FM18 - The Rise of Sepsi: Romania Strong - FINISHED!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 29 is here. Time to get to work. Anyone worth making offers to?

One guy I like a lot, 26 year old ST Martin Giminez, but is only Argentinian. He looks better than any of my other STs and could be more permanent starter alongside Simonovski while I finish developing Dodoi.

Yeah, I make him an offer. He is worth one of my precious non-EU roster spots. Anyone else to bring in for free?

Wait…

The end of their contract year is in a few days. I can bring in Giminez now, and he can give me that ST push to finish strong, and fix my team a bit at the same time.

No one else strikes me as feasible.

Alright, let’s move this thang forward a bit.

Antoine Griezmann wins some serious awards this year

Gimenez will be joining us soon.

[Abe Sargent]

January

Jan 13 -Friendly vs Turkish Team
Jan 17 – Friendly vs Turkish Team
Jan 20 – Friendly vs Turkish Team
Jan 27 – Friendly vs Turkish Team

We get back to real football in February

We have updated our expectations to mid-table and the board have given me some more cash to work with



I just got signed to Sepsi!!!

Yes you did my friend. Yes you did.


ST Martin Giminez, 26 years old, Argentinian – So the bad stuff up front. He is not good, at all, with jumping and heading – 7s in each. He is not versatile, according to muh coaches. He just plays ST. I’m paying him 4.4k/week on a key player role. This is his first time playing outside of Argentina. Our coaches think he can get a little hot under the collar at times, but they love his “consistency” and how big he shows up for big matches. So, hopefully, they see some strong stuff there from various hidden stats.

Here’s the good stuff:

Physical stats – 15 acceleration, 14 agi, 13 pace, strength, stamina, balance, 12 fitness

Mental – 14 flair,13 vision, off the ball, anticip, devisions; 12 aggression,, concentration, determination, 11 work rate,

Tech stats – 14 dribbling, finishing, technique, 13 passing, first touch, 12 long shots, 11 PK, 10 cross, free kicks


Now that is a Striker who can compete at this level. I will work him into my lineup right now. I cancel Fulop’s loan.

[Abe Sargent]

I have an offer of 450k for my GK from Cardiff. No thanks

My current value of my players:

Traore – 1 mill
GK Rimniceanu – 650k
Tandia – 425 k
Jure – 425k
Viera 275k
Gimenez – 275k
Rodriguez – 275k
Sato – 275k


That’s everyone over 250k

Again, hello Traore!

Gimenez should prove to be a strong signing for us.


Martin has been a bit of a traveler, and we are his 5th club. I hope he’ll have a landing party here for a few years.

The board offer to extend my deal. I force them to improve the facilities as part of the new deal. I extend my contract by one year..

I select my Turkish training camp squad.

I reject another offer for Rimniceanu, this time 100k more. He’s good. He’s not amazing. He’s not someone I’ll never replace. But he works. He’s a 27 year old guy who’ll do well for you.

We have statisticians giving us analyses like our injuries from training are the lowest in the Liga right now and such.

Several of my tutoring links are coming back as successful.

I accept an offer from Fiortina for one of my unsigned youth that I brought in from Italy for 400k plus 50% of next sale. This is for Gianmarco Grimaldi, whom we like and think he’s one of the better prospects out there, but I am happy to get cash now that I can harness later. He’s not going to be happy if I reject a good offer to head back home with a big time club. Bologna and a couple of others jump and I negotiate the same deal with two, and the others bow out.


Turkish Friendly #1 – I start Hadnagy for the first game and will rotate in Martin Gimenez. I sub in a ton of players after going up 2-0 by half time. We win 2-1.

[Abe Sargent]

Grimaldi heads to Fioritina, and that was his favorite team growing up so…. There you are. Good luck!

Turkish Friendly #2 – We win 3-1.

Moving forward I am going to start Gimenez. What role? He is best at False Nine. Now I have been running Simonovski at Target Man, support, this season, and we’re happy with the result. Hadnagy was Deep Lying Forward, Attack. He was a little old and his stats have atrophied. When I subbed him in, the best role for Dodoi was Advanced Forward, so I gave him that role. The best for Gimenez is False Nine, but that’s not really a role for a 2 man striker squad, that feels more 1 ST styling.

After that, his next best roles are poacher and trequarista. Given his passing is solid, let’s do Trequarista first and see how that goes for a bit.

Cardiff have given another offer for Rimniceanu with a base offer of 550k plus 200k in incentives. Nope. I’m not moving on for that low of an amount of money for my best GK. That’s not happening, and it’s not like Rimniceanu has gotten upset that I have been turning down Cardiff. It’s not a real team or anything.


Turkish Friendly #3 – We win 5-1. All four of my strikers scored one goal, and even Stoychev scored. For them. An Own-Goal. That guy is just….

[Abe Sargent]

Simonovski has perfected the 1-2 pass.

Training Camp ends.

Turkish Friendly #4 - We win 3-2.


I offer a youther in Spain who’s deal is expiring soon a chance to come to Romania and play for Sepsi. Who would turn us down?

He agrees. DC Pepe Castellano, at Villareal that never broke through. He’ll join us in July. I reach out to Villareal and they offer to sell him now for 7k. We do.

Pepe Casteno, 19, Spain




Here. His stats aren’t nearly as good as Jakub, but he’s got potential, he’s not as good now, but maybe…

I want to link him up. If I can get that determination up I think we might have someone I want to push.

He’s a project I might want to push later as I lose my DC depth with two of my DMC/DC backups heading out.

[Abe Sargent]

One of my previous signees arrived, Russian/Polish 18 year old Kirill Kolesnichenko, this is the one we signed for 55k.



Here’s Kirill. Again, he’s not a bad prospect, but I wish his mentals were more on task for what I am looking for with a prospect, his low work rate isn’t what I want. But his Determination is much better.


Oh, training reports on Jakub Palenik say he hasn’t gotten better in the few months he’s been with us, but that’s okay. Again, our scouts seem to think he didn’t have a lot of room for growth.

I loan out a few more of my youthers.

[Abe Sargent]

February


Feb 4 – Away vs FCSB
Feb 7 – Away vs Craiova
Feb 12 – Away vs Timoaroa
Feb 16 – Home vs Concordia
Feb 25 – Away vs Juventus

This will conclude the regular season, and then playoffs from there. So we have a rough final five. These include:


• Away at a heavy hitter


• Away at #1, a team that hasn’t lost all year long

• Home vs #4

• Four away matches

And then we finish with Juventus at 13th to finish the season. So we need to show up.


Good training reports for Petre, Rimniceanu


Game #23 – Away vs FCSB – They have had a down season and find themselves in 7th. The cut for the continental playoffs is 6th. So right now, they are on the outside looking in, and they are going to do everything they can to ensure they rise on the league table. I am starting ST Gimenez at the Trequarista role and Tandia is not in the middle for Rod, I want the defensive minded Rodriguez in there. They score in the 17th minute, with a nasty cross to their star striker. Then in the 21st, Simonovski hits goal after Gimenez drives and shoots, and the ball is stopped by a DC and Simonovski pounces on the pass and puts to goal. Back and forth. Each team is playing well. Nasty shot by Gimenez turned aside, and them as well. They score again in the 35th. Then these idiots score a fluke bad cross that winds up in goal. They score in the 45th. Half. We are down 4-1. My attack is playing well, flowing, fluid, but my defense is just a sieve out there. They have just FIVE SHOTS ON TARGET. This is not a 4-1 scoreline statistically. I have 12 shots and 6 on target myself. Gimenez finds Simonovski for a goal in the 49th. He took a knock and I send in Dodoi. Petre finds Dodoi for goal in the 62nd, and now we are just one goal back. This could be about to get seriously unbelievable. I send in Stoychev for Palenik. I know. They score on a corner in the 65th. Tandia for Sato. We lose majestically 5-3. I have strikers and forwards with high 7.0s and 8.1 and no defender with a score more than 6.4. That’s just weird.

[Abe Sargent]

Gimenez is just out for a day. He got an assist in his debut

That loss dropped us to 8th

Next up is the juggernaut of the league this year

I accept an offer to loan out Kirill for the rest of the season

Game #24 – We would need a miracle to walk away with a result today. Away vs Craiova. 19 wins, 3 draws, no losses. After handing out rests we should keep the same group of players. Ready to try to crack the Craiova Castle? Let’s head out. We are playing in a snowstorm. Welcome to Romania. Sato finds Gimenez for goal in at the 0:51 mark! Here comes a wave of Craiova, and we survive, but around the 12th minute I move to defending and such from my normal countering. They collect two early yellows. More onslaught follows but then lightens up around the 25th. We are getting the occasional counter, and Petre fed a lethal ball to Simonovski that he missed on his header, so we are getting some shots to push to two goals. We are controlling possession 54%. In the 43rd minute Simonovski had been free on goal and is moving towards in, and the man he juked around does a professional foul to stop the goal scoring opportunity. It’s a red card for our foes. Do I move to our normal 10 man attack? Against this team with just a +1 GD? But do I risk holding off and letting them hit us? I move to counter, and up my tempo heavily. Rodriguez’s DFK is on target but pushed aside by the GK. Half. We are up 11-10 for players and 1-0 on the scoreboard. Don’t. Get. Complacent. Be. Professional. Am I about to get the Upset on the Road? Let’s find out! My foe has used their last sub the 55th minute. Let’s push them. Tempo up. Petre and Simonovski are banged up badly and I send in Godoi and Tandia. A quiet 15 minutes rolls off. Our foe has a amazing counter opportunity in the early 70s but we stop it. Stoychev for Ursu. I know. Four minutes of extra time. Here comes their GK to help them score. We win 1-0. MOM is Sato. WHEW!!!!

Luckily Petre and Simonovski were just banged a bit and will start next game. That win moved us ack up to 6th.

I sign trialist AM/ST English Jake Picard to a hot prospect deal.

Our scouts found a sexy young Brazilian ST. I am trying to bring him in now.

[thehitcat]

Huge result against Craiova! Giving them their first loss of the year on their pitch! I know I can speak for the rest of the traveling Legion when I tell you we were still partying when the buses rolled back into St. George.

[Abe Sargent]

Luckily Petre and Simonovski were just banged a bit and will start next game. That win moved us back up to 6th.

I sign trialist AM/ST English Jake Picard to a hot prospect deal.

Our scouts found a sexy young Brazilian ST. I am trying to bring him in now.


Game #25 – The Timisoara match has arrived. I am starting Tandia in the middle for Rod. I also have DC Pepe on my bench in case there is a spot to send him in. Good luck! They have a nice shot on goal in the 33rd second of the game, but we stop it. Petre finds Simonovski in the 5th minute for goal, so they are clearly back and healthy! They score twice and it’s a 2-1 down, and then in the 26th minute Simovski is injured badly. In heads Dodoi. WHEWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Gimenez feeds Dodoi and the ball rolls off his leg for a long shot into the goal perfectly. Wow that looked pretty. He fed that thing threw like three defenders and a GK. They get a card. Timisoara move hard but the half sees 2-2 tie. Half. You can still win this! Go get this game! Another yellow their way early. Then a third. Troare picks up a knock, I send in Rod and flip him and Tandia on the match. A quiet second half sees time just drip. Oliviera for a tired Sato. Game, 2-2 tie. MOM is Dodoi.

Simonovski is out for 6 weeks to 2 months with an ankle injury.

We agree to a deal with the Brazilian youth club. We are spending 400k, which is the money we made earlier this year. Luckily he;s a striker, and he could come in to help out now.

GK Miron doesn’t like his lack of first team football but Hadnagy talks him down.

We sign him – we’ll look at him post match



Game #26 – Concordia arrive. I am staring Hadnagy and Gimenez. Early on, Tandia collects a goal after getting helped by Traore. Goal. Half. Don’t get complacent. Our foes score in the 51st, and then Viera is injured and I send in Dalmau for him. Dalmau assists Gimenez for goal on a corner when he gets Troare’s CK and then heads it over for their score. I send in Oliviera. They foul in the box, and Hadnagy sinks the PK in the 83rd, and we win 3-1. MOM is actually Dalmau!

Any win in the storm.

That bumps us to 6th with one game left. With 5 points separating us and the #7 team, we are guaranteed a Top 6 finish and the playoffs

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by thehitcat

Huge result against Craiova! Giving them their first loss of the year on their pitch! I know I can speak for the rest of the traveling Legion when I tell you we were still partying when the buses rolled back into St. George.

Yeah we were gifted that win by teh football gods.

[thehitcat]

Euro Playoffs **Clap Clap Clapclapclap**
Euro Playoffs **Clap Clap Clapclapclap**
WHOOOOOOO!!!!

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Just stopping by to let you know I've been following along. Congratulations on the big win away to Craiova and the berth in the playoffs!

It's fun to see more Football Manager stories on the board again.

[Abe Sargent]

Awesome, thanks, thanks! Let's get out there and see what we can do!

[Abe Sargent]

Our new guy:

ST Luiz Scholocobiert, Brazil, 18 years old, our scouts loved him and raved about him all day long. He played in some international stuff and did well.

Here



I’m sure you can see what I saw with my 425k investment into him. He’s already in the rotation for quality. His technical development is strong and enticing. Where will his finishing or technique or first touch or dribbling and such wind up? His physical stats aren’t amazing, and he needs some mental development, but he’s moving there. You can see it, and I am happy to bring him here. I can see him getting Romanian nationality! Play for Romania oh Loco Bert!



Dalmau has used this year to learn the winger position and DC ones well, and now he’s a lot more flexible that the WB/DR I inherited. I am going to move him as a sub more on the wing and such. I offer my 27 year old GK for sale. I have better options on my club if my leader went down with injury.

Marius Burlacu was injured for a few weeks in training.

Game #27 – The last game of the regular season is here. Juventus. Ready? Let’s do it! Holy crap? They score twice in the first ten minutes! Holy crap! I move back and castle up and we hold on. Half, 0-2. We can’t do that! I send in Dalmau for Sato and swap him with Petre. Then I send in Sodoi fo a woeful Hadnagy. Dalmau crosses to Gimenez for goal in the 69th minute. Then in the 73rd, Dalmau and Gimenez connect. Well alright then. I send in Pepe Castellano for an underperforming Ursu. Game, we tie 2-2. MOM is Gimenez.

We finish in 6th place with a 10-9-7 record, so we recorded a winning record and 39 points. Playoff time!

[Abe Sargent]

Here let me show you how it works:




Here is the Championship Playoffs. You begin with 50% of your points from the regular season, so we will begin in 6th place with 20 points. Then we each play each other twice in a home and home round robin, like a Group Stage, with the winners after that making it in. So we are playing against the class of the division twice more. Because it rewards regular play, that makes it pertinent, but at just 50% of the results, that gives you something to play for here, meaning these ten matches in this group are basically counting for double points.

Now normally you would get two Champions slots here, but our ranking fell, so there is only one Champions spot. Then EURO for spots 2-3. We would have had 4 spots here, but that’s the break. I don’t see it mentioned Cluj’s ban, so that may have been for last year when we started and it may have ended, so we would be playing against the heavy as well.

I do like the idea of this in theory. You can’t qualify by losing to the best clubs but doing well against the rest of the league. You have to run this gauntlet.

Let’s get this thang started!

There were times when we played up this year to teams on this list, such as beating FCSB, Craiova, and such. But that was not consistent, and we laid eggs to Cluj.

Sato has finished learning how to be a threat on the wing.

[Abe Sargent]

March

March 3 – Home vs Botosani
March 9 – Away vs Viitorul
March 17 – Home vs Craiova
March 31 – Away vs Cluj


Good training by Dalmau and Dodoi.


Continental Qualifier - Game #1 – Home vs Botosani – Despite them getting 2nd, I never felt like Botosani was this powerhouse when I played them. This could be one of our best chances to start out good. Remember we begin in 6th place with 20 points, but 5th is 20 and 4th is 21, and Botosani in 3rd is 22. We have the chance to really do something dangerous with a win. We’ll certainly leap over Botosani. I am starting countering, but I may move off soon. They score in the 9th minute off a counter, but then back off and I move to control. They get two yellows and I have Ursu and Sato not playing well. Hadnagy steals the ball and scores in the 24th and ties us back. In the extra time of the first half, they score again and it’s 2-1 them at the half. We can still win this one! In the 53rd minute, Gimenez finds Hadnagy for goal. I send in Dalmau and Stoycheck for Sato and Ursu and I switch my flankers and move Petre to the left flank. At the 69th minute, Dalmau finds Attila Hadnagy for his hat trick, and now we are up 3-2. Can we stay in front? They are moving forward hard, and I pull back to counter. They equalize in the 78th. One minute later, Dalmau finds Gimenez for goal. We are pushing forward hard ourselves over the next 8 minutes or so. I send in Rod. Five minutes of injury time. We win 4-3, MOM is clearly Hadnagy!


That was a classic, epic, back and forth match. That we won.

[Abe Sargent]

I am going to move Dalmau to start at MR and move Petre to ML for a bit to give the clear hot leg some starts.

After the first round of matches was over, we are now in 3rd. That means we have moved out of the hole in 6th place and into EURO qualification. Now, we have a gauntlet of stuff coming. I doubt we finish there, but that’s not bad for right now.


Continental Qualifier - Game #2 – Away vs Viitorul. The next match is here. Can Dalmau continue his form at the MR spot? Here we go! If I can steal points here, I’m going to be happy. Wow. In the 8th minute DC Jakub Palenik fired a 25 yard shot into goal. That just feels lucky. I don’t want my DCs taking shots at goal. It was a corner, and they headed the ball out, it fell to Petre outside of the box, he slid to Jakub who shot. So there you are folks. Even your DC can get a goal outside of a header on a set piece! They come at us hard but fail to pop the cherry. Wow are they not going to be happy. Here’s Tandia with another long shot that sinks. 20th minute, assist by Ursu, on another corner kick, we popped the ball out and he shot it. They have just given up two set piece long shots. They have two cards injured Viera’s jaw, and it’s half time. Don’t get complacent out there. We have three shots on target, both of our goals are from set pieces and they have been outplaying us. Don’t get seduced into looking at the scoreboard. They score in the 57th, fittingly, on a IFK. Live by the set piece, die by the set piece. I pull 6.20 Hadnagy for Dodoi. In the 65th, Petre hits Dodoi for a nice shot, and it rebounds off the crossbar – Traore finishes. Goal for us. I pull Viera for Stoychev. I know that’s funny. Oliviera for a tired Dalmau. We win 3-1 - MOM is Traore.


Well that’s not bad. Again, we got two set pieces, so it feels artificial, but still, it aint bad.

Cluj lost to Craiova 1-4, we remain in 3rd, but are now just one point behind 2nd.

But now we have the juggernaut of Craiova. Sure, we are the only team to beat them this year! But it was luck and a red card.


Slovakia’s Senior Squad is calling us Jakub now, btw

Our new youth squad arrives but I don’t see any new folks that excite me.

[Abe Sargent]

Continental Qualifier - Game #3 – Home vs Craiova. Cluj just tied 0-0 to FCSB so that opens us up. If we win today, and we certainly won’t, then we move to 2nd. Simonovski is back from injury but not match ready yet. He’ll be on the bench with the idea of subbing him in. They score off a PK given to them by a foul by Viera early, he gets a yellow card. Then they gather another goal from a long, lethal strike in the 27th. In extra time, Tandia hits home with a shot, assisted by Traore for goal and it’s 1-2 them at the half. Show me something else! In the 2nd half, I send in Simonovski and pull Viera for Stoychev early. Stoychev finds Tandia for another score in the 53d and it’s all knotted. Then they answer back in the 59th, and they are ahead 3-2 And they are coming hard. We weather the storm. I send in Sato. But remember, fans of Sepsi. Remember. We have the chosen one back. In the 88th minute, DMC Jure Obsivac finds Simonovski on an attack run. We finish that minute tied 3-3. Can we hold? Can we score and win? In the 91st minute, Dalmau is injured, and we are out of subs. We tie 3-3. Good comeback lads!


One of the things I like to after youth input is to heavily scout the league. Who got lucky?

Craiova did. They got a qualified mega-star, wonderkid of awesome potential - Robert Lupu. Cluj and FCSB have good ones as well that are better than most of the rest. I am scouting some potential additions to our squad from lower level leagues.



The Romanian Messi Craiova just got:

[Abe Sargent]

I make an offer to these two Romanian youth

ML Adrian Prodan, 16, Romanian, from Victoria 2010
GK Daniel Muntean, 16, Academia Farul
AMR Alexandru Dimitru, 15, ProTeam

My wages have gotten a little high, and I remove much of my transfer money to help out. I have 40k in transfer left but bumped my salary to 59k. This also included the injection of cash we got from our renewed mid-table push in January.

Anyone else I like enough to bring in from nearby nations that our high scouting knowledge knows?

Yes, and I make some offers to youth on lower level clubs and such. If they sign, I’ll let you know. I am also doing scouting of folks on better clubs I can’t just poach.

I sign:

GK Henri Staelens, Belgium, 15 (not on any teams)
DC Pasqualano Pagano, Italy, 15 not on any teams
ST Petr Adam, Czech, 14, not on any teams

We rate Pagano very, very low right but but with high upside. Adam is the same. Staelens is a little better now but appears to have a much weaker future. But they were free!

I make Marko Simonovski a new contract. If anyone has earned it…. He signs and extends his stay a year and we bump his salary from 475/week to 2000.

I sign DC Carlos Badal from Valenica, he’ll join us at the end of that deal, he’s another youther they didn’t retain.

Jakub Palenik just earned his first cap.



Continental Qualifier - Game #4 – Away vs Cluj. That tie keeps us one point behind Cluj. Dalmau has a concussion and I swap in Sato again and go back to my normal set up. Cluj are on a losing streak and have just two points in three games. This might be the one good time to play Cluj. I begin defensive, and will hopefully open up like a beautiful flower. Marko is back in the starting role. Here we go! They collect two yellows in the first 15 minutes, and then they score in the 19th. I move to counter in the 30th. We injure one of their players and they have to get pulled. Half. We are down 1-0. Sato is injured in the 55th and Oliveira heads in. I also send in Stoychev and Ghinga. They score in the 84th, and we lose 0-2. I’m not happy with that.

[Abe Sargent]

April


April 7 – Home vs FSCB
April 14 – Away vs Botosani
April 21 – Home vs Viitorul
April 28 – Away vs Craiova


Good training reports from Petre and Dodoi.

Jakub Palenik’s long range strike was the league’s goal of the month!


Dalmau is back from his concussion



Continental Qualifier - Game #5 – Home vs FCSB = Our foes are currently in 6ths out of 6 after losing some early matches. Hopefully their bad form will be our win. After the loss to Cluj, we are down to 4th. I start Dalmau again after his return from concussion. For today’s match I am going to do something counter to my normal process. Rather than beginning slow, I am going to start attacking. Not control. Attacking. I’ll start and we’ll see how things go. My guess is I’ll move back around 15 or 20 minutes in, but I want to keep folks guessing. Here’s Sepsi, and here’s their counter-game. I’m at home against a team that has two points in four games. Let’s hit them hard. 12 minutes in I slide to control. Gimenez with a goal in the 27th. Petre crossed to Simonovski, and the ball was headed away and Gimenez grabbed it and scored. Yellow card to Jure. They grab goal back in the 43rd. Then in the 46th in extra time, Petre crosses to Simonovski for goal. Yellow for Viera. We are up 2-1 at the half. Don’t; get complaint. Or complacent. Gimenez finds Tandia for goal in the 49th. A few minutes, because of the fouls, I pull Jure for Rodriguez. I don’t want double yellows to ruin our momentum. Gimenez finds Simonovski for goal in the 55th minute. I pull Viera for Stoychev. I ease back to standard mentality. They score in the 77th. Oliviera for Dalmau. We win 4-2. MOM is Gimenez. I am definitely leaving him in the Trequarista role.

[Abe Sargent]

Nicely done. I honestly don’t think they were expected me to come at them for 60ish minutes and four goals.




Here are the standings at the half-way point. We are still at 4th, but we are in a solid place. Just a point separates 2 and 4. But Viitorul and FCSB aren’t in the conversation right now.

Craiova beats FCSB and have won the Liga.


Continental Qualifier - Game #6 – Away vs Botosani – If we win today, then we will flip over them on the table. As I Need my best players out there, no changes to my roster. I begin countering. Lots of waves of moves, but….it’s kind of slow. Quiet. Halftime 0-0. Hmmmm. Can we hold out? Nope. They hit goal in the 56th. I send in Stoychev, Dodoi, Rodriguez. Dalmau gets a red card in the 83rd. We lose 1-0. Ah well…

[Abe Sargent]

Continental Qualifier - Game #7 – Home vs Viitriul. I have Sato starting again. If we can hold our serve and win here, then there is still a chance. Although at #4 we’ll need some good results here. We are four points behind #4 and 7 behind #2. I begin controlling. Traore finds Sato for goal in the 9th minute. It was corner where the defense headed it back near the line, and Traore dropped it, and kicked over all of the mess of players and defenders to an open Sato on the other side, so good vision and quality by Traore there. 20 minutes pass quickly, and they are pushing hard. Can they sink that equalizer? Petre drives, crosses to Simonovski, goal, in the 39th minute. Half. We are up 2-0. Don’t get complacent. They have had 9 shots, 7 on target. That’s lethal stuff, but we have 17 and 10. They score on back in the 52nd. Petre dribbles down the flank, jukes a defender, finds Simonovski, who is double covered, he flicks it on to Gimenez, and he scores. In he 59th. I ease back to standard. I send in Rodriguez for Tandia. I move to counter, they are coming hard. They score in the 72nd. I hope they don’t tie this! Simonovski to Gimenez for goal in the 76th. Nevermind. I send in Stoychev and Ghinga. Sato finds Simonovski in the box for a goal in the 87th. We win 5-2, and MOM is Simonovski with his two goals and two assists.


Whew. Man. When Simonovski and Gimenez are clicking, I don’t envy anyone. They had almost twice as many goals on target as us on the day. But we still notched five goals.

Hadnagy finishes his next coaching quals. I convince the board to send him on another.

[Abe Sargent]

Continental Qualifier - Game #8 – Away vs Craiova. Dalmau is not coming back to start this year. What are our foes playing for today? They’ve already won. Can we beat a team that ain’t playing for anything? Well, let’s hope so! They are having lots of early pressure. We hold. Half. 0-0. Alright. Not bad. They finally pop our cherry in the 59th. I send in Stoychev, Rodriguez, Hadnagy and they score in the 77th. We lose 2-0. Well, what is this team playing for? Pride!


To be fair, they are also a 3-5-2 with a DMC like us, so we use similar tactics. We’ll discuss that later actually.


And at least we can say we were the only team to beat Craiova this year!

Botosani has also lost twice to Viitural and FCSB and thus is still just one point above us at #3 with two game left. So we are still in shouting distance of #3 and EURO play…. But we have two tough teams to face to do so….

[Abe Sargent]

May

May 6 – Home vs Cluj
May 12 – Away vs FCSB

Yes. Cluj, whom we never come close to beating, and FCSB.

Simonovski won Romanian Player of the Month for the Liga I Basano.

I get some good training reports on Pepe Castano, but several players like Hadnagy are dwindling.


Continental Qualifier - Game #9 – Home vs Cluj. Today Craiova are playing Botosani and we have Cluj. If we beat Cluj, and then Botosani either tie or lose, then we jump over. If we even manage a point today, then we are likely to gain ground against thee Botosani vs Craiova match. Which means, of course, we’ll actually beat Cluj, but Botosani will also win too, right? I decide to do something that’s probably stupid. I open up controlling. We are controlling the match, but in the 29th, they steal the ball from Viera in the box and score. Then they injure Traore and I send in Rodriguez. They score in the 42nd minute. They fire a lethal long shot on target in the 47th. Half. We are down 3-0. They have four shots on target. We are winning everywhere but the scoreboard. Which is a theme this year. We lose 3-0.


Now, the good news, I suppose, is that Craiova won. So there is still just a single point between us and Botosani. Traore gashed his leg and he’ll miss the final game. DMC Jure is banned with too many yellows.

[Abe Sargent]

Continental Qualifier - Game #10 -Away vs FCSB – Alright, here we go. Starting are Rodriguez and Ghinga. Let’s do this! Can we upend FCSB? Can we move past Botosani? Just 90 minutes are standing between the question and the answer. Let’s get started!!!!!!!!! Alons-y! By the way, Cluj are against Botosani, so there is still a chance that we’ll slide past them as our form has been equally woeful. Boring. Nothing. They move to assault us before half but nothing. Half, 0-0. We injure their key DC in the 53rd. Is that the answer? I move forward hard. Head in Dodoi, Dalmau and Stoychev. Nothing. This boring 0-0 tie keeps us in 4th.




We came that close to EURO play in the final stage, and if we had just gotten a single win in that 4-5 game strength. Ah well. Happens.


Hadnagy announces he is retiring at the end of the season next month. I offer him my U19 Assist Man role.

[Izulde]

What a kick in the teeth. I'd be hurling obscenities.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Izulde

What a kick in the teeth. I'd be hurling obscenities.

Yeah, I hear ya, but we also dropped a lot of games late.


And also, we'd would have made it out at 4th in the league when I started this dynasty, but Romania dropped it's coefficient. 's ok!

[Abe Sargent]

So let’s break this down,.

Here are my goals:


My Seven Goals for Sepsi:


1. Create a powerful U19 squad. At the beginning of this game, we didn’t have a youth squad, just three players of note and value. Youth are the lifeblood of any team. I need to go out and sign out and jumpstart a new squad. CHECK
2. To do well enough this year to not get relegated. CHECK
3. Ideally, to do well enough this year to have a winning record. CHECK
4. Next year, to move Sepsi up to the Top 6, to qualify for the Romanian Champions Playoffs. CHECK ONE YEAR EARLY
5. In following years to increase Sepsi’s chances to make it out of Romania
6. To turn Sepsi into an Eastern European Powerhouse like Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague, and such
7. So secure financial footing to cement Sepsi into that role after I leave, so that Sepsi will not fade but will remain strong.


Now, why did this happen this quickly?

Here are my thoughts, in order.

1. Tactics. Our 3-5-2 was good against the many 4-5-1s. We struggled against Cluj’s 4-4-2, and Craiova, the class of the year, was the only other 3-5-2. Both over-achieving clubs used the 3-5-2 with 1 DMC and 4 middies.
2. The System. Romania has more teams than any other hitting continental play because of this system. It’s a whole lot easier to get hot (or cold) and punch above or below your expected place on the table in 26 games, rather than a normal 36 or 38 or something.
a. One of the keys of the system is the low umber of teams Romania has. Getting Top 6 for this cool playoff set was easier in a league with 14 teams, let’s be honest. In fact, we are not the first to do this well this quickly.
b. If I had told you that, in real life, our club hit 14th on a table of 20, but we took it to 8th in the same year, you might not think much. We did the same, just going from 12th to 6th.
3. Talent. We added many new players after taking over that were lifebloods of the team. Traore? Jakub Palenik? Martin Gimenez? Gabriel Dodoi? Even DC Stoychev. We brought in a good amount of talent to push the team more, and not settle for 12th. I also don’t feel that the talent level difference on the pitch was that different after this influx of talent, save for Cluj, and maybe Craiova.


Now, moving forward, I know that I can’t get out of this place until I can, reliably, beat Cluj.

In normal season, I would aim for a consistent roster that won’t embarrass you. Take a 20 team division with 38 games in it. I can finish above a better team that I lose to if I am more consistent with the lower teams. I don’t need to be better than the best club in the league, I just need to be better than the rest.

And you would often be able to secure promotion to a higher level or to European play. By coming in 2nd or 3rd. That’s fine. But here? I am playing Cluj not just two times, but four times. And I am doing do with just 13 other teams. Those two games against Cluj matter more in a 26 game season to set rankings than they so for a next season. And then I have two more that count even more.

I can’t get to EURO without pushing. I can’t get to Champions without winning the final ten-game playoff and coming in first because we dropped in our co-efficients.

So I have to build a different team. My new sub-goal is to build a roster to beat Cluj.




My EIGHT Goals for Sepsi:


1. Create a powerful U19 squad. At the beginning of this game, we didn’t have a youth squad, just three players of note and value. Youth are the lifeblood of any team. I need to go out and sign out and jumpstart a new squad. CHECK
2. To do well enough this year to not get relegated. CHECK
3. Ideally, to do well enough this year to have a winning record. CHECK
4. Next year, to move Sepsi up to the Top 6, to qualify for the Romanian Champions Playoffs. CHECK ONE YEAR EARLY
5. In following years to increase Sepsi’s chances to make it out of Romania
6. Build a roster that can reliably defeat Cluj.
7. To turn Sepsi into an Eastern European Powerhouse like Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague, and such
8. So secure financial footing to cement Sepsi into that role after I leave, so that Sepsi will not fade but will remain strong.

[Abe Sargent]

Stats Time!


Patrick Petre led everyone with the most distance covered. Traore came in 2nd. Jure 11th.

Simonovski had the 3rd highest average rating with 7.32

Viera was 1st with the most headers won and 2nd in most key headers

Marko’s 20 goals were 2nd in the league.

Gimenez was 3rd best in shots on target as a percentage of shots with 60%.

Traore was 2nd in key passes

Jure was 7th with most tackles/game

Rodriguez was 4th with most mistakes leading to goals

Jakub Palenik was 8th with the most key tackles

Viera was 11th with most key tackles

Viera was 1st with the most interceptions

Viera was 1st with the most shots blocked

GK Rimniceanu conceded the 12th most goals

GK Rimniceanu was 1st in saves held, and in saves parried.

We scored 56 goals and conceded 59 goals.

[Abe Sargent]

Ratings –

Going into next year –

I don’t like Ursu remaining at DC for me. He was a stopgap rotation guy who played more reliably that Stoychev. I am not sure that my youth will be ready though.

All three DCs were 6.72
Jure was 6.93
Gk was 6.77
Traore was 7.17
Tandia was 6.93
Petre – 6.99
Sato – 7.01
Rodriguez – 6.74
Dalmau – 7.10
Hadnagy – 6.89
Simonovski – 7.32
Gimenez – 7.39
Dodoi – 6.80
Stoychev – 6.53


Leaving this year are Felipe Oliviera, GK Miron, Marius Burlacu and Sebastian Ghinga, as well as Hadnagy’s retirement and I have transfer listed Stoychev.

I do think I can upgrade in a few places. But here is the thing. How many of these players are better than their counterpart on Cluj?

None. I do think that my GK, Jakub and Gimenez are, roughly, as good as three random starters on Cluj, but that’s it. I need a team of Gimenezs. Alright, let’s snap muh fingers sand make that happen!

But seriously, I have to be mercenary here. None of these players aren’t replaceable. I have to grow up across the board. Tandia? Traore? Simonovski? Viera? If you find someone better, send them over!


Craiova wins the Romanian Cup.

Our scouting network is now worldwide!

I plead and get permission for another coach.

I sign 60 year old Serbian Dusan Dragovich. He’s giving me a four-star ball control training effort.



Uh oh, shit...............

[Abe Sargent]

Are you ready?



ARE YOU READY LEGION??????????????



ARE YOU REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYY?????????????????????????????????





(no you are not........)

[Abe Sargent]

I'm about to head out for game night. I'll be aback tamarrow.


In the meantime, relax and have a Sepsi on me.

[Abe Sargent]

Craiova’s win in the Cup means that the Cup Qualification drops.

To #4 on the league table……..


Welcome to the EURO St. George!

Sepsi rejoices




Oh, and thanks Craiova!

[Abe Sargent]

June 1st arrives

I am waiting to see my budget for next year first.


Sepsi Awards:

Fan’s Players of the Season – Simonovski

Goal of the Season – Palenik

Signing of the Season – Gimenez

Young Player of the Season – Sato




What jersey did you order last year? (And why didn't Simonovski hit higher? Was his name too long for the jersey?)

[Abe Sargent]

GOT IT!

Our initial budget is 7.5 mill and 130k. We are in money now, and I know exactly where I am spend it.

I call up Craiova!

Last year after HE came to Romanian football, I called them just to see what it would take. I know what they want….


We agree to a 4.5 mill deal for no cash for Robert Lupu.

He is initially hesitant to come to us, but I offer him first team play rather than youth.

He agrees.

He come to us in June 15th (Internal transfer date for Romanian leagues is two weeks earlier).

Alright, we just signed Lupu!

[Abe Sargent]

Who else do I want?


The reason I wanted Lupu is simple, but yet complex. Here are squad registration rules again:


Match Rules:

Must be one U22 Romanian in Top 11

Match Squad Must have at least four players trained in Romania

Squad Registration –

Maximum 25 players

No more than 5 EU players

EU includes both EU nations and Cotonou signees

At least four players training at Sepsi

At least eight players trained in Romania



Now, only Dodoi and Petre really met the first last year. You have to have a starter that’s U22 Romanian. That means you need a few youth that either you rotate in, or you have a rock that will work.

My match squad has to have four trained as well. Now my GK counts, as do players like Petre, Dodoi, Ursu, etc. But others don’t This counts subs though, not the top 11.

I can’t have more than 5 EU on my squad, but I have to have a lot of players trained here and trained at Sepsi, as you can see.

So I need to bring in some strong Romanians who will carry the badge moving forward. Lupu does that perfectly.

[Abe Sargent]

I have 3 Mill left, which will be more than enough to enhance the rest of my squad.

I make an offer to a great DC from Peru who is finishing up his deal, in his mid-20s. He’s the Gimenez of DCs for me, and will start with Palenik and Viera if he signs.

I offer a Trial to unsigned vet DC Bogden Mitra, Romania, 31 years old. He refuses. He’ll sign for me, but not come to me on trial.


None of my wingers sold me last year, although I’d be fine keeping Petre, Sato, Dalmau out of the wings if I needed to, I’d rather run Lupu in the middle, and put Tandia or someone else there. The wingers from last year played okay, but they are all outclassed by others. I need quality wingers in a 3-5-2 when they are the only ones out there, so I am looking for a nice MR or ML who can put us into a strong set of quality there.


Let’s look at my anticipated roster right now and show you what I am talking about:


Keeper - GK Rimniceanu, backups – Fejer and Nizhuly


DC – Palenik, Viera, OPEN SPOT, Ursu, Youther Pepe Castano,

DMC – OPEN? Jure Obsivac

MR – Petre, Dalmau

ML – Petre, Sato

MC - Traore, Tandia, Lupu, Rodriguez

ST – Martin Gimenez, Marko Simonovski

Backups - Gabriel Dodoi, youther Luiz Schlocobert

[Abe Sargent]

Cluj vs Sepsi

This next section is going to be dense but I think it'll prove really helpful to see where we need to be. Get ready for picture overload!

Now let’s give you a couple of screen shots of current Cluj starters:



This is the best player on Cluj’s roster that isn’t a loanee. Now he’s 32 and will likely soon drop in quality, but you get the idea. Deac is a creative force for footballing good.

My best midfielder is Traore




Their player is a lot better mentally, and mine is about the same, physically, as theirs, save for the big STR of Deac, and then they have about the same technique for the key stuff I care about (pass, 1st touch, cross, tech) but you can see how much more well rounded Deac is with stuff like his finishing.


Now, here is Cluj’s worst midfielder




This is Rafa Sousa, a backup guy they are trying to sell. He’s still good enough to make the cut on my squad, and perhaps even push for starts. He doesn’t even start for them.

Here is one of my own middies that I started.




This is Sato. Note that Sato is worse than Sousa. One of my first team starters is worse than their worst player! Now Sato is fast, and and, uh, ….. Well, you san see. His mentals aren’t there, he doesn’t have good pass or cross, etc.

Here is Dalmau





This is Dalmau after a year. Now he has gotten better at the positions he plays, we taught him flexibility. But a 10/10 in cross/pass or 12/11 speed or 10 technique ain;t going to get it done, right? I need more stuff.

Here are some other Cluj middies, just to push this point home;





These are two other examples of folks better than my best.

And this is true for other players as well



This is one of Cluj’s strikers. George is very strong, with good physical stats, and such. You have to like him.

This was my best striker on the pitch




Now this was my most in-form player and goal leader. He’s not anywhere near the quality of George. 10 finishing? 12/11 tech and first touch? He’s not even outpacing George at heading. Simonovski isn’t someone with heft.

But Gimenez? He can go toe to toe with them:




This Is Gimenez and his physical, technical, and mental stats will allow him to dominate.

Now, here was my best DC on the pitch, Viera



He was the best non-GK on the team I inherited. But he still wasn’t strong. Here is the best Cluj D (that they own and didn’t have on loan).




Now this isn’t a DC, but their DL, and yet, you can get the points, I think. His mental, physical, and such are just better.

Here is our worst starting DC by comparison




This is Ursu. Yeah, exactly. But he played better than Stoychev, so there’s that. You’ve seen how good Palenik was to bring in.

We need to upgrade our talent.



Here’s Jure Obsivac. He’s another full-time starter I had who locked in the DMC role for me. Again, he’s not bad. If I had to I could run him out there for me, but there’s no magic here. No zest. There’s nothing to hang my hat on.

[Abe Sargent]

Others vs Sepsi

For example, I decide to grab a non-Cluj team by comparison.

This is Viitorul



This is their best player not from a loaner on their roster. I decided to scout him for you.



Their best DC



Another good Mid




Another young powerhouse

And of course, Viitorul aren't one of the powerhouses of the league. They came in 6th. Out of 14.

How about Astra? They won the relegation group and essentially were 7th.



Astra’s best player not on loan or their Gk



2nd best




3rd best




4th best

And they are on the same level as a Tandia, Viera, or Traore, right? But they aren’t on a Cluj level either.

And yet you can see where they can win games. I mean, take Bus. 13/12 cross pass can someone do some damage, right? I mean Bus is better than my Sato/Dalmau options at ML by tons.

I need to beat Cluj.

And now you have seen how I need to upgrade my entire squad to Gimenez or Palenik level quality player. My Traore, Sato, Petre, Dalmau, Tandia, Rodriguez, midfield isn’t going to cut it.

EDIT - I think you saw this in the final half of the continental quals when we could't get wins and points despite having a good form for the first part. Both us and Batason lost a ton of games in a row. We could easily have been third. But we didn't have this level of quality and consistency.

[Abe Sargent]

Now I do have some other options.

This is Emil:



Emil is on my youth squad, and is someone that joined me after reaching out and telling me he wanted to play for my club after being put on a free transfer. We were working on his ability to play ML and then loaned him. He has a 7.01 rating in U19 international play in the U19 Euro this year. He has room to grow, but he’s already better than Sato/Dalmau. A 13/12 cross/pass and 15/14 speed ain’t nothing. I could run him out there if I needed to.

Here’s another good youther I have



This is Gabriel Morbeck, and he’s another youther guy we brought in. He’s developed and is now ready to promote and give some internal development to. Our scouts think Morbeck has a bigger ceiling than Abaz, but you can see he’s ready to look good. Now, Morbeck is Brazilian, so there is that issue, but still, he ain;t bad. He’s better than my current squad and will improve.

I decide to transfer list Rodriguez and Dalmau. By doing so I can open up roster spots for others to promote.

I need Gimenez’s

[Abe Sargent]

I make an offer to the old DC that won’t take a trial but it good and local. I am seeing him as my Ursu. Local, Romanian, solid. Having a quality 4th option for when I need to sub in someone or give some games here and there.

Let me show you how scouting works in this game, as I really like it:



This is a report that my scouts bring me and I can choose what to do with it. I just got this report. Here is South African young star Grant Margeman, and my scout has told me that they think he’s really good and would be interested in playing for us, as well as the cost of around 425k-1.1 Mill, which is feasible now. They also give him a 4.5 current rating and 4.45 future, so he looks developed. Let’s look at him, as this report seems like something I might want to follow up on.



And here is Grant’s profile. As you can see, we need more scouting numbers, but there is a lot to hang your hat on here. He basically plays the same role as Traore on my club, and could be a better Traore and nine years younger. 20 year old, capped, South African who would be willing to come to Romania? That’s something to follow up on. I’ll scout him out, and then look at him. He was a 7.26 rating starting for Ajax CT (In South Africa) last year in 30 games. So that’s something.

If I could secure him for, say, 500 or 600k, then it seems like a wise play. I can bring in competition for Traore, and then see who wins out.

I prefer to chase prospects like this. My scout found him. I also will look at youth squads for nearby teas, or U21/19 national squads and such myself to see who I like, which is something I am sure scouts do in real life as well.

This is how I found some of the better wonderkids (from real life) in the game. I found Alexis Sanchez and brought him into my Kaiserslautern team in Germany. I didn’t look him up. I found Kim Kallestrom. I found Sebastian Driussi for Nacional da Madeira. I found Thibou Courtois at GK for Slavia Prague. Etc. These are my people.

Is Grant the next on my list? I guess we’ll see, but he looks like a strong option for pushing us past Cluj.

I scout him, and make an offer for 775k. A little higher than I wanted, but still, he looks the part.

[Abe Sargent]

Next, I need to look at ML and DMC. Well, I could sign a strong MR and then move Petre to ML. Petre is still getting better, but Sato/Dalmau aren’t. And I can break out Tandia to the wing and see how he plays out there after spending a year learning the MC/ML/MR spots better. But my preference is to delve down and unpack a high quality class player for us. I scout some folks to see what I can do. I have two strong, young, Argentinian players who would be happy to come play for us on the wing, but that’s yet another squad spot to a non-EU person. Do I want that?


For DMC?

There is this good Peruvian DMC my scouts like as well, but again, non-EU. Both him and my current offer for DC are on the Peru squad together. That’s cool.

There is a 30 year old Spanish guy approaching the end of his contract who’ll come play for me happily. Now he’s free. That’s nice. And his Mentals are strong, but physically and technically I’m not seeing a powerhouse. But he is a EU National, which helps.


Our first target agrees to come to Sepsi after his deal finishes:

DC Hansell Riojas, Peru, Free Transfer




Here he is:



Now he’s fully developed and he should be doing a strong job for us. See how some of his key things I want are still fine – 14 head, mark, tack etc, but there is also stuff here like technique, passing, first touch, even set pieces with throws and PKs? And then you have a very consistent slate of mental and physical stats? There is nothing here to dislike! Welcome to Romania!

Now that he’s confirmed, I may chase the other Peruvian on my radar for my DMC spot

Riojas and Lupu clearly push my squad closer to Cluj

[Abe Sargent]

Who’s next?

I have set up friendlies with nearby strong teams – Craiova, Slavia Prague, Salzberg, and Fenerbache.

Salzberg is the big one. They have won the Austrian Premier Division 8 out of the last 10 years. Fenerbache is always one of the giants of Turkish football and just won their Super League last year. This will help to measure our growth. Can we hang with them?


Alright, my next signee has been locked in – Grant Margeman. After he arrives, I’ll show you his skill set.

Welcome to Sepsi!



I love you too buddy!

My players have returned from break.

Lupu arrives. He has a first team deal, 1.2k/week. My three youthers I signed back in April from lesser Romanian clubs are here as well.

I have around 2 mill left after these deals

I get a first team loan offer for Dodoi. Hmmm. With Hadnagy retired, I have four ST that I want for this year, and Dodoi and potentially Schlocobiert. If this were an offer for Schlocobiert from a fellow Liga team? I might take it. But Dodoi is my 3rd guy, and he’s not available for loan anyway. I say no

I am getting pushback in the media for the Lupu deal. I overspent. That Craiova made out massively.

We’ll see what they say in a few years….

[Abe Sargent]

This year’s training camp is Slovenia

The awards for last year’s season were handed out:

Liga I Basano Goal of the Year: Jakub Palenik vs Viitorul

Simonovski was named the Team of the Year

Romania dropped more on the Euro charts to 21st.


Three teams are getting relegated – Iasi, Juventus, and Medias. The worst two are relegated and then the 3rd worst is in a playoff with the 3rd best below to see, and in this case, Iasi lost 3-1.


But Sepsi ain’t one of them!

We come to a 775k deal for the Peruvian DMC. Offer time. We finalize a deal and they are mulling it over. Their next transfer window won’t be for a while though, in January.

I accept an offer for Stoychev

Felipe Oliviera has announced his retirement later this month.

I headed to the board and they are super happy to keep Oliviera on the staff here and support his coaching quals. I offer Oliviera a spot here.

I convince my club to upgrade our youth facilities. Again.

We draw Norweigan team Sarpsborg in EURO play.

He accepts the deal. We are going to be welcoming DMC Wilder Cartagena, 23 years old, in January. We can run Jure for now.

The Austrian Super Cup conflicts with our friendly so Salzberg cancel their friendly.

Stoychev is sold

I make an offer to a nice older Romanian midfielder out in Italy right now to come back and be a rotation and option on the wing.


I sign that DC off the street:


DC Bogdan Mitrea, 30, Romanian




Who’s ready to come back to Romania?



Here he is. He’s quality and good. He’s much better as an option than Ursu. We won a bidding war with 10 or so other clubs, and I’ll give him some starts early to see who are my top three, but my guess is he’ll come in at #4 behind Viera, Palenik, and Riojas, although Viera is the worst on paper.

[Abe Sargent]

Ursu is concerned that I brought in Mitrea to replace him, and frankly, he should be. Look, Ursu was signed to a three-year deal when we entered Liga II for rotation. We got out in one year, which is a good problem to have, but he was my 4th DC last year, but started due to Stoychev blowing chunks everywhere. And he was…okay…in that role. But he is playing way above his talent level. So yes, this is a replacement, but that context shouldn’t concern him.

I tell Ursu that, frankly, he’s right, and I will look to move him. He tells me he doesn’t want to leave, and that he overacted.

So here is what I’ll do for Ursu. I don’t dislike him. He’s experienced, savvy, etc. I will loan my hot prospect DC Pepe Castano and give him some first team experience elsewhere. Then you can be my 5th DC on my squad, and on a squad with 3 DCs, that means you’ll always dress and be one of my 7 subs.

Mitrea joins our camp in Slovenia.

I move Sato to rotation from first team.


I sign 27 year old Romanian Adrian Stoian for 200k, and he will be on a rotation deal




Someone is excited to join the Sepsi Juggernaut!!!!!!

(In real life, he just signed with Craiova)



You can see why I liked him here and there. He is cheap, depth, and won’t push the better players better-y.

This gets me some needed squad depth at

Welcome to June 30th

[Abe Sargent]

I confirm our board’s expectations of getting top half, QF of Romanian Cup, and reaching 3rd Qual Round for EURO. The board offer to expand the potential budgets of my coaches. After arranging games, my other two heavies pull out with various commitments. Grrr.

We sign Oliviera as a U19 coach. I also confirm our pitch size

Goodbye:

S. Ghinga
M. Berlacu
Florin Dumbrava
Nick Ross
GK Bogdan Miron


I sign a new GK Coach (Hungary) and an Argentinian coach

I offer to extend Dodoi by two years.

Do I believe in Simonovski enough not to pursue anyone else at ST?

With these changes, my current starting 11 is Rimniceanu, Jure Ob at DMC (for now), Simonovski, Gimenez, Tandia, Petre, Traore/, Lupu, and Three of the DCs. Does my push for excellence mean that I am fine with Dodoi and Locoschubiert?

June 30th, is the best day to chase people, as folks that have previously thought they were too big for you suddenly find themselves without a job. Let’s advance a day and bring in my new folks and see a bit better what muh squad looks like

[Abe Sargent]

July 1 –

New folks:

ST Andrei Dumiter, signed last year

MC Grant Margeman

M RL Adrian Stoian

DC Carlos Badal

They all join camp

They one you’ll want to see, Margeman:




This is how you beat Cluj. You bring in a guy for around 800k with bonuses to him and his agent, and bring him from South Africa to Romania after he’s mostly developed and good. This is Grant. For comparison, this is Traore:




Traore is older, savvier. For example, better Flair or Teamwork. But Margeman is the fastest player on my squad, and has good agility, fitness, and such. Now, I could beat him in an arm wrestling contest, and probably beat him in a standing high jump coemption ever after spotting him 6 inches. But those aren’t as valuable for a silky midfielder. He’s already better at passing, determination, decisions, 1st touch, finishing by 4, etc. Traore has some stuff going for him, but Margeman is just better, younger, and a 4.5 star guy vs Traore 4 star. I have to be cutthroat like this. I will start Traore early and then move to Margeman.

[Abe Sargent]

Now I have a thought for my last 1 mill or so.

GK.


My current Gk – Rimniceanu, is the 4th best Romanian GK and the best of those still playing in Romania – they others are elsewhere. I like that. And you saw last year that Rimniceanu had a lot of goals given up. But he also stopped a ton of shots too. He was one of my best players, and I’d say he’s still my 6th or so after various influxes of talent. But I want to see if I can find a youth prospect I can groom to replace Rimniceanu. My two backups are youthers who don’t have the class for this level of footy, although they aren’t bad.

So what would make sense? Ideally I’d unearth a great Romanian GK hopeful.

Nope.

Alright, any young players I can bring in, groom, give them Romanian, homegrown, roots to after a few years?

I send scouts to five prospects

While doing that I also bring in a Romanian youth Gk, Zoltan Toth, that’s not as good, just in case. He signs an hour later. Kid is happy.

The first of my youth trialists arrive. I’ll let you know if I sign anyone permanently.

On July 5th, in training camp, Viera is injured and will be out for 4-5 months with a hip injury.

That’s not good ☹

[Abe Sargent]

The title odds come out and we are 5th best in the league for winning


Our first friendly is here. We are in Ukraine. I have moved Lupu to an AMC role, have Traore in the middle, and have Ursu in for Viera. Tandia on the ML. We lose 3-2.

I hand out some rests because in a few days, we’ll have our first EURO game.

I name Viera as captain and Mitrea as Vice.


Away vs Sarpborg, Leg #1 – Ready? Time for our first EURO match!!! They get a red card at the 3:44 mark for a nasty foul on Petre. I slide from counter to standard up my tempo, and such. We have 35 minutes move off quickly. Jure with a yellow. Half. We have 11 shots, 1 on target, and I have tried to up that. I am on control. 2nd half underway. Tandia hits Gimenez for goal And that’s it. We finish with 22 shots and 2 on target. I sent in Dodoi and Sato. Good win. MOM is Tandia but frankly, he wasted like 6 shots on the wing from outside the box. I need to tell him to knock that off. He isn’t s shooter.

We extend GK Rimniceanu by a year.