The UEFA Champions League Challenge

[Klippybo]

Ridiculously good season! I'm loving managing some players I've never had before or even heard of too - it makes me start searching for how they got on at the weekend in real life!

I am seriously looking at Hamburg scores etc to see how they are getting on with the likes of Wintzheimer, Ambrosius, Vagnoman etc. An FM save gave me my favourite Spanish side (no guessing who lol), Portuguese side (Benfica), Italian side (Atalanta before they were good lol) and Hamburg are now trying to be my favourite German side.

 

[Klippybo]

Lars Bastrup

Bastrup only had 2 years with Hamburg after signing from AGF in Denmark and in those 2 years he won 2 league titles and the European Cup, he played up front in the final, before rejoining another Danish side after winning the European Cup who I have never heard of!!!! Weird!!! He made 59 apps and scored 18 goals for Hamburg and in 30 appearances for Denmark he scored 10 times.

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PRE-SEASON

I have had a fairly solid pre-season. I am still at Hamburg (Celtic came up - no thanks) so I have stayed put. I remember the first time I did this I won the Champions League in my first 6 seasons with different clubs before going to Porto for a wee while so it is surprising that I am down at Hamburg so early but all of a sudden Hamburg are a side to be reckoned with!!!!

From memory the future destinations that have become available in 3 years have been........

AC Milan
Red Star Belgrade (x3)
Aston Villa
Celtic
Ajax
Manchester United
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Steaua Bucharest
Feyenoord
PSV Eindhoven

Anywho back to the matter at hand and as I write I have one more player to bring in and once again I made a concerted attempt to bring in German players and that very much happened.

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PLAYERS OUT

I sold 2 players for a total of £8.2m and let 1 first team player go out on loan. Aaron Opoku (36 apps, 5 goals) joined Union Berlin for £4.2m. He was always on the periphery of things in the first team and I was happy to move him on although he wasnt at all bad. David Kinsombi joined Paderborn for £4m. He was a bit part player for me but did score an absolute screamer last term and under me he made 38 apps and scored that 1 screamer.

Sergio Gomez is the man who is leaving on loan. He rejected an £11m move away so in the end I had to settle for a loan deal as he joined Cadiz. I also loaned out 2 regens who I signed in the summer.

I also loaned out 3 other players - Robbie Matondo, James Garner and Rolando Mandragora - to cover their wages and give me a loan fee. I signed all 3 in the summer on pre-contracts and did that to loan them out and sell them on for a huge profit. I think if I am still here next season I needed to do this as selling those 3 could boost my transfer kitty by at least £60-75m which could make all the difference in making us competitive at the top level in Europe.

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PLAYERS IN

A German invasion lol!!!!!

Karim Adeyemi is the clubs new record signing and he joined from RB Salzburg for £18m. He is only 21y/o and will compete with Kaio Jorge for the striker position. He is quicker than Kaio Jorge so that gives him a slight advantage and we shall see how he gets on.

Nadiem Amiri came in from Bayer Leverkusen for £14m and he will be my new AMC but can also play out on the wings. He is a decent age and if he gets regular first team football I think he can kick on again and I am happy to bring him in.

Jordan Torunarigha came in from Hertha Berlin for £5m which I think is an absolute bargain. I needed a CB and to get this lad on the cheap is quite a steal I think. He is quick, tall, strong, and hard in the tackle - all good attributes for a CB!

I brought in 2 regens, 1 for the first team and 1 for the future and he has been loaned out. Hendrik Lippert came in from RB Leipzig for £3.5m and the central midfielder who is only 17y/o will be a backup CM for the first team but he will be on the bench mainly or first reserve. He surely will progress and be a top midfield player for both club and country.

Cesar Valencia is a young Colombian striker who I signed for a bargain £45,000 from Deportivo Cali and he has since been loaned out to Hertha Berlin. At only 18y/o he has a lot of room for development and hopefully he will kick on. He has electric pace and rejected Juventus, Inter Milan and Chelsea to come here which was a surprise.

My final signing for the first team is that of Marko Grujic from Liverpool on a free transfer. The Serbian has played in Germany before and he will replace Marc Roca in the side and hopefully he will do better. He is strong and can pick a pass so I hope he fits in well.

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SQUAD/HOPES FOR THE SEASON

I have £2m left to spend and that needs to go on a winger be he a RW or a LW. I had a loan deal accepted for Julian Brandt but he joined Juventus permanently which was a big blow and I have a bid in for another one but yet again another side has offered a permanent transfer. My first XI will be largely the same except Grujic will come in at CM instead of Roca, AMR or AML is up for grabs depending on a transfer, Kaio Jorge and Adeyemi will fight it out to be my No.1 striker and Amiri will be my new AMC.

As for my hopes for the season it is hard to say as we overachieved by so much last season it is hard to judge a true barometer. A top 4 finish and getting into the knockout stages of the Champions League sounds good. We are not going to win it!!!!!​

 

[Klippybo]

Horst Hrubesch

Captain of the night when they won the European Cup, Hrubesch played for 5 years at Hamburg (1978-83) and had a fantastic goalscoring rate of 96 goals in 159 games. He won 3 Bundesliga titles and the European Cup with Hamburg and also won the European Championship with West Germany in 1980. For West Germany he earned 21 caps and scored 6 goals.

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AUGUST

German Supercup

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Jatta, Amiri (Acosta), Fischer, Adeyemi (Kaio Jorge*)

We win the German Supercup but we were given a huge helping hand by the fact that the match was staged at our home stadium!!!!! Grujic, Adeyemi and Amiri made their debuts with mixed results while it took 2 of my subs - Onana and Kaio Jorge - to combine to give us our 2nd goal which proved to be enough.

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DFB-Pokal 1st Round

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Heyer (Chernyshev), Torunarigha, Kitolano, Nmecha, Onana, Cengiz Under, Acosta (Lippert), Fischer, Kaio Jorge (Wintzheimer)

Uerdingen are a 2nd division side but they wouldnt lie down here as despite dominating the game throughout they would never go away. Cengiz Under scored a debut goal and then had one disallowed and out of nowhere they scored a late equaliser. Wintzheimer struck twice in extra-time to put us on easy street but they still managed to pull a goal back but to no avail.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Lippert), Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Kaio Jorge), Amiri (Onana), Jatta*, Adeyemi

Not a bad way to kick-off the Bundesliga season!!! We open up with a comfortable 4-0 win and everything slotted into place well although Cengiz Under went off injured and will be out for a month but I moved Adeyemi onto the RW in his place, Kaio Jorge came on, and he duly scored 2 goals.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Torunarigha, Willems (Toljan), Grujic (Lippert), Brescianini, Adeyemi, Amiri*, Jatta, Kaio Jorge

WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE RESULT!!!!

We were truly magnificent here and once again everything fell into place. I played Adeyemi out of position on the RW and he scored twice, Kaio Jorge deservedly came in and netted, Jatta struck a double and Torunarigha got his first goal for the club. Amiri was MOM though as he assisted 4 goals!!!!

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SUMMARY

We have had an amazing opening month to the season as we claimed the Supercup against Bayer Leverkusen and won narrowly in the DFB-Pokal before we kicked off our league campaign with a 4-0 and 6-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen respectively. It really has been a great start to the season - especially in the league - we have been magnificent and it seems my group of vagabonds seem to have not reached their limit yet!!!!

In the Champions League which is what this save is all about remember we have been given a bit of a nightmare draw. Man Utd, Atalanta and Real Betis.

There were 2 more signings in the transfer window. We desperately needed a winger and after the deal for Brandt fell through I made the move for Cengiz Under from Bayern Munich on loan. Apparently Bayern Munich dont seem to have a problem loaning another player to the league champions!!!! He is a great little player and will hopefully do well here.

Then I brought in another Colombian wonderkid (Colombia always seem to have wonderkids - I always mean to do a save there lol) - called Freddy Gonzalez. The defensive midfielder was brought in for £850,000 and the only problem is that he plays in a position that I dont use so hopefully I can train him up as a CM. I tried to loan him out but for some reason Napoli and Sevilla said that they thought that he didnt want to join them!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KAIO JORGE

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BUNDESLIGA

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[Klippybo]

Thomas von Heesen

Von Heesen had a 14 year spell with Hamburg between 1980-94 and in that time won 2 league titles, 1 DFB-Pokal and of course the European Cup. He came off the bench in the European Cup final and in total he played 368 matches for the club and scored 99 goals.

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SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman*, Ambrosius (Torunarigha), Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini (Onana), Adeyemi (Fischer), Amiri, Jatta, Kaio Jorge

Our first real test of the season and we just about get the job done. Josha Vagnoman set us on our way but they levelled through a stunning Sorloth goal but soon after Kaio Jorge scored with a looping header and that was that.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems (Toljan), Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Adeyemi, Amiri, Jatta, Kaio Jorge* (Wintzheimer)

Although the result was pleasing it is a bad day for the club as Kaio Jorge went off injured late on after scoring twice and it seems he has damaged his cruciate ligaments and will be out for the rest of the season!!!!!!!!

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen (Torunarigha), Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini, Adeyemi, Amiri (Cengiz Under), Jatta, Wintzheimer*

We return to the top table of European football and get a fine victory but the end result doesnt tell the full story as they had 2 goals disallowed and could so easily have snatched a point.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Nmecha), Brescianini*, Adeyemi, Amiri, Jatta, Wintzheimer (Xande)

A stunning performance and result as we thrash newly promoted Stuttgart. Jatta may get all the plaudits for his 2nd half hat-trick but it was my boy Brescianini who ran the show with 1 goal and 3 assists!!!!

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under*, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta, Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

Borussia Monchengladbach have had a torrid start to the season while we are flying and it showed here as a great first half performance saw us rattle in another 4 goals. Amiri got off the mark for us but for all the goals that we are scoring, Adeyemi has been struggling to find the net.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini (Nmecha), Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta, Adeyemi*

ADEYEMI SCORES 4!!!!

I typed out my notice of Adeyemi struggling to score immediately after the last game and he must have somehow read it as he was excellent here and scored all 4 of our goals as the Hamburg steamroller keeps on rolling. Granted 3 of the 4 goals were tap ins but he still had to put them away.

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SUMMARY

Somehow we managed to up our level of performance this month with 6 wins out of 6 and some thrashings being handed out along the way. We put 6 past Stuttgart which was really impressive but we followed that up by scoring 4 past both Borussia teams. We are top of the league with a 100% record, averaging over 4 goals a game and have only conceded 3!!!!!

In the Champions League we beat Real Betis 3-1 although we were a tad fortunate to do so but it gets our campaign off to a good start. By no means do I have a squad capable of winning the champions league on paper but the way my side is playing we can give anyone a game.

There was bad news though when Kaio Jorge picked up a serious injury. He started the season on fire and forced Adeyemi out onto the right wing as he scored 7 goals in 4 starts but his season is almost certainly over.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BAKERY JATTA

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BUNDESLIGA

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[Klippybo]

Ernst Happel

Happel is a legendary name in football. The Austrian was more famous as a manager than a player and he was in charge of Hamburg for 6 years between 1981-87 where he won 2 Bundesligas, 1 DFB-Pokal and of course a European Cup. Austria's national stadium is named after him.

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OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

This was very much like the Betis game where we won but were very fortunate to do so. Atalanta were far better in the first half and in the opening period of the 2nd but we managed to get ahead when Viktor Fischer bundled the ball home on the goal line. It could have been better for us as Brescianini missed a late penalty.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems*, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Cengiz Under, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

A fine away victory but we were a tad lucky as Koln were the better side and all 3 of our shots on target found the back of the net. Add in the fact that Koln had a goal disallowed and I feel extremely fortunate to get this result.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Onana (Lippert), Brescianini*, Xande, Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

9 wins out of 9 with another one here. I decided to drop Grujic who has been in poor form since his arrival so Onana came in and wasnt much better!!!

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen*, Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini, Xande (Fischer), Amiri, Jatta, Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

WOW!!!!!!

A game of two halves this as it was all Man Utd in the first half and all us in the 2nd and it was us who took our chances for a memorable victory and it means we have a 5pt lead in the group after just 3 games.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Xande, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

Our 100% record is over but this feels like a victory given how the game went. We were poor in the first half and Bayern deserved their lead and Musiala also had a goal disallowed however Adeyemi struck early in the 2nd half to have us level. Then it was his turn to have a goal chalked off and it looked as though we had lost it when Musiala chipped Klaesson late on but just 2min later Adeyemi struck again and we rescued a point.

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SUMMARY

Another strong month and we remain unbeaten since the start of the season although it was too close to call in our last match! It was our efforts in the Champions League that stood out though as we beat Atalanta away quite luckily and then thumped Man Utd 3-0 in our next match and we are all but through to the knockout stages.

In the league we beat Koln and then sneaked past Hoffenheim before we salvaged a draw with Bayern Munich despite going behind with only a few minutes to go.

Its all going remarkably well!!!!!

A future destination became available during the month - Nottingham Forest - while I wouldnt be a bit surprised if the Borussia Dortmund job becomes available soon as they are really struggling.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARCO BRESCIANINI

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BUNDESLIGA

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[Klippybo]

1983 European Super Cup Final - Aberdeen 2-0 Hamburg

(had to put this in as an Aberdeen fan lol)

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NOVEMBER

DFB-Pokal 2nd Round

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Onana, Brescianini (Nmecha), Jatta, Amiri (Acosta), Fischer (Xande), Adeyemi*

Adeyemi scores 4 again!!!!!

He was immense here as he netted 4 goals and had 1 goal disallowed and he now has 12 goals for the season and he has only scored in 4 matches all season (2-4-2-4)!!!!!

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini, Xande, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta, Adeyemi (Nmecha)

WHAT THE ACTUAL ****!!!!!!!

We were 3-0 up and cruising yet we failed to win the match against struggling Hannover as Kutesa scored a hat-trick to deny us victory. I am not happy with this score.

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Klaesson*, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Xande, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

This win secures out place in the knockout stages but we had to rely on lady luck doing us a favour here as they had a man sent-off and had a stoppage time equaliser disallowed!!! They were still the better side despite being down to 10 men but we managed to cling on for the win - just.

It just popped up - we have gone 35 matches unbeaten!!!!!

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman (Toljan), Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems, Onana, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta*, Fischer (Wintzheimer)

For the 2nd game in a row we throw a way a lead when we were cruising but although it is exasperating it is understandable as my players are out on their feet and are shattered. The international break cant come quick enough!

Jatta got injured in stoppage time here and is out for around a month.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman*, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Toljan, Grujic, Brescianini (Lippert), Cengiz Under, Amiri (Nmecha), Xande, Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

After drawing our last 3 league matches it was imperative that we got back to winning ways and we did so here against bottom of the table Mainz. Vagnoman scored with a fine individual effort before he set up Cengiz Under for the 2nd goal and Xande struck twice in the 2nd half to finish them off.

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Heyer (Chernyshev), Torunarigha, Kitolano, Onana (Lippert), Nmecha (Gonzalez), Xande, Acosta*, Fischer, Wintzheimer

I am over the moon with this result as I expected us to get beat when I decided to go with my backups but they were fantastic and fully deserved their 4-0 win. Gonzalez came off the bench to make his debut and he looks like a top, top player - its just a shame he plays in a position that I dont use!!!!

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SUMMARY

November was far from boring!!!! We kicked off the month with a 5-2 away victory over Koln in the DFB-Pokal with Adeyemi helping himself to 4 goals and after that we were back in league action and threw away a 3 goal lead to draw against Hannover. We edged out Man Utd in a 5 goal thriller somewhat fortunately and then it was another league draw as this time we chucked away a 2 goal lead to draw with Hertha Berlin. Fortunately we have found our winning touch since then with 4-0 victories over Mainz in the league and Real Betis in the Champions League.

We are currently level top with Bayer Leverkusen - who we play next month - and have already won our Champions League group so all is good!!!

Off the pitch the board have agreed to expand our stadium and also my prediction that the Borussia Dortmund job would soon become available has come true but obviously I am not interested in that job just now.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KARIM ADEYEMI

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BUNDESLIGA

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[Klippybo]

A video of our stadium - the Volksparkstadion

DECEMBER

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Toljan, Grujic*, Brescianini, Cengiiz Under, Amiri, Xande (Fischer), Adeyemi

We just did enough to win this match as Adeyemi's goal proved to be the winner. Not a great performance but a win nonetheless.

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UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Heyer (Chernyshev), Torunarigha, Kitolano, Onana (Gonzalez), Nmecha (Lippert), Xande, Acosta, Fischer*, Wintzheimer

We round off our Champions League group stage with a win from my backups to make it 6 wins out of 6 which is nothing sort of incredible considering when the draw was made I thought we would struggle to qualify for the knockout round.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Toljan (Torunarigha), Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under, Amiri (Acosta), Xande (Fischer), Adeyemi*

For over an hour we struggled badly and were a goal behind but from the moment that Brescianini drew us level we were all over them and scored 3 goals plus Adeyemi had a goal disallowed.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Toljan (Torunarigha), Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta*, Adeyemi

Again not a great performance but we managed to sneak a win thanks to an early Jatta goal who lasted the 90mins despite being not fully fit and putting in a MOM performance.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Torunarigha, Toljan, Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

A great result as we maintain our 5pt lead at the top of the table with a draw away against the side who is our closest challengers. Naturally I am disappointed not to have won after being ahead but the bigger picture needs to be looked at.

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SUMMARY

We go into 2024 still unbeaten but this month was too close to call in a couple of occasions as in some matches we just managed to sneak the right result but at the end of the day we have opened up a 5pt lead at the top of the table and emerged with a 100% record in our Champions League group.

I dont envisage much transfer dealings happening in January as the money just isnt there and in the next round of the Champions League we have been drawn against Inter Milan.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSHA VAGNOMAN

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BUNDESLIGA

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[Klippybo]

Fiete Arp is back (again)

JANUARY

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Nmecha), Brescianini*, Cengiz Under (Arp), Amiri, Jatta (Xande), Adeyemi

We return to action after the winter break with a decent away victory. Brescianini converted a penalty and Adeyemi got the 2nd and had a goal disallowed. Fiete Arp came off the bench to make his 3rd debut for the club.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri (Acosta), Jatta, Adeyemi*

A good win as we scored 5 goals with a hat-trick from Adeyemi which takes him up to 20 goals for the season but I am not happy that we conceded 2 goals once they went down to 10 men.

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SUMMARY

Just the 2 games this month but we won both of them and now have an 8pt lead at the top of the table! We are looking good for retaining the title and we are close to going a calendar year unbeaten which is pretty special.

Not much news this month but I did make a signing as I brought back Fiete Arp to the club for his 3rd spell here. I paid Bayern Munich £225,000 for him so it is a bit of a bargain although he is on decent wages.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KARIM ADEYEMI

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BUNDESLIGA

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[Klippybo]

Bakery Jatta

FEBRUARY

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini (Onana), Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta, Adeyemi (Arp)

Our first defeat of the season and ends our unbeaten league run at 28 matches. We were truly terrible and were lucky to only lose by 2. A shocking performance and our lead at the top is now reduced to 5pts.

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DFB-Pokal 3rd Round

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini (Nmecha), Cengiz Under*, Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

We go through to the next round but apparently despite beating Werder Bremen they have already won this years cup......................

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman*, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

A comfortable enough victory but unfortunately Cengiz Under got injured and will be out for just over a month.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems (Toljan), Grujic (Gonzalez), Brescianini, Xande (Fischer), Amiri, Jatta*, Adeyemi

This win was spoiled by the fact that Willems and Xande went off injured in the first half with Xande out for the same length of time as Cengiz Under so I am running out of right wingers!!! Brescianini scored a worldie of a goal from distance here.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen (Heyer), Toljan, Grujic (Lippert), Brescianini, Jatta, Amiri*, Fischer (Wintzheimer), Adeyemi

An easy victory against struggling Borussia Monchengladbach who have recently sacked Ronald Koeman. Amiri got just his 5th goal of the season and Wintzheimer had an effort disallowed.

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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Toljan, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini (Nmecha), Jatta*, Amiri, Fischer (Acosta), Adeyemi

FELIX NMECHA!!!!!!!

He has barely been involved this season but he came off the bench here to score a stoppage time winner. We were excellent here and fully deserved the victory and we go into the 2nd leg with 2 away goals which could be vital.

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SUMMARY

This month saw us lose our first game of the season when we fell to a 2-0 defeat against Leipzig but thankfully we kicked on again and won our next 3 league matches and our lead at the top of the table is back up to 8pts. We also progressed in the DFB-Pokal but the biggest game of the month was our Champions League tie against Inter Milan and we rocked up to the San Siro and won 2-1 but the tie is far from over.

To have done so well this month is particularly pleasing if you take into account our injuries with Xande, Cengiz Under, Willems and of course Kaio Jorge all being out plus a few others sporadically.

Youth intake is next month - apparently a golden generation!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BAKERY JATTA

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BUNDESLIGA

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[callumw180]

Getting some great results (don't know how you're doing it ) , do you change anything before away matches or stick with the tactic?

 

[Klippybo]

Karim Adeyemi

MARCH

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Torunarigha, Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini, Jatta (Wintzheimer), Amiri (Nmecha), Fischer*, Adeyemi

A very entertaining affair and a fair scoreline. Viktor Fischer was our unlikely hero with 2 goals which were his first league goals of the season.

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DFB-Pokal Quarter-Final

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen (Torunarigha), Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini (Nmecha), Jatta, Amiri, Fischer, Adeyemi*

Into the semis we go. We fell behind when an error from Klaesson allowed Vlasic to score from distance but we were soon level when Brescianini thundered in a long range effort himself. Adeyemi put us in front and then they had a goal disallowed but Viktor Fischer scored a 3rd and it was game over.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman (Toljan), Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini, Jatta (Arp), Amiri (Acosta), Fischer, Adeyemi*

Karim Adeyemi scored a superb hat-trick here to lift us to victory but it was the well taken goal from Van Drongelen that stole the show as he hardly ever scores and it was a fine finish into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

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Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Jatta (Cengiz Under), Amiri, Fischer (Xande), Adeyemi

Not good enough. We fall to our 2nd defeat of the season here and we were well below par. I can look back at Ambrosius having an 87th minute equaliser being disallowed as denying us a point but in the end we got what we deserved.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini, Jatta, Amiri, Fischer (Cengiz Under*), Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

We reach the quarter-finals with a draw here. It was all about seeing the job through and it wasnt until they scored with 6min to go that we were in a chance of going out but Cengiz Under levelled and we go through on aggregate.

--

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems, Onana (Lippert), Brescianini*, Jatta (Cengiz Under), Amiri, Fischer (Xande), Adeyemi

Bayern are in dire straits and lie in 7th position and are managerless and coincidentally I was offered an interview the day before which I attended and I backed up my case for the job here as my side won against them. Adeyemi scored his 30th goal of the season and that was enough although Jatta also had a goal disallowed in the 2nd half.

--

SUMMARY

We had some huge games this month with us playing the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. In the league we are still 8pts ahead and we are ready to celebrate another title win but we are not there yet. We did have some mixed results though as we drew with Dortmund and lost to Hoffenheim but we handed out a hiding to Koln and in our last match of the month we beat managerless Bayern Munich so it is positive.

In the cups we knocked out Hoffenheim to set up a semi-final tie in the DFB-Pokal with Schalke and of course in the Champions League we edged out Inter Milan 3-2 on aggregate and we will play Juventus in the next round. Juventus will be a tough test, no doubt, but I actually think Inter Milan are better than them so we will take them on with confidence.

I didnt get the Bayern Munich job - Allegri got it. Once again I said I would only take over at the end of the season and even if they offered it to me I doubt I would have accepted it as we are in a stronger position than them which is pretty incredible.

As for the youth intake it was decent enough with several players signed up but nobody that stood out.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KARIM ADEYEMI

--

BUNDESLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

Getting some great results (don't know how you're doing it ) , do you change anything before away matches or stick with the tactic?

Stick with the tactic. I go by the thought - if you have the ball you dont concede. Every so often we slip up but regarding my first XI 9 of them are fantastic and pencilled in but Cengiz Under and Grujic are the ones that I have question marks regarding fitting into my tactic.

Jatta I would not normally go near of but his raw pace overcomes any deficiencies.

 

[Klippybo]

Marco Brescianini

APRIL

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius (Heyer), Torunarigha, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri*, Jatta, Adeyemi

Our first-half performance was brilliant as we scored 3 goals and also had 2 goals disallowed. Amiri scored twice which was nice to see while Adeyemi has now scored in his last 4 league games. This win secures Champions League football and I have been given an initial £80m transfer budget for next year.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
View attachment 536974

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta, Adeyemi

You would think that I would be raging having given away a 2 goal lead but we were immense here and how we didnt win by 5 or 6 is beyond me. We created chance after chance after chance yet somehow we come out on the wrong side of the result. If we play half as good in the 2nd leg I think we will be alright. Their keeper got the MOM award which says it all.

--

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman (Toljan), Ambrosius*, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini (Onana), Cengiz Under, Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

Yet again Adeyemi opened the scoring for us for the 5th league game in a row and that helped us to win a tight match. It maybe could've been better considering they had a man sent-off but a win is a win.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman (Toljan), Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Cengiz Under*, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta, Adeyemi

Justice is done after the first leg as we sneak through on away goals. Once again we were the better side but we only had a Cengiz Under goal to show for it but that was all it took to send us into the Champions League semis. Juventus are a poor side in truth.

--

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman*, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini (Nmecha), Cengiz Under, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta, Adeyemi

Yet again Karim Adeyemi opened the scoring for us (6 league games in a row now) and if you take out the matches he played earlier in the season on the RW he would have a goal a game record in the Bundesliga. Anywho we won and we march on.

--

DFB-Pokal Semi-Final

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini*, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta, Adeyemi (Wintzheimer)

We reach the final but it wasnt our finest of performances. Brescianini got the goal - again from distance - and that was that.

--

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

A win here would have secured the title but it wasnt to be and as it was we had to fight from 2 goals down to salvage a draw. It was Xande who was the hero as he beat the Augsburg offside trap to go through and score in stoppage time. Need to do bette rin our next match!

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Klaesson*, Toljan, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen, Willems, Onana, Brescianini (Gonzalez), Cengiz Under, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

SMASH AND GRAB!!!!!!

We were very fortunate to win this match as although we didnt play to badly the scoreline certainly flattered us. Klaesson put in a MOM performance in goal which shows what it was like and they also had an early goal disallowed which was key but we got a penalty which was converted from Brescianini and Cengiz Under scored from a swift counter attack.

--

SUMMARY

We had a great month and we go into the final month of the season within touching distance of a 2nd successive season of winning the league, cup and European trophy!!!!! The league will take care of itself as we only need a point and for Leipzig to win all their games and overturn a deficit of 30 goals in goal difference for us to be denied the title.

In the DFB-Pokal we knocked out Schalke 04 to set up a final tie against Bayer Leverkusen and that will be a tough match as they are a decent side.

However in the Champions League we have been immense. In the quarter-finals we came up against Juventus and after going 2-0 up in the first leg we lost 3-2 but our performance was so good I was quite confident for the 2nd leg and we duly won 1-0 to go through in away goals. In the semis we avoided the one side that I know we wont beat - Liverpool (runners up when I beat them with Barcelona but won it last 2 seasons) - and got Man Utd who we beat home and away in the group stage so I was pretty confident and we then beat them 2-0 at Old Trafford but lady luck was on our side. Atletico Madrid is the other side left in the tournament.

2 more future destinations were available this month - Ajax and Feyenoord.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARCO BRESCIANINI

--

BUNDESLIGA

​

 

[Klippybo]

Kaio Jorge

MAY

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Heyer, Torunarigha, Kitolano, Gonzalez (Lippert), Onana, Xande, Acosta, Fischer, Wintzheimer (Kaio Jorge*)

CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!

To be fair we were confirmed as champions before the match - hence my starting XI - and we got the point we would have needed anyway but the sub plot was the fact that Kaio Jorge finally returned from injury, came off the bench, scored the equaliser and picked up the MOM award!!!!

With me playing my backups it means that Vagnoman, Brescianini and Amiri missed their first league games of the season which is a shame but Klaesson is still an ever present.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Ambrosius, Van Drongelen*, Willems (Toljan), Grujic (Onana), Brescianini, Cengiz Under, Amiri (Acosta), Jatta, Adeyemi

WE ARE IN THE FINAL!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to Wembley we go and even better - Atletico Madrid knocked out Liverpool!!!!!! Despite the narrow scoreline we more than deserved to win this match as we came out of the blocks flying. Van Drongelen got a rare goal and I thought it was tie over but when they made it 2-2 I was a tad worried but Adeyemi struck again and it sealed our 4th win over Man Utd this season.

--

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Heyer (Chernyshev), Torunarigha, Kitolano*, Gonzalez, Onana, Xande, Acosta (Nmecha), Fischer, Kaio Jorge (Arp)

Schalke are battling for a Champions League spot so to beat them with a backup side is quite something. I would never have guessed that Kitolano would have opened the scoring and then Acosta scored the 2nd which was game over.

--

Lineup - Klaesson, Toljan, Heyer (Chernyshev), Torunarigha, Kitolano, Gonzalez, Onana, Xande, Acosta, Fischer (Iordache), Kaio Jorge*

OH MY ******* GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kaio Jorge the superstar as he scores 4 here and had 1 disallowed to boot. With this effort he has 11 goals in the league from only 7 appearances!!!!! He was absolutely superb and so were the whole team as my backup side beat the 3rd best side in Germany by 5 goals to nil. They will be gunning for revenge in the cup final now!!!!

--


DFB-Pokal Final

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems (Toljan), Grujic, Brescianini (Onana), Cengiz Under*, Amiri, Jatta (Fischer), Adeyemi

THE DFB-POKAL IS OURS AGAIN!!!!

Once again we put 5 past Bayer Leverkusen but this time my first team do worse than my backups as they conceded 2 goals. We were terrific here and even Grujic decided to chip in with his first goal of the season. It really was a rout.

Next up is the huge game and I am in turmoil - I love this Hamburg side that I have built but at the same time if we wein the Champions League I will have to leave.

Lets see what happens.

--

UEFA Champions League Final

Lineup - Klaesson, Vagnoman, Torunarigha, Van Drongelen, Willems, Grujic, Brescianini (Onana), Cengiz Under (Xande), Amiri, Jatta*, Adeyemi (Arp)

WE HAVE DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cant quite believe it. To take Hamburg from the relegation zone to being the best team in Europe in just 2 and a half seasons is quite incredible!!!! Jatta scrambled the ball home in the 2nd minute and although we had other chances they probably deserved a leveller as they hit the woodwork several times however we ground out the result to complete a momentous victory.

Diego Simeone got sacked as Atletico Madrid manager immediately after this match.

--

SUMMARY

This month was the month to top all months as we played some of the best football in my time in charge. The league title was clinched without us having to kick a ball so that let me play my backups in the final 3 games and Kaio Jorge came to the fore. He scored our equaliser against Wolfsburg and then on the final day of the season he netted 4 times against Bayer Leverkusen.

We werent finished with Leverkusen however as my first team duly put 5 past them again in the DFB-Pokal final as we trounced them yet again and all that was the build up to the main event - the Champions League final.

After knocking out Man Utd I was delighted to see that Atletico Madrid had managed to edge out Liverpool who I really feared and I thought that we had a chance against Atletico Madrid and so it proved as Bakery Jatta's 2nd minute goal was enough for glory.

Credit goes to Vagnoman, Van Drongelen, Onana, Xande and Jatta for featuring in the final and being at the club long before me.

All of this is great however it is tinged with sadness that I have to now leave Hamburg as I have built them up to have a top quality young side with loads of youngsters in the youth teams that look like they could be special.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KAIO JORGE

 

[Klippybo]

SEASON REVIEW

If last season was perfect then I dont know what this one was!!! We were utterly magnificent and only lost 3 games in all competitions which is pretty remarkable. We retained our league title and the winning margin was 13pts, we also hoovered up the Supercup and DFB-Pokal as once again we pressed home our dominance in Germany while the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund floundered.

However it was our European adventures that really surprised me as we won the Champions League. I knew we had a decent side and could reach the quarter-finals or so but kind draws and great performances propelled us to glory. Having won all 6 of our group matches including 2 against Man Utd we faced Inter Milan who have a really strong side but we edged them out and then came up against Juventus who I thought were weaker than Inter and we duly knocked them out on away goals. Man Utd were beaten home and away again which just left Atletico Madrid and after a 1-0 win the trophy was ours!!!!

As I said - domestically we cannot be rivalled and with the summer arrival of Karim Adeyemi we upped our levels to a new higher standard. He was rattling in the goals for fun while my other summer signing, Amiri, was the creative spark in the side just behind them. We went almost a calendar year unbeaten and had the title wrapped up with 3 games to play.

Leverkusen were hit for 5 as we claimed the DFB-Pokal and we also edged them out in the German Supercup.

--

FINAL TABLE

--

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

Goalkeepers - As usual it was just the one as Kristoffer Klaesson played in every match for me and was outstanding. He really has proved to be a huge bargain and he will be one of the players that I will miss upon my departure.

Defenders - The 3 that I inherited, Vagnoman, Van Drongelen and Ambrosius were all excellent as ever. Who would have thought that when I arrived at the club that they would go onto be good enough to claim a Champions League victory? Jetro Willems completed my back 4 while Torunarigha and Toljan were my main backups. Disappointed that I couldnt give Chernyshev much game time as he looks like a player.

Midfielders - My boy Brescianini had another standout season with 13 goals. He was superb and his goals were either penalties or long range rockets!! His midfield partner however was pretty poor in the shape of Grujic while Onana couldnt quite force him out. Young Freddy Gonzalez has a bright future though and I have arranged an incoming transfer for a Mexican regen wonderkid as a parting gift to Hamburg who should jump straight into the starting lineup.

Nadiem Amiri was my AMC and our most creative player with 17 assists although I wouldve liked him to have scored more while Cengiz Under on the RW had a decent season and Bakery Jatta on the LW was immense as he scored 21 goals in all comps and has just recently been capped by Gambia. Xande, Acosta and Fischer all got plenty of opportunites as backup players to varying degrees of success.

Forwards - At the start of the season Kaio Jorge started on fire but then he got a serious injury and didnt return until the final month of the season but even then he managed to score 5 more goals. It was Karim Adeyemi who was the game changer though with 37 goals in all competitions and 25 in the Bundesliga. At £18m and at just 22y/o he is one of Europes brightest young talents out there. Wintzheimer and Arp barely got a look in.

My Player of the Season - Karim Adeyemi
My Young Player of the Season - Freddy Gonzalez
Must Do Better - Amadou Onana
Donkey of the Season - Marko Grujic

--

SUMMER PLANS

I am going to manage Hamburg until the day of our first game of the season at the latest and therefor sign some players so they can still be the top dogs in Germany. The Feyenoord job is available right now but that doesnt interest me at this point as the Euros are about to happen and maybe there is a chance of a decent destination becoming available after them.​

 

[Klippybo]

With a heavy heart I leave Hamburg. I couldve stayed on until an acceptable job came along but I decided to do their pre-season and sign some players and resign on the day of the Supercup final.

I sold players like Grujic (AC Milan £22m), Lautario Acosta, Heyer and Kitolano while I spent £94m in bringing in new talent to the club.

Maximilian Mittelstadt came in from Borussia Monchengladbach for £25m to compete with Jetro Willems for the LB spot. I signed Antonio Rudiger from Burnley for £22.5m to strengthen the CB spot and I paid Bayern Munich £15.75m for Alexander Nubel to compete for the GK jersey and I decided to give them £11.25m to keep Cengiz Under.

The others were all regens but one of them took my breath away. I was tempted not to go in for him and keep him for my next job but Man Utd and Chelsea were circling around the player so as a parting gift to Hamburg I brought in this young Mexican wonderkid - Fernando Ascencio - from Chivas for £12m.

He will be a star at Hamburg. As for my other signings I wouldnt have signed Nubel and Rudiger normally but decided to buy 2 really storng players for the next manager and he can decide what to do with them!!!!

As for available jobs I didnt go in for Feyenoord or Ajax or Red Star Belgrade (yet again) but good news - Benfica manager Jorge Jesus is the favourite for the Hamburg job. Fingers crossed.​

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY 2025

So it is the end of the transfer window and it is safe to say that I have learned a few lessons!!!!! I am still unemployed albeit I have only been nibbled at or nibbled myself 4 times. Firstly Jorge Jesus was appointed as my replacement so I was overjoyed as I thought I would just walk straight into Benfica but oh no they decided to appoint Gareth Southgate who recently left the England job!!!!

Napoli offered me an interview which I refused (Diego Simeone rocked up there), Leipzig offered me an interview which I attended to get interview practise but they appointed Roberto Martinez (I was going to reject them anyway) and then Newcastle became available at the end of December and I waited a week and when I thought - "**** it I will do it until the end of the season" they told me I missed the interview process and appointed Kenny Jackett!!!!! They are languishing in midtable in the Championship.

Hamburg are challenging for the Champions League and signed an ageing Toni Kroos plus Matias Arezo on loan but they have just sold Torunarigha.

Lessons learned? Next time dont wait all summer before resigning as if I had resigned mid tournament Gareth Southgate wouldnt have went in for the job. Also I think I may need to learn how to do job interviews properly. Is there a fail safe way? If anyone has any tips or to tell me what not to say then please comment!!!!

I still lie in wait for a job...........................​

 

[Klippybo]

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The date 22nd of March 2025 and I have a new job!!!! With 8 games to go in the season and the club lying in 7th place in their division and with them having just being knocked out of the Europa League so their season is over. The club is..............................

BORUSSIA DORTMUND!!!!!!!!!!!

Sergey Semak was in a shoogly position so I said I was interested in the job when asked and within a week he was sacked and I was appointed! I am typing this before I have even gone through my squad so I will take a few screenshots of the squad etc and see if there are any regens worth noting, hopefully, etc. It will be a tough ask to get them into the Champions League next season with just 8 games left however I have over £300m of a transfer kitty so that means we will be a force imminently.

--

SQUAD

So I have a decent enough squad and honestly - I was appointed manager and just started typing this so I havent looked at every player. Not even 5. Sancho, Haaland and Bellingham have all gone but I like the look of Badji and Reyna. The side are far ahead of the Hamburg side that I inherited so with over a £300m transfer budget I think we will be the side to watch in Europe but much work needs to be done.

As I write and as I investigate I thought I would have one or two regens to show you but by god there are 6 or 7 who are huge prospects so what I will do is if one stands out I will show a screenie. This club is really set for big things!!!!

--

BUNDESLIGA

******* typical. If we are to get into the Champions League we have to overcome Hamburg at the moment and my 2nd game in charge is also against my former team!!!

Realistically I think a European qualification is what we are aiming for as I think Hamburg are too far ahead with only 8 games left to play.
​

 

[Klippybo]

1997 Champions League Final - Dortmund v Juventus

MARCH/APRIL

Lineup - Bijlow, Collins, Diakite, Zagadou, Morales (Romero), Emre Can, Reyna, Richarlison, Waldschmidt (Hazard), Alvarez (Talles Magno), Badji*

An entertaining start to my career here with Dortmund as we come from behind to beat Paderborn 3-2. Richarlison put us in front with an effort from outside the area but we were soon 2-1 down including a goal from one of my former Hamburg players. We battled back though as Alvarez tapped home into an empty net and Badji was played in to get the winner.

One thing though. Last night I said I had a good squad. Well now I have had to pick a team I am not happy with it!!! Hardly any full backs, only a couple of CMs but there are wingers galore!!!! Hardly any German talent either.

It is going to be a busy summer!!!!!

This was the last match in March.

--

Lineup - Bijlow, Collins, Diakite, Zagadou, Morales, Emre Can, Stamenic, Richarlison (Laaksonen), Reyna*, Alvarez (Hazard), Badji (Khoza)

A fine victory. They had a goal disallowed early on and in the end we took the lead through a Reyna free-kick and Badji slotted home soon after to make it 2-0. They had Palacios sent-off and it was game over really although they did pull a goal back late on but we just went up to the other end and scored a 3rd.

--

Lineup - Bijlow, Collins, Diakite, Zagadou, Morales, Emre Can, Stamenic, Richarlison (Trincao), Reyna (Khoza), Alvarez (Talles Magno), Badji*

This is a decent result on one hand but in another we played three quarters of the match against 10 men and didnt really look like getting a winner which is a big worry.

--

Lineup - Bijlow, Collins, Diakite, Zagadou, Morales, Emre Can, Stamenic, Richarlison (Waldschmidt), Reyna*, Alvarez (Talles Magno), Badji (Khoza)

Very nice. For the 3rd game in a row we played against 10 men and we made it count here by scoring 3 nice goals. It could have been more as Waldschmidt had a penalty saved in the 2nd half.

--

Lineup - Bijlow, Diakite (Laaksonen), Romero, Zagadou, Collins, Emre Can, Stamenic, Richarlison, Reyna, Alvarez (Trincao), Badji (Khoza)

This is tough to take as we absolutely battered Hoffenheim here. We took the lead through a Richarlison penalty but conceded an equaliser when Davie Selke scored a wonder goal. We kept pummelling them and should have scored 4 or 5 but a defensive slip up let them score a winner and we cant catch Hoffenheim now.

--

SUMMARY

Overall it has been a decent first 5 games in charge but the Hoffenheim game leaves a bad taste in the mouth. If we had won that match like we deserved to then we would have been seriously thinking about a Champions League spot but defeat there means we have 4pts to overturn and that is very unlikely. Other than that it was pretty decent and we even drew against my former side Hamburg.

I cant wait until the season is over though so I can put my influence into the squad and change things up. Already I have agreed to sign 3 players for around £85m in the summer and 2 players have already been sold!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
YOUSSOUPH BADJI

--

BUNDESLIGA

 

[Klippybo]

Signal Iduna Park

MAY

Lineup - Bijlow, Diakite, Romero, Zagadou, Collins, Emre Can (Waldschmidt), Stamenic, Alvarez (Laaksonen), Reyna*, Richarlison, Badji (Atanga)

A massive result - even more so because Hamburg lost so now there is just a 2pt difference between ourselves and a Champions League spot. I realised ahead of this match that I had been playing Richarlison and Alvarez on the wrong wings so I swapped them over and Richarlison duly scored the opener.

--

Lineup - Bijlow, Collins*, Diakite, Zagadou, Morales, Emre Can, Stamenic, Alvarez (Waldschmidt), Reyna, Richarlison (Talles Magno), Badji

It is on!!!!

Mario Stamenic scored the only goal of the game here and we are now just 2pts behind Hamburg who drew there match. We finish the season against Wolfsburg while they play Bayern Munich away.

What a situation to be in. My current side trying to **** up my old side.

--

Lineup - Biljow, Collins, Diakite, Zagadou*, Morales, Emre Can, Stamenic, Alvarez (Trincao), Reyna (Khoza), Richarlison (Talles Magno), Badji

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HERE WE COME!!!!!!!

We won and Hamburg lost 3-0 to Bayern who clinched the title so we end up taking 4th place from my old side. Badji got the deciding goal but he also missed 2 sitters and considering he keeps getting linked with a move to Real Madrid he had better improve his clinicism.

--

SUMMARY

At the start of the month I was pretty much resigned to Europa League football next season but due to a slump in form from Hamburg and with us narrowly winning all 3 games means that we sneak into the Champions League for next season. My 8 games in charge has seen us win 6, draw 1 and lose 1 with 15 goals scored and 7 conceded.

It has been a good start but as I have said before much work needs to be done. Since the last post Thomas Delaney has been sold to a Saudi Arabian club while I have arranged another transfer worth £35m and 2 more player exits have been arranged worth almost £40m.

I go into the summer with a task of completely reshaping the squad and if I took charge of the side today and you offered me just over £300m to make this side a Champions League contender I would be confident so next season I am aiming big depending on my transfers.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
NNAMDI COLLINS

--

FINAL BUNDESLIGA TABLE

​

I feel so sorry for Hamburg who dropped from 4th place to 6th on the last day of the season. They failed in the DFB-Pokal, finished 3rd in their group in the Champions League, exited early from the Europa League, lost the European Super Cup but did win the German Supercup.​