Le Rondinelle - A Brescia Story

[leckuno]

Brescia Calcio 1911 is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in Serie B, the second tier in Italy.

The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1964–65) in Serie B, which they have won four times. Their best finish in Serie A came in the 2000–01 season when they placed eighth. At the beginning of the 21st century, led by the 1993 Ballon d'Or winner Roberto Baggio, the club also qualified for the Intertoto Cup twice, reaching the final in 2001 but being defeated on the away goals rule by Paris Saint-Germain. During this era, Pep Guardiola, future highly decorated manager, also played for the club.

The team's colours are blue and white. Its stadium is the 19,550-seater Stadio Mario Rigamonti. They have a long-standing rivalry with Atalanta from nearby Bergamo.



The club have played just 23 seasons in Serie A in total since their formation 111 years ago, finishing in 8th place in the 2000-2001 (the clubs highest ever League position to this day). In fact it was the first of 5 consecutive seasons in Serie A which is the longest stint that they have had in the top flight.

During the clubs history they have had some very interesting and top talents play for the club including Alessandro Altobelli, Roberto Baggio, Andrea Pirlo, Pep Guardiola, Gheorghe Hagi, Luca Toni, Mario Balotelli and Sandro Tonali to name a few.

With 4 Serie B titles in their honours list I want to take the The Little Swallows to the top.

The long term aims for the save are:

Win Promotion To Serie A

Establish the club In Serie A

Build the best Youth Development System

Develop our own players

Win the Coppa Italia

Win Serie A

Win a European Competition​

 

[leckuno]

The Board

Well its made clear straight away that the board are looking to sell the club so they don't have a long term plan but at least all we want to do is concentrate on one season at a time and this season they don't expect a lot as they only want us to get a mid table position whereas I would like a top half finish if possible. In the cup they just want us to be competitive which is fine as we enter the Coppa Italia in the first round which means we run the risk of drawing a Seria A club.

The rumours have already started with the worst type of takeover in fm with a current member of the board looking to step up and take his place

The Fans

It turns out our fans have a very low expectation of us this season and just want us to remain in the league and currently have a very low influence on the board. The other part of the good news is that since expectations are that low then we have a huge chance of increasing our fan base and get them enjoying coming to watch their football again.


The Squad

First thing I noticed when looking at the squad is that we have a some good players at the club in nearly every position but there is a lack of wingers at the club. The next thing I noticed is that there are 11 players at the club who have contracts that are expiring so our first job will be to tie people down to new deals so that we don't risk losing them for free in the summer.

August

We have a big draw in the cup against Bologna to get us on our way followed but 2 horrible games in the league against Sampdoria and Palermo​

 

[leckuno]

August

Tactic

I'm going to go with the 4-2-3-1 that I normally favour and it fits the team well as well with they players we have but I may look to go to a more Italian defensive formation later on in the save

Coppa Italia 1st Round
Bologna v Brescia

What a start to the season as we do the unexpected and thrash Bologna to move into the 2nd round and will now face Sassuolo

Brescia v Sampdoria

An own goal gets us on our way here as we overcome one of the promotion favourites at home to claim a big scalp very early on in the season

Palermo v Brescia

Another early lead made me think that this was going to be a big back to back win here but Palermo pulled it back and then we had to do well to hold on as they were playing full of confidence

Brescia v FeralpiSalò

I expected this to be a walk in the park after the last couple of games but we were made to work for our 3 points here against the newly promoted side.

League

After only 3 games we sit top of the league but there is still another 35 games to go so lets not get carried away

Transfers

Over the month we have started to sign players to longer contracts to not lose them for free which meant we had to adjust the budgets to give us a larger wage budget. One player who was wanting far too much of a rise though was Tom van de Looi who moves to Charleroi for £500,000.

With cash being tight after moving the budgets we dove into the loan market to sign two new players to help us out.

Samuele Vignato

Vignato joins and will be the starting AMC for us this season and joins on loan from Monza looking for first team football

Mayckel Lahdo

Looking for a bit of extra cover for the wings Lahdo fits the bill as a young player who can play down both wings for providing cover.

September

Another big game this month against Spezia but at least the rest of the month should be a bit easier for us.​

 

[leckuno]

September

Lecco v Brescia

A proper tale of two halves here as we looked very comfratable in the first half taking a 3-0 lead into half time but with 10 minutes to go the game turned on its head with a late fight back but thankfully we found that little bit extra in the tank to ****** the win big

Brescia v Spezia

I was worried about this game after Spezia playing in Serie A last season but we went put and played them off the park here for another huge 3 points.

Cosenza v Brescia

A goal right after half time here is enough to get our us out of our winning run as we register our first defeat.

Catanzaro v Brescia

A second defeat in a row here so hopefully its not going to be a pattern we're falling into here as we fall to a very early goal a

Brescia v Cittadella

This time an early goal gets us on our way and we don't look back as we double our lead 5 minutes later before finding the 3rd in the 2nd half to put the game to bed and get back on track

League

We're now 8 games in and lost top spot after losing 2 games this month but with 30 games to go its anyone's game

October

With the international break we only have 3 games this month which should give everybody a good rest between games​

 

[leckuno]

October

Takeover Rumours

Well with the owner looking to sell, talk is now hotting up as there are a number of interested parties with one looking to hire a new manager if they win control of the club so we will need to wait on the outcome. In the meantime a transfer embargo has been placed on the club until the talks are resolved

Como v Brescia

We left it late here are the first 70 minutes it was a pretty boring affair but a few choice subs make the difference with Jallow and Fogliata making instant impacts on the game.

Brescia v Venezia

A big win for us here with 3 of our 4 attacking players scoring the goals but the most notable player was Vignato with 1 goal and 3 assists

Brescia v Ternana

The two goals here came from set pieces which we've been working hard on it training so its good to see its paid off.

Takeover Rumours Continued

Well it looks like there is now a preferred bidder come the end of the month so here's hoping it doesn't take too long to complete.

League

Well 3 clean sheets this month with 3 wins to give us the perfect month see's us reclaim top spot this month and we even have a 3 point lead as well

November

We have the next round of the Coppa Italia this month and its going to be a tough tie but you never know with cup football and then turn our attention to the league​

 

[leckuno]

November

Coppa Italia 2nd Round
Sassuolo v Brescia

Its the result that was expected here and we go crashing out of the cup

Modena v Brescia

2 down I thought the game was over but we did really well to pull it back to 2-2 but sadly it took too much out of us as we end up conceding again to lose the game.

Brescia v Pisa

Vignato did well to score from just outside the area here but sadly the second half did not go to plan at all as we got run off the park.

AC Reggiana v Brescia

A well needed win here after losing 3 on the trot as Bianchi ran riot scoring an excellent hat-trick as we look to get our challenge back on track.

League

We've dropped down to 3rd spot but it is ridiculously close across the top 5 teams with only 5 points separating us all

December

This month will see us hit the halfway point of the season and we are finishing it off with games against Parma and Bari which are going to be tough to play​

 

[Zlatan Lumic]

If there's a game you can't expect FeralpiSalò to roll over and die (so to speak) is against Brescia, it's a club founded and based on Salò that represents both Salò and Lonato del Garza (since the current club is a fusion between AC Salò Benaco and AC Lonato, the respective local clubs) which are towns belonging to the Brescia province.
For them it's both a rivalry and a local derby.

Anway... Back on topic, Serie B is actually quite a brutal competition and the promotion system can be a real pain and unfair to boot (getting promoted as the 8th team sounds like an ordeal to me), so good job holding out in the top spots for the time being.
Hopefully the team can keep the momentum going and claim one of the two promotion spots at the end of the season.

.P.S.: Try to hold onto Papetti as long as you can, he can either be the team's leader for more than a decade or give you hefty amount if sold at the right moment.

 

[leckuno]

If there's a game you can't expect FeralpiSalò to roll over and die (so to speak) is against Brescia, it's a club founded and based on Salò that represents both Salò and Lonato del Garza (since the current club is a fusion between AC Salò Benaco and AC Lonato, the respective local clubs) which are towns belonging to the Brescia province.
For them it's both a rivalry and a local derby.

Anway... Back on topic, Serie B is actually quite a brutal competition and the promotion system can be a real pain and unfair to boot (getting promoted as the 8th team sounds like an ordeal to me), so good job holding out in the top spots for the time being.
Hopefully the team can keep the momentum going and claim one of the two promotion spots at the end of the season.

.P.S.: Try to hold onto Papetti as long as you can, he can either be the team's leader for more than a decade or give you hefty amount if sold at the right moment.

Oh thanks for that detail as I hadn't realised that connection between those clubs as will *** a bit more for me to the return game now haha.

Yeah its ridiculous how far down the play off spots go in this league now. To be fair I would be happy to take one of those spots just now anyway considering we are expected to finish 11th.

Papetti had started to get some playing time but has fallen out with me just now as I keep refusing bids for him so need to try and get him to sign a new deal or will need to sell him come the end of the season as his deal expires in 2025.

 

[leckuno]

December

Cremonese v Brescia

A late flurry of goals here but it is veteran Icelandic player Bjarnason who makes the difference here after him moaning that he wasn't getting enough game time

Brescia v Parma

Bjarnason is certainly showing us what he can do when given a chance here as he runs riot against Parma here to give us another win against a big team

Ascoli v Brescia

A slight blip here as we have to fight back here from 2-0 and then 3-1 to grab a draw as Bjarnason is at it again.

Brescia v Sudtirol

A much calmer game here as Sudtirol can't handle us and we walk away with a great 4-0 win

Brescia v Bari

We knew Bari was going to be a tough game here but thankfully we do enough to get the 3 points.

Takeover update

Well come the end of the month and the takeover talks are still ongoing and we still remain under a transfer embargo as we go into January

League

After an incredibly tough month that we managed to go undefeated we have jumped back to the top of the table where we now hold a 2 point lead at the halfway mark of the season.

January

With a couple of weeks off for the winter break we only have the 3 games to play and will be doing our best to hold onto our players come the transfer window.​

 

[leckuno]

January

Cittadella v Brescia

A bit of a drab first half but a few words at half time reinvigorated the squad who went out and showed what they are capable of with a very good 3 points.

Takeover

Well it finally happened the takeover has officially gone through but sadly there is going to be no extra cash for us but at least I get to keep my job which is the main thing.

Transfers

We only had one outgoing transfer this window with Davide Adorni joining Guingamp for £500,000, he'd made one appearance for us all season so made sense to let him go.

One other player who did leave the club was Samuele Vignato who I hadn't realised was only on loan until January and by the time I noticed we were under an embargo and couldn't extend the deal so we are sad to see him go as he was a big player for us.

With Vignato leaving I needed a new player to come in and play in the AMC role.

So I splashed out on Alessandro Giovannini from Cesena for £1.2million. Its a step up in division for the young player but I really feel that he can come in and fill that gap for us this season and beyond.

I then also signed two defenders on loan to provide depth for the CB position after Adorni left.

Fredrik Nissen

Marcel Ratnik

Brescia v Catanzaro

A poor draw here as we just weren't able to see out the game and conceded due to sloppy defending right at the end.

Venezia v Brescia

Another poor game where we threw away the lead and the 3 points thanks to late goals but at least the game was already lost when they went down to 10 men

League

We're down to third again here but its still really close at the top of the table and somebody will always be there to capitalize on slip ups from the other teams

February

A much tougher month to get through here as we've got a run of 4 tough games and we will have to be at our best to get stuff from them​

 

[leckuno]

February

Brescia v Como

A poor game here as nothing much happened between the two teams.

Bari v Brescia

A much better performance here as we manage to get the 3 points here

Brescia v Palermo

Palermo at home was always going to be a fun game after we drew with them away. We got a off to a good start with a superb strike from Ndoj. It was the 2nd half we really got going though and we saw Giovannini get his first goal for the club to show he can take the step up in leagues in his stride.

Sampdoria v Brescia

We just weren't able to recover from conceding in the opening minute and it cost us the 3 points in our race for promotion and the title.

Sudtirol v Brescia

We bounce straight back with another good win as we race to a very early lead in the opening 11 minutes.

League

We are top by goal difference at the moment and Sampdoria are only a point behind us as well so its going to go right to the end no doubt

March

A nice mix of games here but Parma and Pisa are going to be tough and could be crucial for us going forward​

 

[leckuno]

March

Brescia v Ascoli

A great all round performance from our attacking players here as Bianchi scores his 2nd brace in a row

Parma v Brescia

A wee bit of a scare here at the end when Parma pulled one back but Bianchi and Giovannini are both on the scoresheet here again to get us the 3 points

Brescia v Cremoneses

A goal from both times on either side of half time could of put the game here either way but luckily we get the 3 points

Pisa v Brescia

2 goals in 2 minutes and even though I'm disappointed to draw here it was great to see veteran player Veloso still at it

League

We've opened a 4 point lead up at the top of the table and have 6 points over 3rd so hopefully we can see the season out now

Youth Intake

We have a **** of an intake here with 4 players who look like they could do a turn for the club at some point or turn us a nice profit.

Lucci

Not the most gifted keeper in the world but with the right development we should hopefully see him in the first team squad as a backup keeper.

Ferreri

Somebody who looks like he should turn into a decent midfielder hopefully but the only worry is at 16 he already has 20 aggression so there could be a good few cards in his future

Cannoletta

Again nothing startling but again looks like he should get the odd first team appearance in a few season depending on how he develops.

Contini

Finally an Italian defender who looks like he'll be slow and unfit but again can hopefully do a turn in a couple of seasons or turn us a profit if we sell him on.

April

7 games to go now to see out the season and these 4 are vital as they are against lower league opposition and we can't afford to slip up now​

 

[leckuno]

April

Brescia v AC Reggiana

Giovannini has been a real breath of fresh air since he arrived and he's paying dividends now as he grabs another goal and 3 points.

Ternana v Brescia

Falling behind after 4 minutes is never good but we did well to pull it back twice but couldn't hold on for a point in the end even though we more than deserved it

Brescia v Modena

We bounce right back but it tool a lot of the second half for us to get back into the game after the goal right before half time but Jallow came on with 20 minutes to go and found the goal from just outside the area from a corner.

Brescia v Lecco

Finally a decent performance this month even though it does come against the bottom of the table but Giovannini was the stand out player here with 2 goals and an assist.

League

Its a 2 horse race for the title now as it goes down to the wire but the good thing is that we only need a point in our final 3 games to get automatic promotion

May

It all comes down to these matches but we do have to play 6th and 9th in the table but FeralpiSalò should hopefully be a walk in the park (hopefully)​

 

[leckuno]

May

FeralpiSalò v Brescia

Well we really got made to work for it here just to salvage a point and we were made to work right to the death for the point but who cares as it guarantees our automatic promotion. Our dropped points does open the door for Sampdoria though in the title challenge

Brescia v Cosenza

We go out with a bang with our final home game of the season and we make sure we don't disappoint our fans as we push the title decider right to the final game

Spezia v Brescia

We knew what we had to do today and nothing less that a win would do and we made sure we had it all wrapped up in the opening half hour of the game to seal the title and go up as champions

League

Sampdoria ended up handing us the title by losing their final fixture so its always good to have a wee gap at the top. Pisa will be joining us in Serie A next season as they won the playoffs.

Budgets

We have an increase of wages by about £60,000 a week which is going to be handy but not much of a transfer budget with just shy of £5m to be able to get a squad together that will be able to stay up so we'll be looking at free transfers and the loan market as well to try and get the best squad possible at the moment

Ticket Prices

One thing we notice is that with promotion the board have decided to hike the ticket prices with projected earnings from tickets to increase by a whopping 80% which is only good for the club as long as we hit it and the fans keep turning up​

 

[MrTini23]

Congrats on the title, good luck in Serie a

 

[leckuno]

Congrats on the title, good luck in Serie a

Cheers, its going to be a tough season and an even tougher transfer window

 

[WILKOFM]

Solid work mate! Tidy season winning the league too! Now it's time to raid them free transfers and loan moves for sure! Keep up the good work!

 

[leckuno]

Solid work mate! Tidy season winning the league too! Now it's time to raid them free transfers and loan moves for sure! Keep up the good work!

Cheers mate. That’s the plan, will hopefully have the next update out tonight to show how it actually went

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Nice title win mate! Those budgets aren't massive, so will need to be shrewd in the market, but confident you'll find a bargain or two!

 

[leckuno]

Nice title win mate! Those budgets aren't massive, so will need to be shrewd in the market, but confident you'll find a bargain or two!

Fingers crossed, first season is never too good though when it able to attract the big players