IVIarrow - Comments

How could I be so stupid? How could I be so blind? With Big Val in the team, anything is possible...





3 great results against City and Juve, and an absolute hammering of that Georgian team and we're progressing against the odds for the 2nd season in a row.



On paper the draw is a lot kinder this year, but French football is the envy of the world on this save, think 2 of the last 4 CL finals have been all-french affairs, so wont be taking Lyon too lightly. Think we might be able to sneak a result though if our group stage form is anything to go off.

Debatable how much gametime he'll get due to our stellar midfield, if we have any injuries though he'll be straight in.

Started the season with a bang, a 3-1 win over Porto in the Supertaca, taking home the trophy for the 1st time in the clubs history.



Fired up my hopes for the league, with a win over rivals Porto already this season is this the year we take the league by storm and bring it back to Funchal for the first time ever? Not if our first game is anything to go by, a disappointing loss away at Sporting

Our CL group is also out, a toughy by any standards



Thank god the 4th team are garbage from Georgia as (and I really mean it this time) Europa League seems to be the best we can hope for this time.

Thanks pal, although don't appreciate any attempts to jinx big Val



Not entirely sure if we are the 27th best team in Europe, but I'm not about to complain, means we're doing something right!





The clubs facilities are definitely on the up, the move from Estadio de Madeira to Nacional de Madeira Stadium (really original naming there guys :thup means our revenue should grow hugely and we may be able to compete with Porto on a financial level (they spent 10x as much as us on transfers last season)

Speaking of transfers...



Zuologa, though hes a decent player, isnt getting any game time so nearly a mil loan fee + 2.7m future fee seems like decent business. Stoimenov is garbage and hope he gets a move out of that and Keita was just a backup anyway so >1m seems like a decent decision.



Signed on a free, just another backup in truth but out of all the backups ive signed over the years, probably has the best chance to break into the first team. Scouts rate him so might play him in the cups and see how he gets on.



When I was looking for a backup defender 6 months ago came across this guy, overlooked him and signed someone else. Roll on summer and he was still available, so signed him despite having no real glaring need at our position. Bit pointless but worst come the worst I'll move him on in 12 months for some $$$



Offered to me by an agent, and with Abu moving on he fills a need at CDM, as well as being better than Abu ever was and on 10k a week less.



When I was scouring the globe for a new CDM (see above) came across this guy, scouts claimed that Naval wanted 4m for him so I passed and bought Braun instead. Next week Sporting have a 1.4m bid accepted so I had to match their bid just to rub it in my shit scouts faces. At least he's Portuguese so he helps with quotas and whatnot.

Thanks pal

2020/21 roundup





Gutted to be so close to Porto in the league (again) but we're closer than previous years so at least we're moving in the right direction. Need to start picking up our form against them in the league though, another draw and loss against them this year means we're always playing catchup.

However, we did manage to take home both domestic cups this year





Fairly routine run throughs in both if im honest, only Sporting provided any kind of test but when you play one team 5 times in a year you start to work out how to beat them

We also went out to Madrid in the CL knockouts, only 3-0 on aggregate though which I think is a pretty decent result.

Star Performers

Valery Potapov - "Mr Nacional de Madeira" had another stellar season, with 53 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions, and took home top scorer honours in League Cup, League and CL. Fast becoming one of my favourite FM players, ever. Also collected a few other rewards too...









Only 25 too. Beast.

Cygne for me too mate!

Some wheelin' and dealin' in Jan to discuss



Signed this bruiser for 2.2 after selling two backup CBs that were complaining for a combined total of 3m. Robles is still getting sniffed around at, just rejected bids of 12m and 10m from Inter and Liverpool respectively, luckily the CL money means we dont need to sell, if this was 2 years ago we'd have had to bite their hand off. Liverpool had another bid accepted because it met his 13m(?) release clause, quickly offered him a new contract and he accepted, so thats gone away for now (he still demanded a 15m clause in his new contract so this saga will probably occur ever window from now on)



Heres the guy I'm hoping will finally be a replacement for Castro, his contract was up in July so I had the choice of signing him on a free (and paying 1.7m) or signing him now (and paying 1.7m) The choice, my dear Watson, was obvious (especially when our current best CM gets injured every other game)

Nice to see me top the ratings list, not sure how though as im nowhere near top in assists or goals and all my attributes seem to be falling! Great work George

CL results, this little team from the island of Funchal is really going places





Two fantastic performances against PSG and two great wins against Roma and we've somehow come through that group unscathed. Bit gutting we could finish top as PSG spanked Basel 6-1 on the last day, but just getting through is more than I could've hoped for.



Tough tie against 11 times champions Madrid, but looking at that draw the quality throughout is insane. Dont expect us to pull of a shock, but you never know...

Our starting XI is so OP, starting to think anything less than a league title is underperforming...



Rotated the squad a fair bit, 4-2 doesnt really do it justice as we were really poor and I was actually worried about letting a 5 goal aggregate lead slip. Big Val has continued where he left off from his injury last season, he's already got 8 CL goals this season.



What it's all about, dat cash money. Should mean we remain in the black for this season before the new stadium is completed, where our revenue should start to grow and grow.



Tougher than i'd have liked, looks to me like me and Basel will be fighting tooth and nail for a Europa League spot at best.

Congrats on the cup win mate! The discipline in that league looks horrible haha

Routine wins over Celtic sets up a tie with Werder Bremen, we played them in a friendly this year and only lost 2-1 with a rotated squad, so fingers crossed we can come through this tie and reach the CL proper.


Managed to lose the Supertaca, wouldn't mind much but its against Porto who are beginning to piss me off Their wage bill is still 5 times higher than ours but it would be nice to start picking up results against them more regularly.

Signings time




Signed on a precontract, completely forgot about this one but looks like he could be a decent addition to the defence.


Signed on a precontract where the compensation was said to be 600k, turns out its 1.6m instead Still, could slot into the first XI if i can bring myself to drop the one club legend thats currently starting there.


Signed on a free from old club Guimaraes, gave him his pro debut there and should help us with our homegrown quotas etc.


Brought in to partner Potapov up top when Gjesvold inevitably gets injured again. Fairly cheap considering how decent he looks.


Brought in on loan for a backup LB. We're fairly stocked there already if im honest, but he has quality potential so i'm sowing the seed for a potential future move.


Another free transfer recommended by our scouts, provides depth right across the midfield, something we sorely lacked last season.


Here's the draw for our CL playoff


They're no PSG, but its still a stern test in facing Celtic. First leg at Celtic Park so fingers crossed we can nab an away goal.


In other miscellaneous news


How united signed this guy for only 2.9m is beyond me, look at those stats!

Also, France had won every European Championship game theyd played so far on this save, however theyve just been knocked out in the 1st knockout round by Wales of all teams Belgium won the Euro's and boosted their ranking to 12th, from 74th... My, how they had fallen since I left.


Good news as we can now finish 3rd and still enter the CL. My sights are set much higher than that though...


Agree with the Bertrand decision, but Gjesvold? A guy that missed about 6 months of the season somehow getting signing of the season..

Cheers guys!

Our last game of the season was the cup final against Naval, who have been a bit of a bogey team for me in my stay in Portugal so far, giving us a few tough games. The game was delayed for about 2 weeks due to "international callups", but come match day 5 first teamers were still away, so not really sure what all that was about... Anyway,



Turns out there was no need to worry, as we blew Naval out of the water (habloodyha) First (of many i hope) trophy at Nacional!

Heres our league finish and fixtures





Porto were only 9 points clear in the end, and the league could've and should've been much closer if we could cut out some of those needless draws against weaker opposition, and if the squad could stay healthy for more than a fortnight. Hopefully one of the two might happen next season.

Star Performers

Efrain Robles - Had started to resent him for his tendancy to give away stupid penalties and get himself sent off, but this year the young Bolivian cleaned up his act and was a 200cm tall tower at the heart of the defence. Got up the other end to score a tidy 7 goals all season too. In light of his value increasing by about 300%, had to offer him a new contract where he nearly doubled his wages and got himself a 10m release clause... *shudder*

Theo Bertrand - His numbers hardly set the league alight (14 in 40) but he really stepped up to the plate when our best two strikers were down, and deserved his first callup to the Swiss national team.

Thanks a lot mate!

So with 2 games to go the league situation is this



Up next? Benfica. Knowing a win would be almost good enough for CL qualification, could we put last years choke out of our minds and rejoin the big boys on the European stage?

You bet we could.



Another display of beautiful counter attacking football meant we were all but out of sight by HT.

Benfica went on to draw their final league game at home to Academica, meaning with a game in hand...

Sigh. This loss came the game after we lost 1-0 on aggregate to Malaga in the Europa League, so its down to the FA Cup final to secure any trophies this year.

Star signing Axel Gjesvold, who was meant to plug a gap up front, came back from a torn calf muscle to feature in that Malaga game, and came off with an injury, ANOTHER torn calf muscle. Somehow inherited the glass legs of Kieron Dyer this one.

Stick your "biggest Portuguese team" up your arse!



This victory means we're in the final of both domestic cups this season, we're to play Benfica in the league cup final and Naval in the other. If we dont come away with any silverware this season it'll be an absolute travesty.

In slightly more worrying news



Awesome striker and consensus best player in the league (in my eyes at least) has managed to f*ck himself up, and most probably f*ck up any chances of us finishing 2nd. Hes also the latest in a veeeery long list of injuries... Bloody hope they have health insurance or something in Portugal.

Definitely lucked out into the easier side of the draw there Although with Spain not loaded its quite hard to gauge how tough Malaga will be. Operation unlikely-run-to-the-final continues!

Noticed star player Potapov's value had shot up (from about 3m to 8m) so offered him a bumper new 5 year contract to ward off any would-be buyers. He's now comfortably the clubs highest paid player on a princely 13k pw, but his performances definitely warrant it.





What a guy. Will be the clubs record goalscorer before long, mark my words. (tbh though thats not saying much as the record is only about 80)

In the league Porto are running away with it and are about 12 points clear with 8 games to go, so now it all comes down to the battle for second between me, Benfica, Sporting, Braga and Belenenses, with 5 points seperating 2nd and 6th. Just being in this position is remarkable considering the injuries we've had, we had 5/6 first team starters out at one point, one for 4 months.

Two penalties, two goals. Move over Rickie Lambert...

Shit. Offered him a new contract to try and get rid of the release fee but he wasn't interested. Gutted as he was the best player on the team by a mile, but the money isnt half bad and 13m for a player we only signed 6 months ago is awfully good. Gonna scour the market and see if theres a cheapish replacement available, but the squad should be sufficient if not.

Screw you Castro, I wont forget this...

That remarkable final day victory against Schalke means we overhaul them and finish top of the group for the second year running. Counter is the way to go baby.





Also for the second year running, the draw has thrown up relatively weak opposition, so I'm quietly confident of reaching the quarters once again

Some cracking results George! Nice to see me picking up a few assists recently too

Cheers mate, he's done very well so far, one of only I reckon 2 starting players not to pick up an injury so far this season -.-

Here's our Europa League group



Was a great draw til f*cking Schalke came out the hat, reckon it'll be between us and Red Bull for second.

Anyway, turns out the club is in a worse position than I thought, losing money faster than the Titanic took on water... That 9m sale of Paunovic put us 6m in the black, come December and its fallen to 100k... Cone on tycoons, lets be 'avin yaaa

Nooooooo! Gutted for you mate

Cheers for the comments guys, it sure sucks but hopefully will make the team stronger as a result (I doubt it though)

Here's our signings for the new season, blindly ignoring the fact we're already leaking money from every orifice.



Note the sale of Paunovic, one of the stars of last season, but for that kind of money I couldn't say no.



Decent player down the spine of the team, can cover at MC or at DC if needed.



Strong 3rd CB at the club, will get gametime in the cup competitions etc and im hoping will force out Robles (who hasnt exactly been an unmitigated success story so far)



Backup and eventual first team starter at LB



Star player, straight into the first team to play alongside our other young talented midfielder (some young greek guy, top clubs have been sniffing around with hints of an 8m+ bid, bloody hope not as I couldnt say no to that either)



Adds a rotation striker to my options up top.



Backup at RB but has no real hope of forcing out the existing starter.



See Bertrand.



Brought in to replace Paunovic, and could quite conceivably be an upgrade when he adapts to the league, scouts already rate him at 4star with potential of 4 1/2. High hopes for this guy.

Meh, a 3-2 loss to Braga on the last day condemned any bleak title hopes we had, and Porto and Sporting both won, which left the table like this



Extremely disappointed to finish the season with no trophies, reckon the squad was definitely good enough to win something, we just choked at the finish line. Boavista won the FA Cup and a league 2 side managed to reach the final of the League cup, so a trophy was definitely doable.

Star Performers

Valery Potapov - The mean green Russian goal scoring machine, Potapov scored 51 goals in 53 games with a 7.77 rating, a was deservedly named Forward of the year, as well as earning team of the year and top league goalscorer offers. Really surprised a bigger club hasnt come in for him yet.

Filip Paunovic - Valery's partner in crime, notched 38 in 52 games and was also named in the team of the year. The was one point in the season where he was outperforming Potapov, and boy did I resent him for it

In other, slightly unexpected news...



A new stadium is obviously good, but no idea how this will affect our already bleak finances

An absolutely gutting loss. That OG really sent us chasing the game and despite having more chances, our strikers who have been decimating the league all season couldnt find the net. What makes it worse is that Porto drew their game in hand, leaving the table looking like this



Somehow, Sporting have mounted the latest of late charges and it's now theirs to throw away, I need a bloody miracle. Dust off your TVs and Jeff Stelling, it's Super Sunday time...

We've f*cking bottled it! Still got Sporting and Braga to play so a most unlikely first ever league title for Nacional is looking even more improbable now

As if that's not bad enough, those dropped points mean Sporting are now just 1 point behind, and we play them next...

In the Europa League thrashed Athletic over two legs then scraped past AZ to set up a quarter final with league rivals Porto.

The league is incredibly tight going into the last 5 games, with the table currently looking like this



Here is ours and Porto's remaining 5 fixtures, respectively





Similiar in truth, Porto's perhaps slightly easier as they don't have to go to Braga on the last day. Reckon it'll come down to whoever manages their squad better through the Europa league ties, but even coming this close is some achievement considering Porto's wage bill runs about 5 times higher than ours.

Enjoy seeing stories in unusual places, good luck mate!