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#240614 Sky Blue Army
willz121
So after the European Championships of 2016, I was appointed manager of Holland, which is awesome as I have the Dutch leagues loaded in the background and should prove for an interesting international career. All of the big names are still knocking about, so it will be a period of transition as the squad blends together youth and experience.
So far, I've played a few qualifiers, and have a really easy group, so been accused of making a mockery of the national side with some of my squad selections as I've risked a few U21 players in some games, and given first caps to others based on club form (including my striker Benschop).
Results
Only one goal conceded so far during my reign, and you can see how easy the group is from the results we've had so far. I won't write too much here as it's not amazingly interesting, but Benschop has scored in every game he has played, and Memphis Depay (now at Chelsea) is a monster.
Table
Five wins from five, and only one goal conceded. We should win all of our group games, but at the half way stage we are practically through!
#240554 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Results
Three games in November due to internationals, and they were three winnable games. We started well against Hull City away, with a 3-0 win. Youngster James Maddison returned to the first team squad after injury, and scored the opener before Benschop scored two goals to complete the result. We then travelled to Crystal Palace, where we struggled to a 2-2 draw. Lingard opened the scoring, with that man Benschop scoring the second, before he added another double at home to Reading.
Five goals in three games earned him Player of the Month!
League Table
Joint top, but third on goal difference, this cannot last surely, but it's been an amazing start to the season so far! Everything has gone our way, and long may it continue. In retrospect, a win at Palace would've put us top!
#240536 Sky Blue Army
willz121
October 2016
Results
October was an outstanding month for myself and the football club. I picked up the Manager of the Month award, after we achieved wins in every game! Charlison Benschop picked up where he left off ith a goal to get us going against Everton before Chris Eagles doubled the lead. Both were on the scoresheet again against Cardiff as Teixeira scored his first goal of the season as part of a comfortable 3-0 win.
We then faced two away games in London, and Lingard gave us a 1-0 win over QPR. The next game, Crystal Palace away in the League Cup was simply incredible. A 6-1 win over the Eagles was just bonkers to watch. We rested some of our key players for the game, but still eased through to the next round. David Henan is fast becoming a cup specialist with two goals, and I hope that we can go far in the Carling Cup this season.
We rounded the month off with a home win against West Brom, which was televised, and set us up for a good end to the month. Gary Mackay-Steven scored on his return from injury, and Charlison Benschop scored again.
League Table
Third in the league at the end October is fantastic, and beyond anything I could've imagined. It's been a great start, and we're half way to the 40 point mark that should guarantee us Premier League football next season.
#240525 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Results
Well I said that we'd not really faced any big teams yet, and our trip to Old Trafford brought us back down to earth as they didn't even break into a sweat. A 3-0 win for United sent us back home with our tails between our legs and into another away game, this time at Arsenal. A late Chris Eagles strike rescued a point for us, and it was a very good result for us.
Two home games followed, as we moved past Championship side Leeds in the Carling Cup 3-1 (Mason twice and Lingard) before a double strike from Charlison Benschop gave us a home win over Sunderland in front of the cameras.
League Table
Eighth in the table after six games, still happy with that, and a top half finish would be a wonderful achievement for us this season. Long way to go yet!
#240524 Sky Blue Army
willz121
August 2016
Results
Our Premiership journey began at home to Swansea City, and new (permanent) signings Ryan Mason and Jesse Lingard gave us a 2-1 to get the ball rolling. It was a great result for us, as any wins this season will be precious. Unfortunately, we followed that up with a 5-3 defeat at Southampton before a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Luton in the Carling Cup. David Henan notched his first two goals for us in that game, and hopefully he'll get more chances as we go forward.
The month finished with Charlison benschop scoring two goals against Blackburn Rovers to give us a 2-0 win, as he registered his second and third league goals for us in three games. He's looking like a good signing!
League Table
After three games, we're sixth in the league and it's been a competent start to the season. We've not played any big sides yet, so things could change quickly, but delighted to start strongly.
#240420 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Transfers: Summer Window 2016
I was given a healthy budget for the new season, but I have mainly aimed to pick up a few bargains where I can. So who did I sign to try and keep us in the Premier League?
Jack Hunt - £240k from Crystal Palace
Hunt was on my radar last season, but he had no intention of joining us. However, since our promotion, he has changed his tune and will become a key part of the first team squad.
Ryan Mason - £155k from Tottenham Hotspur
When his loan completed, he returned to Tottenham and was transfer listed. I made an enquiry, and they came back at £155k and I accepted it right away. Delighted to sign him permanently, although his injury problems could prove an issue as we move through a challenging season.
Jesse Lingard - £195k from Manchester United
As with Mason, Lingard was made available and he was signed permanently. Another attractive prospect for the side going forward, and a good investment from us. He was great last season, so I hope he can become a big player for us.
Angelo Henriquez - £130k from Manchester United
Another bargain from Manchester United, but a bit of a mess for me going forward. We had work permit problems when he signed, I appealed and then I thought it said it was okay and I signed him... only to see that he cannot play for us due to not having a work permit. He is listed for loan, so hopefully he can go out and get some games elsewhere, but a massive oversight by me!
Wesley Foderingham - £0k formerly Swindon Town
Bit of back story to this one first - Ben Amos has been my goalkeeper for the past two seasons, and when we got promoted Liverpool offered £2m for him. I rejected as he is worth more to me than that, and he kicked off saying I had restricted his chances of playing for a big team. I told him I would sell him if a club matched my asking price, which I bumped to £7.5m... Blackburn offered it, so I accepted!
So I needed a new goalkeeper, and Foderingham had been released from Swindon Town, and I snapped him up. Him and Archer will fight it out for the first team spot, but I think he is a good addition for zero outlay.
David Henan - £9k from Olympiakos
Another youngster signed, and he didn't cost us anything at all. Highly recommended by our scouting team, and I think he could prove to be a good investment for the club.
Andreas Pereira - £0k formerly Manchester United
Another former Manchester United youngster, will be on the verges of the first team for us, but I think he will more than likely be loaned out this season to gain first team experience. Seems like his potential could be quite high!
Charlison Benschop - £2.2m from Ajax
The only player we've really spent any money on, and I think it is make or break for him at Coventry. He scored once in four appearances for Ajax last season, but his stats look good enough, and the price was right to replace Sinclair who we couldn't loan in due to FM being a bit buggy, and thinking I still have a Liverpool player on loan.
John O'Sullivan - £0k formerly Blackburn Rovers
Decent youngster, not sure where he will fit in just yet, but his versatility should make him a really useful prospect in the squad.
Delighted with our players that we've brought in; Ben Amos was the only player who left for any real money, and we made a great profit on him so I am not too disappointed with his departure! So that's it, the squad is assembled, and we're ready to go!
#239060 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Update: March - April 2016
Right, so here we go into the business end of the season. Cup distractions are all over, so two months to secure promotion...
March
We began March as we ended February, drawing with a side from Yorkshire. This time Rotherham were the troublesome side, as we only returned home with a 2-2 draw. Thankfully the next three games yielded 12 goals for us as we cruised past Rochdale before a double header with West Ham resulted in six points, 9 goals for and only 2 against. Due to our cup runs, the game with West Ham was our game in hand. West Brom were the new leaders after we drew 0-0 at home to Ipswich, before we drew 3-3 at the Hawthorns. Not the result I wanted, but we didn't lose ground.
Norwich were still in the mix, but it looked as though it would be between us and the Baggies for the title. We finished March with a 3-2 win over Bristol City, a massive result to end a very odd March!
April
Eight goals in two games got April off to an amazing start, as we beat Charlton (4-1) and Bolton (4-2) to move us back to the top of the table. Unfortuantely, this is where we decided to make things difficult for ourselves, as we then drew 2-2 at home to Brentford before losing 3-2 at Hillsborough. This left us two games to go, 4 points clear of West Brom. A win against Sheffield Wednesday would've given us the title, but now we had to make sure it was still ours to lose. A 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth secured the title and we relaxed, before our final game away at Middlesbrough where we won 1-0 to round off an excellent season.
93 points, 112 goals for, and promotion...
COVENTRY CITY - Back in the Premiership!!
League Table
Manager of the Year
With the title win came the Manager of the Year award, and it was brilliant to finish with this award. Time to look forward, and try to get this squad ready for the top flight.
It will be interesting to see if we can retain our loan players who have been so key, with Ryan Mason and Jerome Sinclair the two major stand outs this season. Jordon Ibe has been impressive too, but it remains to be seen if Liverpool will loan them when our affiliation is terminated!
#239036 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Update: December - February 2016
December
December is so key to the end of the season, and we had a busy time of it with games all over the place. Two good wins started the month, beating Sheffield Wednesday (2-1) and Bournemouth (2-0) before we hosted West Ham in the quarter finals of the League Cup. They are now in the Championship, and we managed to beat them in extra time and followed it up with a good win against Fulham.
Boxing Day saw us host Middlesbrough, and we lost 2-0 in a game where we simply didn't get going. However, our next game proved to be a shocker as we dispatched Fulham 6-2 at Craven Cottage! The month, and the year finished with a tidy 2-0 win at Burnley.
January
The new year didn't start well for us, with a draw at home to Peterborough was followed by defeat at Nottingham Forest. We then faced the Posh again and won at their place before another 2-2 draw, this time at Huddersfield. We were drawn with QPR in the League Cup semi final, and took a slender 1-0 lead to Loftus Road, before drawing 1-1 at Stoke in the FA Cup.
Unfortunately for us, our next two games were to result in total failure, losing 3-0 at QPR before losing 2-0 at Wolves. To get to the semi finals of the League Cup was a massive achievement though, but I thought we'd beat QPR if I am honest.
February
February opened with our replay with Stoke, and we made up for the disappointment of the previous two games with a 4-1 win, before another 2-2 draw at home with Millwall. A 3-2 win at Wigan was then followed by a narrow defeat at home to Manchester United in the FA Cup. Again, disappointed to go out, but can't really complain about going out to United.
We got back to winning ways against Norwich in the league, which was a massive result as at the time they had moved ahead of us in the league. This game tied the points up, but we were behind on goal difference. Three poor results ended the month, as we drew 0-0 at home to Reading, before losing at Brighton, before finishing the month with a 1-1 draw at home to Leeds.
League Table
Back on top, but only just, but we've still got our game in hand on Norwich. It's going to be a tough run in to the end of the season, but I hope we can secure the title and promotion. We're well ahead of schedule though, so next season could be a tough one if we do go up!
Thanks for reading!
#238745 Rise of the clarets
willz121
They were relegated the first season of my current career, so to lead them to the title just 5 years later is a massive feat.
#238729 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Update: August - November 2015
August
Adjusting to the Championship looked like an uphill struggle as our first two games pit us against recently relegated Burnley and Nottingham Forest who were strong last season, with a cup tie with Burton sandwiched in the middle.
We managed to get a credible draw with Burnley at the Ricoh, with recent loan signing Andre Wisdow scoring on his debut. Jack Finch and Jerome Sinclair got our goals as we navigated Burton 2-0, before we lost 3-2 at the City Ground. This result was tough to take as we were 2-0 up after 11 minutes.
It was to be a busy September, as we then faced four games in eleven days. Firstly, our home tie with Huddersfield resulted in a six goal thriller, with Chris Eagles scoring the equaliser in the 90th minute. Our form returned though, as we beat Norwich 2-1 (both goals from Sinclar), before knocking Stoke City out of the Carling Cup 2-0. Ryan Mason and Jesse Lingard scored the goals to move us past our Premiership opposition. Mason was at it again as we beat Wolves 2-0, with the Spurs loanee scoring both goals.
September
A long break at the start of the month saw us cram six games into a two week period. Our trip to Millwall resulted in a 4-2 win, before we returned home for a triple header, beating Wigan (3-2), Bristol City (5-3) and Everton (2-1). We're scoring loads of goals and knocking Everton out of the cup was a real delight for me as the more money we can bring in the better.
Games against Reading and Brighton finished the month, and we suffered defeat at the Royals despite scoring twice away from home, before a Sinclair hat-trick won the game against Brighton late on.
I have to highlight this here, Jerome Sinclair is an animal! He is scoring goals for fun, and is keeping my strikers out of the team. He's only on loan, and Liverpool won't sell him, but he is just so good - with 12 goals in September alone!
October
An away day at leaders Leeds saw us return home with another three points, and another 6 goal thriller, before we hosted their neighbours Rotherham, and overcame the Millers 2-0. Tiago Ilori scored on his debut late on, with former Liverpool youngster Teixeira scoring the other goal.
Three away games followed, as we beat Rochdale (4-1), Derby (6-2) in the Carling Cup and drawing at Ipswich (2-2) to round off a pretty exciting month for the football club. We're into the Quarter Finals of the Capital One Cup and having an excellent season.
November
To finish off the update, we'll run down to the end of November... starting with a 3-2 win over rivals West Brom in the league. A massive game, on TV and we cruised past the Baggies. A visit to Charlton followed, with another 3 goal finish, seeing us win 3-1, before we hosted Bolton in what was a thrilling game. Both teams had the lead, but Teixeira scored the winner for us in the 92nd minute! The month finished with a strong 3-0 win at Brentford, with Jordon Ibe scoring twice.
League Table
Top of the league going into December is above and beyond where we thought we would be at this stage of the game, and it's brilliant that we have had so much success this season. If we can continue this run going along, the Premiership could be in sight. There is of course plenty of time for it all to fall apart in true Coventry style - but it's been fun so far!!
#238614 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Summer Transfer Window
Coventry City's finances are still fairly precarious despite the input from the board, so I've been working within the constraints of loans and free transfers, as well as selling on some of the family silver. John Fleck left for Brighton for £1m, with Lee Burge (Brentford £170k) and Danny Swanson (Dundee United £250k) the other departures. Other players left at the end of their contracts or on loan to gain first team experience.
Highlights coming in were Jordan Archer, Danny Wilson, Gary Mackay-Steven and Gary Gardner on free transfers. In addition, Andre Wisdom, Jordan Rossiter, Jordon Ibe and Jesse Lingard arrived on loan and bolstered the squad further. The key man though, last season and hopefully this, is Ryan Mason who is on loan from Tottenham. He was simply superb in League One, and I hope he will do another massive job for me this year!
I've played into the season a little, as the eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted, but I will finish off September before my next update.
#238610 Sky Blue Army
willz121
Alas, my career was curtailed during another takeover, and I fled to Italy to take over AS Roma. I won everything I could there, with a 38 year old Cristiano Ronaldo leading the line, and it was probably my best ever career on FM to date... so here we go on FM15, starting at Coventry City and seeing where it will take me.
Season 1: 2014/15
League: nPower League 1
Final position: 1st
A fantastic league win for us, we finished just three points shy of 100 points over the season. We also registered a win in the JPT Final, and I am delighted with how the season went. The club went through a takeover, and I was threatened with a sack, but thankfully this time I survived it! Into the Championship...
#198188 Susie FC - The start of something great!
willz121
Great update again buddy!
#192904 Susie FC - The start of something great!
willz121
Thanks for another great update George, well on track again this season, and another great read... keep up the good work bud!
#192061 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
February
Butcher started the month in good form, and scored the only goal as we overcame Parma, before we travelled to Fiorentina in the semi final of the Coppa Italia, drawing the first leg 2-2. Convincing wins over Cagliari and Fiorentina in the second leg of the cup set us up for a good run in, before two goals from Coskun secured us two draws against Napoli and Lyon. We finished the month with a 3-0 win over Sassuolo.
March
We continued with another win, this time against Catania with another clean sheet as we won 2-0, and quickly followed that up with a 2-1 win over Bologna. Two goalless draws followed, as we struggled to overcome our city rivals, before we overcame Lyon in the knockout phase on goal difference against Lyon.
We got back to winning ways against Genoa, bfore a 2-2 draw at Milan. We finished the month with an excellent 1-0 win over Arsenal in the first leg of our Champions League quarter final.
April
What are these red arrows that have appeared? After overcoming Arsenal in the first leg, we met our old enemy Juventus with a late equaliser salvaging a point. A trip to the Emirates up next saw us lose our first game for some time - going through on away goals for the second tie running. We then drew at Siena before returning to winning ways against Fiorentina and Spezia.
The semi final draw wasn't kind to us, as we drew Barcelona. We lost 2-1 at the Nou Camp in the first leg, before returning to overcome Fiorentina 4-0 in the league. The second leg against Barca was much more fun, as we won 2-0 which put us into the final against Monaco.
May
A perfect May meant that we ended the season with the ultimate success! We beat Bologna in the Coppa Italia final, before cruising past Atalanta, Livorno and Udinese. This set us up with the final game of the season, the Champions League final against Monaco. After an exciting 90 minutes, Tony Butcher won the game for us in extra time and we had retained the Champions League title!
League Table
That was an easy season, and we won the league without any real challenge. Bologna managed to qualify for the Champions League, with Juventus finally getting their act together to finish sixth.
It was at this point that I decided to call time on my three seasons at Roma with the following trophies in tow:
- 4 x Serie A
- 4 x Coppa Italia
- 3 x Super Coppa
- 2 x Champions League
- 1 x European Super Cup
- 1 x Club World Cup
Where I will end up next remains to be seen, but I have decided to remove the Italian leagues from my saved game, and plan to stand down from the Italy job after the World Cup. I have kept the English, Spanish and German leagues open, with my plan to move to Spain next. Before I deactivated some leagues, I spotted the Ajax job had become available, but unfortunately I saw it too late and they had already offered the role to Ron Vlaar!Miscellaneous
I am now the most successful English manager of all time, having 8 divisional titles, 11 domestic cups, and four other trophies.
World Cup round up will come next, before an announcement of where my career goes next... thanks for reading!
#191091 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
Another excellent month for us started with a 4-0 win over Livorno. It was great to see that a few of our youngsters were breaking into the side, and Coskun has looked really good since we added him to the squad over the summer. He scored twice against Livorno, with Butcher and Will Hughes completing the rout. We followed that up with a 3-1 win at Udinese, Coskun scoring again before an own goal and a neat finish from James Rodriguez wrapped things up.
We struggled through the Coppa Italia first round game with Livorno, with Rodriguez scoring in extra time to put us through. Butcher opened the scoring and an own goal should've seen us through but it wasn't to be. Back in league action, Butcher and Coskun shared the goals in a 3-1 win over Sampdoria, before we travelled to Juventus in the Coppa Quarter Final - which went all the way to penalties! Lady luck smiled on us, and we navigated through to the semi final. We wrapped the month up with two close wins, firstly beating Inter 2-1 at the San Siro - James Rodriguez scoring both - before Danilo Radaca gave us a 1-0 over Torino.
Undefeated season trundles on, and it's going really well. Seventeen points clear at the end of January is out of this world, so here is hoping we can keep it going!
Thanks for reading...
#190817 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
I am unsure why they are struggling, as they didn't really lose any players over the summer - if anything they have gotten stronger! But I won't question it, delighted they are not right on our tails! Thanks for commenting.
December
We've been all over the place this month, without a single home game! We started the month with a comfortable 2-0 win over Spezia, before travelling to Dinamo for our final Champions League game. We took an early lead, but couldn't capitalise - however Schalke also drew meaning we still topped the group.
Next, we were off to Mexico for the Club World Cup, where we comfortably dispatched Al-Sadd before facing River Plate in the final. We made light work of them too, and lifted the trophy:
Finally, we returned to Italy to travel to Atalanta. With many jaded players, we had to make changes, and somehow we came away with a 3-2 win. Not pretty, but it was a sensational month!
Still top of the league, and still undefeated as we take a seven point advantage into the new year. Juventus continue to struggle, but Inter and Milan have both stepped up to make up for the Old Lady stuttering. We still have a game in hand after the Club World Cup, so it would be great to make that a 10 point gap if we can!
Thanks for reading...
#190649 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
Massa continued his good form in front of goal, with three goals in the first two games of November. Ghisla has also broken into the team and has scored goals this month too.
We started the month with a 2-1 win over Genoa, before a 3-3 draw in Germany with Schalke. The draw puts us top of the group, level on points with Schalke, but we have the better results against Schalke despite drawing 0-0 (home) and 3-3 (away).
The rest of the month couldn't have gone much better for us really, with four straight wins - all with clean sheets! We again faced Milan and Juventus back to back, with Ghisla scoring the only goal against Milan before we took our trip to Turin. It used to always result in a defeat, but a 90+2 minute penalty from Fusco won the game for us.
Fusco had singled himself out for the start of the season, demanding a move and when Tottenham offered £15m for him, I rejected it. He's worth so much more than that, but he wanted to leave and I stood firm. He's now withdrawn his request, and he is back in the first team squad.
We had two good home wins to round off the month, with Ji-Duk and Butcher scoring to give us a 2-0 win over Shakhtar and near enough giving us the group title, before Freire scored the only goal as we overcame Siena.
An amazing month, and some huge results!
14 games down; 12 wins and 2 draws is an incredible start to the season in anyone's book, so if we can maintain this for a sustained period of time, then we could have the title wrapped up in no time!
We've been fantastic at the back, conceding only 6 goals in the league in 14 games is brilliant! We've changed our system slightly this season to flood the midfield, and it is working a treat!
#190604 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
We started October with a good win over Dinamo. An early own goal, and then the second from Massas meant that we had another clean sheet and dodged a potential banana skin. Massa has been pushing for a start and is repaying the faith already.
In the league we recorded good wins against Sassuolo and Catania; Sassuolo posed much more of a threat than in previous seasons, and a Frank Sautner goal was enough to give us a win, before doubles from Coskun and Butcher gave us a good win over Catania.
We then faced Schalke in the Champions League, and disappointingly the game finished goalless. I had hoped we could win the home tie to set us up for winning the group but we'll take it.
Bologna were next up in the league, with goals from Capradossi and Coskun gave us a comfortable 2-0 win to set us up with the Rome derby. Unfortunately we couldn't do enough to claim three points against our neighbours, as Charlie Hatzke rescued a point for us towards the end.
Top of the stack still, and we still haven't lost a game this season. 10 games in is a good marker, and we've looked fairly comfortable so far!
Thanks for reading...
#190558 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
Thanks George, it was a fantastic season for the club, and thanks for catching the story up! I had considered leaving, but then it was pointed out to me by someone that I would have the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup this season for the first time, so I've decided to stay for the season and then see where that takes me.
July/August/September
Starting with the transfers, I added a couple of players on free transfers, but the main transfer in was Luke Shaw for £4.4m. He's been a player I enjoyed having at Manchester United, and when the opportunity arose to pick him up on the cheap I went for it. It also allowed me to cash in on Gianluca Sposato who had been competing at left back last season. Will Hughes arrived on a free transfer from Manchester City, another player who I had been looking at for some time. He is 29.
It was time to put more faith in the younger ones, so we sold a lot of players who had been in the first team for a number of years and raised a significant amount of money. At the close of the window, we had sold over £100m worth of players.
After a fairly straight forward pre-season, we didn't concede a goal until the opening game of the season against Sampdoria. We retained the Italian Super Cup with a win over Juventus, before goals from Toncheff and Rodriguez helped us overcome Sampdoria in our first game of the season.
Then came the big one, a chance for a new trophy, and a Will Hughes penalty just on the stroke of half time won us the European Super Cup! Just the Europa League and the Club World Cup outstanding for Roma now, but I don't mind missing out on the Europa League!
We followed that game with two 1-0 wins; James Rodriguez has recently been promoted to captain after the retirement of Cristiano Ronaldo, and scored the only goal against Inter, before youngster Maurizio Ghisla scored to overcome Torino.
After winning the Champions League last year, we finally had a fairly straight forward group, with Shakhtar, Dinamo and Schalke (again) in our group. We started in the Ukraine with a 3-2 win, before returning to previous form with a 1-0 win over Parma. Tony Butcher has been on loan from Arsenal for last season, and we extended it into this year. He is a decent player and can play on either wing or up front.
We ended the month with a routine 2-1 win over Cagliari, with youngster Birol Coskun continuing to impress. James Rodriguez added the second goal from the spot, before we drew 0-0 at home to Napoli in the final game of September.
Four points clear of Inter after six games is a good start, and it's pleasing to see that Juventus are 15th after a dreadful start. I hope they stay clear of us this season and make it a bit easier!
Italy Update
Two games in September, as we got another win against Sweden, before cruising past Kazakhstan:
Debutants in each game, and it was a great opportunity to test some of the younger members of the squad out. Roma player Brambilla scored his first international goal against Kazakhstan!
Thanks for reading!
#189886 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
Group Stages
Once again, I was criticised for my inclusion of young players in the squad, and a number of more experienced players were left at home as their season form wasn't good enough. Drawn alongside Argentina, Iran and USA, we knew we had a chance to progress.
Unfortunately, we lost 2-1 to Argentina in game 1, which essentially surrendered any chance of us winning the group. We made up for it though with a 7-1 win over Iran, followed by a 1-0 victory over USA.
Semi Finals
We made easy work of Russia in the semi final, with a 3-0 win. They've had good history at tournaments during my career, so to knock them out was very pleasing. Mexico managed to overcome Argentina on penalties in the other semi final, which was great because it meant that we didn't have to face them again!
Final
In a pretty even game, we managed to squander an early two goal lead, but eventually progressed 7-6 on penalties. The successful season continues into the International arena, as another trophy is added to my profile.
Thanks for reading...
#189715 Susie FC - The start of something great!
willz121
#189709 Susie FC - The start of something great!
willz121
#189663 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
This season has been very broken for me in terms of updating my career, so I apologise for that. A quick review of the second half of the season, starting with Italy, where we faced Iceland in the qualifiers:
A comfortable win for us, although they gave us a scare with their early goal. We've got the Confederations Cup coming up over the summer, so I am looking forward to playing in that!
Back to Roma, and we were still on for the quadruple as we entered the final stages of the season. With Juventus suffering poor form, and us actually beating them for once, the title was retained for the third successive season under my management!
Not as good as last season, but one solitary defeat to Inter Milan saw us lose our undefeated record, and fall just shy of the 100 point mark. Delighted to have retained the title again! Just to highlight the goals against for the three relegated sides, Palermo 134 goals conceded, Padova 98 goals conceded and Brescia 148 goals conceded - with a -99 goal difference!
The Coppa Italia is ours once again, as we beat Juventus 1-0 in the final thanks to a goal from loanee Butcher. He's been a decent player to have on loan since January, but Arsenal are demanding too much money for him sadly.
Which left just the Champions League to play for; after beating Valencia, Arsenal and Bayern Munich in the knockout rounds, it was down to face PSG in the final... a game we won 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in game time. Delighted to have finally won this tournament!
Another Manager of the Year title, and I also won the Manager's Manager of the Year award too, which was very pleasing to win both again. It's been a massive season for the club, and we've won everything I can, except for the Europa League.
So we achieve the QUADRUPLE! Amazing season for us, but the question is, do I stay or move on now that I've won everything I can with Roma? Thanks for reading...
#189284 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
#189232 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
As you'd expect from a fairly straightforward group, we've won our first five games. I've changed the squad quite a lot between each international game so that we can ensure we get the right players for when we have more serious games. Some Roma players have been given debuts which has been good to see, and I've kept a close eye on the younger squads to see if any gems come up through the ranks.
The national media don't like me yet, as I play too many foreign based players, and also the fact that picking weaker squads makes a mockery of our international side, but so far it is working as I'd hope and we are doing really well.
#189231 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
Here you go Johno:
#189165 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
Just a quick round up to get you to where I am at the minute...
Results
Table
Awards
#187958 There and back to see how far it is
willz121
He's signed a one year contract again, but as soon as he signed it he announced he would retire at the end of this season! He's still an incredible player, so keeping him would be nice, but he will be 40!
I've been tracking Messi for some time, but everytime his contract nears expiry he doesn't want to join us, and then he signs a new deal at Barcelona... not holding much hope of prising him away before he retires!
July/August/September
Serie A doesn't really get going until September, so again these are bunched together. The summer saw us sell off a lot of fringe players and we brought in some good money. Lewandowski and Schurrle decided they wanted to leave at the end of their current deal and have left the club. Lewandowski wasn't great, but Schurrle still would've had a place in the side this season. He was homesick and wanted a new challenge though. Mario Gotze also left, like Lewandowski he was just a luxury that was keeping our youngsters away from the first team squad.
No new players in of note, a couple of young freebies to bulk us out a little.
Results
We opened the season on a Wednesday night which was quite weird, but we smashed Sampdoria in style. A hat-trick from De Bruyne was followed by two goals from Capradossi. We hit five again in our following game, crushing Udinese in the Super Coppa. The goals were well spread out, with Ronaldo, Watanabe (new signing), Shakison, De Bruyne and U19 product Fusco scoring the goals. Shakison was on target again in our next game against Milan, scoring the only goal of the game to give us a very important win, which we followed with a convincing 3-0 win over Brescia with goals from Toncheff and Ronaldo (x2). Toncheff had been linked with a big money move to Real Madrid over the summer, but no offer was received!
Our next fixture saw us travel to Manchester, where two goals weren't enough to get anything from the game with Manchester City. It was a shame that we came away empty handed, but the side played very well. We have Ajax and Viktoria Plzen in our group, so I again expect us to qualify in second place. Three routine league wins finished this section off; firstly we hosted Cagliari, where goals from Ronaldo and De Bruyne gave us a a nervy win. We then travelled to Catania, coming away with a 3-2 win. Ronaldo scored again, as did Fusco with the youngster grabbing a brace. We rounded the month off with a 2-1 win over Siena, with James Rodriguez grabbing both goals.
League Table
Perfect start to the season, and delighted with the games so far. We face Juventus next month, so hopefully we can get something from them for the first time!
Player Stats
Kevin De Bruyne has been in fine form at the start of this season, whilst Capradossi continues to show his worth as an asset to the side at the back. Ronaldo has already scored five goals, along with Fusco who has hit three in five games. Delighted with how he is improving, and he will more than likely be first team for a long time here at Roma!
International News
So last update, I was manager of Spain U23, preparing for the Olympics... well that changed quite quickly! Before we could even think about kicking a ball, Euro 2024 finished and Germany, Spain and Italy all dispensed with their managers. I applied for all three, and was offered the Spain and Italy roles. I literally flipped a coin to decide between the two, and Italy were the winners.
Since then, we have played two games; a 4-2 win over Cyprus, and a 1-0 win over Sweden in our qualifying group. We should win the group fairly easily, and hopefully go to the World Cup with a good chance of winning it!
Thanks for reading!
#187765 Susie FC - The start of something great!
willz121
Thanks for the update George, nice to see we are continuing good form. Disappointed that I will probably miss the Arsenal game but it's a great opportunity for us to put Susie FC on the map!