Gone Travelling

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December was going to be a crunch month. We had a must win game win Dortmund, we knew we would have 2 games in the cup and two in the league, including a 1st vs 2nd clash with Olympiakos, which if we could win would mean that even if they won their games in hand we would be level on points.

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We rounded off the group with an easy win over Xanthi. Goals from Banza (2) and Jovic ensured a 100% record in the group, we have also set a record for most consecutive wins in the Greek cup. Another rotated side took on Apol. Larisas in the knockout round and we made thing difficult for ourselves going down to 10 men but still managed to scrape a win, meaning with the home leg to come we should be good for the next round.

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Two big wins in two big games against teams at opposite ends of the table. Our win in the Salonika derby against Aris leaves them routed to the foot of the table at the half way point (important as I managed to cover them n the screenshot) A brace for Pote and 1 for Ze Tavares meant it was over as a contest by the half hour mark. They did manage a consolation on 89 but it was too little too late. The Olympiakos game was going in a similar fashion as we were 2-0 inside 26 minutes, however they gtabbed a goal on the stroke of half time that could have changed the outcome. we dug deep in the second half and any fears of a come back we put aside when Jaworski scored the 3rd on 81. That all leaves the league looking like this at the half way point:

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So no further European football this season! Defeat to Dortmund was hard to take as we probably edged it and definitely had the better chances but didn't take them. Right from the off it was alays going to be a tough ask to get out of the group, however I thought we'd at least finish 3rd so its massively disappointing to be out altogether.

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It had been mid November when I had some friends over to celebrate my birthday. I had been chatting with my agent who was meant to attend the party and arranged to meet him in Paris after the PSG game. I had been getting bored in Greece as there was very little competition at home and in my opinion we were still a few seasons away from being able to challenge in Europe and that was if we could keep a hold of our best players, which I didn't think we could.

When myself and Jonathan met I explained how I was feeling and asked him to keep an eye open for any opportunities that may arise in the near future. He immediately told me that the Villarreal and Montpellier jobs would soon be available and he would mention my name to the people that mattered if I wanted him to. I asked for a day or two to think it over and decided that neither of these jobs were the right moves for me, yes they were in bigger leagues but not with a better team. Over the coming weeks he would email me about other jobs in the Premier League with Leicester or West Brom, but again they didn't feel right. It was then two weeks before Christmas and he emailed about Nice and Bayer Leverkusen, and both of these teams pricked my interest. Both had been predicted to be towards the top of their tables but instead found themselves struggling towards the bottom. I decided to apply for both and see what happened, one did appeal slightly more but I'd be happy with either. Interviews followed and just after the Olympiakos game as I was getting ready for a trip home when I received offers for both jobs, it was just then a case of who to go to.......
 
I've managed in the Bundesliga before on a Journeyman and found it really dull. Probably because I was Bayern Munich, to be fair, but even so. My vote would be for Nice.
 
Sammuthegreat said:
I've managed in the Bundesliga before on a Journeyman and found it really dull. Probably because I was Bayern Munich, to be fair, but even so. My vote would be for Nice.
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I've only managed in Germany once and it was as a lower league team. Wasn't sure which way to go as both have a big beast of a club that we may never get near.
 
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I arrived at Bayer at a good time as the league was on its winter break, meaning I had some time to assess the players and come up with a tactic to push us up the league. The board were after mid table obscurity, but I think we can maybe do a little better than that.

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As you cam see the top four look like they have pulled away from the rest of us, but we are only 6 points off 5th so if we can get a good run going there is no reason we can't push for European football for next season.

When I arrived I had to get a few new members of staff as a few of the old guys had left along with the previous manager. I went back to PAOK and brought a couple of the guys who have been with me since China onboard, and then added a couple of others so we now have the best backroom staff in the league, this will hopefully help us push on and develop the very talented youngsters that are here.

Next up was to review the playing staff, we are still in the transfer window, but only have £5m to spend, so if we need to bring players in we will most probably have to let a few go first, so it would be essential to make sure we let the right players go if we were going to. We also needed to come up with a plan of how we were going to play.

Key Players:

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A really solid keeper in his prime, and the first player that won't need to be replaced. Really good aerial reach one on ones and composure means we have a solid rock on which to build on. What is even better is we also have a really good young back up who I hope to be able to get some game time so he is ready to step up in a couple of seasons.

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An experienced centre back, and one I had looked at when at PAOK. He has all the main attributes you would want in a centre half, but he can pass as well, which will fit well with the way we plan to play.

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Gajda is probably our best midfielder, though to be far there are a couple of others who are really good, he can play in a couple of the roles that we plan to use meaning that he is also versatile as well as really good. Add young and with potential to get better and he could well be a star in this team for a number of years.

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Seck will in the most part be playing behind the strikers. I'll be looking for him to provide the chances as well as chip in with a few goals himself. He does face a fair amount of competition for the start, so will need to hit the ground running if he wants to stay in the team.

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The first of our strikers. He's quick has good anticipation and can finish, so all the elements of a good poacher. I hope he'll get us a few goals in the remainder of the season.

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Adam will be his strike partner, and is a bit taller and a bit more of a physical presence. He is composed quick and can finish, so along with his mate I'm hoping for goals. That said we have a couple of other very good strikers who if either of these guys don't perform can step up and stake a claim to start.

So the eagle eyed of you may have noticed that we have no wingers in our key players, thats because we have none at the club! That means we will not be able to play the way I would usually like, with wide men who are quick and can run at defenders. So how are you going to play I hear you ask. Well.....

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I'm hoping to outnumber teams in the centre, with our width being provided by the full backs and maybe even the strikers moving into the channels. We will be playing out from the back with shorter passing, as we have the best pass percentage in the league, that and our defenders are all good on the ball.
 
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Having joined during the winter break gave me time to assess the team, we were short at right back but I didn't really want to buy one as we have a decent one in the squad and a really good prospect who is currently out on loan, so I decided that we would just muddle through and hope we don't get any injuries in that position. In fact having checked who was available I don't foresee any ins during this window, perhaps a departure or two but no ins, unless someone amazing suddenly becomes available.

We would start my time at the Bay Arena with a friendly against Jupiler League side HHC, we would the follow that with 3 league games against 2nd place Schalke 04 and then 2 more winnable games with Freiburg and Augsburg who are in and around us in the table. I'm unsure how the tactic will work but with the players we have in the squad I think we should be able to pick up 6 points from those 3 games.

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I had expected to win and win well and that's what we did. The main positives were that we looked solid at the back, even after a number of changes, we created plenty of chances, and one of our strikers got a hat trick, so hopefully he can carry that form into the remainder of the league season.

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Seven points from a possible nine and I should be pleased but after beating Schalke I have to admit I was disappointed to drop points away to a poor Augsburg side. We kicked the month off with a good win over Freiburg with both my starting strikers getting on the scoresheet. We backed that up with a big win over Schalke. We we too strong for them and dominated the game and Adam continued his goalscoring with a brace in this game. We were on a high and went into the Augsburg game expecting a win and probably deserved all 3 points but a missed penalty and an 82nd minute equaliser robbed us of the perfect start as manager. That said we have managed to push oursleves up the table a little and put a few more points between us and the dropzone so a good month overall.
 
Good job picking Leverkusen, look into the youth system I have picked up a few players from there in my Liverpool save.
 
mickymoo89 said:
Good job picking Leverkusen, look into the youth system I have picked up a few players from there in my Liverpool save.
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They have a few decent prospects but all the good ones are out on loan at the moment so it'll be next season before I can look to give them games
 
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After a very promising start to my time at the Bay Arena in January we would be looking to push on in February and continue our progress up the table. We would have four league games against BMG, Wolfsburg, Nurnburg, Stuggart and the 1st knockout round of the Europa League, where we would face Sassuolo. The league games could be very tight as with the exception of Nurnberg these are all teams who are fighting for the "best of the rest" place that we are also aiming for.

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Two wins a draw and a defeat, i suppose it could have been worse. We started the month with a poor draw at home to Stuggart. We were poor in the attacking third and despite being the better team only managed 1 shot on target, so a point isn't too bad. We followed that with a good win over BMG. A brace from Mattson was enough to edge a very even game. Another win in another tight game with Nurnberg this time Adam in the goals. It was then my first defeat as Bayer manager as Wolfsburg picked up 3 points that they probably didn't deserve. All that leaves us in 7th place with 10 games to go and my aim of 5th well within grasp.

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What looked on paper a very tricky game actually didn't play out like that. Goals from Adam and a brace for strike partner Mattson put us in a very commanding position coming into the home leg. I took the opportunity to rest a couple of players and we played out a dull 0-0 and progress to the next round.
 
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After a decent February we were again trying kick on and get ourselves back up the table were we belonged, and of course move on in European competition. We had drawn West Ham in the Europa League which would be another difficult task. We would also face league games with mid table Hoffenheim, struggling Hertha and the big fish of the league Bayern. We could really use 6 points from the first two games as I doubt we'll get anything from Bayern and with 2nd place Dortmund up first in April things don't get any easier.

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We start the month with a draw at Hoffenheim, which was probably the right result as it was an even game. We were 1 down after 3 minutes before a quick equaliser on 7 minutes from Adam. We then went 2-1 up with a goal from Greek attacking midfielder Markopoulos. They got back on terms just after the half hour mark and that finished the scoring and the points were shared. Ther Hertha game we dominated, but again we were blunt in attack and scraped a 1-0 against a poor side. Then came Bayern! We actually went 1 up after 3 minutes through Adam, and I thought oh here we go. However an og was followed quickly by a 2nd and that kind of set the tone. We got back on terms before half time and it was 2-2 at the break. Bayern took the lead shortly after the restart and thats how it stayed until late on. On 75 minutes I foolishly decided to go more attacking in an attempt to get back in the game and Bayern then hit us on the break twice late on ( 89th &90th minutes) to make the scoreline look much worse than we deserved.

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Our inconsistent form in the league was probably caused by rotation, but that meant that we were able to play full strength in the Europa League and it paid off. We were the better team in both games and probably deserved to win by a bigger margin in both games, but progression to the next round is all we were after and with that secured I was more than happy.

In Other News

Probably the main thing that happened this month was that we lost centre back Mbe Soh for 9 months to cruciate ligaments. This is a big blow as he was our best centre back by a distance and means we will now have to play either a 20 year old who is ok or a 18 year old who may eventually be ok but currently is a bit ****. The other issue we may face is that the only player who can fill in at right back is my experienced centre back, so any injuries or suspensions in that area of the pitch could see us with 2 untested youngsters in the heart of the defense. I now regret not strengthening in the transfer window!
 
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April was set to be a very busy month with 5 league games and at least two, may be 3 games in the Europa League. In the league we would face a number of tough fixtures against Dortmund as well as teams around us in the league Mainz, Koln, Bremen, and Frankfurt. In Europe we would face Roma in the Quarter Finals, nothing like getting the easy draws!

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Not the greatest month in the league, and at one point we were sitting 12th in the league and I was a little concerned for my job! We started with a defeat to Dortmund, which to be fair was an even game that we could easily have won, with the sides only separated by a 67th minute penalty. Mainz on the other hand was a terrible performance, we just couldn't defend and they looked like they could score every time they went forward. After 1 win in six and 3 defeats on the spin I was just happy to get a point against Koln especially when despite dominating we went 1 down, before an 80 minute equaliser from our young centre back. We did manage to finish the month on a high with two good performances and the 6 points we deserved for our performances, which left us in 9th with 2 games to go. Europe is top 6 maybe 7 depending on who wins the cup so we will need to try and carry our good form from the end of the month if we are going to get it, though 6th to 10th is very tight.

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Roma were blown away in the home leg and we were even able to rest a couple of players for the return leg and we progressed to the semis despite the defeat. The semis against Man Utd though was over as a tie never mind the game in the 1st half when Utd lead 4-0. We went attacking in the 2nd half and pulled it back to 4-3 and we had hope until 2 late goals took the wind from our sails and left us needing a miracle in the home leg.
 
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April was the month were we knew we needed a miracle to progress in Europe, well that or Man Utd to implode or both. In the league we had 2 games left and we could really do with winning as 2 defeats could see us drop into the bottom half, and as we have been set a target of top half that could see us get our P45!

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Two good wins. The RBL game was a smash and grab. We only had 2 shots on target and scored once, whereas 16 shots, but given the number of times I've been FMed it kind of felt good to be on the right end of it for a change. Hamburg we struggling to avoid the drop and probably need to win so it could have been a difficult game, however showed no mercy and put them to the sword and ran out comfortable winners.

All of that meant the league looked like this in the end:

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Not quite the best of the rest I had hoped for when I took over but not far off. I think if we had of been able to keep our centre half fit we may have made 5th. It was enough to ensure that we are playing European football next season.

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That just leaves the Europa League. 6-3 down we needed to be at our best and for Utd to crumble if we were to have any chance of making the final.

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Unfortunately it wasn't to be. We were much better than in the first leg, but the first half hour at Old Trafford was too much for us to overcome, and we will at least have a chance to make the next step next season.

With the season over we started to look toward next season. There were a number of positions that we needed to strengthen, and I also wasn't totally happy playing a narrow formation, or at the very least not having an option to play wide men. There were also a few players who I would be keen to move on, including a couple of the bigger names who I had high hopes for but who when given the chance didn't really impress. We also have a load of decent young players returning from loan, overall it could be a very interesting transfer window.
 
Sorry for the lack of posts but I have kind of lost momentum with this save and fm in general. Trying the 95/96 database and it is bringing back a lot of memories and hopefully I will be able to get back to this save soon.
 
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