The Return of Aitor Herrera - The Boss of Bilbao

[Sam91]

Congrats mate, all too easy once more

 

[TommyTomster]

How do you do it? it is incrediable! hopefully you will get an absolute quality regen from your own academy!

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

What a fantastic season that was! To win the Champions League (and the Euro Super Cup) was just astonishing and although we are not ready to dominate world football yet I feel we have made a significant step forward! At the very least our reputation should get a boost so maybe Javi Martinez/Llorente might want to return to Bilbao.

My u19's won their league and came runners-up in the cup while my B side finished 3rd but were unsuccesful in the play-offs.

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FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 282436
View attachment 282432View attachment 282433

MY LEAGUE SCORERS
23 Muniain, 9 Susaeta, 8(1p) Griezmann, 7 De Marcos, 6 Benat, 5 Amorebieta, 5 Herrera, 4(3p) San Jose, 3 Aguilera, 3 Toquero, 2 Aduriz, 2 Bueno, 2 Illarramendi, 2 Ruiz de Galarreta, 1 Artola, 1 Aurtenetxe, 1 Ibai Gomez, 1(p) Iraola, 1 Monreal, 2 Own Goals

LIGA BBVA AWARDS
Player of the Year: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Young Player of the Year: Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
Liga BBVA Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Manager of the Year: Aitor Herrera (Athletic Bilbao)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Pichichi: Roberto Soldado (Valencia)
Top Goalscorer: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Most Improved Team: Getafe

TEAM OF THE SEASON
Casillas (Real Madrid)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Amorebieta (Athletic Bilbao)
Rami (Valencia)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Ozil (Real Madrid)
Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Castro (Real Betis)
Messi (Barcelona)
Soldado (Valencia)

SQUAD
View attachment 282435
Griezmann made a big impact while Muniain was excellent

PLAYER OF THE SEASON
IKER MUNIAIN

OTHER NEWS
Barcelona defeat Real Madrid 4-2 in the Copa del Rey final
Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Europa League final
Titles for Man Utd, Juventus, Bayern, PSG and Porto​

 

[gogogo golem]

CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Klippybo]

AITOR HERRERA TAKES OVER AS ITALY MANAGER

After the World Cup (won by Germany who beat Slovenia in the final) there werent many casualties but I fancied a crack at international management and was delighted when Italy offered me a job. I immediately got rid of several staff and appointed Tassotti, Pirlo, Totti amongst others to the coaching ranks.

AITOR HERRERA DECLINES THE ARGENTINA JOB

Thought about it but as I had just accepted the Italy job I decided to stay put. Plus they were only offering me £3,500 a week where as Italy are paying me £9,500 a week.

SPAIN JOB IS HERRERA'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Literally weeks after I accepted the Italy job (and a week after declining Argentina) Del Bosque left Spain so I had to go in for it didnt I and I got it!! This is a massive boost for Bilbao as all of a sudden EVERY new regen comes into my player search screen!
​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

AIMS
Win the Club World Cup
Win the title??

CLUB NEWS
Johan Cruyff has retired and I have replaced him with the Italian Mauro Tassotti. Also the club have invested in the youth facilities and undersoil heating.

PLAYERS IN
Two big signings and at £17m each they did not come cheap! Firstly I forced Real Sociedad's hand and bid for Inigo Martinez as it was rumoured he was wanting to leave. They accepted, he accepted and I got a fantastic centre-half! Then I turned my attention to Stephane Ruffier and got him from Saint-Etienne.
View attachment 282452View attachment 282453

Completing my summers business was Oier Olazabal - on a free from Barca - he will be my B teams goalie and 2 young regens (although looking back now the striker looks **** lol)
View attachment 282454View attachment 282455View attachment 282456

PLAYERS OUT
There were a couple outgoing. Ekiza left to Sporting Gijon for £3.9m, Inigo Perez to Rayo Vallecano for £1.3m and Raul Fernandez to Sevilla for £1.1m. Aduriz also left as he joined Espanyol for £775,000 and we released about 20 B/C team players.

Out on loan went Toquero to Getafe and several youngsters to make the total income amount to £7m

SUMMARY
Ruffier will be my keeper and Inigo Martinez will form a central defensive partnership with San Jose - other than that the 1st eleven stays the same. I have promoted Joseba Prieto to the first team squad (the first regen to make it) as he is progressing very well indeed!

I should mention that Fernando Llorente was interested in coming but I couldnt afford him. £30m was offered but Arsenal didnt even negotiate!
​

 

[MaximumPower]

Trolling Italy aren't you?

 

[Mr_Grieves]

We here of managerial merigo rounds but your international career has so far been rediculos. Altough unless your sacked you'll have to stay in charge of your home nation wont you Aitor!

Your luck with draws is amazing PSG may have been a challenge but every other game up till then was so good. In any game i play i get Barca in the last 16 or Quarter Finals

 

[karan10489]

Good lord! it was a special achievement in 2012 with bilbao. Without Llorente and Martinez this time though, this has to rank right up there! Im convinced there's an FM god somewhere who's an Aitor fan.

Congrats mate and good luck for the new season! Any exciting new regens coming up?

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

So we are off again!!! However our plans for the season took a big blow when Illarramendi broke his leg and is out for 3-4 months!! That raised a dilemma - do I spend £10-15m on a CM or do I stick with what I have got?

We won the European Super Cup after a great win over Arsenal and in the Champions League we kick off our defence of the trophy with a group containing Benfica, Bayer Leverkusen and Dinamo.

The month ended with the transfer window still open (we play on the 1st of September) so will I move for a CM like Arteta or Raul Garcia or will I just keep my cash?

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Atletico Madrid 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Susaeta 2

A nice way to kick-off the league campaign. Susaeta had 1 chalked off too.

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Celta Vigo
Griezmann, Ruiz de Galarreta, Susaeta

Very comfortable win this - we could have scored at least 3 or 4 more.

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UEFA European Super Cup
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Arsenal
Muniain 3

What a great result! Muniain scored a first half hat-trick (30,33,39) to win us the cup. Llorente had a shocker against his old club and their other Basque - Arteta - missed a 6th minute penalty. Wilshere pulled a late goal back for them.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARKEL SUSAETA

View attachment 282481

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SPAIN

Friendly

Spain 4-0 Saudi Arabia
Iniesta 2, Silva, Torres

A nice easy win in my first game of international management. For the record I called up a few Bilbao players - Susaeta, Muniain, Inigo Martinez and Herrera while I gave debuts to Susaeta, De Gea and Jose Angel.

I havent decided on a starting 11 yet but think it could be this - Casillas, Ramos, Alba, Pique, Javi Martinez, Fabregas, Busquets, Iniesta, Mata, Silva, Muniain

Of course there are dozens of players out there staking a claim that didnt even make the squad like Xavi, Pedro, Benat, Illarramendi, Thiago, Rodrigo, Reina, San Jose...........

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Just to let peeps know that I type my update as the month goes on and never post an update when I am 3 months on etc (unless I have done a nightshift lol)​

 

[Klippybo]

We here of managerial merigo rounds but your international career has so far been rediculos. Altough unless your sacked you'll have to stay in charge of your home nation wont you Aitor!

Your luck with draws is amazing PSG may have been a challenge but every other game up till then was so good. In any game i play i get Barca in the last 16 or Quarter Finals

I dont deny that it was the luck of the draw Darran and doubt I will win it this season (even if we are stronger). As for Spain - I am happy to stay there for ever and ever - would help if I had a regen like Aitor though to see if I could get someone to break his cap record in fm12 (270 i think)

 

[MatthewD1]

Was a big fan of your saves on FM12, was just wondering if you could upload your current tactic?

 

[gogogo golem]

Doing Brilliantly! Ruffier and Martinez brought in, there aren't many more quality Basques out there anymore.

 

[Klippybo]

Was a big fan of your saves on FM12, was just wondering if you could upload your current tactic?

I dont know how to do that but there is a pic in page 1 or 2 of the story. Pretty much the exact same as FM12 except slightly quicker passing and a tiny bit more width

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

Hmmm.. We have had better months. I rested players against Benfica for the Real Madrid game and we lost them both anyway!!!! Other than that the month was successful though I suppose.

We didnt add anyone else in the transfer window - I just decided to give youth a chance as that is the only way forward. Unless Llorente or Javi Martinez becomes available it is all down to development! To prove that I called up 17y/o LW Moises Bernal to the first team squad.

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Malaga 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain, Ibai Gomez

A decent win this - San Jose missed a penalty and we only wrapped up the game in stoppage time. Bojan had just signed for Malaga and made his debut here.

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Zaragoza
Muniain, Herrera, Inigo Martinez

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UEFA Champions League Group B
Benfica 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Ibai Gomez

I rested my first team for the next match so pretty much knew we would lose here. We didnt help ousrselves by giving away 2 penalties away though!

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Real Madrid 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
Griezmann

Well that was pointless resting my team for this game wasnt it!!! Never mind. We should still qualify in the Champions League and a 1-0 win at home will give us a better head to head record against Real in the league.....

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Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Valencia
Muniain

We did enough to get the three points but should have won by a lot more.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
STEPHANE RUFFIER

View attachment 282664

TOP 10 LIGA BBVA TRANSFERS[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]FROM[/TD]
[TD]TO[/TD]
[TD]FEE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Salomon Rondon[/TD]
[TD]Rubin Kazan[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]£22.5m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Alex Sandro[/TD]
[TD]FC Porto[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]£16.5m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gary Medel[/TD]
[TD]Sevilla[/TD]
[TD]Paris Saint-Germain[/TD]
[TD]£11.5m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jordi Amat[/TD]
[TD]Espanyol[/TD]
[TD]Real Sociedad[/TD]
[TD]£11.25m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Augusto Fernandez[/TD]
[TD]Valencia[/TD]
[TD]Parma[/TD]
[TD]£8m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jose Angel[/TD]
[TD]Roma[/TD]
[TD]Sevilla[/TD]
[TD]£7.75m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Oriol Romeu[/TD]
[TD]Chelsea[/TD]
[TD]Sevilla[/TD]
[TD]£7.25m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Felipe Melo[/TD]
[TD]Juventus[/TD]
[TD]Real Madrid[/TD]
[TD]£6.5m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Alex Lopez[/TD]
[TD]Celta Vigo[/TD]
[TD]Real Betis[/TD]
[TD]£5.75m[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dani Carvajal[/TD]
[TD]Bayer Leverkusen[/TD]
[TD]Real Madrid[/TD]
[TD]£5.75m[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

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SPAIN

Friendlies

Spain 4-2 U.S.A.
Javi Martinez 2, Silva, Pedro

Brazil 1-1 Spain
Inigo Martinez​

 

[Ashleigh1984]

Ammmaaazzzziiiinng!

 

[White army]

The Best Story so far..i love it...now for me to dominate a game lol

 

[gogogo golem]

Good start to the season.

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

A very successful month with a 100% record and with the added bonus that my youngsters got a few outings. In Europe we destroyed Leverkusen which was just as well after our hiccup against Benfica last month. At the end of the month we top the table.

Fernando Amorebieta will leave for Real Zaragoza in a £2m deal in January after he requested to leave for a new challenge.

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UEFA Champions League Group B
Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Bayer Leverkusen
San Jose, Susaeta 2, De Marcos

This was a must win game and we did it fantastically well. In the other group match Dinamo drew 3-3 with Benfica but they were 3 down with 5min to go!

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Sevilla 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Griezmann

A great away victory this. Not convincing but solid!

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Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Espanyol
Inigo Martinez

We were excellent although with the amount of posession and attempts we should have won by a lot more

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UEFA Champions League Group B
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Dinamo
Ibai Gomez, Viana, Bueno

I gave the backups and youngsters a go and they won to put us top of the group.

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Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Osasuna
Inigo Martinez, San Jose, Muniain 3

We were without a few players here - mainly in CM with Benat, Ruiz de Galarreta and Iturraspe out - but we were 2up after 8min and 4up at half-time, thus always in control. Prieto got sent-off for us too.

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Tudelano 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Agirre, Bueno (pen), Prieto

Out came the youngsters again and they will get another chance to impress in the 2nd leg. There are 3 players who I think will make it with us for sure. Aguilera missed a penalty for us.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
INIGO MARTINEZ

View attachment 282821

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SPAIN

UEFA European Championship Quals Group F

Spain 4-0 Armenia
Javi Martinez, Muniain, Llorente 2

Kazakhstan 0-5 Spain
Mata 2, Llorente, Muniain 2

I gave Mikel San Jose his first caps in these two games.​

 

[Ashleigh1984]

Good stuff mate