BallyC7's European League Challenge!

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BallyC7

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The European League Challenge


Inspired by KLIPPYBO's and StoneCold's Champions League challenge, I've decided to come up with a challenge of my own and will be writing this story as I go.



​
The challenge is to win every one of the top 20 leagues in Europe, but with rules too....


1. You must start the game in a league ranked between 16th and 20th on the game. You can choose your club - you don't have to start unemployed.
2. The league rankings may change throughout your career on the game, but for the purpose of the challenge, you stick with the original 20 listed here.
3. You are not allowed to manage any team that has won the top division in their country in the past 10 years! Check history of each league before you take a job, as this will obviously change throughout the course of your career!
4. You may start the game with the recommended experience and coaching badges for the club you start with.
5. You can stay with any club for as long as you like, winning multiple league titles in that country (if you like).
6. You can move around countries as you wish....eg. if you have spent 3 seasons at a club and failed to win that league, you can leave and come back to that country at a later date.
7. If you win promotion, but do not win the division outright, then this does not count. You will need to go back at some point in your career and win this league with another team. This is only valid for the English Championship and German 2.Bundesliga.
8. If you get sacked, the game is not over....you keep going and try to rebuild your reputation.



So the leagues that you need to win to complete the challenge are....


SpainLa Liga
GermanyBundesliga
EnglandPremier League
ItalySerie A
FranceLigue 1
RussiaPremier League
PortugalPrimeira Liga
UkrainePremier League
BelgiumPro League A
TurkeySuper League
Czech RepublicFirst League
SwitzerlandSuper League
HollandEredivisie
GreeceSuperleague
AustriaBundesliga
CroatiaFirst League
Germany2.Bundesliga
DenmarkSuperliga
RomaniaLiga 1
EnglandChampionship


So to start the game, you have to pick a team in the bottom 5 leagues. Here's the teams you are NOT allowed to be based on the fact they have won the competition in the past 10 years....


EnglandChampionshipCardiff, Reading, QPR, Wolves
RomaniaLiga 1FC Viitorul, Astra Giurgiu, FCSB, CFR Cluj, Dinamo Bucuresti
DenmarkSuperligaFC Kobenhavn, FC Midtjylland, Aab, FC Nordsjaelland
Germany2.BundesligaIngolstadt, Greuther Furth, Kaiserslautern
CroatiaFirst LeagueHNK Rijeka, GNK Dinamo



If you fancy giving my challenge a go, then feel free to start your own story and post links to yours on my thread here. Good luck!​
 
progress.jpg


I will use this to mark my progress throughout the challenge, marking off which teams I have completed each league with.


CountryLeagueTeams Completed With
SpainLa Liga

GermanyBundesliga
EnglandPremier League
ItalySerie A
FranceLigue 1

RussiaPremier League
PortugalPrimeira Liga
UkrainePremier League
BelgiumPro League A
TurkeySuper League
Czech RepublicFirst League
SwitzerlandSuper League
HollandEredivisie
GreeceSuperleague
AustriaBundesliga
CroatiaFirst League
Germany2.Bundesliga
DenmarkSuperliga
RomaniaLiga 1
EnglandChampionship


Managerial History

May 2017 - Present; HNK Hajduk (Croatia)


Trophy Cabinet

None

​
 
Last edited:
The Challenge Begins!

The Journey Starts Here...

So I decided to kick off my challenge in Croatia and the team I have chosen to begin with is HNK Hajduk, also known as Hajduk Split.


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The club I've taken over have a rich history in Croatia, having won the Croatian First League 6 times and the Croatian Cup also 6 times.

View attachment 56476



However, in accordance with the rules of the challenge, you can see that they haven't won the top division for the past 10 years. They have been competitive finishing inside the top 3 in 8 of the last 10 seasons.

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The club have a national reputation, are worth around £13.5 million and have good training and youth facilities. The owner loves the club and it seems that nearly every team in the country is some form of derby or rival game.

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The club play their home games at Poljud, which has a capacity of 34,448.

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The club is in a good financial situation with nearly £10 million in the bank. Despite this, I only have £350k to spend in the transfer market.

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As far as the league competition goes, there are 10 teams in the Croatian First League. The season is spread across 36 games with teams playing each other four times throughout the campaign.

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Looking back through the past winners, this league has been completely dominated by Dinamo over the years. Although Rijeka have emerged as challengers over the past few seasons and finally knocked Dinamo off their perch last season.

View attachment 56471


​
 
The Squad

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The Squad

I've inherited a pretty small squad here, which is worrying as we have a 36 game season to play, plus a domestic and european cup competition.

However, within that team, it looks like I have some decent players with a number of them rated as 3.5 stars or higher based on my assistant manager's review.

Some of my younger players also have the potential to be very good as well!

View attachment 56297



My best 3 players at the club are...

Borja
DC

Borja is a new arrival at Hajduk Split following a career spent mostly in Spain. Over the past couple of seasons he has played 25 games for the Barcelona B team. At 23 years old, he has his best years ahead of him and looks like a very good defender for the Croatian league.

View attachment 56296


Josip Radosevic
DM/MC

Again, a relatively young player at only 23, who already has a cap for the national Croatia side. A brave and aggressive defensive midfielder with a very good work rate, he could be utilized well to break up the oppositions play.

View attachment 56295


Steliano Filip
LB/LWB

A determined full back, again only 23 years of age! Great work rate, great determination, decent tackling with good passing and crossing ability going forward.

View attachment 56294



The squad dynamics look OK. Dressing room atmosphere is very good and the players seem OK about me being here despite having no experience. Team cohesion is poor but that will come in time.

View attachment 56293

​
 
Good luck. Nice idea!!!

A world one would maybe be just as good. More fun managing in Brazil or Argentina than Denmark.

Will follow
 
KLIPPYBO said:
Good luck. Nice idea!!!

A world one would maybe be just as good. More fun managing in Brazil or Argentina than Denmark.

Will follow
Click to expand...

Hopefully I'll only have to spend 1 season in Denmark if I win the league at my first attempt ;-)
 
Pre Season 2017/18

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Pre Season 2017/18

Pre season told me two main things about my team here. We don't tend to score a lot of goals (even against teams with a much lower rating/reputation than us), but we certainly don't seem to concede a lot either (even against teams like Ajax with a much higher rep than us).

​
View attachment 56111


The media release their predictions before the new campaign kicks off. As expected, they rate us and we're fully expected to be in the mix for the title challenge with a 3rd place prediction. It's expected that there will only be us, Dinamo and Rijeka fighting it out, with Cibalia and Istra 1961 by far the worse teams in this league.

View attachment 56110


Marko Futacs is amongst the best strikers in the league apparently and is tipped to be challenging for the golden boot. Dinamo clearly have the best forward players in the league looking at these odds.

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The board give me their expectations for the season. They're looking for European qualification in the league, as well as us getting through the qualifying rounds and making the group stage of this year's Europa League. Big expectations for the Croatian Cup as they want a final appearance.

View attachment 56108


The draw for the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Europa Cup was made, and we have been handed a draw against Montenegro side, FK Mladost Podgorica.

View attachment 56107


Pre season did have one hiccup, with one of my best players, Mijo Caktas, picking up an injury that will see him miss the first couple of weeks of the new season.

View attachment 56106

​
 
Transfer Centre

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Not much transfer activity for me before the season started with limited options available to me, so only a couple of new arrivals...

Maksim Oluic
DC/RB
Signed from Lokomotiva
Fee: £450,000

At 19 years old, Oluic is a very promising youngster who already has some decent stats. His tackling, marking, heading, determination, positioning and anticipation are already sitting around the 11-12 mark and these are all stats I look for in a centre back. With the right amount of first team football and development, I could definitely bring the youngster through and would expect him to break into the Croatian national side before he is 21.

View attachment 56046


Matej Raic-Sudar
LB
Unattached
Fee: Free Transfer

This one was down to my Head of Youth Development as he found the 16 year old and brought him to the club. I have the final say on these deals and decided to go ahead with this one as the player certainly looks like he has some potential for the future at such a young age.

View attachment 56045



As far as departures go, nobody left the club on a permanent basis but I did send a few of the youngsters from the 2nd team out on loan.

View attachment 56044​
 
July 2017

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July 2017
"We Just Don't Concede Goals"

An unbeaten start to my career as a football manager. Six games played across domestic and European competition resulting in 3 wins and 3 draws without a single goal conceded.

​
View attachment 56043

Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round 1st Leg: Mladost (P) - Home
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic (Oluic 65), Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Kozulj (Juric 65), Basic, Said, Barry (Tudor 54), Futacs

View attachment 56042


We completely dominated this game from start to finish, with 67% possession and having 19 shots on goal, but we only managed the 1 goal and I could only hope that won't come back to bite us on the **** in the 2nd leg. We limited our opponents to only 1 shot in the whole game which was a hopeful long range effort that was never going to trouble my keeper.


Matchday 1: Istra 1961 - Home (4th vs 5th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip (Memolla 75), Radosevic, Kozulj, Basic, Tudor, Gyurcso, Futacs (Almeida 65)

View attachment 56041


Based on media predictions, Istra were widely seen as the worst team in this league. Again we ran riot with possession recording 61% and created 11 chances to their 3, but still only managed 1 goal. However, the defence held strong with their second consecutive clean sheet and we kick off the season with a win.


Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg: Mladost (P) - Away
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic (Oluic 87), Borja, Filip, Radosevic (Gentzoglou 75), Kozulj, Basic, Tudor, Gyursco (Fomitschow 65), Futacs

View attachment 56040


A solid defensive performande in Montenegro gets the job done and sees us through to the 3rd qualifying round....

...Where we will play Glasgow Rangers.

View attachment 56036


Matchday 2: Slaven Belupo - Away (5th vs 3rd)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Gentzoglou, Basic (Caktas 73), Tudor (Fomitschow 57), Gyurcso (Almeida 85), Futacs

View attachment 56039


A closely fought game ended in a bore draw. Futacs and Almeida both missed good headed opportunities in the dying minutes to steal all three points. My team has not conceded a competitive goal in 4 games since I took over.


Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round 1st Leg: Rangers - Home
Formation: 4-5-1 Flat
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Tudor, Gentzoglou (Kozulj 64), Radosevic, Basic (Caktas 64), Fomitschow, Almeida (Futacs 74)

View attachment 56038


Disappointing to come away with a draw after such a fantastic performance. We were brilliant here and the 4-5-1 formation proved to be an excellent tactical switch as we packed out the midfield and completely stopped Rangers from gaining any sort of momentum in the game. Just a shame we couldn't find the back of the net with 1 of our 13 shots on goal.


Matchday 3: Rudes - Home (3rd vs 8th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Caktas (Basic 62), Kozulj, Tudor, Barry (Gyurcso 62), Prtajin

View attachment 56037


Another 1-0 win at home ensures we finish my first month in charge unbeaten.....and without conceding a single goal.


Player of the Month

Zvonimir Kozulj
MC

Hajduk%20-%20Cibalija035-16974582.JPG



Appearances: 5 (1 as sub)
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Completed Passes: 493
Average Rating: 7.10

The whole team have been consistently OK this month with nobody playing badly, but nobody really shining and standing out either. I'm giving the player of the month to Kozulj for his consistency and the fact that everything seems to be going through him in the midfield at the moment and he's handling that responsibility extremely well with nearly 500 passes completed in 5 games.

League Table

An unbeaten start sees us lying second after the opening 3 games of the season, with Dinamo top following their 100% start. Holders Rijeka are still to win a game.

View attachment 56035

Other News

I picked up 2nd place in the Manager of the Month award.

View attachment 56034


Ahmed Said picked up an injury that will see him miss a month of action.

View attachment 56033

​
 
August 2017

hajduk.png


August 2017
"Crashing out of Europe, unbeaten in the league"

August was an extremely busy month with a very crowded fixture list. We crashed out of the Europa League with a terrible performance away in Romania, but remain unbeaten in the league.

View attachment 56000

Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg: Rangers - Away
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja (Oluic 79), Filip, Radosevic, Caktas (Basic 67), Kozulj, Tudor, Barry (Gyurcso 67), Prtajin

View attachment 55999


After the 0-0 draw at home in the first leg, we were big underdogs for this game, so I'm delighted to come away with the 2-0 win. And it was well deserved as we were the better side throughout. Rangers piled on the pressure in the final 15 minutes but we rode the wave well and kept another clean sheet. Ivan Prtajin bagged his first goal for the club!

The Playoffs draw would pit us against Romanian side Steau Bucharest.

View attachment 55998




Matchday 4: Inter Zapresic - Away (7th vs 2nd)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip (Memolla 80), Radosevic, Caktas (Basic 58), Kozulj, Tudor, Barry, Prtajin (Futacs 68)

View attachment 55997


A wonderful volley from Hamza Barry gave us the lead in this game, only for us to be pegged back 7 minutes later as we conceded our first goal of the season. As it turned out, that was Zapresic's only shot of the entire game, but despite the fact we went on to dominate and create chance after chance after chance, we just couldn't find a winning goal.




Matchday 5: Cibalia - Home (3rd vs 8th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Basic, Kozulj, Tudor, Barry, Almeida

View attachment 55996


A comfortable home win that never really looked in doubt. Almeida gets off the mark for the club with his first goal from the penalty spot.




Europa League Playoff 1st Leg: FCSB - Home
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Basic, Kozulj, Tudor, Barry, Almeida

View attachment 55995


A solid performance and a 2-0 home win puts us in the drivers seat for the second leg in Romania. We could and should of probably had at least one more here too which I feel would of put the tie to bed. An early away goal in the 2nd leg should seal our place in the group stage now.




Matchday 6: Osijek (3rd vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic (Gentzoglou 77), Basic, Kozulj, Tudor, Gyurcso (Said 77), Almeida (Futacs 77)

View attachment 55994


A good win over an Osijek side that had made a decent start to the season having won 2 and drawn 3 of their opening 5 games. An Almeida penalty was enough to seal all 3 points on the day!




Europa League Playoff 2nd Leg: FCSB - Away
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic (sent off 47), Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Basic, Kozulj, Tudor (Caktas 74), Gyurcso (Ismajli 47), Almeida (Futacs 67)

View attachment 55993


Everything went wrong in this game....they got the early goal and we crumbled. Goalkeeper and defensive errors were at fault for 3 of the 5 goals, Juranovic lost his head and got sent off leaving us the whole second half to play with 10 men! It was just very, very poor and we won't be playing in the group stages of the Europa League this year.




Matchday 7: Dinamo - Away (2nd vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic (Ismajli 79), Nizic, Borja, Fomitschow, Radosevic (sent off 73), Caktas, Gentzoglou, Tudor, Gyurcso (Basic 73), Said

View attachment 55992


The boys bounced back in the perfect way by beating the most dominant team in Croatian football on their home turf! A good all round performance and a deserved result which keeps us unbeaten in the league.

[FONT=&quot]Player of the Month

[/FONT]Zvonimir Kozulj
MC

RMT_8604-251096050.JPG


Appearances: 6
Goals: 2
Assists: 0
Completed Passes: 592
Average Rating: 7.24

Kozulj bags the prize for the 2nd month in a row after again showing great consistency and controlling most of our play through the midfield in every game. This guy is as solid as they come!

League Table

We are top of the league after 7 games and that win against Dinamo at the end of the month allows us to open up a 3 point lead. Rijeka have recovered from their slow start.

View attachment 55991

Other News

I picked up 2nd place in the manager of the month award again.

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And after I asked the board for a rise in transfer budget, they came back with a response that brought a cheeky little smile to my face. £4 million has been made available.

View attachment 55989
​
 
Nee Signing

Hajduk Split Break Transfer Record On Deadline Day

fabianbenko-cropped_p3twypdig9ge1gg12zfm37o0k.jpg



Hajduk manager Chris Ball has reportedly worked tirelessly throughout transfer deadline day to finalise a move for 19 year old Croatian, Fabian Benko.


Benko is an attacking midfield player who can play down either wing or through the middle and offers cover in numerous positions on the pitch.


Hajduk have parted with a cool £2.5 million to sign the Croatia U21 star from German powerhouse Bayern Munich, breaking the club's record transfer fee in the process.


"Benko is an exciting player with great technique and flair and I hope he can entertain our fans for years to come" said Ball.


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View attachment 55986​
 
September 2017

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September 2017
"First League Defeat, But Still Top"

The first thing to happen this month was the draw for the Croatian Cup First Round, which pitted us against lower league opposition, Bedem.

View attachment 55727


We started the month of September really well with a win against league holders Rijeka and followed that up with a another league win and progress in the Croatian Cup. However, a lack of conviction in front of goal cost us towards the end of the month as we suffered a first league loss of the season and followed that up with a disappointing draw.

View attachment 55735



Matchday 8: Rijeka - Home (1st vs 2nd)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic (Oluic 82), Nizic, Borja, Formitschow, Gentzoglou, Caktas (Basic 64), Kozulj, Tudor, Benko, Said (Futacs 64)

View attachment 55734


We followed up the win against Dinamo with another determined performance against the current league holders, Rijeka. The team really had to dig in and withstood some heavy pressure from our opponents, although we did have some good spells ourselves. A penalty from stand in left back, Andre Fomitschow, was enough to grab all 3 points and I'm delighted to have beat our other two main title challengers in back to back games. New signing Fabian Benko made his debut for the club and although he didn't set the world alight, he was solid enough.




Matchday 9: Lokomotiva - Away (10th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic (Oluic 65), Borja, Formitschow, Gentzoglou, Caktas (Juric 65), Kozulj (Barry 65), Tudor, Benko, Said

View attachment 55733


It was a top vs bottom clash and in the lead up, we were glad of the supposed weak opposition after playing arguably the two best sides in the league. And it turned out to be a much easier game for us, creating 18 chances and dominating the possession. We probably should of won by a much higher margin but a win's a win and I'll take it.




Croatian Cup 1st Round: Bedem - Away
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Letica, Isnajli, Nizic, Oluic, Fomitschow, Juric, Basic, Gentzoglou, Tudor, Barry, Prtajin

View attachment 55732


With us playing lower league opposition in the 1st round of the cup, I took the opportunity to rotate the squad a little and give starts to some of the fringe players. It very nearly backfired as the team lacked fluency and we were given a tough game by Bedem who very nearly earned a draw from the match. But a late goal off the bench for new signing Fabian Benko ensured we didn't slip up and progress to the second round.




Matchday 10: Istra 1961 - Away (5th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic (Juric 58), Caktas, Basic (Tudor 76), Benko, Barry, Said (Futacs 58)

View attachment 55731


We suffered pur first league defeat of the season to the overachieveing Istra 1961. Istra had made a good start to the campaign, sitting mid table after the first 9 games, when they were expected to be firmly rooted to the bottom. Fair play to them, but we never should of lost this game. We had 17 shots on goal and only managed 2 on target as our strikers were just awful today. Marko Futacs came off the bench and missed 2 absolute sitters to draw us level and my frustration with his poor performances this season continues to grow stronger.




Matchday 11: Slaven Belupo - Home (1st vs 6th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Caktas, Basic, Barry (Tudor 45), Benko, Said (Almeida 62)

View attachment 55730


Slaven Belupo came into this game with a run of 4 straight clean sheets, combined with the fact we didn't score a lot of goals, this potentially had a 0-0 draw written all over it! And that's exactly how it turned out. Neither side created a decent chance until the 92nd minute, when we got a free kick and it was floated in and found Fran Tudor unmarked at the back post. All he had to do is get his shot on target but he fired against the crossbar from all of about 2 yards out :-(

Player of the Month

Mijo Caktas
MC

542cc8b15c61201027ad.jpeg

Appearances: 5
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
Key Passes: 6
Average Rating: 7.04

It was a month where, again, nobody shone and stood above the rest. Caktas was consistent though and chipped in with a goal and an assist.

League Table

We have opened up a gap at the top of the table to 5 points, although Dinamo and Rijeka do have a game in hand over us.

View attachment 55729

Other News

Only 3rd place in the manager of the month award this month.

View attachment 55728

​
 
October 2017

hajduk.png


October 2017
"Struggling To Find The Target"

Right at the start of the month again, there was a draw for the Croatian Cup. In the 2nd round, we drew fellow First League side Osijek.

View attachment 55713

During the month, we really struggled with our finishing. Despite the fact that we scored 5 goals in 4 games, it doesn't tell the whole story. During the 4 matches this month, we actually had 55 shots on goal, but only 9 of these shots were actually on target! Despite that, we have managed a couple of league wins, but I'm bitterly disappointed to have crashed out of the Croatian Cup at such an early stage.

View attachment 55712

Matchday 12: Rudes - Away (10th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic (Oluic 68), Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Basic, Caktas, Tudor (Barry 45), Benko, Said (Prtajin 68)

View attachment 55710


A comfortable win against the bottom side. Three goals in the opening 18 minutes put the game to bed pretty early and left Rudes struggling throughout the whole game to get anywhere near back on terms. I'd have liked us to maybe have gone on and bagged a couple more goals but it wasn't to be.




Matchday 13: Inter Zapresic - Home (1st vs 7th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic, Basic, Caktas (Kozulj 58), Tudor, Benko, Said (Prtajin 58)

View attachment 55709


Again it was our shooting that let us down today....20 shots at goal and only managing 3 on target. They were never a threat, only creating two long range efforts all game and this really is a poor result in a game we should have won easily. Just look at those stats!

View attachment 55703




Croatian Cup 2nd Round: Osijek - Home
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Filip, Radosevic (Gentzoglou 65), Basic (Kozulj 65), Caktas, Tudor, Benko, Said (Prtajin 65)

View attachment 55707


Yet again, our terrible finishing up front lets us down and this time we paid the price by going out of the cup via the way of a penalty shootout. The board won't be happy as they were expecting me to make the final of this competition!




Matchday 14: Osijek - Home (1st vs 4th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja (Oluic 75), Fomitschow, Gentzoglou, Kozulj (Juric 90), Basic, Tudor, Barry, Futacs (Prtajin 75)

View attachment 55708


We immediately got a little bit of revenge on Osijek for knocking us out of the cup with a much better performance here in the league. I had to rotate the squad a little due to some tired legs with only a 3 day gap between games, but the players that stepped in did me proud. Futacs finally grabbed his first league goal of the season after re-entering the starting lineup for this one.

Player of the Month

Fabian Benko
AML

Fabian%20Benko.jpg



Appearances: 3
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Passes Completed: 328
Average Rating: 7.47

The young lad came good this month with 3 excellent performances. Chipped in with goal of the month along the way and achieved the highest average rating we've seen in a month so far this season.

View attachment 55706

League Table

We remain top of the table and it looks like us and Dinamo are starting to pull away from the chasing pack.

View attachment 55705

Other News

I picked up my first manager of the month award.

View attachment 55704



​
 
Nice. No major concerns about the board being ****** off - at this rate you'll be outta there at the end of the season anyways!
 
Sammuthegreat said:
Nice. No major concerns about the board being ****** off - at this rate you'll be outta there at the end of the season anyways!
Click to expand...

Long way to go yet, but it would be great to get one of the league titles won in my very first season!
 
November 2017

hajduk.png


November 2017
"We've Started Conceding Goals"

Our defence has been rock solid all season up until this month. November was the first month that we have seen some fragility in the back 4! And it cost us as we only managed one win in three games this month.

View attachment 55694


Matchday 15: Cibalia - Away (8th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-5-1 Flat
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Borja, Fomitschow, Tudor, Kozulj, Radosevic, Basic, Benko (Gyurcso 67), Futacs (Said 67)

View attachment 55693


Cibalia came with a very narrow 4-1-3-2 formation, so to counter it I switched up to the flat 4-5-1 that we played so well against Rangers with earlier in the season. My plan was to pack out the midfield and compete with them for the ball and then exploit the wide areas with two wingers where they had no cover. The initial idea worked brilliantly with us controlling the midfield and getting a total of 26 crosses into the box, and right winger Fran Tudor scored a match rating of 9.0! However, again we had problems with our finishing and only managed 2 shots on target from a total of 15 shots at goal. Cibalia made us pay for our missed opportunities late on when they threw everyone forward in search of an equalizer and managed to get one with only minutes remaining.


Matchday 16: Dinamo - Home (1st vs 2nd)
Formation: 4-5-1 Flat
Lineup: Letica, Juranovic (Prtajin 60), Nizic, Borja, Filip, Tudor, Kozulj, Radosevic, Basic (Caktas 60), Fomitschow (Barry 45), Said

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Afraid to say we were well beaten by the bettter side on the day. Dinamo were good....really good! This result saw them leapfrog us to top spot in the table, and on this performance, we're going to have a job keeping them from lifting the title this season!


Matchday 17: Lokomotiva - Home (2nd vs 8th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Oluic, Filip, Gentzoglou, Kozulj, Caktas, Tudor, Benko (Gyurcso 60), Futacs

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We dominated the game from start to finish, but it looked like we were going to fall short again as a resolute Lokomotiva side were keeping us out for long periods. That was, until an absolute cracker of a strike from Zvonimir Kozulj in the final minute of the game gave us the win.

Player of the Month

Fran Tudor
AMR

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Appearances: 3
Goals: 0
Assists: 1
Key Passes: 8
Average Rating: 7.67

Three very good performances from the right winger this month. He really does excel when we play a wide 4-5-1 formation.

League Table

We lost top spot to Dinamo this month although we remain on the same points. We do have a better goal difference but league sorting rules go on the head to head records first.

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Other News

Ahmed Said picked up an injury that will see him miss all of December.

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We are almost at the halfway stage of the season, and in the average rating rankings we have 3 players in the top 10. Zvonimir Kozulj sits at number 1.

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December 2017

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December 2017
"Back To The Top Of The Table We Go"

An unbeaten month as we win 2 and draw 1 before the Winter break.

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Matchday 18: Istra 1961 - Home (2nd vs 5th)
Formation: 4-3-2-1
Lineup: Stipica, Juranovic, Nizic, Oluic, Filip (Fomitschow 72), Gentzoglou, Caktas, Kozulj, Tudor, Benko, Futacs (Prtajin 72)

View attachment 55661


A solid home performance ensures we kicked off December with a win. A new formation tried here with a flat 3 in the middle of the park. I decided to push our DM up a bit as Istra were playing two defensive midfielders themselves, so felt the need for us to play higher up the pitch. We dominated the match and two late goals in the first half was enough to grab all 3 points.




Matchday 19: Slaven Belupo - Away (6th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Ismajli (Nizic 83), Oluic, Borja, Filip, Gentzoglou, Kozulj, Caktas, Tudor, Benko, Futacs

View attachment 55660


Belupo made us work hard for this one, but I'm pleased that we came through it in the end with another win. After Benko had put us 2-0 up, the points looked pretty safe, but when they got a goal back in the 73rd minute, it set up a tense and nervous last 15 minutes. But the lads held firm and defended well as Belupo upped the pressure in the final minutes. I'm especially pleased to get the win after we'd drawn our previous two meetings with them 0-0.




Matchday 20: Inter Zapresic - Away (7th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Memolla, Oluic, Borja, Filip, Gentzoglou, Kozulj, Caktas, Tudor, Benko, Futacs

View attachment 55659


We were well on top for most of this game with 59% possession and creating 14 chances to their 6. But they dug in well and limited us to mostly long shots as we struggled to break them down and will have to settle for only a point in our final game of 2017.

Player of the Month

Mijo Caktas
MC

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Appearances: 3
Goals: 1
Assists: 2
Key Headers: 4
Average Rating: 7.33

Caktas has been in great form going forward this month involved in 3 goals in 3 games.

League Table

7 points in December was enough to see us go back to the top of the table and 2 points clear.

View attachment 55658

Other News

I pick up 2nd in the manager of the month again.

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Borja picked up an injury, but thankfully he'll have the Winter break to recover and should return fully fit when the league starts up again in February.

View attachment 55656


But the injury to first choice right back, Josip Juranovic, was a bit more serious and will see him out of action for up to 3 months!

View attachment 55655




​
 
1 In 1 Out

1 In, 1 Out At Hajduk Split

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It's no secret that Hajduk manager Chris Ball has been less than pleased with his striking options this season, and it was widely touted that he'd be dipping his toe into the transfer market when it reopened in January.

Ball has in fact had the scouts out for the past couple of months around Europe looking at viable options and has today confirmed that Argentinian striker Pablo Gonzalez has joined the club.

Gonzalez, 32, joins from Italian club Alessandria where he has scored 31 goals in 54 games over the past 2 seasons. He will no doubt add some experience to the Hajduk lineup and Ball will be hoping he can improve his team's chances to goals ratio during the second half of the season.

Hajduk have paid a fee of £675,000 to secure Gonzalez, who has signed a 2 1/2 year deal worth a reported £5,500 per week.

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Chris Ball also confirmed the departure of striker Hugo Almeida, who has struggled to fit into the manager's plans in his first season at the club. Having only signed a few months ago, Almeida leaves to join Portuguese Premier League outfit Portimonense. Ball allowed Almeida to leave for a fee just over £40,000.​
 
February 2018

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February 2018
"A Tough Month Playing ALL Our Title Rivals"

There was no action in January due to the Winter break and we returned to action with a busy February schedule offering up 5 games. And what a way to start 2018, with games against all 3 of our title rivals. We had a little wobble in the middle there losing back to back games against Rijeka and Osijek, but a massive win at the end of the month against Dinamo sets us back on track.

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Matchday 21: Rudes - Home (1st vs 10th)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Ismajli, Oluic, Borja, Filip, Gentzoglou, Kozulj, Caktas, Tudor, Benko, Futacs (Gonzalez 56)

View attachment 55606


Our first game back after the Winter break saw us take on bottom side Rudes, who were really struggling with only 3 wins from 21 games to their name this season. And if this wasn't going to be hard enough for them, they found themselves down to 10 men inside 16 minutes. Despite that, we still only managed to get 1 goal past them through Fabian Benko. We did have 26 shots on goal of which 11 were on target, but their keeper had an absolute blinder and kept the score respectable for them.




Matchday 22: Rijeka - Away (4th vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Ismajli, Oluic, Borja, Filip, Gentzoglou (Radosevic 31), Kozulj, Caktas, Tudor (Gyurcso 65), Barry, Futacs (Gonzalez 65)

View attachment 55605


We didn't really turn up for this one and allowed Rijeka to record a massive win over us, which tightens things right up at the top of the table. Disappointed that the lads just didn't seem to get themselves up for it.




Matchday 23: Osijek - Away (3rd vs 1st)
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Ismajli (Juranovic 52), Oluic (Nizic 52), Borja, Fomitschow, Radosevic, Kozulj, Caktas, Tudor, Barry (Futacs 52), Gonzalez

View attachment 55604


I cannot believe we lost this game....we literally missed sitter after sitter. Dominated the possession, but just could not take our chances. The only positive I can take is that Gonzalez grabbed his first goal for the club on his first start.




Matchday 24: Cibalia - Home (2nd vs 9th)
Formation: 4-5-1 Flat
Lineup: Stipica, Ismajli, Nizic, Oluic, Filip, Radosevic, Caktas, Kozulj, Tudor, Barry (Babou 67), Gonzalez (Futacs 67)

View attachment 55603


Well the first half performance here was the most dominant I've seen all season as we mustered up 14 shots on goal against their 0, combined with 63% of the possession. But we only managed the one goal in the first 45 minutes, a powerful strike from Caktas just inside the area. The second half was a lot more even, although neither side really created anything. Caktas added a second goal with a stunning free kick and his brace was enough to get us back to winning ways. U19s prospect, Pa Omar Babou came off the bench to make his debut for the club and the Gambian winger gave a decent account of himself.

View attachment 55602




Matchday 25: Dinamo - Away
Formation: 4-1-2-3 Wide
Lineup: Stipica, Ismajli, Nizic, Oluic, Filip, Radosevic, Caktas (Basic 68), Kozulj, Said, Barry (Ilicic 89), Gonzalez (Futacs 68)

View attachment 55601


A massive victory against one of our main title rivals. Ahmed Said was absolutely fantastic throughout the entire 90 minutes and fully deserved his man of the match award. Best performance by him all season! I was short on fit centre backs for this game, so 16 year old David Ilicic made the bench from the U19s squad. With only minutes to go, the lad was brought on to add an extra man at the back and hold onto our victory. On his debut, he made a potentially match winning tackle right at the death!

View attachment 55600

Player of the Month

Mijo Caktas
MC

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Appearances: 5
Goals: 2
Assists: 0
Key Passes: 11
Average Rating: 7.48

Caktas has been fantastic again this month. If our strikers could finish a bit better, I'm sure he would have more assists to his name this season as he picks out plenty of key passes!


League Table

We maintain our position at the top of the division. It's definitely between any one of four sides to win this title now, with us and Rijeka leading the way. And guess who my first game in March is up against!

View attachment 55599

Other News

Third place in the manager of the month.

View attachment 55598


We've definitely had our fair share of injuries kick in this month!

View attachment 55597


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Following their loss to us at the end of the month, Dinamo have sacked their manager. I'm not quite sure why I'm the third favourite to get sacked when my team sits nicely at the top of the division!

View attachment 55594

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All really tight at the top but hopefully you can keep your place on top, just have to convince the players to hit the target a bit more
 
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