The San Marino Triple – Dreaming The Impossible Dream.

sammyt

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This year I have decided to partake in the San Marino Challenge and not being one for doing things half-heartedly I decided to make it a Triple challenge by activating the Campionato Sammarinese. For this tricky task I realised I would need more then one manager, and to make things slightly easier to follow I decided to use a separate one for each of the aspects that make up the triple. Upon Starting the game, I realised it would be beneficial to use the 2 club mangers as the under 21 and under 19 international mangers. This was in part to make sure the right players get international caps at a young age to aid their development, and to make sure I don’t miss any potential stars.


So let’s get down to business and meet the managers.


First up is the National Team manager Chris Robinson:

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It is his task to try and bring order and respectability to the national team and any updates about his progress will be colour coded with Blue Text.


Next Up Is the San Marino Calcio, and San Marino under 21 boss Sam Turland:

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He is trying to bring the club up the Italian leagues and to champions league glory whilst trying to produce the best young talent for the national team. Any updates about him will be colour coded in Purple. (They were meant to be pink to match the third kit but it didn’t stand out enough)


Finally There Is Pennarossa And San Marino Under 19 Manager Manuel Poggiali:

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The 2 time World Champion in 125cc and 250cc grand prix racing respectively; is trying to make it as a leading Futsal Player at Pennarossa and is currently in the national team squad. In the mean time he will be trying to lead the teams football side to glory as the best in the league and aiming to gain professional status before making a charge on Europe. All of this whilst trying to control the national under 19’s against many tough opponents. His updates will be in Red (as featured on the clubs shirts)
 
good luck mate, that is absolutely epic!

three managers... wow... that will take some serious effort. Manuel Poggiali as Pennarossa manager is a nice touch ;)
 
Good luck mate. I will be following.

Nice Idea with U21 and U19 manager, do you mind if I steal your idea? :)
 
With the transfer season over and done with and pre season at an end it’s time I did an update. This one will focus on the International side of things with the next one focussing on the 2 clubs.


It’s been a tough start to life as a manager for Robinson as he’s not had much football to try and judge player performance on to decide who should be in his squad. With his first game coming up rapidly and only a handful of preseason games being played so far Robinson decided to pick a squad for the first friendly and first competitive game that consisted mainly of domestic based players to find out what they could do. Without his usual Keeper and not knowing that much about his side he knew it would be a tough fixture against a Tunisia side that was ranked 58th in the world. The only plus side being that it was a home game so the players wouldn’t be jetlagged going into the fixture. Knowing he didn’t stand a chance he decided to go with an innovative new tactic he’d seen San Marino Calcio trying out in their opening pre season games. Unfortunately for him this tactic didn’t work aswell for the national side as most of the players just weren’t used to it and it required more skill then they had. This resulted in a very harsh 9-0 loss although looking at the 2 teams on paper you could tell it was going to be a heavy loss for the home side anyway.

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Next up was a Euro 2012 Qualifier against the world number 1 side The Netherlands. For this away fixture to be played at the De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam. As expected the match was all one way traffic in the favour of the World Cup Runners Up and it wasn’t long before they made the breakthrough, even if it was a very scrappy goal by their standards. They doubled their lead after 11 minutes with a run by Elia carving the defence wide open for the first time in the match so far and then slotting a perfectly weighted pass for Van Persie to run on to a score from the edge of the area. Van Persie added his second of the game in the first half stoppage time to make it 3-0 to the Netherlands at the break. The Netherlands came out very attacking for the second half and San Marino had some inspired defending to fend them off. Unfortunately this couldn’t last all game and just after the hour mark Van Persie completed his hattrick with a goal from a corner. After a lot more pressure was applied on the San Marino goal The Netherlands just couldn’t find a way through and the game ended 4-0.

[video=youtube;nvSUjNd3I3U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvSUjNd3I3U[/video]

In terms of the under 21’s Sam Turland was in a Similar situation, with the away game against Bulgaria under 21’s being only a month after he joined, and right at the start of the preseason games he was finding it tough to put together a decent squad due to the lack of information on the players outside of the squad when he took over. On top of this his side weren’t up to full fitness yet and this would come back to haunt them near the end of the match. With Both sides using a flat 442 formation it looked certain that the strongest squad would come out on top and that didn’t bear well for the visitors. Bulgaria scored their first goal of the game after just 30 seconds after some extremely dodgy defending. They scored again after 13 minutes had gone with a well worked throw in routine resulted in a free header for Tonev. They added a third before half time with a great diving header from inside the 6-yard box after the ball was whipped across the face of goal, and that’s how it stayed until halftime.


At the start of the second half the San Marino Under 21’s came out looking to get an early goal to get back into the game and were playing quite aggressively but they couldn’t maintain it and quickly reverted back to their defensive formation after conceding a 4th. After this they started to really tire out and ended up conceding 2 more goals around the 70-minute mark. That’s how the game ended with the home side racking up a 6-0 win which will only delight their supporters and annoy the Sammarinese visitors who were looking to keep the scores close.


It was a different story for Poggiali’s under 19 side as they were playing the less then impressive Luxembourg side away from home and managed to keep the scores level in a close first half despite having a player sent off in the opening minute of the game. They came out for the second half looking like they were set-up to hold on for the draw against the opponents who were still at full strength. After a lot of chances for the hosts the Sammarinese youngsters were starting to tire out a little and the effort they had made so far chasing down the ball was catching up with them. In the 82nd minute, after a lot of pressure Luxembourg finally made the breakthrough and scored thanks to Patrick Da Luz after a give and go with one of his teammates.

[video=youtube;kszs4iIeVYs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszs4iIeVYs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/video]
 
For Turland at San Marino Calcio it was a mixed Pre Season with most results going their way and despite losses to Hoffenheim and Sparta they started the season full of confidence. But before they could start the league season they had to deal with the Coppa Italia Lega Pro where they found themselves in Group H.


They started their cup campaign at home against Santarcangelo Calcio with a come from behind 2-1 win. This was helped by a man of the match performance from Davide Poletti out on the left wing.

[video=youtube;DLKNKtxgS8Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLKNKtxgS8Y[/video]

The second game of the group stages was a lot less close and San Marino ended up dominating, being 2-0 up at halftime despite new signing Gulraiz missing a first half penalty.

[video=youtube;AIkHOWguUG0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIkHOWguUG0&feature=related[/video]

With the trip to Rimini over and done with they had a week to prepare for the visit of Renate. Possession wise this was a close game but the stats tell a different story as the home side clearly coming out on top ending up with a 3-1 win. Villanova scored the first goal of the game after just 14 minutes with the winger poking home a low cross to put the Titani in the lead. The lead was doubled after 44 minutes with the young Matteo Vitaioli scoring the one on one chance after a quick breakaway. And right on the stroke of halftime Luca Pigini added a screamer from all of 30 yards out. In the second half everything looked calm and even as San Marino looked comfortable and were happy to try and hold their 3 goal lead. There was nothing of note until the hour mark when Renate gained a corner and profited from it thanks to a Battaglino Goal. The only other thing to happen in the rest of the game was that Carlo Pelagatti picked up 2 bookings and subsequently a red on 89 and 90 minutes respectively for a couple of fouls leading the media to suspect it might have been tactical. Unfortunately they couldn’t keep this good run going as they headed into their final group game knowing that they were through they sent out a weakened team full of players that need match fitness before the new season which ended up losing 4-1 away from home against the second placed Sambonifacese side. The only highlight of the game from a San Marino perspective is that Gulraiz got on the scoresheet after a counter attack caught the home team by surprise. Although they were already 3 goals down at that point so it was only a consolation effort. Sambonifacese restored their advantage 4 minutes later though and that’s how the game ended. Although the usual keeper Rocchi came back in for the second half and managed to keep a clean sheet proving that he makes a huge difference to the team.



Manuel Poggiali had a tough preseason, drawing against the reserves and losing to Giacomense before getting 3 wins on the trot against Fortitudo Fabriano, Fiorentino and Cailungo respectively and drawing the last pre season game against La Fiorita. Sorry this section is small but it didn't want to go into much detail about pre season and he's not yet had teh first competitive game for the club.


The next update will cover transfers for both clubs and I’m sure the eagle eyed amongst you will have already spotted a few of them.
 
Good update. Interesting that Pigini was playing for you. Gulraiz is a good signing though
 
Well as promised we will look at the transfers of the two club sides and for a change I’ll be starting with Manuel Poggiali’s Pennarossa side.

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I’ll start with the transfers out of the club before looking at the new faces.


The first player Released was Alessandro Pancotti, the 36 year old striker just wasn’t up to scratch compared to the other strikers at the club (which includes 2 internationals) and due to his age he wan’t going to improve and as such got released on a free. So far he’s yet to be picked up by anyone else but that might change during the season.


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Alessandro Brighi was released at the same time as Pncotti and the 35 utility player just wasn’t needed at the club.

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The next player to leave the club was the 23-year-old Paolo Billi who played as a right back or a centre back, but just wasn’t up to scratch.


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34-year-old LM, Enrico Esposito was deemed surplus to requirements at Pennarossa as it became clear that the manager wasn’t happy with his performances in training and didn’t think he had it anymore after 8 years loyal service to the club.

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30-year-old goalie Gabriele Frisoni was released after 12 years service to the club he started his career at.


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The last player released was Matteo Cassadei who is a 27-year-old CentreBack who made 20 appearances last season.

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The last player to leave the club is Michele Rastelli. The 23 year old RM/CM was poached by Cailungo.



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Now it’s time to evaluate the players that have joined the club over the preseason. There is a total of 6 new faces at the club, 5 of which were free transfers and the other one cost £50.



The first man to sign with Pennarossa was Giorgio Bartoli who is an 18-year-old American with Italian as a secondary nationality. He has gone straight into the under 21’s for the time being to aid his development.
 

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Just hours later there was a second foreign player coming in the doors and this highly experienced professional cost just £50 and is someone you have probably already heard of. It is the former Middlesborough player Szilard Nemeth who brings Premier League experience to the amateur side. The 34-year-old still will hopefully lead the line and be a good tutor to younger players before possibly turning into a coach.

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Poggiali then turned his attention towards finding a strike partner for the Slovakian and settled for the 24-year-old Davide Panizza. The poacher is a great addition to the team offering something new going forward.

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The next man through the door was a young Portuguese striker called Alvaro Jalo who is another one for the future and will be looking to learn from Panizza.


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He came in with Francesco Gatti who will hopefully be a rotation/backup to panizza whilst Jalo is still developing.


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And the last man in was LM Swann Valli who joins the club in the hope he can put in a few good crosses and get some key assists during the season.

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Good update. Interesting that Pigini was playing for you. Gulraiz is a good signing though

i've been rotating him half and half with Loiodice, I've found Loiodice to eb the better player in general but Pigini seems to be more attacking which i sometimes need.
 
i've been rotating him half and half with Loiodice, I've found Loiodice to eb the better player in general but Pigini seems to be more attacking which i sometimes need.
I sold him straight away for 20k or so as I thought he was terrible. I had Loiodice playing most of the time but I bought in better midfielders that season.

Im intrigued to see how Pigini does for you
 
I sold him straight away for 20k or so as I thought he was terrible. I had Loiodice playing most of the time but I bought in better midfielders that season.

Im intrigued to see how Pigini does for you

he's got the something i call the matty taylor complex. i.e. he can only score wonder goals from long rangfe but never anything from close range
 
And now for San Marino’s transfers, again starting with those that left the club first. There are only 2 outgoing transfers for the club.

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The only player to be released from their contract was 21-year-old Fabio Di Benedetto after he had a fight with the management and demanded a transfer.

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And the only other player to leave the club was Andrea Nobili as the 19-year-old went out on loan to Real Rimini.

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And then there were a total of 6 players coming in to the club including 1 on loan.


First up is the loan signing of Kristjan Miljevic from Brescia. He has been brought in to the club to rotate the LAM slot with Davide Poletti.

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The first signing of the window was the £20K capture of Andrea Pianetti from AlbinoLeffe who plays as a leftback.

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The next signing is someone who is famous among those who are trying the challenge and whilst I wasn’t originally going to sign him, preferring to rely on my scouts rather then others recommendations he was in the Italy trial day and played really well leading my scout to tell me he’s a must have. Introducing Mohammed Gulraiz.

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Next up is the number one choice goalkeeper who has been playing really well and while he’s not been keeping many cleansheets the most he’s conceded in a game is 2 goals. It’s Jose Rocchi…

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Mamadou Danfa is the next signing, also on a free, and he was signed to play as an anchorman, simply to offer a different option when we need more bite in the middle of the park. The Frenchmen is still young at only 21 so he can still develop a little more although his opportunities will most likely be limited.

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And finally realising that I needed a partner for Biordi at the back I picked up the experienced Tommaso Chiecci for £10k this may seem a lot for someone his age at this level but I believe his experience will help bring Biordi up to a better level of play.

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That sums up the transfers next update will probably be January or February.
 
that was quite a sober transfer campaign, much different from my typical first season frenzy :)

are you planning to use Juri Biordi as a starter in first season? He's been progressing very well for me and I reckon he could become a decent Serie B centre back at his peak, at least in my game.
 
that was quite a sober transfer campaign, much different from my typical first season frenzy :)

are you planning to use Juri Biordi as a starter in first season? He's been progressing very well for me and I reckon he could become a decent Serie B centre back at his peak, at least in my game.

yeah, i'm planning on using him as a regular starter and i'm also planning on rotating vitaioli. the majority of my signings were made with squad depth in mind rather then trying to improve the quality of player in teh first 11 because i felt i only needed a couple of extra players to challenge for promotion.

also i like to try and leave a bit of room in terms of transfer and wage budgets for january incase i get a bad patch of injuries.
 
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