TheLutterworthFox

Giving this a go and I got my supported club!!

2022 Season - Sichaun Jiuniu We only had 8 league games left and we had a battle to seal a top three spot, we played really well in the final games, scoring lots but Shaanxi, who we were battling with were also winning, they won their game in-hand meaning we spent most of those final games chasing them. With a game to go we sat a point behind them, with the better head-to-head we knew we only had to better their result to go above them, we did win our match but unfortunately Shaanxi won as well meaning we missed out on promotion by the skin of our teeth. A good end to the season overall with only one league defeat, this gives me hope for next season but need to bolster the ranks and improve the squad.

Decided to give this a go, love a crazy challenge and this is definitely that!! And after 4 months I have my first job. Sichuan Jiuniu FC are currently 3rd in the Chinese Jia League (2nd tier), their manager moved to the Super League and they have appointed me to seal promotion, we only have 8 games left. An instant chance of some success!

2038/39 Season - Transfers and Champions League Fixtures A new season begins, Serie A champions last time out, this season we have to start progressing in the Champions League. Twice now we've been knocked out in the Quarters, this season I want to go another step further. To do that though we need to improve the squad, overall it's not too bad and rather large so if I want to bring players in then people have to leave. Firstly the one bit of bad news. Charles De Ketalaere decided to call it a day, it came around rather suddenly, I tried to ask him to reconsider but he decided to retire. This leaves a huge hole in my team, last season top scorer, most POTMs and the squads highest average rating. We also let a few players leave to free up funds and space in the squad. Just over £85m of sales, most of them you can ignore. Fabian Toledo (RB) and Mohamed Allioui (CB) were both mainstays in the first XI last season but both of them had already come to me and said they would leave on a free next Summer, I had to cash in and did just that. We also let Ingrosso go, he did nothing last season but complain about lack of football but when he played he wasn't great. Defenders Granato and Ilardi also moved on after wanting more first team action which I couldn't agree to. So a lot of defenders leave meaning we need to majorly strengthen that area. I also needed to find a new forward to replace De Ketalaere. Tommaso Sellitti - Goalkeeper - £4m from Sassuolo I lost both my backups keepers during the Summer so needed to find a new No.2 Sellitti helps with the homegrown rules and looks quality for a low fee. Alekos Koblas - Striker - £27.5m from Monaco I needed to go big with a new Striker and when I saw this lad I had to bring him in. An absolute superstar and only 23. Francesco Teodoro - Defensive Midfield/Central Defence - £6m from AC Milan Another young, quality defender joins, he will be employed mainly as a CB but can also play as a DM. Alessio Zini - Right Back - £3.8m from Atalanta With Toledo and Ilardi both leaving I needed to sign 2 new RBs, Zini is young and already looks pretty good, he will by my backup RB for the season. Guiseppe D'Addario - Right Back - £30.5m from Atletico Madrid The most expensive signing of the Summer, my brand new, top quality RB. I have high hopes for him playing as a WB(A). Rob Campbell - Central Defence - £8.75m from Hibernian Another young defender, again he looks fantastic and ready made to walk into the first team. Zdenek Vrba - Central Midfield/Right Wing - £4.3m from Banik Ostrava A deadline deal as I decided to let a couple of my young midfielders go out on loan, a ridiculously low fee for someone who looks really good and only 18 as well. £85m spent, a small profit compared to what we let go. I'm really pleased with the business I've done, again I've lowered the average age of the squad but in no way has the quality been affected. Now bring on the Champions League!!! Then the fixtures came out and now I'm scared!!!! Some really tough games there!!! Bayern Munchen (last seasons runners-up), Liverpool (last seasons Europa Conference Winners), Newcastle (Last season Premier League winners), we also have an away game against Monaco. But there is one game there I cannot wait for and that's a visit to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona by my old club Eintracht Frankfurt!! Overall there are 4 games we really should win, other than that it is going to be tough!

2037/38 Season - End of Season Review Out of the Champions League, out of the Italian Cup, there's only one thing to play for and that's the League title, when I left you last we were well clear at the top of the Serie A table and still unbeaten, unfortunately that ended rather quickly as we lost to Lazio, I rested numerous key men due to the Newcastle game and paid the price with a 2-0 loss. It didn't dent our title ambitions though as we went on to win the title with 4 games to spare!!! Some fantastic wins with plenty of goals along the way. Absolutely smashed it, my aim this season was to win the League, I didn't expect us to dominate as much as we have! A fantastic season overall, now we need to push on and start improving this squad to get further in the Champions League, hopefully this title win will a) give us more money to spend and b) improve our reputation to be able to entice better quality players. Only time will tell. Now let's take a look at who my key men were. There really is only one place to start and that's 37 year old forward Charles De Ketalaere, an absolutely ridiculous season for him, 45 starts, 36 goals, 26 in the League ending 2nd in the top goalscorer charts and he ends as the club player of the season. He seems to be getting better with age but how much longer will he last? Central Defender Nikos Liagas ends as the clubs young player of the season, signed last season he has been fantastic when called upon, he made 25 starts, 20 sub appearances and chipped in with 6 goals. Luka Romero ends with the most assists at the club, after Daniel Maldini retired Romero has come in and took that Left Wing spot, 44 starts, 18 assists, a brilliant season And here for your perusal is the whole squad Now we look forward to another season, we will have a big target on our backs after dominating the league season, we need to keep improving this squad to start challenging more in the Champions League so there may be a few changes to the squad. The good news is the board have given me £60m to spend on transfers and have increased the wage budget by £300k per week. I do however need to abide by the Champions league squad rules to players will have to go to be able to create space for new signings. The squad is decent but it does need improvements, mainly in defence, I'd also like to sign a new Striker as I have a feeling De Ketalaere will be retiring sooner rather than later!

2037/38 Season - Champions League Quarter Final v Newcastle Here we go, a place in the Champions League semi final is at stake as we face last seasons Premier League champions Newcastle. FIRST LEG (H) We really needed to make home advantage pay here, going to St. James' Park in the second leg was going to be really tough so we needed to go there with a lead. It didn't start well as Newcastle took the lead midway through the first half, 1-0 down at half time I had to fire the lads up, we had a productive team talk and it worked a treat. Luis Colman scoring within 30 seconds of the second 45 and then, 5 minutes later, De Ketalare popped up to make it 2-1. The game after that was pretty even, chances at both ends but we held firm to win the game 2-1, it's still going to be hugely tough in the second leg, we need to defend well! SECOND LEG (A) I knew Newcastle would go at us and go at us hard and that's exactly what happened. But as Newcastle threw everything at us in the first half we broke away and, just after the half way point in the first 45, Luka Romero grabbed a goal to put us in the lead. Newcastle continued to push and eventually grabbed a deserved goal just before half time. 45 minutes to go, we were 3-2 up on aggregate, all we had to do was keep it tight, Newcastle though have so many good players you could just feel it in the air that they were going to score, they pushed and pushed and with 63 minutes on the clock grabbed a goal to make it 3-3. We held on to take it extra time, 30 minutes to go, we needed to go for a goal, we had some chances but so did Newcastle. Then with 10 minutes left Newcastle scored what would be the decisive goal. Dogan scoring a lovely goal from 20 yards out. We tried to score, had some decent chances but Newcastle held firm, the whistle blew and it was all over for another season. A 4-3 aggregate loss, absolutely gutting, it just shows you how much more work we have ahead of us to be challenging Europe's elite.

2037/38 Season - February and March It's time for the Champions League knockouts, after a poor-ish League phase we have to play a playoff game to get into the Last 16 against Celta Vigo, a team we beat earlier in the season. FIRST LEG (A) A really lucky escape, for 75 minutes we were bloody awful and found ourselves 3-0 down, subs came on and changed the game and we produced one of the greatest comebacks in my save so far. 3 goals in the final 15 minutes sealed a 3-3 draw, did we deserve it? No. I'll take it though!!! SECOND LEG (H) Into the home leg and we absolutely battered them, once again it was the Charles De Ketalaere show as he grabbed a hat-trick, a 4-0 win overall and we eased in to the last 16 Where we were drawn against Tottenham, one of the best ties we could've got, Spurs are currently 11th in the Premier league, a tough game but one I felt we had a chance if we could come out of the first leg at home with a win. FIRST LEG (H) And win we did!!! One of the best displays I've had at Napoli so far. We found ourselves 2-0 up within 13 minutes and after that we just cruised to victory, scoring a third just before the hour mark and in the 92nd minute we scored again to seal a 4-0 win!!! Absolutely stunning! SECOND LEG (A) In the away leg Spurs really went for us but we never really had a worry, 4 up from the first leg, there was no way we were gonna bottle that! Spurs did win the game, but only 1-0. WE'RE INTO THE QUARTERS!!! Where we will face Premier League champions Newcastle, a really tough game!!! Now to domestic issues and the first bit of bad news is we were knocked out of the Italian Cup. I did rest a lot of my key men due to the Champions League games and we did not perform well to get knocked out by Torino in the Quarter Final Really disappointing but there is much bigger competitions to go for this season. Now to the League and the stunning unbeaten run continues!!!! Some amazing wins, capped off with the best one yet, a 6-1 hammering of last seasons Serie A winners Juventus!! Amazing!!! The gap at the top has now got even bigger, surely we can't chuck this away?!!? Finally, the Youth Intake, I'd said in my previous update the preview was mental with a load of A's, well we ended up getting 8 players classed as "Top Talents"!!! Overall none of them are going to set the World on fire but there are 3 that I will be keeping a close eye on to see how they are developing. Pretty good!

2037/38 Season - August to January A bit of a longer update here, I won't lie, I got so engrossed in playing today that I totally forgot to do my usual end of November update!! It's now the end of January, a lot of football has been played, so let's take a look at how it's gone! Firstly is the Italian Super Cup, we once again faced Juventus and played incredibly well to grab a 2-0 win! De Ketalaere the man again as he grabbed a goal and ended as POTM. Next, Serie A and my god we have been utterly incredible, 21 games in and we are still unbeaten!! Some brilliant wins as well with only 4 games where we've not won. Juventus - beaten, Roma, who were with us all the way until the last 3 weeks - beaten, AC Milan - beaten. We have been amazing!! 7 points clear with 17 games to play, we have a huge chance of the league title!! Now to the Champions League and it has been really really tough! We started poorly with a 1-0 home defeat to Spurs before a credible 0-0 away to current Champions League holders Leipzig, a win over Betis followed before an away defeat to Real Madrid and a draw at home to Porto. At this point any hope of the top 8 had gone and we were now vying for a playoff spot, we had to win at least 1 of final 2 games to end in the top 24 and we did enough beating both Celta Vigo and Copenhagen to qualify for the playoff round. A tricky 8 games negotiated and now we have a 2-legged playoff against Celta Vigo, who we only recently beat to get a spot in the Last 16 Finally, I have to show you the youth intake preview, it looks amazing! Just look at all those A's, more than I've ever seen in a preview, the big question now is will it be as good as it looks?! Let's hope so!!

2037/38 Season - Transfers and Champions League Draw Compared to normal it's been a pretty quiet Summer transfer window, a lot of players left, most of them youth and reserve lads but we did lose a couple of first-teamers. Temel (Striker), Verbist (AM), Bustos (CM) all left, none of them had really set the world on fire so I decided to cash in. Alongside that we also lost Daniel Maldini who decided to retire. £44.5m of sales and quite a bit of wages freed up. All in all 5 players joined and here they are... Antonio Jose - Attacking Midfield - Free from Tottenham A cracking looking player, young and signed for nothing! Quality! Leandro Figliomeni - Central Defender - £20m from Leipzig A big fee but he looks really good, I needed to add more depth to my central defence and this lad fits the bill. Aldo - Full Back - £10.75m from Genoa Another really good looking players, he will be my backup Left Back for this season, he needs to improve his crossing and dribbling but overall he looks decent. Jesus - Left Wing - £15,5m from Norwich My replacement for Maldini on the Left Wing, a big fee but at 19 he has plenty of time to grow. Raul Coste - Central Midfield - £2.7m from Cluj Another young player joins, I needed to add more options to my midfield, a cheap fee as well. So some really good business, £49m spent, £45.5m recouped, really happy with that! Finally, we have our Champions League fixtures and my god it looks tough! Usually you get 4 winnable games and 4 tough ones, this time around we have 5 tough matches. We face last season Champions League winners Leipzig, Spurs, Betis, Real Madrid and Porto, all those games are going to be really hard!

2036/37 Season - End of Season Review After going out of the Champions League it was time to focus attention back to the domestic competitions. The League was a virtual impossibility with Juventus running away at the top but we did still have the Italian Cup to win, we had a good run, beating Atalanta and Roma before dispatching Lazio in the semi finals over 2 legs. We then face Inter Milan in the final and it was the Charles De Ketalaere show!!!! A hat-trick in a stunning display, Inter took an early lead but over the game we fully deserved to win. De Ketalaere is an absolutely incredible football, fingers crossed he continues to play and doesn't retire! And that's back-to-back Italian Cup wins!!! Now to the League and as expected Juventus ran away with it. The beat us 3-0 earlier in March, a game which was in between the Leipzig Champions League games, I had to rest my key men for the bigger games and we paid the price as Juventus hammered us, after that we had no chance of catching them but still performed well to end 2nd. Overall a really good closing few months with just those 2 red dots to our name. We scored loads of goals and at times were playing incredibly. Juventus only gained 1 point from their final 3 games meaning the gap at the top only ended as 2 points. I'm really pleased with how we've done. We equalled our points tally from last season but won 1 more game than last time around. Add to that we won the Italian Cup again and progressed another step in the Champions League and you have to call it a successful season. Let's now take a look at who the key men were this season. Firstly is the club player of the season, Winger/Striker Nicolo Gemignani, it was a stellar season for the 29-year old, he got his first Italian cap and ended the season with the most assists at the club, 21 in 45 starts and 20 goals along the way! Left Back Gaspare Ingrosso ends as the club young player of the season, he didn't play loads but when called upon was really good, he made 26 starts ending with an average rating of 7.24. Luis Colman ends as the club top scorer with 29 goals in 49 starts but more importantly ends as the Serie A top scorer with 21 goals. Not bad for a player with a finishing attribute of 8!!! I also have to mention Charles De Ketalaere, he didn't win any awards but he was by far and above our most consistent performer throughout the season. 45 starts, 24 goals, 12 assists, 10 POTMs and an average rating of 7.41, absolutely incredible!!! And here for your perusal is the whole squad. Now for the one bit of sad news, I have to say I was surprised when it popped up, I thought Sir Daniel Maldini had at least another 2 seasons to go but he has decided to call it a day and retire. Absolutely gutting, Maldini has become a cult hero of this save. He scored the winner in the Champions League final for Panathinaikos in 2031, he then scored the winner in the Champions League final for Frankfurt in 2034. He has been with me at 3 clubs now, played well over 400 games and won countless awards. He will go down as an FM Legend for me, one of the best, it's been brilliant to see his career flourish and he will be sorely missed. Now I look forward to next season, I am really happy with the squad I have, we have plenty of youth who seem to be improving really quickly, we also have the experience with the likes of Caprile and De Ketalaere, hopefully they don't decide to retire as well! The squad itself is pretty big and we have no real space to add new players to our Champions League squad without sales first, so I will be looking to move a few players on and then replacing them with better quality. To do that the board have given me some pretty decent budgets. The wage budget itself has gone down but I think that's because this season I was massively under-spending, it doesn't give me anything spare but once players leave it will free some space. £54m on transfers though is bloody brilliant and will help to improve the side. The main aim next season is to win Serie A and hope we can go another step further in the Champions League, we went out in the Quarters this season, next time around I want to get to the Semis at least.

2036/37 Season - Champions League Quarter Final v RB Leipzig First leg away and we were really poor, no shots on target, the attackers just never got going. Luckily for us Caprile was brilliant in goal, Alex Scott scored early for Leipzig but after that they couldn't find a way through. We need to improve in the home leg, it's going to be very tough Into the second leg and we had some bad news in the week prior, Luis Colman was injured in training meaning he will miss the tie. The game kicked off and once again we just could not get going. Leipzig, the current Bundesliga and Europa League champs were just too good, we struggled to keep the ball and struggled to break them down. Leipzig grabbed a massive goal just after half an hour meaning we had to now claw back 2 goals. In the second half we tried to attack, had a few chances but we couldn't get the ball in the net. Eventually, in the 93rd minute we grabbed a goal courtesy of centre back Allioui but it wasn't enough. A 2-1 defeat on aggregate. A disappointing way to go out, we just never got going at all in both legs.

2036/37 Season - Champions League Last 16 When the draw came out I was pretty happy, we were given Inter Milan. A team that only recently we had beaten in the League. First leg was away and we did not play well, we found ourselves 2-0 down after an hour and looked we be screwing it up. Then with 8 minutes to go we were given a huge chance, a push from a corner gave us a penalty, De Ketelaere stepped up and tucked the spot kick away, we then went for it and in the 94 minute, pretty much the last kick of the game, Bozina scored a wonderful header from a De Ketelaere cross, 2-2, an amazing comeback! Into the second leg at home, I was confident we could win and after 4 minutes it looked to be heading that way. De Ketelaere scoring from 20 yards, we continued to attack but couldn't find a way through then right before half time Inter Milan grabbed an equaliser, into the second half and we started amazingly, Romero scoring literally 40 seconds into the second 45 and then 11 minutes later Romero popped up again, sweeping in a lovely shot from a Colman cross. 3-1 up, now we just had to defend and defend we did! FULL TIME and we're into the Quarter Finals! In the Quarter Finals we will face last seasons Bundesliga Champions RB Leipzig, a tough game but one I expect to have a chance in And if we somehow get past Leipzig we will face Gladbach or Man City in the Semis, I know which one I'd rather face!!

2036/37 Season - December and January The Winter transfer window has slammed shut and there has been some new players to join the Napoli revolution, so please welcome... Enzo Bustos - Defensive Midfield - Free from Rosario Central A highly rated young midfielder, needs some work but here is the place for him to improve. Francesco Rustignoli - Striker - £6m from Inter Milan Another amazing young Striker comes in, I have high hopes for this lad Elia Caprile - Goalkeeper - £7.75m from Newcastle With both Meslier and Chollet leaving it meant I had no decent first choice GK, Caprile comes in for a decent fee for a quality looking keeper Three good signings, the squad looks really healthy now. There we a few players to leave as well, as mentioned before both Meslier and Chollet left after their heads got turned by the big boys, we also let Right Winger Fiorini leave (that was back in October and I forgot to mention it!), over £40m made in player sales which has helped stabilise the bank balance. Now to results and overall it's been decent but we did have a major wobble in early December, firstly the league... As you can see December did not start well, back to back defeats meant we lost top spot to Juventus and since then we've been playing catch up. We've had some really good wins since then, 4 games where we scored 5 goals!! We slip down to 2nd and the gap to Juve is now 6 points and they have a a game in hand! Talking of Juventus, we also played the Italian Super Cup, bit of an odd time for it to come about, I would've expected this at the start of the season, anyway we played Juventus and ended up running out 2-1 winners. A really good win, coming from 1-0 down to win 2-1 courtesy of a Luis Colman goal. Very nice! Finally, the Champions League, we had 3 games left, we really needed to win 2 of them to qualify for the Last 16 without the need of the playoffs, well it went really well!!! 3 fantastic wins including battering Bayern Munich 4-0!!!!! Just stunning! Luis Colman has been on some amazing form lately! And those 3 wins mean we qualify in the top 8!! A successful campaign so far.

2036/37 Season - August to November The opening few months of the season are over, it's been an interesting start, overall we have been sensational with the very odd blip! Firstly, the League and my word it's been an incredible start! So much green! Only a mini blip which is where I rested some of the key men for the Champions league games, bar that we've been amazing, some huge wins over the likes of Roma, Inter and AC Milan means we sit top of the League! Fantastic!!!! Now to the Champions league and we've started pretty well. The only big downer was the defeat to Betis, a game where we just didn't show up. We made up for that though with a fantastic point away to Man City and then a stunning 2-0 win over Barcelona. 3 games to go and we sit just in the top 8. We need to win at least 2 of our final 3 matches to have any chance of that automatic qualification spot. We really should do what's needed. Bayern will be tough but those 2 away games are winnable

2036/37 Season - Transfer Update & Champions League Fixtures This Summer for me was all about bringing the age of this squad down. At the end of the previous campaign we had 8 players in our first team squad over 32, all were still decent but they struggled throughout the last season with fitness issues and injuries, they also were on huge wages which I needed to try and reduce to free up more to expand the squad. The plan was to let most of them go and then bulk out the squad with younger, fitter players. Firstly, the out's We say goodbye to first-teamers Rensch, Alba, YIldiz, Thiaw and Ugarte, the only loss out of that that I didn't want was Alba, last seasons Young Player of the Year, he got his head turned from Inter Milan, it's a good deal overall. So a few players to replace, a massive chunk of wages gone and also most of the older players moved on. We also lost Striker Raspadori who decided to retire. Now to the in's. Luka Romero - Winger - Free from Tottenham I've done well with bringing pre-contract players in over this save and Romero is another one of those. At 31 he the oldest signing by far but he doesn't lack quality. He can also play up front and as an AM. Carlo Italiano - Defensive Midfield - £19.75m from Torino Italian and helps with the homegrown rule. Yeah he's cost a lot more than I wanted to spend but he looks really good. Milo Bozina - Striker - £4.8m from Hadjuk Split A young, pacey Striker joins. A really cheap fee for a quality looking player Mattia Ilardi - Central Defender - £7m from AC Milan A young, Italian defender joins. He can also play RB and RW bur for me he suits a CB the most. Simone Bossa - Striker - £6.5m from Juventus Another young Italian player joins, I am really excited by this lad, he could become a star with game-time. Roberto Repossi - Defensive Midfield - £7m from Fiorentina A big fee for a 16 year old but I have high hopes this lad is going to become the next big thing. Mikos Liagas - Central Defender - £8.5m from Monaco One of the intake stars from Panathinaikos joins. He came through the 2031 and after a move to Monaco at the age of 18 his development has kind of stalled, he hasn't had much game time. I really feel he can come here and fulfil his potential Luis Colman - Striker - £25m from Frankfurt Another player rejoins me at my new club. Colman was signed by me for Frankfurt 3 seasons ago, at the time I was excited but, as a Striker, his finishing attribute let him down. He has scored a few goals, usually 1 in 3 so not too bad. He should prove to be a good signing So some really good players join, the average age of the squad is now much lower, it now contains a lot more HG players and has been bulked out a lot more. Finally is the Champions League fixtures and overall it's too not too bad. Again we have 4 games where we really should win, the likes of TSC, Pogon, Antwerp and Kalmar are more than winnable games. We then have Betis, even though they have a high club reputation, I feel we should be beating them. We then have Man City (last seasons winners), Bayern and Barca, it'll be interesting to see how we perform against the big boys

2035/36 Season - End of Season Review The end of the season is here, our form picked up massively over February and March and that continued all the way through. was it enough though to seal a Champions League spot? Let's take a look! It was a magical ending to the season, some fantastic wins, loads of goals and 8 straight wins!!!! Unfortunately though we left ourselves too much to do to be challenging Juventus at the top but it was more than enough to get Champions League next season. 2nd place is a fantastic ending and we were only 4 points off the top. Next season I have a feeling we can go that one step further. Now to the Italian Cup, we had a semi final against AC Milan to negotiate and over the two legs were were really good. A 5-0 battering, 2 amazing performances and we are into the final, where we faced Torino. A game I fully expected to win, especially as we were on such good form and win it we did! A 3-1 win, we opened the scoring within a minute and looked to be coasting but as the half time whistle blew Torino has levelled. We dominated the game, had so many chances but it took until the 81st minute for us to regain the lead, Rensch scoring a header from a corner, we then added a 3rd with 5 minutes to go and after that we played the ball about and eased to victory. My first trophy at Napoli, the first of many hopefully! Before I go lets see who my key men were. Charles De Ketelaere wins the clubs player of the season award, a free transfer signing from AC Milan last Summer, he was sensational all year long. 20 goals and 7 assists from 45 starts. Not bad!!! Another one of the older brigade Giacomo Raspadori ends as the clubs top scorer, for 36 he is still bloody incredible. 29 goals in 41 starts, just insane!! Young Player of the Season goes to Central Defender Michele Alba, the 24-year old didn't play as much as he maybe hoped but was solid when called upon Finally is Sir Daniel Maldini-watch. Even at 34 he is still amazingly good, he didn't play as much as I wanted but we had to keep him fresh for the big games. 28 starts, 13 goals and 10 assists. He has also just signed another 2 year contract so we will have around a bit longer! And here is the whole squad. Now we look forward to next season, another season in the Champions League, we need to start pushing on now. 2nd place in the League was great but the Champions League is the main competition for this challenge. We need to start getting further than the Last 16. The big aim for this Summer is to bulk out the squad with homegrown players who help with the squad rules, I also want to start bringing down the average age of the squad. We have 8 players over 30 and even though they are very good they won't last much ,onger before they start declining rapidly. So I plan to let a few players leave with the view to bringing some younger players in. We don't have much money to spend though, £27m in transfer budget and around £150k p/wk in spare wages. Sales need to happen before we start bringing players in.

2035/36 Season - February and March When I left you last I said we really needed to turn our poor form around, well it's certainly gone better than the previous few months!!! In the League we've won 5 of our 8 games with defeats to only AC and Inter Milan. Some really good wins and that has fully cemented our place in the top 3. We've got 9 games to, a game in hand on those behind us and we have a 7 point gap to 4th, more telling though is the gap to 5th is 18 points meaning we it'll be some kinda miracle if we don't end in those Champions League spots. In the Italian Cup we've also progressed well with a couple of good wins. We played a reserve side against Empoli but got through on penalties, we then beat Lazio in a fantastic display, next up in the semis is AC Milan. Finally, the Champions League, we ended the League Phase in the playoff spots so had to play a 2-legged tie against Rennes for a spot in the Last 16. We faced Rennes in the League Phase and drew them, this time though we showed our class to ease past them over the 2 legs. 6-2 on aggregate, fantastic! Into the Last 16 and we were handed one of the toughest draws as we faced English Champs Manchester City. In the first leg at home we played amazingly to come from behind to beat them 2-1. Unfortunately though Man City were just too good at the Etihad and they battered us 3-0 to knock us out. A good run though, that first leg win was one of our best so far in the Champions League, proving we can mix it.

2035/36 Season - December and January It's been a busy few months, not only on the pitch but also off it and that's where I'll start. I really needed to bulk out my squad due to the Champions League squad restrictions, we have very little homegrown players in our squad which means when I came to registering players I could only register 20 players. Therefore a few players have joined and here they are.... Lorenzo Peletti - Central Midfield - £6.75m from Bologna Remi Verbist - Attacking Midfield - £7m from Juventus Moshood Anene - Defensive Midfield - Season loan from AC Milan Evandro - Right Back - Season loan from Lazio Gasoare Ingrosso - Left Back - £5.25m from AEK Athens 5 really good players join, 3 of them on permanent deals, all under 25 and all help with the Champions League registration. A couple of players also left, these were sold as they were either backups or they were non-Homegrown and I couldn't fit them in my Champions League squad. De Miguel and Aupetit both were in the first team but hadn't played enough, a couple of good deals there. Now to the results, we ended November unbeaten in the League but since then our form has massively slipped up. League-wise it's been poor, 9 games, only 4 wins and too many games where we failed to score. The final game against Lazio was a massive get out of a jail, we were really poor, they had a man sent off with 10 minutes and we scored twice in injury time! Luckily our fantastic start to the season means this blip doesn't matter too much, still 3rd and some way clear of the chasing pack. Now to the Champions League and the final 3 games have gone awfully! Only 2 points gained, we came from 2-0 down to scrape a point against Real Madrid but those games against Rennes and Hertha were really really poor. Luckily though we still manage to secure a playoff spot. We really need to turn this poor run of form around.

2035/26 Season - September to November Apologies for the slow update, it's not like me at all! Unfortunately I've had a pretty rubbish 10 days or so, not only has work been manic, my car decided to die and with the repairs costing more than the car was worth it got scrapped and I had to go on a hunt for new one, then I got a pretty nasty flu and then bronchitis!! Yep it's been a shocking week or so!!! Anyway I'm back and continuing on with the save and I have to admit, it's gone a lot better than expected. It's always good to win and win in style but sometime with FM half the challenge is the struggle, I do like it to be challenging but at Napoli so far it's been far from it! Firstly the League and as you can it's been amazing so far! What a start we had! An 8-1 win to open the season and that set us up for an incredible start. So far we've played 12 games, we're unbeaten and we've only dropped points in 2 games. We've had some brilliant wins including a 3-0 against Lazio, a 3-0 against Inter Milan and battering's of Lecce, Genoa and Empoli! What a start! Weirdly enough though we're still not top! Juventus have had an even better start!!! Now to the Champions League and we've started OK, I discussed in the last post which games I expected to struggle in and it has gone as expected. 5 games, 3 wins and 2 defeats to Newcastle and Man United. So far, so good though, with 3 games to go we should easily get into that top 24 for the playoff spot. The 3 games we have left look OK, Real Madrid at home will be tough but we then have 2 winnable away ties. We really need to win 2 of these.

2035/36 Season - Transfer Update & Champions League Fixtures My first full season at Napoli begins and as expected there has been some big changes in playing personnel. So let's welcome the new boys into the squad and there's only one place to start! Daniel Maldini - £8m from Frankfurt I think those of you who have followed this all the way through would've expected this signing! He scored the winning Champions League goal at both Panathinaikos and Frankfurt and now he's here to hopefully do it all over again! Manuel Ugarte - Defensive Midfielder - Free from Nice There is a running theme in most of these signings, my aim was to sign experience on pre-contracts. Ugarte is 34 but still looks top quality. Charles De Ketelaere - Attacking Midfield - Free from AC Milan This lad looks amazingly good still, I'm surprised no one else went for him. 34 but still really good. Malick Thiaw - Central Defender - Free from Liverpool Defence was the one area I needed new recruits, another freebie and really decent! Michele Fiorentini - Striker - Free from AC Milan Osimhen decided to retire which left me short of Striking option, this lad, although not rated very highly looks really good. Ilian Meslier - Goalkeeper - Free from Chelsea With Kobel retiring I really needed a new top quality keeper and Meslier fits the bill. 35, his quickness is poor but everything else looks really good. Ryan Chollet - Goalkeeper - £6.5m from AC Milan A third signing from AC Milan, Chollet comes in as my No. 2 GK behind Meslier, at 20 he has plenty of time ahead of him, if he performs well when called upon he could become the new No. 1 when Meslier decides to call it a day. Francesco Granato - Central Defender - £15m from Porto A big money signing for a top quality young Italian defender, he helps with the HG rule in the Champions League and is tipped to be the Serie A Young Player of the Season. Carlos Monge - Left Back - £30m from Leipzig The biggest fee of the Summer for an ex-player of mine, he spent 2 years with me at Panathinaikos before moving to Bayern, he looks really good, a LB was one of my top priorities. Some quality deals there, those freebies, even though they are mostly ageing, still look amazingly good and hopefully they can push us closer to the Serie A title and further in the Champions League. Talking of the Champions League we've also received our fixtures for the League Phase Some big games in there with the likes of Man Utd, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Newcastle away will also be tough (they ended 2nd in the Premier League last season). Other than that we should be winning the other 4 games.

2034/35 Season - End of Season Review I've flown through the season and it's gone pretty well, after getting knocked out by Monaco in the Champions League the one big aim was to seal a top 4 spot and with that Champions League football next season, so let's see if I reached the goal! Well it's safe to say it went really well! Just look at that end of season run!! 10 wins in a row, 15 unbeaten, amazing! We needed to though, our 4-3 loss to Juventus meant we spent most of the final few months playing catching up and whilst we were winning so were the likes of Juve, AC and Inter. As we went into the final game we sat 5th, 2 places lower than where we started, that is mad seeing as how well we had done, we had to win that final game and hope other results went our way and as you can see above we won 5-0. Then came the great news, both Juve and Roma lost their final match meaning we leapfrogged both of them to end in 3rd place! Those final 17 games were loads of fun, we played really well, adapting the my tactic, I kept with the 4231 that has worked well before and it did just as good here. It was also nice to have other teams winning and making it an interesting end to the season. 3rd place is a fantastic ending and means we qualify automatically for the Champions League group stage next season. Now I want to talk through with you the best XI that did so well at the end of the season. Goalkeeper - Gregor Kobel The 37-year old keeper had a good season but unfortunately he has decided to retire, it's big boots to fill. Over 600 league appearances in his career and 380 for the club! Right Back - Fabian Toledo A huge player on on the right side of defence, playing as a wing back he was a constant threat. Left Back - Karim Aupetit A solid season for the French full back, this is probably the one position where I feel we need to improve, I like my full backs to attack and for me his crossing and dribbling isn't good enough. Central Defender - Mohamed Allioui A key part of the defence, this lad is a rock in defence. 49 games started, 8 goals scored, a massive threat from corners! Central Defender - Michele Alba Alongside Allioui is young Italian Alba, a massive season for the lad who is now being linked with a host of the big boys. Defensive Midfielder - Lucas Gourna-Douath The 31-year old has been a key part of the Napoli side for a few seasons now and this season he did well. He made 47 appearances but his average rating dipped below 7. Defensive Midfielder - Devyne Rensch A lad I have been keeping a keen eye on over the past few years, I wanted him at Panathinaikos and Frankfurt but got priced out. Now 32 he has been an integral part of Napolis side for 7 seasons and this season was just as good, his average rating doesn't show that but his versatility is key. He was moved around a lot over the second half of the season but has definitely been best as an RPM. Right Wing - Guiseppe Fiorini What a player this lad is, one of the most consistent performers since I've joined, he wasn't really a starter before that. He made 21 starts, scoring 8 and getting 7 assists. Left Wing - Kenan Yildiz Another player who's been here for a while and another huge player since I've joined, he performed so well he has recently just won his first German Cap. Attacking Midfield - Dominik Yankov The 34-year old Bulgarian had an OK second half of the season and ends with 10 goals in his 44 starts. Whether he plays next season is another story as I'm sure you can guess who will be joining in the Summer! Striker - Giacomo Raspadori Another oldie who had a half decent start with, he didn't play loads but popped up with some important goals. There is one lad who for some reason wasn't in the Best XI but for me was our best player. Nicolo Gemignani This lad is something else, naturally a right winger but he played as a Striker for me, he chipped in with 16 goals since I joined and has been incredible. He is now wanted by the likes of PSG, Barcelona and Bayern! So some great performances but now is the time to mould this side into what I want, so changes will be made in the Summer, I already have numerous deals sorted, mainly pre-contracts deals but more recruits are needed, the good news is the board have given me good budgets. The wage budget hasn't increased but we had quite a bit spare anyway, the transfer budget is really good though, especially as already have deals sorted in most areas I wanted to improve. I may need to sell some players now to make space in my squad so we will see what happens!

2034/35 SEASON - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFF V MONACO I've fallen on my feet here, a team 3rd in Serie A and into the knockout stages of the Champions League, we faced Monaco for a place in the Last 16 and I fully expected us to win.......yeah maybe not!! In the first leg we played OK, taking an early lead but we failed to extend our lead and then with 7 minutes left gave away a penalty which was dispatched, even so a 1-1 draw away isn't too bad. Then came the home leg and my word we were awful!! Our finishing let us down, our defending wasn't good enough, did Monaco deserve to win? No, did we do enough to get through? 100% no. A 2-0 defeat and we are out. We now just have to get through the rest of this season and try to seal Champions League qualification, the top 3 go into the League Phase, 4th should go into the Champions League qualifiers. It is tight behind us so we need to get this poor result out of our minds and kick on

CLUB NUMBER THREE I left Frankfurt just after the Champions League at the end of May, well it's now February and after a frustrating 9 months where there were hardly any jobs coming up that satisfied the criteria of "Nearly Men" I eventually have taken a job and I won't lie, I am bloody excited. We've been to Greece, we've been to Germany. now we're off to ITALY with Napoli!!! It was a job that I was interested in when I looked down my list and the second it popped up as available I had to go for it. Even more-so is the fact Napoli are doing amazingly well but their manager, wait for it, Nuno Espirito Santo decided to leave to join Liverpool!!! The hot seat was free and now it's my turn to take the reigns. I cannot wait!! The club are expected to end 5th but as we enter the final few months of the season they sit in 3rd place in Serie A. 17 games left, only 6 behind Inter Milan at the top, time to push on! Now for even bigger news, they are into the playoff round of the Champions League, the round prior to the Last 16! Surely we can't win it straight the way? That would be mental! We face fellow Nearly Men Monaco, a winnable tie. Now to the playing squad, here it is in all it's glory. We have decent options in all areas apart from in central defence, other than that the squad looks good to go. We have the likes of Rensch at Right Back who I had looked at when at Panathinaikos, Raspadori and Victor Osimeh is still here as well! Once I get to the end of the season I'll discuss who my key men were in some depth. Now it's time to kick on and finish this season in style. I've fell on my feet here with the club challenging domestically and in Europe!!!

2033/34 Season - Champions League Final v Manchester United Here we go!!! Once again I decided to live update the final on Twitter and Discord, prepare yourselves for an utter epic!!! The teams are ready, we have one injury and that's CB Robson Brown who is out. Piedpalumbo comes in, the only other decision was whether I played Zakar or Frisk at RW. Frisk on better form so he was picked. LET'S DO THIS!!! 25 mins - Goal for Man U, we lose it in midfield and they break, Tel plays in Duranville who beats Correa on our right, piles into the box and slots it home28 mins - So close!!! Maldini picks it up on the left, cuts inside and from 25 yards curls one just past the post And that's half-time. Man Utd 1 Frankfurt 0. We're still in it, it's been a quiet first half but we've had most of the ball. 55 mins - Another Man U chance, Tel does well down their right, he cuts it back to Matheus on the edge of the box but his shot is well saved by Damien Peter 66 mins - OFF THE BAR!!! We win a freekick about 25 yards out on the left hand side of the box, Araujo steps up and it smashes the bar!!! We're well in this game right now 78 mins - GGGGGOOOOAAALLLLLLL!!!! Who else but that man Sam Bossman! He closes down Matheus fantastically, wins it, strides towards goal and from the edge of the box curls into the right hand corner! 1-1!!!!And that's full time. We have been brilliant in the second half. We now go to extra time. I got so engrossed in it I forgot to make any subs so 4 players come on Zakar for Frisk (RW) McNally for Correa (RB) Curcic for Myllys (DM) Sorensen for Paulo (AM) 99 mins - A long throw comes in, it's cleared out to the edge of box and picked up by Curcic, is it a shot? Is it a pass? WHO CARES, MALDINI IS THERE TO TAP IT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS 2-1 TO FRANKFURT!!!! https://i.gyazo.com/f314a620e2a928614dc8a28889ca7727.mp4 104 mins - Man U so close!!!! They play it well, it finds Duranville who isn't marked, he curls it towards goal but it goes just wide 106 mins - We nearly wrap it up, a throw in down the lines. Piedpalumbo finds Zakar, he runs in at goal but his shot goes over. JUST KEEP THE BALL!!! IT'S OVER!!!!!! I cannot believe what I've just done. My second season at Frankfurt and we have won the Champions League What an ending, Maldini does it again! He won us the Champions League at Panathinaikos and now he's done it at Frankfurt. An utter legend of this save!!!!

2033/34 Season - Champions League Semi Final v PSG Here we go! I never ever expected to be this far into the competition so the pressure is off. Man City dispatched in the Quarters, we now have an even bigger task with back-to-back Champions League winners PSG standing in our way. A place in the final is at stake. BRING IT ON!! FIRST LEG (A) We played well, defensively we were so good, PSG have an amazing side with Vinicius, Moukoko and Mbappe as their front 3, we held firm, we did amazingly but PSG eventually found a breakthrough with 2 minutes to go. Mbappe with the goal. It was gutting not to hang on for a 0-0 but we still have a shot in the home leg. We beat Man City 4-1 at home, so we know we can do it! SECOND LEG (H) An absolute epic, PSG had so many chances, Mbappe missed at least 4, they hit the bar, our keeper was incredible but we still had to put the ball in the net ourselves. I spent £28.5m on Bossman in the Winter and this game was the making of him. He scored midway through the first half, picking the ball up, beating Leon in defence, rounding Donnarumma and sliding it in the net. Then came the second half, Bossman again scoring, a tight angle shot which Donnarumma made a hash of. 2-0 up, 2-1 on aggregate, now all we had to do was hang on. PSG had so many shots but Damien Peter in goal was incredible, unbeatable. The whistle blew and we had done it!!! INTO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL!!!! In only my second season in charge, what an incredible run. And now we have the task of Manchester United in the final, BRING IT ON!