Cultural Leonesa - Going strong since FM 2009

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Jake

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OK, so Brian keeps badgering me to get this started up again, I'll be honest and say it's been hard for me to get into any FM 11 file this time, particularly La Cultu.

But i have managed to progress somewhat, so here's the start of my hopefully incredible journey with the little club from Leon, Northern Spain. :)

Anyone unfamiliar with last years story please click here for more info.

OK, so as anyone who's read my stories before will know, I'm a bit of a dinosuar, there are no fancy graphics and i rarely write up individual match reports. Basically i like managing this little club to relative success, and enjoy sharing it with you. My format for updates is 3 per season; a pre season report, discussing the aims for the new season, my success/failure in the summer transfer market, and any other notable news. There will be a mid season update and then an end of season debrief. All updates usually include my views on tactics, players, as well as many other areas of life at the club. I also post the goings in in my division as well as major events from around the footballing world; world cup finals etc.

CLUB OVERVIEW

Cultural Leonesa, full name Cultural y Dep. Leonesa are a small club lurking in the depths of the spanish league system, they play in Spanish 2nd Div B2. They have a very small honours list, their most notable success was winning spains 2nd tier in 1955. Recent success includes winning Spanish 2nd Div B2 in 1999 and finishing runner up in B1 in 2008/9.

They are affectionately known by their fans as Los Culturalistas or La Cultu and retain fierce rivalries with both Ponferradina and Valladolid.

The facilities are average at best but they do own the 13451 all seater Reino Del Leon. Average crowds are more like 5000 thanks to 3500 season ticket holders willing to pay the £62 a year to watch their club. Most of the players are pros, which is an advantage compared to lower league management in England.

The finances of the club are in a reasonable state with no loans to pay off, the club is estimated to be valued at £2.1million.

Season One 2010/11

Pre Season Report

As usual, i arrived at the Reino Del Leon to a less than favourable response from the fans. My status as a former semi-pro footballer was always unlikely to impress.

I quickly set about getting to grips with the squad, being familiar with the team from FM10 was of little help, the squad has changed almost beyond recognition. I appeared to have some better CB's than last time, and arguably more talent in the final third, but La Cultu's central midfield looks ropey to say the least.

I quickly discovered that La Cultu have moved divisions for the 10/11 season, they are no longer in 2B1, but instead must negotiate the arguably more difficult 2B2. Think of it like a team being moved from the Blue Square North to the Blue Square South.

While assessing my opponents in 2B2, i was gutted to see that Bilbao Athletic and their wonderkid factory were standing in my way. Their squad possesses by a long way the two best players in the division.

IigoPrezProfile_Attributes-1.png


MikelBalenziagaProfile_Attributes-1.png


Bilbao will surely be strong contenders for the title, along with Alaves, recently relgated Real Union, and probably Gimnastica and Zamora.

Until i delved into the market i had no idea of my chances of gaining promotion. I forgot to take a screenshot but the board offered me a 120k transfer budget to achieve a mid table finish, along with 15.5k a week for wages, which i gladly agreed to. The bookies gave me an outside shot at the title, 25/1 is probably worth a tenner :)

JakeMillerNews_Inbox.png


I moved (as usual for those familiar with my previous stories) for a certain Alejandro Rocamora, a hero from my FM09 and FM10 La Cultu files. I was delighted to find him unnattached and snapped him up on a free. He's at best an average player at this level, but i have no doubt he can lead us to glory once again. I was surprised at the amount of quality i was able to bring to the club, the likes of Joshua who until last season was at Athletico Madrid were quite easy to negotiate with.

JoshuaProfile_Attributes.png


I also secured the services of 3 goalkeepers, as all of the current ones were poo, after signing them i noticed the new squad restrictions in place for Spanish 2B football:

0 Non-EU players
Max squad size of 22
Max of 2 Goalkeepers
Max of 16 players aged over 23 in the squad

Pretty restrictive, and one of the 3 new GK's would either need to be offloaded, or left out of the squad. :S

Here are my other ins and outs, notable deals include Leo Aro, Aguirregaray, Rapnik, Lamotte and Archubi.

CulturalyDepLeonesaTransfers_History.png


I'm excited by German full back Lamotte, he is arguably too good for this division, and age is on his side, so hopefully he can progress up the leagues with me.
FabianLamotteProfile_Attributes.png


Aguirregaray provides versatility down the right flank, and his loan deal will hopefully build a relationship with his parent clubs manager, potentially paving the way for future wonderkids to make tgheir way from Penarol to La Cultu
MatasAguirregarayProfile_Attributes.png


Matej Rapnik was part of my successful La Cultu team on FM10, i was delighted when he made the move this time round, a rock at the back for years to come.
MatejRapnikProfile_Attributes.png


It's a similar story with Archubi, he did well down the left in the Liga Adelante years on FM10, I'm pleased to secure him in the 2B divisions this time.
RodrigoArchubiProfile_Attributes.png


I think everyone is aware of Leo Aro, if he stays injury free, he should be able to fire us to glory by himself.
LoAroProfile_Attributes.png


I noted the presence of Oscar Martinez in my u-19's, he's a GK for the future, but could do a job now if needed. The rest were unimpressive, and i don't seem to have a B team at all anymore oO)

Preseason was very up and down, not securing any decent results until the final few games of the pre season schedule. Although as expected, Rocamora popped up and scored on his debut:

YouTube - Oviedo vs Cultural Leonesa - Rocamora Goal 23rd minute

I've adopted my tried and tested lower league tactic. It involves shutting up shop with a defensive back four, 2 defensive midfielders, wingers who offer limited support only and then a ''gerrard-torres' style front pairing. The tactic relies on defending everything the opposition can throw at us, then getting the ball to the front 2 as quick as possible and only offering limited support so as to protect our own goal. It sounds very negative but has proved very effective on lower league files in the past, so i shall stick by it for now. I expect to concede rarely and nick alot of games 1-0. Its also a formation that in the past has allowed Rocamora to flourish.

CulturalyDepLeonesaCulturalLeonesa_Tactics-2.png


CulturalyDepLeonesaCulturalLeonesa_Tactics2.png


As i type the transfer window has just closed, and i have played one competitive fixture; a dissapointing 1-0 away defeat against Palencia. I'm unsure what to think of losing to one of the weaker teams in the division. I'm hoping it's down to a new squad still adapting to a new style of play, only time will tell...

CulturalyDepLeonesaCulturalLeonesa_Fixtures.png


SpanishSecondDivisionB2Information_LeagueTable.png


I'm aiming to be there or there abouts in terms of promotion when we reach Christamas, from there I'm confident i can push on and make the playoffs, it's looking difficult though, the quality of the sides in this division has taken me by surprise tbh.

I accepted the offer from the board of achieving mid table safety to give myself a bit of a cushion against failing to gain promotion. This could be the first time i don't go up to Liga Adelante at the first attempt.... I've already stretched both the transfer and wage budgets beyond their limits, so not going up could spell disaster.

Mid season report will be up soon.

Fans old and new, feel free to comment. :)

Viva La Cultu!
 
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Remember reading your FM10 story with these and the Rocamora show. Will certainly follow again this year, good luck with it.
 
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Matej Rapnik
and Rocamora <3
Your **** status is removed
 
Ty Brian, yeah very pleased i got Rapnik again, although it looks like he will be playing left back this season as i don't have anyone else.
 
I'm not going to doubt you this time. Seems to have spurned you on last year
 
Good to see it back :)

Keep going with it....

if not, come on Fifa so I can hack you down :p
 
Win, it is back :D
Rocamora for top goalscorer? Again?
 
Can you guys see screenshots? They seem to have dissapeared from my OP :'(
 
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Yeah, I can't see them either. Shame though, 'cuz I've been waiting for this story ever since you laid out Rocamora's goal :)
 
FFS, will redo them later guyz.
 
Argh, I missed this yesterday.

Good start, you know I'll be following you all the way this time :)

Viva la Pon- ...Cultu (A)
 
Woooo-hooo!! This is the highlight of FM11 I've been waiting for. A Jake story, yessir.

Go Cultu! Go Rocamora guys! Go and beat Barcelona and Madrid!
 
unfortunatley I didn't really follow last years story, I read a bit of it though, will follow it now and I wish you good luck :wub:
 
Good Luck Jake, just seen this in your sig and will follow as last year
 
Really looking forward to this! Probably the best written story on the site.
 
Screesnshots should be working now...
 
very nice Jake, hopefully La Liga shouldn't be far off :)
 
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