Basque-ing in Bilbao

[Klippybo]

First off - had a few hours to kill before work so I go to the pub to watch the footy and meet up with my mate Darran (Stonecold - he of the Huntly story just now) for a catch up and show him this save etc. NEVER AGAIN!!!! What he did when I went to the bar I dont know - even had to call a failed team meeting!

(No screenshots cos on works computer)

SEPTEMBER

Bilbao lose twice! First to Sparta Prague then to Levante - we also draw at home to Betis
Alfredo nets 4 in the 7 goal rout of Xerez
Herrera, Alfredo and Izurza all injured
Spain draw with Poland and scrape past Bosnia to qualify for the Euros

Absolutely awful! Good start with the win over Xerez but with a pretty strong side we tumbled to Sparta Prague. Against Betis we fell behind and scraped a draw and then against Levante we took the lead and then collapsed. Not good at all. Set up a team meeting but that went all wrong also.

October see's a home games against Barca and our rivals Sociedad plus away games to Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich! Could this season be the end of our dominance?

Athletic Bilbao 7-0 Xerez
Alfredo 4, Sanz, Garmendia 2

UEFA Champions League Group B
Sparta Prague 1-0 Athletic Bilbao

Real Oviedo 0-4 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Garmendia 2, Vinas (pen)

Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Real Betis
Gomez

Levante 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu

UEFA Champions League Group B
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Gomez, Ordonez Lopez

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ROBERTO GOMEZ

TABLE
1- Real Sociedad 16pts
2- Valencia 15pts
3- Barcelona 13pts
4- Levante 10pts
5- Athletic Bilbao 10pts

SPAIN

Euro Champs Quals Group A

Poland 1-1 Spain
Perez Villarroya

Bosnia & Herz. 1-2 Spain
Hondo N'Dongo 2​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

At least i cant be blamed for the lack of screen shots since everything else from the Kennedy assassination to Newcastle getting relegated was my fault lol

I think missing Cidoncha sold and the injurys to Herrera and Garcia had more to do with your downfall.

 

[Klippybo]

you mean Alfredo not Garcia as he is at Atletico Madrid you numpty

 

[Klippybo]

(maybe a bit too much lol)

OCTOBER

Bilbao bounce back with 6 wins out of 6
Barca thumped 3-0 - and we had 1 chalked off
Shock horror - Gomez has announced he wants a new challenge for the billionth time
Spain thrash minnows to complete their qualifiers

We're back! Thank god. For the first time since I dont know when I was actually concerned/angry/scared about an upcoming game but I neednt have worried as we thumped Barca 3-0! What was more impressive though was that we built on it with two very tough wins against Atletico and Bayern. The Real Madrid game got postponed thankfully but despite having a few injuries and suspensions (Hondo N'Dongo was sent off twice) I feel we are on the right track again!

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Barcelona
Ayechu, Izurza, Gutierrez

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Garmendia, Perez Villarroya

UEFA Champions League Group B
Bayern Munich 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Hondo N'Dongo, Van de Stelt (og)

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Real Sociedad
Gomez, Gutierrez

Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Badajoz 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu, Sanz

Deportivo La Coruna 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Vinas (pen), Herrera

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
AITOR HERRERA
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SPAIN

Euro Champs Quals Group A

Spain 5-0 Latvia
Ibanez 3, Garcia, Antonio

San Marino 0-5 Spain
Garcia 2(1pen), Hondo N'Dongo, Izurza 2​

 

[Sam91]

Seems like you might have recovered from your slight blip!! Have you ever produced another regen nearly as good as Aitor??! He's knocking on a bit now

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

Another 6 wins out of 6 month
Through in the Champs Lge with a game to spare
Pedro Gomez Comas wants to leave for regular first team football
Spain beat Germany and Greece in friendlies

Another good month although we werent entirely convincing mainly due to the amount of players we had unavailable. Jaume Gutierrez has really stepped up to the plate this season which is good and Ayechu is looking as though he could be Sanz's long term replacement. In the Champs Lge we are on 12pts and every other team is on 6pts!

UEFA Champions League Group B
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Bayern Munich
Alfredo

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Granada
Izurza, Perez Villarroya, Gutierrez

Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 6-1 Badajoz
Alfredo (og), Ayechu 2, Sanz, Gutierrez, Gamez

Real Valladolid 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez

UEFA Champions League Group B
Athletic Bilbao 4-2 Sparta Prague
Gutierrez, Sanz, Ayechu 2

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Sporting Gijon
Valcarcel, Alfredo, Barandiaran

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAUME GUTIERREZ
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SPAIN

Friendlies

Spain 3-0 Greece
Herrera, Ibanez, Alfredo

Spain 3-1 Germany
Herrera, Ibanez, Izurza​

 

[Death Ball]

Well, your lump in form didn't last enough to make things interested for Gómez. Did he want to stay after the match lost against Real Madrid?.

I was scouting your team the other day and the report was headed with "Athletic Borebao".

Are they not ambitious?

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

FIFA Club World Cup is retained
Bilbao just keep on winning as Alfredo finds form
Bilbao to play Liverpool in the Champions League
Tough Euro group for Spain as they get Slovakia, Switzerland and Italy

Another good month considering we didnt have a home game. We battled through though with the highlight being the 7-0 thrashing of Wydad Casablanca. I am fairly content with the Champions League draw with Liverpool but less enthused about Spains European Championship group.

UEFA Champions League Group B
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu, Gomez Comas

Sevilla 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Herrera

Malaga 2-5 Athletic Bilbao
Ordonez Lopez 2, Alfredo, Gomez, Gutierrez

Elche 0-4 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo 3, Gomez

FIFA Club World Cup SF
Wydad Casablanca 0-7 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu 2, Barandiaran, Ordonez Lopez, Boukhriss (og), Gutierrez, Valcarcel

Final
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Jeonbuk
Izurza, Herrera, Hondo N'Dongo

Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
Deportivo La Coruna 2-4 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya 3, Izurza

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALFREDO
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​

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY

Some activity transfer wise for Bilbao with several deals bubbling along
Bilbao come back from behind twice to beat Valencia with 10 men
You know who won both world player of the year awards
Bilbao B under a new manager again and on a winning streak

A good month results wise but for once the main incidents revolved around transfers. I tied up a £2m deal for a 16 y/o cm as my only signing. However Real Madrid bid £11.75m for my ex player Martinez Cid. I put in £10m and both he and the club accepted but I pulled out because I had a look at the B team and saw a couple of decent youngsters and also I didnt want to spend £10m on a player that I let go for a third of that.

Ekain Barandiaran joined Borussia Dortmund on loan and Pedro Gomez Comas has requested to terminate his contract for £1.5m! Like I am going to let a £6m rated Spain international go for that! lol

Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Deportivo La Coruna
Gutierrez, Herrera

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Valencia
Perez Villarroya, Izurza, Herrera

Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg
Atletico Baleares 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu, Toni

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Villarreal
Perez Villarroya, Izurza (pen), Hondo N'Dongo

Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Atletico Baleares
Ayechu

Almeria 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza 2(1pen), Alfredo

Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Atletico Madrid
Alfredo 3(1pen), Garmendia

Real Zaragoza 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya, Valcarcel

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GASPAR PEREZ VILLARROYA
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[Mr_Grieves]

However Real Madrid bid £11.75m for my ex player Martinez Cid. I put in £10m and both he and the club accepted but I pulled out because I had a look at the B team and saw a couple of decent youngsters and also I didnt want to spend £10m on a player that I let go for a third of that.​

Because cash is such a big issue!
​

 

[Klippybo]

Because cash is such a big issue!
[/CENTER]

Hey - I havent nearly overtaken Barcelona in the financial tables by spending money ***** nilly you know! lol. Plus it would take my budget to below £600m! XD

 

[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

2 battles against Real Madrid end in a win each
Bilbao come back from the dead against Real Betis
B team storming up the table
Bilbao to play Sevilla in Copa del Rey final

A hectic month! Wasnt bothered about the Atletico Madrid game as had a healthy lead from the first leg and our rested players came back to thump Real Madrid! We followed that up with some good wins before Real Madrid got revenge by putting 4 past us.

The last game of the month was farcical. We were 3 nil down and pulled one back just before half time. I was raging (especially after losing our previous game) so didnt do a team talk or sub my players that were shattered and somehow we won with our last 3 goals coming on 89, 90+1 and 90+3 minutes!!!!

Copa del Rey SF 2nd Leg
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu

Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Real Madrid
Alfredo 3, Hondo N'Dongo

Xerez 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Perez Villarroya 2

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Real Oviedo
Herrera 2

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
Liverpool 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Gomez

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Levante
Vinas (pen), Hondo N'Dongo, Herrera

Real Madrid 4-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Izurza

Real Betis 3-4 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Alfredo, Garmendia, Perez Villarroya

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALFREDO
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[craig9045]

This thread should be printed on hardback lol. Lot of effort gone into this, great read so far (because it takes that long to read!)

But a good thing as really helps me make the best out of sitting at my desk in work. Hope it continues

Craig

 

[craig9045]

Sorry to double post but when i edit my last post if just brings up the forum home page in the text box!

Do your spain squads ever get criticised for having too many of your club players? For me (manager of Wales and Swansea) when ever i have more than 8 or 9 of my club players in the Welsh squad they get criticised in the press.

 

[adadrobt]

This thread should be printed on hardback lol. Lot of effort gone into this, great read so far (because it takes that long to read!)

But a good thing as really helps me make the best out of sitting at my desk in work. Hope it continues

Craig

Haha same mate! just managed to finish reading the whole thing its what i do everyday at work haha!!

 

[craig9045]

Haha same mate! just managed to finish reading the whole thing its what i do everyday at work haha!!

Haha if only we could actually play FM whilst in work eh.

But anyway Klippy. Great story, hope you don't get bored of it!

 

[Klippybo]

Sorry to double post but when i edit my last post if just brings up the forum home page in the text box!

Do your spain squads ever get criticised for having too many of your club players? For me (manager of Wales and Swansea) when ever i have more than 8 or 9 of my club players in the Welsh squad they get criticised in the press.

Every single time - but I call up 14/15 Bilbao players!

Only Cidoncha and Garcia are in the starting 11 for Spain that doesnt play for me (and obviously I had them) while Ibanez, Santano, Bilbao (GK), Kortadi are amongst the squad members who also used to play with us.

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

Unbeaten month despite conceding goals like never before
Half decent youth intake - nobody to jump into the 1st team though
Only leading the title by 3pts - eeeeeeeekkkkkk!!!!
Spain thump Holland - Ayechu gets debut goal

Busy month once again as we head into the final straight. Plenty of goals but we were at fault in conceding far to many. Still came through unscathed though which was pleasing. Iker Muniain got his first goal of the season which was good and Izurza was on fire!

Barcelona 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Valcarcel

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Liverpool
Izurza, Ayechu

Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Malaga
Gomez 2, Sanz (pen), Ordonez Lopez

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Atletico Madrid
Ruiz, Herrera, Izurza

Real Sociedad 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza 2

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Deportivo La Coruna
Herrera, Ayechu, Izurza (pen)

UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg
Benfica 3-3 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Muniain, Gutierrez

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSE LUIS IZURZA
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SPAIN

Friendly

Holland 0-3 Spain
Garcia, Izurza, Ayechu​

 

[craig9045]

Every single time - but I call up 14/15 Bilbao players!

Only Cidoncha and Garcia are in the starting 11 for Spain that doesnt play for me (and obviously I had them) while Ibanez, Santano, Bilbao (GK), Kortadi are amongst the squad members who also used to play with us.

haha so there are no long term reprecussions to just calling up mostly your own players? Thats good

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

La Liga won again with win over Elche
Bilbao throw away 2 goal lead against Sporting Gijon
Bilbao to face Lyon in Champions League final
u19s win league and cup

Despite winning the title and getting through to the Champions League final this wasnt an enjoyable month as we slipped up a few times and we are constantly having injuries and suspensions like never before! Bayern Munich forward van de Stelt scored his 2nd goal for us this season! Also I couldnt believe that CB Ander Valcarcel managed to net a hat-trick.

Pedro Gomez Comas missed training and was fined 2 weeks wages and then he promptly withdrew his transfer request!

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Granada
Alfredo, Perez Villarroya

UEFA Champions League QF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Benfica
Ordonez Lopez, Izurza (pen)

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Valladolid
Herrera

Athletic Bilbao 2-2 Sevilla
Gomez, Hondo N'Dongo

Sporting Gijon 3-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, De la Torre

UEFA Champions League SF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Bayern Munich
Van de Stelt (og), Herrera

Valencia 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Garmendia 2

UEFA Champions League SF 2nd Leg
Bayern Munich 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera 2

Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Elche
Valcarcel 3(1pen), Ayechu

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
AITOR HERRERA
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