1. FC Union Berlin - Capital Domination


1. FC Union Berlin
Pre-Season + August - 2025

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Transfers:

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A relatively quiet summer for us as our only significant business was to move on 3 backup players to make room in the squad for young players to move into the first team. First to leave was the Spanish defender Alberto Herrero who we brought in a few months ago from Barcelona for £11,250,000. He left to go to Liverpool for £20,000,000 + 50% of his next fee which I believe represents a fantastic piece of business! Next to leave was 28 year old midfielder Gianluca Gaudino to Nottingham Forest for £22,000,000. He arrived from Leipzig for £8,750,000 in 2020 and has proved to be invaluable backup to the first 11 in his 5 years at the club, but the time was right to move him on and cash in for a premium whilst we still could. The final departure represents a rare slight failing from us in the transfer market. Backup defensive midfielder Bertolani left for Fulham for £22,500,000, a £4,000,000 loss on what we paid to Hamburg for his signature in 2020. However we do have a 50% sell on clause so we may end up making our money back on him and he was always decent enough when he played for us. We also got around £4,000,000 from a 50% sell on clause on Benjamin Karg who left Real Madrid for Fulham.

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Fixtures:

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Wins over Bayern Munchen and Manchester City in both Super Cups mean we already have 2 trophies in the cabinet for the season and the form to start the league season suggests there is no reason to believe we won't win many more. Our two home league games have been won with an aggregate score of 15-0, whilst we have kept 4 consecutive clean sheets in the league.

Squad:

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The quality of the backup in the squad is not quite as strong this season as youngsters like Skraparas, Gentner, Klata and Claasen have been called up from the under 19's to plug the gaps left by the departing players, however they should all see some good development given enough game time this year. We've gone with a 23 man squad (17 of which are eligible for Germany) and have decided to keep Kurzawa around for the year as I wouldn't be comfortable in Claasen stepping in for a big game and I wouldn't be able to get any decent money for Kurzawa at his age so I'll just let his contract run down this year. One thing I don't understand is 20 year old left back Caner Demir is refusing my... I mean Michael Ballack's... call up to the German national side. He does have secondary Turkish nationality so maybe he is holding out for them but I would find that strange since Germany is obviously the stronger footballing nation.

Other News:

1) After a brilliant summer for the club financially, we now sit with just under £160,000,000 in the bank heading into September. Not bad considering we were in the red at some point last season!

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2) Michael Ballack has managed to put 15 year old French prospect Romain Durand in the Germany under 20's squad, which is hopefully enough to stop any French junior team calling him up before he is old enough that Ballack can give him a Germany cap to make him eligible only for Germany!

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Next update will be a short update covering Ballack's first two games in charge of Germany, at home to Wales and Hungary.​
 
Getting a little bit bored of this save now we've won everything we can win and are so dominant (To be fair it may just be getting to that point in the year where I'm just bored of FM).

Would people still be interested in the save if I took charge of a different German team at some point and try to topple the giant that I have created?
 
Safc-mad-scotty said:
Getting a little bit bored of this save now we've won everything we can win and are so dominant (To be fair it may just be getting to that point in the year where I'm just bored of FM).

Would people still be interested in the save if I took charge of a different German team at some point and try to topple the giant that I have created?
Click to expand...

Completely understand this feeling mate, been a silent reader.

When you figure out the game it get's quite boring!

I'd move if you're bored :)
 

Germany
September - 2025

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Squad:

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Michael had a very strong squad for his first two games in charge and immediately signalled his intention to blood a younger generation of players by leaving out older stars such as Draxler, Hummels, Volland, Mustafi, Muller, Gundogan and Erik Durm. There was first call ups for Union Berlin youngsters in Burak Oz and Ken Krumnow, in a squad which included 10 Union Berlin players. The only other team with more than one player in the squad was Dortmund with 4. Some of the better players in the squad who don't play for Berlin and therefore you may not have been introduced to them in the story yet include De la Hoz, Wenzel and Holt.

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Germany 2 - 0 Wales

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The first game of Ballack's reign was a top of the table clash in the World Cup Qualifiers against Wales. Heading into the game as strong favourites and with a strong Union Berlin influence (6 starters were Union Berlin players and 2 were ex UB players), an expectant German crowd was slightly anxious heading into the second half with the scores still tied at 0-0 despite several German chances. Luckily for Michael, an early goal in the second half by Schroder calmed the nerves and a 2nd goal from Schroder in injury time gave Ballack a 2-0 win in his first game in charge. Not only were the German public encouraged by the result but the fact that the German team saw over 60% of the ball suggested a change in philosophy for the national team.

Germany 4 - 0 Hungary

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With a 3 point gap opened up above Wales from the last game, Germany headed into the game against Hungary knowing they could further secure their place at the top of the group with a win since Wales were not playing in this round of fixtures. Ballack's side were given the perfect start when Schroder tucked away his 54th international goal in his 65th appearance for the national team in the 18th minute. The score remained 1-0 until half time but the German side came flying out the block with two goals in two minutes just after half time from Dortmund's de la Hoz and Leverkusen's Oenning. A late goal from Bayern Munchen full back Langer gave Germany a comfortable 4-0 win and topped off a very strong first international period in charge for Ballack. The World Cup Qualifying Group was left like this...

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Other News:

1) One interesting point of note is that Union Berlin have taken over as the main contributor to the German national teams. 15 of the players within the national team set up have spent 3 years at Union Berlin between the ages of 15 and 21, showing that we have not cast aside youth development in our ascension to the top of the German game.

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I'm probably just going to do big Union Berlin updates until I take a new job so the next update will be covering the next international period with Germany.​
 
Safc-mad-scotty said:
Getting a little bit bored of this save now we've won everything we can win and are so dominant (To be fair it may just be getting to that point in the year where I'm just bored of FM).

Would people still be interested in the save if I took charge of a different German team at some point and try to topple the giant that I have created?
Click to expand...

Yep do it! Thinking of doing the same in my Malmo save, but not until I win the CL, if that ever happens
 

Germany
Oktober - 2025

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Luxembourg 0 - 4 Germany

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The World Cup qualification campaign continued with the first away game of Michael Ballack's reign in Luxembourg. The game gave Michael a perfect opportunity to test out a few of the backup players in the squad with the likes of Noto, Mladenovic, Wenzel and Karg all getting a start. It took only 12 minutes for Wenzel to make his mark on the game, putting Germany in front with his 3rd international goal. The score remained 1-0 until 15 minutes into the second half when right back Burak Oz tapped in a rebound for his first international goal in only his second ever international appearance. Just 20 minutes later Julian Brandt put Germany out of sight with a 3rd and Emre Can added a 4th in injury time for a second successive 4-0 win for Ballack's side.

Germany 2 - 1 Bosnia & Herzegovina

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The second game of the month had extra importance as a point for Germany would book their place on the plane to Mexico for the World Cup at the end of the season. However, Bosnia were not going to just roll over and started the game the far better side and got their reward in the 18th minute when Nottingham Forest striker Hammerle put Bosnia 1-0 up. For the rest of the first half Bosnia were on top without creating too much and Ballack had a job to do at half time to turn things around. The start of the second half was pretty quiet and Germany showed no real impetus in trying to get back into the game until Bosnia defender Stillic sliced a Milosevic cross from the right into his own net to level the scores at 1-1. This goal appeared to wake Germany up and Bosnia were soon down to 10 men when Kolasinac got a second yellow card and was given his marching orders. The final 10 minutes was a total barrage of Germany piling forward for a winner to keep up Ballack's 100% record and they eventually got their reward in the 92nd minute when Felix Passlack turned in his 4th international goal from 6 yards out. The result officially confirmed Germany's place in the 2026 World Cup!

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Next update will be a November international update with a final WC qualifier away to Wales and a friendly against Parguay.​
 
1. Januar 2026​

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Houghton Steps Down

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Fans of Union Berlin were today left shocked as long serving manager Scott Houghton announced his resignation from the club with immediate effect.

In a reign spanning 11 and a half years, Houghton led Berlin from being a mid table side in the second tier to becoming the dominant side in both German and European football, winning 7 Bundesliga titles, 6 German Cups, 6 German Super Cups, 2 European Super Cups, 2 Champions Leagues and 2 Club World Championships.

In a short statement released by Houghton he emphasised how much he had enjoyed his time at Berlin, however felt that he had achieved all that he could at the club and wanted to test himself in a new environment. Sources at BILD close to Houghton are led to believe that he is looking to stay in Germany for his next job and is keen to prove that the job he carried out at Berlin was not a one off.

In leaving Union Berlin, he leaves a side sitting at the top of the Bundesliga ahead of Bayern Munchen by 2 points and with a game in hand. They are also in the German Cup Quarter Final and the Champions League 1st Knockout Round, therefore whoever replaces Houghton will be under pressure to hit the ground running and keep the trophies rolling into the club. The current favourite to replace Houghton with the bookmakers is Chelsea manager Diego Simeone at 5/2, with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at 3/1 and Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola at 6/1.

Union Berlin fans get in touch on twitter @BILD_Sport to let us know how you feel about Houghton's resignation and who you would like to see replace him.

​
 

8. April 2026
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Houghton Appointed Stuttgart Manager

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The ex Union Berlin manager has put pen to paper on a three year deal to take over from Jos Luhukay.


VfB Stuttgart have today announced the appointment of ex Union Berlin manager Scott Houghton as the club's new head coach on a three year contract, ending a short 4 month break from the game since he resigned from his post in Berlin.

Houghton arrives at Stuttgart with the club sitting in 9th place with 5 games to go and at a time when it is expected that the club will have to cut back on their wage expenditure, especially as there is little chance of the club qualifying for European football next season. In a short statement Houghton signalled his intent to turn the club into a new force in German football and praised the support in numbers that fans haven given to Stuttgart in recent years despite not getting an awful lot in return.

Sorry for the short update, I'd rather cover more details about the club in my usual style of update with screenshots etc as obviously there is a lot to go over, this was really just to announce my new club...
​
 

VfB Stuttgart
Situation Upon Arrival

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Club Overview/History:

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Stuttgart are a regular top flight club who have fantastic support (averaged an attendance of over 50,000 since the save started) but they have not been able to break into the elite for a long time. They have won 5 Bundesliga titles, the last of which was in 2007, and 3 German Cups, the last off which was in 1997. They have no European success to their name but were runners up in the UEFA Cup in 1989 and in the Cup Winners Cup in 1998. Also, whilst the club has been regulars in the Europa League in recent years and even reached the 2nd knockout round before being knocked out by Dinamo, they haven't been in the Champions League since 2009.

Facilities:

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The club has everything needed for success in terms of their facilities! A 60,000 capacity stadium, excellent training and youth facilities, excellent junior coaching and extensive youth recruitment.

Fixtures/League Position:

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The clubs form has dropped a lot since the winter break and since Union Berlin snapped up their start striker and club legend Wenzel in January for near £20,000,000. With 5 difficult looking fixtures to go this season, we will be looking to keep our place in the top half and have prettymuch no chance of catching the final Europa League spot of 7th, despite that being the objective the board has given me.

Squad:

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I think it's pretty hard to judge the squad as it stands as it is so bloated and I will re-evaluate at the end of the season when I have more time to look through each player. Two players I do really like the look of though are 19 year old Bauer and 20 year old Promel, both of whom have the potential to be first teamers for a number of years here.

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We also have some very decent looking youngsters in the under 19's, a lot of whom will be looking to break into the first team squad over the next few seasons...

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Finances:

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The finances look pretty poor and at the minute we are expected to trim the wage bill quite substantially at the end of the season, however this often happened at Berlin and we would get an influx of money after the season was finished in prize money and sponsorships etc, so it may not be as bad as it looks...

Next update will cover the final 5 games of the season, can we get off to a good start at a new club?

​
 
Great choice on picking Stuttgart. I cant wait to see what you will accomplish with them
 
Electrocity9 said:
Great choice on picking Stuttgart. I cant wait to see what you will accomplish with them
Click to expand...

Cheers mate, I contemplated dropping a division or two and brining up a small team but in the end decided on trying to bring success to a team with a big fanbase who've been starved of success for a while. I was also offered an interview with Hoffenheim about a month back in game which may have been interesting, but I decided I wanted to go with a team from a bigger city.
 

VfB Stuttgart
2025/2026 - End of Season

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Fixtures:

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I didn't expect us to be this good but I suppose it was just the effect of the new manager bounce! We started my reign with 2-0 away win in Berlin against my old rivals Hertha, with a brace from 19 year old home grown striker Bauer! The 2nd game saw us take on 5th placed Schalke and what transpired on the pitch was certainly not expected. Roared on by a crowd of 58,000+, we raced into a 5-0 half time lead led by a Bauer hatrick and whilst the second half was far more even, we finished the game as 6-1 winners. Bayer Leverkusen brought us back down to earth in the following game in Leverkusen with a 3-2 defeat, although Bauer did add another goal to his tally. This was only to be a blip though, as the following game at home to second placed Bayern in the Sud Derby saw us blow away another top Bundesliga side at home with a 4-1 victory. Bauer got himself another goal and Promel scored 2 penalties. This left us needing a win on the final day away to Monchengladbach to secure ourselves Europa League football next season, although a draw may also have been good enough depending on results. Luckily for us, we didn't allow other teams the chance to catch us as goals from Grbic and Baumgartl gave us a 2-0 win and secure us 7th place in the league.

League Table:

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When I took over we were 9 points behind Hamburg with 5 games to go, but they did have a very difficult run in with 3 of the top 5 to play in their last 3 games. However, we had a pretty tough run in as well and I feel we more than deserve our place in European football next year and it should help with what will be a big summer of recruitment...

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Player of the Update - Alexander Bauer:

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7 goals in the 5 games for our young academy graduate. He still has plenty of room to develop hopefully so he'll more than likely be given the starting role next season as there are many areas of the squad which I feel need improving before the striker role. The new Torsten Schroder anyone?

Other News:

1) The finances have sorted themselves out a little and we've been given a decent budget of £15,000,000 + around £42,000 in wages. However, I have set a few players to be released and have sold one or two backup players which should free up around £150,000 in wages and allow us to invest plenty in the playing squad next year.

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2) It's fair to say that my leaving Union Berlin did not really have any impact on their performance on the pitch. Jurgen Klopp was appointed and despite him playing a 4-1-2-1-2 which meant the likes of Brandt and Muller got never got much game time, they won the league, the German Cup and they only lost in the Champions League final 2-1 to PSG after extra time and were down to 10 men in the game from the 28th minute!

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3) Other things behind the scenes at the club which I have been working on is that I've brought in a few new coaches, released a load of no hopers from the 2nd team and under 19's and convinced the board to increase the junior coaching to an exceptional level. I also feel like I have a much better idea of my squad now and know where I should be looking to improve over the summer.

Next update will likely be a pre World Cup update with Michael Ballack's Germany side, including a squad announcement and the pre-tournament games...
​
 
Really liking the choice of Stuttgart and the change of direction. They have everything place to become a big team and I'm sure you'll be able to do a similar job that you did at Berlin!

Slightly gutted you didn't choose Hoffenheim as I have a bit of a soft spot for them from a FM14 career ha!

Good luck, very excited to see what you do in the summer.
 
cps100 said:
Really liking the choice of Stuttgart and the change of direction. They have everything place to become a big team and I'm sure you'll be able to do a similar job that you did at Berlin!

Slightly gutted you didn't choose Hoffenheim as I have a bit of a soft spot for them from a FM14 career ha!

Good luck, very excited to see what you do in the summer.
Click to expand...

The one thing I liked about Hoffenheim was that they had such little history as a club in terms of winning trophies but in the end I decided that it would be better to go for a team with a bigger fanbase.

The main objective for my summer business is to build a balanced squad which can cope with the demands of European football so hopefully I'll move on a lot of players who are on wages I feel they don't deserve and then look for a few bargains in the market to fill out the squad. Hopefully will get a few in to go straight into the first team as well though.
 

Germany
World Cup Preview - 2026

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Squad:

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The 23 man squad chosen by Ballack is not far from full strength, however the major disappointment is that star winger Miodrag Milosevic got injured playing for Union Berlin in March and misses out on the tournament. What's worse is that is one area of the squad where the backup is nowhere near the level of quality of the 1st choice player. The other issue with the squad is that so many of the players are tired after long club seasons, which I think is really going to hamper how far Germany can go in the competition. Ballack resisted the temptation to call up Stuttgart striker Bauer despite his late season form under new Stuttgart manager Scott Houghton.

Pre-Tournament Friendlies:

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Ballack arranged one friendly in March and 3 before the World Cup in order to continue to enforce his philosophy on the squad before the tournament started. The friendly in March went extremely well with Germany running out 8-2 winners over Nigeria who are ranked 17th in the World.The pre-tournament friendlies did not go as well though, only managing 1 win against Northern Ireland and drawing against China and Mexican side Monterrey.

Group:

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Germany have what I think looks like a potentially tricky group. There is certainly no easy points in this group with all 3 opposition sides in the top 30 in the World Rankings (Chile - 15th, Japan -29th, Scotland - 30th).

Bookies Odds:

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Germany are amongst 6 teams who are joint 5-2 favourites, however the condition of the players heading into the tournament has me doubting how far they can go. The German FA expect Ballack to reach the semi final and with it being his first international job, they may not be very lenient if he fails to reach his objective.

Next up will be the World Cup update!

​
 

Germany
World Cup - 2026

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Group Stage:

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The group stage got off to a poor start for Michael Ballack's Germany side as they couldn't break the deadlock against a below average Scotland side despite creating numerous chances. The second game against Chile carried on in the same manner, with Germany and in particular Torsten Schroder missing loads of chances in the first half. The game appeared to be heading for another 0-0 draw before Kevin Reith put Germany 1-0 up with his first ever international goal in the 81st minute and Joachen Wenzel wrapped up a 2-0 victory with a fantastic free kick in the 87th minute. This left Germany needing just a point from the final game against Japan to go through and it was never really in doubt, cruising to a 3-0 victory courtesy of Noto, Sule and Brandt.

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Second Round - Germany 2 - 0 Belgium

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Germany met Belgium in the 2nd round who finished 2nd in their group behind Brazil. The first half was a pretty even affair before Genk defender Robin got himself sent off in the 45th minute. Germany still found Belgium pretty tough to break down, however Union Berlin defender broke the deadlock in the 84th minute and added himself a 2nd in the 91st minute to give us a 2-0 win and book a place in the quarters against the European Champions and Nations League champions France!

Quarter Final - Germany 2 - 4 France

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This was always going to be a hard game but to be 4-0 down at half time was not acceptable. The European Champions flew out of the blocks and were 1-0 up after 30 seconds through Lille striker Lusamba. He got a 2nd in the 7th minute and when Zemmouchi got a 3rd in the 20th minute it looked to be game over. Gauthier Gauthier (so nice they named him twice) got a 4th just 4 minutes later and Ballack had a job on his hands to lift his lads for the second half. He did just that however and Germany dominated the second half, creating chances at will. Unfortunately, they could only convert 2 of them and Germany left the competition a stage earlier than the FA had tasked Ballack in reaching.

Rest of Tournament:

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Hosts Mexico used home advantage to secure themselves their first ever World Cup win, beating France on penalties in the final after a 2-2 draw after extra time. As for Germany, they have sacked Michael Ballack after he didn't reach their objective of reaching the semi final. A bit harsh if you ask me, considering it was his first competitive loss in charge of the team and had only been in the job just under a year.

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Next update will be a pre-season update with Stuttgart, including a lot of incoming and outgoing transfer business...​
 

VfB Stuttgart
2026/2027 - Pre-Season Update

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Transfers:

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In direct contrast to last season with Union Berlin, this pre-season was an extremely busy period for me as I looked to put together a squad capable of coping with the challenges of both Bundesliga and Europa League football, whilst also bringing down the club's wage budget. I won't focus too much on the outgoings since they are just players who were at the club when I arrived, however I will say that even after bringing in the 10 players we did, we have managed to shave around £130,000 a week of the wage bill if my memory is correct. We brought in £9,250,000 in transfer fees and these were the two first choice players we moved on.

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The first 4 incoming transfers into the club were all arranged between the end of the season and the World Cup starting. Firstly, I decided to raid my old team to bring in young defensive midfielder Norbert Gentner for £3,600,000. I brought him to UB from Stuttgart a few years back for £12,000,000 but he was never in Klopp's plans at Berlin so I was able to get him quite cheap and hopefully he will develop to his potential here as he will be first choice DM. Next up was a deal I'm very happy with, bringing in Japanese international Takahiro Asahina from Okayama for £1,400,000. He's not outstanding but is good enough to go into our starting 11 and should be a great signing commercially, especially since we have a Japanese feeder club. His measly £13,000 a week wages also help what I feel is a great deal financially. Our next incoming player was Italian under 21 international winger Bassi from Chievo and at £6,500,000 he was our most expensive signing. I feel like he is worth it though. He has all the attributes needed for a good winger and I feel like he'll get plenty of assists this year. Chilean centre back Moises Catalan cost us £4,400,000 from Colo Colo and at just 19 years of age, he has the potential to be our first choice centre back for many years. Again, he has very decent wages at just £13,000 per week.

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The next player we brought in was Irish international centre back Kelly from Shamrock Rovers for just £29,500 after agreeing a deal with Shamrock to take him early after signing him on a bosman. At just £7,000 per week wages, his signing provides excellent value for money as a backup option in the squad. He also has a little room for improvement still. Markus Jansson and Moustapha Dieng arrived from Marseille and Real Madrid on loan, with their combined wages only costing me £8,600 per week. They'll both offer great competition for places and there is even an argument for Dieng starting ahead of Bauer, although I will stick with Alexander for now. We also have a deal to convert Jansson's loan for £2,500,000 at any point. The other loan signing was a backup left back in Ukranian Pavel Zelnicek. He's only costing us 8k a week in wages, although there is a loan fee of £36,000 a month.

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The final two additions came a little later in the window and are both players to go straight into the starting 11. American winger Tim Rodd joined from LA Galaxy for £4,700,000 and will be our starting left winger this year. We're training him on his finishing but he is a decent step up from the player we had there at the end of last season and is only on £14,000 per week.. Argentinian keeper Ariel Meza joined from Racing Club for £4,000,000 and is considering a leading Bundesliga goalkeeper.

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Squad:

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I'm much happier with the squad now than at the end of last season. I feel we have more quality both in the starting 11 and in the backups, whilst also bringing down the wage budget and trimming the squad of the unnecessary numbers. One player to watch out for is young 16 year old midfielder Jovanovic. He won't be able to play until the 29th when he turns 17, but my coaches believe he has the potential to be world class and is another example alongside Bauer of the type of players this club is able to produce.

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First 11:

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6 of my new signings go straight into the starting 11. I'm hopeful that so many changes to the squad doesn't lead to a disjointed start at the start of the season, but I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

Expectations/Bookies Odds:

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Both the media and bookies have us down to finish 5th this season, which fits in line with the boards expectations of qualifying for the Europa League once again. They also expect us to reach the German Cup Quarter Final and to be competitive in the Europa League, both of which are more than achievable. Personally, I want to break into the Champions League next season. However, that will be more difficult this season as the league has lost a Champions League place meaning we will have to finish top 3 to get in. Or win the Europa League (if that rule is in the game?).

Other News:

1) I convinced the board to allow us to buy our stadium at the end of the season. I'd always prefer to own our ground in case of needing to expand it or just so we aren't paying rent on it every season.

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2) As I alluded to before, the German league lost a Champions League place to Italy this season despite having a Champions League runner up (Union Berlin) and Europa League winner (Dortmund) last season. Hopefully our clubs have a good year in Europe this season so we can get it back.

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Next update will be an August update including the start of the Bundesliga season, two rounds of Europa League qualifiers, a German Cup tie and any other transfer deals we do before the window shuts (if we don any, which is unlikely)...​
 

VfB Stuttgart
August - 2026

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Fixtures:

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It was a pretty busy month to kick off my first whole season as Stuttgart manager, with two rounds of Europa League qualifying as well as 1 German Cup and 2 Bundesliga games. We progressed past Czech side Klado with ease in the 3rd qualifying round, with our first 11 winning the first leg 7-0 at home and our backup 11 winning the 2nd leg 4-1 away. It was not so easy in the playoff round against Scottish side Dundee however. The first leg was in Scotland and although we took a first half lead through Real Madrid loanee Dieng, the game turned on it's head when last year's player of the season Wittek got himself sent off just after half time. Dundee took advantage of the fact we had to play the remaining 43 minutes with 10 men and scored 2 goals in the last 20 minutes to take a 2-1 lead back to Germany. This meant we had to play a full strength 11 in the 2nd leg and luckily we were able to turn the tie around with a 2-0 home win courtesy of a first half brace from Bauer, securing our place in the group stages. In the German Cup we comfortably advanced past lower league opposition 5-0 away from home in a game where young midfielder Jovanovic became the club's youngest ever goalscorer! In the league, we started with a brilliant 4-0 home win against Freiburg with 4 different goalscorers. Since I've took over, the Mercedes-Benz Arena has been a real fortress for us. The second game was a disappointing 3-3 draw to newly promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf, who lost 6-0 to Bayern on the opening day. We were a little tired from the Dundee game and fell 2-0 behind early on, however it looked like we were heading for the win with 3 goals in 20 minutes turning the game on it's head. Unfortunately they equalized in the 82nd minute and we had to settle for a point.

Player of the Month - Tim Rodd

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The American has hit the ground running, with 8 assists and 2 goals in 5 starts. Of course, the opposition has not been the best but he can only play against what is in front of him.

Player Stats:

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Bauer has picked up where he left off last season with some clinical finishing in front of goal, whilst new signings Rodd and Bassi are both looking threatening on the wings.

Other News:

1) Our Europa League group is one which looks pretty easy on paper but I think it's not as straight forward as it looks. We should be challenging Lille for top spot, however I have the Swiss league loaded and Luzern are currently top and have a decent side so we could have got a few easier teams from the 4th seed pot. Steaua don't look anything special but also won't be pushovers, so we probably won't be able to completely rotate the side in any game.

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2) One thing I want to highlight is how successful we have been in reducing the salary in my first whole season in charge. We are currently only spending the 12th most in the league (out of 18) on wages and when you consider we have a team which should be challenging for the top 6 at a minimum, I'd consider that a pretty successful summer of business.

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Next up will be a September update, with tough Bundesliga games against the likes of Mainz, Schalke and Leverkusen, as well as our first Europa League group game against Steaua.​
 

VfB Stuttgart
September - 2026

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Fixtures:

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We had a very successful September as our momentum at the start of the season rolled on. The month started with a fantastic 4-1 win away to Champions League side FSV Mainz, topped off by an Alexander Bauer hatrick and a late goal from 3rd choice striker Binder. We then kicked off our Europa League group stage campaign with a 2-0 win at home to Romanian champions Steaua, who have won an incredible 14 straight titles, thanks to a brace from Bauer. We then notched two Bundesliga wins, one at home to Hertha Berlin 3-0 and a brilliant 4-0 win away from home against Leverkusen. Bauer got braces in both games, continuing his excellent form. We finished the month with a 1-1 draw at home to Schalke, throwing away the 1-0 lead Gentner gave us in the first half and bringing to an end the run of 4 straight wins.

League Table:

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We sit 4th after the first 6 games with 4 wins, 2 draws and a positive goal difference of 14. Union Berlin have flew out of the blocks as expected and have won their first 6 games!

Player of the Month - Alexander Bauer

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9 goals in 5 games this month from our number 9. Hopefully he can maintain this form throughout the season and push us into the Champions League.

Player Stats:

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Bauer has been outstanding so far and I'm starting to wonder if he could beat the 55 goals Schroder got in all competitions in my final whole season in charge at Berlin. Serbian midfielder Sredojevic is justifying my decision to keep him and get rid of Pourie with his 7.99 average rating so far, whilst youngster Jovanovic is proving that if you are good enough you are old enough.

Other News:

1) 3rd choice striker Binder was moaning about a lack of first team football so I decided to sell him to Nurnberg for £1,300,000. Obviously he'll not move till January and he has the makings of a decent striker but I think we need better for where we want to go.

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2) I also thought I'd just highlight the two major signings Union Berlin have made since I left. Both were signed last year in January in order for Klopp to be able to play his narrow 4-1-2-1-2.

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Next up will be the October update, with away games in the Europa League against Luzern and Lille and a big Sud Derby away in Munchen against Bayern!​
 
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