DaneBramage

If we stay up he can definitely take a large slice of credit for it. His 4 goals so far (in just 6 games) have won us 7 points. At the end of the season I'll drop a few screenshots of our American lads, and the current national team.

March 2024 Results We did well to get ourselves back into the game against Torino, but for what seems like the umpteenth time this season, we gave away a goal and lost due to an individual defensive error. The party poppers were flying a few days later though. We were one down against Spezia when they had a man sent off. We went ultra attacking, and changed to two up top. And up stepped Malik Tillman to grab two late goals for the win. The next two games were utterly miserable though and put me in a huff, so I used IR when we hosted Lazio. The stats show that Lazio were by far the better team, but Andrija Novakovich had other plans. The defence couldn't handle him, and he scored a magnificent hat-trick. American goals: 6 (23 for the season) American assists: 1 (9 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A About as we good as we could hope for. A game in hand and five points clear of the bottom three. ---------------------------------------------- USA Senior Squad: 2-0 v Portugal (friendly) Under-23: 3-0 v Panama, 3-1 v Costa Rica, 1-2*v Mexico (Olympic Games Qualifying Group Stage, finished 2nd in group), p1-1* v Jamaica (Olympic Games Qualifying Semi-Final) Gianluca Busio played in two of these games. ----------------------------------------------

February 2024 Results We had a tough run of games in February, and I've got no complaints about not earning anything from Inter, Milan, or Napoli. In fact, managing to score against each of them was a bit of an accomplishment, as well as not being smashed in any of these games. But the home loss to Genoa was massively soul-destroying. We should have coasted to victory, but we threw away the points from a pair of stupid individual errors. I know it's a bit early in the season to call any game a six-pointer, but the Cremonese tie felt like it might be. On his return from injury Malik Tillman came to the rescue to give us the win. We were reduced to ten men in the 68th minutes, but we managed to hold on. American goals: 3 (17 for the season) American assists: 2 (8 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A We're still just outside the relegation area, the win over Cremonese was a vital one otherwise we'd be the other way around. We now have two games in hand, and of the six games coming up in March, five are at home. ----------------------------------------------

Absolutely, the second half of the season is not going to be easy. Think I need to make a sacrifice to the FM Gods.

January 2024 Results Our final game of 2023 was beating Bologna in the cup, but the rematch in the league saw them beat us easily. This was followed up by a dismal loss to Hellas Verona, when we just capitulated after Domen Crnigoj got sent-off (the final straw which saw him transfer-listed immediately). We weren't particularly good against Frosinone, but managed to grab the only goal of the game for a much needed win. Malik Tillman made a great impression on his debut at Empoli, poking the ball home at a corner, but disaster struck twice in the last few minutes. First we conceded an equaliser in the 88th minute, then Malik Tillman limped off with an ankle injury that will rule him out for the next month. We rotated a bit for the Coppa Italia match with Hellas Verona and although we took the game to extra-time, were dumped out. That left me in a pretty bad mood so I used IR to get past the expected whooping from league-leaders Atalanta as quickly as possible, but somehow my AssMan earned us a draw. American goals: 4 (14 for the season) American assists: 1 (6 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A Just about keeping our head above water. We do have a game in hand compared to some of the teams around us, but it's against Roma. ----------------------------------------------

January 2024 Job Interview Another offer, and this time it's my first from another Italian club. Below us in the table, declined. ---------------------------------------------- Finances We have a positive bank balance! It's taken a while to get here, with the TV money trickling in we've been making small profits each month this season, and after a bit of wheeling and dealing we're finally in the black again. ---------------------------------------------- Departures We shifted three players this month, all from the senior squad. Michael Cuisance and Domen Crnigoj were both starting players last season, but were also difficult about wanting to move on. Cuisance had been replaced in the first-team this year, and with only six months let on his contract I was actively trying to move him on. Crnigoj was still my first-choice right-winger, but then he got himself sent-off for a two-footed lunge and I'd had enough. Denis Cheryshev was only a back-up, and the wrong side of 30. Getting more than £3.5 million is of course a great boost to removing our negative balance, but also getting £65k a week off of the wage bill will help a lot going forward. ---------------------------------------------- Signings The lack of funds meant we couldn't make any permanent moves this window, but we have picked up one loanee to fill in on the right-wing. Malik Tillman has come in from Bayern Munich until the end of the season, after scoring 14 times in 17 games for their B team. He played in the SPL last year, contributing 7 goals and 6 assists for Rangers. He has 5 caps for America, and has German as a second nationality. ----------------------------------------------

December 2023 Youth Preview ---------------------------------------------- Results After last month's heroics the loss to Sassuolo was a big disappointment, taking us back down to earth with a really tame display. I'd forgotten that we were still in the Coppa Italia, given that the First Round was back in August. After conceding in the the first few minutes we fought back to equalise, then took control of the game and pulled out a two goal lead. Bologna hit back with a stoppage-time consolation, but it was too little too late. American goals: 1 (10 for the season) American assists: 2 (5 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A Only the one game, so no real change. Still five teams worse than us. ----------------------------------------------

November 2023 Job Interviews I'm in demand and both Los Angeles sides made an approach. If I was interested LAFC would be the better option (2nd in the Western Conference and 5th in the overall standings), compared to the Galaxy (8th and 18th), but I declined both offers. ---------------------------------------------- Results What a month! We played really well and battered Sampdoria, we hit the post three times and a higher scoreline would not have been undeserved. We took the expected loss against Milan, but somehow managed to beat Juventus. We only had two efforts on target all game, with an xG of 0.36, but made the most of setpieces. Ridgeciano Haps set up both goals, one from a corner and the other a wide free-kick, and both were headed home at the far post. American goals: 1 (9 for the season) American assists: 1 (3 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A Out of the relegation area and up to 15th. ---------------------------------------------- USA Senior Squad: 2-0* v Martinique, 3-1* v Guatemala (friendlies) Gianluca Busio played in both games. Under-22: 4-0* v Mexico (Pan American Games Final, winners), 2-0* v Guatemala (friendly) Tanner Tessmann played and scored in the first game, Jack McGlynn played in the second game. Under-20: 4-0* v Guatemala (friendly) Rokas Pukstas played. Under-19: 3-0 v Guatemala (friendly) ----------------------------------------------

October 2023 Results We had a fun day out at Salernitana, smashing them to record our first win of the season. Gianluca Busio created the first goal before scoring a brace of penalties. We weren't really at the races against Spezia and gifted them the opener, but kept it at to grab a stoppage-time equaliser. Losing to Fiorentina was disappointing, they were in 20th place at the time. Lazio hammered us, but we did cause them a few worries with three late goals. American goals: 5 (8 for the season) American assists: 1 (2 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A Even with our first win we've dropped to the bottom of the table. We've got the worst defensive record in the division, but our attack hasn't been too bad, so I don't think we're completely doomed. We'll certainly be putting up a fight. ---------------------------------------------- USA Senior Squad: 1-3 v Germany, 1-1* v Algeria (friendlies) Gianluca Busio played. Under-23: 1-2* v Algeria (friendly) Rokas Pukstas played. Under-22: 3-0* v Guatemala, 1-3* v Argentina, 5-1* v Chile (Pan American Games Group Stage, finished in 2nd place), 0-3* v Brazil (Pan American Games Semi-Final) Tanner Tessmann played 4 games and scored once, Jack McGlynn played 3 games. Under-20: 2-0 v Algeria (friendly) ----------------------------------------------

September 2023 Results We didn't expect anything from Inter or Napoli, and prioritised the Torino and Cremonese games. We could easily have come away from those matches with six points, but individual mistakes (by each of our full-backs) meant we had to settle for a pair of draws. American goals: 3 (3 for the season) American assists: zero (1 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie A No wins yet, but we're outside of the relegation area so it's all good. We just need to find three teams worse than us. ---------------------------------------------- USA Senior Squad: 3-1 v Japan, 4-0 v Egypt (friendlies) Under-23: 2-2* v Egypt (friendly) Rokas Pukstas played. Under-20: 2-0* v Egypt (friendly) Jack McGlynn played and scored. Under-19: 3-0 v Egypt (friendly) ----------------------------------------------

August 2023 Departure Mikael Johnsen was out on loan last year, so never had a chance to become part of my plans. ---------------------------------------------- Expectations The aim is just to avoid relegation. It's probably a long shot, but hopefully we can give it a go. ---------------------------------------------- Results The opening day of the season saw us travel to Genoa, who were promoted alongside us as Serie B champions. It would have been a good chance to get some early points on the board, but our terrible away form has carried over to the new division and we got hammered. A few first-teamers played in the Coppa Italia against Cesena, but it was largely a chance for the rotation players to try and make an impression. The result was never in doubt, but the winning margin was disappointing. American goals: zero American assists: 1 ----------------------------------------------

July 2023 Job Interview Bottom of the MLS Western Conference. No thanks lads. ---------------------------------------------- Departures Marco Modolo played a lot last year, but at 34 I didn't want to give him a new contract. There's a couple of 18 year olds I'd rather use as back-up. Patrick Leal was an American in the Under-20s, but he was never going to make it and had unrealistic contract expectations. Mattia Aramu was on loan at Genoa last year and he could definitely have done a job for us, but other clubs could offer a lot higher wages. ---------------------------------------------- Signings Cheap and cheerful signings for now. Two Americans brought in, and one player from Serie C, for a grand total of nothing. All teenagers though, so players for the future rather than impacting the first-team straight away. I have no idea how Giannis Papadopoulos was scouted. At the time we were looking at Germany and the UK, yet somehow my AssMan spotted him. Has racked up 38 appearances in the American lower leagues. A lot of potential, but he needs to hit the weights. And you've probably already guessed this, he has Greek as his second nationality. I like the look of Jack McGlynn. He has Irish as a second nationality, so I guess that's how he was found. At the time of being scouted he was unattached after being released by Philadelphia Union, so he's been training with us for a few months now ahead of joining this window. Made 46 appearances in the MLS, mostly off the bench. The other signing focus was players from the Italian lower leagues, and Thomas Sandon has been brought in from Serie C side Vicenza. He made 31 appearances as they finished 15th last year. ---------------------------------------------- USA Senior Squad: 0-0 v Suriname (CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage, finished in 1st place), 1-0 v Costa Rica (CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarter-Final), 0-1 v Jamaica (CONCACAF Gold Cup Semi-Final) ----------------------------------------------

June 2023 Finances Our transfer budget is minimal, and following a lot of automatic wage increases after promotion we're over budget there. . This TV money will do nicely, shame it's coming in throughout the season rather than all in one go now. It'll take a few months to get back into the black, let alone have funds to spend. ---------------------------------------------- USA Senior Squad: 2-2 v Costa Rica (friendly), 2-0 v Qatar B, 2-0 v Trinidad & Tobago (CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage) Under-20: 2-1 v Belgium (World Cup Quarter-Final), 2-0 v Italy (World Cup Semi-Final), p2-2 v Brazil (World Cup Final, winners) ----------------------------------------------

Thanks. With the lack of money it'll mainly be freebies and youngsters this time, but we should be better set for the winter window.

2022/23 Season Review The Players Bit of a weird season. Although we were promoted, there wasn't much going on in the way of standout performances. Jesse Joronen kept 16 clean sheets throughout the year, the second highest total in Serie C. Only four players hit an average rating of 7.00 or higher, and Pietro Ceccaroni was one of these with 7.00 exactly. He was voted the fan's player of the year. Nobody reached double figures for either goals or assists. David Connolly started the year up top but when he stopped scoring, Andrija Novakovic took over. He scored 9 times, but again when the goals dried up, he was replaced by Joel Pohjanpalo, who also notched up 9 strikes. He did this in far few minutes too, I probably should have given him a proper chance earlier on. Michael Cuisance was the top creator with 7 assists, but he's also a little whingebag who wants to consider his options when his contract runs out next year. Hopefully the promotion will convince him to stay, otherwise I might have to try and cash in this summer. ---------------------------------------------- History + Facilities A first season promotion! At the start of the year I would have been happy with a play-off place, but after a slow start we moved into contention. We briefly topped the table in December, then spent the rest of the year in 3rd or 2nd place, finally clinching promotion on the final day. I knew we'd lose money throughout the season, but I didn't realise it would be quite this bad. Even after claiming £2.15 million in prize money for finishing in 2nd place, we still lost over £10 million this year. Next year's Serie A TV money can't come soon enough, we'd have been in real trouble trying to keep the squad together otherwise. And we need to start bringing the youth training up to par. ---------------------------------------------- The Americans Just over a quarter of our goals came from Americans, with Andrija Novakovic the highest contributor. 31 different players made appearances this season, four of them were American. The only signing this year was an American. ----------------------------------------------

May 2023 Results It's embarrassing how poor we were this month. We had a four point lead going into the final three fixtures, yet repeatedly failed to push on and clinch promotion. Our away day incompetence was out in full force against Reggina, going 2-0 down within 30 minutes. We went ultra-attacking and Joel Pohjanpalo got one back on the cusp of half-time, then sub Ottar Magnus Karlsson made himself a hero again with a brace. Then we conceded from a 95th minute corner to ruin my day. We've been good at home all season, but really didn't show it against Ternana. Jesse Joronen was awful in goal, and was at fault twice (earning himself a week's fine, and subbed at half-time). Luckily Joel Pohjanpalo came to the rescue with a stoppage-time equaliser. On the final day we travelled to Cosenza. Somehow, we were still 2nd in the table, equal on points with Ascoli. We'd beaten them home and away this season, so had the better head-to-head records, so we just needed to match their result. When Joel Pohjanpalo gave us the lead it looked good. Then Cosenza's 34 year old right-back stepped up to hit a screamer, his first goal in 5 years... American goals: zero (16 for the season) American assists: zero (10 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie B Wahey! Ascoli could only draw on the final day, they didn't overtake us! By the skin of our teeth, we've done it. ---------------------------------------------- USA Under-20: 2-0 v Iran, 1-2 v Italy, 1-2 v Paraguay (World Cup Group Stage, finished in 3rd place), 3-0 v Paraguay (World Cup Second Round) ----------------------------------------------

April 2023 Results We haven't been playing at our best this month, but for the most part we've still been grinding out results. Our first two games were against the sides 20th and 19th in the table, and we could have run up a cricket score if we'd showed any composure up front. Instead we took a pair of 1-0 wins, Joel Pohjanpalo coming off the bench in both matches to grab the late winners. We'd risen to 2nd in the table, but were then up against Brescia in 4th. Joel Pohjanpalo was rewarded with a start and he repaid the trust with another goal. Next up was SPAL, but our away day woes came back to the fore as they scored in the 2nd minute and we never looked like competing. Then it was 2nd v 3rd when we played Ascoli, and it wasn't looking good when we went in 1-0 down at half-time. Nicholas Pierini was given some rare gametime as a sub, and he changed the direction of the tie. First he won a penalty (Tanner Tessmann originally saw his effort saved, but tucked away the rebound), then scored a tap-in of his own. Finally we played Bari, another contender, and we pulled out a good performance to take the win and stay in 2nd place. American goals: 1 (16 for the season) American assists: 1 (10 for the season) ---------------------------------------------- Serie B ----------------------------------------------

2023 Youth Intake >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> No change between the preview and the intake unfortunately. At least I had the warning to not expect much early, so I can't be too disappointed. Carlo Paleari (22A) is probably the only one with enough potential and a good enough personality to stand a chance. I'm unable to sign Kingsley Frimpong (22J) as he's a non-EU player. Seems a bit silly that he'd come through the academy then. Edit: I've screwed up all the tags here. All players should of course be 23X. ----------------------------------------------

March 2023 Results One home win, two away losses. We've forgotten how to play football on the road, that's now five away losses on the bounce. American goals: 1 (15 for the season) American assists: zero (9 for the season) Serie B We are in real danger of bottling this. A play-off place should be safe, which in fairness is what I wanted at the start of the season. But when you're top for a while expectations rise, and playing so poorly now is disappointing. USA Senior Squad: 3-0 v Honduras (North American Nations League Semi-Final), 3-0 v Mexico (North American Nations League Final, winners) Under-20: 3-1 v Argentina, 1-0 v Colombia (friendlies)

February 2023 Results A frustrating month, with two home wins and two away losses. Ottar Magnus Karlsson has just returned to the club after being on loan during the first half of the season, scoring 9 times in 18 games for Oakland Roots in America. I was annoyed with my left-wing choices so he was thrown in cold against Benevento. Ninety minutes later and he'd had a hand in all four of our goals that afternoon, with two assists, a pre-assist, and winning the foul that got us a penalty. American goals: 3 (14 for the season) American assists: 1 (9 for the season) Serie B We've slipped another place and we're now outside of the automatic promotion spots. It's all very close though, there's barely anything between the top four, and 5th aren't far off either.

January 2023 Departures Luka Ceppitelli had been a regular in defence, but at 33 years old, and with only six months left on his contract earning over £30k per week, it was an easy decision to let him go. Maximilian Ullmann had been injured and not played a single minute, so by default he was only third-choice left-back. Also, it's another £10k per week saved. Arrivals We've made our first signing, an American-Lithuanian who was based in Croatia. We've possibly paid too much for Rokas Pukstas, our £550k offer was accepted immediately without any negotiation, but he's kept his 5.0 star potential after arriving so hopefully it will turn out to be a bargain. Results We started 2023 with a good win and the Americans dominating the scoresheet, but the rest of the month was poor. We slogged away against relegation-threatened Como, finally equalised with a few minutes to go, then conceded almost immediately afterwards. Parma scored with their only substantial attack of the game, Jesse Joronen was caught badly out of position and got lobbed. American goals: 3 (11 for the season) American assists: 2 (8 for the season) Serie B We've deservedly lost top spot, and it's looking a little let rosy now with Brescia and Genoa both having games in hand.

December 2022 Results I didn't realise we had games in December. I clearly didn't look at the fixture list properly and thought the break went until January. Thus we weren't ready for the trip to Ascoli and were really off the pace, going behind in just the 4th minute. We had less than 40% possession but somehow still managed to steal an undeserved win, through a pair of long distance efforts. We were much better against Bari and Reggina, picking up full points for the month and making it 14 games unbeaten. Two more clean sheets for Jesse Joronen, he now has nine, more than anyone else in the division. Just behind him is Gianluigi Buffon, still playing at the age of 44. American Goals: 2 (8 for the season) American Assists: 2 (6 for the season) Serie B Magic. We're real contenders. Youth Preview Never mind, maybe next year.

November 2022 Results The games came thick and fast in November, with four games in just 12 days ahead of the World Cup break. Andrija Novakovic scored his third goal of the season against Ternana, and for the third time it was also the strike that won the game. Lots of people around here have their goalkeepers on penalty duty; I have the Americans instead, and Gianluca Busio scored from the spot against Cosenza. SPAL were very lucky to leave with a point. We just didn't have our shooting boots with us, hitting the woodwork thrice but not getting a single shot on target. American Goals: 2 (6 for the season) American Assists: zero (4 for the season) Serie B Going nicely. At less than 1.5 goals scored per game I'd like to see a few more, buy who wouldn't? USA Senior Squad: 0-0 v Scotland (friendly), 1-0 v Wales, 0-1 v Iran, 1-3 v England (World Cup Group Stage, finished in 3rd place, eliminated) Under-20: 3-0 v British Virgin Islands, 4-0 v Bonaire, 7-0 v Barbados (North American Championship First Round Group Stage, finished in 1st place), 0-0 v Honduras, 3-0 v Guatemala (North American Championship Second Round Group Stage, finished in 1st place), 2-0 v Canada (North American Championship Final, winners)

Looks like it's a tough battle in the Premiership, hopefully you can get that one player to be the difference maker soon.

October 2022 Results Andrija Novakovic, take a bow son. Came off the bench two games in a row to grab late winners. We definitely had an element of luck against Cagliari, we only had three shots on target but we scored with all of them. The Frosinone game was really frustrating though, our luck balancing out as we dominated the tie without scoring. And the match at Modena had me pretty annoyed, struggling against the side bottom of the table at the time. Joel Pohjanpalo hadn't had much chance to make an impact yet due to injury, but he came off the bench here to rescue a point. Sudtirol were a side that I considered managing as they have a similar signing philosophy, but with Austrian players instead. We dominated the game, taking 73% of the possession, and made the breakthrough just before the interval. A second goal after the break was enough to give us the win, though we were holding on at the end as they threw everyone forward and Jesse Joronen did a good job keeping a clean sheet. American goals: 3 (4 for the season) American assists: 1 (4 for the season) ------------------------------------- Serie B An unbeaten month sees us move up the table, and we've now reached the play-off places. ------------------------------------- USA Under-20: 2-0 v Mexico, 1-1 v Mexico, 0-3 v Costa Rica (friendlies), 2-0 v Guyana, 5-0 v Haiti (North American Championship First Round Group Stage) -------------------------------------