La Leggenda Italiana - A Father & Son Tale

AC Milan have parted ways with manager Massimilano Allegri following a disappointing campaign for the Rossoneri which saw the Lombardy side finish a disappointing fifteen points behind Serie A winning rivals Juventus in third place.
Allegri had been in charge at the San Siro for three years, leading Milan to their first Serie A crown in six years in his first season in charge, however things have not progressed as the club may have hoped, the re-emergence of Napoli as a major force in Italian football has seen Milan slip domestically as well as in Europe after the club only made it to the first knock-out round in this years Champions League competition.

Speculation has already begun as to who will replace Allegri with Fabio Capello and former Milan favourite Clarence Seedorf amongst the favourites. More news as we get it.

Ha ha I've been thinking recently that a Milan story would be fun!

Good luck Rick.

Good luck Rick

Good Luck Rick

Paulo Maldini has thrown his hat into the ring to become the next head coach of Italian giants AC Milan, Speaking today at a interview with a local publication Maldini revealed his desire to remain in football, preferably with the club he served for his entire career.

Although considered an outsider for the job in favour of more experienced names on Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi's shortlist, Maldini, 45, would be a popular choice amongst supporters having made 647 appearances over 24 years with the club, lifting a staggering 26 trophies during those two and a half decades, including seven Serie A titles and five Champions League finals as well as being Italy's all time most capped player. Supporters would no doubt be behind the man they know as 'Il Capitano' getting a chance at reviving the fortunes of his beloved Milan.

Maldini will face stiff competition for the job from the likes of Fabio Capello, Luis Van Gaal, Patrik Kluivert as well as former team mates Clarence Seedorf and Cafu, both of whom have more coaching experience than Maldini.

AC Milan have today confirmed the appointment of Clarence Seedorf as their new head coach, bringing to an end a week of speculation around the San Siro following the sacking of Massimilano Allegri seven days ago.


Former Dutch international captain Seedorf has been trusted with the Rossoneri's top job by chairman/Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi as reward for his ten years of faithful service to Milan between 2002 and 2012 when the midfield warhorse joined from arch-rivals Inter in an exchange deal for Francesco Coco.
Seedorf, 37, began his career at the famed Ajax academy before breaking into the first team at the age of 16, making him the youngest player to ever have turned out for the Dutch giants. He quickly established himself under manager Louis van Gaal, and in the 1993–94 season, his second with the club, he helped the Amsterdam side to win the treble, securing the League title, the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup in the same year. The following season saw Seedorf help his side secure consecutive Super Cup and League titles, as well as help his side to their fourth European Cup trophy, winning the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League defeating his current employers Milan in the final.
Seedorf had a brief spell in Italy with Sampdoria before becoming a galactico at Real Madrid in 1996 where he became an ever present, helping Madrid regain the La Liga title; in his second season (1997–98), he played a major role in the team's Champions League success, as Real Madrid secured a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the final. earning his second Champions League title of his career. He later joined Inter Milan for 23M Euros before switching to AC for the next decade. The midfielder finished his career in Brazil representing Botafoga.

As an inexperienced coach this could be conceived as a risky move by Milan, but Seedorf has certainly captured the imagination of the supporters and can be sure of a vocal backing when he takes charge of his first game this August.

Paolo Maldini has been announced as the new head coach of Serie B outfit Brescia in a suprise move by the Lombardy side.

Maldini is known to have recently coveted a return to AC Milan, the club he served for his entire career following the sacking of Massimilano Allegri in May, however, Maldini was overlooked for the job in favour of former team mate Clarence Seedorf. Speaking at a press conference earlier today Maldini revealed he was 'disappointed but not deterred' by Milan's rejection, admitting he did not yet have the required experience for such a prestigious post but was determined to prove himself to his beloved Rosseneri in order to get the chance to sit in the hallowed San Siro dugout in the future, beginning at Brescia who began looking for a new manager last week following the departure of Ivo Iaconi.

Brescia have yo-yo'd between the top two tiers of Italian football for many years, having being relegated from Serie A after a single season in 2010/11, prior to that the club enjoyed five years in the top flight between 2000 and 2005 under the captaincy of the legendary Robberto Baggio.To date that five year stint remains their longest in Serie A.

Maldini's appointment throws up the interesting situation of two generations of Maldini's at Brescia, with Paolo's 17 year old son Christian set to spend the 2013/14 season on loan from Milan. Paolo, himself a second generation footballer after his farther Cesare who made 347 appearances for Milan, winning four Serie A's and a European cup before going on to manage the club twice.

• Take Brescia to promotion.
• Be Appointed as AC Milan manager.
• Establish a 100% record against Inter Milan and Juve.
• Win eighth Serie A title.
• Win sixth Champions League trophy.
• Be appointed Italy manager.
• Win a International Trophy (The only success that eluded Maldini, he retired from International football before Italy won the 2006 World cup)
• Make Christian equal my mighty trophy haul before he retires.

Profiles
Here is Christian's attributes;

He's still young and should improve plenty, I doubt he will ever become as good as me but that's irrelevant, I shall help him reach the top regardless of his abilities!

I used FMRTE to set myself as his father and visa versa.

Here is my own profile;

Favoured staff don't show on the managerial profile, however Christian is set as my son as well as Milan as my favourite team, I'm also amongst the Milan legends so I shouldn't find it difficult to get the job when it becomes vacant again.

Interesting objectives but you can do it

Here is the FM overview of the club;


And here is my first team squad;

I have a pretty good squad to work with as well as fantastic strength in depth with some very promising youngsters amongst the absolutely massive youth squads so I wouldn't need to strengthen much in order to have a good go at Serie B this season, the media predicts us to come third which may be good enough for promotion, although this division has some really unusual rules regarding promotion;

Will be following mate. I have a massive soft spot for Brescia as I had to be them for an Xbox Live tournament on Pro Evo 5 yeeeeears ago and I formed an unnatural love for Dario Hubner. Nice to see him on the clubs icons.

That's quite a lot of rivals... Good luck!

My managerial career is off to a good start, my Brescia side remained unbeaten throughout pre-season, a run they continued in our first month of competitive matches, even more pleasing is we played some attractive football as well.


All bar one of our competitive goals thus far have come from either striker Daniele Corvia or midfield play-maker Matteo Madorlini, the pair have been in fine form as we reached final qualifying round for the Italian cup with a convincing win over Serie C/1 side Lumezzane and a hard fought victory away at Livorno where winger Luigi Scaglia netted a late winner.
There was another last gasp finish against Avellino when Madorlini popped up in stoppage time to handus an opening day win in Seire B, the perfect start to the season.

I have been using 4-5-1, a nice versitile tactic that is effectve going forward whilst remaining defensively solid;


Christian:
My son made the first senior start of his career in the Lumezzane cup game where he performed well and obtained a solid 7.4 rating;

There will be more opportunities for him throughout the season, however he will have to remain patient as his rival for the right-back spot Marco Zambelli is most definitely my first choice for now;

Decent start as usual Rick, keep it coming

Good start with this. For a moment I expected a Milan story!

That was the idea, nice little twist. It will eventually become a Milan story if I keep to my objectives though.

Nice to see something a little different! Good luck mate

Paolo:
My unbeaten start as Brescia manager continues as we enter October;

A great win over promotion rivals Palermo kicked off September with Corvia once again on target with our winner, we followed up with a convincing 3-0 over Trapani with midfield maestro Matteo Madorlini scoring a brace either side of a Luigi Scaglia strike. The away trip to Cittadella proved more problematic, we surged into a two goal lead after 15 minutes but a reckless challenge by Brazilian midfielder Rueben Olivera reduced us to ten men shortly after, leaving us to defend our lead for over an hour. Citadella did pull one back shortly after half time to make things even more uncomfortable, however with some severe defensive tactical adjustments we did manage to hold out for another victory.
Lanciano proved a much easier challenge as we dominated to extend our lead at the top of Serie B, however after that the goals seemed to dry up as we were unable to find the net against either Crotone or Novara, both of whom we were expected to beat comfortably. Hopefully these two stalemates were merely bumps in the road, despite them my side remain the best defence in the league, having conceded just two goals in the league all season, a testament to the effectiveness of the tactics I have been developing which are very much focused on on a safety first approach.

Unsurprisingly with our good form, we have several players in the team of the month;


Christian:
Made his league début this month when I brought him off the bench in the dying minutes against Trapani, he had no real contribution within that time. Aside from that he has played several games for the under-19's, I shall be trying to give him more first team opportunities soon.

Love the layout mate! KIU

Paolo:
As with all good things, my unbeaten start had to come to an end eventually as we struggled a bit this month with just the one win from four games;

Being held by newly promoted Latina was not a good result, we should have beaten them by a comfortable margin, however we were dire when it came to finishing off our chances and were punished with quarter of an hour to play when Corvina's strike was cancelled out by Federico Viviani. Sub-standard finishing looked as if it was going to cost us again during the visit of Modena with my forwards again in squanderous form, thankfully however luck turned our way as the referee awarded us a last minute penalty from which Brazilian substitute Sodinha netted to secure our first win in four games.
The poor run of form in front of goal again took it's toll as we journeyed to central Italy to face Ternana who have had a poor start to the season, we had plenty of opportunities to win and enjoyed 61% of possession, however we were unable to make that advantage tell as we slipped out of the top three.
Finally came the visit of another Serie A yo-yo team, Bari. Daniele Corvina equalised in the 66th minute to cancel out Edgar Cani's 21st minute opener, after that I thought we would go on to win as we were actually testing the goalkeeper for the first time in a while, however it was not to be as former Italian U21 Mario Defendi struck in the 83rd minute to give me the first defeat of my managerial career.

That poor run sees us drop out of the top three, however there is still a long way to go, My defence is still a brick wall, so if my forwards can rediscover their form I fancy us to climb right back up there.

Christian:
There was no first team action for Christian this month aside from bench warming, instead he had to make do with three appearances for the under-19's where he picked up an average 6.7 rating in each game.

Paolo:
It's hard to gage whether I should count this as a succesful month or not, two wins, two defeats and a draw equal unpredictable form. On our day I'd say we are the best team in Serie B, however we appear to have as many bad days as we do good which is a serious concern if our target of promotion is to be achieved this season.

November started off with a convincing victory at Padova, Spanish anchorman Vitolo giving us an early lead with a long range beauty before Daniele Corvina added a second midway through the first half, the game was already in the bag before winger Luigi Scaglia added a third late on to complete welcome victory after two games without a win.
Next up we played out a real epic with Cesena for the TV watching audience in a first versus second clash, Cesena were 3-1 up at half time thanks to a Andrea Russotto brace and a Davide Succi strike in stoppage time, however Corvina's goal gave us a glimmer of hope at the break. That hope was well founded as wingers Scaglia and Victor Saba helped pull us level with a devastating display in the second period, however as we surged forward for a winner we allowed the visitors too much space which we were punished for in the 85th minute with what surely would prove to be the winner with Succi's second. My boys were not to be outdone in this one though as substitute Richard Lasik popped up in stoppage time to rescue a well earned point.

We followed up on that comeback with another, this time a 2-1 win over Reggina, Daniele Corvina netting both either side of Reggina's opener to take his tally for the season up to ten. Things went down hill from there though, a 16th minute red card for defender Valario DeCesari cost us dearly as Juve Stabia took the lead just three minutes after his dismissal, Corvia equalised ten minutes later but the man advantage eventually paid for Juve when Adriano Mezavilla smashed home a 59th minute winner. Another poor showing followed against midtable Spezia, things were going fine until the break with us just about edging the play, however we found ourselves 2-0 down just minutes after the restart perhaps due to a lack of concentration, we got a late goal back through Juan Antonio, however it was too little too late.

We're still in the hunt, however these inconsistent results need to be eradicated ASAP if we are to stay in the title picture.
I have one player in team of the month;


Christian:
It was a proud month for me as Christian stepped up to make his first league start for the club in the 3-0 win over Padova, he replaced Agostino Camiligliano at left back as Camiligiano was suspended, Christian did a solid job, helping keep a clean sheet, obtaining a 6.6 rating. He was again in the first XI against Reggina, this time at right back with Marco Zambelli struggling with his fitness, Maldini Jr. was again on the winning side although he only managed a 6.1 this time. Still the first team experience is sure to help him.

Good start from you buddy boy.

Great idea, any chance you can upload a save from the start of the season where you have edited in the info? Or would that not work if I don't have the same editor files?

He would only have to send you the editor data file for it to work as its his first season anyway.

Na, he needs my save game as I used FMRTE to set my relationships with colleagues and clubs, if I just sent him the editor data he wouldn't be linked to Christian in any way.

Insider - I'll send it when I get back from work tonight mate.

Thank you, appreciate it.

Paolo:
A truly disastrous festive season has seen us drop like a stone down the table. We didn't manage a single win in December, meaning we have won only once in the last ten games, possibly putting paid to our title ambitions as well as being dumped out of Copa Italia.

I don't know what has gone so badly wrong, I haven't changed anything tactically much and I have a near fully fit side with no injuries or suspensions to speak of, perhaps I should shake things up a bit, my 4-5-1 may have become somewhat stale, as goals havn't been flowing as freely as they did earlier in the season I may experiment with getting rid of my anchorman and going 4-2-3-1, a risk perhaps but I have to chance my arm now before the promotion door closes completely, and my office door with it.

Despite our shit form, goalkeeper Michele Arcari managed to cover himself in glory with a play in team of the month.


In happier news we have agreed to sign an exciting prospect from Dutch side Zwolle;

Darryl is highly recommended by my scouts as a possible big star of the future, receiving five star reviews, he will be joining us next summer, I felt that staying with Zwolle until then was the best move.

Christian:
Just one first team appearance for Christian, he came on as a 63rd minute substitute to replace the injured Agostino Camiligano against Novara in the cup gaining a 6.7 rating.

Paolo:
Just the one game this month, which thankfully yeilded three points and a much improved performance;

I set up with a new 4-2-3-1 formation which worked well, we looked far sharper than in previous game, loan signing Valari Bojinov in the attacking midfielder role really made a difference in terms of creativity and link up play between midfield and Daniele Corvia upfront, Corvia dind't look anywhere near as isolated as he had done in recent weeks and the defence was reinforced by the two deep lying players.

That win moves us up a couple of places;

As I mentioned before I have snapped up Valari Bojinov, the former Fiorentina, Man City and Parma man adds some extra creativity as well as finishing ability in behind Corvina;


Christian:
Came on for the final five minutes, not much more to say than that this month playing wise.

Paolo:
Apologies for jumping ahead a month, got a bit carried away!
Things have improved since my last update when we were languishing mid table after a dire run of results and any prospect of promotion slipping between our fingers, we are now going into the final two months with cautious optimism as we have pulled ourselves back amongst the challengers in a incredibly open field;

There have still been a few bad results, however on the whole we have improved since I did away with wingers and switched to a narrow 4-2-3-1 with the three attacking midfielder's all operating centrally, it has dramatically increased our ball retention and made us that much harder to play through.

Off the pitch I have signed a new one year deal with Brescia, I'm enjoying being at the club and feel I can achieve something here, promotion this season would of course be nice but I am prepared to be patient and begin building a squad of my own design over the next few seasons in order to achive the clubs objective of returning to Serie A, and ultimately staying there.



Christian:
Christian has enjoyed this winter, he made three starts and two substitute appearances in that time, scoring his first ever senior goal against Lanciano which turned out to be the winning strike when he found himself clean through to cap a nice team move, a proud moment for me. He had the ball in the net again in the very next game in the 1-0 win over Crotone, however this time he was adjudged to be offside, still it is very encouraging that he is getting in these positions.

Paolo:
The penultimate month of the season has seen us get ourselves within touching distance of the Serie B crown;

The three draws are frustrating as we would be sitting top on the cusp of promotion right now. But as they say there's no use dwelling on what could have been, we are still in with a good shout, as our pretty much all the top ten. It's going to be a one hell of a tight finish.

Daniele Corvia continues to lead the line, he's second in the Serie B scoring charts, one behind Padova's Hungarian international Robert Feczesin, making him Brescia's all time top scorer in Serie B;


Christian:
Three substitute appearances from the four games this month for my lad, he put in solid shifts in all of those games. He's now made twelve first team appearances, scoring once and attaining a average rating of 6.74.