Maribor: Moneyball Style

[Alienman]

The growth of Slovenian Football

One of the goals of this save is to turn Slovenia into a football powerhouse on the international scene. Besides developing Slovenian talent at Maribor, rising the reputation of the Slovenian First League is also important towards that goal. Here's an update on how the growth of Slovenian football is going after the first season.

​

As a club, we moved up to 90th in the club rankings thanks to reaching the group stage of the Europa League. Need to continue to move up so we can attract bigger names.

​

The league also moved up a couple spots. Our continued success will also see the leagues reputation grow which will mean more money for all the teams which will results in investment in the clubs.

​

Slovenia qualified for Euro 2016 and kept things respectable in their group. They failed to take a point but only conceded 5 goals against tougher opposition.

​

For those interested, England won the European Championship. Romanian Raul Rusescu surprisingly lead the tournament in scoring with 6 goals in 5 games, 3 of which came against Slovenia. Romania was the surprise of the tournament losing to the Netherlands in the semi-final.

Next time on Maribor: Moneyball Style: Maribor looks to build ahead of the 2016/17 season hoping to qualify for the Champions League group stage.

 

[dzozo87]

if you want strenht your team you must buy Andraz Sporat in attack, midfield buy kapun and central defender Mitrovic all from olimpija. iam from slovenia and i know players very well. if you need any advice just ask

 

[Alienman]

Sporar was on my wanted listed but as rivals they would not sell him to me at a reasonable price. They wanted like 5 million from me but ended up selling him for 875k to some team out of the country. Bunch of jerks.

 

[jeffaafaa]

i am very intrested to see how this goes

 

[Alienman]

Summer Transfers 2016

After taking a little break to regain motivation, I'm back with a summer transfer update.

​

It was a busy transfer window. We brought in a number of players to replace some who were sold and strengthen the squad ahead of another attempt at qualifying for the Champions League group stage. Damjan Bohar and Erik Janza were the two big departures but luckily we made a good profit off of them. The rest of the departures were some deadwood we didn't need anymore.

​

Nehuen Paz was our biggest purchase. It might have been a bit of an expensive transfer at 1.5 million (a deal since he was transfer listed) but he's a physically dominate center back who will be a star in the First League and competitive in the Champions League, the kind of player we need. At only 23 he has potential and his Italian nationality helps with team selection rules.

​

Matej Pucko is a promising 22 year old winger with excellent mental stats. His physical and technical skills aren't too bad either. Should be a star for us.

​

Filipe Goncalves was brought in to add some experience to the midfield. At 32, he has a couple good seasons left in him especially since his physical stats are still looking good. Great technical and mental attributes.

​

Emerson was purchased to replace Erik Janza. A little expensive, he has the skill to burn opposition on the left flank and will hopefully provide plenty of assists.

​

Grega Sorcan is the last purchase I'm going to highlight. At 20 years old, he's one for the future and will eventually replace Jasmin Handanovic. Spoiler: Based on his early season performances, he already has taken the #1 spot.

And guess what Petar Stojanovic is back for the season on loan!

Overall, we spent about a million more than we brought in but the club had made a good amount of funds available so we still have plenty of cash and wages available should any opportunities arise this season. Hopefully we didn't make too many changes that may lead to the team taking time to gel.

Next up, the Champions League qualification campaign and the beginning of the First League season.

 

[Alienman]

Champions League Qualification

Our goal every year is to qualify for the Champions League group stage due to the large amount of prize money that comes along with that achievement. Sure, our league campaign could do without all the extra fixtures early in the season but our balance would love the money. Also, doing well in Europe is the only way to improve the club's and league's reputation so we can attract better players and play less qualifying games.

Our first opponent, in Champions Qualifying Stage 2, was Slovakian side Zilina. Mitja Lotric scored a brace to give us a 2-0 win in the away leg. We duplicated the result in the second match to give us a comfortable 4-0 win on aggregate.

​

The next two rounds became the Agim Ibraimi show. The Macedonian left winger scored 5 goals in our next 4 qualifying matches including a pair away to Partizan in the next round. After getting the business done in Serbia, we struggled to a 2-1 defeat at home but we had done enough in the first leg to move on.

The final opponent standing between us and the promise land of the Champions League group stage was FC Red Bull Salzburg of Austria. A 4th minute goal from Ibraimi plus solid defending and goalkeeping was enough to secure a 1-1 draw in Salzburg with an all important away goal.

In the home match, FC Red Bull knew what they had to do and game out flying with a 1st minute goal, neutralizing our away goal and taking the lead on aggregate. Ibraimi continued his fine form and pegged back almost immediately with a back post volley from Petar Stojanovic. We continued to pour the pressure on, looking for the go ahead goal to avoid extra time.

We dominated possession with 62% and won 20 corners as we looked for the goal. And then, in the 61st minute, after Red Bull failed to clear a corner, Viler whipped in a cross and Marco Tavares rose to meet it, heading it home. Once again Tavares came up big for us as we saw out the rest of the match to secure the 2-1 win and 3-2 win on aggregate.

​

And with that win over FC Red Bull Salzburg we qualified for the Champions League Group Stage!

​

With that qualification comes all sorts of cash rewards, swelling the clubs balance to 14 million.

​

As expected, the Group Stage draw was tough on us. I don't expect too much from us in the Group Stage this year, maybe we can steal a result and earn some more prize money. The home match against Basel will probably be our best opportunity.

The next update will be at the winter break and will cover the first half of the First League season and our Champions League Group Stage campaign. Hope to see you there.

 

[Alienman]

Season 2 First Half

The first half of season 2 is in the books as we come to the end of 2016. As expected, we were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage but we did enough to get into the Europe League.

​

Although we got embarrassed in a couple matches, especially against Chelsea, we managed to snag a pair of wins. I knew we had a chance against Basel in the home match and, thanks to Gregor Bajde, we secured a 3-1 win. Bajde bounced in the opener off a Basel defender before netting a pair of goals. We then secured a shock, come from behind win over Athletico thanks to 3 goals in the space of 5 second half minutes with the legend Tavares netting the winner.

​

Two wins in the group stage was a great way to bring in some more prize money, about 2 million dollars. The teams balance is now looking great at 16 million in the bank.

The Slovenian First League has been a different story.

​

Things have gone extremely well and we comfortably lead by 12 points. Unlike last season, we are scoring goals while not conceding many. Grega Sorcan has taken over the role as starting keeper and has kept 9 clean sheets in the league. Unless things go horribly wrong (leading to my sacking), we should easily win the league yet again.

​

We've had some interesting matches, particularly the 5-0 win over Krka. Krka gave away 3 penalties in quick succession allowing left back Mitja Viler to net an easy hat trick from the spot. Viler has been in excellent form this season scoring 6 goals (5 from the spot) and adding 6 assists.

Mislav Orsic has been our best player through the first half of the season. The 23 year old Croatian striker has contributed 11 goals and 8 assists in 24 appearances. Since joining the club last January for 700k, Orsic has scored 20 goals making him well worth the money.

As things stand, I don't expect any major action in the January transfer window. Perhaps we will look to bring in some future prospects but the squad is strong and doesn't need any work. So next post will be a surprise.

 

[Alienman]

European Dreamin'

After successfully qualifying for the Champions League and being knocked out of that competition after making a little noise, we were bumped into the Europe League knockout round where we were drawn against Dortmund. With the odds firmly against us, we were hoping for a miracle to pull off an upset and stay in Europe.

Unfortunately Dortmund clinically took care of business in the two legs and ended our European campaign for the 2016/17 season.

​

We were unable to get much going against the much stronger German team and were probably too open in the home leg allowing them to score 4 times on us. We tightened things up for the second leg, and they put it on cruise control, to earn a much more respectable 1-0 defeat.

In other news, Jasmin Handanovic has announced he will retire from professional football at the end of the season. He's been a great servant for the club being the first choice keeper since joining in 2011. He has been replaced as starting keeper this season by Grega Sorcan.

The January transfer window passed with nothing to report. We did have offers accepted on players but we were unable to reach an agreement over wages. I've identified some needs and we will be trying to bring in some fresh faces to fill those needs in the summer.

 

[Alienman]

Champions!!

​

Since we had such a comfortable lead at the winter break, it is no surprise that I am pleased to announce we are champions once again. That makes 2 Slovenian First League titles for me and like 100 hundred in a row for Maribor. Actually its 7 in a row. But as we go along, the league will get easier and easier and our focus will turn to bigger things. But hopefully the league will start catching up a little and make for a little competition.

(Note: in my last Maribor save, I went over 3 seasons, 100 and some games, without losing. We'll see if that happens again)

​

We secured the league title with 6 games left and cruised to the finish a little. It also gave us an opportunity to play promising youngster Simon Plimon who impressed. Will be going out on loan next season.

​

We also won the Slovenian Cup and the season opening Super Cup for our second consecutive treble.

​

For the second season in a row, I am slightly confused by the fans who voted for Fans' Player of the Year award. Sure, Mitja Viler had a good season scoring 6 goals and adding 9 assists while averaging 7.42 but I think there were better performers.

• Mislav Orsic scored 13 goals and assisted on 16 more making him my pick for player of the year.
• Enej Jelenic lead the team with 17 goals in 29 appearances while finding time to complain about playing time. Also had a team leading average rating of 7.60.
• Heck, Viler wasn't even the best left back. Emerson had more assists (15) and more tackles (5.06) in more playing time. He just did not perform in big matches.
  

At least they got it right with Young Player of the Year. Ziga Kous was a deserving winner with 12 assists and a 7.50 average rating.

​

I'm going to take a moment to review last season's signings.

• Grega Sorcan: purchased for 500k as a planned replacement for Jasmin Handanovic, he stepped in right away as the starting keeper thanks to excellent performances. 16 clean sheets in 32 appearances is a good ratio. 10/10
• Enej Jelenic: 325k, scored 17 goals to lead the team including 15 in 21 league appearances. Totally a bargain at that price. 10/10
• Neheun Paz: 1.5 million made him a little expensive and not as dominate as I hoped. Only averaged a 7.05 in 43 appearances but at 24 still has potential. 6/10
• Matej Pucko: 400k, 10 goals and 9 assists. Put in a number of solid performances, nothing fantastic, but was an in expensive purchase. 8/10
• Emerson: expensive at 1.2 million and Brazilian but 15 assists and 5.06 tackles per game. Unfortunately poor in Europe but still a good signing. 8/10
• Filipe Goncalves: signed on a free, performed solidly in the midfield completing 84% of his passes. At the age of 32, he was on the older side. Sold him for 140k of profit. Good signing in the end. 8/10

Petar Stojanovic returned to the team on loan for the season and was fantastic. So good that we extended his loan for the 2017/18 season.

Summer transfer wish list: (luckily the board has given me a handsome sum to make the improvements I want)

• young CB of continental quality to replace aging Rajcevic
• young CM to replace aging Mertelj and add some class to the midfield
• experienced Striker to help on the European nights and bring something different the Orsic
• future prospects to make up for the poor youth intake we had this season

Another season is over and new one is about to begin. Stay tuned for a funtastic transfer update.

 

[PatrickLFC]

Great stuff mate, looking forward to you making some inroads into Europe

 

[Alienman]

Great stuff mate, looking forward to you making some inroads into Europe

Thanks. I think it will take a couple seasons before I have an impact in Europe. Need to improve tactically or wait for the board to increase wages so we can attract some bigger talent.

 

[Alienman]

2017 Summer Transfers

After my traditional end of season break to recharge and get some motivation back, its time to update you guys on this off seasons transfer business.

The goal for the off season was to, as always, strengthen the squad for European football while maintaining the Slovenian flavor of the squad. Thanks to making another big profit last season, the board made plenty of funds available to bring in some solid players. Although wages have increased greatly, we are still limited by the amount we can offer to players so we missed out on some of the signings we wanted to make.

First, lets start with outs.

​

Amir Dervisevic and Agim Ibraimi were the biggest two outs. Ibraimi, who had been with the club since the 11/12 season, had been a good performer but we received a good offer and couldn't refuse. Dervisevic had also been a solid player but we needed an upgrade in the ball winning midfielder department. Rajcevic was aging and the rest were fringe players which we made a solid profit off of.

Now the ins. We spent a lot this off season but we did also find some bargains. While bringing in some foreign players, we still brought in a couple of Slovenian players to maintain the heart of the team.

​

Frederico Venancio is the biggest signing of the window and will hopefully be at the heart of strong defense this season. He's also a most expensive player at 9k per week.

​

Domen Crnigoj is probably the best signing of the summer. For only 2 million, we added an extremely gifted 21 year old central midfielder who is already a full international. He has great technical attributes and vision so he should dominate the midfield in the First League.

​

Roman Bezjak gives us a different option up front compared to Orsic. Also would work well playing along side Orsic if we want to switch up our formation.

​

Amidu Salifu was the bargain of the summer. We picked him up for a steal by activating his 325k release clause. Great physical stats to boss the midfield and win the ball back.

​

The other transfers give us a little potential for the future. Gaston Heredia is one for the future but also has something to offer this season while Alen Ozbolt and Erik Gliha are young Slovenian talent, likely to be loaned out, for the future.

Now hopefully the team gels quickly and we can hit the ground running especially with the all important Champions League qualifiers right at the start of the season.

 

[Alienman]

P.S.: Motivation is waning a little due to the slow progression of a save like this. Something with more intermittent success, like promotions might be better. Might start a new save after the January update with a lower league English side or a journeyman save. Suggestions are welcome.

 

[PatrickLFC]

Still enjoying this, if it's still going. If you're not though, then it would be great to see a new one!