picchioni - Comments

Racing Club current status

Review:
I am not completly satisfied with our squad as Racing don't have a really "hardworking" squad. I intend to reformulate the entire squad in 3 years or less, and this season I will be looking to use a lot the transfer market. Also I want to implement a lot of youth player so I will be looking to upgrade my staff to the best possible

As part of my objective cited in the beginning of the story I had to become a manager of one of Argentina's big-five team. And no team is better then Racing because they have a fascinating story, here are some main points:

Completely dismissive of the disastrous performances on the pitch, Racing fans have made suffering into a virtue. On March 7, 1999, when the club was temporarily sus­pended from the league due to bankruptcy, they (the fans) turned up in full colours at Academia (stadium) all the same, throwing paper and fireworks and sing­ing for 90 minutes as if the game were in progress.

When Racing fans were out celebrating their World Club Championship win against Celtic in 1967, Independiente supporters entered the Racing stadium and buried seven black cats around the prem­ises. This, for many Racing fans, is the primary reason for their disastrous performance over the following years. Eventually, six of the cats were found and exhumed, but the seventh could not be located. In 1999, in the midst of bankruptcy, 100,000 Racing fans marched to the stadium, where a priest carried out an ex­orcism and predicted that the cause of the curse would soon come to light.

If you want to read the full story: http://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/906-Grounds/2740-academica-racing-club

Huracán 2015 Season Review

League:
Expectation (media): 15th -> Finished 5th
Expectation (board): Respectable mid-table ->Finished with continental qualification
Final League Tablee
Comments: We had a very solid start, and leaded the tournament for most of the part. We also had a very "old" squad and by the end of the season they could not perform as they were performing before. We got into a 4 games losing streak but even tho managed to achieve a much higher place then expected. I evaluate our position as a really good position and I am proud about being qualified for the Libertadores.

Cup
Expectation (media): Reach the second round (round of 64) -> Reached Quarter Finals after losing to Boca.
Comments: Again we reached beyond anyone could expect. And its not like we had a easy path, we faced some big teams like San Lorenzo (round of 64) and Velez (round of 16). The game against Boca was a close one (2-1) and we dominated the second half deserving to at least go to penalties.

Team
Top scorer: Patricio Toranzo (7)
Top assists: Patricio Toranzo (12)
Top average rating: Lucas Villarruel (7.38)
Best player (my opinion): Cristian Espinoza
Worse player {my opinion}: Agustín Torrasa

Its just looking easy for you. Complete dominance! A bit late here but what a great signing is Gabriel Barbosa (in Brasil he is known as 'Gabigol' the kid has a future!

Dan what a great season the last one was, congratulations on the title! And some really good results in preseason!

simoncoyne said everything! How much difference does it make to have a preseason and actually start a job with a team. Good job!

Happy late birthday mate!
Great run you got going there! Mind asking you: who took over Bayern for Guardiola?

Thank you mate! Actually no, they did really poor this season finishing at 15th. What motivated me to go to Racing is exactly how big they are. Later on tonight I will post their history and it is fascinating. Also is a big challenge, the team has good finances but a squad that I pretend to completly reformulate on the next 3 seasons. Its definitely gonna be a long-term job.

Thanks Dan!

They are a huge team in Argentina, probably the third biggest after River and Boca. And it was part of my objective to go from a small team (Huracán) to one of the big five (Racing).

Very tough. I think it has to do with fitness, but you know when you get in a bad run like this is hard to get out of it.

Batistuta is the new manager for Racing Club

Next Post:

• Huracán season review
• New team information and season planning

Primera Division
Four losses in a row, the team just stopped playing. We are missing so many goals and conceding silly ones.
Another one, FIVE. What a end of season, couldn't be worse.
A boring tie to finish the season in the worse way possible. Many changes should come next season, but I will elaborate the plan for next season on the next post.

League Table - At least even tho with all the defeats we secured the 5th place. This should be enough to guarantee us a place on the Libertadores pre group stage. But this Argentinian League is crazy so lets wait.

Not a good end of year month for los "Bielsistas"...

Primeira Division
Good and expected victory, the team is underperforming tho, our opposition pass percentage keep getting higher.

Copa de Argentina
So close! We had a bad first half, but controlled the second half and their goalie played really well. Unfortunately we are eliminated, but we've reached the Quarters Finals which is already a big achievement.

Primera Division
And just like that in two games our season is over. Now we have to fight to go to the Libertadores at least which would be already a great achievement.
Poor poor poor display. The team is playing really bad, things are gonna have to be changed urgently.

League Table - Moved all the way down to 6th, we now have to fight to go to the Libertadores (4th and up)

September 2015

Copa de Argentina
Amazing! Knocking out big rivals Velez and now we have Boca! Great game by the team!

Primeira División
Poor display by the team, one of the worst of the season so far. Deserved to loose.
Another poor display, we got lucky that the opposition was really really bad. The team is going on a downfall.
A better display, but the team is not corresponding. This has to due with fitness, the players are really tired towards the end of the season and my tactics demand a lot from them. We gotta keep it up!
Another better display but not ideal. I lowered the traning work load and it seems to be working.

League Table - We still in pretty good shape but we cannot let easy points like Tigres and Gimnasia scape like that. We should be leading.

Primera Divisíon
Again we controlled the entire game, and just like against PSG we struggled to score. But this time we at least got then win.

Tough game! Estudiantes were in a 6 game winning streak and we managed to stop that! Very good job by the lads!

WOW. Typical FM bullshit loss. We were up 4-1 with 18 minutes of game then they just started scored goal after goal. But still when the game was 5-4 we controlled and misse 8 E-I-G-H-T clear cut chances. Bullshit.

Good to bounce back with a win! It was expected to be easy game and it really was.

League Table - Even tho we lost two spots we still on the fight for the title. For a team that was expected mid-table we are not doing so bad

Wow what a huge transfer budget! Shakhtar has a long time tradition of bringing in Brazilians, are you gonna keep it?

Good luck! Third is a real possibility!

Congratulations mate!! Fantastic!

Wales, probably one of the toughest challenges you will face it. Not only you but any football manager!

Thanks Dan! I think so too, much quality to the team thats for sure!

We did some friendlies so the team wouldn't lose much playing time. Overall really good job by the guys, specially against Arsenal. Against PSG we played so much better (see the stats here) and did not deserved to lose at all.

I got this message today, even tho I really wanted I will have to decline. Its not part of my objective.

Maybe the forward we were looking for? Chevantón isn't playing well anymore I Maxi had expired his contract.

Another one for the back, will start as well.

What a signing! Great player, young and the best part: for free. He will probably not start this season, but next season he will most likely.

hahaha probably, such a weird league

bmg033 yes! but thats only for a month.

Came for free, he is gonna be a back up for our current right back Pillud

Also for free, very good player. Don't know yet where im gonna play him, but he is probably gonna start for us. And by the way he is Leo Messi's cousin. Haha

One more for free, good player. Looking forward to his development, for now he is a backup.

Paid 525k for him, is gonna be our main center-back. Edu Dominguez, current captain, might lose his spot.

Now there is a 3 month stop on the league, no idea why.

May 2015

Penalized in the last minutes! We didn't play so well, but Indepiendente away is a game that its "ok" to lose.

Great way to bounce back the loss against Indepiendente! Brilliant victory.

CAN'T BELIVE WE LET THIS OPPORTUNITY SCAPE! Velez is the best team of the league, by far. They had a sent off with two minutes into the game, it was our chance of winning but still we couldn't capitalize.

League Table


Cup

And we go to penalties once again in the cup! And once again we make it trough! We deserved the win since the beginning anyways!