Starting from the bottom.. with Feirense!

[MrSantos92]

Hey guys.
This thread will be about my rise from the bottom to the top in the world of football.
I decided to start in the Second Division in Portugal with a team that had been predicted by the media to finish 17th.
Considering there is 24 teams, that seemed a big enough challenge for me.


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The team I chose was Feirense, a team that was founded in 1918 and that was recently in the First Division in 2011 but ended up being relegated back down that same season.

I was told by my chairman that I would have absolutely no money to spend during the transfer window and the wage budget wasnt that great either.
So I resorted to signing players on a free, mostly players under-21.

The 4 players I signed were:
- Jakub Vojtus (U21 Slovakian striker)
- Mateus Goncalves (20yr old Brazilian attacking midfield)
- Vincent Juaneda (21yr old French left midfielder)
- Matheus Silva (19yr old Brazilian defensive midfielder)

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No players left my club during the transfer window as I thought i would give each of them a chance to prove themselves during my first season in charge. Pre-season turned out to be a great start and I myself began to have an idea of the key players of my squad.

Below are the results of Pre-Season

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During this period, one player that stood out was Diogo Fonseca, who scored 9 goals during the 5 games.

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Other players that stood out were:
- Cafu (Experienced 37yo Cape Verde striker, with spells at Boavista and Belenenses)
- Cris (30yo Portuguese midfielder)
- Moreira (30yo attacking midfielder/striker)
- Fabinho (19yo midfielder, product of the Feirense youth team)

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So, pre-season done, transfer window over and key players decided.
Time to start my first season with Feirense.
Hope you guys like my story. I shall be posting as much as i can.

(PS. I shall post my current progress in the next post as I'm currently in December!)​

 

[Portugal8713]

Good luck!!! Taking out the 2 headed monster of Porto/Benfica, is going to be tough.

 

[MrSantos92]

Aaah thanks. Not looking forward to facing Sporting either, which is my team x_X..

But so far we are doing good, shall post the results soon.

 

[MrSantos92]

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So since I had started my game before the beginning of this thread, I'm currently already in December, and with that comes ALOT of games to update you guys on. So far, its been a good start to my managerial career. As mentioned, many games have been played since we are in a league of 24 teams and we have also began our journey in the first and second stage in the League Cup & Portuguese Cup, respectively. So below, I shall be giving you a update of such results (H)

SECOND DIVISION
Our journey in the league began at home and it wasnt a great start as we lost 2-0 against Uniao da Madeira. Domimated the game but just couldnt turn possession into goals. But this led to our team giving a response in the second game with a 3-1 win against Aves. This began a 14 game win streak and a 19 game unbeaten run, only to be ended by a 3-2 loss at home, yet again, to Chaves.

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After 21 games, the table stands as this:

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LEAGUE CUP
We began our season with 3 games, each in the first phase of the league cup. We were drawn with Ac.Viseu, Chaves and Atletico CP.
We managed a 0-0 draw with Viseu, followed with two 1-0 wins over the remaining two. The top 2 would go through and seeing as we topped our group with 7pts, I was quite happy with our performance.

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The next round was a 2-leg tie round and my opponent was Gil Vicente, a team from the Premier Division. I expected it to be a close game and it proved that in the first game at home, coming back from a 2 goal disadvantage after 15mins to draw 2-2. The second game was just as close and again we went behind in the 48th min as we conceded a penalty but again my team reacted and we managed 2 quick goals in the 75th and 78th min to win 2-1 and go through 4-3 on AGG.

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PORTUGUESE CUP
In the most important cup competition in Portugal, we got drawn away in the Second Round against Charneca de Caparica, a team in the regional divisions. So I decided to rotate the squad a bit and we managed to get a comfortable 3-0 win. I was beginning to think we could have a nice run in the cup but in the following round, we got drawn away against Benfica. Bad luck had knocked on our door as there were so many teams we could of had but still, I believed we could get a good result. Gameday arrived and surely, in the 8th min, we were 1-0 up but just before halftime, they got the equalizer. That played a huge part in lowering morale in our players as in the second half, we conceded a further 3 times to make the end result a 4-1 loss. Regardless of the result, I was still proud of my players as it was a hard task to get a result at Estadio da Luz against the top team in Portugal right now and we had given it our all.

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[Bakestar]

Nice layout mate.

 

[MrSantos92]

Cheers mate! Takes some time to do though aha (H)

 

[MrSantos92]

New Contract!

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NEW CONTRACT
So I've just received a message from the Chairman regarding my contract and Im delighted to say that i have been an offered a 1yr extension to my contract and I have decided to accept it. Shall be staying at Feirense until 30th June 2016.

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In the meanwhile, we have played 3 games, all for the Second Division.

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The loss against Uniao da Madeira (2nd time this season) and the draw at home against Ac.Viseu resulted in my team losing the top spot to Olhanense and also allowed them to get 5pts clear, but there are still 22 games ahead so many points in play!





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[MrSantos92]

End of the 2014/15 season.

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So guys, my first season in charge of Feirense has come to an end. From December till May, there were quite a mix of high and lows. Below are the results of the second half of the 2014/15 season, in both the Second Division and also the League Cup.

SECOND DIVISON
So since the previous post, we were 5pts behind Olhanense with 22 games left till the end of the season. Well I can say the top of the table didnt change much as we ended up finishing 2nd, with a difference of 6pts to the eventual title winners. The 22 games were split into 14 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses. Positives during the second half of the season was being able to take my team on another 16 match unbeaten run and also breaking the 100 barrier in terms of goals and points. Negatives were mostly conceding last minute goals that resulted in a the loss of 2pts, and at time 3pts. But as mentioned, we gained promotion to the Premier Division which was a big achievement for our club in regards to the media's prediction for us (to finish 17th) and looking forward to playing amongst the 3 best teams in Portugal: FC Porto, SL Benfica and Sporting CP.


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The end of the season meant also the time for the awards and I am happy to say that Diogo Fonseca ended up being the top goalscorer with 33 goals & player with the most MOTM awards (12), plus Cafu got the most assists in the league (20). My goalie, Giorgi Makaridze, won GK of the Year and to top it off, we were named the Most Improved Club in Portugal. GREEAATT!

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LEAGUE CUP
Following our elimanation in the Portuguese Cup at the hands of Benfica, our only chance of winning a domestic cup came with the League Cup. We were 1 of only 2 Second Division teams in the draw for the Group Stage, so we knew it would be a hard task getting past this round, let alone win the whole competition. To make things harder, we were drawn in a group of 5 teams (2 groups of 4, 2 groups of 5 - Only 1st placed team would go through to the semi-finals). Then came our opponents..
BELENENSES, FC PORTO, ACADEMICA & RIO AVE

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In our FIRST season, we had been drawn against Benfica and now Porto. What more could we want..

We were given home ties against Porto & Belenenses, and away to Rio Ave & Academica.
First game, any guesses? Thats right.. Porto at home, and my what a night it was. I put out our strongest team and it worked as we seized on two errors by Porto's defenders and raced into a 2-0 lead after 23mins. From then until the 82nd minute, we protected that lead until Jackson Martinez got one back but we kept our concentration and won 2-1 in the end. I couldnt believe it.. We had actually beaten FC PORTO.. It was the best night of my career and I was so proud of my players. Next match was away to Rio Ave 8 days later and they had played 2 games by then, a 1-1 draw vs Porto and a 3-2 win against Academica so I knew it would be a close and tricky game.. Indeed it was as we lost 3-2 thanks to a 82nd min goal by Ukra. I was gutted. The following 2 games we won (2-1 at home to Belenenses and 3-0 away to Academica) but it wasnt enough as Rio Ave went through by a difference of 1pt thanks to a 1-0 win vs Belenenses in the final game. Thus ended our participation in the League Cup. Regardless of our elimination, I was proud of how far we had gotten and made it an objective of ours to reach the same stage and TRY get one step further in the competition.

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And below is the final table of Group B

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Hope you guys are keeping up with my story and enjoying. I shall post all the pre-season and transfers I do in preparation for our first season in the Premier Division

BRING ON 2015/16!

(H)

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[MrSantos92]

2015/16 PreSeason + Transfer Window

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PRE-SEASON & TRANSFER WINDOW
2015. The year of history. The year where myself & the squad got Feirense promotion to the Premier Division. but that was then and this was now. We had to prepare ourselves for the start of the season, knowing it would be a big challenge to beat relegation but we were confident in our ability to stay up. Obviously, I knew I had to get players in to strengthen each area of the field with both talent and YOUTH. Many of my players were either over 30 or near that age. Transfer budget unfortunately wasn't the best and like the previous season, i would have to try bring in players either on loan or on a free.

Overall, I was happy with the players I bought in. All aged below 25 and quite talented.

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Obvious stand-outs were Tobias Figueiredo and Ousmane Drame (ex-Sporting) plus Bryan Cristante (on loan from Benfica), reinforcing the 3 areas of the pitch with great experience. Also got Luis Ribeiro as a back-up goalkeeper (also a product from the Sporting academy) and Dani Suarez, a former defender in the Real Madrid youth team. Finally Ricardo Alves was a player I had tried and failed to get the previous season but I finally got him as he decided to leave his previous club due to a fall-out with the manager. Great experience in the centre of midfield.

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PRE-SEASON RESULTS
Pre-season obviously allowed me to see how well the team played with the new additions to the squad and we had 6 matches, one of them against the reputable Sampdoria. We finished pre-season with 3 wins, 2 draws and a loss. Highlight was drawing 0-0 with Sampdoria although they did have 60% of possession but couldn't find a way past my defence.

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[MrSantos92]

August Update

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AUGUST UPDATE
August was the month where the Premier Division began. Media had predicted us to be serious candidates for relegation and this was something that me and my team set out to prove wrong. And to start of our season, we had 3 games in August

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So guys, as you can see, we had two games at home and a trip to Setubal. Not bad in my opinion but it would require hardwork and concentration to get good results from the 3 games. In the first game vs Arouca, I had the belief that we could actually ****** a win against a side that had finished 14th the season before. Decided to play a 4-3-3 with Vojtus up front but it ended up being Drame taking the spotlight with a goal and 2 assists. A lovely 3-0 win on our first game in the Premier Division. PERFECT!

2nd game was the away trip to Setubal who had snatched a 1-0 win with a 89th min goal against Penafiel, so I also had a feeling we could get something out of the game. And surely we started of in the best way possible, with Mika getting a early goal but that was quickly cancelled out by a 28th min goal. A point, away from home, was a very good achievement for our club. 4pts from 2 games.

The 3rd game was another home game in front of our fans and my oh my, what a finale! After it seemed the game was heading towards a bore 0-0 draw, Gil Vicente got a goal in the 2nd minute of added-time and I thought we were finally gonna lose our first game. WRONG! Up went Diogo Fonseca to the other end and bang! A rapid reply and we won another point plus kept our unbeaten run going, something that we had done twice for over 15 games the previous season.

So by the end of 3 games, we had a win and 2 draws! 5pts and in 7th place. PROMISING!

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Also, during the month of August, the draw for the 2nd phase of the League Cup was made and we were given a 2-legged tie against Desportivo de Aves from the division below. Interesting! Stay tuned for the September update!

(H)
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