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Bullardinho

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Press Release

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SD Eibar have announced Bullardinho will be the man to replace the departing Gaizka Garitano as their new first team manager. It has not been confirmed as of yet why Garitano left his position at the club but it is believed to have been for personal reasons.
Bullardinho will have an extremely tough job on his hands just to keep the newly promoted side in La Liga, however you would not have thought that would be the case after hearing him speak in his press conference earlier today, ‘I am delighted to have been give then chance to prove myself in one of the top leagues in the world, as most of you are aware, SD Eibar is not the richest in the league, neither does it have the best squad in La Liga, but one thing is for sure, it does have the best manager! I can assure you that with my guidance, we WILL stay in this league, we WILL compete and one day, we WILL be the best’.


My Arrival

I have arrived for my first day at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium, it is a lot smaller than I expected, this 5,250 seater stadium has certainly seen better days, I heard it was built in the 1940’s and by the looks of it, it hasn’t been touched since. I have a meeting scheduled with the club chairman Alex Aranzábal shortly, I am slightly nervous, this is my first job in management and just walking around the buildings here is giving me an idea of the kind of task I have ahead of me, it is hard to believe that this stadium will soon be the stage for the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.


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Stadium: Ipurua (5,250 Capacity)


Club Details

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Club History

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Club Facilities

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Transfer Budget

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I’ve just come out of my meeting with the chairman and to be honest the task seems even more daunting now, he gave me the breakdown of the clubs finances, our training and youth facilities. Looking at the clubs infrastructure has really left me wondering how the **** this club made it to La Liga?? It has left me intrigued to meet the players, they have obviously played a massive part in the clubs back to back promotions and they clearly must have have a steely determination about them to have achieved such a feat.


Team Report

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It's not long now before I meet my squad in the flesh, but on my desk I found a report which my assistant Patxi Ferreira has kindly prepared for me upon my arrival, in truth the squad is weak but with the right formation and tactics I can definitely make it work.


Best Player

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I don't believe in singling one player out as a 'star' player, we are a team, not a group of individuals. However Patxi has again kindly prepared a report on who is believes is our best player and Dani Garcia is the man. I must admit I have not seen much of Dani on the pitch but if this report is accurate then I definitely feel he will be a great player for me to build my team around. He seems to possess some very solid mental attributes and the desire to be a team player which will be important for me. I will assess him closely in the coming weeks




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Looking at the clubs infrastructure has really left me wondering how the **** this club made it to La Liga??
Click to expand...

By winning Liga Adelante last year...
...Which left every football lover in Spain both astonished and speechless back then, since Eibar was the club with the smallest budget in Liga Adelante (and of course it's needless to say that they also got Liga BBVA's smallest budget this year).

It will be one heck of a challenge, Liga BBVA is not an easy league to play in FM (one of the most difficult things I've achieved in my personal FM history was winning Liga BBVA with Real Sociedad and was quite the ordeal) and with a humble squad the struggle can be quite brutal.

I wish you all the good luck in the world, since you're definitely gonna need it.

.P.S.: Eibar's key player? In my humble opinion it would be (despite on what the game says) Xabier Irureta, he was a key factor in the unexpected promotion (he even got the Zamora award last year) and he's deinitely pulling his weight on Eibar's neverending struggle to avoid relegation.

.P.S.: Zamora is the award given to the goalie who has conceded the fewest amount goals during the whole season.
 
Zlatan Lumic said:
By winning Liga Adelante last year...
...Which left every football lover in Spain both astonished and speechless back then, since Eibar was the club with the smallest budget in Liga Adelante (and of course it's needless to say that they also got Liga BBVA's smallest budget this year).

It will be one heck of a challenge, Liga BBVA is not an easy league to play in FM (one of the most difficult things I've achieved in my personal FM history was winning Liga BBVA with Real Sociedad and was quite the ordeal) and with a humble squad the struggle can be quite brutal.

I wish you all the good luck in the world, since you're definitely gonna need it.

.P.S.: Eibar's key player? In my humble opinion it would be (despite on what the game says) Xabier Irureta, he was a key factor in the unexpected promotion (he even got the Zamora award last year) and he's deinitely pulling his weight on Eibar's neverending struggle to avoid relegation.

.P.S.: Zamora is the award given to the goalie who has conceded the fewest amount goals during the whole season.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I certainly will need a lot of luck, although I am confident I can be a success. As I said the 'best player' was as suggested to me in the report prepared by the Assistant, I haven't had a chance to review the squad a of yet.
They clearly have a fighting spirit to be able to gain promotion to La Liga on such a small budget and I am looking forward to the challenge
 
Good luck! Will be a really hard challenge and a great achievement should you keep Eibar in Liga BBVA.
 
Good luck mate! Eibar is a really hard but interesting challenge. :)
 
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Pre-Season

I have had a very busy first month here at Eibar, I have been working hard on the training ground along with my coaching staff to get the squad ready for the new season, improving fitness and getting the tactics right. I have also been working night and day with the scouts to sign the right players to help improve the squad. I feel a lot more comfortable in my role now and the squad I have at my disposal, I feel like the team has prepared well and shown some real promise.


Fixtures

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We have put in some good performances over the 5 friendly matches and I feel a lot of players have really put them selves forward and staked their place in the team. One performance that does stand out was Bobby Zamora's 3 goals in the match against FC Gueugnon, unfortunately that will be his one an only match for us as he picked up a 5 month injury shortly after and his loan deal was terminated. I feel that although our friendlies gave us the opportunity to improve fitness, test players and tactics, it didn't really give us a real test against good opposition, I guess I will have to wait and see how we perform on the first day of the season.


Transfers

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Players In

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I definitely feel like the squad is much stronger than it was when I took my first training session just over a month ago, I think myself and my team of scouts have brought in some fantastic talent and really feel like our business in the transfer market has greatly improved our chances of staying in La Liga. I would say that Bacuna from Aston Villa has to be our stand out signing although I am very pleased with all of the new players we brought in, he shows some really good attributes, he is very versatile and I think he is going to play an integral part in our midfield.


Opening Fixtures

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I think we could have been given worse opposition to face for our first even season in La Liga, I think we could of done without an away match to Atletico in our second fixture but other than that they are all matches I hope we can at least compete in. I am going to be very optimistic and set a target of 5 points from the first 6 Matches. ​
 
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August

So I sat down with Patxi once our pre-season had finished to discuss how he felt the preseason had gone and how he felt we should approach the new season, we discussed the which players we thought we predominantly be in the first team and where their best positions were. Once we agreed, we set out looking at which of the formations we had used over the friendly matches really worked and set out putting together the plans for our first match, at home to Real Sociedad.

Formation

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Here you are looking at the blue-print for the formation we will work with this season, obviously depending on opposition, injuries, rotation etc there will be changes but this will be the base of our team. I have gone for a 'defensive' counter attacking style, playing simple passes, I do not want my team to panic and playing mindless long balls without an intended destination, I want us to use our head, using the space and trying not to take too many risks. The team you see selected will not necessarily be my preferred first team as there will be plenty of rotation.


Results

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SD Eibar Vs Real Sociedad

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Unfortunately there was no fairy tale beginning to our debut season in La Liga, in fact we learnt some very harsh lessons. I think this result said a lot more about my naivety and lack of experience as a manager at this level rather than the players, they did play very poorly but I simply got the tactics all wrong for the opposition on the day and they exploited that. We will learn from this experience and grow.


Atletico Vs SD Eibar

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No words can describe how ecstatic I was when Dani Garcia's shot rattled the back of the net in the 4th minute of extra time, lets just say we celebrated like we had just won the league when the final whistle was blown. This really was the kind of performance I was hoping for, we may not have dominated possession or had the most shots on goal but we defended with determination and grit, we took our chances when they came and we did superbly to break down Atletico's play. Purely outstanding and I am extremely proud.


League Table

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I know we are only two games into the table but it was worth a view.​
 
I've always had a soft spot for Eibar having enjoyed saves with them on previous FM's, so will be following this with interest. Good luck.
 
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September

After the Atletico match I sat back in my chair, looked at the grey walls of my small office and thought about the minor miracle we had just pulled off. Despite the drumming in my first match and first Basque derby against Real Sociedad, we still had a very positive August and I am very pleased with the way the lads trained and performed. September was going to be a difficult month, we had a 2 week international break before 4 matches came at us thick and fast. This did give us plenty of time to prepare, work on the training ground and improve on our performance against Atletico.


Results

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SD Eibar Vs Deportivo

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Another fantastic result giving us back to back league wins against Atletico and Deportivo, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined it was possible in my 2nd and 3rd games in charge. This match was a surprisingly even affair, Depor just about had more possession but we had more attempts on goal and I think we had the better chances. We also had several stand out performers including Enrich grabbing a fantastic brace an earning the MoM award.


Elche Vs Eibar

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We were strong favourites going into this match, given some strong performances and the fact that Elche were sitting bottom of the league, however I knew that wouldn't be the case. This match wasn't as tight as the score line suggests though, we had goals disallowed for offside, we dominated possession and we genuinely deserved to win this match but it was still a good point and I think the team and fans with be happy on reflection.


SD Eibar Vs Villarreal

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How we didn't get more out of this game I will never know, we really pressurised Villarreal and created plenty of chances, we just about come on top of the possession stats and yet we let our concentration slip for 3 silly first half goals and that really put the nail in our coffin. We improved in the second half an resolutely defended whilst continuing to create chances, chances that unfortunately we just couldn't take. There were still plenty of positives to take from this match and lots to think about in training.


Athletic Bilbao Vs SD Eibar

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Another Basque derby and what a result, along with the Atletico game this has to go down as one of our best results yet, we defended well and broke on the counter attack with great effect, creating several good chances on the break. The goal cam from several Bilbao corners, they were applying pressure but we defended stoutly, when the ball broke for Bacuna, it was 4 simple passes until we were outside their box with 3 on 2, Bacuna recieved the ball back and calmly slotted home. Another unbelievable win!


League Table

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What a fantastic position to be in so far, I know we have a long way to go and my job is to try and keep the team and myself grounded during this period, no doubt we are going to experience a period where we go with out a win for 4,5,6 plus games and we will need to remember our fighting spirit and our determination during this period. Also we have managed to accumulate 10 points so far, that's double the target I had set before the season started.
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October

The feeling around the town of Eibar is of great optimism and hope at the moment, even people that have previously had no interest in football have begun to get behind the team, flags are being hung in every shop window, I only hope we can continue to make them proud and keep up our incredible form.


Results

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SD Eibar Vs Levante

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This was another match that going into it the media had made us favorites, we had come into it fresh from another win and Levante were bottom of the league, yet again I feel this went against us as we come crashing back down to earth. The match wasn't as one sided as the score suggests but we did not play well and this was a result of some poor defending and some very clinical play from Levante


Barcelona Vs SD Eibar

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I really don't have much to say about this match other than we enjoyed the occasion, all we wanted to do was try and compete, we didn't really do that but it was a learning curve.


SD Eibar Vs Granada

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A very good win at home to Granada, we didn't show any real domination, we just countered extremely well and took our chances. We could of made it 6 had Bacuna not missed the penalty, thats now 2 in 2 he has missed so I think maybe I need to look at who takes future spot kicks. The only disappointment was that we was 5-1 up at half time but we took our foot off the gas in the second half and Granada applied a lot of pressure, leaving us with a tense finish. Much work is needed on our defence.


League Table

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Obviously we are going to enjoy our lofty league position whilst it lasts, we have done brilliant to get where we are but we are only 6 points from bottom so thing could change in a matter of games.​
 
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November

As I sit at my desk and ponder about the roller-coaster ride that has been by first few months here at the Ipurua and I already feel like I have aged several years. All though the results have been way above expectation, unfortunately things have not been so great financially, we have been losing on average £400k a month and our transfer revenue has been reduced from 80% down to 30% of incoming transfers. It is a tough join being the manager of Eibar but that is why I took on this challenge, I want to make history for this small club.


Results

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Roya Vallecano Vs SD Eibar

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What can I say about this match, Rayo absolutely pummelled our goal for the full 90 minutes, averaging a shot every 3 minutes through out the entire game, with more than half of those shots on target which as the stats suggest means our goalkeeper was on top form today. We maybe should have lost by more and that is a testament to our defensive efforts, I would have like to have just seen a little bit more control of the game, something to take back to the training ground.


Malaga Vs SD Eibar

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This match was, as the score suggests a bit of a bore draw, not much to say, possession was even and so was the shot attempts pretty much, this was just a day for the defence of both teams really, still a good point away from home for us though.


SD Eibar Vs Real Madrid

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This was the day The Galacticos came to town, another match where the fans can just enjoy the occasion, this time the homes support had the treat of seeing the likes of Kroos, Ronaldo and Benzema. In truth we gave a really good account of ourselves, I think we did compete, this game was never a complete walk over and we created our own chances, I was left feeling proud of the teams efforts considering they did not field one player who wasn't worth more than our entire club.


Celta Vigo Vs SD Eibar

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This was a perfect away display to round off the month, our game plan worked perfectly as I wanted to win the midfield battle and restrict their wide players on the break. We did leave it till late on to finally take the lead through Bacuna, but then the sub Angel got our second to secure all 3 points and keep our good from going.


League Table

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We are now approaching the end of the 1st third of the season and we are sitting pretty in mid-table. We have also increased our points advantage over the relegation places to 8 points which is also a relief, I think if we can average a point a game now until the end of the season then we will all but be safe from the dreaded drop.
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