[FM17] San Marino Challenge

[rycl77]

Season 2018/19 - Serie C

January/February Results

Just the 1 game in January so I combined it with February. Just a bang average month really, loss to Bassano hurts as they're directly above us. Zigoni, who I was pretty hyped about has only scored 1 goal in his first 4 games and has been largely useless, hopefully he picks up a bit  

[rycl77]

Season 2018/19 - Serie C

Youth Intake

Probably our worst class yet. Our best prospect is awesome, just one problem; he's Italian. We've got two 3*s but it's all a bit meh. I guess it can't be great every season can it? I'll try and work with what I've got and maybe these guys can be placeholders for the National Team until we get some decent players.

Giacomo Zavoli

Not much to get hyped about. At least his determination is 7, higher than what we've had the past few years. I think Simoncini the other 3* prospect is a better player but you never know.

Stefano Simoncini

The more I look at this guy the more I like him. He's got some good attributes in techicals, mentals are a bit ehhh and he's decent physically. Defo something to work with.

[rycl77]

Season 2018/19 - Serie C

March Results

We did pretty terribly, especially defensively. A 6-2 loss to Modena was a shocking result. Then we edged 2 games 1-0. A 4-4 draw with AlbinoLeffe was particularly frustrating as we conceded in the 89th and 92nd minute to bottle our lead and Parma smashed us to round out a bad month.

We're pretty much guaranteed to make the play-offs, just depends on how high we finish now.

[rycl77]

The power of tutoring. Incredible increases in his determination, when he came in through the youth intake it was 6, now it stands at 16!

[rycl77]

Season 2018/19 - Serie C

April/May Results

Class form to end the season, conceding just the 1 goal across 5 games and winning 4 of them. This form sees us finish third. Parma finally promoted and into the play-offs we go.

Mantova finished 10th so this is a good draw for us, fingers crossed we can go far.

[rycl77]

Zigoni wins it late with a rocket from distance!!! Onto the next round where we will play

Vicenza in a two legged tie. Forza Titani

[rycl77]

Second leg was absolutely madness!!!

We went in 1-0 down from the first leg (we got outplayed first game tbh). I was calm about the game because we were at home and only needed to score 1 to make it level. 22 minutes in and one of our players 2 foots them for no reason and gets himself sent off. So I'm sat there thinking we've just blown and it and bang we scored 2 goals and we're in front and cruising. 

Half-time comes and their manager Gattuso switches formations and all of a sudden they're on top. They're dominating. They only need 1 goal to go through on away goals and there's nothing we can do to stop their attacks. They inevitably score and I'm sat here cursing at the game and my computer thinking we're done for when in the 89th minute we get a free kick, there's pulling in the box and the ref points to the spot!!! Rossi dispatches and we're through!

Into the quarters we go, god these playoffs are long.

[rycl77]

Comically easy. They insisted on playing a high line despite having slow defenders so we absolutely slaughtered them on the break. Tie was pretty much wrapped up with a 4-1 first leg win. Not sure how they even got this far, they finished 9th in their division.

Next up

[rycl77]

Their wingbacks cut us to shreads early before I changed system  So annoyed with this one, only one leg too so our play-off run ends here. 

Another season of Serie C :/, season review tomorrow.

[rycl77]

Season 2018/19 - Serie C

Season In Review - Close But No Cigar

League Table

We finished in third place behind the ever impressive Parma and Modena who were just a level above us, both of these sides were promoted so we won't be playing them next season which is a bonus. 3rd for our second season in Serie C isn't a bad result.

Results

League

Play-offs

These play-offs are absolutely brutal. We were lucky to get past Vicenza but ultimately lost in the semi-finals are conceding 3 in 25 minutes at the start of the game. I want to aim for automatic promotion next year as these play-offs are extremely difficult as you need to get the better of 5 teams to get promoted.

Serie C Cup

Just completely not important. Don't care about this trophy, neither does the board.

Team of The Season

De Lucia wins for the third year straight, this must be fixed. He wasn't actually that good this year and lost his place in the team at times. My personal player of the season would be De Giralmo our striker who scored some massive goals for us despite not being rated very highly by my assistant manager.

Squad

Transfers

We didn't actually do as much business as we usually do. Zigoni was probably our best signing, he's worth a ton and can score a goal from absolutely nothing. There was the standard horde of Cesena loanees but overall nothing too crazy.

Finances

Our finances are in surprisingly good shape compared to last year where we went 400k into the red. Having a few home play-off matches with high attendance and board investment means we're in decent shape, we should be in the black for a bit after we finish our jampacked pre-season.

Sammarinese Academy Prospects

Davide Colombini 5*

Mirco Capicchoni 4*

Giacomo Zavoli 3*

Stefano Simoncini 3*

Mirko Bugli 4.5*

Andrea Michelotti 4.5*

Roberto Mariotti 4.5*

That wraps it up, hopefully we can gain promotion next year, thanks for reading.

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

Season Expectations

Same as last year, play-offs, should be easy.

Budgets

The board have backed us with more wage budget as a reward for better control of finances last year, hopefully this extra few thousand in wage budget will get us across the line to promotion.

Transfers

So far not so much business done. Our usual few loanees from Cesena, a new keeper from Rochdale and a few back-up players. I sold Kanoute for 62k because he was my backup and wanted to leave.

 

Key Signings

Our new starting keeper, a slight upgrade on Zandrini but nothing too crazy. Solid player and our only real big signing.

[rycl77]

Looks like our best striker Zigoni is leaving. Even when Parma aren't in my division they find a way to screw me. Tried to get the clause out of his contract but he wants too much wage. And the little rat pockets 30% of the fee. Ugh.

[King Costly]

That play-off structure is brutal. Why have two legs then switch to one for the semi-final? Makes no sense at all. Best of luck going for automatic promotion and replacing Zigoni.

[rycl77]

5 minutes ago, King Costly said:

That play-off structure is brutal. Why have two legs then switch to one for the semi-final? Makes no sense at all. Best of luck going for automatic promotion and replacing Zigoni.

Thanks! Yeah it's pretty stupid, so many teams qualify that you need to win 5 ties to get promotion which is so tough. 

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

August/September Results

Probably my best month at the club when you include our run in the Italian Cup. We knocked Entella of Serie B and Sampdoria of Serie A out of the cup while playing away from home. Our league form isn't too shabby either and we're right at the front of the pack for now. 

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

October Results

4 wins, 3 losses. we're in first. Honestly would have wanted more than that but it'll do for now!

Here's Zigoni's replacement, hopefully he can fire us out of this league, fits our style more. Can't register him till January though because of rules I wasn't paying attention to, woops!

[rycl77]

Sometimes the game just wants to test you lol

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

November Results

After a shocking 4-0 loss at home to FeralpiSalo we recovered to go unbeaten for the rest of the month. Still top too, I'll take it

[rycl77]

This isn't a monthly update or anything, just PUMPED about my Italian Cup Run. THREE Serie A teams beaten away from home in the cup. THREE. De Girolamo who is bang average in the league just can't stop scoring. Absolute madness.

450 thousand just for playing in the first round! And we're into the quarters so that should guarantee us another massive payout seeing as it's for playing in the round and not winning it?

So if I'm right and we get 2 of these big payouts minimum it means we've covered 40% of our yearly expenditure from playing two games. Might even turn a profit this year. Amazing. Milan at home next, bring it on.

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

December Results

Crazy crazy good month for us. Two wins in the Italian Cup against Serie A opposition undoubtedly the highlight of our month, we literally battered Fiorentina and hung on to beat Atlanta after absolute magic from De Giralamo who scored with about 5 defenders around him on his own up front. He banged in a lot in the league too as we opened up a four point gap in the league!

The main man

[rycl77]

San Marino National Team - 2019 Update

(I still don't manage them yet)

Results

A very, very rough year for the national team. They played in the Euro Qualifiers rather than the Nations League and got battered. Two goals scored the whole year both in 4-1 losses. Best results probably the 1-0 losses to Denmark and Sweden.

Ranking

They slipped to 209th, the worst in Europe bar Andorra. Bad times.

 

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

January/February Results

We opened up a 10 point gap on the chasing pack this month with a string of good results in the league. AC Milan dumped us out the cup however we got another 500k for that match so I'm not really bothered to be honest, we greatly exceeded expectations. 

Would take a monumental drop in form for us not to win the league from here, so this is hopefully the season we finally make it out of Serie C.

Another one of our regens has been sold but it was my decision this time. They offered 50k for him and I'd been trying to loan him out as his development was stagnating but there wasn't any takers. Decided to sell him and hope that Latina can develop him better or find him a loan.

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

Youth Intake

Pretty dire. One outstanding player but he's Italian...

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

March Results

Just a matter of time now!

[rycl77]

Serie B here we come!!

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

April/May Results

After three seasons in Serie C we finally made it out in absolutely dominating fashion. We secured the title with three games to spare but still went unbeaten as I gave a lot of Sammarinese youngsters a run-out. Season review to come shortly :D!

[rycl77]

Season 2019/20 - Serie C

Season In Review - Third Time Lucky

League Table

At our third attempt we've climbed out of Serie C. That's 2 promotions down, one more go until we hit the promised land of Serie A. We went top early in the season and just kept building our lead from there. A league low 6 draws meant we were good at turning would be draws into wins which proved to be the difference for us as we walked the league by 15 points.

Results

League

We went on a massive run and lost three times from November to May in the league. Just too easy for us.

Italian Cup

We had an amazing run in the Italian Cup, making it to the quarter finals and beating some great sides away from home on the way. Three Serie A teams defeated in a row. This cup run generated about a million in revenue for us too and meant we actually ended a season not in debt.

Serie C Cup

Done terrible in this cup every year we've been in it but board says it's not important and the cash prize makes me inclined to agree.

Team Of The Season

De Lucia didn't play for us this year so he couldn't win it for the fourth year running. Instead it went to the main man De Giralamo. 

Squad

The average ratings shows how good we were this season, mostly 7's.

Transfers

Coming in we had the usual Cesena loanees, we signed a top keeper in Josh Lillis who had a good season between the sticks. Gozzi came in at CB and was great for us, Florian bagged a few goals, Scipioni was a revelation starting at RB. Bocalon was supposed to replace Zigoni but he was injured a lot and De Giralomo replaced Zigoni's goals.

Going out we of course had Zigoni purchased for 250k, I sold two youngsters in Luca Fava and Capicchioni. Fava was really good but suffered the unfortunate illness of being Italian so I had no interest in developing him. Capicchioni I wanted to get some first team football because he wasn't developing fast enough but there were no takers for a loan so i just moved him on permanently in the hope they can do more with him than I did. We also got cash for a back-up players like Zandrini and Calvo. This is by far the most we've made selling players and contributed to a good year financially for the club.

Finances

A great year for the club financially. Our cup run earned us about a million and we made a lot selling players so we finished in the black with the club in good financial health as we enter Serie B. This isn't enough for the chairman though who's looking to move on from the club and after the money he had a to pour in at times to keep us afloat I don't blame him

Tycoon please SI

Sammarinese Academy Prospects

Davide Colombini 5*

Mirko Bugli 5* (needs first team football)

Andrea Michelotti 4.5*

Roberto Mariotti 4* (gonna be sold, needs first team football but nobody wants to loan)

Misc

Goal machine in the league as well as the cup. Although not rated highly this guy fired us to the title and to wins in the Cup. In my eyes a club icon for what he did for us this season with Zigoni sold. He will probably be moved on next season as I think Serie B might be too much for him, that said he did dominate Serie A teams in the cup

Domination.

Now in a position to increase junior coaching which is nice.

><><><><><><>

So now we're in Serie B, only one more promotion and we'll be mixing it with the big boys of Serie A and earning millions. I'm enjoying this challenge I hope you're enjoying reading so far.

[rycl77]

We actually made a profit

[rycl77]

A potential tycoon, yes please!

[the--dud]

2 hours ago, rycl77 said:

A potential tycoon, yes please!

That would certainly be an exciting turn of events!

 

[rycl77]

It's been a while but I just fired up FM and gonna try get back into it. The takeover is on the rocks atm and I'm stuck in an embargo as we enter the start of the window which is not ideal.

[rycl77]

Officially collapsed, at least our embargo is gone.

[rycl77]

San Marino National Team - 2020 Update

(I still don't manage them yet)

Results

Another year of the Nations League wielded some nice results for the national team with just three losses in 7 games. Highlight a 4-0 smashing of Andorra at home.

Ranking

This saw them rocket up to an all time high of 184th in the World Rankings.

I'll probably take them over soon.

[rycl77]

Season 2020/21 - Serie B

Season In Review - Solid Start To Life In Serie B

League Table

Agonisingly close to the play-offs in our first season in Serie B although I don't think we would have done much damage in there had we made it, the squad just isn't really up to scratch.

Results

League

Second half of the season was a bit of a struggle for us but we finished it nicely.

Italian Cup

Only made it to the third qualifying round this time with a ridiculous 7-5 loss to Chievo in extra time. 

Squad

You will see Michelotti and Colombini are both starting. These two are academy products and San Marino nationality players who are currently starting for my team. Michelotti is actually my 2nd best CB so is deservedly starting whereas Colombini gets a bit of favouritism to start because he's still only young. De Girolamo and Bocalon were our strikers and they did a decent job up top for us, plenty of goals and assists.

Transfers

As we moved into a new division there was quite a bit of turnover in the squad. Gasperi came in from parent club Cesena on a permanent deal and was fantastic. The other loanees didn't really do much. A lot of solid contributors signed. Going out we had Mirko Bugli on a free to Lazio, he just wasn't really good enough and was doing nothing so I sold him to Lazio in the hopes they can develop him better. Josh Lillis our #1 keeper decided he was homesick in January so I sold him to Newcastle and bought Moschin as a replacement who was much better.

Misc

We were taken over by a consortium however they're not overly rich and haven't invested anything into the club yet. I survived the takeover though which is cool I guess.

A healthy wage budget for next season, hopefully we can push into Serie A.

Sammarinese Academy Prospects

Andrea Michelotti 5* (starts for first team)

Davide Colombini 5* (starts for first team, good little player)

Roberto Mariotti 4.5* (gonna be released, not good enough)

[rycl77]

San Marino national team manager sacked, I've handed my application in

[ManUtd1]

Good luck with the application, rycl77! 

[sherwinriga]

Now the San Marino managerial position is vacant, I think you are lucky for that position. Did Roberto Mariotti went to another team? So, good luck and I will be following!

[rycl77]

I now manage both San Marino the club and now the National team, the fate of the nations footballing hopes rest on my shoulders

[rycl77]

San Marino National Team - 2021 Update

(I didn't manage them this year, took over after the last fixture)

Results

This was the year of World Cup qualifiers. Considering the national side usually get battered in these years they did themselves proud this year in what was the managers last year before he was fired for me. A 0-0 draw with Austria the highlight. Four goals scored on the year and all by players produced from San Marino Calcio (hence the * at end of name)

Ranking

This positive year saw them rocked up to 164th. I've got a lot to live up to in my first year of managing the national side. Looking forward to it.

 

[Sklippo]

Will there be a new update soon?

[rycl77]

Hi everyone, I stopped posting for a bit as I was feeling lazy but started to feel motivated again. We're quite a bit far in the future so I'll try and catch you guys up real quick. Sorry.

[rycl77]

Season 2021/22 - Serie B

Season In Review - Play-Offs Collapse

League Table

League Results

Playoff Results

Massive bottlejob, was very annoying.

Italian Cup Results

Not much to write about here lol, pretty dire.

Best XI

Season Thoughts

Overall this was a very good year for the club. We did well to make the play-offs in our second year and but for a terrible collapse could have gone a little further. However this early success was NOT a sign of things to come.

 

 

[rycl77]

Season 2022/23 - Serie B

Season In Review - Wtf, massive drop off

League Table

So after finishing 4th last season we finished 13th and were honestly in danger of getting relegated before we pulled a few wins together. Sheesh.

League Results

Italian Cup Results

Again we went out first round but not really a focus.

Best XI

Season Thoughts

A season to forget as we continue to try and fight our way out of Serie B.

[rycl77]

Season 2023/24 - Serie B

Season In Review - Another mediocre Serie B season

League Table

Another season stuck in this damn division, at this point the clubs finances were awful and I was forced to sell players to keep the club afloat.

League Results

Italian Cup Results

We actually won our first game but got smacked away at Palermo. The Italian Cup is a pretty cruel mistress for small clubs as you don't really get paid anything until the later rounds.

Best XI

Season Thoughts

RUBBISH

[rycl77]

Season 2024/25 - Serie B

Season In Review - Same old San Marino

League Table

Bleh, a horrible start killed any real promotion hopes but we finished strongly and this gave me hope for the next season, especially when Juventus agreed to loan POTY Marco Brega back to us.

League Results

Italian Cup Results

Fairly close to the next round but a loss on pens 

Best XI

Season Thoughts

We finished amazingly and added some crucial pieces to the squad and with Marco Brega up front anything is possible, is next year the year we finally get out of here?

[rycl77]

Season 2025/26 - Serie B

Season In Review - FINALLYYYYY

League Table

WE ARE GOING UP SAY WE ARE GOING UP. Just about made it after a lengthy race with Udinese and Verona.

League Results

Italian Cup Results

Best XI

Season Thoughts

After years of stagnation we finally made it out of Serie B and as champions. This was a great season and I was delighted to finally move the save forwards. Massive shoutout to Juventus for loaning me Marco Brega who was unstoppable.

[rycl77]

Season 2026/27 - Serie A

Season In Review - Unbelievable First Year

League Table

An amazing first season saw us finish 7th, considering we were predicted relegation this was a fantastic finish.

League Results

Italian Cup Results

Best XI

Transfers

Now we're in Serie A we actually have a little cash to splash, went out and bought a few players. Key signings were Sakic who was immense when healthy (suffered an achilles injury early in the season) amd Althauser who played RWB for us.

Season Thoughts

Great start to life in Serie A, if we can keep this up we'll be in Europe in a few years no doubt.

[rycl77]

San Marino National Team - Update

So now we're all caught up on the club, what about the national team? In the last update I mentioned I'd taken over the national team, well how have I got on?

I resigned. Long story short I took them over too early and it was just pointless. The players aren't there yet for me to compete and it was just gonna be thumpings for years and years. So in 2023 I quit and decided to focus on the club and giving the national team some players good enough for them to compete.

 

Right now they sit in 181st in the world and have barely moved since I left. Players like Andrea Canti, Andrea Michelotti and Mirko Bugli are in the 80 caps range now after coming through the academy in the game and there's a player on the way with genuine potential to be around for years to come, and that's at both the club and the national team.

 

Key Players

 

Canti is the Countrys leading goalscorer in history. 18 goals so far greatly surpasses Andy Selva's 8 goals. Canti left the club very early in his career as the board decided to sell him for 100k to Entella. His career hasn't really gone well since then as he barely ever got a game for 5 years before eventually dropping down to Serie C in search of regular football. He now plays in Serie D for Sondrio.

 

Probably as of now the most talented player for the national side. He actually played for the club for a few years and was pretty good for me at times. However eventually in Serie B he just wasn't good enough and after 8 years I decided to move him on instead of letting him rot on the bench for the good of the National Team, he now plays in League 2 for Tranmere. At 86 caps by the age of 27 he's a shoe-in to make it to 100 caps. Great player.

 

Formerly the great hope of San Marino. Colombini quite frankly wasn't as good as I expected. I gave him first team football even way before he was ready to try and create a future star in the middle for the country but he was just never really good enough. He played 27 games in 2021/22 Serie B season at the age of just 19. However he was eventually released and now plays for Paganese in Serie C and has done for a number of years. 

 

Future Prospects

 

There is only one to speak of who has a real future for the National Team as our academy (hopefully) pumps out some great players. Marco Renzi has a chance to be San Marino's keeper for 20 years if he can fulfil his potential. His 5* potential says he could be a superb player in the Serie A. To aid his development I've actually made him our #1 goalkeeper for the 2027-28 season despite him being 19 and not as good as other options. Although he may cost me a few points I'm hoping it'll be worth it in the future when we have a Serie A standard keeper in goal.

 

That is all the update for now. While I'm not managing the national team is kinda irrelevant, I'll update whenever we have some decent news or a good prospect comes through the youth intake. Forza Marco Renzi

[rycl77]

Season 2027/28 - Serie A

Youth Intake

BOOM! What a youth intake. We've upgraded facilities an absolute ton since getting promoted and it's paid off here. Instead of the usual annoying 5* potential Italian (who's normally useless to us) we got blessed with not one but TWO Sammarinese 5* potential players. In typical fashion one is a goalkeeper despite the only good player from San Marino already being a keeper but we can't have it all right? And even still he's really really good and might even beat out Marco Renzi in the years to come 

Marco Zavoli 5*

Zavoli is a keeper who could be bad news for Marco Renzi. With 15 reflexes, 15 handling, 14 command of area and a 2* current ability rating at just 16 he really could be something special. For context Marco Renzi at 19 is only a 2.5* current ability. I'm already weighing up letting Marco Renzi go (Monaco have made bids for him in the past) and throwing this lad in goal early doors as I honestly feel he could be better than Renzi. 

I just wish he wasn't a goalkeeper

Matteo Conti 5*

Now this guy is exciting, he plays in a position we actually need and looks like with the right development he could be a beast. I'll sign a great tutor for him and turn him into a RWB and look to get him first team minutes as soon as he's ready.

[ManUtd1]

Whoa...nice intake!