Fenerbahçe S.K. - The best Asian team in Europe

[ninjaskill]

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Fenerbahce is a historic football team from Turkey well known for their rivalries with Galatasaray and Besiktas and being a part of those three teams dominance of Turkish football. Recent years haven't been good for Fenerbahce as despite spending big money on players they have only won two titles in the past decade, and finishing runner up six times. All the big money spent on players who could never quite get over the line has also left Fenerbahce in an awful financial situation with the club in massive debt and having to agree to an FFP settlement to avoid being banned from European competition.

This season the club elected a new president who promised to be more financially prudent with the clubs money and did so with a transfer window that saw them spend little and sell off a couple of the clubs best players to Saudi Arabia.

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The club has won a huge amount of trophies, but recently has been runner up a lot more than they have been the winners. The 19 league titles puts the team second in total titles just two behind Galatasaray, with Fener having been runner up an incredible 12 more times than Gala. Overtaking Gala in the league titles won category will be an early goal of the save, along with getting a continental trophy to counter the one Gala picked up against Arsenal.

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The club has a number of experienced players but has recently been looking to sign younger players and that is something that I will continue. Volkan Demirel, Mehmet Topal and Skrtel are the main leaders and are people who I would expect to have a positive impact on the mentality of the rest of the team.

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As I mentioned earlier the finances aren't great with the interest added the team has £480 million of debt and we will currently have to pay it of at £2.5 million per month.

As a result of the debt the club had to deal with UEFA and as a result loses two squad spaces in European squads and we have a limited wage budget to a percentage of our turnover and have to turn a profit in the transfer market this season which the club did leaving me a bit of money to spend as a result.

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Our squad looks good for the league and hopefully good enough to sneak us into the Champions League. We seem to lack depth in a number of positions but, with our UEFA imposed wage cap I can't do much about that. A lack of a first team quality right winger is something I will hopefully be able to fix before we get into competitive games.

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This will be the formation that will be used to begin with and the starting lineup that I will most likely use if everyone is fit and able to play.

Key Players

Martin Skrtel
View attachment 29588The ex-Liverpool centre back is easily our best defender and we will need him to be at his best in Europe and our big rivalry games where clean sheets will be vital for us. His experience can hopefully help us keep a strong defence and not concede many goals.

Jailson
View attachment 29587
The Copa Libertadores winning midfielder with Gremio has just joined the team and can hopefully play a key role as either a CM or DM. A box to box or ball winning midfielder at 6'2 he could also be a threat from set pieces.

Andre Ayew
View attachment 29586The on loan Swansea winger should be a stand out player in this league and can hopefully create a lot of chances and get some goals as well. We also have an option to purchase him for £10 million, which unfortunately will likely be out of our budget.

Islam Slimani
View attachment 29585Another on loan player Slimani is our standout striker who can hopefully use his size and skills to good effect in this league as he looks to find his goalscoring touch that has largely deserted him since he left Sporting.

Hot Prospects

Berke Ozer
View attachment 29584Berke just signed from Altinordu, a hotbed of young Turkish talent, is hopefully going to be our goalkeeper in the long run. He should also save us some money as it costs about 70k to register a foreign goalkeeper.

Yigithan Guveli
View attachment 29583Our best defensive prospect Guveli should see a decent amount of first team football thanks to a lack of depth at centre back. Hopefully some first team minutes can help him make the most of his potential.

Eljif Elmas
View attachment 29582A talented midfielder from Macedonia Elmas already has a handful of appearances for Fenerbahce and his ability and potential should see him add a lot more appearances to the 5 he already has.

A key part of how are season goes will be if we can sneak into the Champions league. By finishing second in the league we will have a chance to get in if we can get through two rounds of qualifying. The money Champions League football gets you makes it key that we get into the Champions League.

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We get a decent draw as we will face Swiss runners up Basel. We avoid some of the better teams that we could face in the next round like Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica.
​

 

[ninjaskill]

Transfers and August

With the club in a poor financial situation cutting wages and getting some money in would also be helpful. On the incoming side we do also have some gaps that need to be filled. However, Turkey only allows 14 foreign players per team and the team currently has 15 foreign players so each arrival will have to have someone leaving or else I'll have some unhappy players.

Outgoing Transfers

View attachment 29579
Neustader and Soldado both leave for small fees as they had one year left on their deals and I had no plans to resign them so I figured I might as well get some money for them. Nabil Dirar was on a lot of money and plays a position that I wasn't planning on using so he goes out on loan to Genk for the season and they will cover his wages. Augusto is a young player who goes on loan to get some first team football and Sehit was never going to play for us so I let him leave to Manisaspor.

Papy DjilobodjiView attachment 29580
Papy Djilobodji joins the club on a free as Roman Neustader left for Swansea. The ex-Chelsea man was about 30k a week cheaper than Neustader and just as good along with being younger so made sense on every level for us to sign him. A useful option for us he will compete with Reyes for a starting spot along side Skrtel.

Hakan Cetin
View attachment 29578When he was found available on a free I swooped to pick him up and he chose to join us over Besiktas. He will retrain as an AMR and can hopefully develop into a starting player for us.

David Concha
View attachment 29577
A right winger who can hopefully make a more immediate impact on the first team David Concha joined us for £1.2 million from Real Sociedad. An inside forward with a few La Liga appearances and who played last season for Barcelona B on loan in the Spanish second division can hopefully cope with the step up in competition.

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We are named as third favourites for the league title after Besiktas and Galatasaray. The board expect a top two finish so I will have to slightly exceed the book makers expectation.

August Games

We kick off the in the league and face some Champions League qualifiers meaning that August will be a key month for us. We do face one big issue in Champions League qualifying, the FFP settlement limits us to 23 players and three of them have to be homegrown by the club and we have 0 players who meet that so I can only use 20 players and will have to come with some slightly annoyed players who don't get in the squad.

FC Basel 3-2 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29576We join the list of teams to have lost to Basel as we lead twice but leave needing to win at home to get into the next round. Slimani got us off to a good start finishing powerfully 1 on 1 with the keeper. Oberlin hit back for Basel finishing well from a tight angle. Jailson turned in a free kick from close range to put us back ahead. Widmer levelled the game again firing in a knockdown from close range. FM legend Alvarez Balanta headed in a free kick late on to put us in a tough spot.

Fenerbahce 3-5 Sivasspor
View attachment 29575Not the home debut I had in mind as we waste a Slimani hat trick by conceding 5 goals to an average Sivasspor team. Ex Everton man Arouna Kone grabbed a goal as did Robinho as our defence struggled for the second game in a row. At least Slimani has got off to a good start.

Fenerbahce 1(a3-3)0 FC Basel
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We get into the next round of the Champions League qualifiers on away goals with a narrow win over Basel at home. Benzia scored his first goal for the club after 2 minutes, tapping in from and Isla cut back. Given our defence had given up 8 goals in the last two games it was surprising that one goal saw us sneak through.

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We get Standard Liege in a matchup to get into the Champions League. Liege upset Dynamo Kyiv so we will have to be at our best to make sure we get past them, but I would expect us to beat them.

Basaksehir 0-1 Fenerbahce
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Basaksehir have rapidly become a force in Turkish football so it is a big win for us and a second clean sheet in a row. Slimani scored the only goal after 12 minutes, heading in a Baris cross from close range to get us the win.

Standard Liege 0-0 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29570A dull game in Liege leaves us without an away goal but knowing that a home win will get us into the group stages.

Fenerbahce 1-1 Kasimpasa
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A disappointing draw for us. Benzia scored for us an awful clearance giving him a chance to sneak a low shot past the keeper at the near post. Diagne equalised for Kasimpasa, a long ball played him in and he finished well. Despite our dominance we couldn't find a second goal.

Fenerbahce 3(3-0)0 Standard Liege
View attachment 29568We dominated at home against Standard to claim our spot in the Champions League group stage. An unlikely scorer in left back Hasan Ali Kaldirim got us ahead poking in the rebound of a Reyes header that hit the bar. Concha scored his first Fenerbahce goal that pays back a lot of his transfer fee, sliding the ball past the keeper at the near post. Frey killed the game off with his first goal for the club tapping in after Slimani squared the ball when in on goal. Remy got a late red card to help us see the game out.

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A nice and needed bonus for us given our financial state.

League Table
View attachment 29566We've actually got off to a better start than our biggest rivals Gala, but we're already 5 points behind Besiktas who won 2 of the last 3 titles.


Champions League Group
View attachment 29565We will likely be fighting it out with CSKA Moscow for third place and the Europa League spot as Man. United and Barcelona should be the two sides who go through.​

 

[ninjaskill]

September Update

We get underway in the Champions League proper with what could be a key game vs CSKA Moscow. We also face Cameron Jerome who has starred for Goztepe so far with three goals in three games for his new team.

Gotztepe 0-2 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29486We get the win but, given they were down to ten men after three minutes it probably should have been a bit easier than it was. Alici fired in the rebound of a Djilobodji header to get us in front and soon after curled in a decent effort to secure us the points.

Fenerbahce 2-0 Ankaragucu
View attachment 29485A convincing win for us as this time Valbuena grabs a double for us. First firing in a free kick from just outside the box and then heading in the second at the back post after some great work down the right wing.

Fenerbahce 1-1 CSKA Moscow
View attachment 29484A disappointing result to draw at home however, as we were trailing late on we can't complain to much. We got an early penalty but Valbuena hit it at the perfect height for the keeper to parry which is just what he did. Abel Hernandez put us behind early in the second half turning in a cross from a free kick. With Akinfeev heading for a rare Champions League clean sheet our left back Hasan Ali Kaldirim fired a curling half volley into the top corner. His stunning goal earned us a point and keeps it tight between us and CSKA.

Akhisarspor 1-1 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29483Things were looking good for us until our centre backs deciding to ruin everything for us. Valbuena scored a penalty to put us in front and just after half time Serginho got sent off. Skrtel then got needlessly sent off with not long left and Djilobodji turned a cross into his own goal to cost us two points and gift a draw to Akhisarspor.

Fenerbahce 3-0 Bld. Erzurumspor
View attachment 29482We get a pretty easy win over relegation candidates Bld. Slimani ended his short goal drought to put us in front beating the keeper 1 on 1. Kone then got sent off for Bld. with two bookings in about ten minutes and we took full advantage. Slimani scored again volleying into an empty goal after the keeper punched a cross right to him. Jailson grabbed a goal to add some gloss to the scoreline firing in from close range after a free kick caused pinball in the box.

Tables
View attachment 29481Forgot to screenshot the league one so just the Champions league one where we are ahead of Barcelona and I have no doubt it will stay that way, until our next champions league game.

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Isla will be out until the new year which is a massive blow for us still at least we have a good back up.

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And he's out for two weeks but thats fine its not like we're facing any good teams or playing any big games in the next couple weeks.

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Just Man United and Galatasary we will have no senior right back for. We also face Barca and Besiktas to round out a tough month.​

 

[SkyCaptain]

Good luck bro.

In real life, if you come to Istanbul for visit, i can gladly you host you in a Fenerbahce Home game.

And yeah, best team in Asia and Balkans...

 

[ninjaskill]

Good luck bro.

In real life, if you come to Istanbul for visit, i can gladly you host you in a Fenerbahce Home game.

And yeah, best team in Asia and Balkans...

Thanks man, hopefully can extend the area that Fenerbahce are the best team in soon

 

[ninjaskill]

October Update

A number of big games and no right back isn't an ideal mix and it does show a bit as we don't have a great month, especially defensively where we struggled in a number of games.

Man Utd 5-0 Fenerbahce
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We get embarrassed in Manchester as Jesse Lingard scores a hat trick as United ran riot against us. Djilobodji picked up two bookings in four minutes when we were already 4-0 down to see him sent off and banned for the next Champions League game.

Galatasaray 3-1 Fenerbahce
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A poor first intercontinental derby as we ship three second half goals to lose to Galatasaray. The only positive is Andre Ayew got off the mark for the club as he recovered from his injury, heading in a corner. Rodrigues levelled firing in after the ball fell to him in the box, Onyekuru scored soon after heading in a Mariano cross. Melero grabbed the last goal with a low shot into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Fenerbahce 4-1 Antalyaspor
View attachment 29268A half time change to 4-4-2 with two target men up front saw us score three times and it may be something I stick with. Benzia got us ahead with a penalty before Charles levelled the game. Frey got us back in front poking in the rebound of a Slimani header. Ayew extended the lead with a header at the back post before Slimani wrapped up the scoring with Djilobodji headed a Hasan Ali free kick back across goal given him a simple header to score.

Barcelona 5-1 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29267We got into half time at 0-0 and then Barca turned it on and we couldn't live with them. Suarez scored from close range and seconds later Busquets headed in a free kick to put us two down. Skrtel half volleyed in a knock down from Ayew, which was just how I drew it up the massive centre half volleying in from the 5'9 wingers knock down. Messi then scored twice in a matter of minutes and Alba slammed in off the post from a tight angle to make it 5. Koybasi picked up a late second yellow to complete a terrible half.

Besiktas 3-4 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29266A wild six goal second half sees us end a poor month with a dramatic win over our rivals Besiktas as I decided to start with a two striker formation. Slimani got us ahead after 34 minutes, making a great run to head in from a corner. Babel equalised ten minutes into the second half, tapping in at the back post. Frey quickly responded for us volleying the ball onto the bar and then poking in the rebound to put us back in front. Our defenders made three great blocks in a row before Ozyakup was able to squeeze the ball past all of them and in. Uysal soon had them ahead smashing in a half volley from just outside the box. Slimani equalised in the 90th minute, Sener headed the ball off the line for us to start a counter attack, Frey blasted a long ball up and Slimani out raced the defenders to get to the ball and then struck it low past the keeper. Slimani scored again in the 94th minute to give us the win and get him his hat trick volleying in at the near post to cap off an incredible game.

Table
View attachment 29265We sit in third place but, we are at the top of all the teams that you would expect to be fighting for the title. Two teams meanwhile are still searching for their first wins.

Champions League
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Us and CSKA look to be fighting for third place and with our remaining game to be played in Moscow we will face a challenge to be in Europe into the new year.

Turkish Cup
View attachment 29263Our cup draw will see us face lower league Sanliurfaspor over two legs and I would expect a rotated side to be good enough for us to get into the next round.​

 

[ninjaskill]

November Update

We look to bounce back from a poor October with league games against rival Trabzonspor, current league leaders Rizespor and Alanyaspor. We also face vital Champions League games against Barcelona and our key visit to Moscow to face CSKA.

Fenerbahce 4-1 Rizespor
View attachment 29262We claim a convincing win over Rizespor that temporarily moves us to the top of the table. Slimani got us ahead with a penalty before Rizespor equalised in first half stoppage time taking advantage of some poor defending to fire in. Slimani got us back in front early in the second half firing in a free kick. Frey and Baris both headed in from close range to add to our lead and Rizespor got a man sent off in the final seconds.

Fenerbahce 2-0 Barcelona
View attachment 29261We claim revenge for our hammering in Barcelona by beating them in Istanbul. Baris rose high over Alba and looped his header back across goal and it dropped just under the bar and inside the post to get us ahead, target man Frey providing the pin point cross that was turned in. With ten minutes left Slimani won and fired in a penalty to allow me to watch the final few minutes with less stress.

Alanyaspor 0-2 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29260A goal in each half sees us win and go top of the table. Concha got us ahead just before half time Frey played him in on the counter and he swept the ball low past the keeper and in. Frey then scored himself turning in a cross from Slimani to extned our lead.

Fenerbahce 3-0 Trabzonspor
View attachment 29259Two early goals by Ayew let us coast to a win over Trabzonspor. He scored his first by heading in from a corner and soon after grabbed his second heading in from a Sener cross. Sener who has been filling in for Isla has been playing great for us and Isla will struggle to get back into the team. Benzia wrapped up the points with a second half goal firing past the keeper when in on goal. Onzai got a late red card for Trabzonspor as well.

CSKA Moscow 0-1 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29258A close win in Moscow means we will be in European competition next season and CSKA will finish last in the group. Frey scored the only goal after 30 minutes glancing a header in from a Baris cross. We had to play the final 15 minutes with ten men but held on to claim the win.

Table
View attachment 29257We sit top ahead of Goztepe powered by Cameron Jerome after a great month where we only conceded one goal.

Champions League
View attachment 29256Thanks to our wins and a Fellaini goal to give United a 1-0 win over Barca we sit ahead of them with one game left. We face United who will finish top no matter what in Istanbul while Barca host CSKA and if we can match or better their result we will go into the knockout rounds and send them into the Europa League.

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I get rewarded for our great month with a two year extension to my contract and a small raise which is always nice.​

 

[ninjaskill]

December Update

We aim to wrap up 2018 on a high as we begin our Turkish Cup campaign, take on Manchester United with a chance to get to the knockout stages of the Champions League and face the usual grind in the Turkish League.

Yeni Malatyaspor 1-1 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29236We get a disappointing draw in Malatya where each side finished with ten men and a point each. Frey got us ahead when he was finally able to control the ball in the box and then smashed the ball in past the keeper. Boutaib equalised just after half time, Jailson headed a Yeni corner back across goal and gave him a simple finish. Jailson and Muniru got sent off within 5 minutes of each other for two bookings they picked up in 2 and 4 minutes respectively.

Sanliurfaspor 1-2 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29235We get an away win against our lower league opponents with a rotated team. Frey got us an early lead heading in from close range. Benzia doubled our lead just after half time, a very nice touch allowed him to score from inside the box. Tolga scored a late own goal to give Sanliurfaspor a slimmer of hope.

Fenerbahce 3-3 Konyaspor
View attachment 29234We blow a two goal lead as Konyaspor fight back to draw with us. They took a very early lead after 26 seconds with a nice finish into the top corner. Slimani levelled for us ten minutes later heading in from ten yards out. Alici headed in our second goal from another Ayew assist. Slimani blasted a low shot into the bottom corner to put us two goals up. Traore scored twice in three minutes to level the game converting twice from close range. Even with a late red card we couldn't find a winner.

Fenerbahce 1-0 Man. United
View attachment 29233In an incredible turn around from our two five goal defeats in a row we claim the second qualification spot ahead of Barcelona who could only draw with CSKA, although with our win they had no chance of getting out the group. Two minutes after Martial had a penalty saved Ayew scored the only goal against a rotated Man. United side, his free kick was cleared back to him and he beat a man before drilling a low shot past De Gea and in to send us into the knockout rounds and Barcelona into the Europa League.

Kayserispor 2-2 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29232A late equaliser sees us draw again in the league this time away to Kayserispor. Frey scored after 6 minutes for us with another powerful header from him. Ayew doubled our lead just past the half hour, tapping in the rebound of a Baris shot. Turuc pulled a goal back for Kayserispor with 20 minutes left, a low shot beating the keeper at the near post. Mensah then scored a late goal to cost us two points, turning in a loose ball that Cetin couldn't quite push past the post.

Fenerbahce 2(4-1)0 Sanliufaspor
View attachment 29231A rotated side easily sees us into the next round of the Turkish Cup. Potuk gave us an early lead firing into an open goal from a Concha cut back, Benzia grabbed a second goal turning in a Potuk cross at the near post.

Bursaspor 1-4 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29228We end 2018 with a dominant win over Bursaspor and our first league win of the month thanks to a second half Slimani hat trick. Slimani scored soon into the second half powering in a header, Jailson headed in a second goal soon after. Slimani then volleyed in from a Frey cross to give us a three goal lead. Bursaspor pulled a goal back with a penalty but Slimani scored second after the kickoff to reestablish our three goal lead, turning in a cross thanks to some poor goalkeeper positioning.

Table
View attachment 29225We have a 1, 2 and 3 point lead over our Istanbul based title rivals with the teams projected to be at the top of the table getting up their now. Bld. are still looking for their first win.

Champions League
View attachment 29224A shocking turnaround saw us claim second place in the group. Barcelona will drop into and be favourites to win the Europa League.

View attachment 29223
We will face Manchester City in the first knockout round of the Champions League. With the first leg at home we will have to do well there and be in a strong position heading to Manchester if we want to spring an upset.

Turkish Cup
View attachment 29222We will again face lower league opposition in the Turkish Cup as we draw Boluspor who we should easily beat to get into the next round.​

 

[ninjaskill]

January Transfer Window Update

Trying to get our wage bill down means that I moved on a number of older highly paid players who were not playing as well as amount they were getting paid suggested that they should and in an aggressive attempt to get the wage bill down I moved most of them on and brought in some younger cheaper players to replace.

Outgoing Transfers
View attachment 29151
A number of notable players move on, Chahechouhe moves to Dijon for 525k in a pre arranged transfer from October. An unhappy Valbuena leaves for Toulouse six months before his deal run out with us, Ekici is the only other to leave permanently heading to SPAL for £2 million after being unhappy over a lack of first team football and me being unhappy paying him a ton to not player first team football.

Isla leaves on loan to Angers after I found a better right back, Ferdi heads to Konyaspor to get first team football and Elmas leaves for Vienna to stop PSG making him unhappy by trying to buy him and pay him a fortune. Oguz Kagan who could become a first team player moves away on loan and Kameni who I hadn't registered for the league finally leaves, albeit temporarily, for Bournemouth.

Incoming Transfers

Only fours players join as I'm generally happy with the first team squad but want to make sure we have enough depth with the players who have left this month.

Gino Peruzzi
View attachment 29149The Argentinian right back comes in to replace Isla who is younger and on much cheaper wages than. He joins on a free after his Boca Juniors contract expired and will face a fight to get first team football with Sener having played exceptionally well while Isla has been out injured. A solid all round right back Peruzzi should hopefully do well here.

Samir Nasri
View attachment 29140Nasri was picked up on a free after his ban expired and will provide cover on both wings and at CM if needed. A very experienced player on cheap wages at worst I should be able to turn a profit on him.

Benjamin Tetteh
View attachment 29130Our big money signing was the Ghanian striker who joined us from Sparta Prague. With the two striker formation and me only having three strikers I felt depth there was needed and Tetteh is a young player who can hopefully develop into a great striker. At 6'4 and 202 lbs he is going to be a handful for defenders to deal with as a target man especially with his 17 jumping reach and 16 strength as well. He cost £2.5 million up front with £5 million in instalments and £1 million for each of: Us winning the league, playing 20 times for Ghana and scoring 50 goals for Fenerbahce.

Okan Yilmaz
View attachment 29126Just took a bit of a punt on Yilmaz as he's Turkish and I'm hoping he can develop into a first team or rotation option. 250k from Bochum the AMC/Striker has declared for Turkey which is useful for me for league registration.

View attachment 29125​

 

[ninjaskill]

January Update

Just a short update as we only have one Turkish Cup tie and one league game thanks to the winter break which eases us into a hectic February.


Fenerbahce 2-0 Boluspor
View attachment 29121
We record a pretty straightforward win over lower league opposition in the first leg. Benzia got us ahead with an early goal turning in a low cross from Tetteh. Tetteh then grabbed a debut goal to go along with assist on his debut taking down a long ball and then beating the goalkeeper from a tight angle. Boluspor got a first half red card but we couldn't add to our lead.

Boluspor 1(1-5)3 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29117Another pretty easy win for us as we get into the next round of the cup, with Tetteh grabbing two goals in his second appearance for us. Tetteh grabbed his first turning in a deflected shot and then scored his second from a unselfish pass from Benzia when in on goal. Boluspor got a goal in the tie when Issah scored via the bar from outside the box. Concha grabbed a late goal to add some gloss to the scoreline with Tetteh squaring to him when in on goal for an easy finish.

Sivasspor 1-3 Fenerbahce
View attachment 29116We get back underway in the league with a win over Sivasspor to make up for our opening day loss to them. Alici got us ahead after four minutes heading in at the back post. He scored four minutes into the second half as well taking down a cross at the back post and then blasting the ball into the roof of the net past the keeper. Tetteh headed down a cross and Benzia's resulting shot took a deflection which beat the keeper to make it three. Jailson picked up a red card after 72 minutes and Sivasspor scored late on but it was a pretty straightforward win.

League Table
View attachment 29115Not really changed from the last update except that Basaksehir lost. It's still very tight at the top of the table but we stay ahead of our rivals. Trabzonspor have had an awful first half of the season and are only just above the relegation spots.

View attachment 29114
In the Cup we will face of against Ankaragucu who have struggled so far in the Super League so I would expect us to get past them and into the next round.

View attachment 29113
Solksjaer comes in to Trabzonspor to try and improve their season. Their stadium is named after club legend Senol Gunes who is currently managing Besiktas and clearly decided not to bother going back despite them naming the stadium after him.

View attachment 29112
Baris Alici has been in great form this season and signed a new deal extending his stay at the club until 2023.​

 

[ninjaskill]

February Update

We have another Turkish Cup tie, some league games and most importantly the home first leg of our tie against Manchester City that we have to do well in to have a hope to get into the quarter finals.

Fenerbahçe 4-1 Başakşehir
View attachment 29078


We hammer fellow Istanbul side Basksehir with a great team performance. Slimani got us ahead within a minute poking in a rebound. Ayew doubled our lead with a good header inside 10 minutes and Benzia extended it just before half time with a great cross by Baris giving Benzia a tap in. Da Costa and Ayew both scored from close range in the second half.


Turkish Cup


Fenerbahçe 5-1 Ankaragücü
View attachment 29070


We get a decisive first leg win at home over the capital based side with Frey scoring twice late on to get a hat trick. Frey headed in from close range to give us the lead and Nasri scored his first goal for the club with a penalty. Mokhtar turned the ball in from a free kick to make it close again. Nasri scored a free kick to extend our lead and Frey then scored a left and right footed volley to make his hat trick a perfect one.


Kasimpasa 2-2 Fenerbahçe
View attachment 29077


We twice fight back from a goal down but can only collect a point against Kasimpasa. Ben Youssef scored from a corner to put us behind before Slimani turned in a loose ball to level the game. Kasimpasa regained the lead just before half time Eduok scored from a tight angle beat the keeper at the near post. Tetteh scored his first league goal with a powerful shot that went in off the bar to earn us a point.


Fenerbahçe 1-0 Göztepe
View attachment 29076


Benzia converted a chance from close range to hand us all three points against Goztepe as we shut down the league second top scorer Cameron Jerome.


Champions League


Fenerbahçe 2-1 Man City
View attachment 29075



Thanks to Ederson’s attempt to rival Sven Ulrich and Loris Karius for worst Champions League error by a goal keeper. Ederson claimed a Baris header from a free kick that Ozan Tufan tried to get on the end of. Ederson held the ball and watched as Tufan got up and walked back into position before running up behind him and punting the ball into his back and it bounced into the goal to give us the lead. Bernardo Silva soon equalised for Man City firing a shot into the top corner. Ayew scored with 15 minutes left to give us a lead to take to Manchester, unmarked in the box and when the ball found him he fired a low shot just inside the far post.


Ankaragucu 1-0 Fenerbahce
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An own goal saw us lose in the league as a slightly rotated side fails to impress against one of the weaker sides in the division.


Turkish Cup


Ankaragucu 2(3-7)2 Fenerbahçe
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It wasn't really a relevant game after our early lead but Ankaragucu took a two goal lead there was a bit of concern before Tetteh scored a header and beat the keeper 1 on 1 to draw the game and ensure we get into the next round of the cup.


League Table
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It's very tight at the top of the table as we lead Besiktas on head to head and hold a one point lead over Galatasaray. Bursaspor lead the title race for those outside the big 3 but it looks like it will be a big Istanbul side who will claim the title again.

View attachment 29071
We had our youth intake and only got one player worth mentioning. Adem Özsoy looks like he could become a very good striker for us and can hopefully develop well. A number of good stats for a 15 year old I have high hopes for him.​

 

[ninjaskill]

March Update

We face our second leg against Manchester City and also have our second intercontinental derby where I hope to get my first win over Galatasaray in my first home derby.

Fenerbahçe 4-1 Akhisarspor
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We record a convincing win to start off the month. Ayew poked in a low shot before Ozan Tufan fired in a curling free kick to get us 2-0 up at half time. An own goal extended our lead before they pulled a goal back with a nice finish from inside the box. Baris headed in from a corner late on to give us the 4-1 win.

Bld. Erzurumspor 0-2 Fenerbahce
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We were able to beat a Bld. team even with them on the high of having won for the first time in the league the game before. Tetteh scored a header from inside the six yard box and Slimani scored a penalty to give us a pretty comfortable win.


Man City 3(4-2)0 Fenerbahçe
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It was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests as it took until the 82nd minute for Aguero to score and put City ahead and once he did City took advantage of us going forward to try and level the game. Aguero turned in a low cross from Sane and then scored a penalty after Hasan Ali Kildrim got sent off for a second yellow. Fernandinho scored from close range to put the game out of reach in injury time.


Fenerbahçe 3-0 Galatasaray
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An unlikely goal scorer in ex-Gala player Mehmet Topal scored his first two goals of the season as we bounced back from going out of Europe with a convincing win over our city rivals. Topal opened the scoring Ozan Tufan headed down a clearance and Topal fired a beautiful volley into the top corner leaving Muslera no chance. Topal's second goal was the opposite of his first, another volley but this one took a massive deflection that left the goalkeeper diving away from the ball as it floated down the middle of the goal and in. Tetteh grabbed a third goal, Benzia hit in a low cross at Tetteh flicked the ball on target and when Muslera parried it he reacted first and smashed the rebound in to wrap up a convincing intercontinental derby win.


Antalyaspor 1-1 Fenerbahçe
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A late Tetteh goal earns us a point in Antalya in a game where we didn't play very well and probably didn't deserve a point. We went behind as Erdinc headed in from a corner 10 minutes after half time. Just after the 80th minute Tetteh drew us level using his height to easily get above the defender and then powering a header back across goal and just inside the post to leave the keeper no chance.


Table
View attachment 28964
We sit top of the table but with just a narrow lead over Bursaspor who won every game this month to get themselves into the title fight. Gala losing twice in a row sees them drop quite far back. Bld. finally found some form as they won 2 of 4 games after having won none of the previous 22.

Other Stuff
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For whatever reason this award was given out in mid-March. Slimani's goal scoring saw him win the Footballer of the year in Turkey award, unfortunately this looks to be the only year he will have in Turkey as Leicester don't seem interested in selling him or letting me extend his loan.
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Good read this!! Going well in the league mate and unlucky in the champions league against city...still you can take a lot from knocking barca out at the group stage when nobody would have expected you to qualify from that group!!

 

[Cahoon]

Love Slimani, I'm a Sporting fan, we got a lot of money for him but I wish we never let him go.

 

[ninjaskill]

Love Slimani, I'm a Sporting fan, we got a lot of money for him but I wish we never let him go.

Yeah think he probably wishes he hadn't left as well, struggled to recapture his form for Sporting until I got my hands on him of course.

Good read this!! Going well in the league mate and unlucky in the champions league against city...still you can take a lot from knocking barca out at the group stage when nobody would have expected you to qualify from that group!!

Cheers mate, can't complain much about city given how lucky my first goal against them was but still annoying. Can't believe we knocked out Barca, every team planning to use the Europa League to get into the Champions League also probably couldn't believe we knocked Barca out

 

[ninjaskill]

April Update

We have our Turkish Cup Semi Final and rivalry games against Besiktas and Trabzonspor as we look to continue our charge for the domestic double with our elimination from Europe.

Turkish Cup Semi Final Leg 1

Fenerbahce 2-0 Kayserispor
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Given that Kayserispor played over a half with ten men we could have perhaps won by more, pleasingly we did deny them any away goals. Close range finishes from Frey and Concha either side of half time got us a two goal lead to take into the second leg.

View attachment 28533
Unfortunately we will lose Baris Alici for just over a month, he's been in great form for us so it will be a big loss for us in a key month.

Fenerbahce 2-0 Besiktas
View attachment 28531A Benzia double gives us the win over Besiktas in what was a foul heavy local derby. Benzia got his first goal getting onto a long ball and then firing a low shot in past Karius. He got his second goal around the hour mark firing in at the back post from a deep Ayew cross. Sener received his second yellow card with 18 minutes left but we held on for the win. The biggest surprise being with 11 bookings there was only one red card.

Rizespor 0-0 Fenerbahce
View attachment 28530We miss a number of good chances as we fail to score but also got lucky with some poor Rizespor finishing. A pretty even game overall and no one can feel to hard done by with a point.

Fenerbahce 6-2 Alanyaspor
View attachment 28529Both teams brought their finishing boots this time as we take all the points from a goal filled game. Tufan fired in a free kick, Slimani fired in from close range and Tufan scored a curling strike from just inside the box as we scored three goals in just over 10 minutes. Ayew headed in at the back post before Alanyaspor scored from the rebound of a free kick from 35 yards out that smashed the bar. Jailson drilled a low shot in from near the penalty spot before there was a 35 minute break without a goal broken by a good header from a corner to pull a goal back for Alanyaspor before Ayew fired in the rebound of a Jailson shot to make it a four goal win for us.

Kayserispor 1(1-4)2 Fenerbahce
View attachment 28528A Jailson brace helps us get into the Turkish Cup Final with a comfortable win. Jailson opened the scoring after 70 minutes firing in a powerful shot from outside the box. Vivani levelled the game soon after with a free kick that beat Harun Cetin. Jailson grabbed a second goal in injury time to give us the second leg win, unmarked from just outside the D he fired the ball into the top corner.

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We will be having a third inter-continental derby this season as we will take on Galatasaray next month in the Turkish Cup Final.

Trabzonspor 1-7 Fenerbahce
View attachment 28526Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and I haven't been best of friends with each taking shots at the other in the media so I was thrilled to hammer them 7-1 in front of all the Trabzonspor fans. Slimani gave us an early lead converting when in on goal. Trabzonspor quickly equalised with a great team counter ending with a great finish into the top corner that left the keeper no chance. Concha quickly got us back in front who just snuck a header past the keeper and in. Concha extended our lead when he beat the keeper with a low finish at the near post. Ayew scored soon after, powering in a low finish to give us a three goal lead at half time. Benzia headed in to extend our lead ten minutes into the second half and then benefited when Ayew unselfishly passed to him instead of scoring himself when he got to the rebound of a Nasri free kick first. Potuk made it seven in injury time when a Benzia shot that would have gone into an empty goal to give him a hat trick hit him and gave him his first goal of the season/

Table
View attachment 28525We secure a Europa League spot for next season and only a draw with Galatasaray in their last game of the month prevents Bursaspor being level at the top with us with only four games left. We also play them on the last day of the season which could decide who wins the league.​

 

[ninjaskill]

May Update

We face one game to decide the winner of the Turkish Cup and up to four games to decide the winner of the league, with our final game against Bursaspor potentially being a winner takes all game.

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Bursaspor lose to Trabzonspor as they bounce back well from a six goal loss to us. It gives us the chance to opening up a 5 point lead at the top of the table.

Fenerbahce 1-0 Yeni Malatyaspor
View attachment 28522It wasn't pretty but the most important thing is that we claimed all three points. Slimani scored an early goal beating his man to get to and turn in a cross from David Concha.
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Mehmet Topal's season is over as he picks up a groin strain. Its a shame as he had been playing great but we will have to try and get our silverware without him.


Konyaspor 1-1 Fenerbahce
View attachment 28520We throw away our five point lead as we draw and Bursaspor win to reduce our lead at the top of the table back down to three points. Diagne put us behind early on acrobatically turning in a free kick from close range. Benzia had a penalty saved as we struggled to find an equaliser. Ayew got us level in the second half heading in off the post from a corner. We couldn't find a second goal so we concede some ground in the title race to Bursaspor.

Turkish Cup Final

Galatasaray 0p-0 Fenerbahce
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We lose the Turkish Cup final in heartbreaking style to our biggest rivals, It was pretty much a non-event up until penalties with neither side able to create much. Benzia missed a penalty again and Slimani also saw his effort saved which gave Burgui a chance to win the game for Galatasaray and he sent the keeper the wrong way as the Turkish Cup goes to the European side of Istanbul.

Fenerbahce 2-3 Kayserispor
View attachment 28518We lose a massive game as we again fail to convert a penalty. Even worse Bursaspor won their game meaning we will play them on the final day with the same number of points. Trotta put us behind early, a Skrtel clearance hit a Kayserispor player and fell to Trotta in front of goal with the keeper out of position and he had a simple finish. Jailson got a straight red for a two footed lunge and a minute later we were two goals down when Mensah beat Skrtel to the ball and then beat Cetin at his near post. Ozan Tufan hit back for us soon after heading in at the back post from a free kick. Nasri missed a second half penalty before an own goal saw us level, a great cross hit off Kana-Biyik and rolled past the keeper. A point didn't mean much to us so I continued to push for another goal which I then regretted with Kana-Biyik making up for his own goal with a powerful header from a corner to give Kayserispor some revenge for us knocking them out of the cup.

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That means this is the table heading into our final game which is against Bursaspor. The winner will claim the title, if we draw and Galatasaray win then all three teams would end up on 70 points and I don't know who would win the title as head to head is the tie breaker so I'm just going to go for the win.

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Bans mean Sketel, Jailson and Ozan Tufan will all miss out on our final day match through bans picked up against Kayserispor and with Mehmet Topal also out injured it means none of my three best central midfielders will be available.

Fenerbahce 2-1 Bursaspor
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Two men who are most likely making their final appearances for the club score the goals that hand us the title as we beat Bursaspor to beat them to the title. Slimani got us ahead after 18 minutes firing in a low first time finish from a good Ayew pass. Ayew then scored early in the second half to give us a massive two goal lead a great tackle left the ball loose in the box and Ayew pounced and blasted the ball past the keeper. Bursaspor scored late on from a corner as we held on to claim the title.

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As a result of claiming the title on the final day we get a guaranteed spot in the Champions League group stage and the money that the Champions League brings will be big given our debt.

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The board are thrilled with me winning the league as they should be.

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The board show me thanks by giving me no money whatsoever. Their hands are tied by FFP which means that we can't spend more than we get in on transfers and our wage bill is also limited. Unfortunately it means that despite me paying about £300k a week in wages less than the budget I can't move any of the extra money to the transfer budget.

Table
View attachment 28511We win the league by three points after a close final day. Bursaspor get a CL spot as Galatasaray lost on the final day when a win would have seen them finish second. Bld. Erzurumspor, Ankaragucu and Akhisarspor all get relegated.​

 

[leckuno]

Excellent first season. Hopefully the champions league money puts a dent in your debt so you'll have a bit more to spend the following year

 

[Cahoon]

That's interesting about not being able to adjust the budget between the wage bill and transfers, I've never encountered that before

 

[ninjaskill]

Excellent first season. Hopefully the champions league money puts a dent in your debt so you'll have a bit more to spend the following year

Thanks man, think the debt will be around for years to come but I'm miles under the wage budget so hopefully next season I'll have some money to spend.

That's interesting about not being able to adjust the budget between the wage bill and transfers, I've never encountered that before

It's because its an FFP settlement so we have a wage limit so no excess transfer money can go into that and then we have to make a profit on transfers so no excess wage money can go into it. I've looked around online and it should be over by next season so hopefully then I can splash the cash.