RaySunshine

January 2031 And so it begins! Game one though was a bit of shock. We're in the Sao Paulo State League and we were playing Sao Paulo (Wallens 28, Nestor 66). It's fair to say that, overall we were chasing shadows. Sao Paulo dominated the match and, although we did get a couple of goals, we were never in it. Not a great way to start things... A much better result against Mirassol (Wallens 15, Lichnovsky 32, Castro 45+1, Nestor 46, 76) cheered me up no end! Wallens was busy making the CF slot his own and I'd somehow forgotten about Lichnovsky's corner qualities and he showed them well here. At this point, we got the draw for our Copa Libertadores group and it's fair to say that most people expect us progress at a canter. Whatever we do won't include Gabriel Barbosa. At 34yo, on a huge salary and still worth a fair sum. I decided to cash in on him. The board were please to see a chunk of his wage go and the club instantly shot up from 32nd to 19th in the financial rankings. I hope all this starts to bear fruit soon. Ferrosviaria (Nestor 65) are in Serie D so I completely rotated the entire XI. It's fair to say that I wasn't expecting the struggles it gave us. After 60 mins, I started to bring first-teamers on and, handily, Nestor smashed a shot home to give us all three points. The full-strength side resumed action against Ponte Prenta (Vitao 6, Veron 22, Ramon 24, 62, Estevao 52, Edmilson 67, Fabiano og 86) and they blew the oppostion away. It's the sort of performance to have you dreaming! Another star leaving is Moreira. The board accepted the £12m bid and so he leaves - I have no choice! Brenner has been sent to the bench by Wallens but he's not even there now for the next three months. I kept the first-team in to keep them fresh against Santo Andre (Marquinhos 13, Wallens 46, Vitao 62, Ari 73, Obando pen 75, 90+1) and it went from dream to nightmares! We stumbled in 2-1 down at HT. I acted on some advice from @Zealand and really took the game to my opponents. It worked - five goals in the second half and an amazing win! It continued to work for my fully rotated side against Sao Bento (Edmilson 13, Lyanco 21, Sorriso 83) and we were steaming towards the Brazilian super-cup... ... and what a game it produced! We flew into a 4-1 lead against Sao Paulo (Lichnovsky 17, Wallens 48, Ramon 50, Veron 65) and seemed to be paying them back for our earlier drubbing. They took charge in the last twenty though and they managed to level it up. Penalties it was and they don't pass Andrew easily so... ... it's another cup for us! Results in the Sao Paulo State League feed into both and overall table and a group. We need to finish top two in our group to progress and avoid being bottom two of the league to stave off relegation. As you can see, so far, so good! February sees us play Copa Libertadores winners Corinthians in both the Sao Paulo State League and both legs of South America's Super-Cup. Santos and Guarani are the most recognisable names in and around the rest of the lower-league teams we face in the State League. Let's keep rolling...

Pre-Season It's a short pre-season in Brazil - one month off and the action resumes! It all begins with retirements. Rony and Murilo were not regular players for me - I'm not sure that Rony played at all in my time. The famous Fabinho did though - once Barrenechea had left, he resumed regular action and did well to help us win two trophies. He was 37 though and on a huge wage for the club - £75k and removing it will help to restore the club's finances to some of the best in South America. The only major transfer news of the window was for a player going elsewhere. We'd triggered Jose Palacios's release fee but so did PSG and Sporting Lisbon and he chose the Parisian giants over us. Several bids were put in for some of our first teamers but I couldn't let them go as the club wouldn't give me enough of the proceeds to replace them. The short pre-season only gave us time for one game so we had Inter make the journey over as something of a money-spinner. I was proud of the way that the team competed against them and they only won courtesy of two penalties given away! Just before the first game, our three signings arrived. Lichnovsky arrives to compete for a place in the backline and Wallens is going to start the season claiming the striking spot. Finally, Obando also arrives after the miracles he performed for me at Millonarios. I don't know that he's good enough to do that here but I'll give him a go! The board's main cultural points are to grow the reputation of the club and work within the wage budget which I'm doing. The work to bring through youth players will be a longer-term project. Expectations are high across the board. I hope that the players that I've brought in allow me to rotate well and keep the team performing on multiple fronts. The league expectation is to qualify for the Copa Libertadores again... ... and they say we will! We should finish in the top sixth and be comfortable with the team projected to be seventh on odds of 21.00. This is important. Before this season, the club had not competed in the Copa Libertadores since 2026 and we need to put that right. We begin with the Sao Paulo State League and the most noticeable tie comes up first - the game against Sao Paulo. None of the other teams are in the Serie A so I'm hoping that they should be comfortable wins.

Sesason Review The season XI reflects pretty closely my preferred XI. The notable exceptions might be the fact that Barbosa has been edged out by Brenner across the course of the Serie A and Pedrinho who left before I took charge. It's always nice to break some records and Barbosa got the first league hat-trick for the club in seven years and Andrew kept the most clean sheets in a season - not bad for the defence first Moneyball Soccernomics point-of-view. This is my star/stat screen and the first thing that I notice is the number of WNTs next to players on the left-hand side. I feel like a lot of the break will be spent fielding phone calls about players going and who might be coming in to replace them. The three best-performing players over the season were Estevao, Gabriel Veron and Ari. Estevao and Ari are both wonderkids who could bring in some serious cash. In terms of the weaker performing players, we're looking at Fabinho who's retiring so that's a space that has to be filled anyway; Abner Vinicius at LB and Marquinhos at CB. His postion might already be sorted with the incomming Lichnovsky so we shall see how it all pans out!

December 2030 We had one game in the month and, in typical form, we drew 0-0 with Cruziero. Once again, we dominated the match but couldn't finish it off. There's certainly work to do there. We came 4th in the league for goals conceded but only 10th for goals scored. That draw meant that we secured sixth place and Copa Libertadores football for next season. Success in some of my aims for progressing Palmeiras.

November 2030 November began with another draw! Despite dominating the xG, we couldn't put the ball away against Botafogo and so our run of league draws extended to five. Thankfully, the Copa Sudamericana Final against Atletico Tucuman (Vitao 3, Brenner 6, pen 9, Ramon 81) was anything but a 0-0 draw! We raced into a 3-0 lead thanks within ten minutes with CB Vitao heading home a corner and Brenner getting himself a brace. It's fair to say that we cruised the rest of the game with Ramon smashing home a late effort to make it 4. They did get one back but it really was just a consolation... Trophy number three of the save so far - it's not the Libtertadores but it might be the next best thing! I must say though that this piece of news came as a bit of a shock! Due to securing a place in next season's Copa Sudamericana, our Copa Libertadores place was taken away from us and given to the league - we're going to have to win it by rights it would seem! But we would have to do it without the help of Felipe or Barbosa who were ruled out for the rest of the season. Knowing that we had to secure a Copa Libertadores place, all we could muster up against Coritiba (Ramon 57) was another draw. They grabbed the lead just before HT when their right wnger had us on toast and slotted a low ball across that was smashed home. After the break, Moreira chipped a deep free-kick into the box and Ramon hit it home with a spectacular volley. It's another draw though and it feels like death by a thousand cuts - are we going to let that Copa Libertadores place slip through our fingers? I certainly thought so when we were struggling to score against Santos (Brenner 53, 78). I was about to take Brenner off when a ball was crossed to him and he headed it home! after CM Ari burst into the box and put in a cross from the byline. They levelled up and I feared another draw - Brenner had other ideas though as he was played through and chipped it over the keeper with a help of a healthy deflection! There is one game of the season left. If we avoid defeat, we secure ourselves that place in the Copa Libertadores. To be honest, I think it's ours even if we lose. That would put us on level points and games won with BRA if they win. But, we are nine ahead on goal difference and I think that will see us over the line. Cruzeiro, just below us in 7th, are that game at home to finish off the season...

October 2030 There were no reds in October's results but I do feel like there was not enough green as I'll come on to soon! We did win in game one against Athletico (Estevao 40, 80). Estevao managed to bag both goals here - the first was a great curling effort from the edge of the box and, for the second, the ball was headed down to him, he took into the six-yard box and fired it low across the keeper and home. Our scouts found this young lad and I just had to bring him in - he's 4* CA, doesn't want high wages and is available for just £6m. It seems like the perfect signing! I look forward to him joining next season. We fought Flamengo next and came away with honours even. They just shaded the xG battle but we're not complaining too much about the point we've taken away. Shultz has been a regular - and productive - option off the bench for me so it was disappointing to lose him here. The Copa Sudamericana semi-final against Cruzeiro (Veron 21, Brenner 55, Ramon 65, Sivanildo 70) was a dramatic affair. They took the lead in the 20th minute before we scored a minute later leaving it all-square at the break. Brenner then gave us a 2-1 lead but it was 2-2 just four minutes after that. Thankfully, we weren't done and goals from Ramon and young LB Suvanildo gave us a two-goal lead for the next leg. League action against Interncacional (Brenner pen 77). When Brenner put his pen home, I thought we might steal all three points but it wasn't to be and they scored late on to leave things level. The semi-final second leg against Cruzeiro (Veron 45, Edmilson 68, Barbosa 69) came up next and I was pleased to see the team secure our route to the final courtesy of a 3-0 win! A frustrating draw against Vila Nova (Barbosa 82) was the result of our next game. We dominated most of the match and, for a worrying moment, it looked like they were going to steal the match and win. Barbosa had other ideas though and smashed a great shot agains the post and in! We saved up just a bit more drama for our month-end against Sao Paulo (Ramon 65, Ari 90+4). Sao Paulo dominated this game and cruised into a 2-0 first-half lead. I tore into the team at half-team and they fought back. Ramon finished a great counter-attacking move with a neat finish, and, with almost the last touch of the game, the returning Shultz sent over a cross and Ari headed it home! This made me smile when it appeared - it appears that Barbosa's fave team-mate on the pitch is himself! At the moment, we still occupy a Copa Libertadores place in the league. I know that we've qualified via the cup but I really wanted the team to prove that they can mix it with the best in the division. The run of league draws this month makes me wonder whether that will be the case at the end. November is a game with fewer months but there is a key one in there! We open with a league tie against Botafogo (17th) before the headline game - the Copa Sudamericana final comes up against Atletico Tucuman who are 10th in the Argentinian league. Then, hopefully with silverware in hand, we have Coritiba (4th) and Santos (9th) so neither of those games will be easy. Can we bring that silverware home?!

September 2030 August had had a tough finish and it's fair to say that most of that form carried on through September too! Even before a game had been played we had injury news that our leading CB would miss the first couple of weeks of the month! That first game was a Copa do Brasil semi-final against Flamengo (Brenner 78). When Brenner scored late on, I thought we were going to take a lead going into the second leg. We gave a penalty away though and so we would go to that tie even. Our poor league form continued in our first game against Vasco da Gama where, for all our possession, we couldn't create any serious chances. They could though and walked away 2-0 winners. We knew we had to do better in our cup semi-final second leg against Flamengo (Ramon 10, Brenner 13, 90+2). Ramon got us going and then Brenner, busily wrestling the starting striker spot out Barbosa's hands, got another two to send us on into the cup final! As ever, it came at a cost though! That second leg was played on the Tuesday and the following Sunday saw the first leg of the cup final against Sao Paulo (Ari 42, Orellano 74). We began the game by going two-nil down and I feared the worst. We did, however, then fight back to 2-2. That was pretty pleasing but when they scored another two, it left us with work to do in the second leg! In the league, we faced Vasco da Gama again and lost 2-0 - again! I don't know why our league form has plunged off a cliff but it's a worrying run that we're on! We then had the cup final second-leg against Sao Paulo (Estevao 31, 52) to play. Wonderkid Estevao scored twice to level the tie up. At the end of the 90, it was still that way and penalties came next. When Fabinho missed, I feared the worst but Andrew saved the last penalty they took and then saved another which gave us the cup! My second piece of silverware in this save! In training, the cost of an injury came through - ruling out our first-choice LB for the next month and a half! This was the more pleasing news with a promising set of stars coming through the youth system. Anyone with a potential of three stars or more was snapped up! As far as injuries go, our backline was taking a bit of a hammering this month it had to be said! We then had one more league game to go against struggling Guarani (Barbosa 67). We had chance after chance and didn't score them which made me worry that we'd give the game away - Barbosa was on hand though to pop the ball home from a corner when he was hanging around the far post and that was enough to get all three points! The poor form that we've been on has hit our standings in the table but that cup run has secured us a place in the Copa Libertadores for next season which is very pleasing. I had a look at the club's finances and it's interesting reading - we're the 4th-best team by turnover in Brazil but our financial status leaves us 34th! We have some serious expenses going on that need reigning in I think - but without costing the team success either! My eyes next month are drawn straight to the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals against Cruzeiro but, before those, we face Athletico (11th) and Flamengo (6th) so neither of those look like they're going to be easy games. Another big game comes up against Internacional who are 9th and we see the month out by playing Vila Nova and they're 18th so a good shout for some points! The challenge is on to win more silverware and see just how high up the league we can finish!

August 2030 The mega-month of August began in continental competition with the game against Union de Santa Fe (Orellano 38). Orellano got us a lead in the first half with a first time finish to Barrenechea's curling ball from deep. We weren't able to hold on though and knew that we'd have to win the tie in the second leg. Playing moneyball meant that £9.5m for the 31yo Diego Costa had to be accepted. With the club ranked 34th in Brazil for finances, there's certainly work to do! Goals were not a problem in our next league game against Fortaleza (Ari 7, Ramon 21, Orellano 23, Veron 53). It all began with their goal in the first minute but Ari was able to get us level and then goals from Ramon and Orellano gave us a two-goal lead. They got a goal at the start of the second half to give us some nerves but Veron scored to settle it all down. The goals were not a problem in the cup either where we got four against Union de Santa Fe (Ari 2, Vinicius 49, Brenner 69, Adeilson 74) and that very pleasing result took us on to the quarter-finals of the Copa Sudamericanca. A very pleasing 3-0 win against America (Barbosa 6, Veron 9, Ramon 56) kept our run going and it was pleasing to see how well the team were responding to my plan! With Obando becoming available on a free transfer, I felt like he was worth an offer. I don't think he's going to be first-team here but he reduces the age profile of our striking group and, if the worst comes to the worst, selling him is pure profit. Santos (Joaquim og 6, Barbosa 19, Estevao 70) were up next in the cup quarter-finals. With it being a two-leg tie, it's pleasing to get a two-goal lead to take into the second leg. Avai (Estevao 7, Veron 55, Orellano 90) were up next and the goals kept flowing. It was pleasing to see how far up the table this run was taking us and giving us the real possibility of getting into the Copa Libertadores. Estevao is a real wonderkid and has been playing incredibly well so it feels like a real blow even just to lose him for three weeks. More came into the club with the sale of Enzo Barrenechea. It was a good offer for a first-teamer. Unfortunately, with the window being shut, we can't make any signings now so I'll have to find someone in close season. Then a real test came against high-flying Fluminense (Ramon 5). Ramon got the game's only goal with a fierce effort within the box and, at this point, we were only three points off the top spot. Could I dare to dream? It looked like the team had begun to dream against Red Bull Bragantino (Barbosa 22, Ari 59). Twice we took the lead in this match and twice we let it go. The most frustrating element was then that we let them take the lead and couldn't fight to get it back - a really frustrating defeat. I rotated the side slightly for the next game against Santos (Ari 4, Marquinhos 26) but it didn't stop us from winning again and moving on the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana where we'll play fellow Brazilian side Cruzeiro. The month's final game was the second shock league defeat in a row - this time we were playing Nautico. We simply didn't turn up. We were awful in every area - for no real reason and they walked out well-deserved 2-0 winners. My brief dream of being in the title race seems to have been dented by those two defeats at the end of the month. We're still in a Copa Libertadores place and, if I want to finish the month well, it seems vital to keep hold of that! September has far fewer games in it which is something of a relief. Some of them are big though - starting off with the Copa do Brasil semi-final against Flamengo. In between the two ties, we play Vasco da Gama who are 17th so I'll want points there! We play them again after the second leg and then finish the month against Guarani who are 19th so we really need to be finishing this month with points and, hopefully, a cup final place to boot!

July 2030 In July, I kicked off my career with Palmeiras and it's fair to say that we didn't do too badly. Game one was a derby match in the cup against Internacional (Estevao 3, Barbosa 31, 78, Gohardani 81). This game set the tone for several matches this month - an absolute goalfest! Young CM Estevao gave us the lead only for them to equalise. This prompted Barbosa to restore our lead but again, by HT, the scores were level. It stayed that way for most of the second half until a late double by Barbosa and Gohardani secured a first-leg win for us. We clearly didn't bring our shooting boots with us against Cruziero though. Despite dominating the xG throughout the game, we somehow walked away with a 2-0 defeat in a game that we really should have won! Next up came the second leg of the cup against Internacional (Orellano 42, Ari 53, 72). They scored an early goal to show some intent towards levelling the tie but, thankfully, my team were having none of that and had managed to score three before they could get another. We go on into the next round! Once again though, our shooting boots deserted us in the league. We absolutely dominated the xG against Fluminense but they got the only real goal with a corner headed home at the injury time! One-time Liverpool legend Fabinho has decided that it's time for him to hang up his football boots at the end of the season. Our first league win came in the game against Guarani (Ari 15, Barbosa 32). CM Ari got the first when a ball broke loose in the box and he smashed it home before Khellven whipped in a cross and Barbosa was there to smash it home first-time. We had a dramatic game against Corinthians (Barbosa 57, Andrew 90+3). We were 2-0 and struggling at HT. I let the team know what I thought of their performance and they turned it around in the second half: Ramon ran into the box, his low cross was spilled by their keeper for Barbosa to knock home before our GK Andrew came up for a last-minute corner and headed it home! We got an offer we couldn't refuse for our left-winger Pedrinho and he goes off to play Prem League football with West Ham. And - in true moneyball style - his replacement comes in from Chile at far less cost. £5m upfront got us Jose Antonio Schultz. He's highly rated and three goals, five assists and a rating of 7.02 in seventeen games leaves me with plenty of hope. The first of our final two goalfest games came against Avai FC (Estevao 22, Orellano 32, Brenner 68, pen 71). The most pleasing aspect of this big win was the breaking of a 15-game goal drought for forward Brenner. I hope he keeps his scoring going for the rest of the season! I'm pleased that, in January Yordan Lichnovsky will be following me over from Millonarios. He's rated to be one of the best defenders in the league so I can't complain there! Our final goalfest came against Gremio (Barbosa pen 19, 72, 76, Barrenechea 73, Ramon 52). We kept scoring and they kept trying to chase us down and we kept scoring - the outcome of this was a 5-3 win for us! Phew! There was also the small matter of me getting the Brazil national coach job too - I intend to complete this challenge before FM25 comes out! We've moved two places up the table but still have work to do. In just six league games, we've scored 13 and conceded nine. It's certainly not dull in Brazil! In leaving Millonarios, I also left the Copa Libertadores but I do hope that we have a good chance of winning the Copa Sudamerica here. To do so, we will need to beat Argentinian side Union de Santa Fe. In the cup, we face Flamengo whilst the league gives us games against Red Bull Bragantino (5th) and Fluminense (1st). It's all action for sure!

Starting XI So here we are with the XI that are going to take part in my first game. In goal, we have Andrew. He was a Gil Vicente of Portugal before having a couple of seasons on West Ham's bench. He obviously decided that the bench life wasn't for him though and so is now in his fifth season between the sticks here. In the backline, one name stands out: Vitao. He was playing in Ukraine and returned to Brazil in 2022. He actually managed a couple of seasons at Barca but didn't really get any game time for them and joined Palmeiras last season. He might be 30 but at 3.5 stars I'm sure he still has plenty to give. Our CM star is Estevao. I don't know how long we'll have the talented 23yo for as he's looking for his move to the big time but I certainly intend to enjoy what he can give the team while we have him. Finally, upfront we have the eternal Gabriel Barbosa. The 33yo is in his first season at the club after a two-year spell with Monaco and, so far, has eight goals in seventeen games for the club. He wasn't registered when I took over but he certainly is now! As it stands, Palmeiras are 12th. We need to get into the top six to be sure of some Copa Libertadores football next season. Thankfully, at this stage, that is only two points and we have three games in hand! Monster months is the way it's done in Brazil too is seems. We start with some big action too. Two days in and I take on Internacional in the two-legged Copa do Brasil. We also have Fluminese and Corinthians in the league. We're certainly in at the deep end now!

Palmeiras I move on from Millonarios to the Brazillian big-time and I take on Palmeiras. They are one of the top-six most reputable clubs in Brazil in my save and so I feel they offer the sort of level that I'm after to get the biggest trophies in South America. In Brazil's Serie A, the club have had a mixed run and there has been a definite drop-down since their title win in 2025. The question is am I able to turn things around here? The board certainly hope so - they expect me to get the club back into the Copa Libertadores by the end of the season. And here is how the board wants me to do it - I don't see any major problems here. The minimum three-year contracts for first-team players is going to be something that I need to remember for sure. The fans of the club also have quite a lot of opinions on what's required as well!

World Cup 2030 So, finally, it was time for World Cup 2030. Jamaica are in Turkey - the team are trained and ready, fans are in the ground, the coach has pulled up - here we go! And it begins with a dream! Holders Germany must have had an off day and simply collapsed against us. Spence got the first running into the box and having his shot deflected in. Then, in the second half, Asante pulled a touchline ball back for Russell to hit home. Tension was added into the mix when Havertz headed home a far-post corner. We held firm though and won! All we need to do now is beat Venezuela... ... which didn't happen! The two teams were evenly matched throughout the game but we simply couldn't answer Venezuela's single goal. All this meant that we had to beat Belgium in our last game. My personal interest was peaked by the offer of an interview at Internacional in Brazil. As the country's leading side, is this my chance to enter the South American big-time? Also at this stage I get the news that I now have my Continental Pro Licence. Can I put that to good use and use the knowledge in beating Belgium?! Finally, I had to put this up as something that could only happen in Football Manager - or those moments in real life that you say sound just like Football Manager! Alas, there was no beating Belgium. They simply had us on toast so we crashed out the tournament. At this point, I decided that nearly three years was long enough with Jamaica and so I resigned in the hope that a big South American job would come up. A second major Brazillian club in the form of Palmeiras also offers me the chance at a job! While all this is going on, from a Millionarios point-of-view, Hibs were prepared to offer the value of Ricardo Rosales and so he's off to Scotland. That Palmeiras interview comes just as the first drops out! Eventually, the month comes to an end and I'm off - but I'm not heading back to Colombia...

June 2030 With Junior FC topping the semi-final group, it's fair to say that a win against them would be really handy - sadly though we couldn't get it! They dominated the chance creation in this game and, as it was, we were somewhat lucky to get away with a 0-0 draw. The Jamaica team for the World Cup has now met up and set off to Europe. The first of our warm-up games was against World Cup hosts Turkey and I can't quite believe we didn't win. Let's hope we do better at holding on to leads in the tournament. A win was vital in the game against Once Caldas (Contreras 9, Valencia 54, Jama 62). The World Cup was getting ever closer and the task of getting a win was made harder by Lichnovsky and Obando jetting off to join the World Cup squads of Chile and Ecuador respectively. The rest of the squad stepped up to the task though and it was particularly pleasing to see Valencia score first goal since his injury. Wales were favourites for this game and showed it. We were hanging on in there against relentless attacks but it was Brennan Johnson - presently on loan at RB Leipzig from Leicester - who got the only goal of the game. We needed a result against Barranquilla FC to compete in the semi-final group and we didn't get it! Despite our overwhelming dominatination, we couldn't make our chances pay and, much to our fans frustration, we could no longer qualify for the final. We still had the last game of the group to play though against runaway leaders Junior FC (Valencia 2, 22, Pretel 54, Cobo 86). It's fair to say that we took all our frustration out on them and handed them a thrashing to take into the final stage with them! Now the eyes of the world turn to Turkey and to World Cup 2030. We only take on the holders, Germany, in our first game. How hard can it be...

May 2030 There were only two league games of the Apertura left and the first of those was against Independiente Santa Fe (Lichnovsky 17, 31, Vega 90+3, Cetre 90+7). The goals here fell into two sets - CB Lichnovsky got two goals to add to his collection and then and injury-time pair from Vega and Cetre left us with a big win. Our rotated side took on Gremio (Cobo 21, 35, 80, Gil 53). Youngster Victor Hugo Cobo took the start as his opportunity to announce himself and that he did with a stunning hat-trick which was a major part of us winning the game! The last regualar Apertura game saw us take on bottom-of-the-table Deportivo Pereira (Obando 17, Lichnovsky 45+2). They proved surprisingly hard to beat and goals from Obando and Lichnovsky just about did the job! With the regular Apertura finishing, we were top of the table and put us up against these three for the chance to compete in the Aperture final against the winners of the other semi-final group! The first of our semi-final games was against Barranquilla FC (Cetre 36, Lichnovsky 41, Jama 85). Cetre scored the first after a neat run to get us going, Lichnovsky scored another header to keep up his numbers and Jama, despite complaining that IWB is not his postion, smashed another stunner home from that very postion! It was then time to announce the 26 players I'm going to take to the World Cup with Jamaica. There are three noteworthy names coming in. Benjamin Wright is a 22yo GK at Spurs who has already made some cover appearances in the Premier League, Patrice Dias is playing for Ross County in the SPL and Ramone Burke has got 17 SPL goals for St Mirren! We finally played Once Caldas and slumped to a shock defeat. Really wasteful finishing from us left us wondering how on Earth we'd lost it! The defeat leaves us second in the semi-final group and with work to do that's for sure! How often are you top of the table half way through the season and it's your CB who's scored the most goals! There are four games left in our semi-final group. Two home and two away - can we make it through?

April 2030 I began April by learning that my worries about do I go to Boca or not were worries that I needn't have any more as they weren't interested in me! In terms of games, monster months seem to come along regularly in Colombia and April was another one! The first was a win against Union Magdalena (Cetre 85, Pretel 90+5). All the games came late here - they took the lead in the 75th minute but goals from Cetre and Pretel turned it round and we bagged all three points. The week though came with the normal cost of injuries - this time Valencia is out for a month and a half and Orbes is out for most of the month. With what we had, we took on Aguilas Doradas (Palacio og 66). Obando got free in the second half and had a shot deflected in of their player. It seems a shame that, due to it being an own goal, he gets very little credit for it in terms of rating - finishing on 6.5. We then took on Argentinian champions Godoy Cruz (Obando 11, 20, 22). We were able to put them to the sword comfortably with Obando getting a hat-trick inside 30 minutes! That win meant that we'd qualified from the group and had the chance to rest a few legs as the month went on. A return to league action saw our only defeat of the month in the game against Cucuta Deportivo. On the thirtieth minute, they bent a beauty of a goal home and took control of the game. We did have two goals ruled out for offside in the mouth but scoring either of them would have been against the run of play. All of that frustration was taken out on Deportes Tolima (Obando 13, Lichnovsky 17, 45+2, Jama 19, Pretel 54). CB Lichnovsky got another two goals to his name and young LB Jama got his goal by smashing home a fine effort from his inverted wing-back postion. He whistled a second effort not far over the bar too. I rotated the side in the Copa Libertadores game against Botafogo (Vega 1, Cetre 72) and was well-pleased when Vega put the ball home inside two minutes. They then turned it round and I began to worry but Cetre levelled it up and we finish the game top of the group with one to go. A final game in the month brought one more win against Barranquilla FC (Orbes 3, Obando 51). Orbes followed Lichnovsky's example and got a far-post header and Obando put the ball home after Pretel had played him through. We've been top of the table every week of the season and, with only two league games to go, that record continues! There are three set games this month - two in the league against Independiente Santa Fe and Deportivo Pereira either side of a Cope Libertadores tie against Gremio. Then the group-stage semi-final stage of the Apertura will begin!

March 2030 March was certainly a monster month for the team but - as you can see - I don't think we came out of it too badly! Once Caldas (Pretel 48, Valencia 80) were first up. We couldn't get a goal in the first half but new signing Pretel got himself off the mark curling an effort into the far corner after a neat passing move and Valencia secured the result when A Mosquera chipped the ball over the their defenc and Valencia ran on to it and fired it home. This was some more bad news for the team - especially given the form he ended last season and began this season in - I really don't want to lose him! The next game was against Botafogo (Rodas 3) and would give me my first taste of the Copa Libertadores. Rodas got us off to a dream start when Rodas made a run into the box and fired a low shot home. A headed goal for them got things back level and that's how it finished. We returned to league action and our opponents this time were Independiente Medellin (Valencia 36, Contrereas 43, Lichnovsky 80). This was a fairly routine win - perhaps most notable for CB Lichnovsky keeping up his impressive corner-scoring record. It took a while, but eventually my new signings won over Valencia and the threat of trouble in the squad disapated. My first Copa Libertadores win came against Gremio (Lichnovsky 8, Valencia 45). Lichnovsky, once again, headed a corner home and Valencia kept up his good form to double the lead. They got one back at the start of the second half but we held firm. The squad, though, took some knockings. Pizarro may only be 16 but he's our bench keeper so we're now on a 15yo for that post! The games kept coming and Jaguares de Cordoba (Pretel 47, Valencia 76, 90) and we saw them off courtesy of second-half goals from Pretel and Valencia. There was then a return to Copa Libertadores action against surprise Argentinian league winners Godoy Cruz (Obando 63, 66). Obando made all the headlines here - he came on in the 60th minute to make his return from injury and, by the 66th minute, he'd turned the score from one down to two up! The last three games of the month saw us play three title contenders and the first up were Envigado (Quinones 86, Cetre 90+4). For most of this game, it looked like we were going to lose. However, in the last five minutes Quinones burst through and scored to level things up. I thought Cetre had won it with his goal at the death but they had their own ideas and burst through our team to score again! Next up were America de Cali (Cetre 65). They took the lead against us in the second half but Cetre, playing as a left winger, fired home to make sure the scores finished level. When I saw the job at one of Argentina's biggest clubs had come up, I couldn't say no. The challenge is that they're 21st and struggling but it's too big a job to turn down right? Jamaica also got their World Cup group - we've got Germany and Belgium to get past - wish me luck! Finally, we played Independiente Santa Fe (Pretel 49). Once again, the points were shared and Pretel was the man who got the goal. Despite the draws, we've managed to hold on to top of the table and keep ourselves a healthy five-point gap so I'm not complaing there even if I might be off to Argentina soon! Assuming I'm still here, it's two games a week again for most of the weeks in April so it's really going to test my squad rotation skills! But then it's worth it for sure to have Copa Libertadores games - something I'll have to give up if I take the Boca job...

February 2030 February was a mixed month both on and off the pitch - there's a lot to tell you about! It began in the form that we had been doing so well with against Junior FC (Sinisterra 17, Vidal 42, Valencia 90+2). Sinisterra and Vidal got us a two-goal lead and it all looked comfortable. Then, they nabbed one back at the 80 minute mark but Valencia carried on his goal-scoring habits to secure the result. It all carried on against Atletico Nacional (Rodas 30, Quinones 90+1) in the Superliga. Rodas got the first when Vidal picked him out to fire a first-time shot home. They then got one back and Cetre had a goal ruled out for offside. At the death though, Vidal worked to pick out Quinones in the box and he fired home a lead to take to the second leg. There was then a league game to play against Deportes Quindio (Valencia 33, Rosales 39). This time, it was the turn of Valencia and Rosales to fire home first-half goals and secure the result and then things started to get interesting... The team, led by vice-captain Jader Valencia, came to complain that the team wasn't strong enough at RB. I promised that I would do something to rectify the situation. I felt like throwing all promises away when the team threw away the cup against Atletico Nacional (A Mosquera 85). It's fair to say that we didn't turn up and they cruised into a comfortable aggregate lead. A Mosquera got one back as bright spot for the youngster but we threw the chance to get silverware away. And of course, nothing compounds a poor performance like an injury! The team took out their frustration on Expreso Rojo (Lichnovsky 15, Valencia 50, Garcia og 52). Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the game was yet another corner goal for Lichnovsky. We seem to have got a set-piece heading wonder in the 6'4" Chilean! The cost of all this though was another injury! Then the problems began! In a bid to please Valencia, I signed 20yo Ronald Ortiz as cover in the RB postion. This didn't please Valencia so I then signed Pedro Rodriguez and that didn't please him either. It turns out that it wasn't simply depth he was after but first-team class... My VC is now not a happy man! I hope that we'll keep performing and he'll forget about it but it remains to be seen... We finished the month with one more game against Atletico Nacional (Cetre pen 80). Cetre scored a pen late on to get back in the goal-scoring but that was our only bright spot in a match where we were comfortably outplayed. Despite that late defeat, we're still top but America de Cali still have a game in hand and the chance to go above us. The Copa Libertadores comes in now and that makes March another monster month. Gremio come in as the last team to see out our group. Both America de Cali and Envigado who are our closest chasers come up in the next month but, by the time we get to play them, will someone else have emerged?

January 2030 Three games - three wins and that's a pretty pleasing way to start the season! Real Cartagena (Vidal 3, Deossa 13, Montano og 32, Lichnovsky 67) were up first and it's fair to say that we blew them away. Pretel played well on his debut - setting up the first goal with a great cross and Brey kept a clean sheet on his debut. We followed up the first win with another against Fortaleza (Lichnovsky 34, Vega 77, Valencia 90+4). New CB Lichnovsky scored in two games running before they levelled up. We had to leave it till late on but Vega put us back in front and Valencia finished the scoring! With Forero having gone to PSG and Bertel being 33, I felt more was needed at LB and, for an intial £2m, Geisson Jama comes in from Independiente Medellin. He's 21, a domestic player and has a seriously high ceiling - what's not to like? His perfomance in the game against Llaneros FC (Lichnovsky 45+2, Valencia 85, Vega 88) was something to dislike! He missed his man for their first goal and it took until just before HT for Lichnovsky to head home his third corner in three games! They then took the lead again in the second half and it looked like were going to lose until Valencia and Vega got two late goals allowing us to snatch the win! Three wins out of three means that we finish the month top the table. It's still early days of course but we can't ask for better than that! Some key games come up in the next month - we face title rivals Junior FC and Atletico Nacional in the league. We also play the latter in the Superliga which gives us another chance to win a trophy. It also means three two-game weeks in a row so I'm going to have to work the squad well early on!

Pre-season Before we get into the substance of pre-season, I felt like it was a good time to review the save's objectives... Step one: Get a job in South America Step two: Win silverware Step three: Win either the Copa Libertadores or the Copa America. So, as the save goes, I've achieved two out of the three objectives - the first with my job at Iquique and the second with the Finalzicion win with Millionarios. Now one step remains - the Copa Libertadores or the Copa America. It's going to require me to get new jobs but I've done my six-month promise period so I'm available for jobs! Step one sees my trio of youngsters coming into the club. Pretel and Lichnovsky both have the ability to step into the first XI whereas Cobo is going to be one for the future. Next in was my brand-new keeper! Brazillian Leandro Bray comes in from ATM for a pricey £6.5m but Moneyball says put defence first - I hope Soccernomics works for me! The first of our pre-season games is a testimonial for Viga and is something of a goalfest! As is the second but at least this one is a win! Next in are our youngsters and I'm pleased that our apparent gaps in reserve keeping look like they might just have been filled. It's an excellent intake for the club! The action keeps coming - here is our draw for the Copa Libertadores - there's one more team to add from the play-off round to complete our group. This is a future transfer in but Victor Martinez represents an improvement on Bertel at LB in both age and quality I hope! Here is a reminder of what the board is after as the new season looms - I'm pleased to say that there's nothing there that's going to cause me any trouble! And here are their competition expectations - unsurprisingly, it's all about the league and that's a good thing as... ... we're favourites to win it! The question is can we make good on it? There are three games in January which will allow my team to kick off a new season! Here we go...

Season Review So here is our season review! The XI is hard for me to comment on as I wasn't here for the Apertura so I don't know how players like Saraz performed in that competition. In terms of awards, it's clear to see how important both Cetre and Deossa are to the team and I'm pleased that both of them have signed contracts for the new season. This is a pretty wonderful set of records to have broken too! And here is my planning screen. The first important thing to state is that Altamirano, Moya and Forero have all signed deals to move elsewhere so I won't have any of those players next season. That makes sorting out the backline a real priority going into the next season. Rodas on 6.71 is the next player to have a low average rating and so I wonder what I might be able to do there. The last thing I've noticed is that six of this squad are 30+ so it will be good to bring in some younger names!

December 2029 The first tie against Atletico Nacional took place at their ground and it was a tough 0-0. Both sides had chances, we might have had the better but we had to take it on to the second leg and try and get the win at home. And we did! We had chances galore in the first half and could have been three up at the break with some better shooting! Quinones made the difference though by playing a great throughball which Vidal then fired home. We're Torneo Finalizacion champions!

November 2029 As you can see, getting into the league's Finalizacion Semi Final group, added a whopping six games to be played at the rate of two a week. Things began though with the last game of the regular season where we played Atletico Nacional (Cetre 19, 39). Cetre came up with the goods and two first-half goals got us all three points and meant that we finished top of the table for the finalizacion. That doesn't get us a trophy though and we now enter the Semi-Final group... Here are the three teams who finished 5th, 3rd and 7th respectively. Another group made up of 2nd, 4th and 6th will contest the other semi-final. One player who won't be competing in the semi's is Caio Vidal. This is a real blow as he's been on really good form and it thins our squad even further. There was no time for moping around though and we took on Junior FC (Cetre pen 11, Rodas 32). Twice we took the lead but twice Junior FC were able to level up and the points finished up shared between us. We shared the points again in our game against Union Magdalena (Cetre 50, Deossa 65) but this time we had to fight back from 2-0 down! Cetre got the first when he poked home Deossa's squared ball and Deossa got the second himself when he turned with the ball outside the box and fired a low effort home! As well as all the semi-final action, there was also the small matter of qualifying Jamaica for the World Cup which we did courtesy of a 2-0 win over Guatemala! We got our first win of the semi's against Independiente Medellin (Correa 36, Sinisterra 82). For the first of our goals, Cetre pulled out to the left and put over a big looping cross for Correa to head home and Sinisterra got his by squaring a defender up one-on-one in the box and sliding the ball past both him and the keeper into the bottom left-hand corner. We then rounded off the qualifiers with a thumping win over rivals Trinidad and Tobago to send us on our way! Our second win of the semi's came courtesy of a mad game against Union Magdalena (J Correa 26, Sinisterra 39, Gonzalez 43). My team were dead on their feet by this point and this side was heavily rotated. They took the lead within ten minutes and I was seriously worried that my rotation gamble wasn't going to pay off. J Correa, playing as the striker, levelled up though by heading home Gonzalez's great cross after the latter had run down the right-hand channel. They then got their lead back and the game was truly on. Gonzalez played a clever free-kick to Sinisterra, who was stood just by their wall, and he struck it home before Gonzalez then clinched the winner making a mazy run to the edge of the box and firing it home! The game against Junior FC might say 0-0 but it certainly wasn't actionless! Junior had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half and, in the second, J Correa then threw himself into a challenge and got sent off. 15 minutes later, a Junior FC player did the same and both sides were playing with ten men. There were a flurry of chances at both ends which neither team could take but there was also... ... an injury which will see Sinisterra miss the rest of the competition. We knew we needed a win against Independiente Medellin (Orbes 27, Deossa 67) and Orbes got us off to a good start by heading home a corner. They levelled up and wondered which way it would go but, in the second half, Deossa poked home a loose ball and we topped the group! We qualify for a final! Can I get my first silverware of FM24??? Another injury came out of the game though and they're all in the same postions! Next month sees us play just two games - but they are the finals home and away against Club Atletico Nacional! Wish me luck!

October 2029 Having finished last month with a shock defeat, it was much more pleasing to see Jamaica's result against Haiti here and the progress that this helps us make towards the World Cup. My results at Millionarios have been a pretty mixed bag so far but it was really pleasing to see it come together in an unbeaten month here. First up was the cup tie against Junior FC (Bertel 17, Vidal 26). It began badly with Junior adding to their lead within three minutes. It got better though with Bertel firing a fierce shot home and then Vidal curling in an absolute beauty to level the scores. Sadly though, Junior FC then made the most of a corner and we exited the cup. Jamaica carried on their good form against Trinidad and Tobago with Bailey and Thomas-Asante firing home and taking the team another step closer to the World Cup. I wondered what could be worse than giving a lead away and I found out against Envigado (Rodas 16, Bertel 28, J Correa 79) - it's giving it away twice! We took a two-goal lead against them and thought all was comfortable only for them to bring it back and level things up. Arsenal-bound Correa then fired a shot home and I thought at last that we had all three points. A last-minute leveller meant otherwise though. We then produced a super show against Haiti where goals galore went in and the World Cup started to look a little more secure! Mid-table Deportes Quindio (Cetre 44, Vidal 45, 67, Vega 46) were up next. Things were tricky to begin with but three goals scored around half-time gave us a secure lead and then Vidal put home a second in order to give us a pretty good result overall. I have to say that I'm getting confused by these ratings. Excellent on the right-hand side with one promising player on the left. Let's see who rocks up at the end of the season! The good form carried on in the game against Real Cartegena (Cetre 15, Deossa 20). The goal-scoring began when Vega played a neat throughball and Cetre absolutely fired it home. Sinisterra then got his first assist by curling a free-kick to the back post for Deossa to volley home. They then pulled off a great passing move and shot of their own to make it 2-1 by 30 minutes. The goal-scoring stopped at that point though and we won 2-1. We made it three wins in a row when we played Cucuta Deportivo (Deossa 11, 45+2, Cetre pen 40, Quinones 83). It was another thrashing which we handed out and the goal of the game this time as a superb effort by Quinones who confidently chipped over the keeper for his goal. As ever, all things come at a cost though and Vega added himself to the medical room list. The month's last game was against Independiente Santa Fe (Quinones 28, Sinisterra 30). Quinones stepped up again this time and fired home an absolute rocket this time. Sinisterra then got his first goal for the club by curling a beauty home and that was enough to secure all three points. Across the course of the month, we move up four places and we're now third. It feels like a pretty great place to be considering the team had finished tenth after the first half of the season. There is only one game left before the league goes into its finishing stage. That game is against first-place Atletico Nacional. Beat them, have Junior draw or worse and we'll finish top of the league - but we do have to remember that that doesn't get you the trophy...

September 2029 August had been a challenging month and squad had recieved a load of quite literal knocks! It soon worked out that September wasn't going to be much better! It all began with the game against Deportivo Pereira. We had the better of the xG but they worked a far-post cross from a throw-in and that was enough for them to nab all three points. I had a bit of wonder about what to do with my stuttering team and decided to push a bit of Ange-ball into the system to see how it worked! It came up trumps in the cup against America de Cali (Moya 2, Cetre 21, Deossa 39). Moya got the first when he headed home a near-post corner. Cetre was set up perfectly by a low cross from Contreras and made it two before Deossa smashed home from outside the box to secure the result. In case you're interested, here's the strategy that I used as my take on Angeball. However, the good news of a win couldn't come without the bad news of injuries to two of our wide men. The new strategy brought excitement galore in the game against Jaguares de Cordoba (Cetre 9, 14, Vega 42, Deossa 55, A Correa 76). Rosales made a great move from RB to CM in order to poke the ball forward for Cetre to finish. Then, there was the drama of a penalty save by our keeper before Cetre got his second - Deossa this time with the throughball that Cetre ran onto and finished. However they then got things level with two goals from two far-post crosses. LB Forero took his turn to become a CM and his throughball sent Vega through. He hit the far post first time but knocked the rebound home - 3-2! In the second half, Belacazar picked out Deossa to head home and our lead was 4-2. Lucero then sent a cross in for A. Correa to knock home giving us a 5-2 lead. They managed to drive one more shot home but we held on to win 5-3 - phew! A heavily-rotated side took on America de Cali (Vidal pen 62). It looked like we were going to lose our first game since the tactical switch but Vidal put a penalty home to keep the scores level. We progress on to the next round! The good form carried on in the league when we played Deportes Tolima (A Correa 83). Vidal sent in a mid-height cross this time which A Correa ducked down to head home - enough to get us all three points. Our form then began to stutter in the game against Union Magdalena (Cetre 51). Poor defending on our part and individual mistakes especially, gave away two goals and we had an uphill climb. Rosales - who really seems to be enjoying the IWB role - played a beaut of a throughball for Cetre to send home but we couldn't get the second. Then came the game against Independiente Santa Fe. We had an xG of 1.61 to their 1.03 and 2 clear-cut chances to their one but stats don't win you games and they got the goal that did. It was now on to the cup semi-final first leg and the game against Junior FC (Cetre 7). We made a good start when our press led to Cetre robbing their centre-half and knocking the ball home. We couldn't hold on though and two late goals gives them the advantage. We're at home in the second leg though! There was, as ever, the regular bad news. Pineda is only a substitute but we're keeping up as the most-injured team in the league! Then it was time for Jamaica to play Guatemala. How we lost this I'll never know as we missed an absolute hatful of chances! We must do better in the rest of our group games that's for sure! Having lost four international and club games in a row, I took on my former team La Equidad (Orbes 10, Cetre 25, Vega 38, A Correa 70). They're still struggling at the bottom of the league and we didn't make their life any easier - young promising CB Orbes got the first by heading home a great free-kick to the far post. Cetre then doubled up when he got the ball just inside the box and fired home. The third goal was Vega's who finished a great passing move neatly before Correa carried on his goal-scoring by putting home a neat finish after our high press had won us the ball back. They did fire home a great effort at the death but it was only consolation. A nice little note to finish the month on! We move up to seventh and remain the top eight. We've also got four points and a game in hand on 9th and I hope that we can keep working on making that gap bigger. October starts with the huge semi-final second leg against Junior FC before we play Envigado on the Sunday who are 17th. Deportes Quindio are 10th and Real Cartegena are 19th so there's really the chance to stack up some points here. Cucuta Deportivo are only 15th while rivals Independiente Santa Fe are 8th and close to us in the league! Then it's the season's final month...

August 2029 August was a monster month and it was certainly a struggle for the remains of my injured team. Game one was against legendary Newell's Old Boys. They'd had the better of the game but we'd kept it at 0-0 until 90+2 when a corner broke to their player on the edge of the box who fired it home. We had work to do in the second leg. It's not always the most exciting thing in the world but the backroom staff was in need of an upgrade. Signing a famous player on a free is always exciting though! I broke my normal 20-25 rule to bring in Luis Sinisterra as he was free and a four-star player and it seemed too good to turn down. In save, he moved on from Leeds to West Ham and spent five seasons there before being released. Our transfers had won us the highlights of the transfer window in Colombia! More backroom upgrades! This was distracting us from the action though and we had football to play. This time against Junior FC (Obando 12). We began well when superstar Obando had the ball passed to him on the goal line for him to tap home. We couldn't hold on though and Junior FC turned it around. On top of all our previous injuries, our attacking department then took a serious blow that we could really do without - including a knock for the brand-new Sinisterra! Next up was the return leg against Newell's Old Boys (Contreras 8, Vega 46, 57). Contreras levelled things up early on when he put away a far-post header. Vega then sent us into dreamland - he burst into the box and put a low shot past the keeper for his first and then headed home a spilled save for his second. We were progressing! What a draw! We get Palmeiras in the next round - we go from the club of Bielsa to the club of Pele himself! We then suffered a blow to our backline with Saraz having his release clause triggered and choosing to join Belgrano. There was nothing we could do. Or perhaps there was - we could bring in a young star in Yordan Licknovsky to replace him. Sadly though, he can't join us until the window opens. In between all the action, we had another game to play - Alianza Petrolera (Obando 9). They took a quick lead in the fourth minute when a big, deep ball found their player free at the far post. Our star Obando then levelled it up when Vega played the ball through for him. We couldn't hold on though and they got the winner in the 80th minute. It was then time to take on Palmeiras (Cetre 70). When they scored two early goals, I feared the worst but, in terms of the score Cetre did smash a loose ball home to give us hope. Another one! Now the substitutes are getting injured! It was then time for domestic cup action against derby rivals Independiente Santa Fe (Moya 39, Correa 59). Moya gave us the lead when he headed home a corner and Correa doubled it by running onto and slotting home his namesake's great pass. On the Wednesday was the return leg aginst Independiente Santa Fe (Lobo 90+6). We were shocked when, by the 81st minute, we were two down and the aggregate score was level. But in the 96th minute, Lobo ran in from the right-hand side and curled home a beauty to secure our onward progress! League action then returned and it was time to play America de Cali (Gonzalez 84). We got the three points when Gonzalez burst into the box late on to score but that wasn't the headline... The headline was the injury to Obando - nine months! Nine whole months! He's got five goals in eight games so far so I can't emphasise what a huge blow I think this is going to be! We then had one more game to play against Palmeiras (Vega 83). In the 83rd minute, Vega levelled things up when he finished off a neat passing move. They weren't done though and a corner bundled home at the death saw us drop out the competition! So, the month finally ends and we're in 7th. We need to be in the top eight to get into the league's knockout stage. We then have another monster month to go through in September - there are nine games for us to play - the QF of the cup catches my eye as does the game against La Equidad at the end of the month!