Cultural Leonesa: Read OP for contents and my progress
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will be honest, when i first arrived on FM Base, stories were much simpler fare. This year the standard in terms of layout and graphics has come on leaps and bounds, im a dinosaur. But, being a rebel against change, and having abit of a dislike for the norm (ive only just caved in and got an ipod...) i dont know how much i will change the layout. Im pretty casual with regard to writing my story anyway, i enjoy playing the file and thought i might as well share it with other basers. Updates come at a pretty slow pace, once a week at best, and i couldnt care less about followers and whatnot. I have 2 regular followers in Mike and Jack Fulham as well as plenty of lurkers, but im not too fussed either way. Couple my casual approach with the fact that i probably dont have the time or patience to create a really good layout, i might have to dissapoint you Danny 8-|
I don't think you'd have to do a great deal to make it look better, maybe use a nice font? Center everything, that always make a post look better IMO.
Little things make a big difference.
End Of Season Review 2013/14
Liga BBVA: Finished 13th
Spanish Cup: Knocked out in 5th round by Athletico Madrid
First of all, the last 5 months of world football have been crazy, not only have La Cultu beaten the drop, but incredibly so did Tenerife. On top of this, i write this update the day after BELGIUM rocked world football by beating Brazil 3-1 in the world cup final (hosted by Brazil!) a truly jaw dropping result.
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Well, im simply speechless, i would have sold Jimenez to Valladolid for 1 pound and a bag of monster munch if you had told me La Cultu would finish 13th this season! A truly incredible turn of events at the bottom of the table saw another couple of teams get sucked into the dogfight, not only did we manage to put a nice end of season run in together and escape the drop, but Tenerife somehow avoided releagtion, despite looking all but down at christmas! Deportivo pressed the self destruct button, having been one point from safety on Feb 1st, they finished bottom and a sorry 10 points adrift of safety, they are followed back down to Adelante by Racing and Mallorca, Tenerife escaped on goal difference, a truly amazing feat!
The title chase was far less thrilling, Real finishing 19 points above Athletico and being crowned champions with plenty of games to spare. Barcelona had a poor season by their standards, finishing 3rd, with Valencia stumbling home in a sorry 7th. Aside from the 13th place finsih i achieved my self made target of finishing above the old enemy; Valladolid
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On a pleasing side note, we were awarded runners up in the most improved club catergory at the end of season awards!
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The return of Jimenez was key to our end of season push for safety. He was majestic after shaking off his injury, and quite incredibly was awarded second place in the Spanish Young Player of the Year Award, he scored 12 goals from just 27 appearances. He missed the December-April part of the season but still managed to gain recognition, its going to be hard to keep hold of him this summer. Alipio looked sharp and created plenty of opportunities for himself, but always seemed to flounder when the trigger needed to be pulled, Jimenez had no such problems, finishing with aplomb on numerous occasions. Of course, Captain Fantastic; Rocamora has proven every critic in the land wrong and put in another good season, scoring 17 goals from 41 games, breaking La Cultus all time appearance and goalscoring records in the process. The man is now officially a La Cultu icon, and no doubt he wont rest until he is a legend at the club. Matic and Irigoyen came on leaps and bounds and the future of La Cultus central midfield looks to be in safe hands, i have wise old heads in Keita and Castillo to watch over them, this area of the team is in great shape.
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Here are Ruben Jimenez's awards, its the first time that Rocamora hasnt been fans player of the year... (i remember saying a few seasons back that little Ruben was a long term threat to Rocamoras crown as fans favourite)
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For me these two results were the games that turned our season around, taking 3 points off Sevilla (note the media description of our win, smash and grab) was a great result, and although we didnt push on afterwards, it certainly helped to boost confidence. We finally managed another win agaisnt Valladolid, sending a dagger through their hearts as Irigoyen scrambled a last minute goal to secure all 3 points at their place. These 2 results really did typify our season; hard work, passion, and of course winning the only way we know how: smash and grab.
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My tactics of course remained the same, i dont need to tell regular readers that smash and grab is the La Cultu way, defensive, counter attacking football seems to suit my biggest asset; Ruben Jimenez so i dont plan to change my tactics right now. Pernia really proved himself as a true professional, knowing his limitations, and contributng in different ways after his legs finally went. Ive now taken him on as a coach, a nice gesture to give a great servant to the La Cultu cause.
Now, in previous end of season updates ive told you the usual guff, ie ''the window is open but i dont have my next budget yet'' etc. Well ive moved early this year, ive already signed James McCarthy and Pablo Ledesma for free, im in talks with Morgan Schneirderlin and Jose Enrique too. Ive also got my eye on the following 3 regens, Juan is a long shot as he was a regular in Marids first team this season, but i reckon i could nick him on loan.
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My Ivory Coast career was a real flash in the pan. A pre world cup friendly with France, resulting in a 5-1 loss, followed by defeats in the group stage to France and Uruguay, after that there was a dead rubber draw with Slovenia, i resigned straight after the game. It was a rash appointment by the Ivorian FA and i probably shouldnt have accpeted a job at such a high level, they are ranked 11th, or were.....
So La Cultu have exceeded expectation again, im hoping to add quality to a team which has a strong spine but could do with some class on the right flank and in the full back roles. I shall be trawling the free transfer market again no doubt, as i dont expect a huge transfer kitty. Onwards and upwards for Rocamora and his band of merry heroes.
Viva La Cultu!
Liga BBVA: Finished 13th
Spanish Cup: Knocked out in 5th round by Athletico Madrid
First of all, the last 5 months of world football have been crazy, not only have La Cultu beaten the drop, but incredibly so did Tenerife. On top of this, i write this update the day after BELGIUM rocked world football by beating Brazil 3-1 in the world cup final (hosted by Brazil!) a truly jaw dropping result.
View attachment 47136
Well, im simply speechless, i would have sold Jimenez to Valladolid for 1 pound and a bag of monster munch if you had told me La Cultu would finish 13th this season! A truly incredible turn of events at the bottom of the table saw another couple of teams get sucked into the dogfight, not only did we manage to put a nice end of season run in together and escape the drop, but Tenerife somehow avoided releagtion, despite looking all but down at christmas! Deportivo pressed the self destruct button, having been one point from safety on Feb 1st, they finished bottom and a sorry 10 points adrift of safety, they are followed back down to Adelante by Racing and Mallorca, Tenerife escaped on goal difference, a truly amazing feat!
The title chase was far less thrilling, Real finishing 19 points above Athletico and being crowned champions with plenty of games to spare. Barcelona had a poor season by their standards, finishing 3rd, with Valencia stumbling home in a sorry 7th. Aside from the 13th place finsih i achieved my self made target of finishing above the old enemy; Valladolid
View attachment 47137
View attachment 47138
View attachment 47139
View attachment 47140
On a pleasing side note, we were awarded runners up in the most improved club catergory at the end of season awards!
View attachment 47141
The return of Jimenez was key to our end of season push for safety. He was majestic after shaking off his injury, and quite incredibly was awarded second place in the Spanish Young Player of the Year Award, he scored 12 goals from just 27 appearances. He missed the December-April part of the season but still managed to gain recognition, its going to be hard to keep hold of him this summer. Alipio looked sharp and created plenty of opportunities for himself, but always seemed to flounder when the trigger needed to be pulled, Jimenez had no such problems, finishing with aplomb on numerous occasions. Of course, Captain Fantastic; Rocamora has proven every critic in the land wrong and put in another good season, scoring 17 goals from 41 games, breaking La Cultus all time appearance and goalscoring records in the process. The man is now officially a La Cultu icon, and no doubt he wont rest until he is a legend at the club. Matic and Irigoyen came on leaps and bounds and the future of La Cultus central midfield looks to be in safe hands, i have wise old heads in Keita and Castillo to watch over them, this area of the team is in great shape.
View attachment 47142
View attachment 47143
View attachment 47144
Here are Ruben Jimenez's awards, its the first time that Rocamora hasnt been fans player of the year... (i remember saying a few seasons back that little Ruben was a long term threat to Rocamoras crown as fans favourite)
View attachment 47146
View attachment 47147
For me these two results were the games that turned our season around, taking 3 points off Sevilla (note the media description of our win, smash and grab
) was a great result, and although we didnt push on afterwards, it certainly helped to boost confidence. We finally managed another win agaisnt Valladolid, sending a dagger through their hearts as Irigoyen scrambled a last minute goal to secure all 3 points at their place. These 2 results really did typify our season; hard work, passion, and of course winning the only way we know how: smash and grab.View attachment 47148
View attachment 47149
My tactics of course remained the same, i dont need to tell regular readers that smash and grab is the La Cultu way, defensive, counter attacking football seems to suit my biggest asset; Ruben Jimenez so i dont plan to change my tactics right now. Pernia really proved himself as a true professional, knowing his limitations, and contributng in different ways after his legs finally went. Ive now taken him on as a coach, a nice gesture to give a great servant to the La Cultu cause.
Now, in previous end of season updates ive told you the usual guff, ie ''the window is open but i dont have my next budget yet'' etc. Well ive moved early this year, ive already signed James McCarthy and Pablo Ledesma for free, im in talks with Morgan Schneirderlin and Jose Enrique too. Ive also got my eye on the following 3 regens, Juan is a long shot as he was a regular in Marids first team this season, but i reckon i could nick him on loan.
View attachment 47129
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My Ivory Coast career was a real flash in the pan. A pre world cup friendly with France, resulting in a 5-1 loss, followed by defeats in the group stage to France and Uruguay, after that there was a dead rubber draw with Slovenia, i resigned straight after the game. It was a rash appointment by the Ivorian FA and i probably shouldnt have accpeted a job at such a high level, they are ranked 11th, or were.....
So La Cultu have exceeded expectation again, im hoping to add quality to a team which has a strong spine but could do with some class on the right flank and in the full back roles. I shall be trawling the free transfer market again no doubt, as i dont expect a huge transfer kitty. Onwards and upwards for Rocamora and his band of merry heroes.
Viva La Cultu!
Death Ball
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Very nice results, yet not a surprise for me, I expected nothing less of you (well, maybe fourteenth-fifteenth but nothing lower). One thing I'd like is to see a pkm of one of those games like the wins against Sevilla or Valladolid.
Hopefully you'll find what you need and next season injuries will respect your team a little more.
Hopefully you'll find what you need and next season injuries will respect your team a little more.
whats a pkm?
if i can keep hold of Jimenez and keep him fit then i see a mid table finish as a minimum expectation, hopefully....
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Pre Season Report 2014/15
So after a fantastic first Liga BBVA season, reality hit home hard, i fear that second season syndrome may have already kicked in. Tired old legs like Pernia, Yeste, Soriano, Del Horno and Malbranque left the club, i thought their departures would make way for fresh legs, but no. We still have no cash, and it seems the quality of player of player willing to make the move to Leon is still also very poor. Im still confident my first choice 11 is good enough to stay up, its the squad palyers that could be a problem, injuries worry me deeply. This year we are joined in the top flight by familiar faces in Elche, Betis and Sporting. Sporting and Betis look like they have enough quality in their squads for comfortable mid table finishes. Elche look poor, as do Tenerife and Xerez. The media have predicted La Cultu to finish 18th, but barring a huge long term injury crisis im quietly confident of beating the drop again. The bookies gave us odds of 2000-1, which reaffrimed the point that we are still minnows. The board asked me to avoid relegation, offering a transfer kitty of 600k and 130k p/w for wages, i said i could finish mid table and was offered 874k for transfers and 140k p/w. I quick glance at the finances, showed no problems, we even made a healthy profit last season, it looks like a have a tight chariman.......
Unfortunately for Barca i can only see the title ending up in Madrid this season, whether Athletico or Real win it remians to be seen. Both have fantastic all round squads, Real adding nothing but fringe players in the Summer, whilst Athletcio moved to add some extra quality to push their rivals that bit further this year. Barca are still a fantastic attacking threat with Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Keirrison, Modric, Zlatan, Amrabat etc. But defensively (Pique aside) they are little more than average, they dont even have a recognsied left back in the first team squad! I was offered a new deal depsite ahving time to run on my current one, which suggests the chairman has real faith in my ability. (GIVE ME SOME CASH YOU TIGHT *******!)
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Whilst 875k isnt to be sniffed at, its not really the 5million or so i had hoped for. The free signings of McCarthy and Ledesma meant i had to budget adjust to increase the wages. I also renewed the contracts of players like Alipio, Jimenez, Rapnik and Rocamora, costing me significantly more per week and another budget adjustment. After that i was left with around 400k to spend. I looked to loans and frees, and although the market was saturated with big names, all were too old/physically past it, not many players have the same professional apporach as Mariano Pernia. 2 of the 3 regen targets i had identified opted to move elsewhere, but i have managed to secure Marcos Juan on loan from Real Madrid. He was moved to the Castilla squad after Real bought in a couple of new faces and i swooped. Hes got real quality, and while not the most mobile player he should be able to pull the strings nicely in the middle of the park. My healthy relationship with the Real manager was a large contributant to the deal
I did look to improve other areas, especially full backs and right wing. But ultimately the players i wanted were either too expensive/not interested/or simply not on the free transfer or loan market.
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Once again ive made more money from sales than i spent. The 600k loan fee from Juve for Colombi was a real bonus, Ive got a genuine first choice in Rodrigo and backup in Martinez and Areola, Colombi was making noises about first team football when he plainly wasnt good enough to displace Rodrigo, so im glad hes gone.
As a consequence of not making enough signings ive decided (been forced) to play Rapnik at left back this season, hes natural accross the back four so there should be no problems. Shea will provide back up for both full back positions as hes not good enough for regular top flight football just yet. Juan will slot into Castillos role as it seems old Segundo is quite injury prone.... McCarthy will start on the right, we'll see how he goes, hes certainly an improvement on Vladimir Weiss. As i said before, im actually really happy with my starting 11, but the bench whilst not poor, isnt great, and i have little flexibility in terms of backup. Ive got a sqaud of 25 men, with no unregistered u19s as none of them are good enough. Heres my starting 11 for the first match against Villareal.
View attachment 47342
The window has closed and whilst there was interest in the likes of Shea and Stjepic, i didnt have to reject too many serious offers. Ive played one game so far this season, a hard fought 1-1 with European hopefuls Villareal. The 2 Madrids and Valladolid aside, i dont really have a big game for a while, hopefully i can get some points on the board and boost player confidence for bigger challenges over the christmas period.
View attachment 47344
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So barring major injuries i can only see another relatively succesful season for La Cultu. Hopefully Jimenez can stay fit and fire us to safety!
Viva La Cultu!
So after a fantastic first Liga BBVA season, reality hit home hard, i fear that second season syndrome may have already kicked in. Tired old legs like Pernia, Yeste, Soriano, Del Horno and Malbranque left the club, i thought their departures would make way for fresh legs, but no. We still have no cash, and it seems the quality of player of player willing to make the move to Leon is still also very poor. Im still confident my first choice 11 is good enough to stay up, its the squad palyers that could be a problem, injuries worry me deeply. This year we are joined in the top flight by familiar faces in Elche, Betis and Sporting. Sporting and Betis look like they have enough quality in their squads for comfortable mid table finishes. Elche look poor, as do Tenerife and Xerez. The media have predicted La Cultu to finish 18th, but barring a huge long term injury crisis im quietly confident of beating the drop again. The bookies gave us odds of 2000-1, which reaffrimed the point that we are still minnows. The board asked me to avoid relegation, offering a transfer kitty of 600k and 130k p/w for wages, i said i could finish mid table and was offered 874k for transfers and 140k p/w. I quick glance at the finances, showed no problems, we even made a healthy profit last season, it looks like a have a tight chariman.......
Unfortunately for Barca i can only see the title ending up in Madrid this season, whether Athletico or Real win it remians to be seen. Both have fantastic all round squads, Real adding nothing but fringe players in the Summer, whilst Athletcio moved to add some extra quality to push their rivals that bit further this year. Barca are still a fantastic attacking threat with Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Keirrison, Modric, Zlatan, Amrabat etc. But defensively (Pique aside) they are little more than average, they dont even have a recognsied left back in the first team squad! I was offered a new deal depsite ahving time to run on my current one, which suggests the chairman has real faith in my ability. (GIVE ME SOME CASH YOU TIGHT *******!)
View attachment 47333
View attachment 47334
View attachment 47343
Whilst 875k isnt to be sniffed at, its not really the 5million or so i had hoped for. The free signings of McCarthy and Ledesma meant i had to budget adjust to increase the wages. I also renewed the contracts of players like Alipio, Jimenez, Rapnik and Rocamora, costing me significantly more per week and another budget adjustment. After that i was left with around 400k to spend. I looked to loans and frees, and although the market was saturated with big names, all were too old/physically past it, not many players have the same professional apporach as Mariano Pernia. 2 of the 3 regen targets i had identified opted to move elsewhere, but i have managed to secure Marcos Juan on loan from Real Madrid. He was moved to the Castilla squad after Real bought in a couple of new faces and i swooped. Hes got real quality, and while not the most mobile player he should be able to pull the strings nicely in the middle of the park. My healthy relationship with the Real manager was a large contributant to the deal
I did look to improve other areas, especially full backs and right wing. But ultimately the players i wanted were either too expensive/not interested/or simply not on the free transfer or loan market.
View attachment 47337
View attachment 47338
View attachment 47339
View attachment 47340
View attachment 47341
Once again ive made more money from sales than i spent. The 600k loan fee from Juve for Colombi was a real bonus, Ive got a genuine first choice in Rodrigo and backup in Martinez and Areola, Colombi was making noises about first team football when he plainly wasnt good enough to displace Rodrigo, so im glad hes gone.
As a consequence of not making enough signings ive decided (been forced) to play Rapnik at left back this season, hes natural accross the back four so there should be no problems. Shea will provide back up for both full back positions as hes not good enough for regular top flight football just yet. Juan will slot into Castillos role as it seems old Segundo is quite injury prone.... McCarthy will start on the right, we'll see how he goes, hes certainly an improvement on Vladimir Weiss. As i said before, im actually really happy with my starting 11, but the bench whilst not poor, isnt great, and i have little flexibility in terms of backup. Ive got a sqaud of 25 men, with no unregistered u19s as none of them are good enough. Heres my starting 11 for the first match against Villareal.
View attachment 47342
The window has closed and whilst there was interest in the likes of Shea and Stjepic, i didnt have to reject too many serious offers. Ive played one game so far this season, a hard fought 1-1 with European hopefuls Villareal. The 2 Madrids and Valladolid aside, i dont really have a big game for a while, hopefully i can get some points on the board and boost player confidence for bigger challenges over the christmas period.
View attachment 47344
View attachment 47345
So barring major injuries i can only see another relatively succesful season for La Cultu. Hopefully Jimenez can stay fit and fire us to safety!
Viva La Cultu!
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Mike
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Fantastic end to the previous season! I always knew you'd stay up 
As for this, I thought 18th prediction was a little harsh. After seeing what you did last season I'd have said around 15th. Still, I have every confidence of you staying up (sounding a bit like your chairman now :S) A bit disappointed to see you get a low amount of monies to spend. Then again, still got a great bunch of players. Unlucky on not getting the regens you wanted (life's a *****!) but then again, you should remain in the BBVA next season without them.
Good luck buddy, I'll be following as always
Viva La Ponfe!
By the way, how are Ponferradina doing on your game? (K)
As for this, I thought 18th prediction was a little harsh. After seeing what you did last season I'd have said around 15th. Still, I have every confidence of you staying up (sounding a bit like your chairman now :S) A bit disappointed to see you get a low amount of monies to spend. Then again, still got a great bunch of players. Unlucky on not getting the regens you wanted (life's a *****!) but then again, you should remain in the BBVA next season without them.
Good luck buddy, I'll be following as always
Viva La Ponfe!
By the way, how are Ponferradina doing on your game? (K)
Fantastic end to the previous season! I always knew you'd stay up
As for this, I thought 18th prediction was a little harsh. After seeing what you did last season I'd have said around 15th. Still, I have every confidence of you staying up (sounding a bit like your chairman now :S) A bit disappointed to see you get a low amount of monies to spend. Then again, still got a great bunch of players. Unlucky on not getting the regens you wanted (life's a *****!) but then again, you should remain in the BBVA next season without them.
Good luck buddy, I'll be following as always
Viva La Ponfe!
By the way, how are Ponferradina doing on your game? (K)
La Ponfe are essentially a La Cultu feeder team, having had at least one player on loan from us every season for the past 3 seasons. They are still battling away in the depths of 2B football. I'll post a screenshot of them when im at home.
Ive got Juan on loan, and like Macheda did hes already listed La Cultu among his favoured clubs, since being moved to Castilla his value has dropped significantly, so hopefully i might be able for swoop for him permenantly. If i leave it too long then his career will probably go the same way as Macheda (since going back to united hes scored almost a goal a game and is worth 28million!)
Hoping i can stave off an injury crisis which is the only threat to survival imo.
Jack Fulham
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Hmm, if Juan's physical stat's were a bit better, he would be the complete player :'(
Is Saviola too old for Cultural now ?
Is Saviola too old for Cultural now ?
yeah ive got him on an intensive physical training program, hopefully i wont just be doing all the hard work, building a player that Real can sell for 20million
Aha, i was keeping the great man Jav-Sav as a secret weapon, ive been tracking his progress, hes far from too old, and he still oozes class.
Unfortunately because of the way La Cultu play, ie a lone frontman, he wouldnt fit in at the moment. Im hoping to really establish the team as a top flight side this season and maybe make the tactical adjustment to 2 frontmen for next year. If things go really well this season i may swoop for him in January, Almeria dont seem overly keen to let him go, but ive been praising him for the past 2 seasons......
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