BMG x2

Amazing work pal! Well done

Thanks Dan, only problem is the board will expect a lot from me now! I'm ok with that though.

Seasonal Awards
Bold indicates BMG player or manager.

Player of The Year - 1st Thomas Muller, 2nd Phillip Lahm, 3rd Max Kruse
Players Player of The Year - 1st Adrian Ramos, 2nd Andre Ayew, 3rd Jerome Boateng
Top Scorer - 1st Max Kruse, 2nd Thomas Muller, 3rd Adrian Ramos
German Players Newcomer of The Year - 1st Haris Seferovic, 2nd Milos Jojic, 3rd Thorgan Hazard
Coach of the year - 1st Ben Griffiths, 2nd Josep Guardiola, 3rd Jos Luhukay
Players Coach of The Year - 1st Ben Griffiths, 2nd Josep Guardiola, 3rd Jos Luhukay
Ayew and Kruse also made it into the Bundesliga Team of The Year and Players Team of The Year.

So at least one of our players made it to the top 3 for every award. I'm also delighted to win the Coach of The Year award as well as the Players Coach of The Year award An amazing season has finally ended. Now for a short break over the summer and then back to business next season.

I don't think that was ever doubt really. Kruse was awesome all season!



No idea why Kramer was on the bench for the best eleven. He started every game when he was available.

One thing I've noticed about the best XI is that it's pretty much just done by average ratings. So with a rating below 7 I'm not surprised Kramer is on the bench.

Congrats on your Europa League win and third place Bundesliga finish. Now to do one place (just one, mind you) better next season.

Krus had a superb season up top for you

Xhaka was only 0.02 higher rated so I didn't think that would really cause a problem. I did actually try to sign Kramer in the end, but Leverkusen wanted £24m which was more than double my transfer budget .

Yeah, if Dortmund stutter like they did at the end of last season then 2nd might be a real possibility!



When I join BMG, he was valued at about £8m-£9m. Hes now worth just over £20m and attracting interest from Bayern and Dortmund again. I really do need to keep him if I can.

Surprised to see Kruse didn't win player of the year

Müller and Lahn ain't got nothing on Mighty Max Kruse!

Great work this past season, mate!

A few years back, I had the computer pick Mandzukic (13 goals and a 7.35 rating) over Lewandowski (23 goals, a 7.34 and my main starter) at ST. So yeah, I don't think it's a particularly sophisticated algorithm doing the selecting...

2015-16 Season is underway!

July - August Results
Only played against Real Madrid because we recieved nearly £1m just for playing in it. After the friendlies were done, we started with an easy cup tie. The opening Bundesliga game was incredibly frustrating. We dominated from minute 1 to 90 but couldn't score. Then we suffered a heavy defeat to Bayern in the European Super Cup, but that didn't bother me too much as thats the least important trophy of the season for us. A late show against Hamburg followed by a nice win against last seasons overachievers Hertha saw us get our first league wins.



League Standings
Those results leave us in 3rd place behind Bayern (of course) and our fierce rivals Koln. Dortmunds average start sees them in 9th.



Champions League Group
In August the draw for the Champions League group stages was made. Because we finished 3rd last season, we went straight into the group stage without any qualification games. We were the lowest ranked team in the 3rd pot. I'm happy with that draw, Chelsea will most likely win the group and i'm confident we can overcome Basel and Steaua. Chelsea at home is our first fixture in Europe this season.



Transfer Business
Last season we were quiet in the transfer windows due to a small budget. This season we had two and a half times as much money as last season, but I decided not to buy a single player. Instead I signed a few from the expiring contracts list and a also picked up a couple of loans, I feel delighted with the players i managed to get in. Luke Shaw was pretty difficult to get, I spent 2 weeks negotiating with them but in the end they wouldn't reduce the monthly fee by any amount so I accepted their demands. There were also quite a few outgoing players as well, Hrgota the only player leaving for a fee.

Good work getting Zouma, he's doing the business for me, too.

I see that RB Leipzig (do NOT call them "Red Bull Leipzig" under penalty of death) got promoted in your save. Interesting to see how they will do.

Zouma should provide good competition for my other defenders. My top 3 DCs attributes are virtually the same so he should fit in perfectly when required.

Interesting point about Leipzig. Red Bull upset you recently?

Good signings

Now, if you saw Gibraltar and Germany play against each other, you'd expect it to be about 7-0 or 8-0. Well they have actually just played each other but it didn't finish anywhere close to the scores I mentioned. Nope, Germany went into super attack mode for this one.



Good to see the first 4 goals being scored by BMG players!

September - October Results
Our Bundesliga form has been good, despite a first league defeat of the season to Frankfurt. We are now the only team to stop Bayern from winning in the league so far this season while also keeping a clean sheet.



League Standings
That good form has seen us take 2nd place in the league behind you know who. Rivals Koln are a surprise 3rd with Dortmund ,still not at top form, in 4th.




Champions League Group
A defeat to Chelsea at home wasn't much of a surprise. But we probably deserved at least a point from it having had more shots, corners and possession. But thats what Mourinho does I suppose, grind out wins after soaking up immense oppostion pressure. We did win our other 2 games though and now sit 2nd in the group behind Chelsea.

Good start Hope you can keep pressuring Chelsea for top spot.

Obviously getting top spot would probably make the next round a bit easier, but if someone had offered me 2nd at the start of the season, I would've taken it. The board want me to at least make it out the group stage so anything beyond that would be a bonus.

With the current tactics in place and with the squad we've currently got, I firmly believe we could seriously challenge for the Bundesliga. We seem to outplay everybody at the moment, even Bayern and Chelsea, although we didn't win either. The DFB-Pokal is a realistic target as well. Its all very ambitious, but at the same time achievable. Kruse is making noise about a move away, but if I can convince him to stay to the end of the season we are in with a shout of more silverware!

Hope you keep Kruse! Do you have any targets to replace him if he does want to go?

Not yet. I have Raffael at the club who can play as a striker but while I still have Kruse, Raffael is at attacking midfield.

I have come up with a plan though which doesn't require buying anyone. I had Thorgan Hazard at the club on loan last season. While he was here I noticed that his contract expires in the summer of 2016. If he hasn't signed a new contract at Chelsea by January, I will be straight in to get him on a free transfer. His arrival would allow Raffael to move to forward as a striker because Hazard is best used at central attacking midfield. Thats the only idea i've got for now but I feel its a good one! Obviously if he does sign a new deal at Chelsea then i'll just have to splash the cash.

No, it's a DFB thing - advertising in team names is strictly forbidden. Leipzig had to do a bit of lingual gymnastics to even find a word that fit the "RB" acronym. The one they came up with, RasenBallsport, means "game you play on the grass with a ball" or some such nonsense.

(Bayer and Carl Zeiss are obviously grandfathered in)

I didn't know that. Should make for an interesting conversation!

1: Do you support Red Bull Leipzig?
2: No, I support Game you play on the grass with a ball Leipzig!

Large update ahead!

Champions League
There is only one place to start this update, the Champions League! We had 6 points from the first 3 games in the group, sitting 2nd behind Chelsea on 9. Our 4th game ended 0-0 with Steaua while Chelsea won 1-0 away at Basel. Chelsea had won 8-0 in the home game.

The 5th group game saw us travel to Stamford Bridge. Nobody gave us a hope, the bookies even had them down at evens to win the game. I didn't expect much out of it either if i'm honest. Kurt Zouma was in my starting XI as I had convinced Chelsea to allow him to play should we face each other. We went there with a game plan to go at them from minute 1 and worry them. It worked and 21 minutes in, Frederik Sorensen, signed on a free in the summer, put us 1-0 up. From that moment on the game was very much under our control. We then went and scored a 2nd goal in the 2nd half when another summer free transfer Tom Cleverley scored. We held on to our 2-0 lead until the 87th minute when Diego Costa pulled a goal back for the hosts. But it was too late and their players didn't have it in them to go again which allowed us to secure an amazing 2-1 win away at Chelsea! This was easily our best performance since i've been at the club, even better than the EL win against PSG.



After that incredible win, we were left on 10 points from 5 games. Chelsea were only 2 points ahead. The final group games saw us host Basel and Chelsea travel to Steaua. We won our game 2-0, but to win the group, Chelsea would have to lose. We could finish level on points but their superior goal difference was too big to overcome. Unfortunatly for us Chelsea didn't lose, they won 8-3 away!

So we finish 2nd in the group and will run the risk of facing a team like Barcelona or Real Madrid in the next round. Bring it on!



The best draw we could hope for was either Porto or Benfica. We didn't get either and instead got a tough opponent from England. Like the deal with the Zouma loan from Chelsea, Luke Shaw will also be available for this clash against his parent club.




November - December Results
As you can see below, our great form in the CL was also translating into superb domestic form. Both in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. Kruse, despite his agent suggesting he could be wanting to leave, was still in world class form and has scored 5 goals in the last 6 games before the winter break.




League Standings

Despite that good form, and Bayern playing 2 less games due to the Club World Cup, we still sit in 2nd place. Their incredibly tight defence could be what sees them retain their title. We wont let them get away too easily though! The early season good form from Koln has shattered and they have slipped all the way down to 11th. Dortmund are in 3rd, but 14th place is only 8 points behind them.




DFB-Pokal Draw
The Pokal is looking increasingly like a winnable competition. Bayern lost in round 2 and Dortmund lost in round 3. If we can beat Schalke in the next round, I don't really see any other teams that can beat us. Hopefully we can do it!




Lastly, I wanted to end on a great piece of news.

Brilliant November and December month

Even more brilliant to see Kruse signed new contract

Mighty Max stays! All's right with the world then.

Great run of form in the league, and Schalke should play you tough in the Pokal, but I believe you have the strength on your side.

Well done in the champions league, top work qualifying from that group! Looks like bayern running away with the league again

Thanks! It was a near perfect run in the league


He wanted a wage of just over £100k. No way I was doing that, so I offered £70k instead and made that part non-negotiable. Plenty of bonuses and clauses made up for the lower than wanted wage. So we definatly have the strength on our side with Max around!


Thanks, I always knew Basel and Steaua were beatable, but I didn't think we'd get that close to topping the group! If Bayern stumble a bit and we keep up our brilliant form, then who knows what could happen

Champions League
Once again i'm starting with the CL! Our opponents for the first knockout round were Manchester United. We had signed Tom Cleverley on a free and Luke Shaw on a loan from them at the start of the season. While the Shaw loan deal was being negotiated, we agreed with his parent club that should we meet each other this season, that Shaw will be allowed to play.

Shaw started, along with Cleverley, the home leg of our tie. United had recently been beaten by Stoke and we set out from the off, just like we did against Chelsea, to beat them back into their own box. It didn't have quite the same success as it did with Chelsea as United held us out for a half time score of 0-0. But what I knew I could count on was my players attitude and work rate. On average, we actually have the highest work rate of any team in the Bundesliga. In this second half United would find this out first hand. Just 5 minutes in and Andre Hahn put us 1-0 up. We smell blood, United are hurt, we have finally breached their backline. Wave after wave of BMG attacks afterwards brought no goals, but this was no worry as United failed to create a single clear cut opportunity at the other end. We went again and charged at their tired and weak defence and scored 2 more late goals to firmly plant 1 foot in the Champions League quarter-finals. 3-0 winners against a Manchester United team containing van Persie, Falcao, Di Maria, Rooney, Mata & Thiago Alcantara is a result to be proud of!

The second leg will be played at Old Trafford next month.




January - February Results
After the winter break had finished, we resumed our Bundesliga campaign with a surprise loss against Hamburg. It was very nearly 2 defeats in a row until Younes scored a 90th minute equaliser against Hertha in the next game. Our form picked up a bit after that with 3 straight wins, including beating Schalke in the DFB-Pokal quarter final. We play Hertha in the semi and then either Augsburg or lower league Frankfurt Erlenbruch in the final should we make it there.




League Standings
As usual, Bayern have begun to pull away and look like they are going to once again win the league. We still have to play Bayern for a 2nd time, so a win there could make things a little more interesting.




January Transfer Business
Once again I have managed to find some good players available on a free transfer. I am particularly pleased with the Vilhena signing as he looks as though he will be good enough to go straight into the starting XI. We'll have to wait until July to be 100% sure though. The others are promising youngsters, with the 2 coming from Manchester both looking like they could be great strikers for me in the future. I had also tried to sign Nick Powell and Xherdan Shaqiri on frees, but Powell eventually penned a new contract with United and Shaqiri wanted far too much money for my liking. Barcelona ended up coming in and signing him instead.

Tonny Trindade should end up being a good signing for you, as you said. Great that you nabbed him on a free, well done!

Some of the players that can be found on frees is incredible. I got in there as soon as I saw him!