Sporting: It's in our blood

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"como são"

The words echoed from my childhood. Perched on the slope of Serra De Sintra, I turned
to meet the gaze of my Father. He was a proud man, a stern yet loving hand is how I remember him.
We lost our mother when I was 5 so it's just been us for as long as I could remember.
But I loved these trips to the Sintra Mountains, I loved them dearly.

These mountains used to be known as Lunae Mons, or the "Mountains of the Moon."
Even as a boy I recognized their mysticism. This was an era forgotten to the world, for Lunae Mons
was were Cynthia; A Roman Goddess, used catch her thoughts. As did I.

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He enjoyed the simple pleasures, my Father. He worked hard, raised a family and followed
his beloved Sporting Clube de Portugal to the ends of the earth. He would tell me stories of the
Cinco Violinos; a forward line of Jesus Correia, Manuel Vasques, Fernando Peyroteo,
José Travassos, and Albano
. These men were said to play as an orchestra together with
the same collective spirit and efficiency on the field.

He was only 10 years old when his father took him to the Estadio Nacional in 1949 to see
the Sporting Portugal score the first ever goal in the Cup of the Clubs of the European Champions.

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My Father returned the favor and took me to countless games. I quickly developed a taste for it.
I loved the roar of the crowd, the chants, the emotion, the triumph and the despair.
There were thousands of us but we were one within those walls.



It was in his honor that I completed my FIFA Continental Coaching badges. Football was his life, as was I.
It was inevitable that I would fall in love with the beautiful game. He believed in me. Despite my lack of
athleticism, I grew infatuated with Football. I couldn't play but I'd watch the games, furiously studying the
field. My Father jokes, saying i was possessed. that the Gods of Football have claimed me now.

I raised the wreath close to my chest. I could feel the tears start to well up but I fought the away.


"Papa, It's me. They called me back again today."
I managed a quick smile as a touched the fence.


"You always believed in me, and they said It was mine. Papa, they offered me the Job"

Tears starting to push their way through


"I'll doing this for you Papa, thank you for everything"
I placed the wreath on the fence before saying a prayer.
One year on. The Anniversary of his death.



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Nobody was really surprised to hear that Franky Vercauteren had been sacked.
7th place is not where a giant of Portuguese football ends up, yet this was a reality
for the Lisbon based club. Though, it's fair to say, this has been a long time coming.
The glory days of the 50s and 60s are now long since past.

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Despite lifting the Primeira Liga 18 times, the Club has failed to record a single League Title
in over ten years; their last title coming in 2001/02. Sporting Clube de Portugal has a history many
would be envious and having competed in 8 Cup finals in the last decade, they have
only brought home silverware on 4 of these occasions.

Their biggest disappointment came in the 2004/05 European UEFA Cup when we lost the Final in our Home Stadium.
Despite taking a first half, 29th minute lead, CSKA Moscow scored 3 in the second half to secure their only
European title in the Russian Clubs history.

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I cried that day. It was our first, and last European cup final. The club has since never reached
the Finals of either the Europe League of the Champions League.

But it's not all doom and gloom. We are still the best youth development club in Portugal. Our Youth
System is the envy of the World. A certain Christiano Ronaldo being a former pupil of ours.

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State of the Art Taining Facilities ensure our players are at their physical and technical peak.

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and the glorious 50,000 seated theater of Sporting Football
that is the beautiful Estadio Jose Alvalade

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If any club is poised to make a return to the glories of the past, it is the Lisbon Giant.
Sporting Clube de Portugal

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I'd been here three weeks yet it still feels strange to me. It's not exactly like I'm
new to the building. I've been working with Sporting for the past 10 years now.
But things felt different somehow. I felt ready.


My name is João Lourenço and this club meant everything to my
father, and it's the only club I've ever known. My father wasn't a player,
a coach or a Manager. No, he was the grounds man. And he tended the ground at
the Estádio José Alvalade for 38 years until his death last June.

He used to talk me, endlessly about the great teams of the 50s. the fantastical scoring records and the
attacking potency this Portuguese side had. I've read about them and I know the stories
but they seemed so distant.



Derby de Lisboa

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The biggest game in Portugese football, the Dery de Lisboa
is hotly contested and I'll be sure to renew the rivalry.

Our Local rivals have wn 33 Domestic Titles while we've only won 18.
There is History for us to make but first, we have to play catch up.
 
Its very powerful start,
but im gripped, looking forward to seeing how you progress,
are you giving yourself any restrictions? I.e. only portugese players? Only player frm youth academy?
 
Its very powerful start,
but im gripped, looking forward to seeing how you progress,
are you giving yourself any restrictions? I.e. only portugese players? Only player frm youth academy?

Cheers. I've never managed in Portugal so I'm not really setting myself any restrictions.
But I do enjoy FM responsibly: I never drink and Manage!

Given how good the youth facilities are and I'm in one of the best nations for regens, I'd be a fool not to try develop a few Portuguese stars.
 
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I wanted to get a full tour of the entire club's facilities. Since I worked with
The 'B' team I didn't spend much time around the Senior Training facilities
or the interior of the Stadium. I was very impressed with what we have to work with.

The 1st team was training at the Estádio da Academia training grounds. I decided not
to make myself known to them just yet, instead I watched the session to see who our
stand out talents were.

Immediately, two or three players stood out as Key players.

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The first team looks like a very solid squad of players. Each technically composed
and well able to play football. I'll continue to observe them in training and decide on
a tactical shape to work on for pre-season.

But now, it's time to introduce myself to the players.

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3rd place is the minimum aim since it's the last place to carry UEFA Champions League Qualification.
Ideally I'll be aiming for second to avoid the Play-offs but 3rd will be a good pre-season aim.
 
View attachment 352700Transfer News

View attachment 352563Augusto Inácio agrees to termination

Nothing personal, but we couldn't see eye to eye on how administrative matters should be handled.
I'm a hands on coach, I like getting into the trenches and negotiation contracts as well
as coaching the first team. Call me old fashioned but there is room for only one man at the helm
of a Football Club.

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Player Targets
View attachment 352497Rúben Ferreira


The 23 year old C.S. Marítimo Left Back is high on my priorities. He is a player for now
and one for the future. a €1.1M bid has been accepted by the club but with Competition
for his signature from F.C. Porto, I've had to offer him €15,000 p/w
( €3,000 p/w more than I'd planned to) to ensure we win this battle.



View attachment 352476Angel Correa

We had a €3.4M bid accepted but the players agent informed us he was not interested
in contract negotiations. however, recent media reports indicate he may be warming to the
idea of playing his trade in the Portuguese League.

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View attachment 352427Transfer News

View attachment 352426Angel Correa

One of the most sought after signatures of the window saw Correa sign a 1 year deal
(with an option to extend by 1 year) with Germany side Dortmund. However, the young Argentine
may end up traveling to Portugal for a medical after a Season long loan deal was accepted. Correa will
now decide if we wants to travel to Lisbon to play first team football with Sporting.

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Sporting Club Portugal have also announced two departures.

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Included in the deal is €5,000p/m for the duration for the loan spell (€115,000)


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Huge player but on Huge Wages. Wages I simply couldn't afford to pay given we've no European
money coming in this season. Included in the deal is €200,000p/m for the duration for the loan spell (€2.2M)

A nice slice of income while Capel gets to help Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League. Works
out for both parties.
 
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Loving it!! But are you using any kind of Roster update? because i remember playing woth Sporting without updates and most of their players (William, Adrien, Carlos Mané and on) were pretty bad compared to what they are in real life
 
Like the layout you have, will be interesting to see how you develop the squad.

Check out my story here : http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2014-manager-stories/166760-alfred-ferguson.html


Cheers mate, I've been keeping an eye on it. I've always had a soft spot for Celtic.

Interesting Layout!

Looking forward for more..

Glad you're enjoying it.

Loving it!! But are you using any kind of Roster update? because i remember playing woth Sporting without updates and most of their players (William, Adrien, Carlos Mané and on) were pretty bad compared to what they are in real life

Cheers mate, Means a lot to me.

I'm playing on the Winter SI Update Database. The players seem fine to me but if they could be better, I won't knock it. Happy to continue the save the way they are though since they're loads of room to improve.
 
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We got our man
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Angel Correa has agreed to a season long loan spell.
I'll be slotting him into the starting XI if he dose well during Pre-Seaosn but I feel
we could really help in his development. He is exactly what we need right now and he needs
competitive game time. A match made in heaven!

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This was always going to be a slow window for us since we don't have the UEFA Champions
League cash necessary to invest in players. I'm going to use this season to get the bank
balance on the way to a very healthy positive and keep some money
left over to spend in the Winter Window.

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Transfers Summer 2013/14
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2013/14 Sporting Club de Portugal Squad
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With the core of our team containing relatively few domestic players, I'll
be looking towards the Youth squads to make the push into the senior side.
Opportunities will be there for progression, I've made that clear to my U19's
Coaches so I expect to see results.

The ability within the squad is quite good. We certainly have it within us to fight
for a UEFA Champions League Spot.

View attachment 352087Cédric Soares, Eric Dier, Marcos Rojo,
William Carvalho and André Martins
.

These 5 players are the most important players for the future. I'll be looking
to do all that I can to hold onto them and ensure they're playing for the Green and White
for gears to come.


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Given the clubs pedigree, youth development is of vital importance to us.
We demand it and so dot he fans. They'd rather see a kid from the academe
make is debut than a World class foreign signing.

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Quite a lot of youth products to work with here and a good distribution between domestic and foreign
players.

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The stand out youth prospect is easily Bruno Wilson. I think he could a 1st tam starter
as soon as the 2015/16 season. Tiago Neto, Bernardo Carlos, Daniel Podence & José Postiga
are players who I believe could have a real shot at being first team players and will be following
their development closely.


 
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