[FM14] Pentagon - Redux

3rd might be a step too far though, that's where the automatic continental spots are.
4th is still a shot, but we'll need a couple of sides to crumble.

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April 2027

Started April with a bang, finally returning to that goalscoring form that made us top scorers last season.
In fact we're also topping to goal charts this time as well, a surprise given our dour start.



As comfortable as it gets, despite Koroum making life difficult with a flat midfield 5.



Significantly tougher with El Gouna's diamond midfield; Abdellaoui wasn't getting anything from our creators, and had picked up a knock for his troubles.
Farouk was shifted up front and proper wing play was introduced, reaping instant rewards.



A nice comeback after knocking on Ismaily's door for almost half an hour.
Still, a defensive performance that left a lot to be desired after going 2 down midway through the 1st half.
Dropped points as well, not the best result.



So the best we can hope for is Wadi Degla to collapse and for us to snatch 4th spot, then have one of the top 3 win the Egyptian Cup in order for ss to play in the CAF Confederation Cup next season.

In other Smouha news:




Fought tooth and nail for the recruitment request, here's to being able to sell youth prospects to keep us from being bankrupt! \o/

Now to the other side of the world, with the China U21s:



Happened last month, but I'd forgotten about it.
Bit of a nothing match really, just as well because it seems I'd picked the wrong age group to manage - it's the U22s that participate in tournaments here.

May - June 2027 (Cup Month)

The game was over by half time, and the players played like they knew that in the 2nd half.
Still, 3 points in the bag in our chase for 4th.



A frustrating game, we dominated proceedings but couldn't find our shooting boots before Damanhour fired in the opener.
For all our efforts we eventually only scored an equaliser, even after the opposition went down to 10 men.
It also meant that 4th was virtually out of reach, 3 points behind Wadi Degla and with and inferior head-to-head record.



An efficient (if slightly futile) way to end the league campaign.



Losing only 5 games (a league low) was extremely surprising considering our wretched start (3 losses in 4).
Alas an inability to convert some of our 10 draws into wins cost us big time.



As can be seen, we overcame our horrible start to inch our way up the table, only falling short of the top 4.

In any case, the season wasn't over yet, we still had an Egyptian Cup to play, and another shot at continental qualification.
Our first opponents? None other than Al Ahly *gulp* :



Well that was surprising, 3rd time lucky for us this season.
The win was made slightly sweeter given the opener was scored by their S$1.5m record signing, their admittedly talented behemoth of an Iranian centreback.
Oh and how could I forget, El Ashri you beauty - coming on in the 75th minute, he sealed the win with 2 great efforts; definitely a useful player to have already.



The reserves were sent out against the lower-league side, and they displayed their potential to the fullest with a thumping.
Moataz Emam underlined his potential to succeed Mabrouk as our box-to-box engine, while El Ashri led the line well up front.

In fact Abdellaoui hurt his shoulder in training after the match, so with Ibrahim still recovering from his torn hamstring as well, El Ashri had to continue starting up top.



As it turned out, not such a bad move, as he increased his tally to 4 for the tournament.



Yet another winner from El Ashri, against a desperately poor Zamalek side.
Though credit to them for even making it this far, they lost 3 and only won 1 of their last 6 league games, a horrific stretch that sent them crashing out of the top 4, their usual hunting ground.

In the final we meet Ismaily; having finished 1 place and 2 points behind us, Homos (their gaffer) would love to get one over us.



The certainly couldn't have started worse, a calamitous OG from Abdel Fatah.
However, we got into the game with our usual provocative style, and tied the game soon after.
We continued to knock on the door against an Ismaily side who seemed to play mainly on the break, providing a couple of scares.
Eventually it came down the supersub Ibrahim - coming back from a torn hamstring he rose hight to head in the winner.



feelsgoodman.jpg



El Ashri was undoubtedly the MVP here, leading the line for most of the tournament owing to injuries, and contributing vitally for the very most part.



The icing on the cake, we're finally back on the continental stage (albeit not for another 6 months).

A good finish of the season. And congrats on the cup win!

Cheers, though if only we hadn't started off so terribly.

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Key players this season:

Mounir Abdellaoui - You can't not have him mentioned 1st it seems, top scorer this season, breaking the club's seasonal goalscoring record, been the key for us moving awya from the 4-6-0 (as he did last time).
If anything he could do with a bit more consistency, on a couple of occasions we could have done with his goals.

Ahmed Hassan Abdel Kader - Still very much the chief creative force, though he's probably no longer the main goalgetter.
Had a consistent campaign bar that utter horrorshow against Zamalek.

Aymen Farouk - Worked brilliantly as a right-winged poacher,and chipped in with a fair amount of assists as well.

Ahmed Emam - made the left wing spot his own (albeit due to a sheer lack of competition), showed glimpses of excellent combination play.
Only issue would be his injuries, he did miss a fair chunk of the season.

Then there's that usual suspect Mohamed Mabrouk, who unfortunately wouldn't have done enough to defend his PoTY from Abdellaoui.

Also played a couple of freidnlies for the China U21s:



Should've thrashed them given the disparity bewteen the nations, but we managed 'only' 4-2.



Won by the same margin, again underwhelmingly so,
I think the players know that this age group is a bit of a sham in Asia, without any tournaments to participate in it's just a bit of a stepping stone to the U22s, or even worse - a reject pile from the U22s.
I've got half a mind to apply for the U22s, since this seems like a futile effort.

Preseason 2027/28

I'd be very surprised if he finished top scorer and still missed out on the PoTY, so this is par for the course really.



Tersana really won big with their takeover by a tycoon, a whirlwind title and becoming a new regular challenger.



Don't understand how Moqaoloun's rep fell, they finished 2nd last season and did play in a continental competition.



Looks like not spending big on transfers doesn't really help, still bleeding cash at an alarming rate.

Speaking of which:



Plenty of departures, some for a pretty penny.
- Shehata was a decent stopgap for Amin to develop, but he never showed that in any way an upgrade to Amin - slow and prone to lapses in concentration, we couldn't play a high line as a result. Good servant, but goodbye.
That he got picked up by Tersana almost immediately suggests I've missed a trick in these 2 season, but I doubt it.
- Mostafa threw a fit, demanded 1st team football and refused to extend his deal, before eating humble pie and returning after he realised no one else wanted him.
- Adel is a legend in these parts (and a favourite of mine), but it was evident that he wasn't going get a game for us (he's hardly even 5th choice now), so he leaves on loan to get some minutes under his belt. I'll have him in the squad for the CAF Confederation Cup, so he might get a game or two against the early-round opponents.
- Dadzie and Hassan were sold as I didn't I had the the chance to give them game time to develop - Dadzie is non-Egyptian ahile Hassan has to contend in 2 superior under-25s in Ibrahim and Farouk. Probably too the easy option and settled for quick money for Dadzie, but Hassan looked increasingly off unfulfilled talent (albeit not his own fault).

Only the single new arrival:



Signed for peanuts when his youth contract was ending at his former employers', I had to wait a couple years until he turned 18.
Rated higher than Dadzie though, only good news there.


Now for preseaosn:



I gave Adel his testimonial against Tanta, a last hurrah before he left on loan.
All games were arguably against weaker opposition (only Eskisehirspor were superior in a couple of areas).
Regardless, a perfect record would mean good morale going into a new season.



Third favourites despite having virtually no additions to the team? Odd, very odd.

Lastly, the seaosnal opener - the Super Cup:



We benefited greatly from El Aref's two-footed lunge (and Mabrouk's theatrics) an d proceeded to dominate the rest of the conest, eventually securing the Super Cup win - a great start to our campaign.

Extremely wasteful here, caught offside 5 times (all in the 1st half) as chance after chance was being chalked off.
Among other things would be Abdel Fatah's depressingly hilarious own goal, which gave us the ignominy of conceding 3 goals from only 2 shots on target.



Started the youngsters here, El Ashri with a terrific goal to further enhance his reputation as one for the future.
Farouk netted in a great winner as well, though it wasn't the most convincing recovery from our opening-day loss.



Mahmoud Ibrahim was absolutely atrocious this game, couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo, so he was hauled off for Farouk, who again proved to be instrumental.
Still, some embarrassing shooting and poor build-up play on display.



Then we go ahead and undo all our good work with a terrible defensive display.
I'd blame the defence for a shocking performance, but surely the attack can come up with more then a Compaore header from a corner right? Shambles.



Deja vu, an inability to start scoring and we (AGAIN) end up in the bottom half, with a negative goal difference - so frustrating.

September 2027

At times it seemed like Police Union was only interested in kicking the living shit out of us, resulting in knocks on a couple of our players.
Should've had more then just a yellow and a red.



Moqaoloun only really dominated the opening and closing phases of the game, before we went behind and after we'd secured our lead.
Credit where it's due for their comeback.



Starting with a midfield 5 I'd expected Mansoura to play a possession game - alas their equaliser came from a great burst of pace from Bala.
Thankfully we'd managed an equalier before half-time, or there'd be a lashing in the dressing room.



Table's still quite tight, but I'd have preferred not to be at the bottom of the chasing pack.


Finally:



He gets a huge pay rise, after going on many tantrums when I refuse to pay him more than the $180 that he'd been in the 5 or so years as a starter for us.
He had only a year plus left on his current deal so it'd be better to settle it before he starts looking at greener pastures.

Wow $180 to $9,250, if only a bit of crying and moaning worked so well in real life...

I'm just glad it's a game and I'm not being sued for unfair employment tactics!

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October 2027

Rather foolishly stuck to a 4-3-3 against their 3-5-2, when the old 4-6-0 would have helped to regain control of the midfield.
Still, gave the team a right rollicking, Yao in particular for his off-colour defending.



Not a good recovery from the previous game, didn't help that Abdellaoui had another poor game up front, but at least we got an unlikely winner.



Another 3-5-2, so we went with the 4-6-0, dropping the misfiring Abdellauoi.
Paid immediate dividends, but we spent the rest of the game failing to find a second.
Quite worrying that Koroum also managed a couple f chances of their own, did not make for comfortable watching.



Al Ahly showed a remarkable lack of ambition here, no shots at all despite having nearly equal possession.
I'd blame my attack (Abdellaoui and Aymen Farouk in particular) for being wasteful again but when you're playing an Ahly side with a Czech international in goal (!!!!) it was never going to be a walk in the park.



Nevertheless, we finish the month with 2 goals scored and conceded each - despite that we also managed 7 from 12.
Al Ahly are out of reach, but 2nd spot is a cause well worth fighting for here.

Also, a thought for Zamalek, who after selling a couple of key players to new rich kids Tersana and completely failing to replace them, find themselves knee deep in the shitter.

December 2027

Conceding the opener from their 1st shot on target, bad start to say the least.
Didn't help that despite Farouk getting an equaliser we were still extremely wasteful, Abdellaoui (surprise surprise) being a main culprit.
He was hauled off for El Ashri, who reprised his supersub role again to secure us a comeback victory.



You've thought we'd learn from the previous match, but no we concede an early lead again.
Abdellaoui did score this time, but Farouk was less then impressive this time despite using his pace well on multiple occasions.
So it was left to Ibrahim to perform heroics this time, another supersub performance.



We simply had to play the 4-6-0 against their brave but unorthodox 3-6-1, Ibrahim earning a start after hie winner last time out.
He repaid the faith fully, with a storming game down the right, wrapping the game up before the interval and adding a fourth for good measure.



So however unlikely it seemed at various parts of this month we finish with 9 for 9, and within touching distance of Al Ahly.
Zamalek did the chasing pack a solid by managing to hold them to a goalless draw, but there's no denying this season has been a nightmare for them so far.

December 2027

Ibrahim at the double leads to an easy win, half-decent defensive display as well.



Playing a very high line against Tersana's talented, but ultimately slow, sole centre forward paid off as we shut down their attacks quickly.
Also, Ibrahim at the double again, very rich vein of form at the moment.



Relentless pressing paid quick dividends, though we had a bit more faffing about before we actually got a second to put the game out of Samanoud's reach. Then Ibrahim added a third (RED HOT), then the rest came to add a gloss to the scoreline.
Tarek Shawky got an assist as well, really took his chance to impress here.



Another perfect months sees us catapult to 2nd, 3 off the seemingly unbeatable Al Ahly.
A relatively comfortable buffer over the likes of Al Moqaoloun and Tersana as well, looking good.

Lastly, a coaching addition worth mentioning:



Yes he's back, after that good loan spell from Catania.
He's not actually got good attributes, but I'll put that down to him not having any coaching badges as well - hopefully he comes through to be a decent trainer.

January 2028

Conceded the opener again (AGAIN), but we managed to come back well, though Amr Saleh did do his level best in his bid to beat his former team with a goal and an assist.



The 4-6-0 accounted for some of our biggest results in recent years, and this was no different.
Credit where it's due to Military Production though, provided some serious scoring chances and forcing Abdel Fatah to some top saves.



Unfortunately our 8(!) match winning streak (and 11 unbeaten) had to come to an end.
You could see it coming from miles away really, considering (bar his goal) Abdellaoui was guilty of some awful misses, and us not having the control of the game we had in previous matches.
No liking how Yao completely missed the header for their winner though.



We've kept up with Al Ahly for the month, though we went top for a couple of matchdays on goal difference, before our Zamalek trip-up.
I'm wagering that our best hope is to match their form, then beat them in the return fixture to have the head-to-head advantage.

Transfers too, as the January window opened and closed:

Ins:



Signed as a replacement for the outgoing (now gone) Eric Diaby, the intention is to develop him into a centreback who is confortable on the ball.
Will start the Confederation Cup matches, though the Premier League might be too soon for him, at CB anyway.
He's one of the many players Zamalek released prior to their current predicament of a season, one man's trash is another man's tresure I suppose.



Hajji is nothing more than a cheap 3rd choice GK for our Confederation Cup run, and he'l also turn out for the U21/reserves.
Jose Carlos on the other hand, is expected to start in the competition as rotation with Fahmy, who will take the domestic league.

Outs:



Nothing special really, though deadline day was filled with Tersana offering $2m for Mahmoud Ibrahim, amongst other offers from the likes of Al Ahly and Al Moqaoloun as they attempted to dismantle our squad.

There was also the draw for the Confederation Cup 1st round:



An unknown quantity, though it wouldn't be too much to expect us to dish out an annihilation.

Having a superb season to date man Shame Al Ahly are doing so well!

Yeah it's a shame, got a great team going along and we've got a good wave of momentum for once, I can see us beating them in a one-off game though, hopefully we can do so when we meet them.

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Police Union scored with their first effort on goal, we proceed to bombard their end with (wildly inaccurate) efforts, then they finish the game off with their final shot on goal in the game.
That's all I can say about this really, anything more and I'll end up having to get a new laptop.



Our wounds needed some licking, we managed to find relief (and then some) against El Gouna.
Matching their narrow midfield diamond with our 4-6-0 mean that we could match their numbers in the centre.
But it's good to get back to winning ways first and foremost really, could have easily crumbled and shat the bed.



It was imperative to win this, as they were only 2 behind us before the match - so it was good that we had the upper hand for most of the game and eventually secured the victory.



Couldn't say the same for this game - we struggled in our encounter earlier in the season and a similar pattern emerged despite the 4-6-0 attempting to match a flat central midfield 3.
Luckily this time Farouk was to pop up and put in a classic striker's performance - albeit from the right flank.



From 2 consecutive losses we finish with 3 wins on the trot with 3 clean sheets to boot.
And Al Ahly suffered another shock defeat against Masr El Makasa, so they're suddenly within reach again.

Onto the start of our continental conquest:



There's no point knowing the scorers here if you're interested) because this has got to be one of the most pyrrhic victories I've had for some time.
The ref was ridiculous, dishing out fouls and cards like there's no tomorrow and sending Abdel Latif for an early batch before the interval.



Seriously, farcical performance from the ref.



Then there's this, fuck's sake - I can only hope his progress won't be stunted too much, because it'll be a massive pity for him to fail having come so far into the 1st team.



The return leg was far less dramatic, thank fuck for that.
All in all 5-0 on aggregate was barely a passable scoreline, as the gulf in quality meant that we shoul've been touching double figures.



One of Cameroon's top teams, though quite some way off the real bigwigs of the continent.
Will be a problem nonetheless, underestimating them could bring us big trouble.

Finally:



That's the 5th sugardaddy club in Egypt (we're one of them if you remembered).



They're the top 5 here, but while Al Ahly are significantly less well-off here they will always have their massive gate receipts and reputation to bank on.
They's also managed to make a profit of $2m in the transfer market too, shows you what extremely shrewd dealing can bring.

March 2028

Definitely thought we were going to capitulate after conceding the opener, but Abdellaoui got the leveller to ensure we need not have to scramble for parity for long.
Emam ensured that the players won't get as heavy a scolding at the interval, before coming out for the 2nd half and adding gloss to the scoreline.



This time we started early and finished fast - the game was effectively over by half-time, albeit with the result that nothing happened after the interval.



Credit where it's due to Wadi Degla - giving us a hell of a game for us for the past couple of season, and for coming back thrice here.
Starting with a 3-5-2 caught me off guard, and we did have difficulties establishing control of the game.
Still, pretty bloody infuriating to not hold on to a lead properly - could've gone 4 clear of Al-Ahly, who drew their game as well.

Well, we played them next:



Not the worst thing in the world drawing, and considering the amount of chances they had I'd take this with both arms.



The result meant we're still 1 point clear at thie top, but do to our and Al Ahly's faffing about Al Moqaoloun are now back into the title mix.
The good news is we've got an edge in the head-to-head against the latter, while they still have to play each other in the penultimate game of the season.

Off to the continental stage now:



Like in the Mansoura game, I genuinely thought we'd blow it completely after conceding the penalty - heck a couple of the guys 'looked unsure' after the equaliser.
So fortunately for us that was all they could muster.

Finally, it's time for another youth intake:



Basically, worse than most other intakes of previous seasons - only 1 player with any serious potential, and even he would find it hard to break into our already stacked forward group.



I dunno, he screams 'sell, sell, sell' at the earliest opportunity.

April 2028

Another misfiring performance from Abdellaoui and Co, as we constantly bombarded their goal with little to no end product.
It took a setpiece and a goalmouth scramble to even get an equaliser, even more damning for the forwards.



The game plan was to shut them down completely and just have as much of the ball as possible, so to concede 2 goals has to go down as a disappointment of sorts.



Back to misfiring again then, not even a shot on target.



So our results this month have been either dour goalless draws or high-scoring defensive shambles - inconsistent then.

Meanwhile, our continental journey continued:



Started a youth-team lineup, so as expected they couldn't score if their lives had depended on it.



Great, we're still 2 rounds from the group stages and we've already met the defending champions.



We went on a relentless assault on their goal at the risk of conceding ourselves in the hope that we could get an away goal.
But no, because of yet another shoddy demonstration at shooting - and we now face the prospect of having to win outright back at home.

May 2028

Abdellaoui was worryingly off-colour against the league's bottom side who had been relegated a number of matchdays ago.
Shawky ghosting in to the right post to head in crosses was a positive highlight though.

Anyway, here's how the table looked like going into the findal day:



Just 3 points separate us from 3rd-placed Tersana, while Al Ahly were even closer and breathing down our necks - that said we were top dog here and had the advantage going into the last round of matches.
We basically needed to match Al Ahly's result, while a loss would also suffice if they only managed to draw.
Tersana's slightly more complicated, but they basically needed to beat us by 2 goals in order for them to go level in the head-to-head and have a shot at the title.



Spoiler over, I'll probably holiday through the Egyptian Cup since for once we won't have to win it just to fight for a place in the Confederation Cup.

Season review (if there'll be one) about a week from now.

Some interesting money in the Egyptian league now, it makes a fun game when you'#re so into the future and there is money between a few clubs now! Such a shame on the way you lost the title this year!

Aye, the disparity in finances is huge, seems like the only way to join the big boys is to get a sugardaddy at this rate.

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Egyptian Cup time, a chance to defend our title (with that in mind I decided not to holiday through the Cup).



Easy enough, though El Ashri would get an injury that would rule him out of the rest of the tournament.



Quite relieved that it'd be this easy against Zamalek, they had one of the best defences in the league last season



We seem to have found a way to counter El Gouna's narrow diamond consistenly, by matching it and playing wide on our strikerless system.
Musah did very well here, used his pace to great effect for his goal.

The semi-final lineup included: 4 tycoons' clubs and Al Ahly - might be a one-off, but the effect of money seems to be showing.



Only Al Moqaoloun stood between us and another shot at the Cup then:



Unfortunately our capacity to choke reared its head yet again.

Players of the Season

Mohamedd IbrahimOnly player to get a double-double for the season, definitely our best performer.
It's quite impressive considering he was out of favour at the start of the season having had a poor disciplinary record the season before, but he worked his way back up to the first XI.

Ahmed Hassan Abdel KaderHis incredible 6 months of scoring are but a memory now, but the assists just keep coming - our creator in chief, and he'll be so for the forseeable future.

Mounir AbdellaouiA decent season in front of goal, but that's to be expected considering the bombardment that we lay on our opponents.
The fact is he chokes afar too much in the bigg occasions, and I find myself increasingly preferring t drop him in clutch encounters for the olikes of El Ashri.

Ahmed El AshriHe proves my above point by scoring a great, early opener in the 2nd leg of our encounter against Club Africain.
He' still not sufficiently established to dislodge the former in my opinion, but if my plans to offload Abdellaoui do (somehow) come to fruition then he can probably expect starting regularly.

Mahmoud Abdel FatahHis 6th season saw him get the joint-most clean sheets (with Zamalek's Italian goalkeeper), a great achievement for a player who can be expected to break 200 league appearances for the club by the end of next season.



Wadi Degla (apparently) underachieved horribly, but they still contrived to give us a hell of a time in our 2 games.
Zamalek should've been in their place, save for an impressive recovery after a nightmarish start to the season.



Wow, didn't see that coming to be honest, particularly consideirng he's only a loanee.
Unfortunately it looks like he's already had his last season at Smouha - Inter have transfer listed him and will let his contract run out; given he's being paid $11k currently I'll be looking to make do with Wael El Sayed.



Good news, but compare this to Al Ahly's average attendance - it's why they can cope at the top for so long despite having no tycoon, and shows the amount of work we have to do to even have a whiff of that financial stability.

Though the board has looked to boost attendances:



I was frankly flabbergasted when they pulled this off, Real fucking Madrid in Alexandria, whould've thunk it.
Though it can probably go two ways, either we get maximum gates and land a windfall, or no one cares and we stare ever more deeply into the shithole having spent (presumably) loads in getting these clubs in.

Unfortunately it's sandwiched between one of our most important matches of the season, in an already packed preseason:



Yes, we play TP Mazembe in the next round of the Confederation Cup, probably with a squad that's still not quite fit, without Compaore, and definitely without Ibrahim, who suffered a back strain and will miss at least the 1st leg.

Preseason/August 2028

Transfers (and boy were there some):





Keynote signing of the window, a transfer 3 years in the making - a scout on assignment in France managed to find him, and with those attributes and mentality it was effectively a no-brainer.
Didn't hurt that he bid his farewell to his old club with a gift:



Yeah it is the French third tier, but 16 goals at 17 in a proper league is an achievement.
And yes he's gone on loan at Watford, who being in the Premier League will provide him with vastly superior training and footballing quality, now to mention relieving him of the prospect of playing in Egypt's youth leagues.



Hajji comes in as our 2nd choice LB after Yao was sent out to Damanhour for regular game time.
Can't cross to save his life, but seems reliable enough on the ball.



Yes another prospect is cashed in way too soon, only this time for double the money.
Musah was then loaned back to us only to find out that in signing with Twente at all he was removed from the Confederation Cup squad, so he wasn't available against TP Mazembe anyway.

Then came deadline day:



A million for a guy who is an athlete and nothing much else? I snatched their hand off, put it that way.
I genuinely doubt that they'll even attempt to play him anyway, his technical attributes are just far too poor.



I'd wanted to sign him on loan once Diouf left on loan, but it turned out that he only had 6 months left on his previous deal and a loan would be cut short.
At this point Shawky was already gone so I'd be left with fewer forwards than I'd like, so I bit the bullet and got him.
Slightly predictable, but good graft might go some way to making up for it.

Friendlies now:



A whitewash, but what about the Friendly Cup?



Put the reserves out in the hope of the fit first XI for the final, though we nearly had no need for them, having had to get through on penalties.
Real beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0, so that first XI will have some challenge:



In a game of some truly awful finishing, El Ashri took his chance and got the goal of a lifetime.
But I expected better from Real, their firepower really let them down on the day.
Though it has to be said, winning the Cup wasn't much - having Real over was a huge success, as there were sellouts in both their games, and we managed to double our gate receipts over last season - in preseason.

Well now that we conquered the Spaniards, could we do the same against the Congolese?

An away goal buts us in good stead for the return leg.
But it could have been more, save for Abdellaoui being classice Abdellaoui - being absolutely atrocious against the first top side that he encounters.



Such an utter bullshit match, one controversial penalty, and another in the dying moments of the game - absolutely rigged.

And with that our 3 loanees (Jose Carlos, backup GK Hajji and Musah) bid farewell, having no need for them for the league campaign.

Onto the league now, and a chance for revenge against our final-day nightmares of last season:



Why couldn't we do this last season?



Difficult game, they were a constant threat on the break, and we should have lost this.



Same, save for the fact that we should've held on for the win.
Oh and what a surprise, Abdellaoui was hapless in both matches, being hauled off after offering minimal quality.



Should've won by more, but with our finishing being consistently subpar I'll take a 2-0.



Finishing August with 8 points having faced 2 fellow moneybag sides and Ah Ahly doesn't sound too bad, but I'm not so sure.
This team's mentality has increasingly been about dominating proceedings, and the inability to put games to bed despite that is cause for concern.

On a brighter note, Franck Yao is 1st choice LB for Damanhour, but outshinging him is Mohammed Talaat, with a whopping 4 goals and 1 assist in is 1st 4 games - I seem to have terribly underrated him it seems.

September 2028

We didn't do enough to put the game, and it turned out that we didn't do enough to secure the 3 points either.



We had the upper hand in possession, but El Gouna were significantly better at creating their chances here.
The opposition gaffer said post-match that our late winner was undeserved - he's right, if only because neither side were clinical enough to warrant a victory.



Mabrouk with another good showing to show that he's not yet a spent force, but a lackluster 2nd half led to a nervy finish.
In the only match Abdellaoui started this month he provided an assist, but as can be seen from the stats it's evident how the rest of his game went.



Farouk at the double and an El Ashri strike ensured a great 1st period, in contrast to another dull 2nd half.



An unbeaten month sends us up 2nd, behind a side now led by one of our own - Mohammed Talaat going from strength to strength with 7 goals and 3 assists in 8 matches, sending Haras El-Hodoud up top.

October 2028

We lost the 2nd half, conceded 2 goals, I've failed everyone.
Abdel Kader revisiting his goalscoring instincts though, not all bad.



Zamalek seem to be a pale shadow of their former glory days, and having sold their Italian stopper to Torino they've had to rely on their (admittedly talented) youth product.
Not that he saved them though, we took the game by the scruff of the neck and never really let go.



Played primarily on the break, but we found ourselves up against a shotstopper who woke up on the right side of the bed it seemed.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man - Hajji with his 1st goal for the club since arriving on loan.
An important win, since we've always had massive problems playing Wadi Degla in the past couple of seasons.



Too easy.
Also, Abdellaoui started (not up top, but on the left wing) and provided a cross for Abdel Kader to tap in.
Still, it's not like he's suddenly back in form or that I'm going to give him another shot - he needs more than just 1 assist - preferably a goal against a top side - for me to do that.



2 points clear at the top with a game in hand, unbeaten and 7 wins in 7 - looks good so far.
Meanwhile Haras El Hodoud have wilted, and Talaat seems to have been found out - his pace was (and is) his main weapon, but other sides have caught on that and most of his match reports now involve him possessing an inability to win headers.

November 2028

Miracles have happened ladies and gentlemen, Mounir Abdellaoui has scored.
In less pleasing news Salah Amin broke his ankle and would be out for the next couple of months; sure he's not been the most confident of centrebacks but he has also been a key part of our backline for the least season or so.



Oh wow, Abdellaoui's on a 'roll', a penalty converted despite doing nothing else all match.



Magnificent performance, El Ashri even taught Abdellaoui a thing or two about contributing when not scoring with 2 assists.



Well, oh how quickly things can change.
Abdellaoui had yet another dire showing up front, and unfortunately for his it was the last straw - he's not transfer listed and I'm expecting bids.
Worse still Yao would be out for a month or so, leaving us without our starting centrebacks, while Hossam Ibrahim got himself idiotically sent off, depriving us our our ball-playing 3rd choice CB for the next match at least.



Well that was a surprisingly good performance from what was an untested back 4, El Ashri being the hero again, really what Abdellaoui hasn't done for some time.



Still having a comfortable lead, we will need to maintain it in the event of our inevitable collapse in the 2nd half of the season.

We continued to cope without Yao or Amin, but it seemed like it was our attack who missed a spark or two (Abdellaoui? Nah), so it was quite the relief when Ibrahim rammed home the opener.
Then you stick a pace babby (Farouk) and play on the counter to make it safe.



Completely ballsed up the gameplan here, wanted to soak up pressure to play on the counter, only to find ourselves boxed in by an Al Ahly side who were dominant on the day.
Then Abdel Kader (the CB) did what we did, we tried to play more proactively, but in reality it was too late.



A good, if slightly nervous recovery win over another title challenger - we never really felt comfortable despite being in the lead throughout the match.
Still, a vital win which keeps Damanhour at bay.



Another 2-2 draw, Ismaily are proving an extremely tough nut to crack.
Mabrouk continued his good season with another brace, looks like he's becoming a source of goals again.



We faffed about in the 1st period, but returned after the interval determined to add some gloss to the scoreline.
So we did.



The Smouha winning machine hasn't exactly stopped, but Al Ahly can definitely see a bridgeable gap, so it'll make for a rather uncomfortable next couple of months.

In transfer news:



Bye, you've served us well in your time here, but you could've been more clinical.
In fairness his contract was due to be up at the end of the season, so by selling him we avoid losing him on a free.
Wasn't overly keen on giving him a new deal anyway, given his relative haplessness in front of goal.



Much like Diouf and Dadzie, we had to wait some time before he turned 18 and was eligible to move overseas.
Hie trump card is clearly his finishing, if we can improve the other aspects of his game he might just prove to be a useful asset.

In international news:



On hindsight, it was never going to be an enriching stint to begin with, without the prospect of tournaments.



You'll note that none of our Egyptian players got called up, for the simple reason of the Egyptian NT's failure to qualify for the tournament proper - they lost out to DR Congo in the qualifiers, finishing 2nd where only 1st qualifies.
Shock turn of events considering Egypt's stature in the African game, but with a qualification system like that it was always going to be brutal.

January/February 2029

Only 1 match in January, after which Egyptian football apparently went on a midseason break for the African Cup of Nations (which Egypt weren't even a part of).



El Gouna had both first team strikers and a key midfielder out injured, we were top of the table and riding on 3 stright wins, so a win was expected, if only to keep the distance between us and Al Ahly.
Well we didn't.

We then spent the rest of the month playing a number of friendlies,faffing about with transfers throughout the month before trying (and failing) to get in some deadline day players.

February started with this:



Credit to the team for doubling their goals in the 2nd half, we would've gotten complacent on another occasion.



So we're still top, just, with Al Ahly yet again matching us for points this period.
I don't expect them to drop any more points, so there's virtually no room for error, particularly considering our vastly inferior head-to-head record this season.

There's also the CAF Confederation Cup, an opportunity to play the youths:



They probably did well enough, but 3 goals from 24 shots isn't good reading however you look at it.

March 2029

Such was Zamalek's plight that they resorted to loaning one of our youth DMs (Amr Hassan) and played him in central defence this season.
For better or for worse he couldn't play against us, but it must've been a miserable predicament anyway - and so it proved.



We had quite the scare when Koroum had an early goal chalked off for offside, but that did seem to wake us up as we quickly put the game to bed.



Al Ahly managed to drop points (at home to Koroum!) so we've managed to gain some buffer over the chasing pack.
We've scored the most, conceded the least and won the most games so far so you just know what we'll contrive to balls it up in the final stretch, which highlights. ever more so, the importance of this gap.

Confederation Cup time:



A bit of a dead rubber, and the quality was as such.

The next round featured another Al Ahly - Al Ahl(i) Shendi of Sudan:



A significantly stronger lineup was played as the reserves had their game earlier in the day and there wasn't a fixture pileup to worry about.
Some excellent combination play on show, and we reaped the rewards with El Ashri and Emam getting a bit more cash from their goal bonuses.

There was a new youth intake as well, time to see what this new HoYD (yes I sacked another one) could do:



A couple of fullbacks that seem ready for the 1st team squad, a couple of Driven players, overall a good intake.



Another striker? Looks like I've to sell of a couple guys if he's to come into the fray, which let's be honest isn't likely at best.

This is always the beauty in non-South Africa FM, your youth batches are always cracking for the standard you are at. In FM14 I had a wander around various downloaded leagues in Africa I was fielding teams full of 16/17 year olds and we were holding our own.

Chuck him and the other two 1 CA players straight into the first team. Caution to the wind, load of 16 year olds running amuck.

Might have to, the way we're losing money month-on-month means I won't be spending any of the $10+ million(!) that the board will provide me with anyway.

You're right though, bloody easy to play the youths and have them improve leaps and bounds with regular game time - basically what happened to El Ashri.

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April 2029

Awful, a truly awful way to start a game.
But their resistance wasn't to last, as our sheer attacking prowess soon overpowered them and we promptly put things back in order.


2 straight 6-1s in the league, we're tearing it all up.
Bit unfortunate that we couldn't keep the clean sheet, but when you score 6 any form of complaint is just ridiculous.



Didn't deserve to win this despite the stats, a draw was always looking to be but for a great winner from El Ashri, a matchwinning brace.


Haras El Hodoud had just thumped Al Ahly 3-0(!!) so were on a great high - however due to other commitments I took the risk to play a second-string side.
I'd take a draw, keeps our unbeaten streak alive and saving a point gives that bit more confidence.


On the cusp, though I'd hate to look forward to the title then have us completely blow it somehow, so I'm just going to assume that we're going to lose it.

Onto the task of beating the Sudanese (and whoever that await after them):



Funny how our strongest XI conceded 2 goals (albeit answering with 7 of their own) while our reserves managed a clean sheet.
Bit of a nothing match anyway.

Our next opponents though, that's anything but - Orlando Pirates, giants of the South African game, with an ability to hold their own (and then some) on the continent.
And so it proved:


I'll admit that I was overawed by our opponents, and as a result attempted to play a more defensive system, though clearly by playing that against teams who are better will have you eaten alive, that much I've learnt.
The second half brought about more positivity, but we still conceded at the death to ensure an uphill task in South Africa.

May 2029

Solid win, a win was never in doubt.

Also:



FUCKING FINALLY, back to the top after what seemed like an eternity (7 years).



A ragtag team was then played in anticipation of Orlando Pirates, and we defended like one as well.



As a result we failed to break our own points record of 83, a massive pity.
Still, winners by a comfortable margin, a positive sign for next season.

Yes, so onto that Orlando Pirates game:



We really only had ourselves to blame, but it seemed like our opponents were only content to shut up shop and kick our players off the pitch on a stretcher.
Mahmoud Ibrahim didn't do us any favours by missing a number of good chances, but we really shouldn't have found ourselves is such an unfavourable position.

Well at least we had another competition to look forward to:



Yes, the Egyptian Cup 1st round - a dominating opening period against Zamalek, but I definitely had some words for the performances after the 70 minute mark.



A rotated team here, so a win's a win, not to mention 4 goals scored.



So, so annoying. Dominated proceedings, but as usual poor finishing cost us the game.

Results from other ties meant that Franck Yao and Mohamed Talaat would then play each other in the semis:



The latter did score in that game, but couldn't play in the final due to an injury.

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Season review to come.

Good season fella! Pity about the Champions League.