The pinkies are needed for a beautiful hand. Palermo story

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The pinkies are needed for a beautiful hand. Palermo story then journeyman

After a couple of failed attempts at starting something, because of the adaptation to the new system of tactical switches accesibility, I think I've finally found a save to get a story rolling.

In FM09 I made a Crewe career, which was followed by another in FM13 that didn't go well.

In FM10 and FM11 I made Burgos saves as stories, getting the team up to the top in both cases, with the next version arriving when it looked like the team had stabilized as a mid table Primera side.

In FM12 there were a couple of careers: one that was a failure with Coventry in the English Championship and then the save with Torino that saw them finish top of Serie B, then two points from Europa League in the first Serie A season and later saw Torino finish second two seasons and playing Champions League, being 15mins away from getting to the first knock out stage in one of them.

So, I've done some stories twice and there were two that were made only once: Championship team and big(ish) team in Serie B.

So, after a couple of tries with one and the other while I tried to get acquainted with the new version, I've come to the decision to make a save with Palermo. A team that was relegated last season in reality and that was the team to take away the league wins in the FM12 save with Torino.

The team is in Serie B, favourites to be promoted to Serie A. This season Serie B teams can name nine substitutes in the match squad and have a wage limit of €5,750 per week for league rules reasons.

In this version's story, I will finally try to work, rather than by squad and then it somehow fitting into my (few) ideas, applying my set of ideas I definitely got about football tactics. I don't have yet a full set of ideas that would make for a full footballing philosophy to try to impose, mainly I lack on the offensive side, but I've got a few that can be tried.

As I've been reading on articles of football, I'm finding I'm very mourinhistic in my approach. The great thing is I thought everything before finding out it's alike to Mourinho. And that's why I'm getting to be a fan of him.

Those ideas are:

- I want fullbacks who are competent on the air, something I've always thought was a good thing to have and just recently read Mou likes his fullbacks to be strong and aerially powerful. This may need to wait, as at this level and with the wage cap I don't think there will be much choice.

- For my defence to be successful I want the players around the centrebacks to put in the tackles and the centrebacks to put in the interceptions. Something you've read in my stories since FM12 and I just read this autumn an article saying in Mou's teams the defenders lead interceptions and the tackles are mostly made by midfielders. I will test to try it also as a set of OI instructions, though this has the issue I'm not yet fully confident on knowing what tight marking and closing down really mean; but if it's what I think at this moment, tight marking strikers and closing down midfielders.

- Two round knock out stages are planned as one 180' match, the priority in the first 90' is to deny goals to the opposition, if after 60' or so things look good enough then I may go for the win, but primary objective is go to the second leg without goals in favour of my opponents. This is something I heard about Mou before it became my idea, something I realized when in my first campaign in Europa League (after being third of Champions League group) qualified up to semifinals running over Chealsea (3-0, 3-3) in a round played like that and then being knocked out in semis by Atl?tico de Madrid because I didn't apply it and lost the first leg 1-3, being so close to turn things around during the second (0-2).

- In certain formation battles, I'll create defensive superiority by individual marking, something that has been very effective in the past in 4-5-1 vs 4-4-2 setting the DMC on the more dangerous striker. This is something I've not heard about Mou doing yet and I don't expect to. 4-5-1 shall be my main tactical choice, with others that shall depend fully on circumstances and opposition.

- Regarding training, I want players who are good mentally to understand the game, so during season the team focus will be tactics. Workload to very low, maybe low, to be able to administer the load for individual players and train more than one thing without getting them overworked.

- I have to try to get some ideas about attacking doctrine as to have a more definite criteria on squad building and tactic creation in order to create chances and take them. The only thing I know is that ever since FM09 my teams don't score the clear cut chances but the half chances.

And that is all for the introduction. The first chapter should be up soon, further chapters will take as much time as it takes for each piece. For the start it will be half season updates, but that's subject to change at some point or another.

Feedback is always welcome. I hope not to bore you.

P.S. - As for the question about existence of machism in FM from my "Next Belgian talent..." story in FM13, I've found there isn't. I made a save with European leagues and saved before manager creation. When I made a manager I started unemployed and applied to all minor division jobs available. With a Japanese woman, I got two offers. With a Portuguese woman I got eight and with a Portuguese man I got the same eight. So it's languages spoken and, perhaps, nationality, not gender, what has influence on offers one receives.
 
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I've agree with you on finding FBs with decent to good heading. The only time I won't is when I have an extraordinarily talented one who isn't tall.
 
A couple points I forgot in the OP:

- In attack I will want my wingers to be competent finishers before anything else.

- I've begun with professional footballer as past experience. Reason for this is to start the closest to a second tier manager reputation. In FM12 I made one manager with that and no Championship teams took my job applications, so it sounds like the right to have, not above the level I start at.

Preseason 2013-2014

We start with a healthy financial position that sees the team projected to finish with a few millions in the bank and a decent budget to work with. Also, we're the favourites to win the league, which I hope won't be too much pressure on the players.

Finances17-07-2013.jpg

Odds8-08-2013.jpg


The initial squad looks strong, with a key player for each layer: Ezequiel Mu?oz in defence, Edgar Barreto in midfield and Abel Hern?ndez up front. Only weakness is right wing and goalkeeper, though there are acceptable players there. With the make up of the squad and my ideas, the main choice of formation is going to be a 4-5-1.

Only a few players are to be signed during preseason, with a couple of players coming later thinking in the future: either to develop them for the team or to get money. The key transfer in is Daniele Mannini on a loan, right winger that has what it's needed to shine at this level. The other is Gagliardini, to fill as backup for the centre of midfield. Higinio, who is loaned back to Murcia is going to oin the side next season and Roope Riski is loaned back until the end of the year.

Several co-ownership offers are accepted to get money that keep players in our squad. Cephas Malele, a promising striker able to play in the wings, was bought by Newcastle with a loan back deal until the end of the season.

Transfers3-09-2013.jpg

Mannini19-08-2013.jpg

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The preseason has gone more into the good side. We beat all the weaker sides save for Pro Vercelli with generally good scores, using the 4-5-1 or a 4-3-1-2. We lost the two matches against Spanish top division teams but were competitive for a long while against Athletic. There is hoping that is a sign for a good campaign in Serie B.

Fixtures19-08-2013.jpg
 
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Up to end of winter transfers

- Performances

Looking at the stats achieved by the players, it is apparent that the defensive ideas are mostly working: centrebacks do the most interceptions while the players around put the tackles. The only deviation from the desired end result is that Ezequiel Mu?oz has been forced into doing many more tackles than his defense pair. There is, however, one thing to point, and that's his tendency to run from the defense to take on rivals. Hence, it's more of an effect of some undesired behavior on his part than an issue with the tactic[1].

V?zquez doesn't work as much as the rest of the midfield in terms of tackling, but he makes it up with his vision intercepting balls and creating chances. He's the best assister of the league.

The problems come offensively, when at this point nobody is close from having scored ten goals in the season, with Dybala and Mannini competing to be the team's top goalscorer.

Stats2-02-2014.jpg


- Season so far

Despite the tactic doing what it is supposed to do defensively and with a winger level with a striker in the scoring charts, things have not gone as well as it could be wished, the problems to find the net preventing us from reaping the fruit of the good defensive work and the generally good work with the ball.

Several matches where the team didn't perform up to its quality make us be more than one match away from top and in play off positions. Something that doesn't make the board very happy, though so far they're having good patience. Specially worrying is the inability of the team to take advantage of the hiccups in form of the teams ahead: every team one of them drop points, we do the same. At most we draw when someone lost. I take it as a sign the team doesn't cope well with pressure, despite them being ambitious and three players beginning the campaign asking to leave because they wanted play higher football. They accepted to remain on the promise of promotion this year. Those players were Ezquiel Mu?oz, Edgar Barreto and Abel Hern?ndez. Still, despite all, we're just four points from the top of the table, so the goal of winning Serie B is not yet out of the cards.

The best was Udinese having to work hard to take us out of the cup, which shows we can be higholy competitive and should have quality to win Serie B. Also the tactic seems to start falling into place and the team has looked much better in the later games, enough to feel optimistic about the future.

Fixtures2-02-2014.jpg

Table2-02-2014.jpg

Graph2-02-2014.jpg


- Transfer activity

The attentive eye would have picked up some absences and new presences in the squad from the images above. I'll talk about them in order.

The first move happened early December: I was not quite happy with the left winger position. Stevanovic was doing generally okay, but he lacked some backbone to keep his head clear. He has missed several easy chances because he crumbled under the pressure. A telling moment was a one on one where he began to walk in zig zag, not knowing what to do, then the defender caught up to him and tackled the ball off. So I looked for a young left winger who could make the job. There was little to choose from and I ended settling for Kainz.

Then 1st January Torino made official an agreement to sign Ujkani at the end of his contract. That left me without a young back up for next season, so I moved and snatched Pacheco from Castilla during transfer deadline. Some move the press qualified as "panic buy"... Nonsense! Pacheco is a solid investment for the future.

Then I realised I needed a fourth centreback, as I only had three available. Aronica being more of a leftback who wasn't quite convincing me and who's weak in the air. I brought young Labr?n to come from the loan, then as he did (end of November) he got a two month injury until the end of January and he was already not great when he got it. So I looked for an urgent patch and I found Ujfalusi. Granted, his physical prowess is diminished and is even worse than Labr?n's, but he makes up for with with decent teechnique and great intelligence.

That last signing meant I had excess of O-21 players, so someone had to go. I chose Di Gennaro, as he is old and was disappointing and we have a young replacement who looks marginally better. However, nobody was interested in him even on a free, so we released him with €500K compensation.

Riski, who was signed with a loan back until end of the year and came in January, was loaned out to be developed; but then a thought struck me: his loaning team was in a lower level, had poor facilities, We had Dybala and Hern?ndez sharing most starts and Lafferty was getting less appearances than his quality guaranted, plus Hern?ndez was not doing any better than Dybala, while having key player status. So I decided to offer Fiorentina to buy his half and called Riski back from his loan. We got €1.5M for Hern?ndez's half, Dybala as a defined first choice, Lafferty second choice and Riski as backup.

Fiorentina moved Hern?ndez to the reserves and only played him against Napoli in the cup, losing 1-4 with a poor performance by the South American. On the other hand, Riski was played against Udinese and from the bench in the game after, there he showed glimpses of quality. Yes, his movement off the ball isn't the best, but once he has the ball at his feet, he got away from his marks with ease. Made me strongly consider promoting him to second choice.

Transfers2-02-2014.jpg

Kainz2-02-2014.jpg

Pacheco2-02-2014.jpg

Ujfalusi2-02-2014.jpg



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[1] In previous versions, that issue I could solve by telling him to drop deeper (ie, lower mentality/lower closing down), now the tactic system doesn't allow me to tell my player to drop deeper without doing the same for the rest of the defense.
 
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End of 13/14 season

- Individual performances

At midseason there were two decissions that were taken: to push Drapel? and Morganella up to first choice in both sides of the defence, ahead of Pisano and Aronica. Both proved to be correct, though in proportion to the matches played with either pair of full backs as first choice are equal in terms of goals conceded and clean sheets achieved, the new pair ramped up both the tackles and the interceptions, making it a big improvements in terms of keeping the two centerbacks covered.

The most notable individual performance to mention is that of Roope Riski. Initially I had doubts on his poor off the ball ability, but the signs from the cup match were true: while he may not be too great getting in space to receive the ball, once he has the ball, he is excellent in getting away from his defenders. And he is also good at doing so by raw acceleration, meaning that in a little less than half season, without cup matches to be played, he's turned to be the team's top goalscorer. Earning in the process to become the first choice, though a few matches were given to Dybala for development and Lafferty to keep him happy.

The other excellent bit is that of V?zquez making the most assists, leading the league chart there and getting into the Serie B team of the year.

The last piece to mention is that Ujfalusi could have had more time on the pitch than I gave him. He's got one poor performance and a couple very good. The key for his usa is to have advantage in centerback vs striker duel. If we have 2v1, his great inteligence shows up, but if it's a 2v2 then his lack of physical prowess becomes evident.

SBPlayerstats1-06-2014.jpg

Stats1-06-2014.jpg

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- Competition progress

The turn of form at the end of the transfer window was confirmed and the team went on to a record seven consecutive wins that took it to the top spot. With fierce competition and very short distances, it was an annoying end that the top spot was lost in the last half hour of the last match, then failing to get it back despite four magnificent chances. Promotion was ensured with two games to go, but Ternana was too close with easy matches. Oddlye enough they lost one of the easier but won their only tough one.

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- Transfer activity

Unfortunately, the Serie B wage caps still weigh when trying to sign or renew contracts, even if we've confirmed promotion. That means nothing can be done until the Serie A preseason starts oficially. It is very annoying, as Arsenal matched Viviano's minimum release clause and we couldn't try to get him to stay with a new contract. Which means we'll have to either stick with Sorrentino or spend big in a new quality goalkeeper. Sorrentino has been good in goal this season, but I would like someone who doesn't let free kicks in right above his head.

I would like to renew the loans but it looks not likely to happen, plus Bacinovic looks to me to not be what I want in his position. Also there is Maninni with his very long injury and also Kainz's. We'll need: one goalkeeper, a backup left back and get Aronica out, a good defensive DM, a good box to box type and a good playmaker, a winger for each side and probably a striker.

- Finances

Thinks good very healthy at the end of the season, with the arrival to Serie A going to make a lot of good for the team. Though it remains to be seen the effect of wage raises. It is going to be a good budget to work with for the summer and not just that: it's spurred the board to embark on improving the training facilities and the stadium.

Finances1-06-2014.jpg

At 1st June
Finances30-06-2014.jpg

At 30th June
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- Other

Ezequiel Mu?oz's became the Fan's player of the year. He deserved it, being the key man of our defence. V?zquez would have been another decent choice.

The fixtures of next Serie A season have been announced. I'm not pleased having several tough matches at the start. At least they're not all together.

We'll have seven weeks to prepare.

And finally, in March the board offered me a new contract.

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14/15 preseason

- Transfers

Before the team was oficially in Serie A, I tried to keep the loanees, as they looked promising and worth developing in Palermo, specially Stevanovic and Verre. However, because the wage limits were still working, Stevanovic would not accept to negotiate, so any transfer had to wait to July, when the new season is set up. But that had more grave consequences than not being able to sign any of the loaned playes: before I could do anything about it, Arsenal paid the minimum release fee of Emilano Viviano, who was going to be my fist choice keeper, leaving us with the choice between keeping Sorrentino as first choice or having to spend high in a better goalkeeper.

The clubs rejected enquiries for Verre and Gagliardini, who would require fees higher than I'd be willing to pay. Loaning them again would be almost as expensive as buying them, something I'm not going to do for players who are still needing development. Torino would accept a 1,9M bid for Stevanovic, but the player asked for too high wages, so no loanees returned.

Then it was clear that big clubs would come to ****** Ezequiel Mu?oz out, as it was the case. Aronica was also out on a free transfer; but that was not an issue, as Santiago Garc?a returned from his loan and he's a quality leftback.

Another position of interest was Bacinovic not being a player who looks very solid defending, so he was loaned out.

That meant at the start of the season we needed a quality goalkeeper, a centerback, a defensive midfielder plus a back up plus two back ups for midfield, then a winger for each side to cover the departure of Troianello and Mannini (who won't be healed from his injury until at least October) and Stevanovic on the left with the injury of Kainz. And to that, add a striker of Serie A quality, as Dybala and Lafferty, specially the latter, were not great in Serie B.

The goalkeeper took some time to fill, between not attracting the best goalies and the prices and demands for the ones we did, in the end I had to accept the low decision making and poor kicking of former Tottenham Gomes.

Gomes14-08-2014.jpg


The situation was alike in all positions, in centerback I went for a player who looked very good to me, though not to the scouts and coaches: Nahuel Valentini.

Valentini14-08-2014.jpg


For the defensive midfield position I had to settle for two veteran players with loads of experience, one of who still has some physical ability: Giulio Miggliaccio and Massimo Ambrosini.

Migliaccio14-08-2014.jpg


Ambrosini14-08-2014.jpg


In midfield I brought a loan player and bought a second. The loanee was a young player for the box to box midfielder: Amidu Salifu, and a veteran who is decaying physically but with great mentals: Marco Rigoni. That meant we had one more midfielder than needed, seven players for three positions.

Salifu14-08-2014.jpg

Rigoni14-08-2014.jpg


For the wings, I found a player whose price tag was too high but that could be loaned with a sensibly lower fee: Alessio Sestu, to play in the right. I couldn't find anyone for the left, so there I will use a player I sent out on loan to Mirand?s past season: Lores Varela.

Sestu14-08-2014.jpg


Finally, up front I found two suitable candidates, once Di Vaio's declinign physique turned me away: Andi Weimman and Tokelo Rantie. Barcelona would ask too much for Weimann, but Rantie was within the price range I could and was willing to pay, on top of having a better performance in past Championship than Weimman's in Liga Adelante.

Rantie14-08-2014.jpg


A 1.1M bid for co-ownership of Kainz was accepted in order to increase transfer budget and be able to pay higher prices for the goalkeeper. And toward the end of the preseason, a one million offer came from Sampdoria for Bolzoni's half, since I was led to think he'd be angry if I outright refused, I netotiated to 2.4M, thinking that'd cause the offer to be withdrawn, instead Sampdoria accepted it and he moved to them. I didn't want an unhappy player and I had one more midfielder than strictly needed. However, I still cancelled Bacinovic's loan and he's back, though injured for two months.

Transfers14-08-2014.jpg

Squad14-08-2014.jpg


- Finances

With the transfers made we had over ten million profits, meaning our economic situation is very healthy, with more than twenty millions in the bank and more than forty expected at the end of the season. If we don't ruin this one, next we could have a chance to bring some quality.

Finances14-08-2014.jpg


Because of that, I could offer maximum bonuses for league performance. Hopefully that'll help them fight to avoid relegation, which is what the bookies say will be our fight.

Bonuses7-08-2014.jpg

Odds7-08-2014.jpg


- Preseason performances

Preseason didn't start too well, with two draws against weak opposition, following by a thrashing by Arsenal. Things then turned around and with only a draw agains Cluj, a Champions League team, we won all the remaining matches, highlight being the easy 5-1 thrasing of Champions League Standard de Li?ge.

Fixtures14-08-2014.jpg


Originally I intended a 4-5-1 of defensive style against the bigger teams, an offensive 4-4-2 Diamond narrow and a moderately offensive 4-2-3-1 Deep; but the match against Arsenal led me to swap the first and the third to make the 4-5-1 the standard moderately offensive and the 4-2-3-1 had the AMC dropped to MC to face big teams.

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On the final consideration of preseason, only the injured and Ambrosini arrive to the Cup match in need of match fitness. Rantie has barely had a couple matches, so it's not possible to assess how he'll do, as he also needs to get acustomed to Italy. Gomes has had some good moments, but doesn't fully convince me, so Sorrentino may still have a good deal of appearances.

- Other

The under soil heating was finally installed.

Undersoilheating24-07-2014.jpg


It is hard to say, but with some of the preseason performances, I think we have a good chance of avoiding relegation. With the finances as they are, it might be possible to see some big signing in Winter; but that depends on how we are by then.
 
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Great story, I love Palermo. Check out these players: Ricardo Fiamozzi, Raffaele Maiello and Barberis from Varese. Cheap and class Italian players.
 
Will do. I've followed Fiamozzi from the first season. I thought signing him this season; but having the fullback position covered and with so many other signings I didn't want to bring any more. There's good chances he'll eventually come, if the long injury he's picked up doesn't do a number to him.
 
Can't wait to see the next update. Any promising lads from the youth intake?
 
Hey mate, I've been playing Palermo as well and I'm in my 6th season battling Juventus for the title and also in the semi finals of the CL.
Take a look at Davide Monteleone (CB) and Mauro Bollino (RW) from the U19s. Monteleone is class and is the mainstay of my backline. Bollino might not be anything special, but every season he gets 10+ goals and 10+ assists for me, so something to just think about.
Good luck mate
 
I have several promising players, I'll try to remember to take screenshots of them. Most are still a few seasons from making it to the first team and are being loaned out. From the top of my head, there are two centerbacks I expect to make it to first team: Grozdnic and Monteleone, then in striker there is Lupoli, who I signed from another team during youth intake, and another whose name I don't remember right now. There's also a midfielder at least who looks decent.

Then, there are two young players who have made it to the first team: Ignacio L?pez Varela, who is the first choice left inside forward and who I think will remain so when Kainz returns from his injury, and Mauro Bollino, who has had a very good preseason and may well earn to be first pick in the right side. For now I'm giving starts to both him and Alessio Sestu to see who earns it, but it looks like Bollino will be the chosen. If I remember correctly, of the two youngsters, I'm training one I. L. V. in finishing and M. B. in composure.

I think I will increase the updates per season: instead of start of preseason-end of preseason - end of winter transfers - end of season, I'll add an October update with first shaping of league and initial thoughts for transfer windows (plus last minute deals) - end of winter transfers - March with the end of season in sight.
 
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The first steps at the top

- Final transfers

My plan was to keep the squad as it was before the Italian Cup, but then the plan couldn't be kept. First I was looking on recommended players and found that Rafaele Maiello was without a club, so I offered him a contract with the idea of loaning him out. He accepted it, but then wouldn't want to leave on loan and no offers were received.

Then there was another unforeseen circumstance: nobody had warned me that Valentini had a four matches ban on Italy, which meant he couldn't play in leage. So that Ujfalusi had to be my first choice. Now, I think Ujfalusi can play in Serie A; but as I said before, he's effective when it's against lone strikers and from the first two matches it was clear many of the teams in Serie A use two. With the tough games of the start, I didn't want to miss the chance for some points to keep morale in the not so hard ones, so I did an emergency signing of a centerback, this time not worrying about him speaking Italian. I found a centerback who looks to be better than Valentini.

Maiellosigns.jpg


Maiello15-09-2014.jpg


Abdennour.jpg


Transfers1-11-2014.jpg


We accepted an offer for almost a million and half euros for Lores Varela's co-ownership. I have no intentnion of letting him go; but that is a good way to get money in for any unexpected transfer business.

- Young players

There is a long list of young players in the U19, but I'll go through the most promising ones, those with potential to be more than just good.

Two of them are already in the first team and have earned to be first choice. They are the both inside forwards. One is Bollino and the other is Lores Varela, both young, quick and decent finishers. Lores made a couple of great goals during preseason. Bollino is yet to show it.

Bollino15-09-2014.jpg


LoresVarela15-09-2014.jpg


Still in the U19 team, but close to the first team are two centerbacks. Monteleone, who would have been brought to the first team instead of buying Abdennour if he had a bit more agility and acceleration, and Grozdic, who's just a tad less close to the move. Both may well have occasional appearances. Monteleone is the main reason to keep Ujfalusi: he's his tutor.

Monteleone15-09-2014.jpg


Grozdic15-09-2014.jpg


The rest are none as close as they, though the coaches say Embalo would be. I'll just show them to you:

Embalo15-09-2014.jpg


Esposito15-09-2015.jpg


Iacobellis15-09-2014.jpg


Lupoli15-09-2014.jpg


- Competitions

The season so far has seen ten games, which have gone better than expected, though the team position in the table is almost what would be expected not knowing the opposition. Two special performances to mention: the first win in Serie A, which was close to come in the first match but had to wait for the third, was away against Lazio. The second was a completely unexpected thrashing of Inter, a 5-0 at home. That was a bit less impressive if one considers they were last of the league with just one point, but still, it's Inter, a big team. And their manager was sacked right away.

No string of good results, but we're getting the points we need. Just. The projection for the end of season is 38 points, which usually has not been enough, but past season it would have with a nice margin. It's almost forty, so we can say we're on tracks we would have wished and with those tough games, so I'd say things look good.

Tablepast24-08-2014.jpg


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- Player performances

Gomes has finally shown he was a good signing, being the fifth goalkeeper with the most clean sheets of the league. He has more than a few miracle saves and no goals can be blamed on him, though he once handed the ball directly to a rival. And despite his poor kicking, he's been much better distributing the ball than Sorrentino.

Riski has the fourth best shots on target ratio and has been our top goalscorer, which made him become first choice in front of Rantie, though soon I'll start Rantie so as to not upset him. Lores Varela is the team's second goalscorer.

As intended, midfield and fullback put in the tackles and the centerbacks work mainly on interceptions.

On the down side, Terzi has been largely disappointing and he either starts to perform or will be shown the door out. Dybala has also been poor, but he's been used away from his favoured position because of the injuries (Abdennour and Barreto picking long injuries), so he'll have some chances. Lafferty, however, has been poor in the two chances he's had and the rest of matches he's been injured, so I think he will be going out.

Maiello has had some chances and he's been decent, almost as good as Rigoni, so I'm unsure as what to do with him.

Injurytable1-11-2014-1.jpg


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Two special news items were to see five players chosen in a team of the week and a goal being chosen for goal of the month.

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Goalofmonth1-10-2014-1.jpg




- Finances and other

With the signings, the projected balance for the end of the season has gone down, but it's still very good. I intend to try keep it high and so I don't plan on changing out position in the rank of transfer expenditure, one of the teams to have positive balance, and having one of the lower yearly wages. Of course, that is so in the future, when we have the reputation for bigger signings, we can make them and have high budgets.

Finances1-11-2014.jpg


SerieAexpense24-08-2014.jpg


SASalaries24-08-2014.jpg


In the first cup match we played, we went to a penalty shoot out after being 3-3 at full time and 4-4 at end of extra time, being a man down after an hour. Twenty two penalties for each side until they missed one. We broke the goals in a match record.

Recordgoals18-08-2014.jpg
 
Midseason 2014/2015

- League performance

After October, once the tough matches had passed, the results began to pick up and in the next four matches we picked almost as many points and in the first ten. A few matches before the end of the first round we got as high as ninth, only five points from European qualification, though also only six points ahead of relegation. A very tight table that, for the looks of it, means this will be a more normal season in terms of needed points to survive, so 31 points are not the target we need to meet, but 41.

Fixtures3-02-2015.jpg

Table3-02-2015.jpg

Graph3-02-2015.jpg


The latter drop in form, losing a few games that should have been winnable, some clearly lost, may have come because of the players thinking I lacked ambition when I was offered the chance to change expectations and I left them at avoiding relegation, something I did because I didn't want to put pressure on them.

Newexpectations2-01-2015.jpg


The other reason in January was the African Cup of Nations that took away Abdennour, who had found his form and was doing a great work in defence, just when Valentini was having a drop in form.

- Player performances and transfers

During December Terzi picked up in his performances, but that didn't last long and he dropped his form against, costing us a few results and that meant he was to be offloaded. However, no teams wanted him even for free. When he got upset he expressed his wish to stay, so terminating his contract would be expensive. So there was one thing I could do: look for some player who could be interesting, was cheap and I could lower its price with a part exchange. I found two candidates: Arsenal's (I think) Caillard to act as second goalkeeper and sell Sorrentino and Borja Bast?n. After Sorrentino didn't want to leave and failed to attract offers, I left the issue of getting rid of him for later and I went for Borja Bast?n, who I brought in for 80K less than the expected minimum prize, with a contract no more expensive than Terzi's and I got rid of him.

The acquisition of Bast?n meant I had now one more striker than I should, which posed the need to get someone off. The choice was easy at that point: Lafferty had picked up his form and had begun to score, while Dybala had kept his poor performances, so he was offered on loan and picked by Bologna, where he's kept his poor level. And that makes Dybala a player I will probably try to sell during summer, though I want a decent price for him.

There were other issues involving transfers that led me to request an increase in transfer budget to the board, since the finances are healthy. We had lost Bolzonu to Sampdoria in the summer; now I found Salifu had been poor all the season, even during the stint of good results. Also, Edgar Barreto had played well when he was on the field, but he'd been out injured for most of the season. That led me to sell him and look for some good midfielders who could fill the box to box spot. Though I intended to get only one, in the end I brought the two candidates: the veteran who's already a rather decent player and the young who is just a little less good but is bound to become much better: Daniele Sciaudone and Hannes van der Bruggen for 250K and 5M respectively. The first has been convincing, not so much the second; but then again, Hannes has arrived without speaking Italian, so he'll need some time to adapt and there will be no hurry to sell him. He'll stay until he performs and earns his key player place and then until he either declines too much by age or someone comes with a really high offer.

Also, with Kainz back from injury and Lafferty back in shape, I decided to end the loan of Sestu, releasing some wages in the process.

Transferbudgetincrease8-12-2014.jpg

Salifuloanend3-01-2015.jpg

Sestuloanend4-04-2015.jpg

Sciaudone3-01-2015.jpg

vanderBruggen3-01-2015.jpg

Transfers3-02-2015.jpg

No screenshot for Bast?n: he's a target man, strong and great jumping (16), pacey (14) but not too fast starting off (10 accel), all other relevant attributes 11-15

In Serie A there is no surprise that no player showed among the top five of anything but it is to see two: Gomes in the clean sheets and Riski in the shot on target percentage.

With his appearances in cup and recent form, Lafferty has gone up to be the top goalscorer of the team, though in the league alone that honour belongs to Riski. Rantie has had a decent return, but showing a bit of insecurity in front of goal and a tendency to use his weak foot too much. Also, he's been injured for a while, then out for the African Cup. Currently tutoring Bast?n as his strength is important matches and that's Borja's weakness.

Not good that the centerbacks seem to be putting in around same tackles as midfield, with Santiago Garc?a being the only one who's clearly ahead, being also a player with one of the highest starts count. There's also not a clear lead by centerbacks with interceptions, with Santiago Garc?a being the leader, followed by Valentini and Migliacco (defensive midfield), though the later has the best interceptions/matches played ratio. Maybe because I did stop using the OI of closing down all midfield and tight mar forwards, something that with Gomes I might recover.

SAPlaystats3-02-2015.jpg

Squadstats3-02-2015.jpg


And Kainz got an injury not long after returning to fitness. Kainz got me in the verge of selling him when, two matches after he returned from his four months injury he started to whine because of lack of first team football.

Injurytable3-02-2015.jpg


- Finances and other

Financially the team remains strong, still with expected profits at the end of the season, though with a lowered projected balance after the transfer deals. Still, things look good to have a good set of budgets next season.

Finances3-02-2015.jpg


In the cup, there were chances for youngsters Lupoli and Grozdic, who performed well. With the injury to Ujfalusi (just before we were to play against a team with Totti, a slow and physically weak striker meant for him), Monteleone had a few chances in the league. Unfortunately for him, those chances came during the slump in form and maybe against the stronger opposition. Those matches were lost but none were lost because of him. I'd say his performance was good enough, though not brilliant. I look forward to see him improve his agility to bring him to the first team. Lupoli in the cup, in a won match, and a competition we made to Quarter finals, much better than expected, became the youngest ever player for Palermo.

YoungesteverPalermoplayer12-12-2014.jpg


During January the training upgrade works finished. And before that, in December I got two job offers from top tier teams.

Trainingupgrade2-01-2015.jpg

LOSCoffer4-12-2014.jpg

Sunderlandoffer26-12-2014.jpg
 
End 2014/2015

- League performance

The second half of the season began more or less like the season, except we were pitiful against Genoa. We hovwever achieved a great result drawing 0-0 against Juventus with my anti giant tactic. A superb result and performance: we managed to limit their chances, something I wasn't counting with, and we had two good ones to win the match, but Buffon was too good. We were so good we made one of their centrebacks the man of the match.

Juvedraw2015.jpg

Juvedrawpost2015.jpg


Once the tough teams were out of our way, form picked up again and began to climb back up the table. European Qualification was already a lost hope, but tere were still hopes, even if small, of a respectable finish. However, once we reached more or less the point when our form dropped in the first half, it happened again, a string of a few games where players just didn't show followed, making us lose pretty achievable points and it made us drop in the table. We finished with two good performances, though. The first was a 0-2 defeat against Napoli, where we had chances and made them work hard, we only lost by two unlucky rebounds. Then next and final match we got a draw against top table Sampdoria, we were close to win too, but Rantie sent the ball well wide in a one on one in which the goalkeeper was almost beaten (badly positioned).

Fixtures18-05-2015.jpg

Table18-05-2015.jpg

Graph18-05-2015.jpg


- Individual performances

First thing that jumps to the eyes is the high amount of errors, and errors leading to goals, commited by Valentini and Santiago Garc<&acutei;>a, which sets them as candidates to be sold for money. The second is that while the centrebacks have the lead, too thin, in interceptions made, they also are the most prolific tacklers, with Santiago Garcia being the only that is clearly, very clearly, ahead. Also to note is high passing completion for Maiello, that's not all that great since he rarely has been used as creative player.

Lafferty, Riski and Bollino have turned to be the best three players up front. The lastes managed to earn the fan's player of the year award.

Pacheco, though he has half the starts as Sorrentino and that has to be counted in regards of clean sheets and conceded goals, has been much more convincing, so Sorrentino is going to be out. Also, the fact Gomes was one of the players that less turned up on the bad run has led me to sign a new goalie on a free, you'll see him next update.

Squadstats18-05-2015.jpg

Yearfanplayer30-06-2015.jpg

BestXI30-06-2015.jpg

BesteverXI30-06-2015.jpg


- Transfer plans and finances

Finances are healthy, with only a little slump due to taxes, shareholder payments, squad bonuses and lack of Serie A prize money.

Finances19-05-2015.jpg


To which the next have to be applied:

Squadbonus17-05-2015.jpg

Bonuscup24-05-2015.jpg

Kitsponsorship21-06-2015.jpg

Shareholderspayout21-06-2015.jpg

Taxbill21-06-2015.jpg

Norelegationbonuses30-06-2015.jpg


And good TV income next season:

NextTV30-06-2015.jpg


Transfer wise, there's a goalkeeper coming, Isaksson. We accepted a Euro1M co ownership for Risky (easy money). Sorrentino is going to be leaving. Retiring is Ujfalusi. Ending contracts are a series of players among which the more prominent are Pisano and Struna. I will have to see who come back from loans and who we get from end of co ownerships before I do more detailed plans; now I can say that a central defender to replace Valentini is on the cards, Monteleone will be brought to the first team and given a fair amount of chances. Possibly Grozdic too. A revision of midfielders may happen as I can look for a higher quality player for defensive midfield. I'd like to bring in a quality left winger (Lores Varela would be moved to right side and share with Bollino, as a way to prevent jading players, likely issue this season) and a striker. At least one striker will be leaving, possibly two. Lafferty may well be one of the chosen: while he's been good, he's not too young and there won't be much interest. The second candidate is Rantie: after a whole season he still doesn't speak a word of Italian.

The provisional transfer budget looks good enough to make some good deals this summer.

Riskicoown25-05-2015.jpg

Initialbudgets21-06-2015.jpg

Ujfalusiretires.jpg


Some games lost were played with 4-2-3-1 to try a comeback, it seemed to greatly improve performance, even if it didn't get the results, so making a 4-2-3-1 tactic for next season is one of the changes I plan doing.

- Other

Because of the final lump in form, I finish without an untouchable confidence level.

Endconfidence18-05-2015.jpg


As in the previous season, next preseason will be set to last seven weeks.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/mbest/FMgames/Palermo14/Preseasontime18-05-2015.jpg

The Italian cup was won by Inter, which is kind of a disappointment considering we thumped them in the first meeting.

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/mbest/FMgames/Palermo14/Cupfinal24-05-2015.jpg

We have the lowest sponsorship of theleague, though even so we've made it through to the top hundred rich teams.

lowestsponsor29-06-2015.jpg


Toprich1-07-2015.jpg


I still received a fair share of job offers from other teams. The best of them was Braga's, who are a top Portuguese side and were just out of European qualification at the moment. I refused them, of course, no point changing jobs until such a time I can say I've got Palermo as high as I can.

Bestoffer12-05-2015.jpg
 
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Preseason 2015-2016

- Transfers

During the previous seasons, in some games that were going badly, I changed to a 4-2-3-1 and found the team improved a great deal, starting to be dangerous when it had not been until then. So this new season I am introducing a 4-2-3-1, not exactly like the one used, narrow, but a wide one.

With the end of the season it also came the end of many loans and the decision on many co-ownerships. Surprisingly, Riski's came in and I risked it with a small offer of E250K... with success. So we got almost a million for nothing. V?zquez and Drapel? were kept by bidding for their halves for a combined total of two million.

Among the players who came back from loan or co-ownerships away, the main were Edoardo Goldaniga, a young centerback worth first team football, Milanovic who also has developed into a worthy player, Sansone who is a quality left winger who can play in the center and Giulio Sanseverino, a young left winger who will be a backup in the first team.

goldaniga17-08-2015.jpg


milanovic17-08-2015.jpg


Sansone2-06-2015.jpg


Sanseverino1-07-2015.jpg


With the people coming I had all I needed for the centreback position, with the only iffy point of Valentini, who was still in the team. The last defensive position needing filling was the right back, after Pisano's departure on a free. The chosen was Lazio's Konko. Also, Goldaniga can play in both sides and being right footed I'm training him first to become natural on the right and I am going to bring him up to be may future main right fullback.

konko17-08-2015.jpg


And let's not forget Isaksson, a goalkeeper who I prefer to Gomes and hopefully will learn Italian faster. Gomes has learnt not a word.

Isaksson28-02-2015.jpg


No changes in the defensive side and half of midfield, as those positions were abundantly covered. With Sansone being used at the center of attacking midfield I made a mistake and instead of going for a player natural for that position to fill it, I went for a left winger and brought Pablo mouche, who's shown glimpses of great quality.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/mbest/FMgames/Palermo14/mouche17-08-2015.jpg[img]

Finally, I wanted a new man for the striker position, someone with some experience and quality. Despite the good end of past season, Lafferty was offered in a player exchange for Konko, as he was in his last year of contract and it seemed unlikely he'd attract any offers, in fact nobody wanted him for his price. What I found was a player who's seen top level football: Javier Saviola.

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/mbest/FMgames/Palermo14/saviola17-08-2015.jpg

But then, when the season was about to begin and in the friendlies he showed no improvement over past season, Valentini was sold for just above half a million and I brought a young quality centerback, if on the slow side: Harry Maguire.

maguire17-08-2015.jpg


That completes the transfer deals before the start of the season, giving our coffers E6+M.

transfers17-08-2015.jpg


- Finances[/img]

With the six million profit in transfers, finances keep looking up, with projected profits at the end of the season. However, the transfer budget given to aim for mid table finish was completely consumed. As for bonuses, for league they're high and low for cup.

Expectations30-06-2015.jpg


squadbonuses6-08-2015.jpg


finances17-08-2015.jpg


- Team performance

Most of the preseason was played with the new 4-2-3-1 and it was a big scoring preseason. We beat Stum Graz comfortably though almost lost the three goal advantage. V?lez was the stronger opposition and the only match we lost and we didn't score.

fixtures17-08-2015.jpg



- Other

This will be the last season of Ambrosini, who will retire at the end of the season. I shall look into possibly hiring him for the backroom staff.

The betting sites say we'll just be mid table at best.

And, finally, the club will begin improving the training facilities.

ambrosinilastseason4-07-2015.jpg


serieaodds6-08-2015.jpg


trainingwork16-08-2015.jpg

______________________________________________________________
Been hit after the start of the season by a bug, that forced me to holiday the first friendly (it crashed at leaving match every time I tried to play) by which I'm not warned anymore about injuries to my players. So far that's the only consequence; I can't choose to send sick people back home or injection/physio or physiospecialist. Bit annoying but I can go like that, however this means there may be a point I can't get past. I've already started the season, but sometimes I think I should reload the start of season and see if the bug is not active yet to avoid more issues. What do you think?. Anyone knows of a solution?
 
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First sting 15-16

- Player performances

Squad27-11-2015.jpg


Without a well defined starting striker, role that's been shared by Rantie and Riski (off screen, three goals, one in the cup), with both rarely playing two games in a row, there's no clear leader in goalscoring. I should change that and choose one of them, I think the choice will be Riski. Also, with the way the AMC plays, I could as well turn to a 4-2-4 or 4-4-2.

Only Santiago has a notably higher amoung of tackles, which means with the new 4-2-3-1 the cover offered to the centerbacks by the midfield is not as much as I like. I could drop the midfield pairing to the defensive midfield band, but then there'd be not enough help for the attack. Or change the left DLP-D into a CM-D.

I forgot to set the interceptions column ((I've changed PC and can't import my views back)).

Harry Maguire seems to have blended well with the team, as well as Isaksson.

- Team performance

Clearly better than past season, this time we've gone quickly up, after a bad first match, into the top half, though the later run of not so good results has seen us drop to the middle. It feels like a bad slump may be starting.

As I said, the 4-2-3-1 I'm using this season as the main tactic is behaving close to a 4-4-2, often playing Saviola, who's a natural striker, in the AMC position as a trequartista.

Fixtures27-11-2015.jpg


Table27-11-2015.jpg


Graph27-11-2015.jpg


- Transfer plans

With Isaksson gelling well and the scarce use of Gomes, being as he has so low decisions, I've thought I would sell him and keep Pacheco as the second choice. However, problems have arisen: nobody shows interest in Gomes, who's on the highest (or one of the higher) wages of the team, add I've already upset him and that on top I just discovered I had offered a way too long contract: three more years, and you get that releasing him on a free is way too expensive. So, unless I can stick it to somebody in a transfer deal as player exchange I'm stuck with an unhappy goalkeeper or having to spend a small fortune releasing him. Now make things worse with Pacheco getting antsy by the lack of first team football.

Another thought, since neither of my strikers is really convincing, is to try to sell one of them (Rantie has been the more disappointing) and look for someone of better class. The problem is that the transfer budget is in red and can't yet adjust budgets though I have plenty excess in the wages.

- Other

More job offets, this time from a team that's third only one point off the top of French Ligue 1.

Joboffer11-2015.jpg


And to end on good news, the board offered me a new contract, only slightly above my original (from 7200 euros to 7800) that I managed to raise to 9000 and 40% compensation, improving, though not by much, my job security.

Newcontract27-11-2015.jpg
 
Winter transfers 15-16

- Player performances

Centrebacks are taking the lead in tackles made, with only leftback Santiago G. ahead of them. With the new formation there's just not enough cover for the centerbacks to get the defensive behavior I want. An option might be dropping the midfielders to a deeper position, but that would easily turn in lack of support for the attacks.

There's no outstanding player in terms of rating.

Squadstats2-02-2016.jpg



- Team performance

So the team results have not been great, with ups and downs in form keeping the side in mid table and more or less at the same point that past season. So the last sting of the season will probably be used in tactical tests.

Fixtures2-02-2016.jpg


Table2-02-2016.jpg


Graph2-02-2016.jpg


- Transfers

I followed in my idea of needing a new striker, I sent Rantie off to Aston Villa for two million and brought Yannick N'Djeng for one and a half. Seeing Golganiga, who was co-owned by Juventus had beeen placed in the transfer list by them, I bought their half for just a small amount, earning more than one million in exchange for nothing ((really, the co-ownership deals makes me feel cheaty, they're too keen to let go for nothing after spending)). Young Esposito was sold to Roma as they offered more than his value, 1.3M.

Another thought was the need of a new midfielder in place for Ambrosini and Migliaccio. Since neither of them wanted a mutual termination, I signed Reale for the end of his contract, he should be a creative engine for the team. Then after the end of the window I realized of a ploy to get Ambrosini off and bring a new midfielder without unsettling my players, as there were nearly too many: I've signed Ambrosini as U19 coach for less than 10% of his wages as player and then signed Petrovic for free. He's more of a defensive player.

No luck was had getting Gomes off the squad, which was only made impossible when during January's first week he got a one month long injury, so I'm stuck with him till the end of the season.

Transfers15-02-2016.jpg


NDjeng2-02-2016.jpg


Realetosign1-02-2016.jpg


Reale1-02-2016.jpg


Petrovic8-02-2016.jpg
 
End of 15-16 season

- Team Performance

Things didn't go too well during the end of the season, being only able to get four more points than the past season, the form of other teams being the reason we've finished in tenth position instead of fifteenth. That means this has been a disappointing season, despite the improvement in final position. Very poor results with less than a handful of wins, the biggest one being just the prelude to a bad finish. It was only the likewise poor results of teams around that allowed us to finish in mid table.

Fixtures15-05-2016.jpg


Table15-05-2016.jpg


Graph15-05-2016.jpg


- Player performances

I didn't get a screenshot of the stats, but with the same formation played for almost all the rest of the season, things should not look any different. The 6-1 win and the next match were played with a new 4-4-2 narrow diamond, though. Possibly to be the main formation next season.

Petrovic couldn't show anything, as after the first game he got injured for almost the rest of the season.

Petrovicinjury20-02-2016.jpg


- Youth intake

Nothing spectacular came in the youth level, but there were four players worth keeping.

intakesigns17-03-2016.jpg


Marini17-03-2016.jpg


Faggion17-03-2016.jpg


Amadu17-03-2016.jpg


Pascali17-03-2016.jpg


- Finances

A loss of around five million was incured. However, things still look good financially, despite the bill, bonus payments and lack of Serie A prize money news. Good related news is the board can begin the work on improving training facilities. Other good news are the new sponsors increasing the sponsorship money.

Trainingupgrade17-05-2016.jpg


Taxbill30-06-2016.jpg


Norelegationbonuses29-06-2016.jpg


Newsponsors20-06-2016.jpg


Financesend1-07-2016.jpg


BonusSA15-05-2016.jpg


- Next season plans

Apart from several U19 contracts that are ending, a few players from the main squad are seeing their contracts expiring: Migliaccio and Milanovic. A centerback was approached and signed (but the screenshot didn't get into the uploads or I uploaded in the previous): Torsiglieri. Fairly fast and strong in the air.

Despite the departure of Migliaccion and the change to the diamond formation, there shouldn't be a need to bring new midfielders, though if there's a chance for bringing a big name it would be taken.

Still the idea of spending on a striker is around, as no striker showed any kind of consistent form. When either of Riski or N'Djeng got two matches scoring in a row, they got injured. The initial budgets say there should be plenty of money for that.

And lastly, there will be new attempts to get Gomes out of the squad and Konko too.

Initialbudgets20-06-2016.jpg


To have a good time to prepare the squad to gel, familiarize with tactics and return to fitness, preseason duration is set to be seven weeks, though probably I will make a few less friendlies.

Preseasondate7w15-05-2016.jpg


- Others and season wrap up

Something unexpected when season started, but there was a game where we got seven players in the Team of the Week. Obviously, it happened after the 6-1 win. Fan player of the year and favorite squads were announced as well.

7TeamoWeek26-04-2016.jpg


Italyranks28-06-2016.jpg


Europerankings15-06-2016.jpg


FanPlayer29-06-2016.jpg


BestseasonXI29-06-2016.jpg


BestoverallXI29-06-2016.jpg


Endconfidence17-05-2016.jpg
 
Pre 16-17 season

- Initial squad

At the moment when the new transfer window opens, there's been some players coming in and still some work to do.

Squadpre16.jpg


In came Torsiglieri, Reale and Matos. The latter being a young leftback that at first was an attempt to get Gomes out, but given the prize asked for Sevilla was not bad and his potential is very high, I decided to bring him any way by his own worth. I'm hoping to give him some starts.

We lost Lores Varela to Lazio, who bid more than us for his 50%, which is unfortunate, but not a great problem as we have enough players.

What I still need with that squad is a quality striker to replace one or two (Bast?n and Sosa, who's back from loan). Also I will be looking to sell Konko and Goldaniga become Morganella's second. A back up centerback would also be good to have assurance against injuries.

Torsiglieripre16.jpg


LorestoLaziopre16.jpg


- Transfers

We start with a big, ugly surprise: I wanted Sosa out and I sold him for almost a million!

...

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Sosa90pre16.jpg


Wait, WHAT?! Sadly I am not allowed to sue the previous management for such a clause.

Some targets are met, other not and then some new. Among the targets met are the signing of a quality striker. Chosen was Mike Havenaar, whose main advantage over other candidates was Japanese nationality. Then a player to be a defensively solid box to box midfielder to take Bacinovic's place was signed... plus the second choice as I received a good offer for van der Bruggen. In come Ledley on a free and Faurlin on loan.

Another unexpected piece of business was loaning Mastrianni because a decent offer was presented for Riski, who might have been our best striker but that wasn't really that meaningful, so I took the money. Another good offer was presented for Santiago, the left back, and since he never really had a very good performance, besides leading in tackles attempted, the bid was taken. No substitute was brought in and I will use it as a chance to for myself to really give minutes to a young player and use Matos when Daprel? isn't available or is tired.

In the failures side, Konko didn't garner any offer so I gave up on selling him and he's going to be the back up fullback. There was no luck with Gomes either, who keeps rejecting contracts with any club I set him via player exchange. Board will block even mutual termination. At least he's in the last year of his contract.

Transferspre16.jpg


Havenaarpre16.jpg


Japaneseshirts16.jpg


Mastrianipre16.jpg


Ledleypre16.jpg


Faurlinpre16.jpg


That leaves us with only three centerbacks, which means Goldaniga is to work as either fourth centerback choice or second for rightback. Also leftback if Daprel? gets long injury and Matos is not up to play full matches.

- Tactics

I'm abandoning the 4-2-1-2-1 ultra defensive and making the 4-5-1 be the defensive against bigger teams, keep the 4-2-3-1 and add a 4-1-2-1-2 as the intended main choice, hence why I wanted four strikers at least and wasn't worried by the departure of Lores Varela.

4-5-1pre16.jpg


4-2-3-1pre16.jpg


4-4-2diamondpre16.jpg


- Friendly matches

The preseason gave the three formations to show what they can do. Results were good, with little problems finding the net. A decent result was drawing against a Liga BBVA team, though not the stronger. But the best and a very good match to give us hopes was seeing the defensive 4-5-1 work to beat Atl?tico de Madrid!.

Fixturespre16.jpg


I'm specially happy with hoe Ledley has played. He likes to go forward into the opposition area and he's consistently got in chances to score. However, he's not taken any yet.

- Other

We're predicted to be in a 13th final position, which is not very good. I promised top half to match the squad ambitious personality without going overboard.

Expectedpre16.jpg


Oddspre16.jpg


Expectationspre16.jpg


Bonusespre16.jpg


When asked about the pitch, I chose to keep the standard dimensions.

Pitch16.jpg


Financially, we've gone back to the first Serie A season prediction to be almost with 40 million at the end of the season. I also have a big transfer budget remaining, but I don't want to bring too many changes.

Financespre16.jpg


We reach the end of the preseason with a few injuries. V?zquez out for a while, more than a month when he comes back; but only three weeks left. Luckily the only bad injury was suffered by Bast?n, who was not going to be more than a back up player.

Injuryendprepre16.jpg
 
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16-17 season first two months.

- Team performance

We had a fine start, with a few wins in a row, then a small lump, followed by three wins with not the best performances and then when the game began to look like flowing fine, a five match loss. The first we dominated, the 4-2-3-1 finally worked as a 4-2-3-1 instead of a 4-2-4, good movement, creation... but it was Genoa who took their chance. Then Roma was just too good for us. Against Torino we again looked bright, dominated, pounded on their area... but in the second half Morganella got a second yellow and Torino managed to take advantage of some lucky rebounds from a free kick. Then game against Inter: Isaksson walks with the ball in his hands to where Inter's striker is standing and drops the ball into his foot; after that we looked the stronger sid, but couldn't find the goal. Then against Ternana the team just didn't show.

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When we started like finally we might aim for something big, the bad run sent us back to where we were past seasons.

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- Squad performances

With the use of defensive midfielders with the diamond and the 4-5-1, this time centerbacks aren't clear leaders of tackles, with Daprel? and Morganella leading. No defensive midfielder to be ahead of the centerbacks is result of some use of the 4-2-3-1 and the high rotation of the players used in defensive midfield. Interceptions led by centerbacks. So things work defensively more like I want them to.

Offensively, though, is where we have the issues, with no clear leader, N'Djeng putting the most goals but not as much as a leading striker should.

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- Transfer plans

There's been the decision to spend big this winter and try to make a redesign of the squad now that the unwanted players end contract.

Since Pacheco isn't looking like getting first choice, he's being offered on loan and we go for Kevin Trapp for five million.

Trapp11-2016.jpg


Fiorentina came knockign with a decent offer for N'Djeng, since his performance has not been enough, even if he's the top scorer, I accepted it with the idea of bringing someone actually good (we get more than one million profit). Candidates to be evaluated when January is closer.

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A scout report came and I found a good chance to bring a good prospect for the future for half million.

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Apart from a star striker, there will be a search for a centerback.

- The end

And I might become excited about next season; but because of the bad form of five defeats sending us to fifteenth place and my bet to match the ambitious personality promising a mid table finish, after the Ternana game the board wanted a meeting to discuss future and I rejected.

Reasons to not fight to the end to stay:

- A little frustration with the transfer deals. Mainly because of the player signed carelessly for too long contracts because I didn't put all due attention when negotiating their contracts.

- The cheat feeling of the co-ownership deals.

- The underwhelming tactical work, though I had begun to properly tweak them and think better about them ((Effect of not fully having asimilated the new interface limits)).

Applying to available jobs there are some options open:

Getafe - Not very high budgets. Not a great squad. I already have answered their interview demanding a bit more and not making any effort to be chosen.

LOSC - 4.2M transfer budget, 600K wage budget. I have only briefly managed in France in FM, LOSC seems to have a well balanced squad with enough quality to get them off the relegation spots. On the other hand, their expectations may be a little too high and for some reason I have a dislike of playing in France, for some reason that I don't know (I have nothing negative to say about the brief time I managed a French team).

Wigan - 750K transfer and 450K wage budgets. On the plus side, they play in England, are qualified for Europa League and their expectations are low. On the negative, they have most of the Championship squad, no quality goalkeeper and very low budgets to patch the squad to turn things around.

Atalanta - 20M transfer budget, 1.4M wage budget. One the positive, huge budgets and balanced initial squad, best placed of the available teams in thirteenth position. The negative is they're Italian and that means no avoiding co-ownerships.

Wolfsburg - They are fifteenth and have also big budgets. On the negative they have a badly made squad where half are defenders.expectation Poorlye balanced squad half are defenders

I think from them LOSC, Wigan and Wolfsburg, in decreasing probabilities to get the jobs, are the only with some chance of hiring me.

((The other choice is to start a new save))
 
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