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Post by ttgb on Jun 16, 2019 17:07:02 GMT
Looks shit hot
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Post by Nick on Jun 16, 2019 17:39:20 GMT
Champions League ReviewFixturesOur Champions League campaign is over for another season, but we can look back on it as a huge success. We set the tone early doors, visiting Gelsenkirchen to face Schalke and coming away with a hard fought 3-1 win. With Arsenal and Barca in the group, our results against the Germans was going to go a long way to deciding who finished bottom and who didn't. We then played well at home to Arsenal, leading but also coming from 2-1 down to grab a point. On another day, we have managed a win, but it wasn't to be. Our trip to the Nou Camp was the only time we really got a hiding as they beat us 4-0. No issues here, they're just better than we are. At home we did a little better, battled hard and eventually got the 3-3 draw we deserved. Schalke were the group's whipping boys and we did the double over them by beating them 3-0 in Holland. This also confirmed that we couldn't finish bottom, but we were still in the hunt for qualifying. If we got a point against Arsenal, and Barcelona lost to Schalke, we'd go through. We were a minute away from going through. Schalke did their job, but we conceded a stoppage time winner at the Emirates and have to go into the Europa League instead. Hard to take, but only positives from this. We've given a great account of ourselves and gone toe to toe with two of Europe's best. In the Europa League, we'll face Genk.
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Post by Nick on Jun 18, 2019 14:50:14 GMT
February 3031 - League and Cup Round UpThings are coming together nicely, the club is in a really good place, both on and off the pitch and, with ten games left, it seems like a good idea to talk a bit about what has been happening. As you can see from the table, the Eredivisie is far more competitive this season. Early signs suggested we were going to run away with it, such was the level of our performance at the start, but we had a rough period that has limited the gap at the top. Ajax, and to some extent, AZ and PSV, have all had time in second place, but are slightly more guilty than we are of dropping points in games they shouldn't. We've shot ourselves in the foot a little, in that in half the games we've dropped points in, we've conceded after going down to ten, and even nine, men. I'll have to watch this lack of discipline over the next ten games and see if it's going to be a potential long term issue. Angel Dominguez started the season like an absolute monster, quickly racking up 20 goals, but he's gone completely off the boil, just like he did last season, and not scored in his last nine games. In those games he's averaging 6.7 as well. Quite the fall. His unambitious personality still bothers me, but less so when he's scoring. I've no idea whether that's the reason for his (lack of) form, but I can't think of another reason. Someone I've glossed over previously is former Man Utd youngster, Arnau Puigmal. He's hit 15 goals this season, including a record four in one game in a 7-0 mauling of NAC. He's great at pinging shots into the bottom corner from 20-25 yards. Our run in the KNVB Beker continues as we've Kozakken Boys, FZO, AZ and Vitesse to set up a semi final with Willem II. The other semi is Heracles vs Twente, so we've got a real opportunity to make in three in a row. Off the pitch, our finances are solid. Nothing happened, in our out, in January other than the aforementioned Ashraf Mostafa, and we currently sit with €56m in the bank. Columbus Crew have been added as an affiliate club, which is fantastic as they are the most reputable team in the US right now, so that should see us make some merch money. Fortuna Sittard are the other club and somewhere we can send players on loan. I've slowly been building the backroom staff team and we now have the best in the Eredivisie, across the board.
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Post by Nick on Jun 18, 2019 14:57:34 GMT
This is the draw for the Europa League second knockout round after we made light work of Genk. A 3-1 away win set us on the way, but we hammered them 5-0 at home. I'm reasonably happy with Lille. It could have been a lot worse. They're currently 4th in Ligue Un, and seem to finish around 5th/6th usually. They're a potential banana skin, but also the kind of team we need to beat consistently to reach the latter stages of the competition with the real big boys. Luckily, Lazio and Leipzig, Inter and Bayern, Man Utd and Everton and Dortmund and Porto have all been paired together, so the tough competition will be cut in half after this round. Realistically, we're not going to win it, but I'd like to beat Lille at least and have a good go in the quarters.
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Post by jawzy on Jun 19, 2019 17:45:19 GMT
My next semi short term potentially long term save depending how intakes happen, will be EduSport in Scotland - irl they have traning centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh and play games the season just gone in Annan, The club doesnt describe its self as a club, rather than an academy for french youngsters. As a result they produce french youths on FM. irl the season just gopne they fielded alot of older scottish guys, so not sure where the french are. So I will also have a mix of nationalities hopefully focusing towards ferench speaking nations along with the youth, hopefully they bit better than scottish players. at the lower level
in my simulation save- where im just checking the quality of french players before i get to invested in a play through this was best player in intake current ability wise
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Post by Nick on Jun 20, 2019 16:42:27 GMT
2030/31 Season ReviewAjax endured a topsy turvy last ten games, going down to fifth with three games left, before rallying and climbing to second. This, coupled with our own solid form, meant that I delivered back-to-back titles to Rotterdam for only the second time in the club's history, and the first time since the early 1960's. One point less than last season, four more conceded, but 97 goals in 14 more than last season and a new Eredivisie record. PSV continue to disappoint, possibly due to our sudden rise, but I expect more. Both they and Ajax have the squad, I reckon I'd win the league comfortably with both their squads, but they're just not being managed well enough. That said, Ajax made it to the Europa League semi finals, a clear indication of their ability. AZ played really well this year, but in the end too many draws cost them a shot at Champions League football. This was a real squad effort. All 23 outfield players averaged more than a 7.00, whilst first choice keeper, Shinton, averaged exactly 7.00. Our wide men were key to our play. Alexandru Mos has arguably been our most consistent performer over the past two and a half years and he was near his best this season. 23 goals and 12 assists from the right hand side and his Eredivisie average rating of 7.48 was second only to Arnau Puigmal. On the left, Andres Silva came of age. This was his second year at the club, since his move from Uruguay, and he's fully settled now. He averaged 6.81 last season, but that was up at 7.71 this season and he's only going to get better. At the other end of the pitch, Cor van Driel played to the kind of level that wins you international caps. For someone that only has 9 for heading, he gets his fair share of goals. Didn't excel in terms of headers won, tackles won or interceptions, but was just solid in every capacity. A special mention to Ashraf Mostafa, who struggled for form after his January move. He ended the season with four goals in four games and looks to be adjusting to the higher level. Our trophy hunt didn't stop there. Willem II and Heracles were both beaten 3-0 in the semi final and final of the KNVB Beker to give us three in a row. I imagine it was one of the easiest runs Dutch football has ever seen, given we managed to avoid all the big boys, but you can only beat what is in front of you, and beat them we did for the domestic treble. Bayern proved too much for us in the Europa League quarter final, but we put up a good fight. We lost 4-2 in Germany, but if you look at the match stats, we gave them a game and the result probably flattered them. It was a similar story in the 1-1 draw in Rotterdam. In the end, their superior quality showed at both ends of the pitch. It's Bayern that still dominate my thoughts at this early point of pre-season. Since winning the Bundesliga title in 2026/27, they steadily been on the decline, finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th and then 5th this season. Ernesto Valverde was shown the door and I've just had an interview there. It was largely positive, but they wanted me to concentrate on set pieces, something I refused to do, so I don't know if I'll be offered the job. I've got a year left on my current contract, and it'd be great to win three in a row for the first time in Feyenoord's history, but that's all it'd be. Germany or Italy are next in my career, so Bayern makes sense. Watch this space basically.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 20, 2019 21:47:34 GMT
Bayern offered me an interview in my save. I said no. Good luck.
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Post by Nick on Jun 21, 2019 15:44:09 GMT
I didn't get the Bayern job. They wanted someone who was going to concentrate on set pieces. Go figure.
I decided to call it a day at Feyenoord, for the reasons outlined above. I've taken the Nigeria job after they got pumped out of the AFCON by South Africa in the quarter finals.
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Post by Robson on Jun 21, 2019 19:41:57 GMT
Still looking for a club job though Nick to run alongside the international one? Bundesliga or Serie A still on the radar?
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Post by Nick on Jun 21, 2019 20:29:21 GMT
Still looking for a club job though Nick to run alongside the international one? Bundesliga or Serie A still on the radar? Oh, 100%. As soon as something that fits the bill opens up, I'll be jumping back in.
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Post by Nick on Jun 21, 2019 20:53:32 GMT
I'm not sure what's happened to the Eredivisie since I left, but Ajax have just offered me an interview to save their season. Heerenveen top as well. Mental.
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Post by Nick on Jun 21, 2019 22:23:54 GMT
Lets see if Bayern, and Rummenigge, have learnt their lesson. Erik ten Hag lasted 167 days before getting the boot. But you know, he was willing to focus on set pieces. I've told them I'm not going to be doing that. I'm not selling my soul to the devil for the job. They're currently sitting 14th after 13 games and the board want a minimum of mid-table. I've told them I'll get top half in a bid to convince them to look past the set pieces bollocks. We'll see what they come back with.
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Post by Nick on Jun 21, 2019 22:45:10 GMT
Not even Bayern could afford to reject me twice...
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Post by Nick on Jun 22, 2019 8:56:04 GMT
Old Karl-Heinz couldn't take the risk of saying no to me twice, despite the fact I still refused to make Bayern make the most of set pieces. Who does he think I am? Tony fucking Pulis? So what's the story? I mentioned that after 13 games, we were 14th. That's now 14th after 15 games. It's December 2031, which gives me five months, and 19 games, to turn this ship around. As I said, the board wanted a mid-table table position and I promised them a bit better - top half. As it stands, we're 12 points off 5th place and guaranteed European football for next season. In an ideal world, we'd crash that party. Imagine Bayern not playing in Europe. We are still in this season's Europa League, having smashed our group to smithereens. We don't yet know who we face in the knockout round. We're also still in the Pokal, although we travel to RB Leipzig in round three. So...first impressions? One of the first things to greet me was this. A plethora of unhappy players. Included in that list are both our captain (Owczarek) and vice-captain (Neves), which isn't ideal. At the moment, they've both kept those roles for fear of upsetting the apple cart too soon. At the earliest opportunity, they'll be replaced. Leadership is an issue. Looking at the club hierarchy, Neves has 14 for leadership, but the other two Sancho and Piedrabuena both have 7, which is woeful. Oh, and Neves is currently on leave because he's homesick. Initially, I'm going to try and persuade each of the unsettled players to stay. I don't want to change too much too soon, and I'm hopeful of the picture being a bit rosier by the time the season ends. If they still want to go then, or they've not performed, they can go. The staff set up is acceptable for a club of this size, but standards can always be higher and a club like Bayern should always strive to be the best. I won't be happy until we've got the best staff in the league. Some of them are on an absolute wedge too, so that'll need to be brought under control. Finances are as you'd expect. €200m in the bank, largely due to raking in €140m per year in sponsorship, with a transfer budget of €240m. The wage bill is massive. €3.6m per week at the moment, including Jadon Sancho as the club's highest earner on €450k. His deal is due to run out next summer so I've offered him a new one on €400k, so that's the first battle won. The playing side of things looks good. Three wonderkids in the squad in thew shape of Tinoco, Sofian Olivier and Ludovic Leclere. The average age of the squad is 26, so plenty of experience and plenty of players in their prime. I'll detail a few more players between now and the end of the season, but a quick overview suggests this squad should be nowhere near 14th, or indeed finishing 5th, 4th and 3rd in the last three years. No European glory since 2013 and just one German cup to add to the few titles in the last 15 years. The hard work starts straight away as we play Mainz at home on the day I was given the job. That's followed by a trip to Nurnberg before the winter break. Initial tasks- Assess the squad and find a more suitable captain. - Improve the non-playing staff.
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Post by Robson on Jun 22, 2019 9:32:15 GMT
Enjoy the new posting Nick. You'd like to think that Bayern could be unstoppable if you just get them going in the right direction. Is that Ruben Neves? Couldn't see that link. If so how old is he now? Great FM player, well just a great player lets face it.
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Post by Nick on Jun 22, 2019 14:40:24 GMT
Enjoy the new posting Nick. You'd like to think that Bayern could be unstoppable if you just get them going in the right direction. Is that Ruben Neves? Couldn't see that link. If so how old is he now? Great FM player, well just a great player lets face it. Yep, Ruben Neves. 34 now, but still has something to offer. He's away on leave for another 13 days, but I've just taken the option to extend his contract or another year. I'm hopeful I can persuade him to stay, but if not, then we'll get some kind of fee for him, even if he isn't worth much.
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Post by Nick on Jun 22, 2019 22:42:41 GMT
This is proving tougher than I imagined with Bayern. We've gone up a few places in the league, but the squad is woefully imbalanced and we're inconsistent and shite.
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Post by jawzy on Jun 23, 2019 9:16:13 GMT
we were down in 10th due to closeness of table. we are expected top 3. (auto promotion) hopefully we can push on abit now!
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Post by Nick on Jun 23, 2019 13:59:28 GMT
A good seven or eight months in charge of Nigeria now, so time for a quite update to see where we stand. A couple of friendlies got us started. A 3-1 win in Ecuador, which was slightly unexpected, and then a 1-0 home loss to Guinea-Bissau which was completely unexpected. We absolutely gubbed them, missed a penalty, but didn't have the finishing touch that we did against Ecuador. It's quickly become apparent that Maxwell Garba is our best player. Someone I know reasonably well as he was at Porto when I was there, although he's since moved to Juventus. The other star is Tony Kadiri who plays for Marseille, while the young talent is Julius Musa. The World Cup qualifiers in the African section start with two-legged knockout ties before going into a group stage. Our opponent was Botswana. I got the walkover I was expecting. 6-0 at home and 8-1 away barely saw us break sweat as we qualified into a group of Sudan (85th), Congo (70th) and Gabon (86th). We wait until October for that. January saw us play in the African Championship of Nations, a competition where I can only pick players based in Nigeria. Picking a squad was pretty tough as options were limited and quality was low. The Nigerian FA wanted us to win the competition, but I had no idea what to expect. I've obviously not got any African nations loaded, so there isn't really anything I can compare our quality to. We lost to eventual winners, Tunisia, in the semi final, before beating Cameroon 3-0 in the third/fourth place playoff. The FA aren't happy. I imagine if my reputation was lower, I'd have been given the boot and my job status is still 'very insecure'. I place absolutely no importance on this competition, but clearly it means more to them. It's busy managing an African side and March saw the African Cup of Nations qualifiers start in preparation for next summer's tournament. Our group contains Libya (106th), Togo (84th) and Madagascar (154th) so we should have no trouble in qualifying for the next stage. The media were saying that a defeat was going to cost me my job, but fortunately we opened up with a 9-0 away win in Madagascar and followed that up with a 3-0 home victory over Togo. My job status remains 'very insecure'. We have a break now until September where we'll play Libya at home and the away game with Togo. Realistically, anything but a 100% record in this stage will be seen as disappointing.
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Post by Nick on Jun 23, 2019 18:43:02 GMT
I over-estimated the ability of this squad, mainly in defence. I under-estimated the importance of high morale and togetherness. It took us a LONG time to get going. After beating Mainz 3-0 in my first game in charge, I was guilty of thinking this was going to be a complete walk in the park. A 2-0 reverse at Nurnberg told me I was way off the mark. It took me two games to notice that the squad lacks specialist players. I don't mean in terms of role, but in terms of position. Our centre backs are all DC,DM's, two of them are also natural at full back. Only one has a Heading rating over 10. That player has a Jumping rating of 6. We don't have central midfielders, we have DM's and AM's. Our goalkeeper wants out. He's missed training, demanded a transfer and doesn't believe I deserve the support I am getting from the squad. He'll be the first out of the door. Him aside, I've done well to stop the revolt that faced me upon taking over. As you can see, it took until mid-February to turn our fortunes around. It was too late to finish any higher than eighth, but I'm just going to have to suck it up and put it down as experience. We've gone three and a half months without defeat in the Bundesliga and that's the positive we need to take into next season. There are still issues. We can't be 2-0 up away at bloody Braunschweig and draw 2-2. We need to be more ruthless in attack. We showed we're capable, beating RB Leipzig 2-0 and runners-up Schalke 4-0, but it needs to happen week in, week out. Next season, with no European football, we have the opportunity to put down a marker. There will be changes over the summer. I've a firm idea about who is going to leave and who is going to stay. The board have given me €275m to spend, whilst allowing me to add 90% of anything I bring in to that. It's going to be a busy window. Someone I've not mentioned thus far is Rudiger Witzel. You'll struggle to find a more capable 16 year old. We'll need to look after him, but he could become very special indeed. All three wonderkids mentioned previously have had extended time in the first team.
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Post by jawzy on Jun 24, 2019 19:12:52 GMT
Wonders if I can make it halfway through a season before something sticks! This news instantly made our balance go from minus 100 million to minus 15m. Now to see weather I can do what the Fulham bosses failed to do in real life and survive the premiership after sploshing 100m
few weeks after I get
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Post by Robson on Jun 24, 2019 19:47:34 GMT
Is it me? Er, Jawzy that's a different team or have I gone mad?
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Post by jawzy on Jun 25, 2019 16:33:31 GMT
if your talking about seeing a post regarding edusport, then Bury, then Fulham Edusport and Bury are too small for my liking even tho was interested by facilities and setup of the two sides. Fulham ive actually not stuck with or if your asking regarding the failed premiership survival after spending 100m, thats defo Fulham
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Post by Robson on Jun 25, 2019 21:22:50 GMT
if your talking about seeing a post regarding edusport, then Bury, then Fulham Exactly
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Post by jawzy on Jun 26, 2019 15:54:18 GMT
The next time I post it wont be Fulham.
My list of potential clubs it could be: Newcastle, Man U, Arsenal, Frankfurt, Real Madrid or other (depends if anything sticks)
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Post by Nick on Jun 26, 2019 17:34:06 GMT
Always had a bit of a soft spot for Fulham, but not sure why. They just seem like a decent, well run, likeable club.
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Post by jawzy on Jun 26, 2019 17:52:30 GMT
In my current will it last more than a season adventure with Newcastle I have had a failed takeover happen around christmas, and just after the january window a qatari tycoon expresses interest. guess if Mike is still at the help come the summer I should follouw suit and have whatever happened to have rafa walk yup robson Another screenshot, another club - Failed - it might happen
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Post by jawzy on Jun 26, 2019 18:10:25 GMT
and in a few clicks nooooo!, then I lose to 9th placed southapton, increasing the gap between us and them due to us beig 10th then zomg! I dont think i have ever had a takeover tycoon before. my new balance is 204m with 125m to spend.
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Post by jawzy on Jun 26, 2019 23:47:53 GMT
guess now there should be a top 7.... these insane windows will be expected? 2 billion in one winndow for one nation!
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Post by ttgb on Jun 27, 2019 15:41:07 GMT
How much of that did you spend?
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