Saving Parma! From Zero to Heroes

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SERIE A MATCHDAY 13

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1-0 wins are normally brilliant but today this one was incredibly annoying because we could have easily won 6-0, and we didn't actually score. It was a mix of Handanovic being too good and our strikers being inept cretins. The goal itself was pretty funny, a corner was swung in, Jonathan went to clear it only for it to cannon of Mauro Icardi's **** and go into the net, pretty comfortable win for us as we had 24 attempts to their 4.

So rather unbelievably, we've taken 7 points out of 12 in November which is fantastic, and it leaves us in 10th, with a record of 5-4-4. If we can keep up the positive performances, we've got a great chance of pushing for a top half finish.

EDIT: 2 days on, and Roberto Mancini gets the sack. There's a certain feeling of victory when another manager's sacked after their team loses to you. Is that bad? Nah.​
 
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NOVEMBER REVIEW

So we've already reached the end of November, and we're sitting pretty in 10th place, which is very pleasing indeed. And due to our good work, I've extended my contract at Parma for a further two years. Performances this month have been excellent, getting clean sheets away at Juventus and against Inter were particular highlights. The end-to-end match against Genoa was nerve wracking but we came out with a deserved 3 points. And the defeat against Roma was expected, but 7 points from 12 is pretty brilliant for a team like us.

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As I said, results this month have seen us climb to 10th place. If we could achieve that this season then I'll be very happy. As you can see from the screenshot below; Milan are still rooted to the bottom with just one win in thirteen. Filippo Inzaghi has lost his job to be replaced by Cesare Prandelli, whilst Luciano Spalletti has replaced Roberto Mancini at Inter. Sampdoria still lead the way at the top; but with them travelling to the Juventus Stadium next, that could easily change.

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December sees us play just two games, both of which are very winnable, so I'm targeting six points from six to keep our charge going. Here's who we play:

Cesena (A)
Cagliari (H)

Neither side are particularly great, even though Cesena are 7th which is very good. Cagliari are in the bottom three so I'd love to add more misery to their season. In other news, I made the first signing of my era in charge here; this young Brazilian kid could be okay, probably someone I look to sell in the future, the problem is, he only signs in September of next year due to him being under 18:

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I've been really impressed with how we've played so far; playing well beyond expectations. If we can get the two wins in December before the mini winter break then I'll be thrilled, hopefully we can do some solid business in January that can only help us push on for a top half finish.


​
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 14

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This game was a definition of a game of two halves. We were by far the better side in the first half which showed as we led 2-0 at half-time thanks to an early strike from Varela and Belfodil heading in a Rodriguez cross. However, the second half was a completely different story; we didn't even register a single shot, whilst they had 11, and they definitely deserved their goal through Milan Djuric. We had to really hold firm but we just about hung on. A big worry is our game management, we're just not seeing out games well enough.

Yes we won but I feel that we didn't deserve to purely due to the second half performance. First half we were exceptional and we restricted them to long shots, but second half we couldn't keep the ball; and allowed them chance after chance. We must improve for the Cagliari match.​
 
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SERIE A MATCHDAY 15

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"We must improve for the Cagliari match", boy did we. This was probably one of the best performances since I took over. Cagliari should have taken the lead when Samuele Longo pounced on a Lucarelli error and shot wide when one on one. From there we took complete control and Cagliari rarely got near our penalty area. Varela scored with a nice 12 yard finish and Belfodil profited from a goalmouth scramble three minutes later. In the second half, we actually killed the game. Massimo Coda rounded off the win with a great header from an even better Varela cross.

We hit the winter break at possibly the worst time as we've won three in three. 7th place is obviously excellent; but we've now got a three week gap to the Empoli game, who have improved drastically as they sit in 14th place. A draw wouldn't be the worst result in the world but I think a win is achievable. There won't be a December review as there wasn't much going on, I'll roll these two games into the January review.​
 
Amazing story mate, loving the headers for the scores, great detail. Looking quite good with the results you're getting in too!
 
xJamieWilliams said:
Amazing story mate, loving the headers for the scores, great detail. Looking quite good with the results you're getting in too!
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Thanks a lot mate. I'm pretty surprised with how well we've done considering 70% of our squad are about to get their pension haha
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 16

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Before the game I'd have been disappointed with a point, but we really didn't deserve to get anything out of this game so a point is extremely valuable. Ishak Belfodil gave us the lead after just 18 seconds (which is a record for the club) as we went on the attack straight from kick-off. However, they got a deserved point 15 minutes from time when Francesco Tavano squeezed in a shot from a tight angle.

We lacked energy today. Normally our intensity is incredible but we just looked flat; maybe lacking a bit of match fitness after three weeks off. I said that the break came at the worst time as we were building up a head of steam, but we're still five matches unbeaten in the Serie A now.​
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 17

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This game was utter garbage. Turgid, turgid stuff. We definitely had the better of the game and their keeper Stefano Sorrentino made two very good saves to keep the scores level. Belfodil and Coda both guilty of missing good chances, and this is definitely two points dropped rather than a point gained.

Disappointing. Palermo are definitely beatable, but unbeaten in six reads quite nicely. I feel if we hadn't had the winter break we could've beaten Empoli and Palermo but such is life. We play our first match in the Coppa Italia next at home to Lazio. The board don't expect us to do better than the round we're in, but I'd like to prove them wrong.​
 
COPPA ITALIA 1ST ROUND

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My job security just grows stronger by the day as we've already surpassed a board expectation after our hard-fought 1-0 win over Lazio in the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup). In a game of few chances, Ishak Belfodil game up with the goods a few minutes before half-time, sweeping home a Cristian Rodriguez cross.

I don't expect to win this cup, **** I don't even expect to get very far, but we've reached the quarter-final which sounds nice. But with a trip to the San Siro to play Inter in the next round, we can probably stop dreaming about cup success for at least another year.​
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 18

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This was another game where we were slightly fortunate to get a point, and I'm starting to get a little bit concerned about our performances. Cristian Raimondi gave them an early lead after Mirante dropped a free-kick, and he gleefully tucked in to a empty net. In form Belfodil equalised against the run of play with a 5 yard finish, despite looking offside. Francesco Lodi was sent-off on the hour (which I forgot to put in the graphic) meaning it was a backs against the wall performance for the final 30 minutes, but we escaped with a point.

Phew. I really didn't think we were going to hold on as we looked incredibly shaky at the back. It's taken five or six months for Mirante to make a mistake, so I don't feel any indifference towards him, but our performance has to be better next time out as we travel to struggling Verona.​
 
Great stuff mate, Parma's situation is really sad irl, and although I expected it to be a popular challenge in future FM's to restore them, I'm impressed that you're already onto that! Keep it up!
 
PatrickLFC said:
Great stuff mate, Parma's situation is really sad irl, and although I expected it to be a popular challenge in future FM's to restore them, I'm impressed that you're already onto that! Keep it up!
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Thanks mate. It's heartbreaking to see a team suffer like they are. My finances are now really good thanks to the takeover, I don't know whether to try and make Parma financial powerhouses through strict spending or edit the finances again so they're completely in the **** to spice it up
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 19

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Another game in Serie A where we've failed to win, but this time I was mightily impressed with the performance considering we had Andi Lila sent off just before the half hour. The defence was so resilient and we never really gave them a sniff at goal. The second half was a complete barrage in their favour with them having 15 shots to our 1, but 10 of them were from range. I really can't complain with a point.

You may say we're unbeaten in 8 league matches but on the flip-side, we're winless in 4. That is quite concerning, and it can only seemingly get worse as we're away to high-flying Sampdoria next, three away league games on the spin is never nice, I'd like to win one.​
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 20

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I have a horrible feeling of déjà vu as Sampdoria tear us a new one for the second time this season, and this time we have a new nemesis, not Éder: Stefano Okaka. Yes the ex-Fulham legend(!) scored a first-half hat-trick as the joint league leaders blew us away in the opening half. Being 4-0 down at half-time and losing to the same scoreline is the only solace I can take from this; we did compete well in the second half to be fair, but that's little consolation.

So, we end January winless in 5, and we have to play Lazio at home next which is far from easy, even though we did beat them in the cup a few weeks ago. Things are still going along very nicely, which I'll review in depth in the next most, which is my December/January review. Stay tuned!​
 
Looking good, Playing well considering no signings yet! What was the name of the Brazilian you have signed?
 
DECEMBER/JANUARY REVIEW

To be honest, I feel really flat. We didn't win a league game (in January) and our only victory was in the Coppa Italia over Lazio, which isn't exactly the most important thing right now. The two victories in December are obviously good but they were expected. We should be beating the likes of Empoli, Palermo and Verona. I'm not too disappointed in losing against Sampdoria, but the manner of it was extremely disappointing. Here's a reminder of all those results if you've not been paying attention:​

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So in 7 games, we've picked up just 10 points out of a possible 21, but that's not too bad when you consider the fact that I was anticipating a relegation battle. I'm so happy with how things are going and we're in a very strong financial position - but I'm definitely not going to flex Parma's newly-grown muscles in the summer, I'll strengthen where I have to, and there are definitely areas that need to be improved; but right now, the boys are getting the job done.

League table:
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Milan move off the bottom which is spoiling the fun of this season. They've been replaced rather surprisingly by Genoa, who we enjoyed a thriller with. Being in 9th halfway through the season is way better than I could ever have imagined, and if we can maintain this solid progress, we could even sneak into the European spots, but that's incredibly unlikely. Our chances of progressing up the table in February are rather slim as we have some really tough fixtures ahead:

Lazio (H)
Inter Milan [Coppa Italia] (A)
Torino (A)
AC Milan (H)
Sassuolo (A)

Four league games then this month and the crunch cup quarter-final with Inter. I would settle for seven points here. We've already beaten Lazio at home in the past few weeks so I think we could do so again. Torino away will not be easy but I fancy us at home to Milan, and we could nick a point against Sassuolo. In the cup, I don't want to be hammered, simple as. I hope you'll join me for the Lazio game at home... FORZA PARMA!

(Oh and of course, we didn't sign anyone)​
 
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JamesScott2908 said:
Looking good, Playing well considering no signings yet! What was the name of the Brazilian you have signed?
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We're not doing badly at all. He's called Lucas Fernandes, probably won't be anything special but we could make some money from him.
 
SERIE A MATCHDAY 21

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A great way to bounce back from our 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Sampdoria. It was an incredibly tight first half which saw Lazio lead 1-0 thanks to Stefano Mauri. We equalised 15 seconds into the second half as Silvestre Varela headed in a Cristian Rodriguez cross. And Andrea Costa secured us the points 5 minutes from time, heading in from a corner.

This was a really good win, we may have conceded but I felt we were really solid defensively, and we looked really good on the break. It was nice to end the winless run, right before a tough game against Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia. Is there a cupset on the cards? Stay tuned to find out...​
 
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