Home
FM Discord
YouTube Channel
FM24 Data Update
FM26 Data Update
FM26 OOP Player Roles
Downloads
Graphics
Challenges
Blog
Forums
Videos
Tactics
FM26
FM26 Real Name Fix
FM26 Shortlists
FM26 DB
FM26 Men's Wonderkids
FM26 Women's Wonderkids
FM26 Men's Club Finances
FM26 Women's Club Finances
FM24 Update
FM24
FM23
FM Saves
FM Database
FM Guides
Installation Guides
Records
Search
#297405 Around the world in 80 years if i'm lucky! (Pentagon)
gaz12321
3 more games played at the end of March and a further 4 points gained, not great but not too bad I guess, a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Closing Stage leaders Curico Unido was probably to be expected although it did flatter them, we then followed up with a comfortable 2-1 win over Santiago Morning who grabbed a last minute consolation in reply to first half strikes from both my wingers. The last game this month was a topsy turvy 2-2 draw against Coquimbo Unido, having taken an early lead through Jefferson Castillo we disappointingly conceded once in each half to go behind before Jorge Romo, our player of the month, grabbed a late equaliser. So 4 points picked up.
We have dropped down to 10th in the Closing Stage so Promotion is no longer even a dream, not that I had any eyes on it anyway! In the overall standings shown below we are deep in a relegation scrap with La Serena as predicted, Just 2 points ahead and a worse goal difference, only 3 to play, it's certainly squeaky bum time!!
Below is La Serena's last 3 games and the remaining 3 games, they have just picked up their first win of the closing stage which could give them a boost going in to the final 3 games, both of us have similar run ins in terms of the quality we will face and i'm fully expecting this to go to a last day decider.
#297097 Around the world in 80 years if i'm lucky! (Pentagon)
gaz12321
#297012 The Pengaton
gaz12321
Follow the adventure here
#296923 Around the world in 80 years if i'm lucky! (Pentagon)
gaz12321
9 games in to my reign at Puerto Montt and so far it's gone quite well, especially compared to how they had performed in the opening stage! We opened with a thrilling 3-3 but much to my annoyance we paid the price for my attacking mentality having lead 3 times and thrown it away on each occasion, a hat trick from Nunez was the highlight! We then went on to beat an average Nublense side 3-2 at home to claim our first victory of the season, this game also proved to be Nunez's last for the season as he agreed his loan move to Olimpia. Goals continued to flow for my adventurous side with a 2-1 loss at Rangers followed by another home win 2-1 over Iberia and a 2-1 defeat at Magallanes, things were looking up with a return of 7 points from 5 games. A huge clash against La Serena who were our main rivals in the relegation battle so a 6 point in every sense, we deservedly snatched it thanks to a last minute goal from super sub Alvarado! Things looked really good when we cruised in to a 2-0 lead at home to Everton thanks to goals from Milian and again Alvarado only to see a poor few minutes cost us would have been a deserved victory, we were denied and had to settle for a 2-2 draw, an expected 2-0 loss at the leagues pace setters Barnechea followed. My final game for this update was an entertaining 0-0 that in truth we should probably have won 4-1 or something similar, but we just couldn't take our chances, the clean sheet and point are positives though. So how does that leave things...
Closing Stage Table
Fairly average in the Closing Stage table having taken 12 points from 9 games although a couple of wins could put us in the mix for a playoff place (Top 4), it's crazy to be able to think about having a chance at promotion with 5 games to go and yet be so perilously close to the drop, the revelation of staged leagues do intrigue me!
Overall Table
As I said, perilously close to the drop just 1 point ahead of La Serena, but this is a far improved picture from the one on show when I took over 6 points off the drop! The form books are in my favor and with just 5 games to play my rivals are going to need a huge turnaround in form to stay up, given that they've amassed just 3 points in the closing stage! The run in could be very very tense!
Performances
Not a great deal to get excited about really, team performances have been good and probably even better than results show, playing some lovely football at times, but it's hard to pick out stand out performers really. Faundez (Pic above) has been solid at the back and formed a good partnership with Leonardo Ruiz who has managed to force his way in to the side and keep hold of the place, but the best player so far for me has been Rodrigo Veliz, the creative spark in midfield has put in good performances in the 5 games he's played (Missed 4 through injury) averaging around 7.1 rating and playing a crucial part in our retention of the ball in midfield.
Stay tuned for what looks set to be a tense finish to the season! Thanks for reading up to now.
#296909 Around the world in 80 years if i'm lucky! (Pentagon)
gaz12321
Rodrigo Velez
27 year old playmaker who joined the club on a free at the start of the season, great amount of flair and natural fitness with decent teamwork and work rate some key attributes of a solid midfielder, missed much of the opening stage presumably due to injury but if kept fit could play a huge part for me.
Jonathan Nunez
Another player with a lot of flair, great vision too and by far my most creative player, the left winger could have played a big part for me but around a month into my reign he moved on loan to Olimpia in Paraguay with a view to a £150k deal at the end of it, this is why the stats at the bottom state very little, however he did bag a hat trick early on in my tenure. Shame to lose him but I was never going to keep him here and happy.
Manual Faundez
The best of my defensive players, great teamwork attribute and physically he is very good too, his mental stats are a bit less than i'd like to see but he is the best defender at the club and looks like a quality defender at this level.
Oliver Toledo
Versatile attacker who is pretty good all round albeit nothing special, my biggest issue here is that with my 4-3-3 wide formation I can't fit this guy in to his natural position and he also isn't naturally a winger when played wide, suits an inside forward more which I don't tend to use, just have to see how he develops or if we can adapt a system to fit him in. Looks decent enough though.
The rest of the squad is fairly solid at a glance and there is enough strength in depth to get through, ideally I would have liked to bring in another full back but I ran out of time to force through a loan move due to the time it took to scout someone good enough to make a move for, we didn't quite get the deal complete before the window slammed shut!
#296898 Around the world in 80 years if i'm lucky! (Pentagon)
gaz12321
The club... Deportes Puerto Montt, a small club who won promotion to the Chilean 2nd tier just the season before last, it's a young club having been founded in 1983 and plays it's home games at the 10,000 all seater Regional de Chinquihue stadium in front of an average of around 3,500 fans, which is around the mid table mark in terms of attendances in the league however they do currently operate on the smallest budget in the league and are therefore in a good position financially, unusual for a small club and something i'm happy with.
The club have had a torrid time in the Opening Stage having failed to win any of the 15 games and picking up just 4 points, it looked like a mountain to climb and relegation looking nailed at the half way mark however, there were some decent stats around the squad so I had some hope. As you can see below the club sit 6 points adrift from Deportes Capiapo...
#294931 The Alex Ferguson Challenge
gaz12321
EDIT - Had a torrid start at Dumbarton and really not feeling it so i've turned my attention to the Pentagon, may come back to this later.
#189610 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
#189470 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Transfers
The first signing I made was to bring in keeper Homero Jaime from Nurnberg on a season long loan, if the chance to sign him arises then I will certainly look to do that. We were crying out for some competition for Jefferson between the sticks and i've also signed 2 15 year old prospects but I won't bother with screenies of them just yet. Jaime is a fantastic keeper and will most likely be the main man for us this season, I can't quite understand why Nurnberg wanted to loan him out but i'm not complaining.
I then made a trip back to former club Vitoria to snap up their player of the season Santiago Martinez, he will provide cover on the left wing for us and although he probably isn't quite the standard I need to be looking at for this level, I know what he is capable of and i'm confident he will be a good addition to the squad.
My final signing was the big money move of the month, despite our current left back withdrawing his transfer request we were still light in that position so I raided rivals Santos for 26 year old Fabio Luiz, he has been consistent at this level for years and his attributes perfectly fit the adventurous, wing back like player we were after. The transfer probably set me back a little more than I wanted but i've got no doubt that Fabio will be a fantastic acquisition for Botafogo.
Results
We opened our state championship with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Bonsucesso with goals from Josef Martinez, Otavio & Blanco. A trip to Boavista was next and we smashed them 6-0, Camilinho got things going early on and Josef Martinez grabbed a brace, there were also goals for Otavio, Herrera & Bica in an easy win. The final game of the month was another easy game, these state championships can be very tedious given the lack of ability we come up against, Volta Redonda were on the end of a humbling 8-0 defeat. Josef Martinez got himself another 2 goals and right back Herrera continued to show his talent going forward with a brace of his own, Camilinho, Otavio, Juan Jesus and Duvan Zapata were the other names on the score sheet.
State Championship Table
Only a few games in but this is how things stand, the top 4 are far too good for the rest of the teams is starting to show already. All teams play each other once and after those 15 games the top 4 go into a playoff to decide who wins the title.
Player Of The Month
A tough choice between free scoring Josef Martinez, the talented Otavio and adventurous right back Michel Herrera. All 3 have been a cut above in these 3 games with 11 goals and 8 assists between them but Martinez's 5 goal haul plus 2 assists and his general play over the 3 games has been truly exceptional and for that reason I am giving the award to him.
#188882 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Botafogo! Another new chapter in my career is about to get underway and i'm incredibly excited about, they finished 2nd in the league last season and will no doubt expect to be up there again at the end of this season, i'm particularly looking forward to the Copa Libertadores as well. The offer of £36M to spend and wage budget of £1.5M is utterly ridiculous and gives me plenty of room to improve an already very talented squad.
My initial assessment of the current squad has lead me to setup our general formation as a 4-4-2 diamond with a very attacking and slick style of play, the whole squad is very attack minded and I would anticipate some goal frenzy's this season. Attacking midfielder Otavio is tipped as our best player by the current assistant manager.
First thing on the agenda is to restructure the staff levels to my liking, then i'm going to work on transfers. Competition for Jefferson in goal is my top priority, then getting in a top quality left back and an improved left winger complete my initial shopping list.
Can't wait for this!
#188795 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
#188715 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
A productive season without a doubt securing the promotion that the board demanded, it was gutting to lose the title given the position we had ourselves in after 30 games but I can't complain really as Bahia were deserved winners. We also managed to life the State Championship and came runners up in the Regional so it's been a good year with many great performances.
Top Scorer: Marquinhos - 35
Most Assists: Santiago Martinez - 32
Player Of The Year: Santiago Martinez
Best Newcomer: Santiago Martinez
Promising Youngster: Jamelao
#188707 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Results
After back to back defeats at the end of October we managed to get ourselves back to winning ways but it was scrappy, an early goal from Danilo was enough to secure a narrow win. The next 2 games produced more lackluster performances from us, we had been averaging around 4 goals per game this season and after losing 1-0 to lowly Vila Nova and then being held 0-0 by another struggler in Nautico we had now managed just a single goal in the last 5 league games!
We finally found our shooting boots again when we welcomed Chapecoense to our stadium with a thumping 5-0 win and 5 different scorers, this result not only secure our promotion at last but also pushed us over the current record for goals in a season in this league. An entertaining but nerve wracking 3-2 win at Portuguesa managed to keep the pressure on Bahia going into the final day, a hat trick from Jonatas including an 86th minute winner was enough to pick up 3 points.
So we head in to the final day of the season a point behind rivals Bahia, both teams had a home game to finish up and I know there is very little chance that they will slip up against relegation battlers Vila Nova, especially given Bahia's sensational form in the second half of the season.
The Final Day
We struggled in the final game again creating plenty of chances but just unable to take them, our pressure finally paid off when their defender diverted a Santiago Martinez corner into his own net in the 85th minute to hand us the 3 points. Unfortunately for us Bahia picked up an expected thumping win over Vila Nova beating them 4-0 to deservedly lift the title, they have been awesome over the last 20 games dropping just 5 points, our little slump towards the end ultimately cost us the title but i could have few complaints really.
#188414 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
An unbelievable start to an unbelievable month for us, but for differing reasons. We opened the month with an emphatic 8-1 win at home to Boa to restore our 7 point lead, however our next match away at Ceara was completely the opposite as we failed to create anything significant and had to settle for a bore draw. A Jonatas brace and an own goal secured a 3-1 win against Luverdense before Marquinhos & substitute Fabinho Fuba scored the goals in a 2-0 win at home to Bragantino.
The month went downhill from there with some trickier games to come starting with Mogi Mirim, having trailed for most of the match it was looking like we would be defeated at home but Marquinhos popped up with a sensational leveller late on. Our trip to America MG wasn't much easier but an earlier strike from Jonatas secured the win, we were then looking at a trip to 3rd place CRB before hosting rivals Bahia, the less I say about these 2 games the better, we were absolutely awful in both games creating no chances at all and ended up with back to back 1-0 defeats. It seems that we don't want to win the league!!
So this is how the league looks now, our lead is cut to just a single point and dramatically we look in danger of being overtaken! We still need 2 wins to secure promotion too but that hopefully shouldn't be an issue. It's gonna be an intense scrap for the title by the looks of it.
Player Of The Month
With the side so far off the boil at the end of the month this is tricky once again, but I guess it has to go Jonatas for his 5 goal haul this month, i'd like to say nobody though really.
#188367 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
We welcomed Protuguesa to the Barradao to get our month underway and comfortably brushed them aside with a brace from top scorer Marquinhos. Next up was a trip to lowly Joinville and we left there stunned, we dominated the match from start to finish but failed to take any of our chances and not for the first time this season we lost our concentration at the death and conceded a late winner, unbelievable and unexpected defeat. We got straight back to winning ways with a 2-0 win over Figueirense but it took a lot longer than i'd have liked to get the first goal with Martinez putting us ahead in the 64th minute, Paulinho wrapped the points up with a screamer in stoppage time.
A trip to Paysandu gave us far more problems than we anticipated, especially after going 2-0 up inside 10 minutes through Martinez & the returning Jonatas who had just won his starting place back from young Juninho. We managed to throw away the advantage before the break heading in at 2-2 but a scrappy own goal in the second half gave us a deserved but fortunate win. A much tougher tie then faced us with 5th placed Ponte Preta the destination, Jonatas was the focal point bagging a first half brace to put us in a strong position, we let them back in midway through the second half which made it a tense finish but we held on to extend the gap between us and the promotion places.
A 4th straight win was to follow and a much more comfortable one with a 5-1 demolition of Atletico Goianiense, Jonatas continued his sensational scoring run with a hat trick and his 6th goal in 3 games, Joilson came on at half time for the injured Vagner and extended the lead before we let one in, Baldivieso then rounded things off by hammering home what turned out to be the divisions goal of the month. We rounded off the month with a comfortable 2-0 win away at ABC, Marquinhos scored a brace to secure the win having gone 5 games without a goal prior to this.
The table makes good reading for us, a massive 15 point gap back to 5th with 14 games left to play, things are looking good for the expected promotion. We have a 4 point lead over CRB in 2nd place but with a game in hand i'll be expecting that to be back at 7 points after our home game against Boa.
Player Of The Month
Two players were in contention this month, Jonatas only started 4 games this month and with a return of 6 goals he put himself in the frame, but the performances of left winger Santiago Martinez have earned him the award, with 2 goals and 5 assists in his 7 appearances and an average rating of 7.5 he has been in typically consistent and menacing form again this month a deserves the accolade.
#188012 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
We went into this month looking to bounce back from a shock defeat but knowing we had 3 tricky fixtures in a row, we started away at 3rd place Mogi Mirim and in all honesty I would have took a draw pre match and that is exactly what we got, disappointing however that we twice took the lead and were denied by stoppage time equaliser. We picked ourselves up and prepared ourselves for a massive game against our rivals Bahia who had just moved into the promotion spots, we got off to a flyer with Marquinhos smashing us into an early lead in the 3rd minute but were pegged back before half time and that's how it ended, 1-1 is certainly a respectable result.
The rest of the month went exactly to plan starting off by demolishing league leaders CRB 7-2! Jonatas & the unstoppable Vagner grabbing a hat-trick each before a cameo goal from 15 year old wonderkid Juninho who burst on to the scene this month. Vila Nova visited expecting a hammering but managed to hold us out until the second half but the pressure finally told and we ran out 2-0 winners, then came a highly entertaining trip to high flying America RN that saw us fight back from an early goal to run out 4-2 winners. We rounded off a busy month with routine wins over Chapecoense (3-1) and Nautico (5-0), young Juninho came off the bench to score again and was rewarded with a start against Nautico which saw him yet again pop up on the score sheet.
So, almost half way through the season and we find ourselves sitting at the top of the pile having dropped just 9 points so far, the gap to Bahia just outside the promotion spots is a healthy 9 points and I can;t really complain with how things are going.
Player of the Month
A new thing i'll be doing each month is giving a personal player of the month award, this will be incredibly tricky as there have been so many fantastic performances, the award goes to impressive right winger Adriano Vagner who has terrorised defences this month and been directly involved in 11 goals with 6 assists and 5 scored, Special mentions also go to Santiago Martinez, Marquinhos & Juninho who have all impressed this month.
#187787 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Fantastic news ahead of a busy month, our keeper will be out for 5 to 6 weeks, with just one keeper in reserve I decided to see what was available in the loan market given that the transfer window was open, he is nothing special but is certainly a good enough replacement in the mean time, I managed to get this young lad in from Internacional until the end of the season.
With 6 games approaching in June it would be a busy month for us, opening with a 3-0 win away at Boa before a really entertaining but frustrating 3-2 win at home to ABC that saw us go ahead twice in the first half before being pegged back each time, the excellent Santiago Martinez popped up late on to secure a deserved victory. 3 straight comfortable wins against Ceara, Luverdense & Bragantino followed scoring 8 goals and letting in just 1 to make it 8 straight wins in the league. The final game of the month was massively disappointing losing to an injury time strike despite having 26 shots on goal, the goal was America MG's 2nd effort on goal! Not great preparation for 2 tough games coming up as we travel to Mogi Mirim before visiting our rivals bahia within the space of 3 days!
It's early days but we are sitting pretty in 2nd with a 9 point cushion back to 5th and dropping out of the promotion spots, a great start to the campaign.
#187491 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
First leg of our Third Round tie couldn't have started any better, we went into the break 2-0 to the good and Marquinhos added a superb third shortly after the restart to put us in a deserved and comfortable lead. Out of nowhere Sao Caetano pulled a goal back and then quickly added another to put the tie in the balance ahead of the second leg, very disappointing to go from such a comfortable position to a frankly perilous one, the defence got a rollicking after the game to say the least!
Things instantly went downhill when we conceded in the 3rd minute leaving us vulnerable on the away goals rule, Marquinhos pulled us back in the tie and we managed to hold on until the break. we managed to hold out until the 73rd minute but having conceded 2 in 3 minutes we found ourselves needing a goal just to take it to extra time. I was preparing the changes to push for the goal when all of a sudden a cross from Osmar had found the head of Andrade and it was 3-2, 5-5 on aggregate!! Disaster struck in the 89th minute and Sao Caetano were almost there, we created a few chances in stoppage time but couldn't find the goal to deservedly take us through, it was pleasing to pretty much match a side from a higher division for 180 minutes but to go out like this was a right kick in the teeth!
The only other news from June is the incredible capture of this Bolivian attacking midfielder from Newells in Argentina, we paid just £11k for his services due to his contract being almost up which is an absolute bargain, he looks fantastic!
We also captured 4 youth prospects who will join up with the reserves for now, if any of them break through to the first team any time soon i'll put screenies up.
#187352 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
We opened May by securing an easy passage to the state final with another 5-0 win (10-0 aggregate) to face rivals Bahia in the two legged final. A Jonatas hat-trick in the away leg put us in a great position with a 3-2 win and despite being the better side in the second leg we fell to a 2-1 defeat meaning the tie ended 4-4, now for the crazy part ... we won the state championship by virtue of being the higher seed, as opposed to actually winning it on the pitch! I mean i'll take it but that is pretty messed up, i'd be pissed to lose in that way!
In the midst of this we secured our passage to the third round of the Copa do Brasil despite a first leg scare, we made plenty of changes to the line up which produced a dis-jointed performance and ultimately a 2-1 reverse. A very confident second leg performance saw us through safely with a comfortable 3-0 win. Our league campaign opened in disappointing fashion as a late goal denied us a deserved victory but the players responded well winning our next 3 games without conceding and notching 9 goals ourselves.
In terms of players it's tricky to single anyone out as the whole squad have been excellent and there's so many to choose from, Osmar, Andrade, Martinez, Jonatas, Marquinhos and more have all been fantastic and long may it continue. The league now takes a break for just over a month but we have the cup third round to tackle early in June against Sao Caetano from the division above us.
#186412 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Cheers, that game was nuts I actually got distracted and missed the second half, was 4-0 at half time and came back to that haha. Mental game!
#186099 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Could not have gone better! Started the month with a club record win beating Pocoes 12-0 and ended the month with 6 wins from 6 scoring 33 and conceding only once! As much as I might be impressed with my side the quality of the sides we are playing at the moment are poor and we ended our group with maximum points but top on goal difference over rivals Bahia. We have also progressed to the Cup 2nd round where we will face Icasa, slightly tougher than the 1st round but i'd still expect to go through comfortable, the 2 legs of the cup are side by side with the 2 legs of the state final so I may rotate the squad a little.
Our 5-0 win at home in the first leg of the semi final should be enough to see us through to face Bahia in the final given the fact that they won their first leg 10-0 away! That's gonna be huge! Our midfield 3 of Andrade, Martinez & Vagner all managed 5 goals each this month which is a fantastic return, Marquinhos however started to show the ability that he promised at the start with a stunning 7 goal haul this month! I was also impressed with the hat-trick from striker Jonatas who has undoubted talent but hasn't been able to get in to the first team so far despite being a better striker than Fabinho Fuba who has started to go off the boil.
#185758 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Thanks for the comments mate, feel like i've kind of landed on my feet a little bit at Vitoria, for this season at least, hope I can make the most of being one of the favorites.
#185637 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
We started the month with an impressive 0-0 draw away at Sport Recife in the first leg of the Northeast Regional Final, things were looking fantastic when we took an early 2 goal lead but we somehow fell apart conceding 2 before HT to go in level, the final nail was put in the coffin midway through the second half and we (as expected) had to settle for second best, which was a shame as we didn't deserve to lose, we were fantastic over the 2 legs.
We got our state championship underway very successfully with 4 straight comfortable wins scoring 16 goals and conceding just once, with 4 games to go in the group stages we are looking good. The final game of the month was another comfortable win but by a much smaller margin than we deserved, we missed chance after chance but had to settle for the single goal, this still puts us in a great position to progress to the next round of the cup.
We sit joint top of our group alongside rivals Bahia, the way that the groups work is that you play each of the sides in the opposite group to you 2 times (So we play all of Group B home and away) and the top 2 teams in each group progress to the Semi Final ... crazy right?
#185625 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Here is how the squad stands now, the ability & potential ratings will e different as I have a new assistant with better judgement.
#185554 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
Over the course of my first month in charge in Brazil I firstly moved out almost all of the current staff and set about bringing in better quality staff members with a better structure to it, then I moved on to addressing the squad weaknesses with 7 players coming in to the club for a combined total of nearly £8.5M I am fairly sure my spending is over and the squad is in good shape for the upcoming season. Here they are:
First to arrive was Marcelo Lomba, the experienced keeper comes in a short term solution for a lack of quality between the sticks, despite Gil's impressive performances I am not sure he is consistent enough to satisfy my expectations. Lomba spent 7 seasons at one of Brazil's top clubs in Santos as their regular number 1 playing 302 times for them before his release. Once the scouts had alerted me to his availability there was nothing obvious to put me off going for him and to my surprise there was no competition, he should still have plenty of action ahead of him so this is a real bargain.
Gonzalo Oliva was a second freebie in quick succession arriving from Argentina's Velez Sarsfield, he made 16 appearances in the Argentine Premier Division last season giving a good account of himself too and I was once again shocked to pick him up with no competition on a free transfer. A very good all round player who looks very solid for the season coming up in the Second Division.
Adriano Vagner arrives from division rivals Mogi Mirim in a £500k deal, he was a late blossomer in football terms having only stepped up to the professional level at the age of 22, he spent 2 seasons at Mogi Mirim before I brought him over to Vitoria. A major concern is his lack of finishing ability and a lack of flair but his speed, passing, crossing, dribbling and technique mean he has all the attributes necessary to create bucket loads of chances for our front men from his right wing position.
The biggest signing so far, and a new club record at £4M. Another well rounded full back who will compete for a place in the side against the impressive Willian Osmar, I've had to pay over the odds for this guy but he has the attributes to succeed not just at the level we are out but even at the next level, i'm delighted with the capture of Da Silva.
Left winger Pingo arrives on a season long loan from Sao Paulo, another good technical player but lacking finishing there should be stupendous chances created for our strikers. The concern here is his high aggression but hopefully we can keep that in check. This signing is a short term measure to provide backup for the winger who comes in.
20 year old centre back Jameloa is another signing from divisional rivals Mogi Mirrim and another that has set me back a fair chunk of money, he has been capped 5 times at U20 level for Brazil and has the potential to be a future international regular, however he does lack speed. Looks very much like a no nonsense kinda player who will put his body on the line for his team.
This guy is the best signing of the lot in my opinion, Santiago Martinez comes in from Newelll's Old Boys for a bargain £115k as his contract was due to expire in 6 months. He combines pace, power, technique and ability which stands him in good stead to have a fantastic future with us in Brazil, he made over 100 appearances at Newells since coming through their youth setup and i'm looking forward to managing him at Vitoria.
That's the lot, there are no positions that I currently anticipate making changes and I am confident my squad is good enough to challenge for the romotion the board and fans are expecting.
#185439 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
What a start to my reign at Vitoria, we controlled the game from start to finish and a change of striker was the difference in the end, Fabinho Fuba came on to bag a brace and level the tie for us and to be honest we could have turned the tie around completely in the 90, Alex saw an effort chalked off for offside and Andrade crashed a 30 yard screamer off the bar, it wasn't to be though and it came down to the lottery of penalties. We were to take first and when George stepped up and saw his effort saved it was looking bleak but the hero was keeper Gil who made 3 fantastic saves in a row to send us through to the final!!
Even better knowing that we had overturned the first leg loss against our big rivals in front of a sell out 38,000 crowd!
Here is our reward, a two legged final against Sport Recife of the division above us! This will be one hell of a challenge but it's a free shot at a trophy and we really have nothing to lose.
#185367 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
As you can see the club currently are in the Brazilian Second Division and I have accepted the job with the expectation of winning promotion, a heavy burden on my first season in Brazil but I have been given a fair £11.5M to spend with £265k per week wage budget, this gives me plenty of room to improve the squad.
The stadium is very unique with trees situated in 2 corners of the ground, but with a capacity of 38,000 (30,000 seated) this is more than adequate for a club of our standing.
I take over the club before the league campaign starts and just 5 days before a Semi Final 2nd Leg in the Northeast Regional where I have a huge task of overturning a 2-0 defeat against Bahia.
At a glance the squad certainly needs some work if we are to achieve promotion this season but I have the budget to make this happen, Marquinhos looking like the best player on the books, you may also notice we have a certain Paulinho (Of Tottenham fame) in the ranks, however he's getting on a bit now.
This is an exciting challenge for me and i'm really looking forward to getting back into management, the hard work starts now.
#185241 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321
The idea is just to see where the world of football can take me, having already managed in 2 countries that I have never ventured into before I am about to embark on another journey, another new country for me (yes, I finally got a job) and I want to really enjoy the game. I hope that all of you following this can understand and appreciate this and will continue to track my progress in the future.
There will an update shortly about my new club, for now though, thanks for reading.
#185091 From Rags to Riches
gaz12321
#185085 Where Can Football Take Me?
gaz12321