The Red Bull Revolution - Taking Over Europe

[Sam91]

Making Peace...

Training had just finished and I was heading back to my office. We'd been on a good run lately, except maybe in Europe. But still the boys were playing well and finally results were matching our good performances.

''Hey!! Boss!'' It was Valentino Lazaro. We hadn't spoken much since our row, except me asking him work on playing out wide right which he'd been doing well at to be fair to the lad.

''Hey Laz, what can I do for you?'' Remaining as civil as possible with the little ****.

''Look I'm sorry about the other week, you were right I shouldn't have questioned you. I'm really sorry I just want to play football'' He maintained eye contact the whole time. I could see he meant what he was saying.

''Laz you're a young lad, don't let others influence you. You're a real talent and could go far, I want you to be the next big thing. Just keep playing you have been and leave everything else to me.''

''Okay boss, I'm really sorry.'' He said with his head facing the ground, like a shamed kid being told off by his school teacher or parent.

''Alright kid stop apologising its already forgotten about!!!'' I said laughing throwing an arm around him.

He smiled and headed off to the changing room. I walked back towards my office. Thats one problem sorted, now just to win round Peter Akersen. But at least my wonderboy finally saw sense, whether that was because not a single club had come sniffing since he went whinging to the papers or if he really believed I was right I don't know. At this point I didn't care, we had football to get on with and a title to win and Lazaro was key to that.
​

 

[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

Remaining as civil as possible with the little ****.

​

Behave!

 

[Sam91]

Behave!

Always

 

[Sam91]

November 2014

Solid league form continues
Finally pick up some points in the Champions League
Board give me some more money for January



League

Great form continues. Stunning win over Wolfsberger in which Soriano netted a birllliant hattrick in just 30 minutes. A good win and a battling draw followed. Then our second league match against Austria Wien, they took the lead earlier on but we fought well and the winner came in the second half when Quaschner who's barely played this season tucked the ball in after good work from Lazaro.



Champions League

YAAAAAY POINTS!!! Finally!!! A tough game against Ajax but we deserved something from it. Minamino has been fantastic out on the left for us all season scoring some important goals. Then back in Salzburg we welcomed Benfica, knowing a defeat would mean fourth place for certain the lads put in a superb performance but sadly we couldn't get the goal which would have sent us into third place. Now in the final group game we must beat Shalke to get into the Europa League.



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Monthly Review


So probably my best month in charge so far. No defeats and we finally pick up some points in Europe thank God. Our final league game is away to Shalke, its gonna be tough but I wont be too disappointed if we dont make it into the Europa League anyway. Would be nice though, bit of extra money and reputation boost. In the league our good form continued, I'd like to maybe concede less goals but still we're ticking along nicely now. A good comeback win over title rivals Austria Wien was brilliant but now Rapid Wien are catching up!!



Player of the Month

Takumi Minamino

The Japanese winger has been fantastic all season for us consistently popping up with important goals. 10 goals in 25 games so far this season for us.



Tables

In the league we're 9 points ahead but Rapid have 2 games in hand. In the Champions League it win or bust against Shalke for us!!​

 

[Sam91]

December 2014

Just a short update due to the winter break


Results

Just the three games this month. We beat Rapid Wien in a tight game, sub Djuricin netting for us. Next up we had Shalke away in the Champions League, we scored early on and I got all excited but sadly Max Meyler scored shortly after. We pressed but in the 77th minute Ramalho gave away a penalty, our keeper Gulacsi saved and we continued to apply pressure but couldn't break them down. We crashed out of Europe. Lastly we had a bore draw against SV Reid barring Ankersen getting himself sent off on the 60th minute, after that I would have taken a draw and thats what we had to settle for!!


Champions League Group

Ajax topped the group just. Benfica came second with Shalke coming up third. In the end we finished last with just 3 points, I honestly felt we could have beaten Benfica and Shalke in our final two games so its disappointing that our European adventure ends here.



League Table

Nine points clear but Rapid Wien have a game in hand.



We have no league game now till the middle of February so Ill do a transfer update at the end of January but no games will be in that ​

 

[Sam91]

January 2015

Lots of players coming in and a few leaving
No games at all this month
Ankersen wants to leave



Transfers


Ins

So quite a few ins this window. Mainly because I wanted to try and appeal to Peter Ankersen and also Jonathan Soriano moaned this window about the squad size. Soriano was happy at the end of the window but Ankersen was still moaning so will probably be off in the summer. Anyway lets get into who I signed:


Andreas Christensen

Direct replacement for the outgoing Hinteregger. Great young player who can also play right back and defensive midfield.



Alvaro Medran

Centre midfield who should add some real class to the side. Only in on loan but hopefully can make it permanent in the summer.



Munir

We've all heard of this kid and most of us have probably signed him a few times. Cracking player to get in our league, even if its just on loan.



Tiri

Cost a measly £80k. Very average player but best we could get for the money we have. Needed a back up left back and Tiri fits the bill.



Thiago Neves

Joined for £60k. Looks a bit **** to be honest but high determination means his stats should increase nicely.



Fran Morante

Signed literally in case of an injury crisis. Very average.



Patrick Schmidt

I think he's got some pretty good base stats for a 16 year old. Austrian too and on cheap wages.



Fabian Sporkslede

I think we've bagged a real bargain here. £105k for a very solid and young defensive midfielder!!



Patric

What a bargain getting him for £275k!! Found my replacement for when I sell Ankersen, just need to improve his pace a bit.



Outs

The Hinteregger deal has been in place for months. After Munir joined Quaschner was surplus to requirements and was moved on. I also sold Djuricin to get money to improve elsewhere, but kind of regret selling him now especially so cheaply. Vorsah had 6 months left on his contract, was moaning about lack of game time and was being paid waaaaay too much.




Thats it for January!! No games until the middle of February :O big old winter break but was kinda nice too. Anyway let me know what you think of my winter window dealings ​

 

[Sam91]

February 2015

League kicks back off with 4 games in 13 days
Christensen has a dream debut
Soriano gets injured just before fixtures return so Munir leads line



League

Four games and four wins!! Not bad going we also managed to keep 3 clean sheets which I thinks our longest run without conceding!! Christensen netted on his debut in a one nil win over SCR. Pat Schmidt also scored on his debut coming off the bench, in the process becoming our youngest ever goalscorer!!! An easy two nil win over Grodig followed in which Munir netted his first goal for us, what a screamer it was too, coming second in the goal of the month competition. A brilliant four one win ended the month off superbly with a great performance from Marcel Sabitzer.


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Monthly Review


So a perfect month really. Andreas Christensen has been amazing since coming in playing every minute so far, and scoring on his debut too. Munir has been okay scoring twice in 4 games. But our team performances have really stood out, really solid from back to front even without our captain Soriano who picked up a knock in training but should be back in a week or two now.

Off the pitch I've already started building towards next season bagging a left winger and a keeper on a free. More will come in as I look to improve this team so we can compete better in Europe!!



Player of the Month

Andreas Christensen

Rock solid at the back. Haven't even noticed Hinteregger leaving.



Table

Twelve clear but we have played a game more.
​

 

[JamesScott2908]

Just read through, Great story and well played on the league! Hopefully you have a good youth intake too!

 

[SeanKeaney]

Interesting signings - in my Lille save I sold Hinteregger after he threw a paddy and I replaced him with Andreas Christensen too! Christensen turned out to be just as good as Hinteregger was.

 

[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

Decent signings, great form in the league. Should be able to push for a top 2 in the CL groups with those signings + 1 or 2 more.

 

[Sam91]

Decent signings, great form in the league. Should be able to push for a top 2 in the CL groups with those signings + 1 or 2 more.

Cheers mate, summer window should be interesting for sure

Interesting signings - in my Lille save I sold Hinteregger after he threw a paddy and I replaced him with Andreas Christensen too! Christensen turned out to be just as good as Hinteregger was.

Yeah he moaned a lot and was so hot headed too, glad to get rid of him tbh. Christensen is a great player, hopefully can get him in again next season

Just read through, Great story and well played on the league! Hopefully you have a good youth intake too!

Thanks mate, yeah should get some decent youth intakes which is always nice!! Love developing youth

 

[Sam91]

March 2015

Four league games this month
Drop points against the other big two though
Closing in on the title still



League

Kicked off the month with a decent win over bottom side SC Wiener Neustadt in which Naby Keita scored a tap in with Munir waiting just behind him, not that it mattered as the young Spaniard turned on the class to score a beaut of a free kick and a lovely goal from outside the box to secure the 3-0 win for us. Next up was Rapid Wien away, and somehow we ****** lost!! Check these match stats:

They were even down to 10 men after 19 minutes and we still couldn't break them!!!

Next up we had SK Sturm Graz and it was a thriller of a match. Another brace from Munir with Lazaro and Naby Keita netting again won us the game. Then we had Austria Wien but yet again we dropped points after dominating the match!! Soriano netting for the first time after that injury.


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Youth Intake

Honestly wasn't too great sadly. Got a half decent left back but we're pretty set for that postition in all honesty. Here he is anyway:

Nice physicals and high determination means he should develop nicely. We'll keep an eye on him.



Player of the Month

Naby Keita

Brilliant month from the big centre midfielder netting twice and playing very well all round.



Table

Even though we dropped some points this month, so did Rapid. Would take an almighty collapse to lose the title now.
​

 

[Sam91]

April 2015

6 games in total including the Austrian FA Cup Quarter Final
Our lead at the top is cut as I rest players for the FA Cup game
Keita and Munir continue to boss



League

Not a bad month really when you take into account I rested our big players for those two league games we lost as we had our FA Cup tie sandwiched inbetween them so I wanted them fresh. Clean sheets in the other games though with Naby Keita's goalscoring spree from centre midfield continuing. Munir grabbed another couple even though he was out wide left most of the month with Soriano's poor form continuing.



FA Cup Quarter Final

Smashed them. It really paid off resting my key players for those two league games. Felipe Pires came off the bench when Sabitzer got injured and netted a nice brace. Munir also scoring.


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Monthly Review


I know we still shouldn't have lost those two league matches really but I did give our 17 year old back up keeper a few games and our younger defenders and some of our fringe players a run out. Naby Keita has really impressed me lately becoming a key player and he's still young(only 20). As has Christoph Leitgeb even though he's now hit 30. I really hope we can get Munir back again next year as I think Soriano could well end up being sold as Leicester are interested and hes 29 now too.

Got Austria Wien in the semi finals of the FA Cup, they've had a horrible season so will be well up for that match but I'm quite confident.



Player of the Month

Christoph Leitgeb

He's been superb all season. Notched up 3 assists this month and some brilliant performances to boot.



Table

Leads cut to 8 with 4 games left. The final two being against big guns Austria and Rapid Wien!!​

 

[Sam91]

May 2015

Final month of the season see's the title be wrapped up
FA Cup shocker
Two key players ask to leave



League

All we needed was two wins from these four games and we wrapped it up with ease before our two tough games. Soriano finally decided to remember how to score too which was great to see. To beat Rapid Wien so convincingly shows off our dominance nicely though. A bore draw on the last day though against Austria Wien finished off the season.



FA Cup Semi Final

A real disappointment here. It was a tight game but we just couldn't find the net, they netted in extra time and even though we pushed we just couldn't get the win. Austria Wien went on to lose in the final to Wolfsberger AC.


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Monthly Review


Last month of the season and we managed to wrap up the title nicely. Soriano's turn in form was really impressive but I still may sell due to his age. I'm disappointed we couldn't win the FA Cup, and our failure in Europe this season so there's still room for improvement.

Sadly Lazaro and Leitgeb are off!! Both came to me this month asking to leave, Leitgeb wanted a new challenge and with his age and after everything he's done for us I accepted and he's joining Sparta Prague for £1m. Lazaro asked to leave as AC Milan were interested, I asked him what I could do to make him stay but he insisted... only to end up joining Napoli anyway!! £2.9m I got for him but could increase based on how well he does there.



Player of the Month

Jonathan Soriano

He finally started scoring again!! Six goals this month was great to see from the captain.



Table

Won the title by 9 points in the end. So us and Rapid enter the Champions League and Wolfsberger, Austria Wien and SK Sturm Graz will go into the Europa League. Hopefully all can do well so we can increase the reputation of the nation and league.


End of season post to follow​

 

[Sam91]

End Of Season Post

So all in all not a bad first season in Austria. We won the league easily enough, but didn't win the FA Cup and failed in Europe. Next season I wanna win the league, cup and progress into the Europa League ideally. We do have some big players leaving and more are probably gonna be on their way which will mean a busy summer for me in the window. I've already got to work signing a class left winger on a free and a new keeper as well.



Squad

Andre Ramalho played a whopping 46 games for us and is gonna be a huge loss when he leaves in the summer. Ulmer was an important player for us too but with him now 29 Ill be looking at giving Frans Oomen some gametime next season. Takumi Miamino was great out on the left but the player I've already agreed to join us will be ahead of him next season. Gulacsi wants to leave for Liverpool but I've already replaced him. Soriano's stats show how brillaint he was but I know he can do better, he slipped off midway through the season. Munir came in and was awesome, I'd love to have him back. Some of the fringe players will be sold in the summer though.



League Player Stats

Soriano was pretty standout. Gulacsi managed to get 16 clean sheets and won the Goalkeeper of the Year.



Austrian Player of the Season

Leitgeb won Austrian POTS and Hinteregger somehow came third even though he left us in January!!



Top Goalscorer

Soriano's last month spree won him the Golden Boot.



Team of the Season

Just three of our players made it somehow!! Weird formation too.



My Player of the Season

Andre Ramalho

Gutted he's leaving us on a free too. Was a rock at the back and so hard to replace.



My Young Player of the Season

Naby Keita

Really grew as the season went on, scored a decent amount of goals too.​

 

[Sam91]

The Club

So post season lets have a look at how we are doing. Profits have been announced:

Nice to see we're making money. Good way to make the club grow. The rest of the news however isn't too good....

Competition ranking has plummeted which sadly means...

Only the league Champions from this coming season will partake in the Champions League so we must win the league this season really.

The club has also dropped in the European Rankings which wont help in our seedings in European competitions

​

 

[Safc-mad-scotty]

Decent first season mate, looking forward to seeing who you bring in over the summer.

 

[Sam91]

Decent first season mate, looking forward to seeing who you bring in over the summer.

Thanks mate, been some huge changes in the summer will be interesting to see what happens to be honest lost most of our key players.

 

[Sam91]

Busy Window For Red Bull Salzburg

Its been an incredibly busy transfer window in Salzburg for Red Bull manager Sam Birch. A number of big players were subject to interest from bigger clubs around Europe with key players such as Lazaro, Ankersen, Gulacsi, Soriano, Leitgeb and Schmitz all leaving this window meaning a big rebuilding job was required.

Outs

Ins

Birch acted fast and well, with not a lot of money to spend he managed to sign Cican Stankovic to replace Gulacsi inbetween the sticks. French attacking midfielder Gael Kakuta joins on a free from Chelsea, along with pacey centre back Tomas Kalas who signed for a fee of £2.2m Rodrigo De Paul was signed on loan from Valencia to add to the creative force of the side. Yaya Sanogo and Andreas Cornelius were brought in for £1.2m and £3.5m respectively to try and provide the goal threat up top. Yann Songo'o joined on a free from promoted Blackburn to partner Kalas at the back and Alvaro Medran, who was at the club last season on loan, joins again for another year after impressing in the middle of the park. The final two deals done so far are for striker Diego De Girolamo and left winger Pavel Savitsky, these two were down way back in January and they sign on frees as well.

With a month still left in the transfer window and the league already having started there may still be a couple of deals especially at the back to try and sure up the defence. Its a very different looking Red Bull side from last year, younger but more inexperienced. Should be an interesting year for the team.
​

 

[Sam91]

Probably gonna do half season updates till the save gets a bit more interesting