Tetradeca-gone (in sixty years) - The Ballad of Steven Smith
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forameus
forameuss's Career - Chile -
Here we were, in what would prove to be my swansong as Chile boss. I could stick around for World Cup 2030, but I've got to say that doesn't appeal to me. I can't see us having a chance of winning it, so there's no point sticking around. Hopefully we can leave on a high.
The Copa America involves all ten South American nations, plus two guests, who this time happen to me Japan and Mexico's Under 23 teams. I'm not sure if it's a bug or intended, as it always used to be senior teams.
We face Argentina (gulp), Japan Under 23s and Peru, with the top two going through definitely, and the possibility of a best placed runner up.
We started off against Argentina, and they battered us pillar to post. Luckily we picked up maximum points in the remaining two games to go through in 2nd place.
If we were to go all the way, we're likely to have to face Argentina again, or Brazil who I have never beaten.
Luckily, this team just does not know when it is beaten.
It took penalties against Venezuela and extra-time against Paraguay in the final (who somehow beat Brazil) but our 3-2 victory against Argentina in the semi was the standout result.
We've completed the South American double in the same year, and now we don't need to go back there ever again. Hurrah!
forameus
forameuss's Career - Unemployed
So after doing the double in South America, I got the hell out of there on both counts. I intended to leave Chile, but I thought I would stay at Flamengo for a while. Unfortunately, our league form had struggled while we were off on Libertadores duty, so I can't see us getting back into it enough to win the title, which is all I'd be waiting around for. I resigned, leaving myself on a one-way trip to Europe. We'll have to return to North or Central America at some point to pick up the Gold Cup, but the big business is in Europe, with minor international trophies in Africa, Asia and Oceana still on the agenda, then the small matter of the World Cup.
We have seven more trophies to win - we've reached the half-way point.
I put in a handful of applications for national teams, particularly focusing on Africa. I should really aim to pick up the African Cup of Nations and Asian Nations Cup soon, and then leave us with only the Gold Cup to play for outside of Europe. National jobs seem very difficult to come by in this game though.
As for a club job, well I didn't have to wait long before I was offered something very interesting.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Manchester United
Well how could I turn it down? A job at Old Trafford doesn't come along too often. I know what you're thinking though - I'm taking the easy route to Champions League glory. On that count, you'd be wrong though. United have fallen on tough times last season, finishing 7th in the league. That means no Champions League football. I intend to stay here for no more than one season, more to keep myself busy and boost my CV than anything else. I have my eye on another club anyway...
So what do you do when you're in charge of one of the richest clubs in the World? Demand a large contract, and then spend!
With £72 million at my disposal, having already spent 30 before I arrived, I looked forward to strengthening.
And we do need strengthening. Going forward, I imagine we'll be OK, but at the back and in goals we're not great. So given we're good in attack, where do you think I went first? I bought a striker!
Boyer was a necessary signing to shore up the full-back position, but the other two were probably not the smartest moves. We have two very good DMs, so Stone was probably not necessary. However, I could still see the benefit. Buying Dusan Novak was just unnecessary really, especially since I will probably only play one striker. A fool and his money are easily parted...
We moved into the season hoping that I could bring some glory back to Old Trafford.
English Premier League
Not a great start to our Premier League campaign. We've slipped down the table early, but there's a long way to go yet.
Europa League
So far, so good. We did enough in the qualifiers, and continued to do enough in the groups getting six points from our first two games.
Capital One Cup
Into the next round where we face Everton.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Manchester United - October 2027
English Premier League
An unbeaten month in the league puts us back on track after a poor start. It's a big M at the top of the table with both Manchester clubs acting as the bread in a Middlesbrough sandwich. Again, long way to go though.
Europa League
Another win in the Europa League - qualification is looking pretty assured now.
Capital One Cup
We eased past Everton in the 4th round with a fantastic 4-0 win, and booked a tie away in Cardiff.
All in all, a fantastic unbeaten month. If we can keep this up, I may well add some silverware to my personal haul.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Manchester United - October 2027
English Premier League
It was a month of 4-1's in November. We visited the Emirates on a high after beating pretty much everything that was put in front of us in October, but we were sent packing with an emphatic loss. By the time Khusnetdinov scored it was already long over. We redressed the balance in the next match back at Old Trafford by beating QPR 4-1. Unfortunately, we couldn't capitalise in the final Premier League match of the month as Everton got revenge for our Capital One Cup win by snatching a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
All that has seen us slip down the table going into the busy December period. We're still in a three-way with the letter M, but Arsenal and shockingly, Derby, are now ahead of us. We can still chase them down though.
Europa League
Another win, this time against Basel in the return game. We've now qualified for the next round, and another point will clinch the group. It's all been oh so easy.
Capital One Cup
Another win, and we line up a semi-final in January. Should be an early chance for some silverware come February if we can safely negotiate that one.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Manchester United - October 2027
English Premier League
A pretty good month if you forget about our defeat to Derby. We managed to show Manchester City that we were still the biggest team in the city despite their recent glory. We also beat Middlesborough. If we'd managed to beat Derby, it would have been a fantastic month.
All that sent us up to 2nd in the table, but we remain seven points adrift of Arsenal at the top. It'll take something big to overhaul that kind of lead, but I think the team is capable of it. But can we keep fighting on four fronts?
Europa League
I've misplaced the screenshot of the table, but do you really need to see it? We absolutely walked it, confirming our group winners status by winning in Graz and then wrapping it up at Old Trafford against Kharkiv. Job done. We face a trip to Brugge in the Spring.
Capital One Cup
No games this month, but we've been drawn against Leicester in the Semi-final, giving us a chance to visit Wembley if we can get through that.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Manchester United - 2028
We moved into 2028 in a very good position. I had the opportunity to add up to four trophies to my personal collection if we kept up our good form, but I wasn't really happy. There was a reason for that, something more than my usual "I'm bored" reaction.
You see, I said back when I took this job that I had my eye on another.
I know, I know. You're probably thinking this is completely out of the blue, but there is method in my madness.
In real life, I'm getting married in the summer, and we plan to go to Italy for our honeymoon. On booking it, I have fallen absolutely in love with Lake Como. I mean, look at it...
It's just beautiful. They also happen to have a football team (gasp!) based in the town, in one of the most picturesque surroundings I've ever seen on a stadium.
I always wanted a challenge for my European triumph, and initially I thought that would once again be Stockport. But my time with Man United has confirmed something to me - I'm bored with England. It's all so predictable, and the money in the league is insane now. To win the Champions League with Stockport would definitely have been an achievement, but to bring it to Como...that would be magical.
But would I get the chance to do that?
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028
Despite having what can only be described as a terrible budget, I couldn't say no to this. Who knows when the post would come up again? I'm ready for Europe, and ready to settle in for the long haul in Italy.
I added the clause to bring through our own young players, and it remains to be seen whether that will be something that comes back to haunt us. I can't imagine the youth system is the greatest here, which will definitely affect whether i can do this.
That's the background, but how does our team look?
My first impression was wow. We have some very good players for this league. But then I looked closer, and I realised that although we had quality, we were distinctly short on quantity. We have only one center back, and one right back meaning I'll have to either play people out of position or completely change the way I like my teams to play. Luckily going forward we are looking a lot better. We have some decent depth there, and I'm fairly happy with them.
Unluckily, we have neither the time nor the money to strengthen the squad. We'll have to sit with what we have for the remainder of the season.
I have to say, those finances do not look good. We're overbudget on wages, so I'll need to look to lose some players at the end of the season to get back into the black. In the not-so-long term, we need to get promoted, otherwise those finances are never going to get better.
These were the fixtures that ended up fatal for the previous manager. Como were predicted 5th (bottom play-off place) at the start of the season, but they were far closer to the relegation spots when I arrived.
So no cup games left - just thirteen games to try and prove the media right and get that final play-off spot.
All I can say is, thank God for Nicola Ferrari...
We were a team with a distinct lack of defenders, and it absolutely showed. To concede three times on 5 occasions and not actually lose must be some kind of record for me. It always seemed like we would always concede, but crucially we always looked like we would score at least one more. With four games to go, the higher play-off spots looked far out of reach, and it seemed like it would be a straight battle between us and Padova for the final spot. After the game against Cuneo, the team directly below us, ended in a win, we went a crucial point ahead of Padova and into the play-off spots for the first time that season. On looking at our run-ins, we were odds on to hold on. Three of our four games were against relegation threatened teams.
Now ladies and gentlemen, can you guess which of the three teams in those last four games were the relegation ones? Yep, the three I lost points to. I could have forgiven the first draw with Portogruaro, especially after they held Padova to a draw in their next game. However, the 5-2 loss to Allesandria just made us look like a team who had finally had enough. After that, we didn't really have a chance, and that was confounded by another draw in our penultimate game. A win at home to Champions-Elect Treviso did little to raise the spirits - Padova were already too far ahead.
It's annoying, but I would have taken 6th when I arrived here. We have some very good players we can build a team around, and all we really need to do is sort the defence out and add some depth to the team.
A big pre-season is coming up.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028 - Pre-season
Like I said, a big pre-season ahead. We're going to lose some players, either because they want to move to a bigger club or we've let them go at the end of their contract. Who we replace them with is going to be absolutely key.
Transfers
In
Manuel Puigvert - A central defender we most definitely need. At this level, none of the players are going to look amazing, but my scouts rated him far higher than any player we have currently.
Marcos Macias - Another singing, another Spaniard, and another central defender. Pretty much the same deal as Puigvert. My scouts rated this guy highly. His stats are a bit better than Puigvert's too.
Renato Franchina - I stayed a bit closer to home to pick up Renato. He's yet another central defender with good physical and mentals. Should form a good partnership with Macias.
Gregorio Fattori - Fattori should give us a bit of depth on the wings. After playing narrow at Flamengo, I'm making sure that Como will play in my style - quick and wide.
Tommaso di Nola - We may have concentrated on signing central defenders, but we needed a solid goalkeeper behind them. I'm hoping di Nola can be that.
Massimo Metta - Another backup for the wide positions. Metta has some pace which will come in handy
Alejandro Olaizola - Alejandro will provide more depth for the squad, this time in the center.
Orazio de Berardinis - Set piece master Berardinis joins us on loan from Torino. Hopefully he can chip in a few goals from them.
Jaume Torres - This is where things started to get silly. I've let my Director of Football go out and find me players, and as I was on holiday for a few days, he confirmed a few signings for me. This was one. A good player, but quite a big wage.
Damian Rivas - Another BIG wage. Another one picked up by my Director of Football too. He will need to perform well, otherwise I'll be getting rid of him as soon as possible with that wage.
Javi - The final signing, and another from the DoF, spending more of my wage budget on someone I didn't really need.
Damiano de Angeli - A big player arrives from Fiorentina on loan. Almost had an aneurism when I saw the wage, but luckily we're not paying anything. Hopefully he enjoys his time here.
Out
Two big players left. Chiesa wanted to leave after I promised him promotion and then subsequently didn't achieve it. To get 425k for him was also pretty good. That will go a long way. That or pay a useless player's wages for a little while. Colombo also left - he was earning quite a wedge, but had been replaced with new signings. Happy to let him go.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028 - August
A fairly quiet month if you exclude the cup exploits.
I wasn't really familiar with how the cups worked, so I wasn't prepared for my first match of the season being competitive. Luckily it was against lower division Latina. We triumphed 2-0 with our new look side. New signing Jaume Torres got the first with old favourite Nicola Ferrrari adding a second. We managed to fit in a glamour friendly against Villareal before we faced Serie B side Taranto in the cup. We put up quite a fight, forcing them to extra time with a magnificent comeback. At one point we made it 3-2 after being 2-2 down, but unfortunately we just couldn't finish them off. We eventually lost 4-3, but to be honest I could do without this competition and its distractions.
We played a few more friendlies before the league season started, and I was fairly happy with things. I was not happy, however, with that solitary league game. We were absolutely dismantled by Modena and were lucky not to lose by more. Each team had a goal disallowed, but they wouldn't have made much difference to the final result.
Not really much point in showing the table at this stage, but we're 16th. Hopefully we improve that by the end of the season. Hopefully by about 15 places...
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028 - September
Serie C1/A
We started out the month by getting things back on track with a good 2-0 win at home to Carranese. We followed that with a fantastic 5-0 away in wwhere Damian Rivas finally got off the mark. Not only did he get two goals, he also assisted the other three. Hopefully from now he'll kick on and really start to settle into the team. Unfortunately we threw away all the momentum we had gained by letting Padova get the better of us. The media described us as impotent after the game, and they weren't far wrong. A 1-1 draw at Portogruero rounded off the month in the league - apparently that was a good result, but I'm not so sure.
The table looks a lot better now, but we need to keep rising. Promotion is absolutely essential.
Serie C Cup
We breezed into the second round of the cup with a 4-0 win against Benevento. Both our main strikers scored, which is very good news for us.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028 - October
In October, something needed to change. I wasn't happy with the way our expensively assembled squad was playing. We really should be doing much, much better, and we're throwing away silly points. What we need is a change. What we need is belief. What we need is this guy.
Yes. It's "FOUR-FOUR-*******-TWO" time in the lakes. Turns out that the players I have are much better suited to less adventurous formations, and you can't get much less adventurous than the good old 4-4-2.
So let's see how it went
Serie C1/A
A truly perfect month. It's not too difficult to see exactly who has made it so, or closer to it, which two people have made it. Rivas and Ferrari have taken to my 4-4-2 fantastically. I had always had the decision of which one to play - playing both of them has eliminated that problem and turned our team into this. Sixteen of our twenty-one goals have been scored by our strikers. That may seem a silly thing to say, but these days it's a team game - not sure whether I should be worried about the goals not being shared, or happy.
Unfortunately, in our final match of the month we had some terrible news.
Nicola Ferrari is now out for at least four weeks. It's a massive, massive blow, and now we just have to hope nothing happens to Rivas as well.
We're where we want to be.
Serie C Cup
And into the groups we go. This one was not a stroll though. It should have been, and was pretty close to it, but to Perugia's credit, they hung on in there. We were always at least two goals ahead until we hit 5-2, and then they managed to hit two goals. From that point, I had the ominous feeling that the equaliser was going to come, and it did. At 5-5, Damian Rivas decided that he felt inferior to hat-trick hero Ferrari, so he scored his own, and gave us the win. A fantastic game.
Two records broken after that game - hopefully it continues.
Board Confidence
Now that is nice to see. Unfortunately, there's that final line to put a bitter note on things. We are in financial trouble. We need to sell players, that's for sure, but I may struggle to do that. The problem with big contracts is that players get kind of accustomed to them. I'm hoping I can maybe sell some of them to higher division clubs who can handle the fees, but I'm not sure. Something needs to be done though.
This will help. A tiny bit.
forameus
*sigh*
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028 - November
After heading down to the lake to see if I could find any strikers to play for us (George Clooney said no. *******.) I moved into November.
Serie C1/A
Only three league games this month, and three games that proved that we may do alright with both our first choice strikers out. Aniello Gesualdi stepped up to the plate with three big goals, and my midfield and defence helped out too. It was enough in the match againt Feralpi, but we ended up on the wrong end of one of our epic multi-goal games with a 5-4 defeat away to Cuneo. We rounded off the month failing to score against new leaders Spezia. That actually is quite a good result - Spezia have a fantastic defensive record this season, so to not concede and gain a point is a good result. Not great, but good.
We've slipped down the table, but it's still tight at the top.
Serie C Cup
We had our two group games this month. Frosinone held us to a disappointing 0-0 draw, but luckily we won 2-0 against Latina to put us through to the semi-final. Just a handful of games away from a possible trophy now.
Board Confidence
Another very positive monthly review, but we're still struggling with our finances. They're also not happy with me signing Manuel Puigvert...looks like I've found the first player I'll be getting rid of.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2028 - December
There are people who say there are too many injuries in Football Manager. I wasn't one of them. Now I am.
First up though, I managed to offload my old pal Puigvert.
It never really worked out for him unfortunately. He would've been fine if I hadn't signed players better than him afterwards, but that's my fault. He'll head off to Treviso, and I wish him the best of luck.
Serie C1/A
Only league games this month, and in the end it was pretty lucky we only had four. We started off with a hard-fought 1-0 win through a fantastic goal by Javi. If it started off very well, it continued almost as badly. Reggiana destroyed us 3-1. The most worrying thing was not the result however, it was what happened in the aftermath.
One left back and one midfielder now out for over a month. We just don't get any luck, do we?
But wait, here's some luck
Our best striker back in the team just in time for the visit of Mantova. And he ended up being very important, scoring the only goal in that game.
Wait, did I just say luck? I should have known it wouldn't last...
Rivas out for the rest of the season. Second-choice left back (first choice is also injured) out for 5-6 weeks. Nicola Ferrari out for 6-7 weeks. Midfield enforcer Roberto Arboit out for 3-4 weeks.
It never rains, but it pours constantly. Understandably, we rounded off a crushing month with a 2-1 defeat to Modena.
4th now. We're now into the transfer window. We have no money for transfers, but what we do have is a league which is very lax on the number of loans you can make. If we can find teams who are willing to let us have their players without paying wages, we could just get out of this little injury crisis.
Board Confidence
Another month, and another player the board have found to moan about. Still, they're happy with how I'm doing, and that's the main thing.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2029 January
800 games. Time flies when you're having fun.
Transfers/A
Like I planned, we managed to bring in a handful of loan signings to fill out the squad, and all for only 50% of one of the player's wages. Pretty good business.
Juan Jose - Good finisher with decent mentals. He'll certainly do a job for us.
Piero Figliomeni - Good finisher, but Piero has far better physicals than Jose does. Should do well at this level.
Rafael was a late addition found by my Director of Football. Thankfully he's now realised that we don't have the money to sign people like we were doing - this one is another free loan. Should be able to bridge the gap between defence and midfield with his playmaking abilities.
There was one more player signed on loan, but can you guess what happened to him with my luck?
Literally two days after signing him. I'm cursed.
Serie C1/A
Only three games, and two wins. Nicola Ferrari got back to business with a fantastic hat-trick against Padova. I just have to pray that he doesn't get injured again, as even the strikers with far better stats just can't seem to do what he does.
Still in 4th. We are running out of games to climb the table. It's starting to seem like the play-offs may be where we are headed.
Board Confidence
Same as last month.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2029 February
Merry Christmas one and all. This career is not dead, and there is now quite a backlog of stuff to get posting. It'll no doubt take a while, so bear with me.
Serie C1/A
A perfect month in the league. 4 wins, 12 points, and a glimmer of hope in our charge for the title. Nicola Ferrari once again proved himself to be absolutely indispensable. So indispensable this year that he has already broken the club goalscoring record.
This is in February remember. Either this club is just awful (could be right) or Ferrari is just that good. Probably a good helping of both.
But of course, all things Ferrari never do run smoothly, so the game where he broke this record was also the gameAnd because of that, it was obvious what was going to happen next.
He'll play no further part this season unless he makes a miraculous hail mary appearance in the play-offs. With his injury record, I'd probably be an idiot to play him even then.
Three points behind topper-most Spezia. That 4-3 win at Pro Vercelli has really boosted the club and put us to within three points of both clubs at the top. Vercelli have that game in hand though, and with only eight games to go, this could go down to the wire.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2029 March
Serie C1/A
March 2029 was the month that the funk well and truly left our side. We needed to win to keep up the pressure on the top two, and with only two league games to play, we had a decent chance. Couple that with the fact that those two games were against sides who were one blip away from the relegation play-offs, I was even more confident. Unfortunately, my side wasn't, and we slipped to two consecutive draws. N-th choice striker Gesauldi was the only frontman to get a goal this month, and we're clearly missing Ferrari's perplexing quality.
What a difference a month makes. We go from three behind the top two to five behind Spezia and ten behind Pro Vercelli. We have a game in hand over the former, but now Modena have joined the hunt. I can't see beyond Vercelli for the title now though - they've taken advantage of other sides around them dropping points, and ten points at this stage seems unassailable.
Serie C Cup
March saw the semi-finals of the lower league cup. We had drawn table-toppers Spezia in a two legged tie, starting away, and I was desperate to win. A trophy at this stage would be fantastic, and beating Spezia over two legs would hopefully give them that little bit of doubt I needed to steal a march on them in the league.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. We won a fantastic 3-2 battle away in the first leg, and given we're usually fairly strong at home, I was pretty confident. Spezia wanted revenge though, and knocked three past us early on. Two goals would take it to extra-time, but we had to wait until the 92nd minute to get one. We ran out of time, and we were out of the cup. Disappointing, but gives us the league to concentrate on.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2029 April
Serie C1/A
If we died in March, April was when they turned off the life support machine. The title is well and truly gone, if it was ever close in the first place, and it's thanks to some absolutely baffling results.
We started off against Cuneo, with the visitors still having an outside shot at the play-offs. We looked devoid of any kind of idea of how to play football and ended up losing 1-0. Bad, but we didn't deserve much. We followed that exactly how I wanted - thumping Feralpi 4-0. I was then very confident going into our crunch match with Spezia. Pro Vercelli had had a bit of a stutter, and if we could beat Spezia, we would get even closer. Then who knows what would happen? Any dreams of that were extinguished as Spezia absolutely beasted us. 6-1 was the final score, but it was "think of a number and double it" territory. We were lucky to come out of it just losing six. From then it was just stumbling from result to result. A play-off position would be secured with a win, but we couldn't even manage that as we rounded off the month, managing two draws against Carpi and Reggiana. It was enough though, and following these results, we booked our place in the play-offs.
Was I confident that we could beat either Pro Vercelli or Spezia (whoever ended up second) in a possible final? Nope.
With an odd number of teams in the league, it always falls to one team to have a free weekend. And would you believe it, leaders Spezia were that team on the final weekend. They'll have to watch and hope that Pro Vercelli lose.
Unfortunately, they didn't, getting a draw on the final day to take the title. I've misplaced the screenshot of our final result, but we drew, which I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear.
We well and truly crumbled, but our final position means that Modena await us in the play-offs, and I would put a lot of money on us having to face Spezia again in the final, with that 6-1 mauling fresh in our minds.
Serie C1/A - Play-offs
It didn't take an oracle to predict, but Spezia indeed overcame Reggiana and moved into the final. More surprisingly, we joined them. Modena put up quite a fight in the first leg, and when it finished 1-1 I feared the worst for the second leg. But we then went to Modena's back yard and smashed five past them. A fantastic performance, and a fully deserved win. Luckily we had a week to prepare for the first leg, and we would be at home. Tense times.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - 2029 Play-off Final
So it all came down to this. I said we needed promotion to ease our financial worries, and now we were two games away from doing just that. That's good news. The bad news is that there is a team standing in our way who have comprehensively beaten us on the past two occasions, including a 6-1 drubbing just weeks before. It was certainly going to be tough.
Before the game, there was a big decision to make. I usually only play with one striker, which has served me well in my time at Como given that I very rarely have more than one fit striker. However, God-like figure Nicola Ferrari has returned from his latest multi-month lay-off just days before the first leg. Would I risk playing him? I wanted to, but given how fragile he is, I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't fall apart again. I also couldn't guarantee he would be fully fit or any good.
In the end, I just couldn't do it. He wasn't fit enough to start, much as I would have loved him to. He was good enough for a bench spot, and I just prayed we wouldn't need him, so I could unleash him in the second leg.
Three words. Hat. Trick. Hero.
Nicola Ferrari broke the goal-scoring record in his last game three months ago, and it was looking like he wouldn't better it - this has certainly helped. Three more goals to add to his tally and at the absolute best time. Spezia were 2-1 up at half-time, and my hand was forced. I got out the bubble wrap and sent him jogging (lightly) on. Every tackle made me wince, but ten minutes later, I forgot all about that. Forty-five minutes later, he could have broken his leg and it wouldn't have mattered. 3-2 would have been fantastic, but his presence of mind to finish under pressure in the 91st minute gave us a priceless two goal cushion going into the second leg.
Onto the second leg. We go away, back to the scene of our defeat at the end of the league season knowing that if we can keep the score down and at worst only lose by one goal, we'll be in Serie B next season.
It was touch and go, believe me. They were 2-0 up for a long time before Pieor Figliomeni decided that I loved Ferrari a little too much. He couldn't get a hat-trick, but his two goals were more than enough. There were nervy moments with the scores at 2-1, and as the higher seeded team, Spezia would have gone through with the scores at 2-0 or 3-1. The party well and truly started in the 92nd minute when Figliomeni finished well for his second.
Serie B is calling.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - Post-season Round-up and Pre-Season 2029/30
A wonderful end to last season realises the dream I held at the start. Promotion was achieved in fantastic style and we can now look forward to facing some really big names in Italian football. I know it will be tough - our budgets will be miniscule compared to them, but I don't care if we survive by a single goal as long as we survive. It'll be a few years before we darken the door of Serie A.
We also set a nice record along the way. A record number of goals scored by a team really outlined our ridiculous policy of skipping defence entirely. We're lucky we have the strikers to play that way, but it is worrying now we're going to a much stronger league.
I was close to winning manager of the year, but in the end it has to go to the manager who won the league. Good to see the Cuneo manager making it into third, and good to see that "favourites for play-off victory" Spezia's manager nowhere to be seen.
The board are very happy, understandably. I gained promotion just as I promised, and I'm happy enough with the signings I made. We still need quite a bit of rebuilding before next season though.
One big plus for next year - sponsorship has almost doubled. That will make a huge difference to us.
And so will that.
Key Players for Last Season
Renato Franchina - It's a cliche, but "Rock at the Back" never was so apt. We'll need to see if we can keep him come the end of his contract, but I'll be aiming to do just that.
Piero Figliomeni - When all those around him were falling down with many, many injuries, Figliomeni led the line brilliantly. He joined on loan from Genoa in January and scored 13 times in 14 games. A fantastic return. If that wasn't enough, he scored at some of the most important times, most notably with his double in the play-off final second leg. It'll be a shame he'll end up back at Genoa next season.
Nicola Ferrari - He may be injured a lot. Pretty much all the time really. But I couldn't put this list together without mentioning our talisman. With stats like that, if you can still score 26 goals in 24 games, you must be some kind of sorcerer. If he can stay fit, I fully expect him to be even better next year. He's still remarkably young, so has a bright future ahead of him.
Pre-season 2030
As starts to the most important pre-season I've ever had go, this was not a good one. A lot of the players were deadwood, yes, but to let so many players and staff go is going to affect the team. Whether it's adversely remains to be seen, but there needs to be a big recruitment drive, and still we have to be careful with our funds. We may have a bigger budget this time around, but we can't go overboard.
And this is why. When words like "staggering" get trotted out, you know your accountants haven't had a fun year. We'll need to recoup some of those losses.
Transfers
Francesco Scalisi - Excited about this guy. Already has some pretty good stats, and projected to improve. At only 19 hopefully he becomes a very imporant player for us for the foreseeable future.
Lorenzo Lamagni - center backs always feature heavily in my transfers because I always seem to lose a lot of them. Hopefully Lorenzo can be as good as Franchina was last year.
Zezinho - Hopefully he's as impressive as his name sounds.
Edouard Gaudin - A full back that can play on both sides, and given our injury problems, it's highly likely he'll be called upon on both.
Nello Redavid - Future captain material?
Aldo Luigi Bortignon - A new number 1 for us, and it's a position we badly needed filling. A good keeper can mean the difference between relegation and survival, so hopefully Aldo will be that difference.
Giuliano Promutico - Another dual-sided full-back, so plenty of cover there now.
Edgars Ivanovs - I usually concentrate on youth, but Edgars was too good a chance to pass up. With his pace, he should be good at this level - I just hope he doesn't get injured, as all my strikers seem to do.
Title Odds
33-1 seems a bit generous to me...
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - August/September 2029
Serie C1/A
Obviously a busy looking schedule given it includes friendlies. It also included our customary early season divebomb out of the Italian Cup. We piled more misery on the Spezia fans by beating them 4-2 in the first qualifying round, but then Serie A side Torino decided to teach us a lesson in return by beating us 5-1. Still, there is absolutely zero chance I would go to the latter stages of the cup, so to get it out of the way early is pretty good I suppose.
We started off our very first season in Serie B with a fantastic 3-1 win against Latina, and at that point it looked like things would go well. How wrong I was. In the eleven games that followed, I only managed two wins and one draw. The rest were demoralising defeats. Like last season, we never struggled to score, with only one match ending with a blank on our side of the scoresheet - against Pro Vercelli of all people - but our defence was, for want of a better word, woeful. We were nowhere near good enough, and if this is how the season is going to go, we've got a long few months ahead of us.
Us not being in the relegation zone is more of a "not yet" than anything else. Still, if we finish the season in 18th, I'll be delighted. Little victories.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - November 2029
Serie C1/A
It doesn't look too good, but getting four points in four games is pretty good. We're not going to bother the top half of the table, so any points we can claw back will be priceless. Our only win this month was a hard-fought 1-0 at home to Chievo in front of the television cameras - hopefully they'll be back. A 2-2 draw against Sampdoria to round off the month was also welcome, but once again our defence looks hopeless. The clean sheet against Chievo was our first of the season, and I can't see us getting too many more of those.
It's happened, we are now in the drop zone. Strap yourselves in...
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l./Honduras - November 2029
As a break from the unrelenting misery of being a manager out of his depth in the second tier of Italian football, I picked myself up another international job, this time with the hope of picking up the Gold Cup and getting North America completely finished in terms of competitions.
Really, there were only two countries I wanted to manage, or three at a push. Mexico would've been the easy option, and at the time they were number 1 in the World. Obviously it would've been great to manage them, and it would've given me a shot at the World Cup. They didn't want me though. The United States would be my next choice as I won the Gold Cup/Copa America double with them in one crazy summer on FM12. That job rarely came up either though. Canada would be a reluctant third choice, but again, it didn't come up.
However, Honduras did come up, and no sooner had I applied as the offer dropped into my mailbox.
After taking the job, the board declared that they expected easy qualification for the World Cup. That would be great if the previous manager hadn't put the team in a position that is seven points behind the 4th place team with 2 games to play. We also have El Salvador breathing down our necks. If we get through, we face a possible play-off against an Asian, Oceanic or South American team. Guess which one I'd rather have?
I won't beat about the bush about our results. We were rotten.
We did make the play-offs, despite losing both games. In the end we were never going to get anything from Mexico, but should've got something from Costa Rica. We went into the play-offs needing to get something from Japan but struggled in both legs. Two defeats and after four games I had absolutely nothing to show for my time as manager. This could be an even quicker exit from a job than I managed in Uruguay!
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l./Honduras - December 2029
Serie C1/A
Another four points this month, but this time from six games. We are very, very far from being in good form. Once again, no clean sheets, and it seems as though we are contractually obliged to let in two goals every game.
Now deeper in the relegation mire. There's trouble ahead.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l./Honduras - January/February 2030
Serie C1/A
Only one match in January, and we couldn't even use that opportunity to say that we had a 100% record. Another three goals conceded, but a point gained. We couldn't build up any momentum however by losing heavily to both Taranto and Bari. Then something amazing happened - we won two whole games back to back! It was back to the Serie C days of scoring one more than the opposition, but it was six absolutely crucial points, so I'm not going to complain. I will complain about us throwing away that momentum at the end of February by being soundly beaten 3-0 by Lecce.
Those 7 points have given us a bit of a lift, but we're still in the zone of death. We need to keep picking up points.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l./Honduras - March 2030
Serie B
Clean sheets? Who needs them?
Another month of being awful at the back, but check out those greens. We've more than doubled our win column this month alone, and have taken a big step towards safety. I'm extremely proud of my players for bouncing back from a demoralising 5-1 defeat to Juve Stabia by going on a three-match winning run. Fantastic stuff.
Only one match in January, and we couldn't even use that opportunity to say that we had a 100% record. Another three goals conceded, but a point gained. We couldn't build up any momentum however by losing heavily to both Taranto and Bari. Then something amazing happened - we won two whole games back to back! It was back to the Serie C days of scoring one more than the opposition, but it was six absolutely crucial points, so I'm not going to complain. I will complain about us throwing away that momentum at the end of February by being soundly beaten 3-0 by Lecce.
With that flurry of points we lift our sorry carcasses out of the relegation zone and open up a seven point gap. There are eight games left to go, so we just need to hope that the teams below us can't pick up the wins they desperately need.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l./Honduras - April/May 2030
Serie B
April was an odd month. Five games and five 1-1 draws. I'm happy for the five points, don't get me wrong, but I would have much preferred to have translated any of those into wins. Luckily, May was better, and we finished off our league campaign with two wins and one loss. But was it enough to see us safely into another season in Serie B?
Just. We may have been five points clear by the end, but I'd forgotten that the two above the zone have to go into a relegation play-off. Luckily we were spared that dubious honour and survived outright. Good feeling, and now we can turn our attention to next year and hope we can establish ourselves in the division.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l./Honduras - Spring/Summer 2031
Honduras
2031 saw a very important six months for the nation of Honduras. They took part in the Central American Nations Cup in January with the hope of qualifying for the Gold Cup in the summer. To win one would be great - to win both would be amazing and quite frankly unbelievable. We are by far the favourites for either tournament, and it's hard to see beyond Mexico for the Gold Cup given they are current World Champions.
But you know what? **** Mexico. We started off 2031 by Taking the Central American Nations Cup back to Honduras. We were unbeaten through our two group games, and then the three knockout games, but Panama did give us a bit of a scare, and it took extra time to see them off. Once we got to the final it was plain sailing as we dispatched El Salvador. That gave us a qualifying spot for the Gold Cup, but I had no idea of the glory that would come when we arrived in the United States in the summer. We had a decidedly dicey start, winning, drawing and losing one game each. We struggled into the second round, but we were just glad to make it in the end. Or not so glad, as we faced World Champions Mexico in the quarter final.
As you can see, such things did not scare us, and after a brutally fought 1-1 draw, we kept our nerves to triumph on penalties. What a feeling. We couldn't rest though - just because we beat Mexico didn't mean we were already champions. We beat El Salvador again in the semis, denying them revenge for the Central American Cup final defeat. We then finished the job with a wonderful 2-1 win over hosts USA in the final. How we did it I have no idea, but we were Gold Cup Champions, and that's another competition crossed off the list.
As a bit of a bumper update this time, here's a little window into what happened next...
I left Honduras after the Gold Cup knowing there was realistically nothing more I could do. Due to an apparent bug with national teams, you can get knocked back from jobs you really should get, so Tonga ended up being my best option. With the Pacific Games on the horizon, it was a good chance to slum it with a tiny side and see if I can bring some success.
As you can see, it went absolutely awfully. Not one goal scored in six games, and we left the Pacific Games in shame. Soon after, so did I.
And there ends my tenure of manager of Tonga. What a ride.
forameus
forameuss's Career - Como Calcio S.r.l. - Pre-Season 2031
After an exciting summer of International football, it was time to return to Serie B action and see if we could repeat our survival heroics of last season.
Before we could even begin to plan, this old chestnut popped up. Board takeovers are a mixed bag - sometimes your job can be under threat, but then on the other hand, sometimes it'll be a tycoon. This guy does not look to be in either camp though - I imagine we'll get little to no investment, but as long as I'm allowed to keep my job, I'll be happy.
Sure enough, just days later our dear leader was unveiled. As expected, no investment and a hefty loan piled on for good measure.
Financially, we're a sinking ship. We have a peak in the summer as money flows in, but that soon tails off as we continuously shell out too much on wages. One season I'm going to need to curb the spending, but at the moment we just can't afford to, otherwise we'll be relegated.
This deal will help slightly, with our sponsorship almost doubling and a continuation of the Serie B TV deal.
The new board rewarded me for guiding the team to safety by giving me a tidy budget for strengthening. All of the transfer budget will be pumped into wages of course, which should give us some room to maneuver.
I was also offered a new contract, which was nice. A slight pay-rise, but more importantly it keeps me at the club for another four years. It's good to have a board that has faith in you long-term.
Transfers
With our squad looking like this for the new season, it was imperative that we brought in a good number of signings to stay competitive in Serie B. Once again, my awful filing system has led to me not having detailed screenshots of the players brought in, so here's a summary...
This will be known as the summer where I finally relented and decided to accept some of the co-ownership offers I'd been receiving. As you can see, it's brought in quite a bit of money to the club, so it's a no brainer really. Christ and Messaoudi will remain with us for this year, so really it's free money for now. Being squad players at best also helps as it shouldn't be too much of a loss if they move after the year is up.
In terms of incomers, another mix of loans and free transfers across the pitch. Jasulan Babenko will be our new number 1, and someone I have high hopes for. Thomas Adam was a player I chased last season, so glad to finally have him now. He'll slot into the defensive midfield of our team quite well I think. The biggest signings for us potentially are Luca Filippi at the back and Vitale up front. The latter joins from Juventus on a season long loan, and the former I'm hoping will have a long and successful career with us. Time will tell.