The San Marino Double

[Ubernisation]

Thanks everyone, I'd like to point out this is not dead, I've just settled in at Uni and have only just started playing Football Manager again. I'm still playing 09, I may consider getting 10 after this game is over, but i'm not sure yet. Anywho, if people don't mind reading new posts on this now outdated game I suppose, I'll keep updating it as I play One annoying thing is that steam is not working for me at the moment, and it doesn't let me access the game without going through steam- any ideas?

---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 PM ----------

Ok, nevermind, got it working. Here are the updates, i'm currently in the middle of December in my first season in Serie A:

League Table:

As you can see, I'm having a pretty tough time of it, but I am managing to keep myself out of the relegation positions, I still can't say how the season is going to go, but on the positive side I have about 2m of transfer budget to spend in the winter, so if I can find some good players for cheap I might be able to bolster my time, alternatively I may look at spending the budget on one talismanic player to lead the team.

Results:

So 2 wins in the league so far, one against Lazio which is quite impressive, and a win over Ascoli, since which I've stayed out of the relegation zones. Obviously the key to this season is going to be defeating the teams around me.

Other:

The board have also approved another expansion of the stadium, another upgrade of training facilities and an upgrade of the youth facilities. Also I have a balance of 5m still, and I'm not losing that much money each month, I also expect to lose less money now I have some extra seats available.

I have a player who i'm looking at bringing in in the transfer window which will be an awesome signing for my club, I won't say anything 'til I know whether it goes through or not

---------- Post added at 12:51 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 03:32 PM ----------

Ok, so here's an update on the national side:

Results:

World Cup Qualifying:

Very happy with this fightback to get a win in the group, I'm relatively confident I should be able to beat them on the return leg

Bit disappointed with this, I was thinking I could possibly grab a draw, but it never looked at all likely.

Can't complain with this result against a far superior team.

Table:

Can't complain too much with the table as it is at the moment, I should beat Estonia at home, and could sneak points against Ireland home or away, and maybe Iceland away. Poland there is a glimmer of hope in getting a point, Italy- no. The most encouraging thing though is that i'm no long the bully boy of the other teams in these competitions, I can remain competitive in most matches rather than getting slaughtered.

Fixtures for 2013:

Oh yes, and now to reveal the big name signing I made in January:

Yep, Rafael van der Vaart plays for San Marino

He moved to Juventus for 12.75m but only got about 5 games in 2 seasons, he then moved to Empoli where he has only been averaging 6.6 in two seasons, so we'll see hoe he does for me. I think for 1.3m he could be a great signing, I plan to play him regularly and let him regain his form.

 

[Ubernisation]

Club:

Ok, so at the end of the first season in Serie A here are the details:

Table:

As you can see, there were 3 run away losers, and the worst of the rest were all pretty tightly contested. Happy with this though

Results:

Was on a terrible run at the end of the season, the last game was brilliant though, the team really put in the effort and shone in the last game of the season

Other news:

Todorov got young player of the season My stadium is being expanded to hold over 10,000, and the youth and training facilities are both being upgraded, hopefully meaning a promising set of regens in the coming years.

And at the start of the new season, here are the fixtures and the signings:

The players I sold were all really Serie B standard, so got some good cash through this.
As for the incoming players, Balotelli obviously is a quality player, has good stats, I plan on using him mainly as a striker, but I hear he works better as a winger, so I may try this. Joe Hart for free is a good signing, I don't really need him, but for free and low wages I wasn't going to say no. The first two are both 'leading star' potential regens, Ivanovic is a back up defender better than my previous one, Picolo. And Daniel Opare hasn't been doing too well in my game, so I'm hoping that he will turn good. Even if he doesn't, i'm sure I could sell him on for a decent amount.

Will update the national side soon- going to watch some fireworks!

 

[stigen]

nice season in serie a, keep on doing this mate

 

[rrrrrrrrrr]

you're doing well, i hope i can match your success!

 

[YatesyLaa]

Van der Vaart! :O

 

[Ubernisation]

Thanks Stigen, but it seems quite surprising that 40 points gets 13th place! And rrr(etc ) I have stalled at around the 100 rank mark in the national team, I think its going to take a few years, when the regens have taken over from the old players, 'til I can make any more significant advancement. And yes, Van der Vaart Also just signed Ivanovic

Seeing as I forgot to get a picture of players' form last season, i'll list them now:
Fiorillo: 6.70
N'Koulou: 6.78
Supusepa: 6.69 (Need a replacement)
Bolivar: 6.72
Zubar: 6.78
Keko: 6.84
Morton: 6.85 (Worked his way back into the first team)
Taylor: 7.01 (Didn't realise he did this well!)
Todorov: 7.21 (Awesome player)
Vuoso: 6.66 (Had a torrid start to the season and came good)
Simoncini: 6.80 (Only 3 games, going to give him more games this season)
Siligardi: 6.80
Sergio Amor: 6.54 (Only young, hoping he will improve)
Tocacceli: 6.78 (My best San Marinese player)
Matheu: 6.93
Zokora: 6.99
Rinaldi: 6.68 (Cover San Marinese player, sent out for loan this season to Serie B)
Marani: 6.78 (Same as above)
Edman: 6.68
Figoli: 6.77 (Did well in a league I didn't think he could cope with)
Piccolo: 6.75
Tonucci: 6.89

Now for an update on the national team:

Results:

A loss to Poland was expected, but it is always nice when you can score goals against these good teams And another victory over Estonia- I'm no longer the whipping boy in my groups

Best Players:

Thought I'd post a few pictures of my best players, so here we go:

Probably my best player, average rating of 6.85 for the national team, has good stats in the key areas: Marking, Tackling, Heading, Strength and Jumping.

Consistent performer with an average rating of 6.78, with decent stats.

Always important to have a good keeper, luckily one of my best players is a keeper

Main thing I need in my team now is a good striker, Nicola Ciacci is ok, but he is without a club and getting on a bit at 31 years old. Also I have aging players in the two full back positions (Viatioli, 29 no club, and Valentini, 31 no club), and the two winger position, especially on the left.

Now, here's for my future players:

Already on the subs bench for the first team, a very promising player, but unfortunately in the central midfielder position, my strongest and best covered position as a team.

Again another very promising player, but in the position i'm best covered in!

A striker! Wahey. This guy will definately be my first choice striker if he develops as well as I hope, he is already predicted to be better than Ciacci by quite a bit.

 

[Ubernisation]

Update time!

Just gonna look at the national side, and you'll soon see why...

Took the lead, but then dropped to 3-1 behind. When I got it back to 3-2 I was hopeful I could get something out of the game, but a further 2 goals for them put the nail in my team's coffin. However, it was a thrilling game, very exciting and still we scored 3 goals.

!!! Yes, amazing result. I was shocked myself. Two early goals from my best player, Toccaceli, both coming from corners. I enjoyed plenty of possession in the first half on a counterattacking strategy, Italy got one back possibly against the run of play in the 24th minute. The first half remained relatively even throughout, with me probably having the better of it. Second half It was all Italy, but I didn't succumb- here's a picture of the player ratings and the match stats:

They had many more shots, but I had the better possession (mostly first half), the stats are about faithful to the run of play.

Toccaceli was man of the match, scored two goals and put in a sterling defensive performance. Besides my striker (need to get this position sorted out) all my team had a good game

And my Ranking shot up after this game (despite the loss to Iceland) and i'm currently ranked 76th, my highest ranking yes.

 

[YatesyLaa]

OMG U BEAT ITALY AWAY! well done!

 

[Ubernisation]

Haha yes, maybe the team were inspired by this?

I think this is easily my best result not just of this game, but of FM 09 all together

 

[Ubernisation]

Another update, first for the national side:

Went 2-0 down in a first half that I really did not compete in at all, but the the red card for Janczyk late in the first half gave my team a boost. We failed to do anything with the extra man until the 60th minute when we started to put pressure on Poland, in fact early in the second half Poland almost scored twice. Substitute Toccaceli (Striker not defender) scored a fantastic goal taking on 3 of their players and slotting it into the bottom left corner when attacking from the right wing. And a last gasp goal from a free kick in injury time gained us a draw we probably didn't deserve.

I was never in the game in the first half, or for long stretches of the second half. The substitutes around the 60 minute mark had an impact on the game, with Marani scoring a magnificent 30 yard strike, I may give him a few first team starts after this performance. I went all out attacking in the last 10 minutes, but we left ourselves open at the back to concede a 3rd goal.

After these results we are ranked 74th in the world.

Club:

Table after 13 games:

18 points from 13 games is a very good return, and already being 13 points away from the relegation places is magnificent. Very pleased with this position in the table

Fixtures:

Some good results here, the 1-1 draw away to AC Milan, 3-0 win away at Genoa and 2-0 victory over Lazio stand out. Easily the most entertaining game was the 3-3 draw with Udinese, thrilling game. We've lost the last 2 and I hope this doesn't signal the beginning of a bad run, but we have AC Milan away in the Italian Cup a game I will use to rest some first choice players.

On the transfer front I sold Nicolas N'Koulou for 11.25m which seems a ridiculous amount for a player who averaged 6.80 last season, although he does look a good prospect. With this money and funds I had left over from the transfer window I have signed Kyriakos Papodopoulos for 10m from Anderlecht over 24 months (rated leading Serie A and I had very good experiences with him on my Burnley game) and Kostyantyn Kravchenko from Shakhtar for 6.5m over 24 months to sure up my slightly weak midfield (I had to use Beckham as a first choice MC for 5 games due to injuries and poor form). I also have a bid for Rodwell for 8m over 24 months awaiting a contract offer, although there is mass competition to get his signature.

Overall a very good start to the season for us

 

[ben1250]

--

Fair play this thread shows how great football manager really can be with good tactics and the bottle to start right at the bottom, currently im Wales and havent beat a giant as of yet but hopefully with youth coming through i will, any hopes of getting to a major tournament soon Ubernisation ?

 

[Ubernisation]

Sorry, little time to play at the moment, lots of uni work and exams coming up in the next few weeks, but i'll try and get on it a bit at least.

As for major tournaments, looking at the coming euro group: England, Israel, Cyprus, Lithuania, Switzerland. From these teams England are heads and shoulders above me, Switzerland are a fair bit better, Israel quite a bit better, Lithuania probably about on par with me and I'm probably a bit better than Cyprus. So with good results there is a possibility of finishing in 2nd, but I doubt it. I'm targeting the next World Cup (2018) to push for qualification, or at least be in the running for it.

 

[stigen]

nice results specially against italy, hope you would still get up some positions in the league

 

[Ubernisation]

A long overdue update, there's been no national team action but plenty to say for the domestic side.

Table:

Results:

Very pleased with how this is going at the moment, with 10 games to go I already have more points than last season. The 8 game streak without a loss including 5 wins and a 5-0 victory over Empoli is probably the highlight of the season so far It is already mathematically impossible for me to get relegated which is brilliant, and I even have hopes for Europe as if i can push myself into 7th this could happen

Players:

Keko only played about half the games last season and was good, but not spectacular. This season I decided to give him a shot at playing on the right wing in place of Taylor, and he has been phenomenal. I think the average rating speaks for itself and the fact he is only 22 holds great promise. However, he states he wants to play for a higher standard of club; but I have him on a contract for 3 more years, and if i can achieve European games this could make him stay
Other notable players are Todorov (as ever), Ivanovic (doing very well after a poor few years at Chelski), Fiorillo (Very young and consistent keeper) and Carlton Cole. A note on Cole, I brought him in in January for 275k after he had spent 3 years at Pompey and only getting 7 games in 3 years (horrendous injuries). I bought him because Balotelli got a 4 month lay off, and Vuoso had been playing terribly. His value has rocketed to 1.5m and he has played brilliantly as the lone front man, he's also currently keeping Balotelli out of the first 11 as his rating is staying up at around 7.5.

Finances:

Seems a bit of a random thing to show, but I think for a newish team in the top division who are solidly mid table my finances are pretty awesome. I have loads of my transfer budget left unspent, I am making money every month (Just had 5,000 seats added to my stadium ) and I when looking at both inbound and outbound transfers I only spent about 4m.

National Side:



Here are the fixtures for this year, from these games ideally I want victories in all the friendlies (although 3 victories and any form of result against Austria would be fine too). And ideally 4-6 points from the qualification games. I should beat Cyprus and lose to England. The Israel game is the sort of game that could go either way, they do have a better team, but by that game I could have had 3 friendly victories and I am at home, so I am hoping for an upset. Also I am currently ranked 76th in the world.

1 exam left on friday and then i'm free for christmas- so expect more regular updates after next week

And thanks to anyone who still actually follows this; I realise how outdated a FM09 game thread is, but I am enjoying this game so much that I'm not going to get FM10 until I have achieved my aims of a world cup victory and a champions league victory

 

[StuW]

Love the uniqueness of the story. Don't forget to look at Serie A and B teams' youth and reserves for good loanees.

 

[Ubernisation]

Thanks, glad its appreciated And yeah, I don't really like bringing in players on loan in the upper reaches of the game, in the lower leagues I don't mind it; but when I get to the top leagues I prefer to build for the future by buying players rather than be in a state of flux with loanees coming and going from season to season. See I've pretty much got the core of my team together now. I just add a few players each season to replace those who are aging or those who are perhaps weaker than my average squad. Like in the next transfer window I'm probably going to purchase a left back, central midfielder and maybe a centre back or another central midfielder.

 

[StuW]

Yeah true, but at least you have the option, bring them in as cover, as the loanees dont get unhappy at not being played. Can give you some flexibility when it comes to cup games etc.

 

[Jack Fulham]

Still a good story mate, looking forward to next update

 

[Ubernisation]

Had a lazy day and played lots of FM, so another update!

Club:

Table:

Results:

Very happy with how the season went, despite the poor form towards the end of the season, without which we could even have sneaked into the European spots. There was a definite improvement over last season, with us scoring 19 more points than last season. The goal for next season is to try and add maybe another 10 points to this tally and get into the UEFA cup.

Transfers:

So, a lot of activity in the transfer market- much more than I expected/meant to do.
Out:
Morton- After many years of service he was no longer of the standard I needed, and by getting 3m for him I think this is better than him merely making 5-7 sub appearances in a season
Vuoso- Now 3rd choice after Calrton Cole was brought in, no longer needed
Zokora- Same story as Morton but more for saving the cost of his wages
Balotelli- Didn't want to let him go, but he demanded a transfer and I knew this would ruin team morale if I didn't let him go, so thought I would cash in.
Supusepa- Good bid was made for him, had a bad season last time round and a better replacement was brought in.
Opare- Never really made it as I hoped he would

In:
Alejandro- Good solid central midfielder who has been performing very well over the past few seasons; but I may have slightly overspent on him
Mathieu- Although getting on a bit (30) he is a very good left back, something I find hard to find, and is a much better player than Supusepa
Kladrubsky- Very good full back, I had been playing a defensive midfielder (Matheu) as my right back for most of the season, so this was my weakest area that I needed to sort out.
Barazite- Had been rotting in the Arsenal reserves, but has very good stats and he didn't cost too much, so I think he could be a good signing

Youth regens brought in:

Perez Garcia- Looks good, 2nd/3rd choice central defender, could be great.

Josef Kobr- Not brilliant at the moment, but cheap, young and my scouts raved about him- high hopes.

George Popa- Same as above

Filipo Pavone- Same as above above

Srdjan Ivanovic- Drafted in to sort of replace Balotelli but maybe to play second fiddle to Carlton Cole- I think I will rotate them and see if Ivanovic plays well. High hopes for him though, I think if I play him regularly he could become a leading Serie A striker.

Manuel Escobar- Will be on the subs bench in most games, but he will get a few games.

The players who are not part of the first team plans have all been sent out on loan to gain first team experience.

Team:

This is the formation and team sheet I plan on playing, with Cole and Ivanovic being rotated unless one of them goes on a good run of form. Kravchenko will often be on the first 11 team sheet, but for now I want to give the new players a go, also Escobar isn't in the first 18 at the start, but I think Vasquez or Matheu may be dropped for him, not sure yet.

National side:

Not much to report, except the very annoying news that Nicola Ciacci, the top goalscorer in the history of the nation, has decided to retire from football due to not having found a club in the last year. This leaves me with Alan Tocacceli as my lead striker, and he frankly is terrible, I am hoping that my regen, Sergio Arias, will come good sooner rather than later. No good regens of note came through this season, except maybe a keeper who could become ok, but not as good as Simoncini, the current no. 1.

---------- Post added at 08:45 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 11:35 PM ----------

A few things I forgot to mention. My Youth and Training facilities were both upgraded in the summer, as well as a 5,000 seat addition to my stadium taking its capacity to around 10,000. The board are now planning another upgrade of the training and youth facilities, and a 2,000 seat expansion is currently happening on the south stand of the stadium.

I also got this job offer, was pretty chuffed

 

[unknown111222]

Don't Take It.

EDIT: I see now you rejected it