The Rise of Greece - OFI Crete F.C.

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Having just started a New Story on here, I got a compelling urge to go back to one of my favourite saves from the last version and try to build up a Club and Nation!

Last year I tried this with Wales and Carmarthen Town (http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...tories/351293-rise-wales-carmarthen-town.html).


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Again, I have little no clue about the Greek League, but will be looking to overtake the likes of Olympiakos and PAOK and turn little old OFI into a European Superpower.

With less time to play FM, I decided to choose a Nation that is already much more reputable, but still along way off the top.

I settled on choosing OFI, partly because they are located on the small island of Crete which would be pretty cool if I could turn them into the best club in the World (Extremely unlikely). But also because they had the best facilities for a team in the second division, which may help bring through some decent Greek youngsters.


Club Information:

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It looks as though we may be in with a shot at promotion in my debut season, having been tipped as 4th favourites for the title

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Quite a challenge you have picked there ! Good luck my friend. By the way OFI had a pretty good team in the 1990s and his best player was Nikos Machlas who also played for Vitesse and Ajax afterwards and won the golden boot award !
 
After a brilliant holiday in Crete I once did a rather enjoyable save with OFI's big rivals Ergotelis - it only lasted a few seasons for whatever reason but I may look at venturing back at some point. Best of luck!
 
Yeah I am slowly starting to realise that this challenge may be a little hard than I first anticipated! Well at least somebody knows a little something about the clubs history, I am completely clueless haha.

Thanks Battman - Hopefully you can get back into it and give me some advice!


The Squad:

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Well it doesn't appear to be the worst squad that I have ever inherited on FM, although there are still a number of issues with it. There are far too many wingers and goalkeepers (most of them don't even look that good) on the books for my liking, whilst we look rather short in defence and attack.

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Our key man looks to be journeyman, Derek Boateng. Having previously played in Sweden, Israel, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, England and USA, along with his 46 caps for Ghana he provides an experienced head in the centre of midfield.

He is predominately a defensive minded midfielder and can hopefully provide a much needed screen in front of our backline.

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Unfortunately, the board has provided me with no transfer budget and a very limited wage budget. My best option to strengthen the squad is therefore looking like the loan market, unless I can flog some of the deadwood!

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Thanks ManicBadja - Good to have you on board!


Pre-Season
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It turned out to be a pretty long pre-season for us as I looked to get all the players fit and familiar with the style of play. On the whole it was largely successful, as we expectantly beat some smaller Greek sides. We did have a couple of big early tests against the likes of CSKA Moscow and Steaua București, who both have a wealth of European experience.


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I did manage to bring in an additional 3 Spanish loanees (ST, AML, RB/LB) to help bulk up the squad. I would have preferred to bring in some homegrown Greek players but with very limited resources it was difficult to find anyone that would make a difference. The ultimate aim this season is to return to the top flight anyway.


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Here is the manager tasked with the job of turning OFI Crete into a European powerhouse...


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Unfortunately the powers of being a mythological hero, don't transfer into football management. With no experience whatsover, he has a lot to prove before becoming a Football Managing hero. Fortunately the club has helped him on his first steps by funding his coaching qualifications...


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September 2016

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We managed to make a perfect start to the season, winning all 3 of our games. My new Spanish loanee signing, Dani Inglesias made a good start to his OFI career, slotting in 3 goals in games.

All though it is very early days, we are currently top of the table. However, with 30 games still to play I am sure there will be quite a bit of movement to the end of season table.

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October will see our first full month of fixtures, but with plenty of recovery time in between games we should be able to continually field our strongest lineup, barring any injuries.

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October

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October proved to be another unbeaten month for us in the League, although my 100% win record inevitably ended, drawing a couple of games. My first managerial defeat came in the Greek Cup, as we lost to Levadeiakos, who surprisingly are currently sat at the top of the Superleague!

A slight concern across the month has been our ability to find the back of the net, scoring only 3 goals in 5 games. If things fail to improve I may have to make some more attacking tactical adjustments.

We now find ourselves in 4th place in the League, with a game in hand. It is still very early days and only 6 points separates 1st and 11th.

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Although my main priority is to win promotion in the League this season, we have a must win game coming up in the Greek Cup. Our final group game is against first place Larisa and we will need an away victory if we are to progress to the third round.

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November

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November didn't prove to be a good month for us, as our problems in front of goal continued to show. Our inability to find the net means we only managed one victory across the month. We are creating plenty of opportunities, just cant stick it in the back of the net. Another striker is looking high on my shopping list at the moment!

Our poor form means that we have been knocked out of the Greek Cup, as we lost to Superleague side, Larisa in what was a must win match for us. I guess i can now focus entirely on that promotion!


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I had expected us to slide a little further down the table after picking up only 5 points from a possible 12. However, we are only in 4th place and 4 points of top, so as long as we regain some form we should be in the promotion hunt!


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I managed to bad my first coaching qualification, as I make an initial step to becoming qualified enough to mange the Greek National side should the opportunity ever arise!


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December

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Finally we have rediscovered some form! A change to a pretty basic 4-4-2 formation has resulted in some long-overdue goals from our strikers and a perfect month to go with it.

We have climbed back up to 2nd, sitting just 1 point behind leaders, Trikala. As we close in on the half way stage of the season a small gap is starting to emerge between the top 3 and the rest of the table. Hopefully we can push on to secure a top 2 finish.

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January brings our biggest match of the season so far, as we host leaders Trikala. A game that we can not afford to lose!

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January


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Our good form continues throughout January as we notch up another unbeaten month. We had to battle out a hard earned draw against title contenders, Trikala, but thanks to a late Boateng penalty we earned a very important point.

Unfortunately the clubs poor financial state has meant that I have been unable to bring in any new players to the club. The squad appears to be good enough to challenge for promotion and am eagerly looking forward to cutting out some of the clubs deadwood come the end of the season!

We have finally made it back tot he top of the table as we enter the second half of the season. If we can continue the form we are currently showing then I am very confident in a top 2 finish and securing that all important promotion to the Superleage.


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February looks a pretty good month for us and should comfortably be winning our 2 home games. Anag. Karditsas may cause us some problems away from home and a victory will open up some much needed breathing space.

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I believe that you will not face problems getting promoted to Super League although you face a very tough competition. Furthermore I will suggest checking out players listed for loan from big Greek teams (Olympiakos , AEK , Panathinaikos) who will upgrate your roster a lot.
 
Yeah a top 2 finish is looking quite likely at the moment, so hopefully we can hang in there and clinch promotion! Couldn't find any players that would really bolster the squad this season from any of the big Greek sides, but am definitely keeping a close eye on them!

February

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Unfortunately February turned out to be a very poor month for us at a crucial point in the season. We suffered a big loss against promotion rivals Anag. Kardistas before losing a relatively straightforward match at home to Panelefsiniakos who are fighting to stay in the division.

So we remain in top spot but the gap between us and 6th place has been reduced to just 3 points! We need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible!

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All 4 matches in March are important ones as we need to try cement our position in the top 2 and clinch that all important promotion.

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March

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We continue to struggle through the back end of the season, losing games that we previously would have drawn or won. We did however get a very important win against title contenders, Sparti.

So we have dropped down to 3rd place with a couple of games in hand over some of our rivals. With a number of teams still in contention for promotion we know we need to up our game to reach the Superleague.

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Despite being frustrated with our recent form, the board have shown there faith in me and given me a new 1 year contract.

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A massive fixture awaits on the 23rd as we travel to League Leaders, Aris. Although every match is important as we approach the run in.

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April

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We managed to record a much needed unbeaten month at a crucial time in the season. I'm still not entirely happy with our performances as we continue to miss clear cut chances in front of goal on a regular basis and know I have a lot of work to still do with this side.

So we move 2 points clear of 3rd with a game in hand as we move into the final month of the season. The title is still within reach but are going to have to hope for Aris to slip up at some point.

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So just 4 games to go in the season and all we need is 7 points to guarantee promotion to the Superleague! Hopefully we can give it one final push and clinch the title in the process

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May

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We finish the season it style, recording a perfect month whilst wrapping up the League title in the process. Aris, completely fell apart, losing 3 of their final 4 hames to hand us the title, although did manage to hang on and secure promotion to the Super League.

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My reputation within the footballing world has started to grow and am slowly becoming a household name across Greece. The board have also decided to fund my next coaching qualification, in an attempt to compete with some of the top managers in the country.

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I am also planning to now go into a bit more depth in the story having moved up to the top Superleage, so be prepared..​
 
Pre Season 2017

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I left my assistant in charge of the friendlies once again as I worked hard behind the scenes trying to bring new faces into the club. We had some pretty mixed results losing some easy games and winning some harder ones, but most importantly the players are getting match fit again. I did also arrange a visit from Everton, just to see how we would fair against some top opposition and a 1-0 is not a bad result!

I have been extremely busy in the transfer market, getting rid of whopping 16 players and bringing in 9 new ones. Now this may seem a bit risky to unsettle our title winning squad so drastically, but with a very limited wage budget of £43,700 I needed to gut the team in order to afford more top quality players.

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The squad is still looking a little thin in places, particularly LB, however I have now ran out of wage budget and unless I can offload any more players or sign some no salary loan players then this is what I have to work with.

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Here are 3 of our top new signings:

Romuald Lacazette: A former PSG youth product, with bags of ability and potential, particularly at this level. I was somehow able to offer him a pre-contract and get him on a free transfer, despite being capable of playing for much better sides. He is going to be my rock in the midfield and hopefully provide some vital cover for our defence, in a season where we are going to be very much on the back foot.

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Giorgos Samaras: The myth, the legend and the hero of Greek football has returned to OFI, where he started his career all the way back in 1994! Having earned an incredible 81 international caps and having won numerous trophies in Scotland, he will provide a wealth of experience to the squad. I don't normally like playing with a Target Man striker, but when the opportunity arose to sign this man on a free I just couldn't say NO!

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Joaquin: A young, versatile, Spanish prospect brought in on loan from Almeria. With such a limited wage budget, he effectively counts as 2 players, as he is comfortable playing as both a CB or a DM/CM. Primarily I will be using him as a defender, but should injuries arise in midfield then I can always move him forward to help cover.

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I was very surprised to see the media predict us to avoid relegation, having just been promoted. With a fully fit squad, we have a pretty decent side but should we lose a few key players to injuries, then we may be in trouble!

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August 2017


The fixture list was very kind to us, as we hosted fellow promotees, Aris in the opening game of the Superleague. Theoretically this should be one of our easiest games of the season, but we had to battle out a rather fortunate victory. The fact that our goalkeeper was awarded MOTM shows just how fortunate we were. We were missing a few key players, but we made a winning start to the season none the less.

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As expected we got a little bit battered by 43 time League Champions, Olympiakos. It was very much back to the wall stuff for the majority of the game and a 3-0 loss isn't too bad away from home, considering their squad superiority.

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Not much can be drawn from the League table this early on, but it is a nice site not to see us down the foot of the table none the less!

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We did have a bit of deadline day activity at the club, as I brought in an additional LB on loan from Barcelona. Not a superstar by any means, but is costing nothing on wages and gives me another option at the back.

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September 2017

We battled out a hard fought bore draw. New signing, Joaquin picked up the MOTM award as he repelled everything that came into the box. I have gone much more defensive this season and to be honest didn't even threaten to score at the other end.

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Samaras rescued us a late away point against Iraklis. We created a lot more chances this game, hitting the target 10 times before we finally made the breakthrough.

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Our star Frenchman, Lacazette showed his worth in our victory over Larisa. He worked a wonderful one-two before cooly slotting the ball past the keeper. It then came down to our Serbian winger to grab the winner, with a perfectly placed freekick.

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Joaquin was once again the star man in another 0-0 draw. He looks to be developing into an extremely reliable CB for us this season. We were outplayed for the majority of the game but the defence managed to hold firm. We managed to push on in the final 10 minutes, following their dismissal as Samaras rattled the post from a tight angle. Another good away point for us though.

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So September turned out tot be an unbeaten month for us across the League as we move up to 6th place. We have settled to the pace of the Superleague remarkably well so far.

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Unfortunately our Greek Cup didn't get off to the best of starts, losing to fellow Superleague side, Ast. Tripolis. I heavily rotated the side and were duly outclassed as a result.

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We still have 2 games to play in the group stage against second tier opposition, so a top 2 finish is still very much on the cards. Victory in the Greek Cup would also get us into the Europa League, which is something for me to think about.

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A good start in the league although I think you should go for the win against Kerkyra. As for the Greek Cup in my opinion don't pay too much attention and concentrate only in the League. Furthmore I would like to ask you something else. You always let your assistant to coach the team in the friendly matches ? Each time I did that the team did not had a good start in the league.
 
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