kandersson

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well despite the title, meant to be a play on Ubernisation's http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...006-another-san-marino-story.html#post1364507, this IS yet another San Marino story ;)

If my other threads http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/challenges-scenarios/85095-great-san-marino-challenge.html and http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...-san-marino-guide-kandersson.html#post1349200 weren't enough, I've also decided to start a story of my career with San Marino! Hopefully one day I'll look back at this thread and remember the good old times :)

As those who have followed the challenge thread might know I have already played three full seasons so I'd like to post past seasons resumes before I go on with my game.

I've been in charge of both club and national team since day one as I like to be The San Marino Supremo, one and only responsible of any Sammarinese success (or lack of it)! National team's updates will become more accurate as I get better players and the team makes real progress; in first seasons it will mostly be a series of spectacular losses across Europe (and more).

Club Season 2011/2012: Serie C2

League & Cups Results:

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The famous Serie C Treble was certainly a nice way to start this amazing journey. We dominated the league from day one and had little problems keeping that form in the cups (this included a 7-0 win in Serie C2 Super Cup first leg against Perugia). Our "secret" was a revamped, new squad that proved to be too much for Serie C2 standard, and was probably closer to an above average Serie C1 side.


Transfers, Best 11 & Key Players:

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There were quite a few notable performers but the following ones deserve honorable mention:

Enzo Scorza: the goal hunter. A former youth international for Uruguay who had fallen all the way to Italian Serie D, Enzo joined for free determined to revive his career and finally fulfill his untapped potential. Went on to score 39 goals in 39 matches overall (without penalties), winning League Top Scorer award in the process. A key player for us, and a club favourite after just one season.

Mohammed Gulraiz: French/Algerian attacker formerly with Serie A side Udinese. Simply too good for this standard of football: dominated every single game from AML position, creating tons of chances for himself and his teammates. Won his first cap with Algeria during the season, and was eventually winner of Serie C2 Player of the Year as well as Fans POY. Definitely an integral part of San Marino future, joined Enzo Scorza to reach club favourite status after one season.

Sodinha: flamboyant winger Sodinha completed the attacking trio and led the team in assists. The Brazilian lefty brought a taste of futbol bailado to the squad, and his style often drew comparisons (by me...) with former Brazilian international Denilson. You know, football always needs crowd pleasers.

Matteo Pivotto: 37 years-old Pivotto brought some much needed experience to the squad, and led the defensive line with authority. Not only that actually, as he scored an absurd 21 goals in all competitions (mainly from corner kicks) and used his strength in the air to dominate any opponent in the league. Was released at the end of the season.


Youth Prospects (screens from second season):

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Juri Biordi is a member of the original San Marino youth squad, and started with very promising stats for SM standard. Some specific training and tutoring helped his development through the year, and soon he became undisputed first choice for the NT and arguably the best defender in the country at just 16. Ciro Napoli was the best prospect of our first youth intake (which was quite decent overall, especially for those used to FM11): a promising right winger with good pace and technical abilities, he was already good enough to be part of the senior NT and actually got his first cap within a couple of months.

Next update will describe first season misery with the National Team...
 
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i'll definately be following this, have you had any luck with vitaioli? he seems like he could develop nicely.
 
not really, hasn't make substantial improvements for me. He did well on loan in Serie C2, then I sold him to a serie B club and he didn't get much playing time. He's still first choice for the NT, mostly because I have a couple of promising regens still rejecting San Marino.

on the other hand former Cesena striker Stefanelli (signed for free after first season) has developed decently and is currently our "star" striker...

EDIT: I'm not sure if all attachments and screens are working properly, anyone can confirm issues with that?
 
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the player screenshots aren't working although they definately were earlier when i posted my previous comment. now i just get this message:

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thanks sammyt, apparently I can see screens correctly as long as I'm logged in while I see that same error message when I'm not. Not sure what happened as I did the same as usual, will try and find a solution tomorrow before posting next update.
 
what makes it even weirder is that the top 3 srennshots work as they're meant to.
 
I think I might have started something here with the San Marino stories haha. Good luck with yours mate, will be following :)
 
I think I might have started something here with the San Marino stories haha. Good luck with yours mate, will be following :)

haha the truth is I felt I had already started enough SM threads so wanted to blog my career but they closed that section so had to go for a story thread :) As for Uber he's Mister San marino and his stories ahave been part of SM folklore for a while now ;) I like to follow any story with SM so I like the new trend.


on a side note, I tried to solve issues with attachments but no matter what, cups screens for serie C2 didn't seem to work in first post, I'll make one last try here before going with new NT update:

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EDIT: and obviously they work fine now... oO)
 
I think I might have started something here with the San Marino stories haha. Good luck with yours mate, will be following :)

i was originally going to blog mine with 3 seperate sub categories for the 3 managers to make it easier to follow but when they closed that i decided to make a story of it instead and then you started yours as i was finishing the introduction for mine.
 
National Team: Year 2011

Well, first season in charge of the national team proved to be slightly harder than managing the club.

San Marino start at 207th of FIFA Rankings with 0 points which means they're virtually the worst NT amongst FIFA affiliated countries. With this in mind, please admire our spectacular results in 2011 (NT updates will be yearly rather than seasonal until 2013/14):

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A 0-2 loss against Bosnia was the first match under my reign, and was actually a more than respectable result. Unfortunately things changed in competitive matches, when we were simply destroyed by ANYONE else. A beautiful solo goal vs Holland scored by legendary striker Andy Selva was the highlight of the year (as well as our only goal in whole 2011), while a friendly loss against obscure East Timor (believe it or not: ranked higher than us...) only confirmed that San Marino has a looooong way to go.

Team & Players Overview

As you might imagine the quality of San Marino players is generally between hopeless and atrocious. Goalkeeper Aldo Junior Simoncini (3rd choice for Serie A outfit Cesena) and veteran striker Andy Selva (unattached after a respectable career between Serie B and Serie C) are the only exceptions here, and they even look like REAL football players.

Youngsters Mattia Stefanelli (ST, Cesena), Matteo Vitaioli (AML/R/ST, San Marino) and Juri Biordi (DC, San Marino) are the brightest prospects in the country at the start of the game, and soon became first choice players for the NT. Biordi in particular has been undisputed first choice since he was 16, setting a new record for youngest player (and later youngest goalscorer) ever of the national team.

The rest is pretty much rubbish. Rimini midfielder Mirko Palazzi could be instant first choice, unfortunately he retired from international football in 2007 at the age of 20. All my efforts to bring him back have been unsuccesful so far. Here's a screenshot of the defector:

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If things weren't bad enough, Andy Selva decided to retire from football in January 2012 after being without a club for a few months. I did try to sign him with the club several times, but he always rejected any approach.

On a brighter note, a good Sammarinese regen popped out in the middle of the season in the local amateur league (and trust me, this is almost a miracle):

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Giacomo Fabbrini is a versatile young player with above average attributes for SM standard. He became automatic first choice for the country, and I signed him (for free of course) for the club to follow personally his development. Joined the club in July 2012 and has since improved via training, tutoring and loan experiences.

The Staff

We could say that this was the most "succesful" part of my experience with the national team. If you have read through my guide thread than you might know about my revolutionary (...) theories about staff, SM knowledge etc

This is my NT Staff (screen from 2014, though no changes from first season):

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All quite reputable names here, mostly coaches/***.managers from Serie A clubs. You can see Mauro Tassotti from AC Milan and Rui Faria from Real Madrid here. Even our top class physio Marco Frigerio is now a coach for Fiorentina so he's developing SM knowledge as well. With that said, I can anticipate that NO Sammarinese players have been produced outside San Marino (our club or local league) as of 2014. A bit disappointing, especially considering Juventus have two Sammarinese coaches and another SM scout.


That's it for first year/season with both club and country. 2012/13 update should come tomorrow or monday.
 
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Club Season 2012/2013: Serie C1/A

League & Cups Results:

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Another successful campaign for San Marino, as the Titani absolutely dominated Serie C1/A like they did in Serie C2. We killed the league with an impressive start (20+ consecutive wins) and finished the season with another treble. Serie C Cup final against Triestina proved to be harder than expected as a nine-men San Marino side had to fight until penalty kicks lottery to finally lift the tropfhy. One of the highlights of the season was an exciting run in the Italian Cup, where we defeated a number of Serie B and Serie A clubs (including European giants Juventus) and reached the quarter finals (loss against Serie A side Novara).


Transfers, Best 11 & Key Players:

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A bug that occurred at the end of Serie C2 season seemed to allow signing non-EU players without any limit. I took advantage of that as I thought this might be a new rule for C1, which resulted in signing key free agents Eric, Simoes and Mauricio Casierra. The actual rules were back in place at the start of the season, and only at that point I realised I had exploited a bug :p. My notable performers for 2012/13 season:

Enzo Scorza & Mohammed Gulraiz: you already know both of them. The dynamic duo from first season were an integral part of our Serie C1 success as well, and proved they could make the difference at much higher level. Enzo again scored 39 goals in 39 apps (including 32 in 29 league matches) and won Serie C1 Top Scorer award as well as fans POY. Gulraiz was again unstoppable on the left wing, though he missed quite a few games to play for Algeria (especially during Africa Cup).

Eric: the Brazilian Maestro, simply too good for Serie C1 as he would probably be a quality player for many Serie A sides. Left-footed playmaker Eric took over at AMR pushing Sodinha to the bench and soon became a key figure for the club. Created tons of chances and scored a few goals of his own, winning Serie C1/A Player of the Year award despite becoming a "competent" AMR only at the end of season. San Marino number 10 for present and future.

Alessandro Cesarini: a personal favourite of mine, actually a true legend for me in FM11. In my intentions Cesarini was going to be just a squad player this time, a good back-up for both AML and striker position; he eventually enjoyed lots of playing time, mostly thanks to Gulraiz's travels with Algeria and as a super-sub for any attacking position. The highlight of his season was a superb hat-trick coming off the bench against strong Serie B side Bari (Italian Cup), while his consistent form and clutch performances earned him a spot in Serie C1/A Team of the Year (where he joined Eric and Enzo Scorza). We love our Cesa!

Damian Macaluso: a veteran Italian/Uruguayan centre-back who has played for some of the best clubs in South America. Macaluso was undisputed first choice at CB, and arguably the best defender in the league. A determined, influential presence on the pitch and in the locker room, Macaluso was an excellent club captain and an ideal mentor for our young defenders. More than earned his contract extension at the end of the season.


Youth Prospects:

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Quite happy with this year youth intake. Luca Tagliani is an excellent centre back prospect, and my staff insist he has the potential to become a good Serie A defender. His attributes look already promising, hopefully he will become a regular first team member someday. He's already automatic first choice for the NT, having accepted to embrace San Marino project after initially rejecting the call-up.

Giuseppe Vitiello is another Serie A caliber prospect, a gifted attacker described as "promising striker". He has played great for the U20 squad, and also showed promising things in friendly matches. Unfortunately he's another Sammarinese/Italian with dual nationality and as of 2014 he's yet to accpet a call-up for SM (like many others). We can only wait and see.

I actually had another couple of very good prospects (a right back and a striker), unfortunately they are 100% Italian so I don't have much time for them, actually I see them more as financial assets rather than players (already accepted a generous co-ownership offer for one of them)

Next update coming tomorrow, with National Team review year 2012. If you want to see any other screen in particular feel free to ask.
 
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National Team: Year 2012 & 2013

I decided to merge 2012 and 2013 in a single update, as I realised 2012 alone would have been just too depressing.

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The 0-5 loss against Myanmar (yep, ranked higher than us!) was the lowest point of my NT career. Worst thing, it was absolutely deserved. Encouraged by a decent 2012 youth intake I tried to play some attacking football and as a result we got totally destroyed. I was so depressed that I stopped arranging friendlies for the whole year...

Year 2013 proved to be quite respectable for our standards, as we started the year with a good 1-1 draw in Moldova to gain our first point in a competitive match since my appointment. We still had some ugly moments like a 0-8 against England, but I felt the team was finally showing some progress.

The year culminated with a much needed win against Tonga, which was the very first victory under my tenure. These semi-decent results pushed San Marino to 199th place in FIFA Rankings, our highest so far.

Tactics wise I have mainly used a very defensive 5-1-3-1 and a counter 4-3-3 in competitive matches. I'd say I was quite happy with overall performances as we did a decent job limiting CCC's. Goals from corners have been a big problem though (even 3-4 per game), which isn't good news as we tend to concede lots of corner kicks as a part of our containing strategies.


Our defensive unit is starting to look almost respectable: Aldo Junior Simoncini is a reliable keeper, while the Biordi-Tagliani partnership at the heart of defence has showed some serious potential. They're both very young and improving nicely, with Tagliani in particular looking destined for great things. Young utility player Giacomo Fabbrini usually fills in at right back to complete an above average (for SM standard) defensive line.

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We also have a group of decent attackers, namely winger Ciro Napoli, Matteo Vitaioli and former Cesena prospect Mattia Stefanelli (now with San Marino club as well). Unfortunately I'm finding quite hard to create chances for them, due to a lack of quality in the midfield (still amateur level) and especially of decent playamkers. I truly believe that a player like Giuseppe Vitiello could change the face of our attack, unfortunately he's still rejecting any call up as of 2014.


Next update coming soon with San Marino 2013/14 Serie B season.
 
Club Season 2013/2014: Serie B

League and Cup Results:

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This was actually quite surprising. Sure I already had a quality squad, and all the co-ownership deals gave me the funds to add other excellent players and improve weaker positions. I started the season aiming for promotion, though I certainly didn't expect to dominate the way we did at Serie B level. The truth is there were only 3-4 quality teams (close to Serie A standard, quite tough to face) while the rest of the league was surprisingly poor, often closer to Serie C1 quality. We had a decent run in the Italian Cup again beating a couple of Serie A clubs, though Juventus took revenge from last year and punished us with a heavy 6-1.


U20's Squad:

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I only realised this at the end of the season, as I don't control personally the U20's team. Well our long time youth coach Pier Angelo Manzaroli (responsible for the U20's squad) led the team to the double! San Marino won Group 2 (apparently the Serie B of U20's) and the U20's Cup, beating several Serie A youth teams to claim the trophy. All very promising for the future of Sammarinese football.


Transfers, Best 11 and Key Players:

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It's kind of hard to single out the best performers as the whole team was absolutely fantastic. No surprise San Marino had eight players in the Serie B Team of the Year. Anyway, here are my honorable mentions:

Enzo Scorza: ooops he did it again. Serie B Top Scorer (despite missing last month through injury), Fans POY, 35 total goals in the season (33 in 36 league matches), 113 careeer goals for the club in 116 matches (99 goals in the league). Already a key figure in San Marino history and tradition, Enzino reached club icon status at the end of the year.

Eric: a player that just doesn't belong in Serie B. Dominated the league with his playmaking skills and won Serie B player of the Year. Probably our most consistent performer, will be first choice in Serie A as well.

Lorenzo Crisetig: Italy U20's starlet formerly with European giants Inter, a tough defensive midfielder who was also able to score 9 goals from MC position. Had a wonderful season and really did it all in the midfield. A key member for the club for the years to come, currently touted as the next Daniele De Rossi.

Davide Petrucci: promising playmaker formerly with Man Utd, had to overcome some problems with injuries and fitness before finally becoming first choice at AML. The flamboyant trequartista finished the year strong and his future with San Marino looks bright. Dubbed the next Riccardo Montolivo.

Vid Belec: young Goalkeeper from Slovenia, also a product of Inter youth setup. He joined in the middle of Serie C1, but this was his first year as a starter. I wasn't so sure about him before the start the season, and actually signed experienced GK Federico Agliardi as potential first choice in the summer. Nonetheless Belec proved to be a very consistent keeper, actually the best in the league as he earned a place in the Team of the Year. Lost him after one year of co-ownership, as Catania offered much more money than I could afford.


Youth Prospects:

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Another good year for the youth intake. Niko Micheli is an excellent 5-star prospect who could finally bring some quality to the national team's midfield (our weakest unit). According to our most qualified staff he has the potential of being a leading Serie A player. Really excited about him.

Giovanni Biondo is another Serie A caliber prospect, a quick striker with bags of potential. Needless to say, both these prospects (and actually several others) have dual nationality and are obviously rejecting a call up for the NT. What can I say, time is on my side...


That's it, this is where I am at the moment with my game. I'll post next updates as I progress through the season, probably at the end of transfer window (end of August) with my new signings for Serie A.
 
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Bossed the league, very nice :D I just managed to scrape 2nd :p

What are your goals from Serie A? Just survival or somewhere closer to mid table? Making drastic overhauls or going to have faith in your Serie B squad?
 
Bossed the league, very nice :D I just managed to scrape 2nd :p

What are your goals from Serie A? Just survival or somewhere closer to mid table? Making drastic overhauls or going to have faith in your Serie B squad?

thanks Uber, your 2nd place looked great as it seems to me you had an average squad for Serie B (some good players but no real superstars for that standard). Honestly it's easier with players like Eric, Crisetig and Petrucci ;)

I'm quite confident about my Serie B winning squad and already managed to sign other good players for Serie A season, so I think a safe mid-table position should be possible for us. My tactics rely heavily on a star lone striker though, so if he fails badly then things could go horribly wrong for the whole team. Obviously the legendary Enzo Scorza can't be that striker at Serie A level.

New star striker and quicker centre backs are my priority, plus I have to replace GK Belec. There's the excellent Marco Amelia available for free, unfortunately I don't have for his wages atm despite decent finances and being under the team wage budget.
 
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The End of an Era

As I'm still in pre-season of my first Serie A year (haven't played much FM in the last weeks) I thought I'd post a sort of "lower leagues final resume" of San Marino. The Titani are now a Serie A club and hopefully they'll stick around in the Italian top tier for the years to come. Let's have an overall look at the club after their fantastic journey through the lower leagues.

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We really started to add some silverware to our palmarès, didn't we? We basically won everything we could: three straight league titles, two Serie C Cups and two Serie C Super Cups. Our youth squad also added their success in U20's league an U20's Cup. For all this I have already reached Legend status at San Marino, while Enzo Scorza and Mohammed Gulraiz have both become club Icons.

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Our team & players records and overall Best Eeleven so far: you can really see that Enzino and Momo have more than earned their icon status. Scorza in particular boasts some amazing numbers: 113 goals in 116 appearances, including 99 league goals. Juri Biordi's record for youngest goalscorer also looks quite a hard one to beat.

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Here you can see the club has progressed in several ways. I'm particularly proud of our excellent Junior Coaching, and also managed to improve youth recruitment network a couple of times. Training & youth facilities haven't been touched yet though, and the stadio Olimpico is still stuck at 4500 seats. Our training and scouting knowledge have reached top class level, mostly thanks to new, quality staff members (both scout and coaches). Spanish side Pontevedra is our newest feeder club, and our very first outside Italy.


Next update should be here soon, with pre-season resume and new signings for Serie A.
 
nice results could you tell me all the coach you got. thats the only problem i have at the moment.
 
nice results could you tell me all the coach you got. thats the only problem i have at the moment.

here are all my coaches:

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many of them are retired players who have developed staff attributes so they might be different in your game. I usually search through filters, and I like to have staff from various nations so club scouting knowledge will increase considerably. Also they have to be unattached and with relatively low wage requests.
 
here are all my coaches:

View attachment 205514

many of them are retired players who have developed staff attributes so they might be different in your game. I usually search through filters, and I like to have staff from various nations so club scouting knowledge will increase considerably. Also they have to be unattached and with relatively low wage requests.

Cheers mate :)
 
League and International

Hiya,

Great thread so I'd thought I would give it a go.

Silly question, but how can I manage San Marino club and international teams without creating a second manager?

Thanks
 
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