Cultural Leonesa: Read OP for contents and my progress

[Jake]

****Contents and Progress****

Page 1: Season 1 updates
Page 2: Season 2 updates
Page 3: Season 3 updates and Season 4 pre-season report
Page 4: Season 4 updates
Page 6: Season 5 pre season and mid season reports
Page 7: Season 5 end of season review and Season 6 pre season report
Page 9: Season 6 mid season update and end of season review
Page 10: Season 7 pre season report

Season 1: 2009/10 - 3rd in Spanish 2nd Div. B1, Promoted to Liga Adelante via playoff system
Season 2: 2010/11 - 12th in Liga Adelante
Season 3: 2011/12 - 14th in Liga Adelante
Season 4: 2012/13 - 3rd in Liga Adelante - Promoted to Liga BBVA
Season 5: 2013/14 - 13th in Liga BBVA
Season 6: 2014/15 - 7th in Liga BBVA
Season 7: 2015/16 - Currently playing

******************************

Some of you may remember i posted (and regularly updated) a relatively successful thread on my journey in charge of Spanish 2nd division B1 nobodies Cultural Leonesa on FM09. Well im back, and this time i aim to go one better than just getting my team into Spains top division with the big boys of Barca and Madrid, i want to win it!

Please note, when i start a lower league management game i stick to it, right to the bitter end, so you can follow my story safe in the knowledge that i won't give up on it after a few days.

Last years story petered out after about 5 seasons with the imminent arrival of FM10, but if anyone wants some background reading on what im aiming to do, my fm09 story can be found here:

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f61/updated-inspired-by-the-road-from-2nd-div-b1-to-t12098.html

Right on to business. I intend to do roughly one season a week. Over the course of the week i will post a pre season report, a mid season update and finally an end of season debrief when the campaign is over.


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 B1. 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 their current league, B1 last season. 'Why did they not get promoted?' i hear you ask, i'll get to that.....

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 an average of 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

Pre Season:

I arrive at the Reino Del Leon to a muted response from the fans, as an ex semi pro footballer they are not sure i have the credentials to take them to the next level. I aim to prove them wrong of course.

Upon arriving i quickly set about getting to grips with my squad. I thought having a little background knowledge from last years file would help me, but how very wrong i was. Very little of the very poor squad i started with last year still remained, and their replacements looked just as rubbish. I did have one player in mind though, a certain Alejandro Rocamora......

I spent a while assessing my squad in relation to other teams in the league, paying particular attention to the teams i felt would contest the division. I expected a strong looking Alaves side to challenge along with my fierce rivals Ponferradina. I expected the B teams of bigger clubs like Bilbao and Osasuna to challenge also. My squad was in reasonably poor shape, although not as bad as some teams. I nearly fell off my chair when i saw my left back was Roberto Carlos!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Alas it wasnt 'the' roberto carlos, but a decent, pacey left back nonetheless.

I felt without improvements i would most likely fade into mid table obscurity by the end of the season. First on my list was a genuine La Cultu hero from my FM09 file; Alejandro Rocamora. He was on amateur terms at a non league side so i snapped him up for free. his stats dont look all that but he will bang the goals in from midfield, i have no doubt.
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I scoured the market to see who was interested in pullling on Los Culturalistas (not so) famous jersey and wasnt overly impressed with the results. Despite a better transfer budget compared to my FM09 file, this looked a bigger challenge than last year!

Top of the shopping list after signing Rocamora were some centre backs, wingers and strikers.

I was delighted when the board announced a budget of 700k and wages of 14k for gaining a respectabe position in the league. On FM09 i was given no funds, 0% of transfer revenue and 10k wages. i told the board i could gain promotion and was given 900k and slightly higher wages of 15.5k.
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Despite being linked with the likes of Pedro Munitis, Andy Van Der Meyde, Michael Ball, Ivan De La Pena, Matabuena, Geremi, Rufete, Santiago Ezquerro and Nobby Solano i eventually had to settle on a lesser calibre of player.

Major signings are as follows:

Cala - Sevilla 100k
Matej Rapnik - Interblock 130k
Lassad Nouioui - Deportivo 275k
Angel - Tenerife 180k
Ivan Campo - free

I also signed experienced GK Pablo Cavallero on a free. Other notable additions were Andrea Orlandi, Danny Invincible, Sercan Serarer and Seyfo Soley.
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My staff were awful to say the least, i released them all aside from one of the 3 physios who had a stat of 15 for physio, the other 2 had stats or 4 and 5. I appointed a new physio who is far better than anything these players have experienced before. Ive appointed a new *** man and 6 new coaches and improved my training dramatically as a result. Most of my training is now 4 star with 3 star set pieces and 5 star goalkeeping and tactics.

There are 2 'prospects' in my u19's, the rest will be released as soon as their contracts are up to save wages. My B-teamers reminded me of the kids who got picked last on the playground for a kickabout, i released nearly all of them instantly with no remorse, muppets.

I submitted a very cheeky bid for Javier Saviola but Benfica were not going to entertain any nonsense form lower league upstarts such as myself.

The media and bookies werent impressed with my signings and gave me an outside chance of topping the table at best. As i expected Alaves were tipped to run away with it. Ponferradina were up there too, but the b teams of bigger clubs were nowhere to be seen. The bookies predictions had also put the likes of Eibar and Ferrol on my radar.
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Pre Season went well with home and away wins against similar sides, only spankings at the hands of Liverpool and dissapointingly, Real Union blotted the copy book.

Ive adopted my tried and tested lower league tactic. It involves shutting up shop with a defensive back four, 2 defensive midfielders, wingers to support 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 allows Rocamora to flourish.
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As i tpye I've played 2 competitive games, a pleasing 2-0 win over Real Oviedo in the 1st round of the Spanish Cup, and a 1-0 loss to Barakaldo, you should have seen the goal though, screamer!!!!!!!!!!!! So far I'm pleased with the performances and as long as i dont concede a screamer every week then i should have a chance at gaining promotion, i hope....
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Mid-Season update to follow in a day or 2

comments welcome!!!

 

[Hezho]

I will follow this good luck!

 

[Mike]

Cool, sounds good. Getting bored of seeing all the 'big team' stories. I'm following <) Good luck!

 

[Chris]

Excellent stuff. If you remember, I followed your last one, so I will be following this. (H)

 

[Max]

Good luck, I remember last years and it was pretty good so I'll follow

 

[Nick.]

excellent story layout. i will follw this

 

[Death Ball]

Yay! Glad you took it, I enjoyed your story of FM09 a lot. I think it was the one story I've liked the most.

Hehehe, Love Story 2: Recovering Saviola.

 

[Jake]

Yay! Glad you took it, I enjoyed your story of FM09 a lot. I think it was the one story I've liked the most.

Hehehe, Love Story 2: Recovering Saviola.

thanks mate, i ahd a bid accepted for pernia, but hes out for 6 months with a concussion?!? (a real life car crash apparently)

lol it appears Saviolas at a club that actually wants him this year. he looks completely at home for Benfica with his old mate Aimar supplying him, at least thats how it looks from what ive seen of the europa league on tv.

i may have to wait a season or two before Jav-Sav pulls on the jersey opf La Cultu, but for now, i can dream........

 

[Deano]

loving the layout to this mate, all the best I will definately be following. interesting challenge to say the least

 

[Jake]

loving the layout to this mate, all the best I will definately be following. interesting challenge to say the least

thanks mate, yeah its tough, i think i got lucky in gaining promotion in the 1st season on fm09, i'll be chuffed if i can do it again!
mid season update could be done as early as tonight for all you eager beavers

 

[Jake]

Mid Season Update:

Ok, the January transfer window has just slammed shut. As i type ive played 23 league games and 5 cup games (going out to Barcelona 8-1 on aggregate) My early-ish cup exit allowed the squad to fully concentrate on the league, and after putting 2 good unbeaten runs together, we sit 3rd in the league table, nine points behind surprsie package Palencia, who are currently running away with it. My defence has done me proud, conceding only 19 goals so far, bettered only by Palencia's record of 17.
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Boookies favourite Alvaes have lurched fom one crisis to another, poor early season form saw their manager get the chop, i was linked with the job but re-affirmed my loyalty to La Cultu's cause, the fans and board were ecstatic.
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Alaves have sinced recovered slighlty but sit 8th, among many other temas chasing the leading pack of ourselves, Pontevedra and Palencia. The B teams of bigger clubs like Bilbao, Celta and Osasuna have struggled, with Celta and Osasuna sitting precariously above the relegation places.
Fierce rivals Ponferradina were in the hunt, but since we shattered their confidence with a typical smash and grab performance at their place they have recorded 2 wins in 6 games and have dropped out of the playoff places.
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I had a small injury crisis in november, and was running a threadbare squad, i was especially short of centre backs. I snapped up experienced Cameroon defender Lucien Mettomo for free. However the squad restrictions at this level of football are extreme to say the least. The max squad size is 22, whilst a minimum of 6 players under the age of 23 must be included. Players aged under 19 dont have to be registered, but thanks to the U23 rule, i have had to register all of the players under 19 years old who are good enough, in order to submit a valid squad. The squad list may only be changed when a transfer window is open, so i had to wait a little while before Mettomo was eligible to play. Fitness is a real issue with 2 games a week as a minimum, having such a small squad does not help either.

Ive also signed spanish winger Enrique from Cadiz ona free as Danny Invincible came out in the press saying he missed Australia and hadnt settled in the area. His performances dipped as a result. I had been playing Hugo at right back for most games as he's accomplished there, but i wanted a proper right back in case of injury. Young Spaniard Mario was bought in from Arsenal on loan and has impressed from a handful of starts.

As expected, the everpresent Rocamora has been the dominant creative force in the team, scoring 10 goals from midfield, and contributing 5 assists, including a sensational 40 yard screamer against Bilbao. Nouioui and Angel have shared the lone striker spot and have got 10 and 12 goals respectively. ***** Topp hasnt really got a look in but scored a vital goal from the bench earlier in the season to record an away win.
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Just a quick explanation of the promotion system from this league.

There are 4 divisions at this level of football; B1, B2, B3 and B4. The top 4 teams from each division qualify for the Promotion Playoff, which is essentially is a cup system involving the top 4 teams from the 4 divisions. So even if i win the league im not guaranteed promotion. My aim is to ensure i secure a playoff place, winning the league if possible to get some extra prize money.

A real possibility, and one which may spell disaster in terms of keeping hold of promising youngster like Rapnik, is that i could realistically win the league 5 years on the bounce and never get promoted....

I will update when i finish the first season, hopefully later tonight.

 

[Chris]

Great stuff as usual mate. Some good results there. Looking forward to seeing Saviola again hopefully. (H)

 

[Jake]

Great stuff as usual mate. Some good results there. Looking forward to seeing Saviola again hopefully. (H)

cheers mate, and thanks for the 5 star rating. at least i assume it was you...?

 

[Jack Fulham]

Great to see Cultural back, really enjoyed your 09 story, hopefully Saviola will return, i completely forgot about Rapnik on FM until i saw you sign him

 

[DaSiimM]

Wow, this sounds great. I can't wait for the next update. This Alejandro Rocamora, you talks about, sounds fantastic. And since I'm a Spanish Serie 2 b team, i would like to find him. But i can't? He's not there. Do you have any idea, how that could be?

But again: Great work!

 

[Jake]

Great to see Cultural back, really enjoyed your 09 story, hopefully Saviola will return, i completely forgot about Rapnik on FM until i saw you sign him

Rapnik is a great player in the making, looking through his history, he was at hearts as a youngster, if he has anything like the potential hes showing on football manager, im not sure why they let him go..... and i think it may take a little more work to get jav-sav this time round, he seems really settled at benfica

Wow, this sounds great. I can't wait for the next update. This Alejandro Rocamora, you talks about, sounds fantastic. And since I'm a Spanish Serie 2 b team, i would like to find him. But i can't? He's not there. Do you have any idea, how that could be?

But again: Great work!

he's a hero from my fm09 file, he was at murcia imperial then. but now hes at a tercera division team, mazzaron i think. you may have to load all players from spain on your database. his stats arent amazing, and he can go missing sometimes in a game, but over the course of the season hes a god at this level, and im hoping he can improve enough to dominate liga adelante and maybe even BBVA!

end of season report will be posted tommorow. ^^)

 

[Jake]

End Of Season Review

Spanish Second Division B1: Finished in a pleasing 2nd place, gaining entry to the playoffs
Spanish Cup: Lost in the 4th round, 8-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Barcelona
Promoted to Liga Adelante via the Spanish 2B Promotion Playoff system

I write this in the wake of the performances of lesser sides like Brazil and Argentina, who have just contensted the world cup final, Brazil coming out 3-0 winners, with Scotland beating Nigeria to 3rd place on penalties...........
However the worlds media arent interested in all that 'world class rubbish' you see at the world cup, they have gathered at the Reino del Leon Stadium as Jake Miller and his band of unwanted/unfancied nobodies have just bought long awaited glory to the sleepy town of Leon in northern Spain.

After a long hard season that dragged on well into June, im delighted to announce that my La Cultu heroes have just scraped promotion by the skin of their teeth. Rocamora was the shining light in an otherwise unspectacular, yet solid team, and the fans rightly chanted his name as we toured the town centre on an open top bus. Our promotion party went well into the night and i actually treated myself to a bottle of fine ale i had beeen saving for a special occasion.

Alejandro Rocamora was top goalscorer by a mile, finishing the season with a fantastic haul of 30 goals from 44 appearances, including quite a few hat-tricks. he also recieved an incredible 11 MOM awards too. Despite this he only came 3rd in the leagues top scoring charts with 26 goals (his other 4 came in the playoffs) Angel came a close-ish 2nd with 22 goals, followed by Lassad Nouioui (13) and a welcome haul from Danny Invincible (10)

My original tactical plan had been to defend for our lives and then hit the oppostition quickly on the break with only 2 or 3 players to nick a goal. This seemed to work against the better sides and typical smash and grab performances resulted in a quite a few 1-0 and 2-1 victories. However againt poorer sides my defensive tactics seemed to draw the opposition out of their 'park the bus' policies. so we dominated possesion rather than hitting them on the break. this created gaps for the free roaming Rocamora to exploit with deadly effect. As a result i was involved in quite a few unexpectedly high scoring matches.

Stand out performers for the season were of course, Rocamora and Angel. But im still most proud of my rearguard action. I eventually finished with an average goals againsnt column, but for 2 thirds of the season i had the second meanest defence in the division. Im happiest with goalkeeper Cavallero and young centre backs Rapnik and Cala. My defensive midfield pairing of Seyfo Soley and Ivan Campo worked perfectly, Soley won everything in the air and tackled like a man possessed, before offloading to wily old Ivan Campo, who would often pick out dangerman Rocamora with a killer ball.

After the bookies had tipped me to fade into mid table obscurity, 2nd place was a great result. I was never going to win it, runaway winners Palencia romped home with games to spare, finishing 14 points clear.
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There were some negative parts to my season however. My decision to sign Lassad Nouioui has proved to be difficult to stomach for the fans. he had a great start to the season, 10 league goals before january, however he added only a further 3 in the remainder of the season and the fans have turned on him. Combine poor form with an expensive transfer fee of nearly 300k and the fans im afraid have found their new cult icon for idiocy/hate figuire: Lassad 'the lemon' Nouioui. Despte his worrying dip in form, he is still a regular in the Tunisia squad that pushed hard for a world cup spot. (unless his performances pick up, he shall be known simply as 'the lemon' from now on)

As explained before, this level of Spanish football has 4 divisions, B1, B2, B3 and B4. Its a complicated process, but as far as i can see. The winners from each division play their own mini cup, with 2 teams contesting a final even though both of them go up...?

As for the remaining teams, they enter a more normal cup system, although the two teams left at the end do not contest a final but do get promted. Very complicated, but all i knew was that if i won 3 2-legged rounds i would go up. I wasnt overly confident though. The teams in the draw included Athletico Madrid B, Sevilla Athletico (Sevilla B) and Pontevedra; who were arguably the strongest team in B1 behind Palencia. I didnt fancy palying Alcoyano who had romped B3 with winners Alicante, but missed out on top spot on goal difference, they would be hungry for revenge no doubt....

During the end of season run in the ever present captain of the side, Pablo Cavallero suffered a damaged hip, he was sent to a specialist but had no chance of being fit in time for any of the playoff games, if we even made it that far without him. I was faced with a dilemma, i had my really poor back up goalie, who hadnt even been named on the bench all season, or a 'prospect' from my u19s, who had at least being playing regualrly at youth level. i plumped for the 16 year old Oscar Martinez who would have to be relied on for a maximum of 9 games.
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My tactics now had to change. I knew a 16 year old keeper would concede whether i tried to stop the opposition or not. i decided to go for broke and score as many as possible during the last few league games. The most pleasing result was a 5-4 win over rivals Ponferradina on the last day of the league season, ensuring they finished as mid table nobodies.
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During the playoffs i decided to put total trust in Martinez and reverted to my old tactic, defending strongly, nicking the odd goal here and there when we could.

PLAYOFFS

Onto the draw, in the 1st round i avoided the bigger names and drew unknown entities Ontinyent.

A tense 0-0 at their place was followed by a scrappy 2-1 win at the Reino Del Leon. A brace from Rocamora looked to have won the game but a goal from Ruben Sanchez to make it 2-1 in the 85th minute lead to a grandstand finish, but my defence kept the door firmly shut.
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Next up i drew Sabadell, another unknown entity. A familiar trip to Barcelona beckoned, i just hoped that this less famous Catalan club wouldnt be able to turn me over 8-1 like Pep Guardiola and his boys had managed....

We lost 3-2 in Catalonia, which i wasnt too worried by, away goals were in my favour at least. A performance that typified our season followed at the Reino Del Leon. We withstood heavy pressure and Rocamora popped up after 75 minutes to net our only chance of the game in a fantastic smash and grab win, putting us through on away goals!
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I was getting pretty excited now and sent my scouts out to look for talent good enough for Liga Adelante. I still ahd one final hurdle however and a possible draw against Sevilla Athletico beckoned. Fortunately i drew Alcoron, yet another unknown ****** entity....
We drew 2-2 at their place and then a wonderful hat-trick from Angel in front of a packed Reino Del Leon meant we had gained promtion thanks to a 5-4 aggregate result!!!!!
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The fans were ecstatic and the board thanked me for the unexpected success, they hoped i could go on to bigger and better things whilst at the helm of La Cultu.

Rocamora was rightly named Spanish Div 2B1 signing of the season, however young centre back Nenad Stjepic was deemed flop of the season...
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Shortly after i was offered a new 3 year deal on 1.4k per week...... this sobering figuire was further endorsed when the promotion bonus was shared out between the team, a total of 26.3k. Thats the kind of money Robinho pays someone just to walk his dog.......

The transfer window has opened, but i'm still technically in the first season so i have no money to spend, and little wages to negotiate with. For now im just scouting players, but free agents like fat ronaldo and jerzey dudek are possibilities. I feel i will need a top striker to get me to the level required to stay in Liga Adelante, Saviola looks a season or 2 away from being a realistic option, but its not going to stop me trying.

I will post my pre season report in a day or two. No doubt im going to be spending hours trawling the transfer market looking for players capable of keeping me up......

Viva La Cultu!

 

[Death Ball]

Wooot! Great results.

I look forward for more Rocamora and Lemon stories.

And a new promotion, hopefully soon!.

I'm curious to see the stats of the second goalie you didn't give time in favour of the U19. Could we see him, please?

 

[Jack Fulham]

Great read mate, it will be very hard to stay in Liga Adelante, I wonder if Mariano Pernia will available?

Hopefully you can make some solid signings to consolidate.

 

[Keith]

Great story man

super stuff keep it up

il be following