FM - Rise of Slovakia - Nitra's Power - COMPLETE?

[Abe Sargent]

February –

3rd – Friendly vs Videoton
11th – Friendly vs Hradec Kralove
17th – Home vs Slovan Bratislava
24th – Away vs Trencin

We have two hitters back to back.

Good training – Kamenik

Ngeyitala is heading out after this year.

Friendly vs Videoton - We start Kamenik for Videoton at MR. Videoton is 5th in the Hungarian Top Flight. This should be a rough match but again I wanna be an Eastern European power hence my friendlies. We lose 0-1 in a close game.


Final Friendly Home vs Hradec Kralove – I leave in Kamenik. We tie them 2-2. I move my starter Krasic back to starting.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #20 – Home vs Sloan Bratislava. The heavy. I begin countering. Let’s see what we can do. Will I show up? They are playing with an injured player. Early on this game has been theirs. Krasic feeds Dodoi nasty, turned aside, Dodoi pounces on the rebounds and finishes it in the 11th. A few minutes later we injure one of their players and they head off. Another of theirs is injured in the 37th. In the 43rd they claw back. Half 1-1. They have been the better side. They have twice as many shots as us. I send in Militosyan for Wohlfarth. Niba for Ederson. Steinhubel for Kona. In the 84th Chovanec feeds Dodoi for goal! Nice! 4 minutes of time. Can we hold on? Nope! They score in extra time and we tie 2-2. MOM is Dodoi. Here is how unfair that result was for us:

Shots by us? 7
Shots on target by us? 3

Shots by them? 22
Shots on target by them? 10

Three times as much as us! We just showed up. Krasic was 7.8 in his debut. Against the heavy of the league!

We are currently 5th. I’ll show you the full Fortuna after two more games

Jungr is back from his long injury

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #21 – Way vs Trencin – I begin defensive. I wished we played in this cool yellow kits more! They sink a corner in the 12th. First shot of the game by either team. Quiet and then they score in the 28th. Chovanec to Jungr, goal, 43rd. Welcome back Jungr! I think you missed us! Half. Stats aren’t that out of whack. We only have 2 fewer shots. I make no major adjustments. We’ve seemed to clam down. I meant “calm down” but clam down sounds funnier. Krasic crosses nastily to Dodoi for goal in the 47th to tie it. Wohlfarth feeds Dodoi for goal in the 55th to put us up! Nicer!



I doubt that score stands but it’s nice to be in matches against the big guys now. Here comes Trencin. Marius Chari for Kona. They get two bookings fast. Niba for Milanovic. Steinhubel for a tired Jungr. 5 minutes. Can we hold on and defeat a major powerhouse at their spot? We do! MOM is Dodoi. Nice! Krasic with a 8.1 rating. Dude looks good.


Feb 28 – Transfer deadline for Slovak clubs

Deadline passes quietly for us

[Abe Sargent]

March –

3rd – Final Fortuna Match Home vs #2 Zilina
10th – Match Reserved
14th – Cup Quarter Final vs Nove Mesto
17th – Match Reserved

Good training – Saumel, Kona

Dodoi Player of the Month

Steinhubel injured for two months

Final Fortuna Game #22 – Home vs Zilina – I begin standard. I make no changes to my lineup. Can we get a result here? Right now we are 5th and tied with Trnava with 35 points. We need to win to stay in 5th, but it’s unlikely we’ll rise above 5th even with a loss at #4 by Streda. This is not a game I wanna spend time with. We lose 0-2. We had twice their shots, and four times as many on target, and 10% more possession but we couldn’t sink anything.

Niba was injured in the game for 2-3 weeks




We finish 6th!

We have to do very well in the Euro Qual Group from this spot. In real life Nitra finished this season at 7th so we are right around there.

[Abe Sargent]

We have a new intake of youth players!



I have to admit that several of these do look good and Slavik could do very well for us. Any others I wanna scout? I look for a few.


Euro Quals Game #1 Home vs Streda. I begin controlling In the 5th minute, Chovanec feeds Milanovic on a IFK and then….that’s it. Quiet half. 1-0 us. Don’t get complacent! They begin to take control of the game and in the 60th score. Militosyan heads in. Chari for Kona. Krizan for Ederson. They score in the 89th. Can we tie things up? 4 minutes. They collect a card for frequent fouls. We lose 1-2.


Not the way I wanna start my EURO Quals campaign from the 6 spot!

[Abe Sargent]

We sign a number of youthers

Cup Match, QF -Away vs Nove mesto – I begin standard. It’s all us so far. Then they push us back. Dodoi to Wohlfarth for goal in the 23rd after a nasty ball by Ederson in the box. Quiet rest of the half until extra time when everyone is running around all over the magazine. Half we are up 1-0. Don’t get complacent! You did last time! They foul Dodoi in the box. Here comes Wohlfarth’s PK and…Sunk. Kunik for Chovanec. They net a card. I send in Krizan for Milanovic. Kunik to Dodoi for goal in the 80th. I send in Abraham for Krasic. An own goal by Krizan. Wohlfarth to Dodoi for goal in the 87th. We hold and win 4-1. MOM is Dodoi.

We make it to the Semis!

We face Ruzomberok in the semi final.

Zilina got two amazing Slovakian youth. Like really amazing. I'd swap youths with them if I could whole sale.

[Abe Sargent]

Euro Quals Game #2 - Home vs Trnava – I hands out rests and begin controlling. Our keeper goes walkabout they score in the 8th. Eccentricity? They have all of the early momentum so I ease to counter. Then things might change. In the 24th we injure their GK. They collect a yellow, probably angry. Half. Show me something else! Wohlfarth to Dodoi for goal in the 49th, and we are level. Krizan for an underperforming Milanovic. Simoncic for Jungr. Dodoi to Wohlfarth for goal in the 78th!!! I send in Kunik for Jan. Can we hold on? 4 minutes of added time and? We do! We win 2-1. Good job! MOM is Dodoi with a goal and an assist.



Niba is back from his injury

Dodoi never played this well for me at Sepsi!

I go to my board to see if they’ll let me have more coaches. They agree!

I look for another coach…

I make an offer to 35 year old Azeri (from Azerbaijan) international Branimir Subasic.

Our head of youth development is offered a head coach role

Our new coach arrives! He is an attacking coach stud.

I search for a new Head of Youth Development – I find my guy Slovakian Martin Jakubo.

Militosyan just scored his first goal for Armenia! I congratulate him!

Jakubo heads elsewhere to be a coach. Hmm…


I place an advert

[Abe Sargent]

Euro Quals Game #3 – Away vs Zilina – I begin defensive. We injure a player at the 1:51 mark of the game, but that doesn’t stop them from scoring in the 6th. And then in the 33rd. We score in the 28th off a corner Saumel to Jan! Then they answer a few minutes later. Half. Show me something else! They don’t. They do the exact same thing. Literally. We lose 6-2. Exactly the same 3-1 at the half.

We had 53% possession and 15 shots with 8 on target to their 21 and 10. Not that different.

[Abe Sargent]

April

4th – Cup Semi vs Ruzomberok
7th – Ruzomberok
14th – Away vs Streda
18th – Cup Semi vs Ruzomberok
21st – Home vs Slovan Bratislava
28th – Away vs Trnava

Good training Dodoi and Kona

Cup Leg, Semi, #1 – Home vs Ruzomberok – I begin standard, as I am not sure what to expect. Steinhubel is back from injury and in my subs. I want to have him out there if needed. In the 13th Krasic gets our first ball after a cross from the other side Jan. Good job! And then….that’s it. We win 1-0. The rest of the game has no more than 10 shots between us. It was one of those quiet deals. Krasic is Mom. Good job!

I hand out rests for the same match in a few days

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #4 – Home vs Ruzomberok – I am Standard again! Watch I’ll probably lose today 0-1. I seem to do much better in my Cup games this season. Jan to Jungr, goal, 1:45 mark. Okay maybe we’ll be better outside of the Cup match! Dodoi feeds Wohlfarth for goal at the 6:01 mark. They intercept a backpass and score on an empty goal in the 11th. This is a much busier game. Like night and day. They tie it in the 24th. In the 32nd, Wohlfarth feeds Jan for goal. 3-2 us. Half. Don’t get complacent! How could two teams playing in the same place at the same week have such different results? Ah football. Krasic to Dodoi, goal, 51st. 4-2 us. Looks like they didn’t get complacent. At least yet. Jungr to Wohlfarth, goal, 55th minute. Militosyan for a tired Wohlfarth. Simoncic for a tired Saumel. Niba for a tired Pinter. Krasic to Miliosyan for goal in the 85th. We win 6-2 the opposite score of one we had a few games ago. I wish these two ratings were reversed. MOM is Jungr.

Wow hello two games.

I take a look at my posting for our open spot. I make an offer to Czech Ludek Zajic

After working with him Steinhubel has learned the MC spot and we’ll begin to give him subs for Kona here and there to solidify it.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #5 – Away vs Streda – I begin defensive. We give away a PK in the 10th and they sink it. They score again a few minutes later. Is this another 2-6 game? I hope not! Krasic to Ederson, goal in the 32nd. Half. Show me something else. And actually do it! I send in Niba and Militosyan. I sendin Steinhubal later. Just three minutes of time. We lose 2-1 but we were dominated statically more than that.

I hand out rests

We sign Zajic!

[Abe Sargent]

Cup Leg Semis Two Away vs Ruzomberok. I’m countering today. This is my real match. Which team will show up? The one goal one or the dominant six star one? We have the early momentum. They score off a counter in the 6th. Tha’ll be their last goal this game.

Scores for us:

Wohlfarth, 44th minute
Dodoi – 45th minute
Militosyan – 63rd minute
Wohlfarth – 77th minute

Pinter is injured for a few days and will miss the next game, Niba will start for him

Our six wins in a row is a Cup record for us.

We are playing Podbrezova in the finals.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #6 – Home vs Slovan Bratislava – Get ready for the woodshedding. I stick to standard. Twenty minutes melt away. Ten minutes of back and forth follows. Half. 6 shots and 2 on target for us, 5 and 2 them, 50% possession. Boring. Close. Keep playing your game! It’ll come! Steinhubel for an underperforming Jungr. Pinter for Ederson. They score in the 81st. I send in Militosyan. Can I get a tying score in extra time? Nope. We lose 1-0.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #7 – Away vs Trnava – We are defensive. Pinter is back starting. We have the early momentum but no goals come of it. I need to get shots on target so I make changes to reflect that. Chovanec is booked, I tell him to ease off tackles. Momentum has swapped. In the 42nd I finally get a shot on target. Half. 0-0. Sink those balls! Our foe with a card as well. Dodoi feeds Jungr and he…gets the ball on target for goal in the 55th. That’s how you do it! I pull Chovanec for Kunik. No cards now! Saumel with a card. Simoncic has no more cards. Jungr to Krasic for goal in the 59th. I have two goals in three shots on target. In the 66th they score and claw one back. They get another card. They score again in the 73rd. Right now we both have 11 shots but we have 3 on target to their 7. Niba for Ederson. 5 minutes of added time. Wohlfarth scores in the 94:23 mark! Nice! We win 3-2 MOM is on their team.

Nice!

I hand out many rests for the Finals of the Cup!

[Abe Sargent]

May

1st – Finals of the Cup vs Podbrezova, the Pohar
5th – Home vs Zilina
12th – Away vs Ruzomberok
19th – Away vs Slovan Bratislava

Good Training. Dodoi.

The Finals!

This is the first final in the Pohar for both of us! Neither has one it before. I will begin today controlling. Our foe is locked deep in a relegation battle and is currently sitting at 10th with just 21 points in 29 games.

Get Ready Football Fans and Welcome to Bratislava, home of the Neutral Site!

The game kicks off and we are in our awesome yellow kits. I love these so much!

Kona to Wohlfarth in at the 3:20 mark! Nice start!

Here let me show you and you can see the kits as well…



As you can see we scored very early. That will hopefully stamp out an auspicious beginning to the whole thing. Ten minutes melts away. Then Krasic feeds Dodoi for goal at the 17th minute! We have some advantage and force some corners but no more goals come from it. Our foes get some push but nothing. On a counter in the 37th minute Ederson feeds Dodoi for a goal. Half. Don’t. Get. Complacent. Please. Kona to Dodoi in the 56th called offsides. Kunik for Jan Chovanec. They score in the 68th. Niba for Pinter. Simoncic for Jungr and I swap him and Kona. 3 minutes of stoppage.



We hold and win 3-1!!! MOM is Dodoi with two scores.

Good everyone! We have made it to the EURO next year!

[Abe Sargent]

I hand out rests

EURO Qual #8 – Home vs Zilina – I rest Kona he’s too tired. Steinhebel starts for him. I begin countering. Ederson to Chovanec off a counter in the 18th. Awesome! Own goal by Hrasso in 24th. Sigh. Hrasso. We injure one o’ their players. Chovanec with another goal in the 36th! Awesome! Half. 2-1 us. We have two shots on target but they are both scoring. Don’t get complacent! I injure another player. They equalize in the 56th. Simoncic and Militosyan head in. Then Niba. 4 minutes of extra time. They get a late booking and then another. Jungr to Wohlfarth for goal at the 94:06 mark! We win 3-2. Whew! MOM is Chovanec.


That wins puts us in 4th.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual #9 - Away vs Ruzomberok – I doubt we handle them as easily this time either. I begin countering. They are #6 right now in our old spot. Kona is back. They have the early momentum.They are playing an injured player in the rain. I hope he doesn’t slip and hurt himself. At the 7:56 mark they score. They score again in the 24th. Their injured guy got a booking. Half. We’ve barely been in this game. This is going very differently than the games last month. I need that team to show up here pleas.e Thanks! We’re finally showing up to the game. It’s like we arrived in a velvet aeroplane and it took the half to dry off. Then a bad clearance leads to another goal by our foes. Pinter to Chovanec goal, 58th. Niba for Milanovic, the bad clearance guy. Dodoi out for Militosyan. Krizan for a lightly injured Pinter. They score again in the 88th. This time we lose 1-4 here rather than win by that score. We are the hot and cold team.

That dropped us down to 5th. Pinter is only injured for three days and will play the final game away vs the big bad wolf

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual #10 – Away vs Slovan Bratislava. Ready? Defensive. This is not how you wanna wind up things! This is the 175th match for our club for Hrasso. We are in our pretty yellow kits again! They score off a nasty cross in the 5th. Minute. Of the game.Wohlfarth is a bit banged up but we’ll leave him in to run it off. The 20th minute sees another score by them. We haven’t shown up to this game either. An own goal by them brings the score to 2-1. Kona to Wohlfarth in the 43rd. Welcome to the game! Glad we left him in. Half tied. Good score! Vengeance after out last match! They score off a counter in the 59th. Kiba for Pinter. Kunik for Krasic. Simoncic for Saumel. Jungr collects a card. Another counter score in the 87th. We lose 2-4.

[Chas in Cinti]

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm sort of glad you're struggling a bit at least... Seems like often these dynasties at the non-power countries are pretty successful pretty quickly. Will be fun to watch the growth...

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm sort of glad you're struggling a bit at least... Seems like often these dynasties at the non-power countries are pretty successful pretty quickly. Will be fun to watch the growth...

Sure thing!

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s the final table:



As you can see we finished in 5th tired with Trnava with points but with a better head to head rating. Dodoi lead the Fortuna with 22 goals and Wohlfarth was tied for 2nd with 20. I thought those two would work well together and was glad to see them! You can see Dodoi 3rd in rating and Jungr tied for 2nd with 12 assists. Good job everyone!


EDIT - I didn't notice this until now but we were a .500 team last year. 15 wins, 15 losses, 2 ties.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maybe I missed the explanation earlier but ... what's the deal with Trencin in 9th despite having the 4th-most points in the league table?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Maybe I missed the explanation earlier but ... what's the deal with Trencin in 9th despite having the 4th-most points in the league table?

When teams are divided into two halves they can move around from one half to the next but they can't cross over.

[Abe Sargent]

Here was the actual table after 22 this year.



We came in 6th in FM and just one more than without it.

After 32 here is teh Qual half.



And here is the Relegation half.



See how Nitra finished with 45 points but was locked into 7th?

Consider this, after 32 games, we only had two more points than Nitra in real life...

EDIT - Also note that Nitra had a winning record despite fewer points in real life as well.

Our offensive was awesome but our defense just wasn't where it needed to be. Speaking of which...

[Abe Sargent]

Stats:

GK Hrasso – 65 goals allowed, worst in the league, 4 shutouts, the lowest in the league. That’s crazy bad. Tied for 3rd in saves held with 61, and led in saves parried with 50. Not bad at all. Good shot stopper! Hrasso is a better player than the best ranked GK in the league.

Defense:

Key Tackles – Pinter was 4th best with 25; Milanovic 7th best with 19.

Key Headers – Ederson 4th best with 50; Milanovic 7th best with 43; Pinter had 38

Interceptions – Milanovic – 5th with 110; Pinter with 89

Headers Won % - Milanovic 5 with 88%; Ederson was 85%

Shots Blocked – Milanovic led the league with 11.


Offense:

Assists – Jungr with 12; Chovanec and Wohlfarth with 10; Dodoi with 6

Key Passes – Jungr, 4th place; 48; Wohlfarth in 5th place with 43; Chovanec with 33.

Chances Created – Jungr 4th with 23; Wohlfarth 9th with 19; Chovanec has 14

Pass Completion – Saumel – 90% 2nd place;

Cross Completion Ratio – Chovanec 4th with 23%


Not a bad year everything in consideration!

[Abe Sargent]

I make an offer to extend Chovanec by a single year to backup for 1 year at 500/week.

I want to keep him around in case I don’t find a new hot body.

I hand the captaincy to Saumel from Niba.

Here are my goals for the team:

1. Year 1 - Establish a youth squad. Nitra has very little – CHECK!
2. Stay up this year – CHECK!
3. Get a mid-table finish comfortably - CHECK
4. Year 2 - Next year get to the top half of the league and begin to play for EURO play in the playoffs – CHECK ONE YEAR EARLY.
5. Turn Nitra into a power that can rival the major team in this league – Slovan Bratislava
6. Win a Slovak Pohar – CHECK EARLIER THAN I THOUGHT.
7. Win the Fortuna
8. Qualify for Champions play.
9. Turn Nitra into an Eastern European heavyweight on the level of a Sparta Prague or CSKA Moscow.
10. Secure Nitra well enough that it’ll survive after the manager leaves

[Abe Sargent]

Alright! We finished the Pohar win earlier than I thought and the top half earlier than I thought to. That gives us a springboard of success for next year.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

1. Secure a new Dodoi to use as a rotational young option. Wohlfarth isn’t getting any younger and Dodoi will be signed away sooner or later.
2. Secure a new ML that can play as well as Krasic did at MR.
3. Bring in a new MC for Kona. Kona has lost a step this year.
4. Bring in a new DC to start over Pinter.
5. Bring in depth.

We were the hot and cold team. We only tied TWICE. We win big or lose big and that needs to change.

My ST needs to be a hot prospect 4th in line for the throne I can grow

I need the studiest DC I can find, as well as ML and MC

Saumel announces his retirement and we’ll have that DMC spot open too.

I ask him to reconsider.

[Abe Sargent]

Roster Eval

GK Hrasso – 2. He’s one of the best players on my team and best GKs in the league, but he also allowed too many goals, although he was fine statistically. I could see myself replacing him.

DC Milanovic – 3 My best DC by rating, stats, and look. Locked into his starting job

DC Ederson – 2 Ederson was a better DMC than DC but he’s better than the others. I move him to First team from key player.

DC Pinter – 2. He was a rotational guy who had some good stats. Younger, and I see him as my future role for Niba taking starts where injury needs, and subbing him in during the game regularly.

DMC Saumel – 1, 33 years old, captain, played alright, announced his retirement. If he retires, I’ll need to grab a new DMC.

MC Kona – 1 - -Was my 2nd best player player but form and age have hit him hard. He needs to be replaced. I drop him to first team as well.

MR Krasic – 3 – Like fellow Serbian Milanovic, he is locked in for now. He’s strong.

ML Chovanec – 0 – Chovanec played well and I extended him for a year, but he’s 34 and dropping in ability. He plays better than he looks. I signed him with a backup role and expect to see that happen.

AMC Jungr – 2 – 31 now, injury prone, he’s fine. I drop him to first team as well. I have him as a starter this year and it’s not on my hit list, but if I uncover a better player I wouldn’t be shocked.

ST Wohlfarth – 2 - I drop him to first team. This 33 year old finished 3rd in the Fortuna in goals and was great in ratings, assists, and more. He performed a great strike partnership with Dodoi, but his age will drop him in quality and in performance, so this is, I suspect, his last year starting for me.

ST Dodoi – 2- Dodoi led the goals and was our most in form player. He’s young and getting better. We’ll hold onto him for about another six months or so and then someone will pay his minimum release fee of 3.1 mill and he’ll head out then.

I need more younger folks like Dodoi or 20s rocks like Krasic and Milanovic, but my preference is the hot prospect deal of a Dodoi.

[Abe Sargent]

The Fans Player of the Year was Wohlfarth followed by Jungr and Chovanec

Their goal of the season was Saumel vs Haniska

Their Young Player of the Season was Dodoi and their choice for signing of the year was Wohlfarth

I hold my end of the season team meeting and tell them I want to do this again.

My board agree to increase our training facilities – it’ll finish in October.

Our squad head out for break

I make offers to extend much of my staff.

Jan Chovanec won Player of the Month and I congratulate him!

Chovanec and Dodoi are in Team of the Year for the division.

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome to June

Alrigh let’s find myself a new striker first.

But first is he already on my team?

It’s not Adam Dunda or anyone else.

Alright let’s scout around…

I find a 16 year old South African who isn’t developed enough and I’ve tried to keep myself only in EE, but I make Manqoba Ngubane a deal. I found him by scouting youth on U19 and U21 squads that look good on first sight.

Hmmm….

I think I found ymy first Wonderkid who might be interested in coming here

Jack Bruno, 16, already develop,d ST, Australia

Now he’s not interested in a hot prospect deal so instead I offer a rotational deal.

I also move to sign another Australian player for him

What about AMRC Damien Beaton? He’s 18 and unsigned. I also make an offer to unsigned mc Duncan Duggan.

Sounds good! Let’s bring in Australia and then we’ll see.

[Abe Sargent]

Now what?

Let’s look at ML.

I make a trial offer for Serbian Zoran Milovac

I make an offer to MC and DMC 32 year old Damir Vrancic. He can be my Kona in the middle or my Saumel at DMC. He’ll join us when he contract ends.

What about DC?

My favorite unsigned is stud DC Bogdan Mitrea of Romanian fame. I offer him a trial.

That gives me targets at ST, MC/DMC, DC and ML. Let’s move on and see what happens.

 
I agree tentatively to a rotation deal with Zoran Milovac.

The first to sign is ST Jack Bruno!



Here’s Jack. As you can see he’s a new-gen. We are paying him 550/week. Now I had to make him a rotational offer to bring him in but at 16 he’s better than Militosyan. I move him to backup role. This is a very developed 16 year old Striker, and again, I suspect he’s a wonderkid as he’s acting like it.

[Abe Sargent]

The next to arrive is Zoran Milovac. Three and a half stars, 29, Serbian, 11/12 speed, 13 cross, 14 pass, 13 drib, 1st touch, tech, 11 finish, and he’s good at set pieces.

[Abe Sargent]

I decline a job interview for Sheff. Wed. And then one for Cluj.

I make an offer for stud Mitrea. Key player, 2.5k/week, 3 years. He;s 30 and Romanian.

Ngubane signs with me.

Saumel will retire.

I sign some more Australians to play with Jack Bruno.



Mitrea signs! 15 tack, mark, head, 12 pass, 11/12 speed, 13 jump, 14 str, 12 position, he has a 4 star rating.

[Abe Sargent]

I sign Damir Vrancic! He’ll arrive on July 1st. 2.7k, 2 years, key player. I’ll start him for either Kona at MC or at DMC.

[Abe Sargent]

Right now with Saumel I have a hole. Here’s one way around said hole:

DC – Mitrea, Pinter, Milanovic
DMC – Ederson
MC – Vrancic

Here’s another:

DC - Mitrea, Milanovic, Ederson
DMC – Vrancic
MC – Kona

I prefer the first. I move Kona to rotation

We are playing Slavia Prague in the Super Cup!

[Abe Sargent]

June 11 – Preseason begins!

I massage my tactics to get ready for the preseason.

I’m getting loads of job opportunities but no thanks

I accept a transfer offer for Marius Chari.

I view the draw for the EURO.

We get Lokomotiv Plovdiv from Bulgaria.

Saumel retires. His cup with us is the only title he ever won!

Chari signs and heads elsewhere.

Friendly vs Skalica – We win 3-1, goals by Milanovic, Wohlfarth and Dodoi.

[Abe Sargent]

Ready for the Czech-Slovak Super cup?

Slavia Prague

Vs

Nitra


Ready for the Super Cup!

I begin defensively. They begin with the early initiative and then score in the 15th and then things slow down. We injure one of their players. Half 1-0. Quiet game. Jungr with a card. I pull a tired Milovac for Kunik. They score again in the 63rd. Steinhubel for Jungr. Jungr to Wohlfarth for goal before he heads out. Militosyan for Dodoi. Milanovic with a late card. We lose 2-1.

[Abe Sargent]

I confirm my budget and I get about 8k more in budget.

June 30th

I lose Vencl, Steinhubel,

I have these deals up coming in a year;






As of right now I make no new offers to any of them

[Abe Sargent]

July

12th – Home vs Lokomotiv
19th – Away vs Lokomotiv
28th – Away vs Trencin

Good training – Kunik, Dodoi, Begovac

I lose three players to other teams and I gain Mgubane, Vrancic, Duggan and Pop.

I make no changes to my pitch

Here’s Vrancic:



He’s solid and well rounded and can play a few different roles for me.

[Abe Sargent]

Now I have some cash to use.

What am I interested in? A stud MC to knock Vrancic to DMC? A stud DC to move Ederson off the bad parts of this team? Another wonderkid? An AMC that’ll embarrass Jungr?

Let’s look at who just got released

Here are my current starters to help with this conversation:

GK Hrasso

DC Milanovic, Mitrea, Pinter

DMC Ederson

MC Vranic

MR Krasic

ML Milovac

AMC Jungr

ST Dodoi, Wohlfarth

I see Pinter or Ederson as replaceable.

Can I find another stout DC?

I hand Niba a backup role.

Here are my ideal 7 subs with a new DC

DC Pinter, Niba
ST Militosyan, Bruno
MC/DMC/AMC Kona
Two middles from the various groups I might rotate in like Kubik, Chovanec, and more.

That works for me.

What DC?

[Abe Sargent]

My ideal preference is to get a younger hot prospect I can rotate in, but that might be too hard to find right now. I don’t see anyone in that region that is returning my calls. Next up a studly Mitrea or Milanovic?

My best choice is probably Daniel Pudil, 32 years old, Czech, DC, well rounded, 33 caps. I check to see if his is interested in joining fellow Czech Jungr on my best 11. Nope, we lack the financial resources he is looking for. Ah well, I offer him a trial to see if he’ll join and then stay.

Who else? Pudil was my favorite choice among local options. Could I follow Ederson and Wohlfarth and Bruno and move for a player not from Eastern Europe? Hm… let’s look.

I found someone, Spaniard Unai Bilbao. Do I wanna gofer?

Let’s wait to see if Pudil comes on a trial first. He doesn’t. I make an offer to Unai.


He joins us!



Welcome to the club!



Here you go. As you can see he’s strong with heading and jumping, marking and tackling, and more. He’s is strong. We have him for a while and at 2.5k/week on a key player deal. I’ll start him in the back with my Serbian and my Romanian. These additions should help to shore up my team a lot.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright let’s get to the EUROS!

I transfer list Patrik Abraham

Niba wants to move and not be my backup and I’ve agreed to let him go for a certain price

I confirm my squad for the EUROs

I do another friendly

I accept an offer for Niba

I make an offer to extend Richard Krizan’s hot prospect deal by a few years

I name Wohlfarth the team captain and leave Hrasso as vice

I promote our raw Czech potential stud Michal Kamenik to the main roster.

Wanna see him?




Okay!

Of course you do! Here is Kamenik after a lot of growing and he’s been with us almost a year. I want to start giving him the occasional stat. He’s rawer than my other guy the young Australian striker, but he’s getting better. I also gave him a mentorship with fellow Czech Jungr. He’s growing and should prove to be a nice addition to my squad as a sub right now. I make him eligible for my B team games as well.

[Abe Sargent]

I connect Jungr with Duggan.

EURO Match at Home – vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv – I begin standard to get a feel for the game. Quiet match early, they get a card in the 12th. At the 20th minute I have 5 shots to their 0. Quiet 10 minutes. Dodoi set up by Jungr deep in the box feeds Wohlfarth and we go up 1-0 at the 30th minute. Two minutes later Wohlfarth returns the favor and feeds Dodoi for goal. By the 40th we have 10 shots. Half. Don’t get complacent! They injure Vrancic lightly and I send in Kona for him. Pinter for Bilbao who’s nervous. Dodoi feeds Krasic for goal in the 63rd . Chovanec heads in for a tired Milovac.


Here wanna see my game results?



We dominated them in our first EURO Game! We had loads of shots, goals, etc. Wohlfarth the MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

Vrancic is out for a week and will miss the next game, I’ll start Kona.

We have 7-1 odds of winning the Fortuna!

I make a trial offer to 19 year old Bosnian Milan Miric who might be my new Niba. He arrives and I like him and make him a hot prospect offer for 250/week for three years.

I submit my squad numbers

Friendly vs Znojmo – We draw 0-0

[Abe Sargent]

Miric has signed with us! He’ll be my 5th DC after Pinter and my new Kiba. He’s also not the worst emergency starter I’ve seen, and with three years of hot prospect coming he won’t be demanding. You’ll also note that I already have a Bosnian new player on my squad so they can hang.

[Abe Sargent]

We draw Bernolakovo in the Cup.

EURO Match Away vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv – We come in with a comfortable 0-3. I begin countering. We are in our pretty yellows! They have the early momentum. At the 28th mark we’ve each had longer shots, we have 5 shots and 1 on target to their 5 shots and 1 on target. 54% possession to them. Hrasso gives up a pk in the 33rd and they sink it. Hrasso. Ederson to Dodoi gets the ball after it falls to him in a corner kick and Dodoi finishes. We have tied it at the 38th minute. Half. 1-1. That away goal was precious. Now they need to score FOUR in order to beat us 5-4 on aggregate. They collect a card early in the half. They have subbed all three of their players by the 53rd minute mark. Odd. I tell my folks to tackle hard. They score off a nice cross in the 57th. Pinter for Milanovic. Jack Bruno for a tired Wohlfarth. They score in the 78th. I send in Chovanec. They score again in the 90th minute. Can we hold on for the win? Four extra minutes. We hold on and lose 1-4 and tie 4-4 and make it though on away goal.

We can’t keep being this team!

[Abe Sargent]

Hrasso allowed three non-penalties on 7 shots. We have to do better.

We draw Hapeol in Israel for the next EURO round.

I have sold Niba

We have sold 2118 season tix


EURO Leg #1 – Home vs Hapeol – We are moving Kona back to the subs. Standard worked well in the first game so I use it here as well. We have the early initiative and we actually manage to make it count this time. Dodoi to Ederson at the 1:03 mark. They are coming at us and we’ve turned away three shots by the tenth minute. It appears things are under our control as the next ten minutes melt away. Around the 30s we have five minutes of dominance but nothing comes of it. They have a shot in the 43r that appears offsides but it is not waived off that ties the match. Half 1-1. We each have 10 shots 4 on target. They score again in the 53rd. I pull Milanovic after he collects a card for Pinter. Bruno for Dodoi. They score in the 74th. I send in Kona for Vrassic. We injure one of their players in extra time. Time. We lose 1-3. I was hoping for a better EURO campaign than that!

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #1 – Away vs Trencin – Trencin are a respectable team and I begin countering. I make no changes to my side. Yay for yellow kits. They score in the 2nd minute. Krasic to Wohlfarth for goal in the 24th minute to tie it. They score again in the 45th. Half 2-1 them. They have three shots on target. They score again in the 47th minute. Pinter for Milanovic. Dodoi’s score called offsides. Kona for Ederson after he gets a card. They score again in the 73rd. On 7 shots on target we have 4 goals allowed. They score again in the 88th. 8 shots on target, five goals.

It’s time.

[Abe Sargent]

It’s really time.

Losses of 5-1, 3-1 at home, 6-2, and 4-1 cannot continue when I am playing defensively.

I need a new goalkeeper.

Hrasso looks good but isn’t playing it.

I had kept my salary with enough to bring in one more big player and I was looking to do so in January to help out the team. No longer. I make an offer to 31 year old Spaniard Javi Jiminez



Two days later him joins us!

Welcome to the club! As you can see he’s good aerially, reflexes, one on ones, and loads more. Now he;s not the fastest keeper in the world and I’d prefer a stonger keeper as well, but he’ll do! He’s also not eccentric either.

I mark Hrasso as not needed and I transfer list him

I get a transfer offer for Hrasso. His last game will be in the EURO.

Kona is injured for a month in training

[Abe Sargent]

August

2nd – Away vs Hapoel
5th – Home vs Zdana that was promoted
11th – Away vs Michalovce
18th – Away vs Slovan Bratislava
25th – Home vs Zilina

Rough opening to the Fortuna with Zilina, Slovan Bratislava and Trencin all in the opening few matches.

Good training – Kirzan, Kamenik, Mitrea

Away vs Hapoel, EURO 2nd Leg – I begin countering. Back to our cool yellows. My prediction? Shut out by Hrasso just to rub my face in it! Krasic to Dodoi, score 6th minute. Here comes Hapoel. They score in the 13th. Their one shot on target of course sinks. wohlfarth to Dodoi, goal, 21st. Ederson with an early card. I swap him and Vrancic on the pitch and then pull him for… no one. Hopefully he’ll have fewer tackle opportunities for now. Half, 2-1 us. Vengeance! Krasic to Dodoi, goal, 47th. Now that’s interesting. That’s puts us at 3-1. And we are tied. One more goal… We injure one of their players. They sink goal in the 66th. Nevermind. I send in Chovanec and Pinter. Vrasic to Dodoi, goal, 72nd. We are now tied at 5-5 and we have the away goal. Am I getting through? Our foes come forward hard. Hard. We bang up another player. Miric for a tired Mitrea. Chovanec to Dodoi, goal, 80th. Krasic to Dodoi, goal, 89th. Game, we win 6-2. Wow. MOM is Dodoi. Here!



Dodoi scored SIX AWAY GOALs. That’s crazy sauce. If I told you ‘d come back from a home game giving up 1-3 on the road that would have been crazy but like this?

MAN!


Hopefully my new GK will get me away from the cardiac kings.

That set a record for us for most goals in a single game by a player.