Gone Travelling

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After an incredible October I would be hoping for more of the same in November. 4 very winnable games in the league would be combined with 2 Europa League fixtures, in which I hoped to guarantee progression to the knockout phase.

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Three wins and our first ever defeat as PAOK manager mean that November isn't quite the month October was. We started with a pretty straight forward win over Panaitolikos. 3-0 up inside 20 minutes with the usual suspects Ze Tavares and Jaworski getting a goal each and Mori getting his first goal for the club from midfield. They pulled a goal back on 76 minutes but it was too little too late. We then seemed to lose our goal scoring touch as we dominated against Panionios with 25 shots but only managing the 1 goal from winger Zielinski, who had been complaining about lack of game time, and we picked up the 3 points. Next up came our first defeat against Larisa. How we didn't win I'll never know, actually I do know because they played 10 behind the ball at all times. The set up to frustrate us with a 5 2DMs 2CMS 1AF and frustrate us they most certainly did. We had 63% possession 28 shots 10 in target and missed a penalty whilst they had 3 shots 1 on target from a hoffed clearance from our corner and they picked up the 3 points, no justice! We at least managed to bounce back in the league with a comprehensive 3-0 win away to OFI. Yet another Ze Tavares hat-trick, leaves us top of the table by 4 points with a game in hand.
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Two games this month, away to Bordeaux and home to Valencia, a win would see us through but I'm not confident of getting it as both theses are very tough games.

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A draw in France I would have taken before kick off but I can't help think we missed an opportunity here as they didn't have a shot on target whilst we had 8 and over 60% possession. We have gone off the boil a bit in front of goal and thats a bit worrying. The win at home to Valencia was a hard fought affair. 1 down inside 2 minutes Silva got the equaliser on the half hour mark and we scored the winner just after half time. If I'm honest a draw would have been a fair result but I'm not complaining as we are now all but confirmed as group winners, meaning we will avoid the Champions League dropouts!

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December would see us to the half way point of our season. 3 games in the league before a short winter break, along with the final group games in both the Greek Cup and the Europa League. My main focus this month would be the league with progression already secured in the Europa League and the Greek Cup needing a defeat and a massive goal swing we were practically through there too. We would face major rivals AEK in back to back games, firstly in the Greek Cup then the league, as they are starting to stand out as our main title rivals these would be two big games. The final two league games of the year would be no gimmes against 6th place Xanthi, a team who held us to a draw pre-season, and 8th place Ast. Tripolis. We could also face the first leg of the Greek Cup 2nd round assuming we get through.

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Well that was a bit of a hammering. I'd like to say that I'd made a load of changes but we didn't, on the bright side we weren't outplayed either. Possession was 51%-$49% and we had more shots and shots on target they just took their chances and we didn't. This is beginning to be a bit of an issue and I'm worried it may come back and bite us a some point. Despite the obvious disappointment with the defeat we did manage to get through to the next round were we were drawn against one of the other "big 4" Olympiakos. We played the first leg away from home and because of what had happened in the AEK away game we played our more defensive formation and played for a draw which we got, and with the home leg to come must make us favourites to go through.

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The group was already over and this was a formality. A rotated side still managed to stuff APOEL and this confirmed us as group winners, meaning we will miss the Champions League drop outs in the next round. We will of course take a break from European competitions until February when we will play Ludogorets in the 2nd round of the Europa League.

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Two wins and a draw isn't too bad a month. After the debacle that was the cup game I should be pleased with a draw, however unlike the cup game we battered them. They only managed 2 shots and 0 on target whilst we had almost 30 shots and 8 on target and over 60% of possession, but again we failed to take our chances. Xanthia could have been a very different result. They went 1 up and then missed a penalty to make it two, and at this point we hadn't really been in the game. However an equaliser just before the break must have broken the spirits and in the second half we took the game to them and actually managed to take our chances running out as convincing winners. Ast. Tripolis was routine, we dominated, they didn't have a shot on target, Douglas Pote scored two and missed a 86th minute penalty for his hat-trick. This brings us to the half way point of the league (we have a game in hand so not quite half way for us) and the table looks like this:

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3 points clear with a game in hand isn't too bad. We need to keep our focus for the remainder of the season and the title will be ours. Having said that we've already had players linked with moves and a few are starting to complain that they want to leave to play for bigger clubs, January could be a very interesting month.

In other news, our young keeper Tim Smith picked up Oceania player of the year.

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Oh and despite not having manage in Argentina for more than 6 months I was named manager of the year, I know I'm good but surely the fact that for half the year I wasn't even there should count against me.

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January we would have 4 matches in the league and 1 possibly 2 in the Greek Cup. The league would see us take on mid table Trikala both home and away, struggling Aris and a team up there with us Kerkya. I expected to win 3 of these games so anything less than 9 points would be a disappointment. Speaking of disappointments, it would be another one if we didn't manage to get into the Quarter Finals of the cup with a home game against Olympiakos all that was standing in or way. Of course January wouldn't be January with a transfer or two, but more on that later.

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4 games, 12 points and plenty of goals, a very good month indeed. A hat-trick for back up striker Jovic and a couple of ogs helped us to a commanding victory over Trikala. We followed that with a come from behind win over a tricky Kerkyra side. Goals from winger Jaworski and midfielder Consumi got us the 3 points. A firts half hat-trick for Ze Tavares set us on the way to a big win over Aris and we then rounded the month off with another win over Trikala. The scoreline was closer than last time but the game was much the same as we had 26 shots and the vast majority of possession and could easily have score 7 again!

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A comfortable 2-0 win over Olympiakos, with goals from Nelson Silva and Ze Tavares set up a QF match with AEK. I'm beginning to think someone doesn't want us to win the cup, with AEK in th e group and now the QF and of course Olymoiakos in the 2nd round. A 1-1 draw away from home is ok and sets up the home leg nicely, though it was another game with plenty of chances but only 1 goal. Anyway if we do manage to get through we will no doubt get Panathinaikos in the Semi!

As mentioned then no January is completed without some transfer news, and this is no different. So again most of our squad have been linked with moves to England, Holland, Spain, Brazil and Belgium. I've had to promise to let 1 player leave at the end of the season (that didn't work out as planned, I'll explain later) and 2 leave if we don't qualify for the Champions League, thats on top of those who actually left this month.

Lets deal with the outs first.

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So as usual a couple of youngsters go out on loan, however there are 3 big transfers we need to talk about. Firstly Soldea was my back up left back. He had played a lot of games due to injury and attracted a lot of attention from a lot of big clubs. He came to me and said he wanted to leave and nothing I could do would change his mind, so when Napoli offered £6.25m plus 40% of profit from next transfer off he went. I didn't really want to sell him and I think he will turn into a very good player, just hope PSG or someone spend big on him so we can reap further benefits. Stam was another player who was constantly complaining tat he wanted to leave, despite us only receiving offers less than his value. When Feyenoord eventually hit the magic number I was happy enough to see the back of him. Now lets talk about Marcos. He was my 4th choice centre back and the one that I was prepared to let go in this window, however with the sale of Stam I needed to keep him. He again complained that he wanted to leave so as I mentioned before I said I'd let him go at the end of the season, which he was happy with. So as the eagle eyed of you may have spotted his transfer happened well after the window had closed in Greece. I got the offer and decided it was good enough so accepted it assuming that it would go through at the end of the season as the transfer window had been closed for over a month, unfortunately that wasn't the case and off he went to Brazil straight away leaving me with no back up centre backs, lets hope for no injuries then!

Now the ins, which are rather disappointing if I'm honest:

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Just 2 Greek teenagers with a bit of potential, who may never see the light of day and a back up left back as ours had left.

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There isn't too much difference between This guy and the one we sold except this guy is 3 years older. Decent stats for a full back, could maybe do with improving going forward, but will do a job for us when required.
 
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February could be the month that shapes our season. We have the 2nd leg of the Greek Cup with AEK, the 2nd round of the Europa League against Ludogorets and 4 games in the league, including a trip to Olympiakos and then we entertain Panathianaikos. I'd like to progress in both cup competitions and would like a minimum of 8 points in the league, though I'd happily swap a league defeat for a Greek Cup exit if I had to.

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A decent 2-0 win in the cup, in a game we never looked like losing, see us into the Semis were we will play..... That's right you guessed it Panathanaikos. We are looking good in the cup and if we can squeeze into the final we must stand a good chance of winning since we will have knocked out all the other big sides!

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Ludogorets are a decent side but one I would expect us to have too much for. We have the 1st leg away from home so will be happy with a score draw then hopefully we can finish the job off in our own back yard.

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We went into the 1st leg with a couple of injuries and suspensions, so I was surprised that we had won so comfortably, but goals from Silva, Mihelcic and a brace from Ze Tavares meant that by the time they pulled one back in the 80th minute the game and probably the tie was over. Given how dominate we had been in the away leg I rested a number of players for the return and the sides were only separated by a Jovic goal, though in fairness whilst it was a closer affair than the previous game we still probably should have had 2 or 3. Anyway into the 2nd knockout round we go where we will face Ajax. That promises to be a very interesting match.

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We get the 8 points I was after but given how tight the league is getting I can't help but feel like we have dropped points that may cost us come the end of the season. Platanias came with a game plan to frustrate us. They played 10 men behind the ball and gave up possession, so despite our domination of shots and possession we failed to break them down and they go away with the point they came for. Atromitos had a similar idea when we visited them but this time Pote managed to grab a goal around the half hour mark to secure the 3 points for us. The Olympiakos game was very frustrating. 3-1 up thanks to a brace for Ze Tavares and one for Jose and only 20 minutes left on the clock, I thought the 3 points were in the bag. Olympiakos had other ideas and score twice to rescue a point, luckily AEK also dropped points. We went into the Panathanaikos game needing to win as we at that point were level on games and only 3 points ahead in the title race with AEK. Thankfully the lads responded to the pressure and goals from Jaworski (2) and Silva meant we maintained our lead over AEK.
 
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March would see us continue a three pronged assault on silverware with ties in the Super League, Greek Cup and the Europa League. The cups would pit us against Ajax in the Europa League, with the first leg in the Amsterdam Arena we would also have the first leg of the Greek Cup with a home tie with Panathinaikos. In the league we would face 3 away games and 1 at home, however they were all very winnable games and given that AEK weren't dropping too many points we may well need to win all of them to stay top of the table.

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A very professional performance from the lads gives us a good advantage to take into the away leg. The only downside was that we didn't score the goals that our dominance deserved, as we managed 27 shots whilst they had 2 and only 1 on target. Anyway another performance like that and we'll be in the final!

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The game with Ajax would be a good indication as to how good we are, as they are the first really decent team we have come up against, given that they dropped down from the Champions League.

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A first leg deficit to overcome. We played our more defensive formation and restricted them to just 2 shots on target, however given how tight the game was I can't help but think what we could have done had we gone out and attacked them. In the second leg attack was exactly what we did and we blew them away. 2-0 up before half time and 3 up before they pulled a goal back, a late fourth put the cherry on top and gave Ze Tavares a brace to go along with Potes. Into the Quarters we go and a difficult draw against Sporting.

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Three wins and a draw is a good month, but its only good as AEK also dropped points by drawing on the same weekend as us, I'm beginning to think our name might be on the title this season. Every team this month set up to frustrate us with each of them playing with 2 DMs in front of back 4s and 5s, throw in some rotation due to the cups and it could easily have been a worse month. We keep the gap at the top to 3 points over AEK, and its looking more and more likely that the game with AEK 3 games from the end of the season could be the league decider.
 
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April was going to be another pivotal month. We had the QF of the Europa League against Sporting, which looked on paper to be a very even tie, the second leg of the SF in the Greek cup were we had a 2-0 lead, and we would also round off our league campaign (1 game is on 3/5 but hey) with 4 games including the massive match with AEK, which was going to be the league decider.

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An even game but the early goal from a corner from centre back Orons gave us the win and progress to the final, and as we have already knocked out the other 3 big boys we should stand a very good chance of picking up a trophy.

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Heartbreak in the Europa League. We absolutely battered them in the home leg but couldn't break them down, and to rub salt in the wounds the scored on a break from 1 of only 2 shots that they mustered. The away leg was a bit more even and they probably shaded it but we again couldn't grab the goal to take us to extra time, and with that our European adventure was over for the season.

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So first things first and a correction to make. AEK had actually drawn their last game in March meaning we went into Arpil 5 points ahead and not the 3 previously stated. That meant that a win over them in the 2nd match of the month would give us the league title.

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We start the month with a comprehensive win over OFI. We were 3 up inside 25 minutes and 4 up before the hour mark. A consolation for them made no difference as the game was over by then, better news was to come as AEK had drawn again, so a draw would be enough for the title. Onto the AEK game and it was certainly a game of 2 halves. We were 3-0 down inside half an hour and I was trying to work out the sums on what we would need for the title if we lost. Obviously I ranted at half time but it appeared to have very little effect as a goal in the 73rd minute was all we had achieved as we went into injury time. Then Ze Tavares added his second in the 91st minute before a 94th minute equaliser from Galindo with a volley from the edge of the box. With that we were champions! I was concerned we may then be on the beach for the last couple of games, but I need not have worried. Two professional performances saw us win easily against Xanthia and Tripolis.

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That left us with 1 game to finish the season and a chance to do the double and win the Greek Cup. We had been pitted against Panaitolikos and I fancied our chances.

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I think its fair to say we dominated the game, and could even afford for Jarowski to miss a penalty for his hat-trick and still walk away winners. So a league and Cup double in my first season, not too shabby!

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After such a good season as you can imagine there were awards for us and records broken, in fact too many to even talk about, so here they are you can read them for yourselves!

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Then of course there are the PAOK awards and records

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Oh and the kids won their league too!

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All in all a pretty successful season. We can now look forward to the Champions League next season and with some healthy budgets we will be looking to improve the squad.

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So £42m and about £150k in wages, and we already have 3 transfer agreed, bring on next season!
 
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With the season over my thoughts turned immediately to next season, if I'm honest I had been thinking about it for the last couple of months. I had decided we needed to add 5 players to the squad. I wanted 2 centre backs, 1 I had already signed and the other I would like a young up and coming 17/18 year old preferably Greek who could be my 4th choice. I had also identified centre midfield as an area were we needed to strengthen and again had already signed a player to play there, this meant we had 3 good and 2 good for the Greek league centre mids. On the left wing all my players were right footed and wanted to play as Inside Forwards, so a left footed Winger was required. Attacking central midfield I also wanted to strengthen, as we had a couple of decent players but I wasn't sure they were Champions League decent. So as I mentioned 3 player were already in the bag meaning I only needed a young Central defender and an attacking midfielder. I had also sent my scout out looking for replacements for those players I thought were most likely to move on. Our full backs had been very popular in the winter window, so I had replacements in mind should I receive offers for any of them that were too good to turn down, also wingers and strikers had been lined up just in case. I had also looked at trying to bring in a few Greek players to help when it came to Champions League squad registration rules, but most weren't of the quality required and those that were I was prced out of or in one case didn't want to join me because he had played for AEK/Olympiakos (I can't remember which) and wouldn't sign for their rivals! I had never been so prepared going into a transfer window in my life. And so Saturday evening I went through July and as we hit 17th July in game and 10:30pm I had just completed the signings of a DC from Monaco and an AMC from Arsenal, so I thought Match of the Day is just about to start I'll save the game and watch the FA Cup highlights. However when I saved the game crashed, and the file was corrupted! Now as this isn't the first time this has happened to me I use the 3 rolling saves option, so I did have another save but from 2 weeks previous. When I loaded this up on Sunday I went and bid for the 2 players I had previously signed but this time rather than joining us they both went elsewhere. The DC went Sassuolo and the AMC went to BMG. I was gutted and I would then spend the rest of the window trying to find players as good who wanted to join us and weren't overpriced or wanting a kings ransom for a wage. What should have been a very easy window turned into a frantic search for players. Anyway enough of the complaining and lets get onto the transfers.

Outs:

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Quite a number of outs and this doesn't include a number of youngsters who have also gone on loan, but that we aren't getting any money from. First up was our back up right, and whilst he was young and had a lot of potential £15m of a back up valued at £2.4m was hard to turn down, especailly as we have a 35% of next fee clause as well. Rapheal was another youngster who left the club. Had been on loan last season and could have been a decent back up, but with only 5 non-EU players allowed he wasn't going to be in the squad so it seemed the right thing to do to sell him on. We maybe could have got a slightly bigger fee but again we have a 35% sell on clause. Papadimitriou was a young Greek winger who was ok but was 4th choice and too old for the U20s. Again as he was unlikely to feature to get best part of £2m for him seemed like a good deal. Hector was a good striker but had slipped down the pecking order and he was on best part of £30k per week, which given that he had played 2 games last season was hard to justify. Jose like Raphael was a good player and if he had of been an EU player would have stuck around the squad but the Brazilian wasn't going to be 1 of the 5 non-EU players so had to go, especially as for some reason he was on £38k per week, if I had noticed that before he would have been on his bike before now. Karathanasis I didn't even know who he was so no loss. The other 3 who have gone on loan were players who had been pushing for first team places, but when we signed new players those chances were greatly reduced, so as I couldn't sell then to get them out on loan with a few quid coming in I was happy enough with.
 
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Now onto what you are more interested in and the ins:

Ins:

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This season we have spent a bit of dough! I felt we had to in order to bring in the quality we needed to give the Champions League a good go. Overall we have a net spend of about £20m, but then we also brought in £11m from Champions League money so not a massive spend at all.

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First up is club and national record signing Pansera. The AMC I had been looking for for the majority of the transfer window. He has very few weaknesses in his game and at the age of 24 could still improve a bit. I'm hoping he will be able to add the X-Factor to us and unlock those defenses we'll come up against in the Champions League.

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Jokic will come in and provide competition at Centre back. He was a player I had been tracking for a number of years and the £12.25m we paid, whilst not a bad fee, is a lot more than the £1.8m I had agreed to pay for him when I was in charge of Shandong. With all the core attributes needed to be a good DC he will at first be a back up but will probably very quickly become first choice.

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The young German was brought in to offer a different option from the left. He can dribble, cross and is pretty quick and therefore I think will do a job. I can see him causing some Greek full backs a few headaches with that pace. He can also still improve at 23. Very happy with this addition.

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With the sale of our back up right back we needed a replacemnet. I had already identified Todaro who was plying his trade in the MLS. He was almost identical to the full back we sold except he is a year older, so given that we sold ours for £15m and brought him in for just over £5m I think we got a good deal here. I will also have no issues starting him as he has all the attributes defensively I'd be looking for, though he could use some work going forward.

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Vlad came through on a scout report, and we didn't need him but I thought for £800k even if he doesn't play too many games and we sell him on we won't lose any money. He just a really good young winger with good pace and crossing. We have picked up an injury early season on the right so he may see more game time than I first thought.

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The midfielder was brought in on a free from Man Utd. He had been tipped for big things before joining Man U (So the press told me after I signed him) so hopefully he can show us why at PAOK and discover his best form. Will fight with Silva for the DLP role in our midfield, and will probable start. Passing, vision, and decisions mean we will be looking for a few assists from him.

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We struggled to find the type of defender I was after. There were plenty about I just didn't want to pay £10m+ for a player who was going to be fourth choice. Because of that we decide to dip our toe into the loan market and picked up Matondo from Bordeaux. He is actually very good and may even push himself into first team reckoning, especially as we have so many games this season.

The other two players were just youngsters we picked up who may in a year or two head for the first team and if not they didn't cost us anything.
 
I find top quality centre halves are really hard to come by, particularly regens - for some reason regens always seem to have one really awful stat for their position. For centre backs it tends to be Aggression and Bravery which are really bad, and that tends to put me off them since for some reason neither can be coached (even though both are clearly coachable in real life). It's very rare to find regen centre backs with decent-to-good stats in all the top 7 mental attributes, which is a **** shame since there's so many real players who are good at all 7. And those are the ones I tend to look for in a centre back as well.

Also - I'm amazed you didn't just re-load the earlier save after missing out on those players you signed pre-crash! I definitely would've re-loaded until the transfers went through as before.
 
Sammuthegreat said:
I find top quality centre halves are really hard to come by, particularly regens - for some reason regens always seem to have one really awful stat for their position. For centre backs it tends to be Aggression and Bravery which are really bad, and that tends to put me off them since for some reason neither can be coached (even though both are clearly coachable in real life). It's very rare to find regen centre backs with decent-to-good stats in all the top 7 mental attributes, which is a **** shame since there's so many real players who are good at all 7. And those are the ones I tend to look for in a centre back as well.

Also - I'm amazed you didn't just re-load the earlier save after missing out on those players you signed pre-crash! I definitely would've re-loaded until the transfers went through as before.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I looked at so many players and there was always something that put me off them. I never thought of just reloading the game, wish I had I think I was just so relived that I hadn't completely lost everything which for a few minutes I thought I had.
 
Ok then guys. I'm having issue with this save. I've had a couple of crashes and now this:

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And thats not even considering the name change thing! I'm going to go back 2 weeks again, but I'm losing the will a bit which is a shame as I'm really enjoying the save, but any further issues and I might call it a day.
 
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With signings made it was into pre-season. The plan was to rotate the side and try and ave as many of our players match fit as possible, and if we could win as well then all the better.

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Undefeated so I was very happy. The games all followed a very similar pattern with us in control and having 20+ shots and running out winners. If we can carry this sort of form into the season we should be looking good come the end of the season.

As far as the problems are going, its so far so good. I have anaged abot 6 hour with no issues so fingers crossed.
 
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So into the new season we went and with a bit of confidence from an unbeaten pre-season. The aim at the start of the season was to retain our domestic titles, (league & Cup) whilst in Europe I was a little unsure what to expect. With a good drw we could get out of the group, but I wasn't sure we'd get too much further, so maybe finishing 3rd in the group and having a proper crack at the Europa League would be better. Anyway August would be an important month, not so much on the field as we would only have 2 games against PAS Giannina and Panionios, both of which I expected to win, but more because we would have the Champions League and Greek Cup group stage draws, and these could shape our season.

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A good start to our league campaign was essential as I was keen to have some good form going into the Champions League games.

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Two games and two wins. In truth we never looked like losing any of the games. Against PAS we scored on the half hour mark and then again 10 minutes after half time and that put the tie to bed. Panionios though took an early lead but that just spared us into action and they didn't get another shot on target. Jaworski got the equaliser on 29 minutes, Consumi added a second half brace and Touaizi added his first for the club in injury time to wrap up the scoring.

Now onto the important news this month:

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The Greek Cup draw was pretty kind to us as we managed to avoid all the big guns, yes we got last seasons beaten finalists but I was confident we'd be able to progress and probably whilst using a rotated side.

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The Champions League draw wasn't so kind. I knew as 3rd seeds we would have a tough job ahead of us but I had hoped for an easy game against the 4th seeds and maybe a tight couple of games against the 2nd seeds, but here we could easily finish with 0 points and it wouldn't be too much of a shock.

I noticed this on the social feed and thought it probably summed up my thoughts well!

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September would be a busy month with matches on 3 fronts. We'd play last seasons beaten finalist in the Greek Cup group stage, 3 league games would see us visit Apollon, who have taken a number of our youngsters on loan, before we entertained both Trikala and Xanthi. I would expect to win all of these games, though we would be rotating our starting 11 to ensure we had our best team available for the Champions League, so I guess a surprise couldn't be ruled out. Speaking of the Champions League we would have Real Madrid 1st game at home followed by a trip to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. I really couldn't see us picking up too many points from those games and would settle for not being hammered twice.

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3 wins from 3 keeps our 100% record in the league intact. Against Apollon we had made a number of changes with the Real game in mind but were in control right from the 4th minute when Silva slotted away a penalty. He added his second of the game in the 16th minute before Jovic rounded off the scoring in the 67th minute. Trikala again caused us no real problems and only managed 1 shot on target. Goals from Jokic, his first for the club, inside forward Pote and Ze Tavares who was starting his first game of the season and marking it with a goal. Xanthi was again was a walk in the park as they didn't manage a shot in anger. Pote and Silva get themselves on the scoresheet again in another convincing win.

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We had made 9 changes but still should have been able to win. We did ourselves no favours when left back Benaissa got sent off on 12 minutes. After that it was never going to be, though when they missed a 76th minute penalty I thought we may get a share of the spoils, only for them to get the winner 6 minutes later. For the second year in a row we have put pressure on ourselves in the next two games.

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So we would have a baptism of fire with last seasons winners Real Madrid up first, if we could give them a game I'd be happy, and the same could be said fro the Chelsea game away from home.

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Well well that came a bit out of the blue. I decided to go out and attack Real, thinking we might as well go down swinging, and it paid off. Sure they had more shots but a lot of them were from distance and we had the majority of possession, though I have to admit I scare my dog when I cheered a 91st winner from Consumi to give us all 3 points. Having beaten Real we were in confident mood when we rocked up to The Bridge and even started attacking here to. We had the better of the 1st half and got our goal in the 27th minute through Pote. When they pulled one back from the 2nd half kick off I feared the worst, but up step Ze Taveres with 2 goals in 3 minutes to put us 3-1 up on 63 minutes. They ensured a very nervous finsih to the game by getting back into the game immediately but we switched to a more defensive shape and held on for a famous victory. This Champions League lark is easy!!!!
 
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October would see us face 5 games in total, 3 in the league and 1 in each of the Greek Cup and Champions League Group Stages. In the league we'd have trips to Panaitolikos and Tripolis and a home tie with Atromitos, who are this seasons surprise package. I'd expect 3 wins but would settle for a draw in there somewhere. Shakhtar away in the Ukraine would be our Champions League task, and given how we have started I'd be looking for another 3 points, however having beaten Real Madrid and Chelsea it wouldn't surprise me to lose to Shakhtar. In the Greek cup we have the first of our 2 must win games against Volou.

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Another unbeaten month but we have to look at those draws as 4 points dropped, and the small gap we had managed to open up at the top of the table is dwindling. The Panaitolikos game we should have won. They didn't manage a shot on target but we could get the goal that would have brought the 3 points, both the strikers that played had poor games. It was a similar story against Atromitos but an own goal on 63 minutes looked like giving us the victory until a 93rd minute equaliser from the same player earned them a point. I guess thats how to make up for your mistake. We finally made our dominance pay and scored our first goals of the month with a hat-trick from Ze Tavares to wrap up a convincing win.

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Volou are a lower league team and we were clinical despite making 9 changes. a hat-trick for winger Junghan and back up striker Jovic meant that our back ups proved their worth and got some game time all at once. we now need a similar performance in the next game to ensure that we progress.

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Back to earth with a bump in the Champions League. We probably had the better of the game but they took the chances that fell their way while we were blunt in attack again. We still top the group but only because we beat Real who now also sit on 6 points. Chelsea have 3 meaning a win in the return fixture against Shakhtar is a must if we want to have any chance of getting out of the group.
 
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Five games in November and it could be make or break in the Champions League. We needed to bounce back after defeat away to Shakhtar and we would be looking for revenge in the return tie. Up after that would be a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu and what would be the biggest game of man managerial career against Real Madrid. In the league we would start the month at home to OFI before two away days against Kerkyra and Panathinaikos to round off the month.

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Two wins and a draw is a respectable month. We started with OFI and rested a few players with the Champions League in mind but still put in a professional performance and walked away 3-0 winners, in fact it was all over in the first half thanks to goals from Jovic and midfielder Galindo with a brace. Second league game of the month and the second shut out not just in terms of goals but also in shots on target. Again a slightly rotated side do the business with goals from young winger Gajic and AMC Consumi. The final game was always going to be the most difficult not just because Panathinaikos are a good side but coming on the back of the Madrid game too. It was a fairly even game that we kind of shaded but it could have gone either way and a draw was probably the right result.

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After the disaster away to Shakhtar it was good to see we turned up for this game. Yet another game were the opposition didn't manage a shot on target, and goals from Orons, Galindo and Jaworski wrap up the points for us. The Real game I have to take full responsibility for. I meant to go with our more defensive counter attacking system but forgot to change it and it was only at half time when I decided we needed to go a bit more attacking that I discovered we had been the entire time. Anyway 4 goals for Andre Alves whilst Jaworski gave us a brief hope when he pulled one back just before half time to make it 2-1. Still we now need 1 point from our last game against Chelsea at home to progress, otherwise it'll be Europa League. If you had offered me that after the draw was made I'd have ripped your arm off!
 
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December had now shaped up into a crucial month in our season. Not only did we have the Champions League game with Chelsea that we needed a point from, we also had a must win game in the Greek Cup group stage against Ergotelis. Throw in 3 matches in the league against Lamia, AEK, and Larisa and a busy and impotant month lay ahead.

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A rotated side made sure we qualified from the group with a convincing win over Ergotelis, with goals from Junghan from the left wing, Jovic and young academy product Berios grabbed his first senior goal in injury time. That set up a 2 legged tie with Trikala inthe 2nd round. Again a number of squad players made an appearance as we thumped Trikala 6-0. The scoreline probably flattered us a little as with 15 minutes to go it was 3-0 thanks to goals from Consumi, and another brace from Galindo. However 3 late goals added a bit of gloss to the performance, with Jovic and Junghan with a brace getting the names on the scoresheet.

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Three 3-0 wins in the league means we will sit top of the league as we hit the winter break and the half way point of the season. A really pleasing month were we only gave up 2 shots on target ( Against AEK) the entire month. We started with goals from Ze Tavares, Pote and Junghan to get the 3 points against Lamia. We followed that up with an easy win over a struggling AEK side thanks to goals from Ze Tavares, Galindo and Consumi, before another dominant display saw another 3 goals and another 3 points. This time a Zielinski double and Silva the names on the score sheet. All of this means at the half way point the table looks like this:

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A convincing 8 points lead with a game in hand reflects our dominance in the league so far this season. Olympiakos have a couple of games in hand and could still mount a serious challenge, however at this point the League looks like ours to lose.

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It was crunch time, could we do what seemed impossible when the draw was made and get out of the group? A point against Chelsea at home was all that was required, but the big decision was do we play for a draw or go on the attack and try to win? I decided that playing for a draw would only end in one way and that we wouldn't be smiling at the end of it, so we played our natural attacking game, well at least to start with.

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We got the point we needed but god was it tense. They went 1 up in the 2nd minute and we had to drop to counter to ensure we were still in the game at half time. But half time came and went without any further scoring and as we ticked by the hour mark I thought our efforts were going to be in vain when up stepped Ze Tavares with the equaliser. We had to withstand some late pressure but managed to get out of the game with the point we needed.

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Having knocked out 1 of the big English teams we get the chance to do it all over again in the 1st knockout round as we have been drawn against Man Utd! Not the draw we were after.

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In Other News Tim Smith, or New Zealand goalkeeper has scooped the Oceania Footballer of the Year for the 2nd season running.

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What does your manager profile look like? How many languages can you speak?
 
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The lads reported back after a short break over the Christmas period, and would be back in action in both domestic competitions, with 3 league games and 1 and mostly likely 2 in the cup, given that we lead 6-0 after the first leg. In the cup we face the home leg against Trikala and then we'll be hoping of a good draw in the Quarter Finals, as we look to retain that trophy. On our quest for back to back titles we'll have 2 home games against Olympiakos and Giannina then visit Panionios to finish the month. We are pretty much already through in the cup which means we can give the league our full concentration, meaning I'd be looking for 2 wins and 1 draw minimum.

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With our massive lead from the 1st leg we made 10 changes to the team (only the keeper kept his place) and still dominated. Despite this however as we went into the 88th minute we found ourselves 1 down. Two late goals from wide men Junghan and Pote spared our blushes and we advanced to the QF. Another raft of changes for the QF 1st leg (6 this time) but it was another game that was never in doubt from the 2nd minute when Galindo scored the opener. Jaworski wrapped the game up inside the half hour mark when he added the second. 2-0 away means I'm confident going into the home leg and we should make the Semis.

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9 points from a possible 9 means I'm a happy camper, especially as other teams around us have dropped a few points. Its getting a little repetitive but 3 games we absolutely dominated. 2-0 up against Olympiakos inside hald an hour and a third added just before the hour. A 55 minute hat-trick from Ze Tavares had the points in the bag against PAS was followed by a solid if unspectacular win over Panionios. Top of the table and cruising!
 
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