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Post by Nick on Jul 25, 2019 9:28:24 GMT
For the third year in a row, a team goes down with 40+ points, Atletico Mineiro were the unlucky team, going down with 42! This league is far too competitive to get to 40 and be safe. Parana looked dead and buried but hit form at the right time and stayed up on the final day. We stayed up in the penultimate game of the season with a pretty remarkable 2-1 win at Palmeiras. We then lost 5-2 at home to Internacional on the final day and those two results pretty much summed up our season. So what saved us? Well, our results against the teams that finished below us went a long way: Parana - 2 points Atletico Mineiro - 6 points Coritiba - 4 points Sport Recife - 4 points Fortaleza - 3 points Total: 19 points (out of 30) This kind of return is absolutely crucial when fighting against relegation and, if my maths is correct, made up 41% of the points we won this season. Looking down at Serie B, the promoted teams are America Mineiro, CSA, Ponte Preta and Guarani and we'll need similar, if not better, returns against them as well because we picked up some 'bonus' points against the better sides, especially early on in the season. Our early season form also saved us, and we'll need to use the momentum gained from the State Championship to start quickly again next year. So what needs to change? 61 goals is too many to be conceding. It was half expected, the defence is the weakest part of our squad, especially at centre back where we are ageing and slow. Focus over the off season is improving this area of the pitch. Our home record needs to improve. Only 25 points won at home (16th best in the league), 33 goals conceded and eight defeats. Not good enough. Joilson proved to be a top signing and it was good to see him named 'Defensive Midfielder of the Year' in Serie A. His average of 7.03 was the highest in the squad of the players that played over 10 games and he contributed with 3 goals and a couple of assists. Job done then. It was never easy, but we can be proud that we stayed up, but also that we never once entered the relegation zone in doing so. We have a little over a month off now, have gained £2.5m in prize money for our league finish, so should be able to improve the squad a little bit.
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Post by Nick on Jul 31, 2019 18:00:22 GMT
Been away for a few days so not managed to progress much at all, but good news followed the end of last season: A pretty significant boost in sponsorship for a club that has no money. Well, that's what I thought until our first ever individual TV deal came through. £216m over 6 years, working out at £36m per season. Like manna from heaven.
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Post by jawzy on Aug 1, 2019 16:49:49 GMT
and theres me thinking it was reputatiion based 36m is what the top clubs at the start were getting, unless in future, things change around in fm
but damn that money will change your clubs ways for real
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Post by Nick on Aug 1, 2019 18:59:10 GMT
Yeah, we're a bit of a money-making machine at the moment. We've made a profit of £8.7m this season and we're only a few months in. The plan is to wait until the end of the season, where we hopefully retain our Serie A status again, and then start improving the infrastructure at the club.
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Post by jawzy on Aug 2, 2019 13:16:02 GMT
Stop your making me want to try and not get sacked in brazil again
and this does too
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Post by Nick on Aug 2, 2019 18:17:25 GMT
ExpectationsI'll just plant this here to give you an idea of what the media think of our chances in the Serie A this season. Our odds reflect where we are at the moment, but they also show that we're in our own five team mini-league. If we can top that mini-league, we'll stay up and, once again, that's the only aim this year. The board expect little more from us. Only that we battle against relegation. We're also expected to reach the quarter final of the Copa do Brasil, and due to our involvement in the Copa Sudamericana this year, we don't enter until the fifth round. Speaking of the Sudamericana, we're expected to only reach the second round. A semi final spot in the Copa do Nordeste is par for the curse these days, as is making the final of the State Championship. We should really be at least reaching the final every year now. Budgets and TransfersBudgets were calculated before our bumper TV deal came through, so I expect we'll see more than the £1.1m I was given this season in the years to come. I have plenty of room in the wage budget, but a lot of our targets were after more than the maximum I was allowed to offer. I imagine it'll be loans and players with a point to prove coming into the club for the foreseeable. The first port of call was to promote Agaciel from the youth team. I've completely glossed over the youth intakes up until now, mainly because I felt the players lacked the current ability to make reaching their potential a viable option. Agaciel has been the only one to go against the grain. He was very raw, he still is, but 14 games at an average of 7.41 over the first half of the season has seem him develop really well and ensured he's started to stand out. He still needs plenty of work. His composure (6) is way too low, while he also needs to work on his heading (11) and positioning (10). I'll try and give him game time over the course of the Serie A campaign, but it's a big step up. If I find it hard to do so, I think a loan move to Serie B might be more beneficial. I extended the loan of Romario for another season. We can't afford better than him, he knows how we play and had no settling in period. No brainer. Gabriel Calabres was the first man through the door for £58k from Santos. Not needed there, but their loss is our gain. Solid across the board with good passing (13), vision (14) and technique (14). Ten goals in twenty appearances has seen him start well, but the big test is yet to come. Eduardo Bauermann was my third, and last, signing and cost just £175k from Parana. I tried to raid the clubs that will probably finish around us for their best players, but was priced out of most of them. Bauermann was under-valued last season, but was a step up on what we had, especially in reserve, so bringing him in made sense. Going forward, I'd like to limit the incoming transfers to three per season in order to keep some sort of continuity and cohesion. The only time this may change is when our reputation (and finance) increases and we start hoovering up players from around South America. Pernambuco State ChampionshipIt felt a bit stuttery, but looking back over our fixtures, it looks a bit better on paper than it did at the time. Once again we didn't have any pre-season friendlies, so rotation was heavy to get everyone match fit. Our final game broke a club record as we hit double figures for the first time in a 10-0 win over Pesqueira. I don't imagine it'll be the last time we do it either. There is a lot of shit in this state. Nautico Capibaribe were the surprise this year and even threatened to do us over in the final by beating us 2-1 in the first leg. The second leg was a bit different and a 5-1 win gave us the trophy for the third year in a row. Table | FixturesCopa do NordesteWe got the tougher group, having to face Nautico, Bahia and Vitoria, and it showed as we conceded 7 times in our 8 games. Nevertheless, we comfortably finished top of the group. Despite that, we were drawn away at Bahia in the semi final, which was arguably the toughest draw. We saved our best performance of the season so far and beat them 1-0, but it could have been many more. We'll place Nautico in the final after they beat CSA. We should be beating them 9 times out of 10, but they've been flying so far and will be out for revenge after we beat them in the State final. Table | FixturesCopa SudamericanaNot much to report, but we've navigated through the opening round by beating River Plate (the Paraguayan version!) 7-2 on aggregate. We had to fight hard for a 1-0 away win, but absolutely smashed them at home.
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Post by Nick on Aug 3, 2019 15:01:31 GMT
You can't beat a little injection like this to boost the coffers.
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Post by Nick on Aug 3, 2019 18:51:44 GMT
I'm not sure how we're doing it, but we are. Tactically, nothing has changed from last season, but we're playing like a completely different side. The only real, noticeable difference is that our decision making, all over the pitch, has improved ten-fold. We're making the right passes, we're cutting it back rather than shooting from the angle and picking when to tackle and when to drop off. Red cards are down massively, with only two coming so far in this Serie A season. We still don't keep many clean sheets, but we're scoring goals regularly and that's keeping us that high in the table. The fixture list has also been far kinder this year, deciding not to give us long runs against the top sides, and that has allowed us to only lose back to back games once this season. Do I expect us to stay where we are? Absolutely not. We've picked up some great results so far - winning at Sao Paulo, beating Internacional, Santos and Corinthians at home and drawing away at Palmeiras, but it's going to be very tough, even nigh on impossible, to mirror those results over the second half of the season. We're just here to enjoy the ride. Off the pitch, the proposed stadium move has moved on to the planning permission stage, so I assume they've found a site for it. I've not had a news item, just have the information on the facilities page. The planned capacity is still 15k, which seems a little low considering we're averaging 14,345 through the gate in Serie A and regularly hit 20k+ in cup quarters/semis etc. as well as Sudamericana games. I'd have liked 25k, but maybe it'll have expansion potential? The other issue with the stadium is money. We're in a fantastic position at the moment. Our wage bill is only £55k per week, comfortably the lowest in the division, which means that we're currently making well over a million pounds per month. We've got £26m in the bank at the moment, which should mean I can really upgrade a) the non-playing staff and b) the facilities at the end of the year. I don't want a massive loan to pay to ruin those plans. Hopefully the majority of it will be paid by selling off the old ground. Also worth mentioning, ground maintenance is over £600k per month at the moment, which was obviously the main reason given for the move.
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Post by Nick on Aug 4, 2019 14:18:56 GMT
The first sign of off-the-field improvements!
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Post by Nick on Aug 4, 2019 19:15:51 GMT
Up there with one of the best achievements I've had in FM. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not this season, not even next season. We had to wait to find out our fate, as Corinthians played a week after us, but we'll play Libertadores football next season at their expense. To finish higher than Flamengo and Sao Paulo due to having the better head-to-head record against both shows you how good we were this season. I had expected a real battle at the bottom, but that never materialised. After two games we were 18th, after that we didn't go lower than 13th. Aside from the end of August, where we lost four in a row, we remained reasonably consistent. August is brutal in Brazil. Nine league matches in the month and we just don't have the squad depth to play at the top level in each game. Only four games in September though which allows us to re-group. Elections in October didn't de-rail us, neither did my being linked with the Gremio job. We end the season with £40m in the bank. The TV was a game-changer. I'm going to hold off on anymore upgrades until I get more info on the new stadium. Just feels like the sensible thing to do. I'm also hoping to upgrade the non-playing staff in the next month or so. Agaciel played 42 times this season, including 23 times in Serie A at an average rating of 7.03. He's not improved dramatically, and didn't take too kindly to the individual training to improve his speed, but he's played consistently, still has room to improve and isn't benefiting from state of the art facilities just yet. Nevertheless, next season is a big one for him. Junior Santos top scored, while Gabriel Calabres was my player of the season. A scorer of great goals and the perfect link between our defensive midfielders and Santos in front of him. We'll obviously need reinforcements for next season and it looks like the new board are showing some ambition. The wage budget has been increased from £115k p/w to £235k, while they've given me £13.91m to spend, which is pretty damn decent.
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Post by jawzy on Aug 4, 2019 22:06:39 GMT
That juicy tv money. How are other clubs doing at retaining the stars or are they selling to europe? and what has been the biggest domestic transfer between brazilian clubs?
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Post by Nick on Aug 5, 2019 17:43:28 GMT
That juicy tv money. How are other clubs doing at retaining the stars or are they selling to europe? and what has been the biggest domestic transfer between brazilian clubs? Rodrygo (Santos to Real Madrid) is the highest so far, but pre-arranged. After that, Lazio signed Everton from Gremio for £22.5m, Benfica signed Marcos Paulo from Fluminense for £19.25m and Fiorentina signed Raniel from Cruzeiro for £16m. The biggest all-Brazilian transfer is the fairly modest £13m Palmeiras paid Ateltico Mineiro for Gustavo Blanco.
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Post by Nick on Aug 5, 2019 18:28:30 GMT
Sweeet!
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Post by Nick on Aug 8, 2019 19:02:39 GMT
Expectations and FinancesNo news on the stadium so, at the moment, I have no money issues. The board gave me £13m to spend, significantly more than we've ever had. A wage budget of over £200k per week is, realistically, more than I can spend at the moment, but gives me plenty of room to add some to the transfer kitty. In return for their money, the board have set a pretty realistic set of expectations. Final of the State Championship, avoid relegation in Serie A, group stages of the Copa Libertadores and the fourth round of the Copa do Brasil. For the second time in three years we've not been entered in to the Copa do Nordeste. Still not sure why. Media prediction in Serie A is 18th, which is a slight improvement on last season. I'd be nice to over-achieve again and finish 7th, but realistically we're more likely to finish top 12 and I'd be happy with that. TransfersJosias Fuck - Fortaleza - £2.6mI finally got my man! It took a good six months to upset the crudely named centre back, but lots of ass licking and watching him play forced him to request a transfer. Cleiton - Atletico Mineiro - £4.5mA real sign of our progression in the last three or four years. He's arguably the best domestic-based goalkeeper around and doesn't seem to have too many weaknesses. Leandro Vilela - Parana - £135kBargain of the season, surely? Tough tackling midfielder with Serie A experience. Daniel Marcos - Corinthians - £4.7mPossibly slightly overspent on the lad, but he was by far and away the best young option. Bags of potential and a typical Brazilian fullback. Thiaguinho - Nacional - £575kBack up signing to bolster numbers in midfield. A few more signings than I initially wanted, but we were rocked by a couple of short notice retirements in key positions (GK and CB) so I had to make a few extra moves. Really happy with who has come in. It feels like we've moved up a notch in the transfer market. On The PitchSadly, that hasn't materialised on the pitch yet as, for the first time since I took over, we've struggled and under-achieved across the board. Our Copa Libertadores campaign stumbled and fell in the starting blocks. Drawn with LDU Quito, Ecuador's most successful club, we laboured to a 2-2 home draw and then squandered a 1-0 lead away from home to lose 2-1 and crash out in the qualifiers. The Copa do Brasil didn't go too much better. Beat Luverdense 7-2 on aggregate in round one, but then lost to bloody Confianca 2-0 at home, having beaten them away, to go out about four rounds earlier than I wanted. The state championship was going swimmingly until the semi final when we played 84 minutes with ten men against Sport Recife. We did well, drew 1-1 but lost on penalties. Won the third place playoff 5-2 on aggregate, but bloody hell, bit embarrassing. We should be nearing the stage where we cruise this. Needless to say, the board aren't happy. I'm hoping the lack of distraction and increased rest over the second half of the season will be a blessing in disguise, but no-one wants to under achieve in every competition they play before the real stuff even starts.
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Post by chaodck on Aug 8, 2019 19:57:51 GMT
Great progress overall Nick, 2021 was a great season for you guys. Shame about the start of the current season, here's hoping your Brasileirao turns your fortunes around.
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Post by Nick on Aug 12, 2019 16:11:45 GMT
Fixtures I | Fixtures IIOur poor form in the State Championship and Copa Libertadores continued into the early stages of the Serie A season. We won on the opening day, but then didn't win again until ten games later, a run that saw us hovering in the relegation zone. Scoring goals wasn't a problem, but our cautious/balanced approach to matches meant that we allowed the opposition the lions share of the ball and we weren't good enough to keep them at bay. We ground out a few more wins and, in a tight league, that can make all the difference. At the halfway stage, we were 13th, which I'd have considered a fairly successful season, even after last year's over-achievement. August was a write-off, just like June. We still don't have the depth to cope with the amount of games. This season was even worse due to the World Cup being in the winter. 38 games crammed between May and October. Ironically, it was the final game in August that changed our season, and possibly the save as a whole. We'd conceded an 88th minute penalty away at Chapecoense so I switched the mentality to attacking to try and rescue a point. Goals in the 90th and 92nd minute actually rescued all three. We then lost against Fluminense before I took a big chance and made the permanent switch to the attacking mentality away at Cruzeiro. We battered them, won 3-0, and the rest is history. 8 wins and 3 draws from our last 11 games shot us up into 9th and qualified us for the Copa Sudamericana. Hericlis notched up 21 goals in all competitions this season and was arguably player of the season. Elias on the other flank also impressed, but they both put all our strikers to shame. If there is one weakness to how we play it's that I don't get the best from our advanced forward. None of my strikers hit double figures in Serie A and they either score or are complete ineffective. The new stadium has been finalised and it's not broken the bank, which is brilliant. 17,711 is a bigger capacity than I anticipated, but no news on an expansion capacity. Just over a year to build as well, which is good. One more year to get through. The good thing about the World Cup is that we finally get a proper, two month, break. We have a few retirements coming up, so we may see as many as five new faces this winter.
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Post by Nick on Aug 16, 2019 18:40:03 GMT
Season number six here in Brazil and, after last season's disappointment in the opening half of the year, a good start was needed. We're starting to establish ourselves in Serie A now and we can look forward to moving into our new stadium at the end of 2023. ExpectationsWe're expected to put last season behind us and win the State Championship. Standard. Sport Recife continue to remain a threat, while Nautico Capibaribe have improved since the start of the game, have been floating around Serie A and should also be considered a threat. We are entered into the Copa do Nordeste this season and are expected to reach the final. Also standard. The two previously mentioned teams, plus Bahia and Fortaleza will be our main challengers, but we should always look at this competition as potential silverware. The Copa Sudamericana is a good way to test ourselves with the 'second layer' of South American teams. We'll largely avoid the super powers, but a few strays will remain. The board want us to reach the third round. The Copa do Brasil continues to be a good way of bringing in some extra money, but the two-legged ties really do clog up what is an already blooming fixture list. I won't be disappointed if we play one of the big boys early on. Once again we're expected to avoid relegation in Serie A, while the media appear to be tentatively climbing aboard the Santa Cruz bandwagon and have us finishing 15th this season. I'd be more than happy with top ten, but acutely aware that the players we're recruiting will probably expect more than that in the coming seasons. Budgets and TransfersFinancially we look good and I was given £300k per week in wages, of which we spend less than a third, and given a shade under £14m to spend. For the second summer in a row we had to bring in a goalkeeper, this time a backup one. It's always hard finding the right player to sit on the bench, but Douglas Pires looks like he's a decent enough option for that. He only cost £38k from Criciuma as well. Romario, having been here on loan for three years, found his contract at Santos running out, so I paid £75k to release him from that early. He's the wrong side of 30 now, but he knows the club and suits our style of play, so it was a no-brainer to bring him in. Joao Paulo is the right side of 30 and has been flitting between Serie A and B for his whole career, but wasn't really given a chance at Sao Paulo as a youngster. £3m, a moderate wage and an upgrade on what we already had here at the club. Francisco Wanderson, the first of three regens to join the club this winter. £3.8m from Corinthians and I was surprised they let him go. Not overly technical but, at 20, can still improve. Again, an upgrade on what was already here. Then, for the first time, we ventured outside of Brazil for signings. £1.5m was spent on Ivan Calcaterra from Rosario Central and £3.1m was sent to Nacional in Uruguay for the signature of Agustin Beltran. Both exciting prospects, ready to play right from the off. State ChampionshipNormal service has been resumed in the Pernambuco state. Nautico Capibaribe were the only team to take points off us in the group stage when we played out a 3-3 draw in a game where we just didn't get anything going defensively. We then handed out a couple of 5-0 defeats to Salguiero and Flamengo (PE) and a couple of 8-0 defeats to hapless Petrolina, who must be absolutely sick of the sight of us. One of which was in the quarter final. Belo Jardim were seen off 4-0 in the semi before we faced Nautico again in the final. 0-0 away, after a good performance filled me with confidence. 1-0 at home was enough and perhaps could have been more. Regardless, we lifted the trophy, without really breaking sweat, for the fourth time in my six seasons. Fixtures | TableCopa do NordesteThis has to be one of the most pointless competitions in FM. Absolutely no prize money and barely any recognition. We've breezed into the final where we'll play Nautico. Again. The final will be played in a couple of week. We want our trophy back. Fixtures | TableCopa do BrasilGames, games, games. We've already played eight in this competition alone and aggregate wins of 2-0, 9-1, 6-0 and 4-1 against Madureira, Linense, Sao Paulo and ABC respectively have sent us into the fifth round where all the Libertadores teams join us. We'll play America Mineiro home and away which is a tough, but winnable, tie. FixturesCopa SudamericanaSuch a weirdly scheduled competition. The first round is in February, while the second round isn't until May. Nevertheless, we negotiated a tricky tie against Uruguayan big guns, Penarol. A couple of years ago this was the kind of tie we'd have lost. Not this year. A 2-0 away win followed by a 2-1 home win gave us a relatively comfortable aggregate victory. No news yet on who we face in round two, but I'd like to at least meet the board's expectations by reaching round three. Off the PitchWe're making great progress off the pitch and it really feels like we're starting to transition from a small club into a big one. More upgrades to the data analysis facilities and, for the first time, the youth AND training facilities. I've also upgraded the junior coaching budget and youth recruitment network. That, combined with the stadium move, has given me a real 'feel good' feeling about the save. Long may it continue!
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Post by Nick on Aug 17, 2019 6:05:46 GMT
What a difference a year makesIt's often hard to gauge just how much your side has improved in a short space of time, but this graphic does the job, I think. Last season we laboured to a 2-2 home draw and eventual defeat on aggregate to LDU Quito in the Libertadores qualifiers. Fast forward a year (and a bit) and we cruised to a 4-0 away victory against the same team, which allowed me to rest players at home and still come away with a victory. The reward of a settled tactic, high morale and solid recruitment. The draw for the next round wasn't particularly kind though.
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Post by Nick on Aug 17, 2019 16:32:31 GMT
We'll be sick of each other by the time this run is over.
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ianf
New Member
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Post by ianf on Aug 17, 2019 18:23:25 GMT
Wow that’s crazy - how many different competitions?
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Post by Nick on Aug 17, 2019 22:30:14 GMT
Wow that’s crazy - how many different competitions? Serie A, Copa do Brasil and the Copa Sudamericana. Madness.
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Post by Nick on Aug 18, 2019 7:07:53 GMT
Serie AWe are in esteemed company near the top of the league and it's a surprise to everyone in Brazil apart from me. We've found that sweet spot tactically. I can't remember the last time I had a team that played exactly how I wanted them to. The key to this has been adopting an attacking mentality and allowing the fullbacks full reign to get forwards and cause problems. Their output has improved markedly with 39 assists coming from all four players so far this season, Daniel Marcos with 16 of them. We had a real rough run through June where we played all the big teams in succession and really struggled juggling that and the other competitions as well. The fans and media started getting on my back, but I persevered and the 1-0 win over Flamengo was the catalyst for an unbeaten July, which has propelled us up the table. We're halfway through August, but still have six games left to play this month. Once we get through to September, the fixtures start to calm down a bit and we're lucky they do, because our run in September and October is absolutely hideous! Copa do NordesteYou'll remember that we'd made it into the final in the first half of the season and, just like the State Championship final, would play Nautico Capibaribe. For a while now they've felt somewhat like a bogey team to us. In reality, our record against them is more than acceptable and these two games just added to that. A 2-0 win at home, in front of over 60,000 fans, the first time I can remember that happening, set us up nicely, but Nautico are strong at home. We made a mockery of that though with both full backs getting on the scoresheet and Francisco Wanderson adding a third and giving us a 5-0 aggregate win. Copa do BrasilStill fighting. America Mineiro in round five definitely stepped up the quality in opposition. A fairly routine 2-0 win was backed up by a 1-1 away draw and an aggregate victory. That took us to ten games in just this competition alone this season. As I've mentioned, the prize money softens the blow, and a cup run is welcome, but I'm not sure I'll ever be prioritising it in future. We regularly play twice in 48 due to this competition and it's starting to kill us. The quarter final was against Palmeiras and signalled the start of the run of games against them that I outlined above. We battled in the away leg, probably should have won, and were well worth a draw, but eventually we succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. I'd seen enough to make me confident of a win at home and I wasn't wrong. Two first half goals were enough to seal a slender aggregate win and a place in the semi final against Botafogo. We've played the home leg of the semi and have a fairly commanding lead going into the second leg. An Elias hat-trick in the last eight minutes giving us a 3-0 win. Elias is one of those players that can play on both flanks. He's more suited to being an inside forward on the left, but due to fatigue in other players, he started this game on the right. His 6.3 rating was woeful enough to bring him off, but my last sub fifteen minutes from time saw me swap him to his preferred left flank role and he came alive. Copa SudamericanaWe're still fighting on all fronts! I've already mentioned the tie against LDU Quito above and the improvements we've made over the past 12-14 months. A third round tie against Palmeiras further highlighted that improvement. Just like the Copa do Brasil we lost 2-1 away from home, despite a good performance. Once again our home form saved us, albeit on away goals after a 1-0 win. Our quarter final is against Juan Aurich, a Peruvian side who finished runners up in their league last season and, like us, should be happy to have made it this far. I'm not taking anything for granted, but it's probably the 'easiest' quarter final draw we could have asked for and the general rule in South America is that the Argies and Brazilians should be beating everyone else. Off the PitchThe building of the new stadium continues without a hitch so far and we're not just a few months away from moving in. I continue to upgrade facilities, this time the data analysis one. I've also upgraded our youth recruitment network to 'extensive'. I recently signed new contract. Whenever there is a vacancy at one of the big teams, I'm installed as the favourite, so the board got a bit twitchy and tied me down to 2026 with bonuses if we win one of the bigger trophies. Youth intake up next and I'm hoping we can start producing some decent players now are facilities are at an acceptable level. Agaciel aside, no-one else has been anywhere near the quality we need. With £45m in the bank, I'm already looking ahead to upgrading the squad in the winter and have scouts in every South American nation looking for players to help us improve. Things have fallen into place nicely.
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Post by Nick on Aug 19, 2019 15:40:58 GMT
This is a little deflating. Hopefully it's not delayed any further.
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ianf
New Member
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Post by ianf on Aug 19, 2019 16:46:57 GMT
Playing in 60k seater in th meantime isn’t all bad 😀
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Post by Nick on Aug 20, 2019 16:56:38 GMT
2023 Annual ReviewSerie AWhat a season! Predicted 15th by the media, board expectation of avoiding relegation, yet we made fools of everyone to finish second. Fair play to Corinthians, we gave it absolutely everything, but they were deserved winners and would have won by a bigger margin had they not lost on the final day. We were always within touching distance, but just didn't have enough to overhaul them. To finish as the league's top scorers (76) and concede less than a goal a game (34) outlines how far we've come this season. It was tough at times, there isn't much time to train, but this really felt like the season that propels us as contenders each season. FixturesI need to mention Jo before anyone else. He announced his retirement midway through the season and he's not been playing much, but he's been with us through Serie C and B. He came on at half-time in our final game of the season at home to America Mineiro and scored the second goal in a 2-0 win, which I thought was a fitting end to his career. He retires a fans favourite. Josias Fuck was a massive reason why we did as well as we did this season. There is no interest in him at the moment, but I am convinced he could play in Europe, despite such a poor composure rating. His Serie A average rating of 7.34 was beaten only by Joao Paulo who will surely pick up a clean sweep of player of the year trophies this year. His 27 goals (13 in Serie A) was a squad high and he also contributed 12 assists. Copa do Brasil3-0 up in the semi final against Botafogo, the second leg wasn't exactly a formality, but we were in such good form that we managed another victory, this time 3-2, and easily made the final. Internacional proved to be a bridge too far. We won the home leg 2-1, but the games eventually caught up with us and a fatigue ridden team lost 2-1 away from home and we had to be content with a runners up spot. FixturesCopa SudamericanaIt was a similar story in the Sudamericana. We beat Peruvians, Juan Aurich, 3-0 on aggregate in the quarter final without really breaking sweat. We got the easier of the semi final draws, having been pitted against Paraguay's, Nacional. A 2-0 win at home and a 1-1 draw away set up a final date with Vitoria, a side we have a very good record against. Not this time. We just didn't play well at all. Too many players under-performed and we didn't get anywhere near winning, eventually losing 4-2. FixturesSeason ConclusionWe were the 'nearly men' this year, having finished runners up in three competitions. But, given our relatively modest stature in Brazilian football, we can be hugely pleased with that. We're in desperate need of a young left back, and my scouts are finding their fair share of promising youngsters from around the continent, but I have to be mindful of the five foreigner (non-Brazilian) rule. Money is certainly not an issue at the moment. We've got £66m in the bank, with £30m provisionally given to me as a transfer budget. I'm getting to that stage where new contracts need to be given out to keep players here, which will see the £97k p/w we currently spend (budget of £500k), spiral to twice, possibly even two and a half times it's current total. It also allows us to continue to improve the infrastructure at the club and the youth facilities are once again being upgraded.
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Post by ttgb on Aug 21, 2019 6:00:03 GMT
Great season Nick. I have had a few players make announcements to retire mid season, what is all that about
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Post by Nick on Aug 21, 2019 18:17:04 GMT
Finally moved into the new gaff. Expansion capacity of 35k is half decent as well. Happy with that.
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Post by Nick on Aug 24, 2019 9:46:37 GMT
ForewordThe first half of this season has been a complete contrast to last season. This year we've not been entered into the Copa do Nordeste (I still can't figure out why) and, due to our involvement in the Copa Libertadores, we don't enter the Copa do Brasil until round five rather than round one. That means we've played 19 games before the Serie A season starts, compared to last season where we had played 33 times! ExpectationsWinning the State Championship has become standard and this year is no different. Nautico will provide our biggest test no doubt, as Sport Recife seem to have fallen off the radar completely. After finishing 9th and then 2nd in Serie A, the media still think we'll struggle, although not to the extent of relegation. 15th they reckon we'll finish, but I can pretty much guarantee that we'll be nowhere near there. I think second might be pushing it again, but if we can finish in the top five, I'll be delighted. The Copa do Brasil is the one that will be cast aside a bit this season. The extra games really take it out of us and, despite the board wanting us to reach the quarter final, I'll be sure to fully rotate the squad to keep players fresh. The Copa Libertadores will be a great way to gauge how far we've come. The last time we were in the competition we only reached the second qualifying round and, after reaching the final of the Sudamericana last year, I'd like to see how we do against the continent's elite. The board want us to reach the group stage, which is where we enter, but I'd at least like to make the knockout rounds. We've been drawn with Junior (COL), Independiente del Valle (ECU) and Belgrano (ARG). Budgets and TransfersA £30m WARCHEST was thrown my way, complimented by a £500k per week wage budget, of which we spend £113k. I am fairly happy with the squad and didn't want to make transfers just for the sake of it. The one deal we did make was forced upon me by Cesinha coming to me and saying that he wanted a new challenge. He's 28, been here as long as I have and has witnessed our rise through the leagues. His problem is that he's not Serie A quality, on a decent wage and therefore not an attractive option for Serie B clubs. At the moment, he's still sitting here itching for his move. His replacement is Jose Maria, a £275k signing from Atletico Mineiro. He needs work on his attacking attributes and his composure, but my scouts were raving about him and now my coaches are too. He'll get plenty of game time in next year's State Championship, but for now he'll be made available for the youth team. State ChampionshipAll too easy really. 13 clean sheets in a row enabled us to win our fourth state title in five years. We still struggle against a Nautico side that continue to raise their game against us. Six of the last twelve games between us have ended 0-0, including both games this year. Petrolina were taken apart 12-0, but aside from that we were just ruthlessly efficient. Fixtures | TableCopa LibertadoresA 2-1 defeat in Colombia wasn't the greatest start, but it was the toughest game out of the way first. We beat Independiente de Valle 3-0 in what was the Santa Cruz Stadium's first continental tie, before a double header with Belgrano. Four points, after a 0-0 draw away and a 3-1 win at home, pushed us into a qualification spot, and we sealed the deal with a 2-1 win in Ecuador. A 2-0 home win over Junior saw us top the group and set up a tie with another Colombian team, Nacional. Fixtures | TableOff the PitchNot a great deal to report, but the youth facilities have been upgraded to average and we've added our first feeder club in Serie B's, Paysandu. The data analysis facilities and youth facilities are again being upgraded, while I've improved the junior coaching budget to excellent.
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ianf
New Member
Posts: 92
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Post by ianf on Aug 24, 2019 14:20:11 GMT
Progress really starting to roll now. Any good academy products yet?
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Post by Nick on Aug 25, 2019 8:22:42 GMT
Progress really starting to roll now. Any good academy products yet? A couple mate. Agaciel has been in an around the first team squad for a few years now, but is just starting to struggle to get games as we appear to be be out growing his ability. The other one is Pedro Vitor who, as you can see is in the youth team. He's progressed a bit over the last few months, so will get a chance in the State Championship next year and looks a decent prospect.
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