FM17 Brexit Challenge

[yescomeon]

Job Hunt - 2030/31

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Italy, Croatia, Holland, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, France, England and Portugal turned me down. But, with many nations replacing their managers, a few nice club jobs came up: Hoffenheim, Red Bull Leipzig, Napoli and Red Bull Salzburg. I think the RBL and Napoli jobs are too big for me, I really fancy the Salzburg job though.

I got interviews for all four jobs but missed out on the Napoli and RBL jobs to Slavan Bilic and Diddier Deschamps respectively. The other 2 jobs I missed out to managers I’ve never heard of. Without the fall-back of saying “it is probably the fact that I am managing Austria putting them off” my ego has taken a bit of a bruising with these rejections. There were a lot of good managers out of work after the national team sackings/resignations. Perhaps I should aim a little lower.

Then up came the Maribor job, “perfect” I thought to myself, “just the smaller job I’ve been looking for”. I got an interview, I was media favourite, but I didn’t get the gig. I was worried by this point.

Over the period of almost a year I had unsuccessful interviews at: Grasshoppers, Luzern, Dresden, Ternana, Avellino, Trapani, Brescia, Admira Wacker Mödling, Slavia Prague, Újpest, Karlsruhe, Lazio, Udinese, SV Ried, Padova, Young Boys, Perugia, Austria Wien, Braunschweig, Cheivo, Unterhaching, Frankfurt, Sampdoria, Köln, Novara, INTER, Rostock, Crotone, Freiburg, Kladno, Kaiserslautern, First Vienna 1894, Torino, SV Grödig, Düsseldorf, Servette, Maribor (again), Senica, Erfurt, St.Pauli and Slovan Liberec.

Eventually the pre-January sales came around for the second time in my stint away from football, determined to finally get back into the game I sent applications only to the better jobs: Mainz, Wolfsburg, Udinese, Slava Prague and Roma...

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I’ve been out of the game for a while now, but it has been worth the wait. I have my move to the Bundesliga, and to a good club in Wolfsburg.

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Not a huge move, in terms of distance, from Vienna to the heart of Germany. A very different city to Vienna. We picked up a 3 bed apartment in the heart of Wolfsburg for E500k, with a lovely view of the Volkswagen factory, and only 7 minutes from the stadium.

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In order to get the job, I had to make a lot of promises. Not sure I can meet them all, especially making the most of set pieces, I’ve never been able to. I should be able to get an attacking direct system though.

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A nice, transfer and wage budget, and a not too stressful league target. The club are already through to the first knockout round of the Europa league, where we will play Braga. After that there is one more round to meet the target of reaching the quarter-finals.

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The media fancied Wolfsburg for a champions league spot this season. That’s not going to happen, but I will be looking for that next season if I survive in the job.

Competitive results up to this point:

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The table (plus a loss to Bayern):

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Our friendlies over the winter break. I have been working on new tactics with the group. My initial feelings are that our finishing is not as good as it could be.

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I brought in a backup right back and centre back (Niklas Schäf and Tadej Zupan respectively), I also had to replace a want-away centre back, Walter Vieira, we got E45m for him, and replaced him with an Argentine prospect for E15m.

The first 11 in a 451 looks like this:

GK:

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DR:

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DL:

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DC:

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DC:

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MC(BWM):

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MC(DLP):

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AMC:

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RW:

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LW:

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ST:

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[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2031/32 Season

3rd Quarter

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Talk about a baptism of fire, away to Bayern first game. Not as bad as 2-0, maybe I shouldn’t have tried to play counter attacking after going 1 down. I tried a 343 towards the game, the team played it around nicely, shame the board want to play direct.

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At home against a side around the bottom of the table, I went out with a 433 from the start, we played quite well and got a decent result.

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Terrible, we missed tons of chances. They skimmed our fullbacks twice to get the cross in and score. Not finishing the game off when we have the chance put pressure on our defence it couldn’t handle.

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It was terrible goalkeeping that saw us throw this game away, maybe I should have sat on my lead, then tried to defend the point rather than go for the win.

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Had to come from behind in this, glad we did because I was real worried.

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Couldn’t convert more than one of our ample opportunities. We then gave away a penalty at the end.

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I felt really out of my depth in this game, a decent side but one that a club like Wolfsburg should be beating if they had top 4 ambitions (which they do). We get so many chances, decent ones too, and we just can’t put them away.

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Another timid performance. We create loads of chances, just don’t score them. They’re decent chances too. Then the opposition go up the other end, score their first chance. No idea what to do. Only think I can think I can do is just carry on, hope I don’t get sacked, try sign new players in the summer.

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A real and smash and grab here but I’ll take it. I really need the points to come from somewhere.

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Another 1-0 win, it might not be what the board want, but I have to get the points on the board. We might have been at home but it was counter attacking and direct from the off (yuck).

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We’re as we were when I took over, 12 points from 8 games, an average of 1.5 points per game. Better than the 1.11 points per game prior to my arrival, not as good as I would have liked though.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2031/32 Season

4th Quarter

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A fantastic result against a side enjoying a good season. We persisted with 451dm counter attacking system and it worked extremely well. Board promises be damned.

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We didn’t start well with the counter attacking system, we tweaked it to go attacking, took the lead, then at half time tweaked things again to go control. We saw the game out with ease in the second half and even added to our lead.

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Got to be happy with that. We took the lead but then had a player sent off with a straight red for a needless challenge. I was hoping we could hold on, but we did more than that, we went on to score 2 goals. The fans are getting on my back about not playing a direct style. The passing is on more direct, I’m not going route 1.

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Take that haters, a new clean sheet record, 5 games.

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The run of consecutive clean sheets is over but who cares, we just came from behind twice to beat league leaders Dortmund to make it 6 wins on the bounce. To celebrate I went out and bought 3 players. Wait till you see them.

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Another win against a team I turned down for this job. We’re marching on for continental qualification. The 3 players I signed, a winger either side and a midfielder, have gone through for a total of E37.25m.

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Not happy, back to missing chances, disappointing as we were only 12 points off guaranteed Europa league place.

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We managed to rescue a draw late on but this was a pathetic performance, just dreadful. We might just sneak 7th​ but 6th​ doesn’t look good, better hope Dortmund beat Hoffenheim in the cup final.

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Got the result here, we were conservative once we got the goal and managed to hold out. I just need the points this season.

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A real talent this kid is, fantastic player.

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And we see the season out with a win. The post was their best player, pulled off some outstanding saves. We got there in the end though, Lainez back to his best.

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That awesome run we went on saw us finish 6th​, in the automatic Europa league qualification spots. A great achievement imo. In the last 9 games we picked up 7 wins, a draw and a loss, an average 2.44 points a game, that’s title winning form. Hopefully we can carry that form into the next season and go one better and qualify for the Champions league.

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That’s a lot of money, I had no idea each place higher was worth so much money.

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Oh mother, look at that. Can’t wait to get stuck into that.

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There is the season best 11, I’m only responsible for half of it so I feel a bit meh.

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End of season awards, Lainez gets young player of the season, was player of the season too for me but there you go.

 

[yescomeon]

It's been a few days since an update, apologies. I've been busier and will be going forward. I will change the update format to monthly for this season, and possibly for the foreseeable.
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VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season

Pre-Season

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A four star Argentine right winger arrives from Rosario Central for E6.75m, and it the first of the 3 players I bought in celebration of beating Dortmund.

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And an Argentine left winger, 4.5 starts, ouff. This guy looks good. He comes in for E19m from Monterey in Mexico. Can’t wait to see what this guy can do.

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And rounding off the celebration signings is a Brazilian central midfielder who will play the deep-lying-playmaker/advanced-playmaker role in the midfield. He comes in for E10.25m from Palmerias.

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Down to business now. Gilhaus comes in fresh from wining the Europa league with PSV last season. I wasn’t overly impressed with our man between the sticks, and at E9m, I think this guy is good value.

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This fellah comes in as backup for the defensive midfield ball winning position. In reality one of our better centre backs will move forward of better midfielders move back. He comes in from Karlsruhe in the 2. Bundesliga for E3m. He’s cheap and he’s German, so will help with the squad rules. In fairness to him, he has the stats where he needs them for a ball-winner.

With those signings the squad is full. I have been courting a wunderkind left back from Koln, as our first choice left back is kicking off about not qualifying for the champions league. I had a E40m bid accepted for this kid but ballsed up the contract offer. I’m going to wait for his agent to cool down and have another go. I’ve not had an offer made for my want-away left back, but Tottenham are said to be very interested.

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The board expectations for the season. Very reasonable, matching my own, and a generous budget to achieve the task (sorry the screen shot is in the wrong currency, the transfer budget was like E80m, and the wage budget about E3.2m).

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The media have us down to finish top 4, I’ll be disappointed if I don’t achieve that, not to mention most likely sacked.

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Yeah, I did do that.

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Pre-season friendlies have gone well. Some good sides in there. I’m especially happy with getting one over on my arch-nemesis Carlo Ancelotti and his Monaco side.

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I got my man in the end. Leider is the kind of player I want to fill my team with, young, German and with bags of potential. He comes in for E40m.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season

September 2032

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First round of the German cup against a non-league side. I treated it as a final pre-season friendly and used it to build the fitness of the squad, we still won comfortably.

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Draw for the group stage is alright, I think we can win the group if we play to our potential.

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A laboured start to proceedings in the Bundesliga. We started counter in a counter attacking style, it just wasn’t working, we couldn’t even get a shot. I changed it to control half time, short passing. Moretti got us started with a wonderful free-kick, then Lainez (who Real Madrid boss Zidaine was there to watch) made it comfortable for us.

I had a meeting with the board about the philosophies I’m to be judged on but they wouldn’t get rid of focus on set plays. I’m just going to ignore them and try play slick passing football, if they want to sack me for that they can go ahead.

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Window has closed and I’ve gone big in this window with over E70m net spend and 2 of the biggest signings of the window.

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Got the win in the end, can’t help but feel that we wouldn’t have without the sending off. It is what it is though and we’re on 6 from 6. Also, Leinez’s first was a free kick, helps with the set play target.

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Struggled for shots on targets, still, we didn’t lose and the hardest game of the group is out of the way.

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Gutted to lose 2 points so late in the game. They really went for it and are a good team so it’s hard to live with. Still it’s another point on the board and we are still undefeated in all competitions.

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Really annoying to lose this, they’re having a good start yeah but still. We had 3 clear cut chances to their none. Our finishing was just not good enough. I regret not getting that striker in, perhaps too soon.

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We were poor in front of goal again today, but were bailed out in by a late own goal. I’m starting to think of trying a 442 if things don’t improve.

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It was the same old story in this game, not enough shots on target. We went 442 in this game with Schroder coming off the bench and bagging 2 goals. I think I’ll start 442 next match.

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An ok start, if we keep up the current w/d/l ratio it should be enough for 4th​, wouldn’t complain if it improved though.

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I think we’re on course here to get through to the knockout rounds.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
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October 2032​

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The debut of the 442, we got the win, 1-0, it wasn’t that pretty, but that somehow feels right.

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Schroder picked up a hernia so we are back to 1 up front, we started with 451dm switched to 451am and were much better.

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We played the 451am from the start here and looked good, we will be rolling with it into the next match. Lainez ended his goal drought, I must be as glad as him.

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What a result this was. It didn’t look good when we went a man down but **** we were clinical with our finishing, which feels great to say. A 4-0 win a man down away from home, that’s the kind of result that can kick-start a season.

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A good win with 9 changes to the side. Lainez came off the bench to put us back in front, after that it was comfortable.

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A decent result. We had a chance to win it with a penalty but Renan missed for the first time this season. This result continues our undefeated month.

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We’re up to 4th​ now after a great month, with the current ratio we would be nailed on top 4.

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Almost there in the Group stage.

 

[DerbyJack]

Mike Bassett, football genius.

Bringing a bit of English flair to Bundesliga, good start to the season all round!

 

[yescomeon]

Thanks DerbyJack. "If I have seen further, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants."

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VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
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November & December 2032​

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Good win against Dnipro, they were having the kind of game where things were going in for them, but luckily we were able to out score them. Lainez becoming quite the player for us, which is actually a bit awkward for us. I have bought another striker that I’ve had my eye one, back when we were playing 442. This new formation looks like the one for now, which means we’ll have too many strikers, I can’t really offload the two backups I have at the moment because they are both German so Lainez would be the one to go and there is interest, but I don’t really want him to go.

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That win sees us qualify for the knockout rounds, we even played a rotated side in the last match.

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Frankfurt had a game plan and executed it well. They came out very defensive from the start and scored their only 2 shots on target. I had to throw the kitchen sink forward to get just a draw. Dropped points here.

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Again, Schalke came out very defensive. They managed to score their first shot not long after Lainez missed a sitter. We had to really go for it and did get a goal back. Not the worst result ever but disappointing nonetheless.

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Terrible in this match, not a single shot on target.

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Just ******* awful. We’re back to not being able to finish our chances. Back to 442 for the next game now that Schroder is fit again.

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Much better here with the 442, Hamburg were hammered in this game. We will defo be keeping with this formation for now.

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We started out with a counter attacking 451dm ended with an attacking 442 trying to get back into the game. Can’t beat ourselves up over this loss, but with the other loses we’ve had this season it’s hard not to be annoyed.

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We sign off the group stages in fine fashion. A comprehensive hammering of the Greek outfit PAOK. It was a complete performance, all the front 3 over 9 good defensive display, and the Gilhaus making some fine saves when asked to.

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A good solid win here, even if Lainez wasn’t with it today (he lacks just that little bit of consistency). I stuck with a counter attacking style, even against a newly promoted side. Teams sit deep against us, so I will just sit back a little too and be patient, we have players who can make things happen.

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Not the easiest side in the draw but there were some bigger I sides I could have come up against.

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A tight one this. Started off with the 451dm-counter, weren’t that threatening. Went 451am-control, bit better. Went 442-attacking, got the goal. Straight back to 451dm-defensive to see the game out. Not what the board are after but we need to put the points on the board, I’m outside the top 4 as it stands.

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So frustrating. Again a team came and sat deep, they were all over us though and took the lead through a set piece. The rest of the match was spent trying to get a goal back. We ended up 424-overload and eventually got something. We had the chances to win it but couldn’t put them away.

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We go into the winter break in 5th​, only a point off 3rd​. We’re still well in the discussion for champions league, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with our performance so far, especially considering how much we’ve spent. Perhaps the steam still need to gel?

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We came second in our group, missing out on goal difference to Saint-Etienne.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
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January 2033

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This lad comes in as 4th​ choice centre back. He’s German and replaces a non-German back up. Not much else to say, he might make it to the first team one day.

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Facundo comes in potentially as a replacement for Lainez. He’s better than him and has the attributes I like for a lone striker.

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This guy knows me and I know him from my time in charge of Austria. We didn’t have anyone fully comfortable playing attacking midfield. I’m happy to be reunited.

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Hmmm, didn’t seem that much when I was spending it.

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Just the one friendly, a decent performance.

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F**king terrible. We had 20 shots, 4 on target, gave away 2 penalties. Dropped points again. Furious.

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Right at the end of the window Real Madrid and PSG came in for Moretti, we had a falling out over him wanting to go to Madrid, who he didn't even go to in the end, so I let him leave. We got the full minimum release clause for him and turned a tidy E27.5m profit on him after just half a season.

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This is the man I've brought in to replace Moretti, it's a bit of a strange one as he's a striker. He can play on the left wing and with a bit of training should be fine out there. With the number of strikers we have now we have the opportunity to play 433. This guy is world class and I've had my eye on him for a while, at E15.25m he's a real bargain.

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With those final transfers the net spend is down to E96m, what happens with that record now? Bit premature eh?

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Oh boy, this seems to happen to me a lot in this save. In Denmark I built up a bit of a reputation as a wheeler dealer. Those last two transfers both went through on deadline day. I'm sure the press love me.

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(This took me ages, and I love it all the more for being ****)​

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
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February 2033​

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Disappointing performance. We were never in the game, it was individual brilliance by Iglesias. There was an incident with him though. He’s on the transfer list already. I didn’t put him in the Europa league squad because I couldn’t. He kicked off and now wants to leave. Hopefully he will cool down before we get an offer for him.

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A good win against a side seemingly always willing to give us one in the German cup. Macho’s first goal for the club, and an assist for him too.

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Disappointing, our shooting was woeful.

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Gah, disappointing again. Their only shot on target, so late in the game gives them the draw.

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Our dominance in the first half was almost total, but we couldn’t score. We went more attacking, but still couldn’t get the goal, despite putting the ball in the back of the net and having a penalty. More emphasis on attack let them back into the game but thank god they couldn’t get through. I called a team meeting about performances and it went well, hopefully it makes a difference.

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Coming up to my 500th​ game in management. It’s really flown by to be fair and I’ve come a long way from the Danish second Division.

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What a performance this was, and hopefully just the tonic for our stuttering season. Pereira was outstanding and bagged a hattrick. We celebrate my big 5-0-0 with a big 5-0.


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Not the hardest draw, we just dodged Athletico Madrid, but there are much easier teams we could have played. We’re one of the bigger sides still in the competition, so there is a chance for a trophy here.

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The second game in a row we’ve scored 5, hopefully we can keep the goals flowing for the rest of the season. It was a funny old game and it seemed like they would score every attack, which wasn’t that often for most of the game.

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We’re back up to 5th​ after slumping to 6th​ for a time. We really need to kick on as I’ve been in the odds for the sack race the last two times a Bundesliga boss has been sacked. With the board annoyed over broken promises from my interview, I really don’t think they would accept anything but top 4 come the end of the season.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
​

March 2033

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We’re through to the semi-final of the German Cup thanks to a pleasing display against Monchengladbach. Unfortunately, we’ve lost Ernst for 5 weeks and Russo for a week.

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They came out with a 433 and anything they shot remotely goal-wards found its way in. It means they move above us in the league, hugely disappointing.

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Another hard luck story this game. I’m starting to question the keeper now, when things go in that have no business going in, you have to question the ‘keeper. There can be no doubt however that he was poor for their first. This tie is by no means done though.

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A good result, and we really needed it. We hit the post 3 times so it could have been a much bigger win. Without this win we would have dropped to 7th​. It’s really tight around the European places, we’re currently only 4 points off 3rd​ and Koln in 7th​ are only 3 behind us.

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We got just about what we needed a 1-0 win to put us into the next round on away goals. I’m pleased with the result considering our mini injury crisis. We had to play Lieder even though he wasn’t fully fit.

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Not a bad draw for the Europa League Quarter final. I don’t know what’s been going on in English football but Leicester should be one of the easier sides we could have come up against. We are also the last German side in the competition.

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A brilliant result this. We really dominated the first half, Pereira scored his first indirectly from a corner, and for his second he pounced on a back-pass played short. Gouveris gave away a penalty in the second half which Kunert initially missed but he put away the rebound. Then, right at the end they gave away a penalty, which Macho put away cool as you like.

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That result moves us back up to 5th​ just a single point behind RBL and Schalke in 3rd​ and 4th​ respectively.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
​

April 2033

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A good solid home win here. We totally controlled the game, dominated possession and barely gave them a sniff. Exactly how I want us to play. Results went our way too so we move up to 3rd​ place.

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Despite my accusations previously Gillhaus has actually broken the clubs clean sheet record with a few games left to play yet.

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And we’re back down to 4th​. They kept catching us on the break, we had to go 433 in the end, it didn’t help.

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A good win putting us in a commanding position in the tie. I might have hoped for more after they went down to 9 after a red card and an injury. I went 433 attacking to get as many away goals as possible. It didn’t work but it would have remiss of me not to have tried.

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I really, really wanted to give Mainz a hammering after they humiliated us 4-1 last time we met. The lads really went out and got revenge. Pereira, Lainez and Russo were in incredible form and each were on over 9 for average rating.

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A fine performance, Pereira was fantastic again on the wing, laying goals on a plate. Unfortunately, we Lainez for 7 weeks, who is fine form himself. Luckily, we’re well stocked up front.

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With Atletico Madrid still in the competition I’m pleased with the draw. We had Saint Etienne in the group and drew 0-0 twice. Something has to give this time.

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What the **** happens to us away from home. They scored their first shot on target and things just went for them and not for us. The only player that played well for us was Pereira, we need to sort this away problem out for next season.

Aside from the result there have also been some disappointing things going on off the pitch. A while back both Lainez and Ayite wanted to leave, in order to make them stay I said I would win the league, ambitious I know. Now it’s no longer possible to win the league they both now want to leave. Pereira and Inglesias came to me saying they wanted me to let Lainez go, I talked them both around, or so I thought. Inglesias went and gave a an interview of it, not having that I offered him out and got a bite from Barcelona for E60m he’s now playing for the U19s until he leaves, he’s been nothing but trouble.

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A fantastic performance puts us into the final. Pereira was awesome, 3 goals, could have been 4 but he missed the penalty.

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A fantastic result this, and it keeps us in the race for the champions league.

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With 3 league games left of the season we lie in 5th​ place, a point behind Schalke in 4th​ and 2 behind RBL in 3rd​. We face Freiburg [A], Stuttgart [H] and Koln [A], whilst Schalke face Augsburg [H], Dusseldorf [A] and BMG [H] and RBL face BMG [H], Hertha [A] and Leverkusen [H]. We’ve probably got the hardest run in so I don’t fancy our chances of making 4th​, especially being in more cup competitions than our rivals.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2032/33 Season
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May 2033

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Nice to see things going well back at Randers.

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We really struggled to get through, Leider in the end after none of our strikers could. We were really thin on the ground for this game, hopefully we’ll be a bit better stocked for the next leg.

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We struggled to get though again in this game. In the end it turned out to look quite comfortable.

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For most of the game we were awful. I went counter hoping we could hang on for the draw and we went and kicked on to score 3 goals.

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Atheletico Madrid overturned a 1-0 deficit in the their first leg to make it to the final with us. A tough game but a one off so anything can happen.

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We were good today, and gave Stuttgart a good old fashioned tonking. A lovely free-kick from Russo opened the scoring. Periera ended it, he’s been struggling the last few weeks so glad to have him get back to scoring. With Schalke and RBL drawing we move up to 3rd​, 1 point above Schalke and level on points with RBL just 1 goal behind them.

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This really could have been more comfortable, we had a further 2 clear cut chances and hit the woodwork 3 times. Still we got the win we wanted.

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Both Schalke and RBL lost their games so we moved up to 3rd​ on 64 points, a bit of a gap for us to close on the top 2 next season though.

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Obviously with our 3rd​ place finish we qualified for the Champions league which is fantastic news. Very much looking forward to the challenge.

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The board have awarded us a healthy budget for next season. We were actually projected to fail FFP so I will have to keep an eye on that before splashing the cash next season.

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A nice wedge of prize money that will do wonders for our FFP problems.

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A painful way to lose in the final. They scored a deflected free-kick but barely threatened outside of that. We barely threatened at all, despite throwing everything at them. We also lost Pereira to injury and without Lainez for the other cup final things don’t look good. This was however Wolfsburg’s first Europa league final.

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Heartbreak, and this one is even harder to take. Again the only shot on target went in but we hammered them but didn’t have the firepower to get the goals we needed.

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A good set of average ratings, nothing mind blowing but Pereira is getting that way, looking forward to seeing what he can do in a full season with us.

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Russo ran away with player of the season and rightly so, he has been fantastic. Periera picks up signing of the season, an exciting player that guy looks.

In terms of other awards I came 3rd​ in the manger of the year and player’s manager of the year, Russo came 3rd​ in player of the year, he and Dietterle were picked in the team of the year.

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Bad news, it’s going to be harder for us to get into Europe next season.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2033/34 Season
​

Pre-Season

​

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View attachment 104748
Kose comes in as a replacement for Inglesias, there isn’t much between the two and Kose is German and comes in for less than Inglesias was sold for. So a good trade that I am happy with.

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Confirmation of the Ingleasias deal, he leaves for Barcelona with E60m heading our way, a profit of almost E40m.

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The deal for Kose is a new Wolfsburg record at E52m. Our profit on the Ingleasias alone almost covers that though.

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With Ayite wanting out I was able to pick up Flores on a free transfer which I am delighted with. He will offer much stiffer competition than Ayite was able to.

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With Filipe Renan kicking up a big stink and only Macho able to effectively play attacking midfield I wanted someone to play the Trequartisa and Deep-Lying Playmaker roles. Scholz fits the bill and at E20m for a German player he’s a real bargain.

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Confirmation of the Filipe Renan deal, I would much rather have not sold him to a side in our league, but he was making such a fuss he had to go. The deal is initially E41m but I am certain it will rise to the full E65m.

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With Bollmann not being up to the first team we needed more depth in the middle. Mattner certainly provide that, he’ll push Gouveris hard. Another bargain at E20.5m.

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The odds are in for the up-coming season and the press fancy us for champions league (top 3) again. A closer look at the odds shows they think we can really challenge for the title. I think they’re right.

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My final signing of the window (at least it should be) is another striker. Lainez is unsettled and out of contract at the end of the season (he won’t sign another). I’ve been actively looking to cash in on him so needed to replace him. Poirier comes in to do that. I actually got him mixed up with someone else so overpaid for him a bit, E22m, but I got some great deals this window, so it’s not the end of the world.

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A good pre-season results-wise. Fitness is good, but for some reason Wolfsburg have struggled with my tactics so have a small, but larger than I would like, way to go on tactical familiarity. No injury worries and a squad looking deeper than last season, just a little older at the back.

 

[WWred]

Absolutely tremendous read, keep it up mate.

 

[yescomeon]

Thank's WWred, your comment is much appreciated. I'm glad you have enjoyed so far.
__________________________________________________

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2033/34 Season
​

August 2033

​

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The board’s expectations for the season are again in line with my own.

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Our first game of the season is out of the way and we’re off to a win. This to me is a semi-competitive final friendly. A rotated side easily dispatched Halle. The draw has been unkind, we face Schalke in the second round, it’s at home at least.

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I know it was against a newly promoted side but ooo lordy Kose was good today. He was involved in all the goals, scoring half of them. He looks, REALLY, good.

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We were great again today. A key indicator of a side in form for me is my level of disappointment at missing out on a clean sheet. I was here but that’s 2 from 2 and we’re top of the league.

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That’s a pretty tough group. The only plus side is, if we get through, one tough side has been eliminated.

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Another good performance, this one away from home. We haven’t faced one of the big boys yet but can we mount a title challenge? I think we have the squad to do that, and in Kose, I think we may even have a striker to fire us to the title.

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Early days but we’re flying high. I’m feeling good about the up-coming season.

A nice little aside. As I was registering my squad for the champions league I noticed that Kose was home grown at club. He came through our youth system and Schalke bought him. Just makes me like the guy more.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2033/34 Season
​

September 2033

​

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A fantastic performance today, total domination of the opposition. The goals were shared around the side. All-in-all, a comfortable day at the office.

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Really annoying to concede a goal in the 3rd​ minute of added time when there was only 2 minutes scheduled. We were more than good enough for a draw.

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Mixed feelings on this. I’m disappointed to have got into such a bad situation in the first place, but also really pleased to have come back to a draw.

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A perfect 10 from our Macho man, 5 goals from midfield. At club level that’s the best performance I’ve seen, just sensational.

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The way we started we should have put away a few more goals. The came back into it towards the end of the first half and got an equaliser. Second half no team could find a second. A bit disappointing but an away draw isn’t the worst result.

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In what was an even game they had one player who for everything he hit it flew in. It seems our Champions League race may be run, hopefully we can make it through to the Europa League.

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We’re still top after 7 game, although it is tighter now.

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A complete opposite story in the Champions League.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2033/34 Season
​

October 2033​

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A nice win to restore some pride after the OM result.

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I could feel the game really trying to f**k us over in this one, I really could. But at the end of the day we were just the far better team, and I’m left wondering how we didn’t absolutely smash them.

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We dominated the opening period completely, but their 2 shots found their way in (one was a penalty though). We managed to muster a fight-back which is pleasing. Games like this and the BMG match before we would have lost last season.

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When this draw came out of the hat I was worried, turns out I needn’t have been. Schalke are a rival of ours, and we thumped them Macho was awesome in this game, he has been awesome all season, I love him.

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And I thought the last draw was bad. A draw that has every team still in the competition rubbing their hands with delight sees us go up against Bayern.

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Still top and still undefeated. A small gap between ourselves and Bayern and Dortmund, I’d like to see that grow but I am very happy with how things are going so far.

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Our win against Leiga (and Barcelona’s win against Marseille) keeps our Champions league dreams alive. Next up is Leiga again, another must win really.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2033/34 Season
​

November 2033

​

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A solid win, which has become routine this season. Fine performances from the usual key players, man of the match for Periera for his 2 goals.

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Our first loss of the season. They came to sit deep and catch us out. They got us from a long throw. They only ****** Stoke’d us. We’re struggling at full back with injuries and tiredness. They took full advantage all game, and we struggled to break them down.

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We were the better side for much of the game so it’s disappointing to not win, but a draw against Barcelona is a good result. We’ll have to beat Marseille in the final game to make it through the group stage.

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A good result here, Periera was fantastic, getting a hat-trick from the wing, what a player. Unfortunately, the Hamburg manager was sacked after the match.

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We’re still top but **** this title challenge business is hard. Has well as we’ve played so far this season Bayern and Dortmund are right on my ****.

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The Champions League is still on for Wolfsburg. We face what is essentially a playoff away against Marseille. The winner continues in the Champions League, the loser drops to the Europa League.

 

[yescomeon]

VfL Wolfsburg - German Bundesliga - 2033/34 Season
​

December 2033

​

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A potentially season defining couple of days kicks off with a win against Dortmund. Kose came of the bench to finally put away the chances the starters had been struggling to.

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A decent result in other circumstances but our performance wasn’t as good as it could be, we were wasteful with our chances.

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A draw meant that we were knocked out of the Champions League, a plus side is it is another chance to try win the Europa League.

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Grrr, we’re having full back problems, our first choice right back has been injured a while now, I tried moving Leider from left back to right back but he kept drifting inside, so I went with our backup right back. He’s struggled against tougher opposition but in this game he gave away a late penalty to lose the win. Luckily Bayern lost so we actually extended our lead by a point believe it or not.

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Not a bad draw in the Europa League, no disrespect to Anderlecht, but I would hope to win that.

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What a performance this was. Even before they had a man sent off we were the better side. Kose was just fantastic today.

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That has absolutely flown by. Now I’m winning most games I’m really enjoying my time here. I’m even pleasing the board on some of my promises, just not the direct style, but no need to worry about that.

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Not a bad draw in the German cup. Dortmund were knocked out in the last round BMG and RBL are the biggest sides left in the competition side from ourselves. BMG take on Stuttgart, and RBL take on Mainz.

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A very frustrating game. Schaff our young right back got himself sent off early in the game. Despite that we manage to fight back to take the lead. They pulled it back to a draw which would have been alright but late on De Luca gives away a penalty.

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With that disappointing result we lose top spot.