly made a bid for the Frenchman, while Everton and Valencia were also putting together stimulating packages. There were also the cheeky lurkers, like Cercle Brugge, who were advocating that the boy deserved a chance, and that a season-loan would do him the world of good.
Tina cared little for that. The Napoli bid was clocked in at £30million, which gave her some hope on a further inbound transfer.
The sharks were now circling Frenkie de Jong. The 21-year-old Ajax playmaker was sought after by all the better clubs within Europe. Paratici was desperate to be given the greenlight to make the transfer happen. He had long been an admirer for the player and thought now was the chance to move for him. Tina didn’t disagree but the transfer pot had to be used to shore up the other bits of the squad first.
Selling Kean would allow this to happen, so Tina gave him the approval he needed to go work his magic. Tina also decided to leave the Kean saga to Paratici now too. He was leaving, it was just a matter of who took him on.
The start of the season was starting to get closer now, that hosting of Udinese bearing down on her and the players quickly. She felt like things were moving calmer now, but there was still a major source of discontent over her leadership of the side. A side as big as Juventus demanded the best, and they wouldn’t settle for any less. And why should they?
But Tina also felt aggrieved. She hadn’t lied on her application to become the manager. She hadn’t pulled the wool over any eyes. She was a gifted coach, and Juventus clearly saw that. Her appointment as head coach saw to that, and while her involvement in transfers is limited, she is still the leader of this side. Paratici may be the one bringing the players in and taking them out, but she was given overall hiring and firing capabilities over the position. The media didn’t know that yet, but she felt like it was a kop out using it as an excuse. She was here on her own coaching merit – not anything else.
Kean was gone by the 11th. Roma had stumped a £25million fee for him, spending the majority of their Kostas Manolas money on the young striker. Tina was glad to be rid of him. Now it was all about finalising de Jong. She hadn’t heard much on the deal, and today was a day to meet with the media, and she still had no answers.
As she took her seat, flanked by Landon Donovan and Fabio Paratici, she looked noticeably calm. The past few days had been kind to her, and she was feeling comfortable. As always, the media sought to alter that where they could. Some clearly didn’t like her while others were considerate and far more accepting.
The focus began with the Kean developments. Certain media outlets had gotten a story from the youngster, who was now no longer holding back his contempt for Tina forcing him out the club. In truth, the decision had come from above, but it was one Tina agreed with anyway. She was happy to take any flak from him for that. The reporters were consistent with what they asked – was he forced out of the club?
“Yes,” she said. “Moise and Juventus had outgrown each other.”
The simple answer satiated enough for the questioning to move on. She didn’t fancy further probing that one.
Transfer dealings cropped up as usual, Willian Jose and Lascelles, with them also having knowledge of the de Jong pursuit. How they got she didn’t know but it didn’t surprise her.
Udinese was next up on the question platter.
“We’re ready. The team have been getting into their stride both with training and fitness too. We’re more ready than we ever have been to hit the ground running.”
They were very ready.0 -
Mark is powering up that fist of FMS. No pics here bro, just storytelling with good old words.
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8th August 2018
Juan Cuadrado was going to miss the start of the season. It was a huge blow for the side, Juan having become a solid member of the team in previous seasons. He was suffering from a hip injury, something he had rather innocuously picked up in the Bayern match yesterday. Tina was super disappointed, but the more pressing matter was how to deal with the injury itself.
Tina joined her medical staff, notably the club doctor Claudio Rigo. Landon was also there, along with head of sports science Darragh Connolly. Landon frowned, “A minimum of three months Tina. Doesn’t look eternally damaging but his age comes in to question here. His long-term health is important,” he said, motioning to the doctor, who only spoke Italian.
“We can let our physio team deal with this in-house,” he said, “But there is a better option of sending him to a specialist. I think it is in the best interests of Juan, and he has agreed. Do you want us to pursue this choice?”
Tina nodded, “Yes of course. Juan has to come first. What is his return time frame like with this specialist treatment?”
Claudio shrugged, “Still in the same realm, perhaps two months at the longest. A little quicker than leaving it in house.”
“Okay, let’s do it,” she replied before dismissing the doctor and the translator.
Landon was also heading out before handing Tina a document. “Oh, here is the match analysis for yesterday.”
“Thanks, Landon. I’ll come join you in a moment.”
Tina thumbed through the report after he left.
The game itself had been a fairly poor affair. Neither of the giants had put on a show for the fans in attendance, and having mustered just three shots on target between the pair, it was clear to see why Willian Jose had been given the most scathing appraisal. He had endured a miserable game, largely down to his failure to win any headers at all, having been played out by the Bayern defence.
Mattia Perin came in for the most praise, having made the key interceptions and the one key save that kept her side with a clean sheet. In the end, he took the award for best player of the match.
Tina closed the analysis and headed back upstairs. Moise Kean and his agent were sat in the office. Tina had been dreading this conversation all day.
“Hi Moise,” she said, taking a seat opposite him whilst Landon also came in, seating himself further away. “I think it’s best that we just get straight to it. There is the general feeling here that you aren’t really adhering to the philosophy of the club, in terms of your personal life outside of football. As a player for Juventus, you represent everything the club is, and your opinions and actions in turn can help and hinder the club.”
Moise didn’t say a word.
“As it goes, we have confirmed cases of your blatant disregard with social media policies relating to the club mandate. The things you do and say just aren’t compatible with us, and as such, I’ve been advised that we must find you a new club. You will be transfer listed immediately. I’m sorry but your future no longer lies with the club.”
Moise continued to say nothing. The sign of a man already accepting of his fate.
Moise had spent the previous night partying with exotic dancers, and the way he had promoted the whole thing on his social media was criminal. But for him to then dress the strippers in his Juventus shirts was just shambolic. He would never play for the club again.
Tina spent the evening observing Champions League action on the television, but there were no Italian clubs in action during this round.
Celtic were in action away to Qarabag, but struggled in the game and had to settle for a goalless draw. Scandinavian clubs fared better, Malmo FF beating Hapoel Be’er-Sheva whilst Rosenborg easily dispatched Kukesi, former Juventus man Nicklas Bendtner on the scoresheet. Ajax beat Slavia Prague by a single goal, while there were also wins for Benfica, Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kyiv.0 -
7th August 2018 - Friendly
Stadion München, Munich, 69,659
BAYERN MUNICH vs. JUVENTUS
Perin; Chiellini, Bonucci, Cancelo, Sandro; Matuidi, Cuadrado, Dybala, Pjanic, Douglas Costa; Ronaldo
The sheer strength on show frightened even Tina. Having been unable to field what would be close to her final eleven, she was now looking at a side that could challenge anything opposing it.
But there was clearly a problem.
The general positivity experienced before the game had completely dissipated and Tina was left standing in front of these stars with no real credentials, no experience or reputation to fall back on.
Tina could only describe the pre-match in one way – they were completely disinterested in anything she had to say.
As they stood, she felt more and more uncomfortable, but powered on through her pre-match team talk anyway. She felt Perin, Pjanic and Bonucci were listening, but couldn’t shake the feeling that Ronaldo was not impressed. He had agreed a big money move to play for Juventus, but now found himself following orders from a woman head coach who’s only experience was managing Gareth Bale and Wales to a second-round appearance at the Euro’s.
But as the sides came out, she was in awe of the near 70,000 capacity watching this game.
Cuadrado got the visitors off to a hot start when, after dispossessing Niklas Sule, he struck a shot that despite its bobbly nature, bounced back off the post, Dybala unable to find his footing for the unexpected rebound.
The woodwork continued its fine work for Bayern, Pjanic earning and taking a freekick from twenty yards, his low grasscutter ending up on the other post to the Cuadrado effort and rolling harmlessly out of the box.
Tina saw her side continue to settle well into the match, and when Perin worked his way safely out of trouble, his long field ball allowed Cuadrado to cross deep into the left pocket for Douglas Costa. His first-time half volley hit the same post as last time and careened back away from his outstretched left leg. Having had the majority of the first half all to themselves, Juventus slipped into a complacent mood with the belief that this was going to go their way eventually. Tina lamented the mood they had found themselves in and inwardly swore when Cuadrado was crumpled over on the side line. Willian Jose replaced him, with Ronaldo moving to the left side and swapping Costa to the right.
The remainder of the half played out quietly, with neither side able to register a legitimate shot on target, despite the three woodwork efforts Juventus had suffered. Matuidi had picked up a booking having gone mental at the referee for allowing play to continue when Cuadrado went down, so Tina decided against him coming back out and chucked Bentancur on instead.
The relatively young Bayern side had really not gotten into the game and Niko Kovac put some more experienced players into the fray.
The game was largely frustrating for the fans in attendance, as despite some decent build up play, neither team really wanted to go for it. Renato Sanches typified the performance when he hauled down Dybala simply because he could and when Joshua Zirkzee went for an overhead kick, the fans just couldn’t help but laugh. He would have had a free effort on goal had he just turned around.
Pjanic had the first shot on target after seventy minutes, a light effort that Sven Ulreich easily handled down to his right. Tina felt no attacking substitute would change the game and opted simply for match fitness – Lascelles and Evra replaced Sandro and Bonucci.
Ronaldo himself had been unbelievably invisible. Having only touched the ball twelve times in the second half, there was absolutely no output down the left. Evra had played more balls into the box in the nine minutes on the field than Ronaldo had. And with that, Tina had decided enough was enough. His number came up, and after shaking hands with Bernardeschi, he trudged to the bench and plonked himself down. He looked livid, and he completely blanked Tina on his way past.
The game spiralled at that point. Chiellini saw red for a two footed lunge that could have sent Zirkzee to the moon, before Kingsley Coman flicked a superb cross into the box for Zirkzee. His header was saved by Perin before Ribery tucked home the rebound. Amid celebrations, the linesman flag had gone up for offside, and whether right or wrong in terms of end decision, it prevented Tina losing her final pre-season game.
But this result mattered little. What impact Ronaldo was going to have this season was the bigger question.
BAYERN MUNICH (0) 0
JUVENTUS (0) 0 Chiellini s/off 870 -
6th August 2018
The training camp had ended quicker than Tina had anticipated. She had enjoyed it, but before long the team was on its way back to Turin from Vercelli. The coaching staff were highly encouraged by the development of squad harmony during the time away, and that pleased her.
90min.com had presented their usual annual predictions on who would top the goalscoring charts for the coming season, and it didn’t present any unusual suspects. Immobile was the top scorer last season with 29, and he featured at the top once more.
Ciro Immobile 5-1
Cristiano Ronaldo 6-1
Gonzalo Higuain 8-1
Mauro Icardi 9-1
Dries Mertens 10-1
Edin Dzeko 12-1
The time that followed was all about training and getting the side ready for action in the season opening. Willian Jose was the focus of his first session, with the staff deciding to allow him to work on becoming a more well-rounded forward – this meant putting him forward for specific role training as a deep lying forward. Tina agreed with the recommendation, as she also did with the one to re-train Jamaal Lascelles as a makeshift defensive midfielder. He would suit the role well and cope ably within it.
As Tina had been away during the finalising of Willian Jose arriving at the club, Fabio Paratici had held the press conference heralding his arrival and the expectations set on him. “We have the utmost confidence that Willian will come up big for the club when needed,” he had said to gathered reporters.
The reason for his doing it was two-fold – Tina was still horrendous at speaking Italian, and Fabio had been there to finalise the deal anyway. His role within the recruitment structure was high, and while Tina could say yes or no on the final decision, Fabio is the one who had done all the ground work and preparation into it.
And as Tina wryly noted, he would go down with Willian Jose if he completely bombed. She loved being sneaky.
The pre-match analysis had also come in for the Bayern game tomorrow. They had two days before beaten Real Madrid, despite having ten men, 2-0 thanks to goals from James Rodriguez and Niklas Sule. They dominated the match in all truth, sparking concerns from Madrid fans who weren’t all too confident for the season ahead. Julen Lopetegui was in charge there now, and had a big job ahead of him this season, especially with seeing how they coped without Ronaldo there anymore. It hadn’t stopped him shelling out £119m across Alvaro Odriozola, Vinicius Junior, Ignacio Camacho and Kostas Manolas. Julen has a lot of work to do. Hopefully everything turns out better than the end to his Spain stint.1 -
The man returns and just churns out pure storytelling magic as easily as he would sleep. I call shenanigans. I also was planning a return. Might delay it; can't compete.
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5th August 2018
Tina was resigned to the fact that people were going to hate her. She knew coming into this that the reputation of the club and that of her own was logistically very far apart.
But strange things can happen.
Having spent the night away from the players and just enjoying a meal in Cuneo, she returned to her makeshift bus office, optimistic of the day. Two coffees later and she had fended off a tirade of abuse on Twitter. She had the foresight to not reply to anything she ever saw in any capacity within social media, but it still riled her. She was eager for the season to start so they could see what she was about.
She did in principle agree with their disdain at the appointment of someone still making their way, but them fans were still reserving judgement as was the way to do it. Others were being vitriolic in the fire they were spouting at her, and she was determined to shut them up. Ultra’s would always be an issue, regardless of who she was.
But by the end of the day, the Ultra’s were the ones supporting and getting behind her. Football was changing, in many ways, and the whole world would need to begin a huge adjustment to allow it to continue. Women’s football, despite at times it’s also abusive relationship with some fans, was flourishing, and while female coaching staff was still super rare, as is BAME coaches, there were improvements steadily being made. Tina was frontrunning this half of the movement, whether she wanted to or not, and had to set the example for them all. The bar had to be set.
Bayern Munich were the next team she would come up against, and her players were undergoing training today with Landon. The American had been a wonderful presence for her during her time so far and she was grateful for him, and the Twins aswell. They had been dispatched by Quagliarella so it may be a little while before she sees them again.
Tina was sat working on further training schedules when Fabio Paratici strolled onto the bus. Fans were waiting for news on Willian Jose, but Twitter had exploded by lunchtime. He had been spotted, as is usually the way, in the airport inbound lounges. She had already known he was on his way having been given the greenlight by Paratici.
“We’ve got him,” he smiled, “He was only ever going to choose us I’m certain. We’ve had the financial details all outlined. He’s a very good player. We’ve done well here.”
Tina smiled. It was always hard working under a director of football, something she had not done before. She understood on joining that her limit with transfers would be working hand in hand with Fabio. He would compile lists and financial deals on the potential targets, and she would get to choose from that.
Willian Jose was officially unveiled as a Juventus player at 5pm away from Turin. His transfer was a straight up £17m, no extra fees and no extra clause or percentages. That didn’t leave much in the budget, but then she didn’t really need anyone else now. Jose joins on a massive four-year deal at £98,000 a week. He better be as good as Fabio insisted he was, she thought to herself, considering the outlay on him.
The fans were happy enough with Willian Jose, knowing he had quality, but they were also interested to see if he could make the step up with playing at a much higher level now. Only time would tell for them and for him.
Willian Jose had immediately been shipped out to Germany as the club was headed to the airport to catch a flight to Munich. With a friendly at Bayern in two days, he wouldn’t have too long to settle in and would likely be thrown in deep. He had featured in every Real Sociedad pre-season fixture so far, so he wasn’t likely to be unfit.
News filtered through at the end of the day that the opening day match between Juventus and Udinese would be screened for TV.
Baby steps.0 -
30.08.2085
The Champions’ League Group Stage was drawn today. We were drawn in Group A with Athletic, Newcastle and Fortuna Dusseldorf. Massive changes in football as there is no Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Inter, Milan, Paris Saint Germain, Dortmund in the group stage this year! And spare a double thought for Chelsea, who have just returned to the Premiership after a season further down the table. The current holders of the competition are Leeds United.
| --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group A | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | FK Partizan | Athletic | Newcastle | F. Dusseldorf | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group B | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | West Ham | Juventus | Valencia | Stade Rennais | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group C | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Sevilla | Sporting CP | Olympique Lyon | Brighton | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group D | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Barcelona | Lazio | Panathinaikos | Botosani | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group E | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Leeds United | Benfica | CFR Cluj | Kobenhavn | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group F | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | OGC Nice | Wolfsburg | Ajax | Atalanta | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group G | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC Bayern | AS Monaco | Zenit | Feyenoord | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Group H | | --------------------------------------------------------------------| | Everton | RB Leipzig | RB Salzburg | Viktoria Plzen | | --------------------------------------------------------------------|
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4th August 2018 - Friendly
Stadio Fratelli Paschiero, Cuneo, 5,980
CUNEO 1905 vs. JUVENTUS
Szczesny; Bonucci, Lascelles, Cancelo, Evra; Matuidi, Can, Cuadrado, Dybala, Costa; Ronaldo
Tina revelled at the squad that she had been able to name for this one. Her front four was dynamite and a pure menace to some of the best sides in the world let alone poor Cuneo 1905. There had been no further news on the transfer of Willian Jose.
Tina, with now five defenders out with various injuries, had no choice but to include the defender no-one was happy with signing. Lascelles would get his debut in this match, but it wasn’t like he had really changed the shirt colours. She knew he would do just fine.
There were also inclusions for Szczesny, Matuidi, Cuadrado, Dybala, Costa and Ronaldo.
Today was also the day for the odds being released by FC Update.NL and the club, as expected, were 2-1 favourites to win the title. Inter were the nearest challengers at 3-1 and Napoli and Roma held 7-2 and 4-1 respectively. Frosinone, Empoli and Parma were all joint favourites to go down.
Cristiano Scazzola shook her hand as the pair took up their spots on the benches. The tiny stadium in Cuneo was alive with noise as the home side got to experience some real talent in their own ground.
The home side kicked the game off, but it was real tough going on a very poor pitch, and sadly for them Sulayman Jallow found that out the hard way when his foot got stuck on a rough patch of grass. At that point, Tina was supremely concerned of her own players suffering a same fate.
The first ten minutes thankfully passed without further injury incident, though chances were few and far between in the 33-degree weather heating the Cuneo stadium. But when a looping ball crept over the top, Cancelo made an absolute hash of it. He nodded it literally five yards, and right into the path of Vlad Marin. The Cuneo winger didn’t need to be asked twice, and when he lashed the volley in, the home crowd went absolutely wild.
The visitors needed a response, and Cancelo needed to make amends. The right back made no mistake when he broke down the right, Matuidi playing him over the defensive line with a sumptuous ball. The full back crossed right into the path of the onrushing Cuadrado, and he lashed home from five yards to draw Juventus level.
The game settled slightly, as both sides began to accept the pitch for the poor beast that it was. Evra was on fine form down the left, defying the years with darting runs, and he eventually earned a very well placed freekick. Up stepped Dybala, and the Argentine maestro curled in a beautiful freekick that the Cuneo goalkeeper Marcone was simply unable to prevent. He didn’t even bother moving.
Juventus were on cloud nine now, and the attacks began to come thick and fast. Douglas Costa dispossessed down the left and made a forty-yard run with the ball, before he crossed in wonderfully for Ronaldo to rise and meet head on, Marcone flapping at thin air as the ball was in the back of the net before his feet even touched the ground.
There was just no stopping them now and when Evra broke into the box, the left back definitely had shot on the mind. He revved up ready to lash it, but thought better when Ronaldo left his marker, and when the Portugal captain strode ahead of his defender, he met the pass and tucked it home with his left foot.
Just two minutes later, Dybala was once again stepping up to take yet another freekick, extremely similar to the one on the left, but much more to the right this time. His technique was the same, and the end result was the same, as the ball left the ground and hit the top corner with supreme precision.
Cuneo exposed long ball defensive frailties again, Marin proving the difference with a long cross that dropped low over the top of the defence. Spizzichino and Tafa were both on hand, taking advantage of Lascelles who wasn’t concentrating, and Cancelo was once again nowhere to be seen. Spizzichino got to it first and slid to tuck it past Szczesny. It was another poor goal to concede and Tina was disappointed.
Despite the scoreline, the maximum capacity crowd were still singing loudly as half time came and went. Tina made only one change at half time, Stephy Mavididi replacing Douglas Costa, before then swapping positions with Ronaldo.
Alberto Testa picked up an early yellow card for a stupid tackle on Dybala, and the Argentine couldn’t direct the freekick on target. Ronaldo also missed a golden chance for another goal, floating a shot just wide. Ten minutes later, Dybala curled a freekick from the left into the box, and whilst Bonucci got on the end of it, he couldn’t do much else other than a stab at it, and Marcone pulled off a decent save.
Tina made a triple substitution after 65 minutes, Bentancur, Kastanos and Bernardeschi all coming for the last 25 minutes of the game. It was such a nice feeling to know she had all these options to fill the bench and the first eleven.
Bernardeschi continued to show his talent and was the first substitute to feature in the game, putting a tantalising ball into the box that Ronaldo could once again only head wide of the post. Kastanos, who had been involved in winning the freekick for Bernardeschi, was showing some decent skills too, and continued that when he and Bentancur broke into the box with a one-two. Kastanos was then hauled down and he had earned a penalty. There was no doubt that Ronaldo wanted it, and he tucked it home easily under the right side of the keeper.
Ronaldo seemed invigorated by the penalty and dropped deep to pick the ball back up. The attacker broke forward at least forty yards and lashed a vicious shot at Marcone that the keeper could do nothing about. The ball hit his palm but was far too powerful and just flew into the net.
Moise Kean came into the game late on for Ronaldo, who was beginning to tire after putting in one hell of a shift. Cazim Suljic picked up a second yellow card late on after bringing Kean down shortly after he came on, though there wasn’t enough time for Bernardeschi to even take the freekick. The game had come to a close.
But Tina felt that it had done little to appease those who weren’t happy so far with her reign.CUNEO (2) 2 Marin 18, Spizzichino 40
JUVENTUS (5) 7 Cuadrado 20, Dybala 26, 32, Ronaldo 27, 31, pen78, 800 -
25.08.2085
FK Partizan vs. Sloboda Uzice
Viktor Hark Stadium, 78,151
Jelen Superliga, 6/37
Camba; Vernaglia, Cano, Blanchard, Messaoudi; Ellis, Vinicius, Gregorio, Gyimah; Iglesias, Gallucci
We made no changes as we welcomed Sloboda to the Viktor Hark Stadium, with us looking to make it six out of six for the campaign so far, while they were bottom of the pile with only three points. Ellis once again proved his fee worthy from last season, £115m, when he crossed perfectly for Gallucci to head against the bar, before he tapped the rebound home. Gyimah then notched his first of the season with a strong shot from the left after having picked up a Vinicius cross that evaded Gallucci. A counter attack allowed us to find our third, Gallucci and Iglesias combining down the left to pick out Vinicius in the centre for a simple tap in, FIFA style. Ellis continued his fine performance in the 2nd half, whipping a cross in that hit Gallucci in the heel before finding its way to Gregorio who slotted it home easily from ten yards. Our touch in front of goal is simply unreal at times. Vinicius bagged another when he stuck a fine shot into the top corner after finding the ball on the edge of the area. Gyimah set up for the sixth when his corner was cleared away, but only into the path of Gregorio, who was on hand to make sure the follow up found the empty bottom corner with the keeper missing. We opted against substitutes in favour of continuing our attacks, but we couldn’t add any further goals in this one as we saw out the month competitively unbeaten.
FK Partizan 6 – 0 Sloboda Uzice
Hugo Gallucci 14, Prince Gyimah 23, Murilo Vinicius 37, 56, Gianluca Gregorio 48, 660 -
10 hours ago, BenArsenal said:
Congrats mate.
Who was the other name you put forward Mark? LOL.
Nosey bugger.
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FMS Community Thread Episode VIII: Disneyland
in FM Stories
Posted
Hey guys. Hope everyone is well. Just popped in to gauge interest in a couple of us potentially getting together to play an online game for a few hours one evening a week. Just drop me a message if so.