1. FC Köln - The Feeling Connects

[ferdi.g]

1. FC Köln - The Feeling Connects

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Prologue


​

Solbakken not manager after all!!!!

1. Football CHAOS Köln is Back

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Solbakken has decided not to sign for FC Köln​

The team that never ceases to amaze Germany with scandals, chaos, inconsistency and confusion has once again lived up to its new given name, 1. Football Chaos Köln.
It turns out that despite all reports confirming that the Norwegian super-manager, Stale Solbakken has accepted and signed a contract with Chairman Wolfgang Overath, that he has cancelled the final signing of the contract and instead decided to take a break from football!!!!
This is a massive blow the team and fans who after the disastrous resignation of Frank Schäfer last season were looking forward to seeing their new 'Jewel' in action.

Last year the Billygoats experienced a very bumpy ride in their third consecutive season in the 1. Bundesliga. The team came to a terrible start under Zvonimir Soldo and it wasn't long until the Croatian manager was sacked an replaced with Frank Schäfer. The former Reserve coach revived the team around superstar Lukas Podolski and reminded Fans of the late 70's. However, as many times int he last few years, the club collapsed in to chaos; the team's form started to decline and Schäfer resigned due to pressure. Luckily Volker Finke, the Sport Director, took over and secured Köln the best position in the Bundesliga since 2001, 10th place, by winning all of the last three matches.

It was 8 AM on a Monday morning and I sat there, my mouth wide open in amazement as I read the latest Express article.
I knew the tabloids were full of BS but the sports coverage and gossip was always so precise. How could this happen? I myself had been looking forward to seeing Solbakken in action, after all it seems like every team of our calibre has managed at one point in history to surprise all of Germany. Most recently it was Hanover and Mainz that shocked the German football world. Why could it never be us? We have the potential, what with Lukas Podolski, Michael Rensing, Pedro Geromel and Milovoje Novakovic, we had a solid basis for an amazing team and I was positive that Solbakken had the key.

The news hit me hard, I didn't even want to think how it hit the rest of the fans and especially the team. I didn't know much about the internal dealing of the club, I mean I was nothing more than a simple coach who had just returned home after spending 4 years working with the Malaga CF youth team.

As I sat there wondering what might happen next to the club, I thought about my interview a few days earlier.
The new Borussia Mönchengladbach coach, Lucien Favre had called me to an interview for the position of Assistant Manager at Gladbach. It was a great opportunity and one of the highest positions I had ever applied for. Everything seemed great about the job but I just felt like I couldn't work for my own team's biggest rival. The truth is that i had grown desperate. I knew it was only 2 months that I had been unemployed but I was rejected after applying for the position of manager at the second division side, FSV Frankfurt. The rejection quickly brought me back to reality and I was now ready even to take a job that was well below my potential and skill.

As I sat there feeling sorry for myself, I could feel myself slowly sinking deeper in to my chair when suddenly, the phone rang...​

 

[dconway]

Will be following, I'm a big fan of Cologne and they are my favourite foreign side , has the makings of a good story. you got any ideas on transfers, formations etc ?

 

[GazaLaad]

Will follow mate likes the German leagues...

Check out my 1860 Munich story,

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-stories/87583-other-munich.html

 

[broxi713]

I'm currently into my 2nd season with FC Koln winning the league title at the first time of asking....I'll defo be following your progress, best of luck

 

[ferdi.g]

Will be following, I'm a big fan of Cologne and they are my favourite foreign side , has the makings of a good story. you got any ideas on transfers, formations etc ?

Wow, didn't know people outside of Köln liked us Best team ever

Will follow mate likes the German leagues...

Check out my 1860 Munich story,

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-stories/87583-other-munich.html

Haha, I've been following your story closely!!! Saw you're from Scotland. I live in Glasgow

 

[ferdi.g]

Chapter 1: The Job​

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I quickly ran up the stairs to get to the phone. My dog, a little fox terrier named Perry, ran after me barking excitedly. This was it, this was the answer from Lucien Favre. I picked up the phone and was surprised to hear the head Finance Manager of FC Köln, Klaus Horstmann's voice:


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"Hi Ferdi, how's it going?'
"Erm...I'm fine thanks, how are you Mr. Horstmann?"
"Please we've gone over this, call me Klaus. You'll have to get used to talking to me in a familiar way because after what I tell you, you'll friggin love me!"
"huh?" -I asked, totally unaware of what huge news was about to hit me.
"Let me cut to the chase Ferdi, I spoke to Dirk Lottner the other day and he told me how you inspired Frank Schäfer's tactics and how you were their go-to man for advice. So I went about and made a few inquiries and the lads back in Malaga said that they've regretted not offering you a better contract and wish they'd never lost you".
"Really?" I asked, I started to feel what was coming, I did my best to suppress the hope that was rising in case I was wrong. How is this cutting to the chase???, I thought to myself.
"Yeah, so I had a chat with Overath and Finke and to quote the man himself, 'on paper he's the perfect option'. Now you gotta come down here and impress Overath. Be at my office in 30 minutes. Ferdi, if you play your cards right, you might just become the next 1. FC Köln manager."
I was in shock, I couldn't believe it. My dream, the dream that all my life decisions were oriented towards was now within reach. "Thank you so much Mr. Horstm...erm....Klaus!!!! I really appreciate it, I won't let you down!"
"Good stuff, I'll see you in a bit"
"Bye".

My heart beating furiously, I ran in to my room, dug out an old suit, threw it on and rushed to the training grounds. Klaus was already waiting outside his office. I nodded hello and followed him through the man building, up the stairs until I saw the glass door with the sign reading, "Wolfgang Overath, Chairman".
I stepped in to the room and looked around, only to see that the entire board had shown up.

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"Mr. Goetzen, I'm very pleased to see you"
"Pleased to see you too sir", I answered trying not to seem too eager.
"Let's skip all the chit chat and tell me, how would you go about managing the team? I want to know what main ideas you have, what football philosophy you advocate and what achievements you've had in the past. And don't worry, I know I'm putting you on the spot here, so don't be nervous".

I then proceeded to tell them about my experiences managing the Malaga U19s, being an assistant manager in Hessen Kassel and coaching the Germany U17's. I told them everything from potential transfers to tactics and training.

When I had done talking, Overath turned and looked at the other board members and then back at me. I tried to read the expression on his face, was he impressed? Disappointed?, all I could see was indifference.

"Mr. Götzen, please step outside for a minute while I discuss things with the others".

I nodded and left the room. As I waited there it finally hit me, in a few minutes I would know if my dream has come true or if I will get yet another rejection.

Klaus opened the office door, showed me a thumbs-up and winked. I was ecstatic but I tried to keep a straight face as entered the room. That's it, one lucky recommendation, one informal interview and I was now the manager of 1 FC Köln, unbelievable.
The Chairman and the board then went on to explain the situation. I would have my own office, a meeting with the stuff on Tuesday and my first training session on Wednesday.

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I also found out that for some strange reason, despite Solbakken's cancellation, his assistant, Bard Wiggen had signed is contract as promised, which was a shame as I wanted my old friend and former Hoffenheim player Francisco Copado to be my assistant.

After a long but amazing day, I got back in to my car and and drove home. Just before I left, Klasu shouted across the car park:

"Don't forget that the official club sponsor is Ford, you'll get you fiesta later on in the week"

I laughed and pushed the gas, a new car instead of this terrible Citroen, sweet!​

 

[fran1412]

Nice start! Looking forward to seeing more of the story. Koln's a good team. You should do well.

 

[ferdi.g]

Chapter 2: New at the 'Geißbockheim'

​

Götzen Takes Köln Hot Seat

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New Köln Manager - Ferdi Götzen​

The board have released a statement that Ferdinand Götzen has taken over the manager's position in Cologne's number one club. The former Malaga and Germany junior coach and Hessen Kassel assistant manager has returned to his favourite club. Götzen enjoys a growing reputation within football and it is hoped that his appointment will take Köln to bigger things.

After star-manager Stale Solbakken's cancellation, the Köln fans seem sceptical and disappointed at the appointment of Götzen.

Ferdinand Götzen, or Ferdi Götzen as he's generally referred to, is known for being one of the innovators of modern football, devising his own tactical ideas, strongly inspired by the likes of Pep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel and Jürgen Klopp. Götzen played for numerous second division sides during his career including Karlsruhe, Oberhausen and 1. FC Köln at the time.
After retiring from football at the age of 25 due to an unfortunate injury, he worked as a scout and talent coordinator in Köln. After his short career as a scout he moved to now 4th tier team, KSV Hessen Kassel where he worked as assistant manager to Matthias Hamann. A couple of years later his work with youngsters got him a job managing the under 17 German national side. His successful run as Germany's U17 manager caught the attention of Malaga who offered him a job coaching the oldest youth team, the under 19 squad. With the arrival of the new sugar-daddy chairman, Abdullah Al-Thani his request for a better contract was denied. Götzen is known to have tight ties to Germany's manager, Jogi Löw and former manager, Jürgen Klinsmann with whom he graduated and earned his badge.

Despite his success as a youth coach and a tactician, the 1 FC Köln fans don't know whether he will be able to establish himself as an authoritative figure in the team. Will this be a sequel to the disaster of Zvonimir Soldo?

I read the article, sitting in my brand new office with a glass door with my name on it. The entire office was terribly messy, papers and boxes all over the place. The only thing I had set up so far was my computer and as immature as it may seem, I only set it up so I could see myself in national football news. As I scrolled through the article I felt nervous...not long until my first press conference and I already lack the trust of my fans. Sequel to Zvonomir Soldo, I repeated to myself, feeling genuinely offended. I knew what they meant, Soldo had only managed the Zagreb reserves and the seniors for a short while and he was a disaster...still I would rather have been compared to Frank Schäfer than Soldo.

Suddenly my phone rang, my first call as a manager:

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"Götzen here"
"Ferdi!!!!!! Hows it going son?" - I couldn't believe it, it was Manuel Pellegrini. He'd become somewhat of a mentor to me in my last few months in Malaga. He took a serious liking to my managing style and also saw me as his prodigy. He even tried to get me a job in the first team but he wasn't established enough to make any big decisions.
"Manu??? How good to hear from you! I'm great!"
"Congratulations on job!!!! I'm very proud of you....wow not three months and you're already back on track!!!"
"Thank you sir, that's very kind" I replied, ecstatic that he actually called.
"No worries son, if you ever need help just call me, you have my number. I'd better be off got some transfer stuff to work on"
"Thanks again Manu, bye!"

I put down the phone. I felt like a real bigshot, just what I needed to get pumped for the press conference. Not a minute later did Klaus knock on my door:

"Right, the journalist are waiting. Remember Ferdi, I don't want you to discuss finances. If you don't wanna answer a question, you don't have to!"

I followed him to the conference room and took a seat next to Volker Finke, the sport director, He introduced the press conference and as soon as he was done I watched the journalists arms shoot up like flares:

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" Jörgen Schmidt, Express. You've been at the club a day, what have you done so far?"
"I've spoken to some of the staff, moved in to my office and that's about it really" I laughed.
"The fans had gotten all excited about seeing Solbakken in action,do you feel under pressure?"
"In every Job, there is pressure but I assure you all that I will do my best and make you sigh in relief that Solbakken cancelled".

"That's quite cocky for a first timer, why so confident? - said a woman from the 'Bild' newspaper
"Köln is an amazing team. Becoming manager here has been my life long dream and I know that we have the potential to achieve something this year".
"Every year there is a surprise team like Mainz and Hannover last season. How do you feel your chances are in a league where all the teams keep getting better".
"I assure you that I will do everything I can to make Köln one of those surprise teams".

"Will you be able to finance new transfers?" - Klaus gave me a critical look.
"I'm sorry but I do not wish to discuss club finances"
Volker Finker intervened - "one last question"

"Herman Ochs, Süd Deutsche Zeitung. Who is your manager-idol?
I thought for a bit and then answered "Pellegrini".

After the press conference I took a deep breath, what a gang of vultures, I thought to myself. Klaus and Volker Finke congratulated me and assured me it'll get easier with time.

I headed back to my office only to find a fresh stack of papers left behind by my new assistant, Bard Wiggen whom I was still to meet. It was everything from scout reports, over team reports, training schedule, staff list, contacts sheets....everything imaginable. On top of it was a small note saying 'Hey, welcome to your new office. We should have coffee and discuss team issues before training'. I took the note and dialled the number to arrange a meeting with Bard.​

 

[ferdi.g]

And for those of you wondering, that's not actually a picture of me

Jokes. How are you enjoying the story so far? Always happy to have some (constructive) criticism.

I made a mistake in-game and started in December 2010...so I need try and sort it out. For the story purposes, I started in June.

I've already made some transfers...and played one friendly. Will update later on!

 

[ferdi.g]

Chapter 2: Off to Work!



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It had been a crazy couple of days and I was excited to start my first training session with the team. Itwas 3 PM and I had just spent an entire day running around trying to sort and organise the chaos around the grounds. I started my dayhaving coffee with Bard Wiggen. We talked about tactics, formation,players, potential transfers and I was happy to see that we were onthe same wave length.


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I had made a few decisions already on staff and players which I shared with Bard. I'd decided to re-sign the Köln-legend Icke Hässler as a coach, the club terminated his contract not long ago because Solbakken was going to bring his own team in but I definitely wanted him on the staff team. I'd already decided to drop some players, namely Andrezhino, Sebastian Freis,Kevin McKenna and Miro Varvodic. Bard agreed that they were superfluous to our needs and that they could bring some good money for new players. We also discussed the formation and agreed on an attacking 4-3-3, unconventional for the Bundesliga, not to have wingers, but it might work if practised properly. We spent the rest of the time talking about the city, the team and anything that came to mind. I was relieved that my assistant manager was a cool guy.

Around 10 AM, I returned to the office and straight away received a phone call:


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“Hello, Götzen here”
“Mr. Götzen!!! Hi, I'm Jorge Perez,I work for an agency in spain and I have just the player for you”
“Right, who do you mean?”
“My client is Pol Calvet, you may have heard of him. He played for Barcelona juniors but his contract wasn't extended. I heard that you were keen on signing young players”.
“Yes indeed I am, send me a CV and I'll lookin to it” I replied. I'd heard of this Calvet kid before, he was predicted to be the 'next Kaka' and I was excited to find out morea bout him.
“Ok I'll send it right away, thanks for your time!”
“Thank you, Bye!”


I put down the phone and not a second later, my inbox had a new email from Mr. Perez with the CV. I looked in to the scout reports and many files and started to take a look at a few players. I needed depth in the squad as well as a couple of defenders and a good striker and midfielder to backup Novakovic and Podolski.

My tight budget and virtually in-existent transfer kitty made it hard to find good players. I looked through files and videos as well as stack of emails from agents recommending players of all nationalities, ages and positions. My scouts Frank Schäfer and Siggi Marti had already written reports on most of the offered players, and none of the affordable ones looked promising.

A few players I definitely wanted were Arne Friedrich, the National defender whom I have always regarded highly and was free of a contract as well as Andreas Hinkel, a left back and the famous Dutch striker Hesselink. I had Klaus enquire about their demands and none of them were interested in joining our squad unless they earned ridiculous amounts of money. That's the last thing I wanted, over-payed trouble makers.

After much research, I'd picked a few players for my scouts to check out. The first was the young 15 year old Calvet from Barcelona. The main player I wanted to sign was the long-time Frankfurt star, now out of a contract, Ioannis Amanatidis. A fabulous striker, perfect as a support for Novakovic. The other players I looked in to were ex- German National, Gerald Asamoah and a 27 year old 'alternative' central defender from Columbia, called Nelson Rivas. I never thought much of Asamoah but after his great season with St. Pauli, I thought he could make a great backup. With three strikers in my formation, I couldn't just rely on the young Ionita and Uth to backup Novakovic and Podolski and therefore Asamoah seemed like a good alternative. Rivas was personally recommended to me by Fary Mondragon, my good friend and former Köln goalkeeper.

I took the papers along with papers on other unknown players and sent them to the scouts. I really hoped I could sign these players. It was nearing pre-season and all my players were injured. Podolski, Petit, Jajalo, Brecko, Eichner, Pezzoni, and Makino were all injured and I desperately needed to find replacements for defence and midfield.


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I sent of all papers and headed towards the training ground for my first session. The team was already there, waiting for me and Wiggen had already set up some cones for drills. I was surprised at how many fans had turned up to watch the first training session under the new manager. I'd asked Frank Schäfer to supervise the training with me and to take note on the younger players such as Clemens and Buchtmann. I'd also promoted Timo Horn, Mitchell Weiser and Markus Uth to the senior squad as I thought they were brilliant prospects. I introduced myself and held a small motivating speech. I wanted every player to know that they had a new chance, a chance to impress me and make it to the first time.


“I will ignore what I know of you, I will forget your names. Being well-payed, famous, a national player, captain, vice captain or anything like that does not guarantee you a first team spot. Good training and impressing me guarantees you afirst team spot. Take this chance and do NOT disappoint me. Things will change around here and I want to make it for the better. I remember when 1. FC Köln was one of the greatest teams in the world. And you know what? You guys have as much if not more potential than those from the past.
We can make it together if you follow my lead and stick to my plan. I want all players to be disciplined, motivated and I want you most of all, to enjoy football! If any of you have any issues no matter how small or personal, please come speak to myself or Bard. We want to be here for you just as we want you to be there for each other”.


After my small speech I blew my whistle and training began. The coaches Weiser, Tanko and Bade lead the drills while Bard was in charge. I watched and occasionally intervenedwhen players were doing things worng. I took time throughout thesession to analyse the boys abnd they seemes motivated. I took the opportunity to speak to Podolski, Novakovic, Riether, Rensing,Jajalo, and Geromel individually. These six players were gonna be the cornerstone of our game. They were all great players and it is aroundthem that I wanted to build a winning team. Everyone seemed to bemotivated and happy and I was very pleased with the team.


They all took to the dressing room andI asked Geromel to stay behind. He was now the official captain as Solbakken had promised him before (not) arriving. I told him that wanted to make Podolski captain, Podolski was the face of the club,the star and he would be the best option. Geromel's German wasn't good enough and he didn't have the classical leadership skills needed.Needless to say, despite my attempt to be polite, kind and understanding, Geromel took it badly and reacted quite immaturely. I thought this might be a big problem for me as I'd heard rumours of offers for the star. I asked him to understand but he just groaned and ran down the stairs to the locker rooms.


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My first drama amongst this chaos,though it didn't go as well as I'd hoped, I was sure things would pick up once the pre-season began properly. I returned to my office and started working on my pre-season plan; a tour of Spain. Pellegrini had written to me proposing a friendly and thought I might as well make a tour of it. I emailed Malaga, Mallorca, Villareal and Real Sociedad to arrange friendlies for the tour. A group of solid teams who would properly test our capabilities.


And so after a long hard day of work, I went home and turned on my laptop to read the latest Express news. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the story....the potential transfers had been leaked. I didn't know what to think, I wasn't angry but I was plain confused that they managed to grab hold of that information and publish it so quickly. I guess that's tabloid journalism for you.

New Signings for 1. FC Köln?

Only two days in to the job and Ferdi Götzen has already lined up a list of potential transfers. After being rejected upon enquiring about former Wolfsburg defender Arne Friedrich Götzen has looked in to signing a few players. Though nothing is in the clear yet, all parties have shown clear interest and are ready to begin negotiations as soon as possible. Express has specially set up a slideshow for you to see the potential newcomers:

Ioannis Amanatidis (29, Striker) - Free Agent (Frankfurt)

Gerald Asamoah (32, Midfielder/Striker) - Free Agent (St. Pauli)

Pol Calvet (16, Midfielder) - Free Agent (Barcelona)

Nelson Rivas (27, Defender) - Free Agent (Inter Milan)

Götzen also announced the re-signing of Köln legend Icke Hässler as a new addition to the coaching team. How will Köln finance all of this? The answer is simple - selling players. Götzen has made it clear that McKenna, Freis, Varvodic and Pezzoni won't be playing a role in his plans for the future. Twente, Amsterdam and other teams have shown interest in the players.

I finally went to bed with a strange feeling of excitement. The next few days would be days of decisions and results. Will I be able to arrange the tour with such little notice? What will the scouts say about my chosen potential players? Will I manage my first signing? Many questions rushed through my mind until I feel fast asleep...​

 

[ferdi.g]

Now that I've got the main story line set, I'm gonna start implementing more game-play. I'm starting the pre-season and the next post will have more screenshots/stats and general game-related stuff.

Enjoy!

 

[broxi713]

very good start mate, looking forward to the start of the season.

surprised Arne Friedrich re-jected your approach, I singed him for Koln in my 1st season

Have a look at Malkhaz Asatiani for Central defence, he's a decent free transfer
[h=1][/h]

 

[Cai123]

Koln ar my second favourite german club.

 

[ferdi.g]

@broxi: Cheers, will check it out!

 

[ferdi.g]

Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin!


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First Tensions for Götzen
Götzen says he's "ready for pre-season"

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Götzen (pictured above) claims to be ready.
​

It is astonishing how much has happened in Köln the last few days. Earlier today Götzen confirmed that he will be taking the team on a tour to Spain, courtesy of an invite from his last club and mentor Pellegrini from Malaga. Götzen seemed delighted to announce that he will be testing the boys against the likes of Malaga, Malloraca, Villareal and Real Sociedad. The Köln fans have reacted positively to Götzen's dynamic character and hands-on approach.

When asked why he chose those teams, Götzen responded: "I don't see why we should play against teams who are far below our level. We can only improve by playing against similar or better teams. I'm positive the boys will do well and do their best to impress me!"

Rumour also has it that Götzen had a huge falling out with Geromel whom he is supposed to have said "lacks leadership qualities". It seems likely that Podolski or Novakovic will experience a reinstatement of their captaincy.

Here the confirmed tour line-up:

Malaga C.F.
RCD Mallorca
Villareal C.F.
Real Sociedad

I quickly skimmed through the article on my Iphone. I was about to have my first meeting with an agent in attempt to sign Ioannis Amanatidis. Luckily I got them to travel to Köln, I would never have been able to make it otherwise. My new secretary, Katja, a young and beautiful blonde with a cracking sense of humour knocked on my door.
"Mr. Götzen, Mr. Amanatidis and Mr. Lip are here here"
"Oh great, send'em in!"

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Dirk Lip, Amanatidis' Agent, was a normal looking guy with gelled back grey hair and a grey suit. Amanatidis was wearing an old Frankfurt training polo-shirt with the word 'Frapport' printed on the collar. Hi hair was greasy but somehow he could pull it off, he reminded me of the characters from the film '300'.
I initiated the negotiation and told Amanatidis what was expected of him; he would have a first team place as long as he trained well and was disciplined. I'd known of his falling outs with previous managers like Skibbe and Funkel and I knew I had to make my authority clear. After a nice productive discussion, Amanatidis left the room and it was up to me and his agent to negotiate.

"So here's what we would like", he handed me a paper with all the conditions. The appearance clauses, signing fee, minimum fee release clause and bonuses all seemed quite reasonable. But the Wage and Agent fee were much to high and there was no way I would accept a maximum earners clause.
"30,000 is too much, I can only give you 20,000. Also, there is no way I will add a max earners clause". I said trying to stand firmly.
"Ok, how about 22,500 Euros for the wage? We can scrap the clause but I expect a better fee for myself in return" he said, looking at me smugly.
I didn't know what to do, I looked at the paper Klaus had drafted for me with the many spending limits.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated; it was a text from Bard. I'd sent Bard along with one of the financial advisers to negotiate the contract for the young talent, Pol Calvet with his agent Mr. Perez. The text read 'Got him!'. Suddenly I felt new confidence, who is this guy to argue with me? I'm the boss here!, I thought to myself.

"Mr. Lip" I said, now being the smug one, "Köln is a big club in an amazing city. We are light years ahead of your former club and I think my demands are reasonable. I'll agree to your proposed wage of 22,500 but the clause is scrapped and your personal fee stays at 70,000 Euros. Now I'm not willing to negotiate any further, I'll give yourself and Amanatidis a few minutes to discuss and then you can give me your answer". I felt empowered. I asked my secretary to go and fetch Amanatidis and I left the room to give them some privacy.
After 10 minutes, Mr. Lip came out:
"You drive a tough bargain Mr. Götzen but you've got yourself a deal".

The paperwork was finalised, signed and there it was; my third day and already 2 new signings!!! I was ecstatic and couldn't believe I had done so well. I let Lip and Amanatidis out and then texted back to Bard to tell him the good news. I then made a quick call to Klaus and Volker Finke to let them know and I knew that not minutes later, there would be a new article on the Express announcing the signings. I was indeed very happy with myself.

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<>​

Amanatidis and Calvet join FC Köln
Götzen Signs Two!!!!




View attachment 208795
Pol Calvet​

The team's website has officially announced the signings of two new players for next season: Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek national Striker who terminated his long-term contract with Eintracht rankfurt after their relegation and hot prospect, Pol Calvet (16) who had a first class football education at Barca.
The fans will be thrilled, especially with the signing of Amanatidis who has been a long time star in the Bundesliga. Both players have passed their medicals and have already arrived in Kön in time for the start of the pre-season and the tour to Spain.
In an interview, Ferdi Götzen said that he was thrilled to have them there. It seems as though Amanatidis will be a definite option for the first time while Calvet is more of a youth player for now.

Meanwhile, Freis, McKenna,Varvodic, Andrezinho and Pezzoni have been dropped to the Köln U23, reserve team. McKenna is rumoured to be moving to Twente Enschede.
​

​

I read the article again for the 70th time. It had been 3 days since the signings and everything was great. I got some much needed rest over the weekend and was now ready to back my bags for Spain. I was very excited, all the players had been doing well...almost all...Geromel had been making his mardy mod obvious during training. If it goes on like this I'll have to take some drastic measures, I thought to myself.

Before leaving to Spain in three days time, I really wanted to wrap up two more signings. It was my mission for the day to sign Asamoah and and Nelson Rivas, two perfect backups for my first team. My good friend Faryd Mondragon had yet again called to congratulate me on the signings and repeated his recommendation of Rivas.

Though Bard didn't think Rivas was the best choice, I really liked what I'd seen of him and he was just the tough player I needed, the kind of substitute you bring in if the other team starts piling on the pressure. Bard and I met up early that day and went out to negotiate the contracts, we really made a good team and were becoming close friends in the process.


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Finally, it was Wednesday. I was thrilled to have managed to sign both players I had set out to sign. Asamoah and Rivas were definitely good choices. We were ready to go to Spain for our first friendly against Malaga. We took an early flight and moved in tot eh training camp. I'd decided to take the youngsters Mitchell Weiser, Buchtmann and Uth to see what they were capable of.

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We got to Spain and did some basic training after we'd had lunch and a quick tour of the training camp. I then practised my line up for Malaga. My plan was to play with my best team first and then in half time either entirely substitute the team or gradually bring in new players. The amount of injuries made it impossible to actually play y strongest 11 but it would have to do.

That evening, we arrived at the Estadio La Rosaleda to face Malaga, a team that in the past was quite similar to Köln but now much richer thanks to a new chairman who financed the signings of players like Van Nistelroy, Mathijsen and Demichelis.

I had a long chat with many of my good old friends from the yoth team, the staff team and especially Pellegrini. Everything was great, the atmosphere was astonishing, many fans had travelled to see the first match of the pre-season and so I gathered the team around and told them to impress me and Bard.

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My formation was a 4-3-3 that we had been training vigorously. I've always been a strong advocate of strict, disciplined and hard training, much like Felix Magath and I was eager to see how the players would cope. Asamoah had joined us on a later flight and I decided to ut him in the starting eleven, as well as Amanatidis to see how they would do.

I was surprisingly nervous, although it was just a friendly I really wanted to impress the fans, the players, the chairman and even Pellegrini. I wanted to take it seriously. I'd even put on my nicest grey suit for the occasion. I always hated it when managers wore a tracksuit during a match.

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The match kicked off and the crowd was wild. I'd told the team to play attacking football but to take it easily so as to avoid any unnecessary injuries. The first 10 minutes saw both teams just 'testing the water' and the lads were doing well, keeping possession and slowly upping the tempo. Malaga had a strong side with players like Demichelis, Mathijsen, Van Nistelrooy, Bouananote, Rondon and Toulalon but we were playing quite well. The game seemed quite equal with possession being 50/50 when in the 18. minute Nobakovic scored an absolute cracker from 30 metres away. The players were delighted and so was I, I looked over to Pellegrini who did not seem happy with his team's performance so far. Everything died down until half time when I brought in the youngsters Uth, Weiser, Horn, Roshi (all under 20 yeard old) as well as Peszko and Ionita. In the second half you could see the youngsers were nervous as they played more defensively than I'd have liked. In te 73rd minute Malaga scored an own-goal but the credit for that goes to a strong shot by Amanatidis. Only 12 mnutes later, Amanatidis came again and scored his second goal in his first ver match for Köln! 3-0 against Malaga with a new tactic.

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I was thrilled with the match congratulated the players. i was especially impressed with Mitchell Weiser (17), he's definitely gonna be a star one day!

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Pellegrini congratulated me and we all returned to the training grounds for a good night's sleep before the rest of the tour...​

 

[ferdi.g]

Chapter 4: Viva Espana!



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Captaincy Re-instated
Podolski Overjoyed

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The Striker dream-duo are now captain and vice-captain

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Lukas Podolski, the 'face of Cologne' and Götzens best star-player is once again Captain of the club! Götzen announced today while on tour in Spain with the team, that Geromel will no longer be captain. 'Prinz Poldi', as the fans call him, had lost the captaincy to Geromel only a few months before. Götzen justified the claim by saying tat Podolski was the greatest player the club has ever known and shows the right leadership qualities necessary to lead the team to glory.
Geromel is rumoured to have been hit hard by Götzen's decision which became obvious during his poor performances in Spain, scoring an own goal against Villareal.
Novakovic, another former Köln captain, has been named vice-captain. 'Nova' expressed his delight at the vote of confidence from Götzen and agreed with making Podolski captain.
"Nobody has helped the club like Lukas and I am glad he's finally being rewarded personally" Novakovic said during a phone interview.

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The tour of Spain was coming to an end and I was very pleased. Aside from a few minor injuries and the fact that Geromel was performing much worse than usual due to his immature reaction to losing the captaincy, the tour was a massive success. We had played against some of the best teams in Spain and did very well, the players were sowly getting used to the new tactic.

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The second match of the tour was against Mallorca ended in a 1-1 draw. Mallorca are a great team and their defense didn't budge no matter how hard we tried. They cought us in the counter-attack in the 56th minute after wghich I brught in Uth and Weiser who really added flair to the game. Podolski used his new-found confidence as captain to score the equalizer in the 76th minute with a beautiful shot from the edge of the box. Unfortunately, Novakovic and Eichner sustained minor injuries.

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The third match was a toughie against Villareal, one of the best teams in Spain. The game was very fast and looked a lot like a game of ping pong until in the 41st minute, Lanig got a great pass from Sereno and volleyed it in to make it 1-0. The game slowed down after the goal and in the last 15 minutes the lads seemed tired while Villareal piled on the pressure. Geromel scored an own goal at the 86th minute to make it 1-1 in the end. If his form keeps dropping I'll have to consider selling him and getting an alternative, he's no use to me like this, I thought to myself.

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The last match was a 2-2 draw against Real Sociedad. I was delighted with the game as I'd chosen to send on the younger players to give them a chance. Ionita displayed his potential, scoring both goals and playing an entire 90 minutes.

All in all it was a succesful tour. It was good to see the old friends from Malaga again and we had made a lot of progress as a team. Now it was time to plan the second tour; a tour of Switzerland. While at the hotel I'd sent an email to Basel, Thun, Young Boys Bern and Grasshoppers Zürich to arrange friendlies. I'd always liked the Swiss teams ability to cause bigger teams trouble in the Champions League and hoped that the lads could learn something from playing against the best teams of the Swiss League. I had also successfully arranged a small fund-raiser competition with 3 small german clubs, the biggest being Elversberg.


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Three days after returning from Spain it was time to go back to training. Bard and I were very happy with the progress the team was making. Together with bard, we had drafted three main tactics that so that we could change mid game depeding on the standing. The first was the main 4-3-3 where Novakovic, Podolski and Amanatidis were working wonders as a dream triplet. The other two tactics were a 3-2-4 tactic designed for piling ont he pressure if we needed a goal, so mainly for matches that we were losing and a 5-4-1 with 5 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders based entirely on defending and feeding the ball to Novakovic in counter-attacks. The three tactics were slowly getting ingraine in the players minds and we were making headway.
The day had been one fuilled with good news; all Swiss clubs accepted the friendly proposals and all hotel and training-ground arrangements had been made.
Furthermore, I managed to sign two more players thanks to the help of Klaus with whom I had becoming close friends. The two players were a second goalkeeper named Biel Ribas, a solid replacement in case Rensing gets injured and the other was a promising backup striker from Ukraine, named Yakovenko. We'd have to wait until July to welcome him.

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[ferdi.g]

I'm still trying to find a balance between story and game reporting. I've now caught up with the game so I will be adding more personal stuff as well.

I might need tos eel Geromel, been getting pretty big offers for him. Who would be a good replacement? (maybe around 3-5 mil).

 

[GazaLaad]

Good story so far mate I have been following..

A replacement for Geromel,

1. Kara - Tromso £1,100,000 (Good value and will get good profit if sold in the future.
2. Grant Hanley - Blackburn Only got him on loan so dont know how much but is a solid center back.
3. Marco Capuano - Not sure where he plays (its Italy somewhere) just heard my mate say he is good. lol

Just a few ideas, wish I had money to sign anyone with 1860 Munich... lol

 

[ferdi.g]

Haha I know what you mean. All my signings were free transfers. Pretty glad I got Amanatidis, he's playing really well, the others are all back-up players...

 

[fran1412]

Instead of Geromel, I would recommend Kara or Hanley too. I'm not sure about any freebies though.

BTW, Very good story so far.