This is Sparta!!!

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Roberto10Baggio

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Hey all, this is my first attempt at a Football Manager story and I hope you enjoy the read. I have previously played on FM15 with 1860 Munich and helping them to the Champions League Semi's in my ten years at the club, but I got greedy when Chelsea offered me the role of manager and it hasn't been the same since so I have decided on a new challenge.

Game Type: FMClassic. Mainly because each new version of the game they bring out is more in depth and more time consuming to play through. I'm still old school and like to get through seasons without the 15 question press conferences every week etc.

Database: The latest download through steam as of today, and Susie's Real Name Editor.

Leagues Loaded: England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain (all down to the second tier).

Other: I like the idea of promoting from within and developing the youngsters as they come through the ranks. This being the reason I choose clubs with good youth setups.

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The Manager

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Roberto Baggio
Italian
56 Caps / 27 Goals

Playing Career
82-85 Vicenza
85-90 Fiorentina
90-95 Juventus
95-97 AC Milan
97-98 Bologna
98-00 Inter Milan
00-04 Brescia

488 appearances, 218 goals



​
 
Welcome to the Story section! Eager to see your story :)

Best of luck!
 
Sparta Rotterdam

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Club Info
Club: Sparta Rotterdam
Nation: Netherlands
League: Jupiler League (2nd Tier)
Stadium: Het Kasteel, Rotterdam
Capacity: 10,599
Training Facilities: Good
Youth Facilities: Great
Junior Coaching: Good
Youth Recruitment: Established
Media Prediction: 4th

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Finances
Transfer Budget: £85.11k
Wage Budget: £26.67k
Current Wage Bill: £26.54k

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Squad
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First Thoughts: I have a lot of Strikers! Unhappy ones at that. Whilst I don't have a massive budget I think I need to reshuffle the team and get rid of any excess deadwood, whilst scouring to see who I can snap up on a free, a bargain or loan dealing. First things first though, lower that wage bill.

Tactics
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Overview: This is basically a 4-2-3-1 with wingers. With the current squad we are lacking in the wing areas so if I am unable to bring in adequate players I may be forced into changing to a narrow 4-3-3 formation.

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Recruitment
When it comes to recruiting players for my team I try to keep it as realistic as I can. I aim to bring in a core of dutch speaking players over time, and being Italian, throwing some compatriots into the mix occasionally. Obviously if I get to a stage where I can attract an amazing player, I will do my utmost to sign the player regardless of nationality and language spoken.​
 
Pre-Season Update

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Friendly Results​

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Overview: Overall a decent start considering the morale of the players and tweaking the tactic throughout to try and suit the quality of the team. Weirdly I won all of my away fixtures and lost all my home fixtures.
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Transfers

Players In: Unfortunately due to spending constraints and current players needing new contracts (15 in total) I was unable to attract players of a sufficient calibre. As for loans, the only players that would be interested in joining are very young and would add no experience to my side. Luckily however I have managed to promote a few of the younger lads into the first team to provide a bit of depth.

Players Out: Despite trying to offload a couple of the players that will not fit into my setup I have struggled to garner any interest for them. My Director of Football will continue to try and offload them but as of yet no offers.​

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Key Players

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Michel Breuer
The experienced centre back will be key in my promotion this season. With ten seasons of top flight football to his name he will be a player the youngsters will look to for guidance and motivation when the going gets tough. My only concern will be his stamina but I'm hoping he can prove me wrong and last the season.

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Johan Voskamp
I believe Johan will be the man to lead the teams promotion push. With his jumping reach, strength, work rate and off the ball attributes, and judging by his pre-season he can hold the ball up well for his team mates and get into space to receive the ball giving any centre back a hard time.
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August Fixtures

Jupiler League
RKC Waalwijk - Away
SC Telstar - Home
Achilles'29 - Away
De Graafschap - Away
Fortuna Sittard - Home​
 
August Update

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Results​

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Overview: Not a bad start to my career but it could have been so much better as we never really hit our stride, but the signs are there that we can improve. With each match only separated by the one goal each game was a tentative affair to the very last minute.
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Reaction: A great way to start the season, we chased the ball down, we retained possession well and we got the goal we needed. However our creativity was lacking and the only reason we got our goal was due to a misplaced pass back.
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Reaction: There is no doubt in my mind that the oppositions tactics in this match was to disrupt our play. It was hard tackle after hard tackle after hard tackle, foul after foul after foul. We prevailed, we got the goal we needed and I'm glad we managed to get through the game with no injuries.
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Reaction: A match that really could have gone either way. We conceded due to a botched clearance and the oppositions defence was absolutely solid. We just couldn't break them down.
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Reaction: With De Graafschap's reputation I thought this match would be a lot tougher. We were defeated but the result was an injustice. It seemed like the team had finally clicked. Our passing was crisp, our ball retention was spot on and our passes were slicing open the oppositions defence. We just lacked in the finishing department and the defending set pieces area of our game.
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Reaction: We finally clicked. Everything went as near to perfect as possible bar the finishing which still leaves a lot to be desired. Whilst Fortuna seemed more concerned with kicking us than playing football we played them off the field cutting them in half on numerous occasions. As I began to get stressed towards the end of the match we finally got our rewards from a set piece through our wily old veteran Breuer.
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League Table

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Despite the mediocre start to the season you can clearly see that there is nothing in it after the first five games. All the sides are dropping points to each other and right down to 14th place is just three points from 1st place. If it continues like this it could lead to a very interesting season.
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September Fixtures

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With a long break until our next fixtures I'm concerned with the match fitness of the squad so they're now doing fitness based training at a higher intensity and registered to take part in reserve matches so that they can capitalise on the break from competitive football.
With all the games coming up at home I can claim that I am quietly confident that we can get through the month with a string of victories.
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Transfer News

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Despite listing him as having the potential to be a key player for me this season I received an offer on deadline day from Rubin who must've also seen what I had in him. Their offer of 800k was negotiated to £2m and they came back with a £1.5m bid. To my surprise the board decided to take matters into their own hands and accepted on my behalf leaving me no time to find a replacement. The only positive I can take from this is that it's put some money in the bank. Looks like it's down to the youngsters to step up and lead the line.
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September Update

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Results​

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Overview: Disappointing to say the least. Leading up to these matches I believed we were good enough to get the wins in all three but no such luck. We didn't play badly however, luck just wasn't on our side.
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Reaction: Talk about a match to forget. We came in at half time 2-0 down with Helmond having only two shots on goal to our 8 shots with 8 on target. The second half gets under way and we score with our first two shots of the half to equalise only to be undone by a second penalty of the match. To top it off, the media print reports that the penalties were controversial. Time to forget and move on I think.
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Reaction: The public were lucky this match wasn't televised. A dull match with a lack of chances and any real creativity being shown.. then it came alive in the last five minutes. Letting a goal in in the 87th minute, I thought "that's it, I'm out", but then my youngster Hiwat alleviated my fears, for all of two minutes when Venlo took the lead with the final kick of the game from 30 yards out.. an absolute screamer. Ironically it hit the post on the way in too, talk about living up to your name.
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Reaction: After the past two games I was beginning to dread this one. Louis van Gaal had already come out and basically said that a loss in this one and the club should rethink my future. But with those words ringing in my ears I changed my shape. A 4-4-2 with attacking wingers. Whilst the previous formation wasn't exactly bad, it just wasn't working and I panicked. But my instincts proved correct as we romped to victory with a dominating performance.
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League Table

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After some undesirable results in the league and the cup we got a win under our belts in the final game of the month lifting us to 7th and keeping us in contention at the right end of the table. Also, on a bright note with Voskamp out of the picture a 19 year old Romano van der Stoep has stepped up with 3 goals in two league games. Hopefully this continues.
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October Fixtures


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This will be a testing month. Not only are the four final games of the month all away from home but they are all only a few days apart. After the optimism I had for the month just gone I now have some deep pessimism as I worry about whether the squad will be able to cope. Time will tell.​
 
October Update

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Results​

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Overview: Extremely happy with this month as I had pretty low expectations. Luckily we did very well remaining unbeaten for the month, however judging on the performances we could have yet again, had a lot more points and goals. On a bright note van der Stoep has continued to score goals as his development continues.
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Reaction: A great win. Just what we needed to kick on from the win at the end of September. Van der Stoep was again impressive getting another goal to his name.
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Reaction: Van der Stoep on the scoresheet once more to the delight of the fans and even some praise from Louis Van Gaal. We could have won the match after a penalty save then a double save from the rebounds. All in all, happy not to lose but can't help think what might have been.

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Reaction: Going a goal up in the first half gave me a lot of confidence that we could push on for the win. Unfortunately we couldn't keep them at bay and we were lucky to hang on to the point til the final whistle.

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Reaction: Van der Stoep once again on the scoresheet. He has earnt his spot in the team since the unwanted sale of Voskamp. He was the highlight of an otherwise stressful match which could have gone either way which I was happy to take a point from.
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Reaction: What a rollercoaster ride of a match. Going in at half time at 1-1 was an injustice to our dominance. We came back out with the same goal in mind and got a two goal lead and I thought we were going to cruise on, but MVV rallied and got back on level terms with ten minutes to go. Just as I thought I was on my way to a fourth consecutive draw, young winger Hiwat pounced on a rebound to win the match for us.

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League Table

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Despite yet again not reaching our potential we have managed to climb the table again and even keep in contact with the leaders. And Romano van der Stoep has once again shown that he is capable of leading the line, even at a such a young age.
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November Fixtures

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If we continue on our current run of form I'd be confident to say we could remain unbeaten. But due to our inconsitencies and Venlo and Ajax B looking very competitive, I'll take it a game at a time and hope van der Stoep bangs in a few more.​
 
Looks like a good game so far and I will definitely follow. I've never thought to manage in that league so you may have just persuaded me for my next adventure! Thanks.
 
Jedd95 said:
Looks like a good game so far and I will definitely follow. I've never thought to manage in that league so you may have just persuaded me for my next adventure! Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's a league I've never dabbled in before either. I was just looking over the teams with decent youth facilities and recruitment network and Sparta popped up among the bigger named teams and I couldn't resist.

If you start up a story I'll be sure to keep an eye out.
 
November Update

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Results​

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Overview: A mixed feeling with results this month as both of the losses were very disappointing to be a part of. Regardless, nine points from a possible fifteen is not to sniffed at and can only help in our push for promotion. Other teams around us are dropping points and it is up to us to capitalise.
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Reaction: A relatively straight forward victory for the squad as we continue to show our improvement this season. The contribution from each player is becoming a lot more evident and the transition phase from defence to attack is becoming a lot more seamless.
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Reaction: Performancewise we played well. Creating opportunities, taking the lead but ultimately tripping ourselves up. And it just happened to be against one of the teams above us.

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Reaction: Gutted is an complete understatement. We held our own, defended well, looked good attacking. Then the 90th minute struck and we fell apart. What happened? I'm not quite sure, we just decided to stop playing football for a couple of minutes. Disgraceful.

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Reaction: Domination from start to finish, however we just couldn't get the breakthrough we desired from open play. We were fortunate to be awarded a penalty and our veteran duly delivered the goods. In the second half we were given another opportunity and it was that man again, Breuer who did the business. Not bad for a centre back. Good win, great way to bounce back.
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Reaction: Romano van der Stoep finally came to play this month. I'm unsure if I'm placing too much responsibility on the lads shoulders, but he ended his short drought with a brace. A great way to end the month and complete a hattrick of victories over the B teams too.

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League Table

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Keeping our consistent inconsistencies this month we remain in 5th place. If we continue on this path we can clinch a playoff spot but I want more from the lads. We are capable of so much better.
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December Fixtures

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Only the four fixtures coming up in December before the winter break. If we can get at least seven points from the possible twelve I'll be a happy man. We are definitely capable of more but judging on the way we have struggled in some fixtures this season I feel this is a more realistic target for the month.​
 
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