SD Eibar Se Elevará

Nice going. Interesting end of the season, as things stand, a bad result may get you out of Europe, but a good one and you may still make it to the Champions, which would be awesome, as XJamieWilliams say.
 
Wow, what a season you're having! Champions League would be unreal! I think whatever happens now this season has been a huge success!
 
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April

We have now entered the penultimate month of the La Liga campaign, April brings a mixture of fixtures as we take on Zaragoza, Celta, Sevilla and Real Sociedad, all matches that we have the capability of winning but none will be easy to predict. I have just come out of an emergency team meeting, I needed to get across the importance of staying grounded, no matter happens, they have done fantastic to maintain our top half league position all season, we need to keep our heads and not make any more silly, rash decisions, I will have to wait and see if it had any effect.


Results

Zaragoza Vs SD Eibar

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If we fail to gain European qualification, this game will be one we should look back on with great disappointment, despite Zaragoza being bottom of the league with only 14 points, we were unable to get the win, we led twice however both times we let that lead slip. As much as I hate making excuses, this result was mainly down to lack of defensive depth, injuries and suspensions keeping out Marcano, Oviedo, Garcia and Errasti left us very vulnerable.


SD Eibar Vs Celta Vigo

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This was another one of those game that we should have capitalised on, our forwards were just not on their game today, I would like to say that Celta defended well but that was not the case either. One plus side was that Garcia came back into the side after his ban and gave a MoM performance. Still another disappointing result making the chances of Champions League football next year looking ever more out of our reach.


SD Eibar Vs Sevilla

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Just when I was starting to feel like continental football was just going to be too much for us, my players pull the result against 5th​ place Sevilla out of the bag. Deulofeu gets a brilliant hat-trick against his former club as well as Bakkali coming on as a sub to score an absolute screacher from 28 yards. Delighted with this result, only downside was that our discipline was poor again, will need to look into this a little deeper.


Real Sociedad Vs SD Eibar

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A bad performance all over the pitch against Sociedad, I am not sure if this was my players or my tactics but no one turned up. A crazy first 30 mins saw us let in 3 goals and from then on the match was in our favour, we attacked better and had more possession, we just couldn’t make it count and we got punished. Poor result finishing off a poor month.


League Table

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Still in with a shout for Champions League, I know see Atletico, Athletic and Sevilla as my main rivals for the 4th​ place spot. We are easily the weakest side but what goes in our favour is we have just had massive wins against all 3.


Remaining Games

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Not the easiest games to finish off our season with our only home game being against Real Madrid who are competing for the title, we have Valencia away who need to win to cement their top 4 position. The only saving grace is that Malaga and Villareal are neither pushing for Europe or fighting off relegation. A nail biting finish awaits.



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Death Ball said:
Nice going. Interesting end of the season, as things stand, a bad result may get you out of Europe, but a good one and you may still make it to the Champions, which would be awesome, as XJamieWilliams say.
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Timmzeh said:
Wow, what a season you're having! Champions League would be unreal! I think whatever happens now this season has been a huge success!
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Cheers guys, its a tense finish, looking at the remaining fixtures I don't fancy our chances of 4th now.. you never know though. As you say Timmzeh, no matter what the result now it has still been another fantastic season!
 
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SM – ‘So now we move on to this year’s surprise package Eibar, they have continued to impress and now find themselves with in touching distance of the Champions League, surely the wheels are going to fall off sooner or later?’

GB – ‘No, you know what, I think that we are not giving them enough credit, I was at the Atletico Madrid game and I spoke with Bullardinho after the game, he truly believes his team can pull it off and from that kind of performance, why not?’

SM – ‘But surely when you look at their remaining fixtures you have to fancy Atletico or Bilbao?’

GB – ‘I agree that on paper Atletico certainly have to be the favourites for 4th but the game isn't played on paper, if you had said 3 or 4 years ago that SD Eibar would be competing for European qualification I would have laughed in your face. I think that a Europa League spot is more likely for them now but that is a unbelievable achievement, if they achieve that then the celebrations in Eibar will be monumental and to be honest, it’s the very least these fans deserve.


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May

The biggest month of my career so far, I must admit I am starting to feel the nerves now, not that I would let me team know that. The implications of qualifying for the Champions League could be huge, don’t get me wrong I would be over the moon to be playing in the Europa next season but the Champions League is what every Manager and Player dream of. We have to stay focused and continue to give it our all, anything is possible and I still believe.


Results

Malaga Vs SD Eibar

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A nail biting affair but we got the win we so desperately needed, we just need 1 more point now to guarantee Europa League qualification. Sergi Enrich yet again coming up good and proving to be the difference on the day, although a special mention to Bacuna who came on for the injured Patric and grabbed a quality goal from RWB.


SD Eibar Vs Real Madrid

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This was a fantastic display or resilience from the team, we really proved we can scrape a result when we need to. Some good performances all over the park helped us to grind out the draw, especially as both goals were scored in the first 9 minutes and we were down to 10 men after 58 minutes. We are officially now have European football next season!!


Villareal Vs SD Eibar

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How we didn’t win this game is beyond me, we was wasteful in the end. Deulofeu may have won the MoM award and got our only goal but he missed the target on 7 attempts, one of which was 6 yards out. I think we missed Moreno and Lara today, Bakkali and Saul have not impressed me on their loans this season.


Valencia Vs SD Eibar

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We dominated possession and they countered, they attacked well and we defended well. In the end we cancelled each other out and a draw was a fair result. Bacuna was one of our stand out performers again and after 2 years on loan with us I think this may be his fair well game, his versatility will be missed in the team. Another decent result against one of the league’s best teams.


Final League Table

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So there we have it, we missed out on the Champions League by 5 clear points, interestingly the final CL spot went to Athletic Bilbao, meaning Atletico dropped 4 points in the last 4 games. Real Madrid are crowned Champions mainly down to the incredible season their defence had, letting in an average of just 0.37 goals a game. I think the most shocking thing of all was the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo on the Top Scorer, Average Rating and Assist charts, must have had an off season, making Real’s league win even more impressive. The most important thing of all is Eibar are in the Europa League next season!!!


Final Team Awards

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Fans Player of the Year
Javi Lara

Managers Player of the Year
Gerard Moreno

I feel that despite Lara having a very solid season, the fans decision to vote him the player of the season was purely based on popularity, Moreno's goals were crucial this campaign, earning him a National call-up in the process, although the decision between him and Deulofeu was difficult, I feel Gerard just comes up trumps.​
 
So unlucky missing out on Champions League. I'm sure this summer you can build a much strongner squad and challenge again!
 
DaveAzzopardi said:
So unlucky missing out on Champions League. I'm sure this summer you can build a much strongner squad and challenge again!
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Cheers man, we was very unlucky, I would like to think we can challenge again next year but you never know, the problem on our budget is that I have to rely on freebies and loans to build my squad each year, never know who I am gonna have lol

SeanKeaney said:
You should've won Manager of the Year! What more can you do!
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Kill Ancelloti, Enrique and Simone?! Apparently winning the league with Real Madrid is a bigger achievement than what I have done this season.. bastards!
 
xJamieWilliams said:
Brilliant season, you planning on Champions League football in a couple of years!
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To be honest I don't know, that would be the idealistic plan but realistically I think just maintaining top half finishes and building up the financial status of the club and any European appearances we have in the meantime are a bonus!
 
Manager of the years seems realistic. Getting the title with a giant seems more valued than getting a small team to be up there. In the ACB (the Spanish basketball league), they gave past season's manager of the year to Pablo Laso for getting Real Madrid top in the regular season (they don't wait for the title play offs, where he lost to Barcelona in four matches), instead of Aíto García Reneses (a legend and my absolute favorite basketball coach), who took Baloncesto Sevilla, a team of youngsters, with one or two quality players and the rest great promises for future but still quite green, a team that was expected to fight against relegation or just stay comfortably clear, to eighth position and qualify for the title play off. Nobody would have bet a cent to that possibility. But hey, Laso got one of the biggest squads in Europe, one of the favorites to win the Euroleague, so being top of the regular season with one of the two teams that can get that at the moment is so deserving that award. B.S.!

So yes, it seems like the kind of thing to do. You take tiny Eibar to Europa League but the manager of the year goes to Ancelotti for taking giant and umpteenth time champions Real Madrid to win the league one more time.
 
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Bullardinho said:
Moreno's goals were crucial this campaign, earning him a National call-up in the process, although the decision between him and Deulofeu was difficult, I feel Gerard just comes up trumps.​
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Which Gerard? :P
 
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Season 3 - 2016-17
Pre Season


Whilst the squad are on their pre-season break, taking a much deserved rest, I am straight down to business. The first thing I did was set up a meeting with Chairman Alex Aranzabal to discuss a some important matters..


Meeting

B: Hi Alex, thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.

AA: No worries Matt, I will need to make this quick though, I have a date with an ‘escort’ if you know what I mean?..

B: Umm yeah Alex, I am pretty sure I know what you mean… *clears throat* anyway, I would like to talk about the clubs infrastructure, I feel that we need to improve our Youth Training Facilities and our Junior Coaching, I know that we are not financially the biggest club in the world but I think it will only help us in long run with both home-grown talent and income from sales, what do you think?

AA: Sure.. why not..

B: Really, is that it?

AA: Its done, anything else?

B: Well yes, I would like to know what kind of budget I will be working with next season?

AA: Listen, cant this wait?.. I tell you what, I will allow you a budget of £6 Million, how does that sound?

B: Yes that sounds acceptable to me, thanks Alex.

AA: No worries, listen if that’s all I’ve got to go, Ernesta charges by the hour if you know what I mean..

B: Yes Alex, once again I know what you mean..


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Disclaimer: This meeting was fictional, it does not represent any likeness to AA, neither does it represent my views of AA, I am not insinuating he uses prostitutes in real life.. just maybe if Eibar qualify for Europe.. as a treat.

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Pre-season Continued

So I am pretty happy that I got what I wanted out of the meeting with the chairman, I think the youth facilities will be vital if we are to maintain this upward direction the club is heading in. Yet again the pre-season is going to be a very hectic period as half my squad leaves to go back to their parent club again, I am happy that I have a little more to play with in the budget this time but I estimate we need at least 7-10 players and I would like to lower the amount of players we bring in on loan this season to try and build a little more stability.


Transfers

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Before I show you the new faces, I started off my business by making Marcano and Oviedo permanent deals, both have been great for us on loan and represent fantastic deals at just £450k for both.


New Players Profiles

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Very happy with my new additions, in particular Ramirez on a free, Rascaldani for just £1.7m and Denis Suarez on loan from Barca, not to mention the other Halilovic brother joining us on loan for the season. I did try and bring both Enrich and Moreno back on permanent deals but they wanted £4m and £6.2m respectively for both players.


Friendlies

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Yet again I have set up all friendlies for financial purposes, picking up a cool £3.2m in fees. I think it’s fair to say that my Assistant does not have what it takes to be a manager yet, I let him take charge of all games except the Real Betis match, I walked straight back in got us a win which helped with morale and Rascaldani was clearly keen to impress.


Club Overview

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This is how we look going into my third season in charge and as expected there has already been some vast improvements, our estimated valuation is 275% of what it was 2 years ago, our rating has gone from 2.5 stars to 4 stars and the media are now predicting us to 8th ​in the league before the campaign has even started. With improvements to our youth facilities under way, the club really is starting to transform.
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Really hope European competition can catapult the team to better quality. Good group of signings.
 
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