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tongey
@Dan, massive shame to get the sack as it doesn't reflect well on my profile. You're right though, it's all part and parcel of this wonderful challenge.
@r96Skinner, they are two massive clubs in European football, so I'm shocked to see Metalist this low. It's time they returned to the top.
Well, I've finished my first season in charge of Metalist, living off a diet of mainly Borscht & Salo (two traditional Ukrainian dishes), and things are good. I've not been sacked, and I've not had to win a certain amount of points so my job is safe. Ukraine is home to one of the longest winter breaks I've ever experienced. It must get stupidly cold here. It was around 3 months without any football, then another month of friendlies to get back into the swing of things. Crazy.
How did we get on I hear you ask? Remember, we were sat mid-table, with a chance of going up in one of the two promotion places. Time to check-in...
I'm fairly happy with how the squad have turned things around this season. We changed tactic and went to a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with 2 wingers and a DLF. It seemed to work and we dominated possession, but we didn't always grab the win. We won 6 of the 11 games I took charge in so over 50% win rate. I'll take that any day of the week. We had a cracking win against Ingulets Petrova who had been one of the leagues in-form teams. We did lose however to the team in top spot Avengard Kramatorsk which was disappointing and slowed our promotion challenge down a tad. To only lose once in my first 11 games in charge is really pleasing.
URGH, look at that. A draw on the final day of the season sees us miss out on that 2nd automatic promotion spot in the league table. Avengard Kramatorsk take the title, ahead of Ingulets Petrova who finished in second and go up as well. We finish in 3rd spot on 49 points. We do however finish in a lot better position than I started with, and this means it will be an exciting and hopefully, successful season next time around. I'm not too disappointed in this, to be honest.
Goals
1 | Vasyl Medvedev | 7
2 | Olexandr Nalygach, Maxim Karpov | 6
3 | Sergey Gurov | 5
Assists
1 | Olexiy Lyulka | 6
2 | Kyrylo Kulish | 5
3 | Vasyl Medvedev | 4
Average Rating
1 | Maxim Karpov | 6.98
2 | Yory Gorbunov | 6.97
3 | Olexiy Lyulka | 6.93
Next Post | Pre-Season Update 2033/2034
SrWer
tongey
First of all, sorry I forgot to put a pre-season update on, but there wasn't much to talk about. I'll post my transfers and a bit about them below as they are important ad everyone loves to see players coming in. We actually only had time for two friendlies and we won both of them so we were in good form going into the season, albeit a bit low on fitness due to not playing many matches.
I have only brought two players into the first-team squad, and a couple of youth prospects that go straight into the youth team to gain experience and get match practice. My two main signings come straight into the first-team and will be key contributors this season. The first is Gennadiy Zbun, a no-nonsense center back from Obolon-Brewer. He's 27 and has all the attributes needed ot be a leading player in this league and our team. The second signing is an absolute beast in the middle of the park for us. Denis-Chihozie Ezeahbanari (try saying that 10 times fast when you're drunk). He's an experienced 31-year-old midfielder who is a born leader. He's determined and has amazing natural fitness. He's definitely going to be a box-to-box man for me. I'm excited for these two to make an instant impact.
The league form started off excellently, as we went on a 10 match unbeaten run before we lost to Girnyk-Sport. Our form dipped a bit after that loss as we went on to lose a further 2 games against Bukovyna (who we shouldn't have lost to in the slightest, they're a poor side and I'm frustrated at this one). We then lost our last match in this half of the season in a 5-4 thriller against Cherkaschyna. What a game, but unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of the scoreline. Anyway on to the positives, as we have won the majority of our games this season; 8 in total, and have 4 draws to add to them. We have been excellent all season and have deserved our good form. We had good wins against Krystal Kherson & Volyn. I definitely can't complain at our league form and it's now time to kick on and make sure we are up there come to the end of the season.
In the Ukrainian Cup, we progressed easily into the 1st round after a comfortable win against Balkany in the qualifying round. We've been drawn against top league side Ingulets Petrove who some of you will remember from last season.
It really couldn't be closer at the top of the league. We sit in 3rd position on 28 points, only 1 point behind the top two who sit on 29. Agrobusiness & Kremin lead the way but we lead the rest of the chasing pack in trying to hunt them down. Only 2 points separate the top 5 so it's anyone's title to win. We could do with a nice run of wins to get us ahead in the race.
Goals
1 | Olexandr Nalygach | 15
2 | Dmytro Chernyshov | 4
3 | Kyrylo Kulish, Paulo Cezar | 3
Assists
1 | Kyrylo Kulish | 5
2 | Jan Borosak, Denis-Chihoze Ezeahbanari | 3
3 | Vasyl Medvedev, Dymytro Chopko, Andrey Pavlov | 2
Average Rating
1 | Olexandr Nalygach | 7.71
2 | Kyrylo Kulish | 7.22
3 | Dmytro Chernyshov | 7.02
Next Post | End of Season Update 2033/2034
bigmattb28
SrWer
tongey
@SirWerGaming, This is the year? Surely? I hope so anyway!
We were heading into the long winter break, well in with a chance of winning the league. I haven't posted an update on my manager for a while, but I think once we reach 1000 in management then I'll post a big update regarding stats and career so far. For now, though, it's onto how we finished off this season...
Our league form continued being inconsistent, losing the odd match here and then and really stopping any momentum being built up. We continued to win games as well, but it never really looked like we were about to go on a huge unbeaten run. We had a great win against fellow title chasers Agrobuissness early on in this segment, after winning 2-0. We did end the season on a crucial run of 7 games unbeaten, which included wins against Girnyk Sport & Cherkaschyna. Our strangest result came early on against Volyn which saw us lose in a strange fashion. We dominated the game, but ended up conceding an own-goal in the last minute to lose the game. Fuming!
This half of the season saw us score 27 goals, and concede 20. I'm not too happy with our defence as we conceded a lot of goals in the latter part of games which cost us a few points. Anyway, how did this league form effect the league table?
In the Ukrainan Cup, we managed to beats Premier League side Ingulets Petrove in the 1st Round after a 1-0 victory. We then were drawn against giants of the Ukrainian leagues Karpartey. This did not go well as we lost 6-1. A huge defeat and a real confidence crusher. It wasn't to be this year and I didn't expect to get anywhere near the final so a 2nd round knockout is fie with me.
It was close at the half-way stage, and it was close at the end. WE ARE CHAMPIONS!! Look at that table. We ended the campaign in top spot, on 54 points, with Agrobuisness in 2nd on 53. Both of us will go up into the Ukrainian Premier League. Balkany & Bukovyna will be relegated into the lower echelons of Ukrainian football, and Tavria-Simferopol & Krystal Kherson will enter the relegation playoff phase.
Our overall record this season in the league was: 15 WINS, 9 DRAWS & 6 LOSSES.
Goals
1 | Olexandr Nalygach | 22 (he had a nasty injury that kept him out for 2 months)
2 | Vasyl Medvedev | 8
3 | Maxim Karpov | 6
Assists
1 | Kyrylo Kulish, Denis-Chihoze Ezeahbanari | 6
2 | Jan Borosak, Vasyl Medvedev | 5
3 | Gennadiy Zbun | 4
Average Rating
1 | Olexandr Nalygach | 7.52
2 | Denis Vasijev | 7.24
3 | Maxim Karpov | 6.97
Next Post | Pre-Season Update 2034/2035
TinakoFM
https://youtu.be/04854XqcfCY?t=38
tongey
I did it again guys. I forgot to do a pre-season update, and I'm now at the mid-season stage. Once again, I have been fairly busy in the transfer market, so I'll post about the new boys below. I only played the one friendly as I forgot to arrange them, which left us unfit for the start of the season. I also received a new contract, which gives me a huge £2k a week, until the end of this upcoming season. The media has had it's say and it doesn't look pretty for us. We're expected to be relegated and finish in the bottom two. Can we stay up?
I've added 5 new faces to the first-team squad after a few old boys decided to leave us and stay in the 2nd division. The main departure was Vasyl Medvedev who left on a free after he wouldn't renew his contract and signed for Ukrainian giants Shakthar Donestk. I was gutted about this move as he left a big hole on that right flank.
New faces in any way and the first is Hugh Ramsay. Hugh is a backup goalkeeper with a lot of promise! He's going to be a good goalkeeper one day but for now, he is our backup and will learn from our current number one Andrey Pavlov. Alexandr Petrov comes in to be the experienced man upfront and help tutor the young guys. I needed a little bit more depth up there anyway and he's the perfect guy to bring on if needed. Vladyslav Dancheko is the first player who will be a first-teamer. He will slot straight in at left-back and has all the traits needed to get up and down that wing. Dmitry Zubkov has come in to help solidify the middle. We looked especially weak here before the season started so we needed a new face. He's a Mezzala and will be used as one so we get the best out of him. Our final player is right-back Vasilica Zaharia who came in last-minute as our current RB got injured in training.
Hugh Ramsay // GK
Alexandr Petrov // ST
Vladyslav Danchenko // LB
Dmitry Zubkov // CM
Vasilica Zaharia // RB
That is not a pretty fixture list, is it? Way to may red icons and not enough green. I expected us to perform slightly better if I'm being honest, but it's where we are and we had to dig ourselves out of this pit we've gotten ourselves into. We have managed to record 3 wins in the league. The first being a 2-0 win against Mariupol. We got a second win against Olimpik D after cruising to a 3-0 scoreline. Our final win came against an unexpected rival in Dynamo Kyiv . We beat them 4-2 to end this half of the season. Other than those 3 results, we've not had much to cheer about losing 9 of the first 15 games. It really needs to improve if we are to stay in this league for second season.
In the Ukrainian Cup we didn't really do much and did worse than we did last season. We managed to get through the first qualifying round with a 3-1 win against Kalush before being dumped out of the competition by lower-ranked Prykarpattya IF. Not impressive at all.
Despite only winning 3 games, we don't sit in the relegation zone. We're currently in 12th but teams below us have games in hand so we may not be there for long. We have a massive 12 points and I'd say we need around 25 to stay in the league. Olexandriya & Olimpik D occupy the two relegation slots at the current moment but it's been changing every week. My aim is to get to mid-table if we can and secure football in the top flight for next season.
Goals
1 | Alexandr Petrov | 5
2 | Olyxandr Nalygach | 3
3 | Dmitry Zubkov, Kyrylo Kulish, Dmytro Chopko | 2
Assists
1 | Alexandr Petrov | 5
2 | Dmitry Zubkov | 3
3 | Denis Vajisev, Vladyslav Danchenko, Kyrylo Kulish, Dmitry Gordeev, Paulo Cezar, Andriy Chernyshov, Gennadiy Zbun, Maxim Karpov, Jan Borosak | 1
Average Rating
1 | Dmitry Zubkiv| 7.47
2 | Kyrylo Kulish | 7.15
3 | Alexandr Petrov | 6.99
Next Post | End of Season Update 2034/2035
tongey
The first being Shakhtar Donestk...
and the second being Dynamo Kyiv...
which one did I take? Well, the answer is none, as I didn't pass any of the interviews, as both clubs went with someone else to take them forward. Instead of receiving a new job, we continued to struggle and the board called me in for a meeting to discuss recent form...I then had to win my next match in charge against Zorya which we didn't and went down 2-1 to. You know what that means...
It's time to move on I guess, maybe I'll stay in Ukraine, but maybe it's time for a new continent? Who knows...
Next Post | A new challenge...
TinakoFM
tongey
After being sacked from my second club in my career, I took a little bit of time to make sure that my next job wouldn't end in the same way. I needed one that would be able to build nicely into the future and I think I've found that. I've actually never managed in this country before, but it's time to take the plunge. I've taken a trip to Greece and I've entered into the Greek Superleague 2 with PAS Lamia. I did try and find a job in the USA but after a couple of interviews, I realised my reputation wasn't high enough to be seriously considered for a job. Onto Greece, it is anyway...
PAS Lamia is a professional team playing their trade in the Greek Superleague 2. They have no fierce rivals, and no smaller rivals but I'm sure we will make some along the way. The last major trophy the team won was in 2033 when they won the Greek Superleague 2 which bodes well for us to win it again now.
They play their home games at the long-winded named Municipal Athletic Center of Lamia which is a 4,987 capacity stadium in the city of Lamia. Lamia is a central city in the country of Greece and has a reputation of football-loving people. The training facilities are below average, whilst the youth facilities are basic. Both will need improving if the finances are right.
We have a fairly large squad which will more than likely be trimmed down by loaning players out and demoting a few youngsters who don't make the grade into the reserves. I hate having a big squad so it has to happen. We have great strength on the wings with our best player being Thanasis Kritsas, a right-winger who has awesome potential. He has the pace to burn and hopefully, can get past the full-backs and deliver some accurate crosses for our strikers. We have a brilliant ball-winning midfielder too in the form of Dimitris Kakoulidis. He's the leader in the middle and will be key if we want to win the league this season.
The media have predicted us to win the league this season, so I'll be looking to do just that. Time to get winning games and get that trophy into my cabinet.
Next Post | Mid-Season Update 2035/2036
tongey
It wont be updated now until Friday 24th January
bigmattb28
Good luck in Greece.
Dan
SrWer
tongey
@Dan, times are changing an awful lot at the moment, but I'm hoping to stick at it until it's complete here in Greece. A bit of a challenge though.
@SirWerGaming, Greece always seems nice, I've only ever been to Kos myself. Hopefully, I can indeed do wonderful things with PAS Lamia.
I said that there would be no update until Friday, but I've had my screen fixed now and I'm back and raring to go. (Not having FM for a couple of days wasn't enjoyable) Anyway, I'm halfway through my first season in charge of PAS Lamia and I'm actually enjoying my time here. I've struggled to enjoy a team for a while but I feel at home here in Greece. There are no updates to do with the club or my manager, so as per usual, this part is pretty empty. Onto the fixtures we go...
I've only taken charge of 11 league games so far as the league is only small. A total of 22 games in the season so a quick update for you all. Things have gone alright, and we've performed fairly well to be honest. The opening fixture didn't go to plan as we lost to Kalamata which made me think it was going to be a hard slog once again. We then went unbeaten for 4 games which included wins against Apol. Pontou, Platanias & PAS Giannina. We then suffered 2 defeats in a row against Panachaiki & Ionikos. We're currently ending this half of the season on a 4 match unbeaten run which will need to continue if we are to continue challenging at the right end of the table.
In the Greek Cup, we've already had a really good competition. We smashed our opening match 8-2 against Chania which saw us progress into the 5th Round. We faced Superleague side Kavala and earned a surprise 2 legged win to see us into the 6th Round, where anything can happen. I've no expectation to win this but it would be nice if we could wouldn't it?
We're sat in 4th spot, which isn't where I want to be necessarily, but I guess the league splits after the first 22 games so we need to be in the top 6 in order to challenge for the title. I want to be top though. We only sit 6 points behind the league leaders PAS Giannina so they are catchable. We've won 5 games, drawn 4 and lost 3 and have a positive goal difference of +4.
Goals
1 | Savvas Giogios | 12
2 | Asterios Goutidis | 4
3 | Rafail Bastakos, Antonis Nikoloau, Stelios Setzas, Antonis Tsakonas | 2
Assists
1 | Rafail Bastakos, Savvas Giogis | 3
2 | Stelios Setzas, Dimosthenis Labridis, Antonis Tsakonas, Asterios Goutidis | 2
3 | Antonis Nikoloau, Fillipos Apergis, Dimitros Kakoulidis, Dimitros Bouglis | 1
Next Post | End of Season Update 2035/2036
tongey
You know what, I'm having a blast here in Greece, and it's partly down to the fact I have fun trying to pronounce the names of my players and fail pretty much every time. My current favourite is Lefteris Kotsiaridis. Not necessarily a funny name but when I pronounce it, it is! Anyway, moving on to some relevant news, and the club has batted away numerous takeover offers which haven't helped the coffers at the club at all. A new owner coming in would provide us with some much-needed finances. It doesn't look too pretty right now...
We finished off the final 11 games of the season which resulted in us qualifying for the Championship Group Phase. In the final 11 games, we performed fairly well and gained really good wins against Apol. Pontou, Volos & Levadeiakos. We also managed to gain a credible draw against PAS Giannina who have been our main title challengers all season. We also only had 10 men for most of the game so I'm happy to have battled well and gained a point that we probably shouldn't have got. In these 11 games, we ended up with 6 WINS, 3 DRAWS & 2 LOSSES.
Once we had qualified for the Championship Group Phase by finishing 2nd in the opening stage we then faced the top 5 other teams in the league. We were to face each team twice more and the team at the top of the league after these 10 games, would be crowned champions. It was going to be a tough ask but I was confident that us, the pre-season favourites would rise to the challenge and rise to the top of the league whilst we were at it.
We managed 6 WINS, 2 DRAWS & 2 LOSSES from these 10 games which I'm really happy with. Our wins came against Apollon, Volos, Levadeiakos x2, PAS Giannina & Ioniakos. The two most crucial wins were against PAS Giannina & Ioniakos who were our main rivals and challengers through this secondary league phase. We did lose to both of these teams to, which left it an open race for the finish line. How did we get on? You'll see in the league table section below, once I've rounded up the Greek Cup.
Last time, we had reached the 6th round of the cup after wins against Chania & Kavala. In the 6th Round, we had been drawn against fellow Second League team Olympic Volou. We came out winners after the two-legged affair with a 5-1 aggregate victory. This set up a tough quarter-final against Aris who are a dominant team in the SuperLeague. They were definitely better than us in both legs and ended up sealing their path to the semi-final after a 5-1 aggregate scoreline. I'm ecstatic with how we performed in this cup and hopefully, next season we may go further and who knows? Maybe even win it.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIENDS! WE'LL KEEP ON FIGHTING TO THE END! ARGH, I'm so happy we lived up to our pre-season favourites tag and managed to win the league. It was probably a little bit closer than everyone was expecting beforehand, but a league win is a league win and I'll take that any day of the week. Ionikos pushed us all the way and finished in 2nd place on 58 points whilst we were 1 point ahead of them on 59 which was enough to seal the title for us.
Goals
1 | Savvas Giogios | 22
2 | Rafail Bastakos | 10
3 | Dimosthenis Labridis | 9
Assists
1 | Savvas Giogios | 8
2 | Antonis Tsakonas | 6
3 | Stelios Setzas |
Average Rating
1 | Savvas Giogios | 7.32
2 | Dimosthenis Labridis | 7.07
3 | Rafail Bastakos | 7.01
Next Post | Pre-Season Update 2036/2037
Dan
TinakoFM
Bring on 2036-37!
bigmattb28
tongey
@r96Skinner, the number of times I lose track of what season I'm actually in! Cheers for the support, and who knows what will happen this year.
@bigmattb28, Thanks man, wasn't a hard task last season, but this year will be a different story. Different level of competition in the Superleague!
After our promotion from the Superleague 2, I've set about trying to bolster the squad and get rid of the deadwood. I've also decided to play a lot (and I mean a lot) of friendlies in order to get the players fit and ready for the new season which I'm sure is going to be a struggle. The media have had their say and it doesn't look great. Last year were favourites to go up, and now we are joint-favourites to go down back into the Superleague 2. Let the struggle commence.
Like I mentioned above, I've been busy exploring the transfer market, and had over 50 players on trial for the club, in order to evaluate them properly. I intended to sign around 8 players but the budget wasn't large enough to do that. I instead only managed to get 6 of my 8 targets which is OK I guess. All players actually strengthen the club, and I just hope they gel together quickly as it's going to be a tough road ahead.
Ovidiu Camarasan | MC/AMC/DM | CSM Poli Iasi
Probably the best player that we've brought in this transfer window. The lad can play all over the midfield, whether it's in an attacking role or a defensive one. I'll be using him as a more attacking player, maybe even a shadow striker with his stats.
Andrew Thompson | LB | Cliftonville
The young Northern Irish prospect comes in straight into the starting line up and will be key to getting chances from the left-hand side. I want him to get down that left-wing and be a bit more attacking than we were last year. His defensive stats aren't bad too, to be honest.
Adam Edwards | GK | Wellington Pheonix
We've signed a Kiwi to be our new number one, and he looks really, really good. He's only 23 so should get better, and better year on year. His stats are already decent for this level, but I'm guessing he will be rather busy this season so I'll be careful not to make a judgement too quickly.
Dimitris Anogiatis | AML | Ergotellis
Dimitris slots in as my left-winger, and hopefully, will form a strong partnership down the left-hand side. He has the pace to burn and has a killer first-touch. What a prospect he looks.
Marvin Fries | CM | Dynamo Dresden
I've managed to sign an experienced CM from Germany. Marvin comes in and will help marshal the lines in the middle of the park. I don't expect too much from him in terms of creating goals, but I've got him here to break the play up, and just control possession. He's good on the ball and has composure which should help this aim.
David Engel | ST | Mannheim
Another German comes through the door in the form of Engel. He's a young striker who was in hot form at his previous club scoring 21 in 30 games. I hope he can slot in straight away and make an instant impact. He's more of an advanced forward and is quick and strong too. I'm well happy with this signing and think we could be onto a winner here.
I told you we played a hell of a lot of friendlies. No less than 12, and we played fairly well, beating some well-known names in the process. The main reason behind this many was to get to the new lads to settle in and learn how to play our tactic quickly. We can't afford a slow start in the league.
Next Post | Mid-Season Update 2036/2037
tongey
Things are tough this season in the Greek Superleague, but we're battling and not giving up. Nothing of note to say about the club, except we are in severe financial trouble and that doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. How are we getting on, on the pitch anyway?
That's not a pretty sight eh? Things have gone exactly how the media thought they would, as we have struggled to gain points in the league. In, fact we've only managed to win 4 points from 13 games. We had a credible draw against Panionios as we rescued the point through a flukey goal from Dimitris Anogiatis. We managed our first and only win after beating OFI with a 1-0 scoreline, after Ovidiu Camarason netting the winner after coming on as a sub. Other than those two results, we've been poor and lost every game. Our record stands at
13 games played, 1 WIN, 1 DRAW & 11 LOSSES. That's not good, is it?
It's been a different story in the Greek Cup and it's been a breath of fresh air for the lads. We've been handed a pretty easy draw so far and have progressed through to the 6th Round. We beat Ethnikos over 2 legs with an aggregate scoreline of 8-0. Can we go all the way? Probably not, but we will give it our best shot.
The only positive is that we aren't rock bottom of the league. We could well be, and probably should be, but we have OFI Crete for company at the bottom with us, and sit a little gap behind the next team-up. Ergh, it's going to be a hard slog to stay in this league. The only glimmer of hope I have is that when the league splits, we won't have to play the top 6 again.
GOALS
1 | David Engel | 6
2 | Savvas Giogis | 4
3 | Rafail Bastakos | 3
ASSISTS
1 | Rafail Bastakos, David Engel, Antonis Tsakonas, Savvas Giogis | 2
2 | Adam Edwards, Fillipos Apergis, Dimitris Anogiatis, Stelios Setzas, Marvin Fries, Dimosthenis Labridis, Dimitris Bouglas | 1
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Savvas Giogis | 7.08
2 | Rafail Bastakos | 7.07
3 | Asterios Goutidis | 7.06
Next Post | End of Season Update 2036/2037
tongey
Well, things have changed here in Greece, and things are looking up for my challenge! Only a week went past, and AEK Athens sacked their manager and offered me the chance to interview for the vacant position! I immediately jumped at the chance to become this massive Greek clubs manager, and it must've gone well, as they offered me the role within 5 days. So now, I've gone from managing one of the worst teams in the Greek Superleague, to one of the most famous clubs in the Greek footballing pyramid. You'll see that they aren't doing so well this season, but that's why I'm here.
AEK Athens/b] are a professional team playing their trade in the [b]Greek Superleague. They have a number of fierce rivals in Olympiakos, Pathanaikos & PAOK so there is a lot of pride to play for at this club, and a lot of games that mean something to the fans. The team have won 12 Greek Superleague titles, although the most recent was in 2018 so nothing for nearly 20 years. They've also won the Greek Cup on two occasions, so that will be something to target this season.
They play their home games at one of the most beautiful stadiums I've seen, the Agia Sofia, which is a 31,527 all-seater stadium. They have Excellent Training Facilities, and Good Youth Facilities at their disposal. The finances at the club are a lot better than my previous club as we have a balance of over £4m. It's not amazing, but it's positive at least.
The squad available to me looks like a very good one and has all the right people to challenge for the title in a few years. It's a young squad with lots of potential, so it just needs harnessing and building up. The best player at the club is 22-year-old Braian Romero, who is a deep-lying playmaker who has all the ability to be a top player in this league and maybe in European competitions too.
As you can see from the league table, it's not gone to plan for the club this season, but they are still in with a shout of finishing in a European qualification spot, so that is what I'll be aiming for I think. They sit in 8th spot and need to rise at least 2 spots to get into the Championship Phase which is crucial for this club. The best bit is that they are still in the Greek Cup, so that's one to try and win this season. We have the ability to anyway.
Next Post | End of Season Update 2036/2037
tongey
Another season is in the books, and although I've only been in charge at AEK Athens for just under half a season, things are looking up for me here in Greece. I had a couple of weeks of the transfer window left to try and add to my squad, and I managed to get in a striker that played a serious part in my success in charge of this team so far. Nothing else to say here so on we go.
So if you look at the fixtures above, you'll see that we managed to qualify for the Championship Phase as we finished in the top 6 of the league after the regular season. Things didn't start well and the fans must've thought, "why the hell have we got Mark Tonge in charge of us?". We started off my reign with 3 losses against Olympiakos, Atromitos & Paniones. We then went on an incredible run of form in the league and the cup where we didn't lose in 14 games. What a turnaround eh? We had an insanely good win against Panathanaikos which sent the fans home happy. The first time that I returned to my old team PAS Lamia we didn't get the result we wanted and somehow drew with them. They must've raised their game as they were awful with me at the helm ha!
By finishing in the top 6, we entered the Championship Group and had to face Olympiakos, Panathanaikos, PAOK, Atromitos, & Panaitolikos twice more each. We had some good wins and some dreadful losses. The win against Panathanaikos near the end of this phase was particularly pleasing, and the 2-2 draw with Olympiakos was also pleasing to see. We did have heavy defeats against both teams earlier on in this phase though, so swings and roundabouts.
In the Greek Cup, we rode our luck but managed to get all the way to the final of the competition, where we were to face PAOK. We somehow managed to get our hands on the cup as underdogs, after putting in a determined display full of grit and passion. Super-sub and new signing Smith netted the winner with a sublime freekick 6 minutes from time. What a way to win it and I've ticked off another trophy here in Greece. One to go, but it's the hardest one to claim.
We finished the league campaign in 5th position and qualified for the Euro Cup. Our league finish actually means we qualify for the Euro Cup II, but the Greek Cup win makes us qualify for the Euro Cup instead so that's good news. A solid return of 54 points was enough to claim 5th, ahead of Panaitolikos. Olympiakos lifted the league title for the umpteenth time, ahead of PAOK who finished in 2nd. We were some way off the top, so a lot of work to be done to get our hands on the trophy we want.
GOALS
1 | Thannis Ptinopoulous | 12
2 | Tobias Jepson | 10
3 | Braian Romero, Illias Terzis, Panagiotis Metallidis, Niall Smith | 7
ASSISTS
1 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 7
2 | Illias Terzis, Dejan Pavlovic, Wayne Williams-Rogers, Charalabos Pournos | 5
3 | Thanis Ptinopoulous | 4
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Niall Smith | 7.21
2 | Tobias Jepson | 7.17
3 | Illias Terzis | 7.10
Next Post | Pre-Season Update 2037/2038
TinakoFM
Good league impact early on, sure you'll improve further next season. Nice work with the cup win, too.
Dan
tongey
@Dan, I agree, I don't think I would've got PAS Lamia anywhere near the top of the league anytime soon so a change was needed!
Well, I've done it again, and forgotten to do a mid-season update due to getting excited about playing in the Euro Cup. So I'm now at the mid-point stage of the season and things are slightly better than last season I think. I've had no news on a potential new contract so I'm hoping that they will open up proceedings soon so I can extend my stay at the club in order to win the league title. I'm really enjoying my time here so it's a no-brainer to stay for now.
I made a few new signings and used some of my £6m budgets to do this. In come 3 new players that particularly strengthen the defence which was our weakest area last season. I'm still in the market for an out and out goalscorer but none have come up that I can afford yet. That'll be more likely next season.
Dejan Vidakovic | CAM | Cukaricki | Free
Dejan is a player of the highest calibre for his young age. At only 21, he's got time to improve and improve. He's got everything needed to be a key attacking player who creates chances galore for strikers. Once I start using him regularly I'm sure he will improve, but for now, he's a bit-part player.
Zarko Ivanovic | CB | Red Star Belgrade | £1.9m
Zarko is a player who's slotted in straight away in the CB position. He's a key player and has played extremely well at the back. I think he may be captain in a few seasons time once he's learnt the game and thee cub a bit more. A great signing for a cheap price.
Benjamin Pohlker | CM | Eintracht Frankfurt | Free
Benjamin is another German that I've brought across to Greece. He's a hell of a player to have and still has time to improve. He's calm on the ball and just sprays pass around the pitch. I probably don't use him enough, to be honest.
We've played fairly well in the league, starting particularly well 1 defeat in 7 games, and winning the other 6. The only defeat we had there was against PAOK who are obviously one of the favourites for the league title. Our recent form in the league is not good though, only winning once in the last 6 games. We've lost 4 times, against PAOK, Panathinaikos, Atromitos, & Olympiaikos. 3 of the favourites for the league, so we need to desperately improve our form against the top teams. We have had a good win against surprise packed Panaitolikos when we turned them over 3-0 on the opening day of the season.
To sum the league up, we need to improve and improve quickly if we are to stay in touch with the league leaders.
We're exactly where we finished last season, in 5th position, but we look a lot better so should kick on from here on in. We have 23 points from our 13 games and are 8 points behind the leaders Olympiakos who sit on 31 points. I'm hoping we can at least challenge at the top, but a top 3 finish would be my aim this season.
First of all, we played Aberdeen in the Playoff, to qualify for the group stages. We easily dispatched them after a 1st leg victory sent us on our way. We won easily 3-0 before drawing at home. Once the group draw had concluded, I thought we would have a great chance to finish in the top two and qualify for the later rounds. We were drawn in a group alongside:
Hertha Berlin, Amiens SC & Krasnodar
We had good wins against Amiens SC & Krasnodar, but couldn't find a way through against Hertha Berlin. We did manage a draw against them which helped us secure a second-place finish in the group stage. We're awaiting the draw but I'm hoping for a nice easy tie so we can try and progress as far as we can.
GOALS
1 | Thannis Ptinopoulous | 7
2 | Illias Terzis, Charalabos Pournos | 5
3 | Braian Romero | 4
ASSISTS
1 | Charalabos Pournos | 9
2 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 8
3 | Thanis Ptinopoulous, Dejan Pavlovic | 3
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Charalabos Pournos | 7.33
2 | Dejan Pavlovic | 7.23
3 | Illias Terzis, Zarko Ivanovic | 7.11
Next Post | End of Season Update 2037/2038
tongey
The end of my second season in charge of AEK Athens, and things are improving once more. The media started some stories up regarding my future at the club and the fact that my contract was running down. This must've scared the board as they offered me a contract pretty soon after that and I gleefully accepted. I'm now earning £6.25k per week, until the end of the 2039/2040 season. This gives me the time to continue building my team and continue to charge up the league tables in order to win that Superleague title.
We were in a little bit of a slump at the halfway stage after getting off to a blazing start. Things improved quickly and we went on a serious run of results, and only lost the once more in the regular-season phase. That loss was at the hands of Ast. Tripolis, who sat right at the bottom of the league. (this happens a lot in FM, I find). We had 2-1 wins against PAOK, Panathinaikos & Olympiakos which obviously is what we needed and the fans wanted. By finishing in the top 6 once again, we qualified for the Championship Phase, and we did alright in that too. We were challenging for the league all the way through until the bitter end when our form dipped.
In this phase, we had convincing wins against Panathinaikos & Atropitos, as well as losses against PAOK & Olympiakos. Obviously, if we want to challenge for the league title, we need to be beating these teams on a regular basis and in the crucial games at the end of the season.
After 36 games in the league, we improved on our position in the league table from last year and that's pleasing to see. We ended up on 68 points, only 4 behind Olympiakos who finished in 2nd position. PAOK ran away with the league once again and were a further 9 points ahead of us. We've closed the gap, but it's still a tough ask going into next year. I'll be looking at winning the title though.
You know we had qualified from the group stage alongside Hertha Berlin. In the next round we were drawn against Benfica from Portugal, and the first leg was just ridiculous. We ended up winning 7-1, with 5 goals from Thanasis Ptinopoulous. Incredible scenes at home in front of our own fans. In the second leg, I rested a load of players as we had a big game coming up with PAOK and this tie was over. We ended up losing the second leg but we were still advancing into the next round.
We drew group rivals Hertha Berlin, and drew the first leg at home. It was all to play for in the reverse fixture, but Hertha Berlin once again got the better of us, 3-2 in a great game that had everything. I'm not too disappointed though, as we had a good run.
We had another good cup run this season, but it wasn't to be a second Greek Cup on the bounce as we were knocked out by eventual winners PAOK in the semi-finals. I don't really know how we threw it away though as we took a 4-1 lead into the second leg and just took it to be that we were through to the final already, and that wasn't the case. PAOK beat us 5-1 and that was the end of that.
GOALS
1 | Thananis Ptinopoulous | 26
2 | Illias Terzas | 13
3 | Charlabos Pournos | 10
ASSISTS
1 | Charlabos Pournos | 26
2 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 14
3 | Dejan Pavlovic | 9
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Charlabos Pournos | 7.26
2 | Dejan Pavlovic, Thanasis Ptinopoulous | 7.14
3 | Illias Terzis | 7.11
Next Post | Mid-Season Update 2038/2039
tongey
It's happened again, and it's becoming a thing you guys expect me to do now. I've gone and forgotten to give a pre-season update. TBH though, I may just continue this way as it makes me keep my interest in the save a bit more as I'm not constantly writing update posts. Anyway, as I was awarded a new contract last season, there have been no talks of a new one just yet. I did ask the board to improve the youth facilities which they agreed to do since one of the philosophies they wanted me to agree to was to build the best youth development centre in the country so they would've been silly not to agree to it.
3 more signings have come into the club. 1 permanently and 2 have come in on loan. I used the loan market because the board didn't give me much of a transfer budget so I had to be savvy in the transfer market to help preserve funds at the club.
Jerome Ortiz | ST | £91k | Stuttgart
Jerome was the first player in through the door, and the only one who is here permanently. He's a striker who's come in off the back of some good form in the German leagues. His physical stats are amazing and I think he will be an amazing player but one for the future definitely.
Daniel Osario | ST | Man Utd | Loan
Daniel has come in on loan from Man Utd, and will slot straight in as my number one striker. He's 22, and is absolutely rapid. He's a rounded player and should be the main goalscorer for the team for the coming season. I hope he lives up to his potential anyway.
Erich Betrisey | CM | Man City | Loan
Erich is a swiss U21 player and has come in on loan from the other team in Manchester. City allowed him to come in for the season. He's my main midfielder and just adds that little bit of quality we lacked last season in the middle of the park. I'm ecstatic to have him here for the year.
13 games into the Superleague campaign, and just by looking at the fixture list, we've done really, really well! We have only lost 3 times out of the 13 games, against PAOK, Panithanaikos & Larisa. I expected to lose against PAOK and Panithanaikos, but the loss against Larisa was a shock and no one saw that one coming, We had a really good win against Olympiakos which was pleasing to see. To win every game apart from 4, is a good place to be and should set us up nicely for the rest of the season and hopefully, we can keep up the pace at the top of the table.
4th position at the half-way stage, which is actually one better than last season. We're still in the battle for the coveted top spot. PAOK lead the way with the usual supporting cast of Panithanaikos & Olympiakos closely following behind them. We have 28 points and are only 4 points behind the leaders.
We were drawn in the playoff round of the Euro Cup against Besiktas, who I thought would provide a stern test for us. We actually made it look easy as we won both legs of the playoff, and went through to the Group Stage after a 3-0 win on aggregate. Pretty easy to be honest.
In the Group Stage, we were drawn alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Freiburg & Sporting Lisbon. If you're going just on names, that's a pretty tough group for anyone to get out of. We performed excellently throughout the group stage and managed to get two wins against Shakhtar & Sporting. Surprisingly the weakest team in my eyes caused us the most problems. SC Freiburg were a tough opponent and we only managed a draw and a loss against them.
We went through as group winners so should get a favourable draw in the knockout rounds. SC Freiburg will join us in the next round leaving two big names in Shakhtar & Sporting out of the competition. Shocks all around.
GOALS
1 | Daniel Osorio | 6
2 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 3
3 | Jerome Ortiz, Braian Romero, Thanasis Ptinopoulous, Tobias Jepson, Charlabos Pournos | 2
ASSISTS
1 | Charalabos Pournos | 6
2 | Braian Romero | 4
3 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 3
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Braian Romero | 7.24
2 | Ricardo Yudica | 7.06
3 | Charlabos Pournos, Zarko Ivanovic | 7.05
Next Post | End of Season Update 2038/2039
tongey
We've come to the end of the 2038/2039 season here in Greece, and I'm still enjoying my time here. Who wouldn't enjoy evenings sat on the balcony of your 4* hotel, with some halloumi, feta & sake? There is no club news to update you on, so I thought I'd post my profile for you all to take a look at.
It looks like a very decent set of results, and it is. I'm happy with how we performed but it could've been a whole lot better. We had a lot of long-term injuries, I think at one point we had 6 first-teamers out and we only have a small squad anyway. It was tricky but somehow we pulled out a few results during this time. We only conceded 18 goals in this second section of the season which is mighty impressive for a team disrupted by injuries.
The 3-0 exceptional victory against PAOK late in the season was particularly enjoyable, as well as the 3-2 victory over them earlier courtest of the Daniel Osorio hattrick. I think that's the first time we've completed the Championship Phase double over PAOK. We did lose to Olympiakos though which didn't help our cause. Our record in the second half of the season was:
13 WINS, 4 DRAWS & 6 LOSSES. I'll take that any day of the week.
Look how tight that final league table is! Look where we finished! WE ARE CROWNED CHAMPIONS, but the slimmest of margins. We ended up with 71 points, but finished ahead of Panithanaikos in 2nd, due to the head to head record. If it went on goal-difference then the title wouldn't be ours. That's how close it was! Anyway, the whole league was a close affair, as PAOK finished in 4th spot and were only 2 points behind us. Olympiakos was 3rd with a 1 point gap separating us. MAD!
We had qualified in the last update and we're eagerly awaiting the draw for the 1st knockout round. It came in and I was gutted as we drew former champions Inter Milan. The giant of European Football was a way too good for us and put us to the sword in both legs of the round. We lost 3-0 in the first leg, and 2-0 in the reverse fixture. Oh well, we move on quickly...
We let ourselves down in the Greek Cup this year, as we only managed to reach the Qtr-Finals which is a real disappointment. We beat Olympic Volou in the 6th round before being knocked out by PAOK in the Qtr Finals. A cup we've already won anyway.
GOALS
1 | Daniel Osario | 28
2 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 6
3 | Thananis Ptinopoulous, Illias Terzis, Charlabos Pournos | 4
ASSISTS
1 | Charlabos Pournos | 12
2 | Illias Terzis | 8
3 | Panagiotis Metallidis | 7
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Braian Romero | 7.18
2 | Ricardio Yudica | 7.09
3 | Daniel Osario | 7.06
Well, after ticking off the Superleague trophy, that's my time over here in Greece, and I'll be looking at finding a new challenge somewhere else in the world. I'm not sure where yet but something will stick out to me I'm sure.
Next Post | Where Next?