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Deleted Account #151676
#183243 [FM14]Johno's career
#183240 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
The season hasn't got off to the dream start I had been hoping for, three defeats in four games is not a great way to come out of the blocks, still we have made it through to the group stage of the Champions League, so as long as we pick up some league points in September I'm happy to forget about the heavy defeat at Milan and the slip at Parma.
We lost the first leg against Dynamo Kiev which had me fearing the worst, however the players responded well and eased to a pretty comprohensive victory at home to send us through 5-3 on aggregate, we now face this group;
I'm fairly confident of going through second, Shakhtar could be tricky but we should certainly be beating Legia if we are serious about our European ambitions this time. I think it will be a case of playing for a draw against Bayern.
Zenit came in with a deadline day bid of £6M for my Romanian full-back Nicola Murru, a bid I was happy to accept as I've had several fallings out with the 25 year old and £6M is more than twice his value. of course his departure meant I had to find a new left back sharpish;
I'm happy with my new man, signed for £11M from Sao Paulo courtesy of my board (I had used up all my funds) although we very nearly had a useless player on our hands as the board only brought his Sao Paulo contract and not the 10% owned by his agent, co-ownership is not allowed in Italy so he wouldn't have been able to play if I hadn't sold one of my youth players to raise the £1.5M needed to buy the agents share in time.
I was approached by West Ham this month to take over the Hammers, flattering to be asked of course but after the black smudge on my record from that disastrous spell with Everton I have no desire to return to England any time soon! I was also asked by the Croatian FA if I'd be interested in taking over their national side, again I politely declined but it's nice to know that the Olympics haven't killed all hope of a International career.
Christian
Has been feeling fatigued after playing through the summer at the Olympics so I gave him an extra fortnight holiday, he returned to La Viola in the 2-1 defeat to Parma.
#183148 2014/15 Pre Season Thread
#183129 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Thanks bud.
Summer 2020
I'm glad to be back in Italy and endeavouring to forget all about my doomed adventure in the far East. (It may take some time!)
I'll admit with the Olympic sideshow this summer I have not dedicated as much time as I ought to La Viola, my assistant manager Alesandro Del Piero has handled most of the pre-season games whilst I managed our transfer wheeling and dealing from the Italy camp.
Our bank manager probably has a blood vendetta against me now as my spending over the course of my year in charge is now almost £160M, although I have recouped £105M of that in player sales.
So without further delay lets meet the new lads;
It took £22M in order to convince my former club Roma to part with this wonderkid, Gio accompanied me to Tokyo where he scored twice against South Korea in our final game. Looks a absolute demon up front and once he finds his feet he should be scoring for fun.
Now officially the most expensive Serie A transfer in history, at £50M (£20M up front and £30M over 36 months) nobody can say that Prestia was a steal, however he was voted Serie A defender of the year last season and was runner up the year previously with Udinese, we beat off the likes of Manchester United, PSG and Dortmund to land the 26 year old who will be the rock upon which I build my castle in the coming years.
Not a new face but a welcome return, the Dutchman spent last season on loan with us, he was a little bit shaky to begin with whilst he bridged the language gap, however once he could effectively communicate with his team mates he became a important part of the team, I was only too happy to pay his £6.5M release clause to bring him from Ajax permanently.
We can also welcome back French youngster Stephane Fournier for another season on loan at the club, he joined on deadline day from Manchester City last January as cover for Simone Zaza, however Stephane can now expect to be first choice after some very impressive displays in pre-season.
Outgoing are some big names, Mario Gomez's release I think was the right call, he just didn't cut it in front of goal last term, he decided to retire following leaving the club.
So, here's my squad as a whole;
So here's our results from our friendly schedule, all credit goes to ADP for these though.
Aside from a bit of a drubbing from Man City it was a pleasing summer, I'm looking forward to the new season with optimism, I'm targeting 3rd or above to avoid the qualifying round of the Champions League next season. I would like to do better in Copa Italia this year, we fell at the first hurdle last time and it really is about time I got my hands on some bloody silverware!
Our European campaign will begin in Ukraine as we take on Dynamo Kiev in the play-off round for a place in the Champions League Group stage, I'm aiming to reach the knockouts this time around after failing to make it out of our group in 2019/20.
Christian
More of the same from Christian will be good enough, he's come a long way in the last few years, steadily improving season by season with good solid defending, he'll never be much of a force to be reckoned with in terms of his attacking qualities but he does everything I require from a full back and does it well. If you compare his stats from when he first joined me at Brescia seven years ago you can see just how much he's improved;
2013
2020
#183100 2014/15 Kit Thread
Really like the away kit, looks much like the 1982 European cup one. The other half has offered to get it for me as a wedding anniversary present next month.
#183098 A Northern Mariana Islands Story...Sorry Where?
#183097 What's the last thing you bought thread
Your old ones too crusty now?
#183096 [FM14]Johno's career
.
#183094 There and back to see how far it is
#183053 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
The Olympics were a unmitigated car-crash for Italy as my hapless team failed to win a single game, going out in the group stage with barely a whimper;
Disappointment doesn't begin to cover my feelings, I had hoped this would be my time to finally get some silverware as a manager, an Olympic medal is something I never realised even as a player so to see such limp performances throughout this competition was gut-wrenching. I immediately resigned my position and go back to Fiorentina with my tail between my legs. My hopes of some day managing the full national team may have taken a serious blow this summer.
Christian played well enough at right back without winning any particular acclaim, more than can be said about several of his team mates.
#183037 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Thanks mate, keep reading!
#183036 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
My final 18 man squad;
As you can see Christian made my selection (as if there was any doubt he would)
We begin the Olympics against Mexico, a potentially tricky tie where Christian and the rest of the defence will need to be on their toes to deal the the North American's pace.
I also have lots of Fiorentina news but I will leave that until after the Olympics to save confusion.
#182996 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Mission accomplished! Champions League footy will again be returning to Stadio Artimo Franchi next season as we pipped Inter to fourth on the final day following a pretty good final couple of months;
I'm absolutely gutted for Udinese, they had been top almost the entire season but utterly disintegrated under the pressure in the final straight, allowing Milan to nick it.
As for our own season, we finish fourth for the second season running, I'm fairly pleased with the end result, there was a few bumps in the road, I would of liked a better run in Europe and to have got past the first round in the Copa Italia, however this was my first season with the Viola and I'm looking forward to having a good clear out of players I don't think help our cause much this summer and hopefully bring in a few fresh faces who are prepared to take us a step further than merely qualifying for Europe to actually competing for silverware.
I have some exciting news regarding my application to lead Italy at the Olympics this summer;
Really looking forward to the tournament, it's nice that the job is only for the duration of the competition so it won't interfere with my day job at Fiorentina but provides a great chance to finally win something after having collected three runners up medals in my career so far.
Here's the groups;
I've arranged warm up games with Thailand, Costa Rica and Tunisia in order to prepare us, I'm confident of getting through the group stage though. I've appointed my former Roma captain Valario Di Cesare as my assistant, he's a coach in my Fiorentina back room currently so I saw him as the ideal man for the job, my former Brescia goalkeeper Michelle Arcari will also be my keeper coach for Italy as he is for the Viola.
Also, in more personal news, the 3-2 win over Catania was my 300th game in management;
Christian
Can be proud of his first season in the purple shirt, he made 31 appearances in Serie A for us with an average rating of 6.90, he also scored the very first goal of the season when he rifled home early on against Krasnador a Champions League qualifier. Can he expect a seat on the plane heading to Tokyo this summer?
#182916 kits from the 80's
#182903 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
A concerning month for me as our form took a dramatic downward spiral, we suffered consecutive defeats for the first time under my management, in fact three straight defeats, a massive disappointment for me with my 300th game in management rapidly approaching.
Late drama in both the Atalanta and Udinese game kept us on course for our objective of Champions League football next season, although the race looks as if it will be much tighter than it should otherwise have been.
We have too tough game with Lazio and Milan before our run in concludes with Torino, Catania, Brescia and Livorno. The point with Udinese was quite pleasing as they look to be the Champions, the first team to win Serie A from outside Milan, Turin and Rome for 29 years when Sampdoria beat Milan to the crown. Nice to see somebody other than the traditional powers in Italy to upset the applecart.
In other news, I was tempted by the Milan job coming up this month, however I took too long deciding upon whether I should apply and the job was given to Pep Guardiola. There is another job that I'm most defiantly interested in, the Italian U23 coach will be selected soon as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics approach, I would love the chance to guide my country to a gold medal.
Christian
Played each game again, he along with the rest of the defence won little acclaim against Palermo and Parma.
#182730 A Northern Mariana Islands Story...Sorry Where?
#182725 Sick of this game.
Yes it can seem as if it is impossible to win some games, you have two or three disallowed, hit the post about five times, your strikers will turn and pass even if their clean through on goal, then in the 89th minute the opposition will get a corner or a free kick with no build up to explain why thye have been awarded it, and invariably score.
I've even had some where the ball has clearly gone in but for some reason the game doesn't register that and continues on, or the scoreline changes itself during the course of the game, the scoreboard will say 3-1 but when you check back later suddenly it's only 2-1 again, dispite all three of your goalscorers showing up.
I fucking hate the game at times but after playing since CM2 I doubt I'll ever stop.
#182716 Susie Fantasy Football
#182712 What Was The Last Film You Saw?
#182710 Switching Continent
#182708 A Northern Mariana Islands Story...Sorry Where?
They probley arn't full members of FIFA, 'why they are unplayable most like.
#182707 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
This leap year proved to be leap too far in terms of our European adventure as we were dumped out of the Europa League unceremoniously by Lorient at the first hurdle. Things are looking rosier back home however as we continue to look good in the league and are now six points clear in fourth as we look to ensure that Champions League football again graces the beautiful city of Florence next season.
Beating Roma is always sweet, especially when it comes in the 88th minute with one of your youth players! the brilliantly (and slightly racisitly) named Pablo Pasta finding himself with enough space to dispatch the ball into the top corner of Viviano's net to grab a deserved three points against my old bosses.
Things didn't go quite so well at Inter though as we succumbed to our first Serie A defeat since before Christmas, a mistake by goalkeeper Neto gave Inter the lead before the secured the result late on through Tomaz Martinez. We bounced back with a credible draw with Juventus, although it could of and perhaps should have been more as the Old Lady of Turin were down to ten men for most of the second half, still I'll take the point.
We were a real joke against Lorient, I was guilty of underestimating the French side, I fielded a heavily changed team with most of my key players rested, it proved a complete disaster as they tore my inexperienced team to pieces, all but eliminating us by half time.
We bounced back with a win over Napoli before restoring some pride against Lorient by going to France and winning, however we of course still went out 5-3.
I have one new signing;
Signed from Machester City on loan for the rest of the season, Stephane is a wonderkid with real potential, he's already bagged a couple for us. I felt I needed to freshen up the attack following Herrick's departure, Mario Gomez hasn't been on form and Zaza hasn't produced the kind of tally that he did at Atalanta so far.
Not long left of the campaign now, here's my remaining games;
The aim is just to finish as high as possible, It would take one hell of a run to get back into title contention, however just finishing in the top three to avoid the qualifying rounds of the Champions League would be great.
Christian
Missed just the one game this month, yes the 4-1 hammering by Lorient, which really speaks volumes for how important he is becoming to the defence doesn't it?
#182705 A Northern Mariana Islands Story...Sorry Where?
Have you got the International tournaments add-on? I think it includes the East Asian cup and Pacific island games. I presume taking over the national team is the eventual goal? the smaller competitions will make it more interesting.
#182568 A Northern Mariana Islands Story...Sorry Where?
Good luck with it mate.
#182051 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Thanks mate, yeah Christian's almost reached the 150 league games milestone now;
#182041 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
We began adjusting to life in the 20's in good form on the field as well as off it with our accountant a very busy man this month;
Players Out
Almost £80M in the January window is not bad! Herrick is a great player on his day, unfortunately he has too few days, at least since I have been manager here, I recall him scoring a few against me when I was at Roma, however I have just not managed to get him firing consistently since taking over here, so I was happy to take Chelsea's £30M. Kondogbia is another story however, he was an important part of my team, though £35M was too much to say no to.
I have reinvested a portion of that money to fill the gaps left by these departures and streghen the squad;
The sixteen year old was given a five star rating by three of my scouts (all of whom have 18+ for judging potential) so I'm very excited to see his progress over the coming years, not exactly a steal at £12M but he may prove well worth that outlay.
A proven Serie A goalscorer with Atalanta, was runner up in the golden boot race last year and third place the previous season, should serve as a replacement for Herrick in the next couple of years.
My marquee signing this winter, It took £23M to prise him away from Inter, can he fulfil his potential with us? I certainlly can see him going on to big things, ambitions of being selected for Italy.
Loan signing from Marseille to cover the right back position following the departure of Serge Aurier to Liverpool.
As I said we have got the new year off to a flying start, unbeaten in Serie A this month and back into the top four;
The Novara result was very pleasing, all the goalscorers were my new signings, even 16 year old Castel managed to get in there late on for a scoring debut.
Going out the Copa Italia was gutting though as it represented our best chance of lifting a trophy this season, the game went all the way to extra time before Palermo nicked it late on to dump us out.
Still, despite that cup exit there is still plenty of reasons to smile, February will be an exciting time with games against Juventus, Inter, Roma and Sampdoria in the league, as well as our Europa League tie with Lorient, it will be a crucial month for our season.
Christian
Played every game this month, once again he achieved solid ratings in each game for his defensive displays.
#182030 1990's
#181706 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
We finished 2019 with some good results, sandwiched between two crap ones;
Losing to Lazio is perhaps forgiveable, however going down to Catania is just not acceptable for what I expect from my team, Catania's second came late on as we threw everything at them, however we had been wasteful throughout.
Beating Milan was a great moment, as was getting one over on a former employer in the shape of Brescia, I bear no ill will to Brescia, I enjoyed managing them, however it's always good to win against your old club.
We've slid down a place in the table, I'm not too concerned though, we're still very much in the hunt for the top four places, a couple of wins and we'll be right back up there.
Unfortunatly we're out of the Champions League, we needed United to lose to CSKA which didn't happen, but it proved irrelivent as we failed to bear Dinamo anyway. We now transfer to the Europa League instead where we face French outfit Lorient;
Christian
Is it a coincidence that the two games Christian missed were both lost? perhaps but my lad once again proved what a solid full back he is, still not much getting forward but a really difficult defender to get round.
#181699 The Final
#181691 The Final