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

[Abe Sargent]

We draw Belenenses for our next match. A Portuguese team may be too hard to overcome and we may have done our last dance. I register Javi as a new player.


Fortuna Game #2 – Home vs Zdana. I give Javi his first start. I also start Kamenik for Krasic. I begin controlling. No yellows, so sad. Our foes are in yellow. Weird. It’s hard to know who to root for. Dodoi picks up an early injury and I pull him for Bruno. They are dominating this game. I slide back to counter. Our GK has stopped the first three on target shots. Half 0-0. 2 shots by us, 7 by them. Do you even want to win this game? Krasic for Kamenik, this game is too competitive. Pinter for Milanovic. Wohlfarth to Milovac, goal, 83rd minute. Am I going to steal this? Four minutes added time. Bruno to Wohlfarth for goal in the 92nd minute. We win 2-0, MOM was Wohlfarth. Not bad a debut for my GK. They had twice as many shots as us and we shut them down.


Dodoi is out for a week. Bruno will start until his return.

I have sold Hrasso

I name Bogden Mitrea as my vice captain

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Leg #1 – Home vs Belenenses – I begin standard. I have Dodoi on the bench in case I need two St. We begin ambitiously an then they give us a PK at the 1:55 mark. Up steps Mitrea who is a stud a PKs and…he sinks it! Good job Mitrea! That’s his first goal for us. 15 minutes melt away. They sink a 1:1Counter in the 16th to tie us. Milovac to Wohlfarth nasty cross, goal, 32nd and we are back up to 2-1. In the 44th Milovac feeds Bruno and he’s scored his first goal for us. Half 3-1 us. We have 6 shots, 4 on target to their 12 and 6. This would likely have been 3-3 with Hrasso in. They’ve out played. I just realized In left in Kamenik so I pull the wonderkid for Krasic. Don’t get complacent, we don’t want to give away away goals. They score off a corner kick in the 52nd. Bruno to Wohlfarth for goal in the 56th. Pinter for Bilbao. They give away another penalty. Wohlfarth sinks it. That’s his hattrick! Miric for Milanovic. Game, we win 5-2, MOM is Wohlfarth.




I know!

I am shocked at how dominant some of these EURO games are being for us. 6-2 and 5-2 in back to back matches.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #3 – Away vs Michalovce. I have Dodoi and Krasic back at starting role for me. I begin standard. I have the early momentum and then Bilbao feeds Dodoi for goal in the 11th minute. They press forward. Near the end of a quiet half Wohlfarth feeds Dodoi for another goal. Half. Don’t get complacent! They cross and score in the 56th. They have taken over the game this half. Jungr feeds Dodoi nastily and he finds Wohlfarth for goal in the 61st. They get a card. They score again a few minutes later to make it 3-2. Foul against Dodoi in the box with a card. Dodoi sinks it and that’s his hattrick and we are up 4-2. I send in Pinter and Chovanec. Kunik heads in as well. Pinter with a late card. Four minutes of time and… we hold and win 4-2 on the road, and MOM is Dodoi’s hattrick.

We offer a First Team Deal for Dodoi for four years.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Leg #2 Away vs Belenenses – Can we win? I begin defensive today. Kona is back from his injury and in our squad. Here we go! It’s all us in the first few minutes but no scores comes of it. We hold scoreless their momentum as well. Vrancic with a card in the 33rd minute. Half 0-0. That could not have gone better for us. It’ll be much harder for them to crack our score deferential in 45 minutes. But it could happen. Don’t get complacent. I send in Kona for Vrancic this is the wrong time to get a double yellow. In the 63rd Mitrea gives away a pk and they step up and…Javi saves! I sent in Pinter for Mitrea. A nasty cross and they score goal in the 71st. Jungr with a card, I send in Chovanec. 3 minutes added time and… we hold and lose 0-1. They had 24 shots today and we only lost 0-1. That was due to Javi!


We are through to the next round with a 5-3 aggregate score!

I need one more guy for squad depth. I need a guy who, like Kona, can play DM, M and AM c. Ideally a hot prospect who won’t hurt my bank that much, I don’t want to sub in people like Chovanec for Jungr anymore.

No youth for free. What about a loaner? Yup!

Macedonian 20 year old Petar Krstic.

We draw SK Rapid Wien for the next round of the EURO

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Match #4 – Away vs Slovan Bratislava. This is where we’ll find out how good Javi our new GK actually is as away vs the big bad is the hardest match on your slate. Can we show up as good as we did against Belenenses? I’ll be playing defensively today. I had 9 shots on the last game just none sunk. So I hope to have a better outcome today. If I can tie or even have a narrow loss rather than the typical 6-2 stuff I’m doing I’d be happy. Slovan have the first 15 minutes and then ease up. 30 minutes in we have 1 shot to their 8. Half 0-0. I send in Chovanec. Pinter for Bilbao. They steal the ball for Krasic and drive and score on a counter in the 77th. Militosyan for a tired Wohlfarth. Milanovic has a card. Dodoi drives on a counter, jukes past a defender is loose in the box with a 1:1 On the keeper and unselfishlessly feeds Jungr for score in the 85th. 5 extra minutes. Can we weather the tide? We had one shot on target and it was a break away by Dodoi. We steal a tie! I’ll take it!


That was the first time I’ve felt like I belong with the big boys. A tie on the road? Nice!
 
We have loaned Petar Krstic.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Leg #1 Home vs Rapid Wien – I begin standard. We injure one of their players lightly in the first 5 minutes. They get a card in the 6th. The game is quiet early. And then longer. And longer. They get another yellow in the 31st minute and Mitrea sets up to shoot a DFk and…he sinks it! We are up 1-0. Mitrea is a set piece star. They grab goal in the 43rd to equalize. Half. Mostly equal stats. 9 shots to 7, each 4 shots on target, 51% possession. Krasic with a card. Pinter for Bilbao. Jungr to Krasic for goal in he 63rd. Glad I didn’t pull him. Jungr with a card and I send in Kona for him. Kamenik for Krasic. They score in the 83rd off an IFK. They get another score late and we finish losing 2-3. They outplayed us in the second half and finished with many more shots than us. Mitrea is MOM and we lose 2-3

Barring another 6-2 away devastation that’s as far as we are going this year.

Jungr has reached his yellow cards limit and will be suspended for the 2nd leg and Kona will start for him. That’s a downgrade.

Dodoi has signed his new deal!

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #5 – Home vs Zilina – We begin standard. I respect this heavy hitter too much. I give Ederson a rest today, and Kona is starting in the middle and Vracic is at DMC. Quiet. Very quiet. We have a small offensive movement turned aside. On a 23rd minute IFK Mitrea feeds Dodoi who kicks it back to an open Mitrea who scores. Nice! Vrancic with a card a few minutes later. I swap him and Kuna. Krasic recovers a shot by Dodoi that rifles off the goal and sinks it. Half, we are up 2-0. Don’t get complacent! Krstic for Vrancic. They score off a corner in the 59th. They get two yellows. Jungr to Wohlfarth, goal, 6 minutes later and we are up 3-1. Pinter for Milanovic. They get a red card for a nasty foul on Jungr. Jan Chovanec heads in. We hold and win 3-1. MOM is Krasic.

We’ve beaten our nemesis!

[Izulde]

Were you able to raise the minimum release clause on Dodoi's new deal?

[Abe Sargent]

EURO 2nd Leg Away vs Rapid Wien – I begin countering and Jungr is out for Kona. Wohlfarth to Dodoi, goal, 3:44 mark! That’s a good way to start because I need to RAIN goals. We are now tied 3-3 but losing on away goals. Milovac is banged up but I’ll keep him in. I need quality and my backup is Chovanec. They score in the 16th and even things up. By the 30th minute they have 13 shots to our 3. I doubt we are winning this. I doubt we are trying this. Milanovic finds Wohlfarth on a break for goal in the 38th and we are ahead 2-1. We are tied again but losing on away goals. Another goal? That’d be fun. Half. Don’t get complacent! I send in Chovanec for Milovac. Pinter for Bilbao. I need to get another goal. There it is!!! In the 77th minute Ederson pounces on a tackled ball from a deep indirect free kick and scores. We are now up 3-1 and 5-4 aggregate. If they score in the next fifteen minutes then we are tied on away goals and we’ll head to extra time. One more goal solidifies it. Right now we have 6 shots to their 22 so I doubt another goal is happening. I hold onto my 3rd sub as everyone is playing well and I want to save it for extra time if needed. 3 minutes of injury time. Can we hold?

We do!!!



A 28 shot game by my foe held to 1 goal. Nice job Gk Javi! We are through! MOM is Wohlfarth.

Milovac is out for 2 weeks and Chovanec will start for him.

We made an impressive 2.6 million for making it to the Group Stage!

Our group

EURO Group E

Dynamo Kiev - Ukraine
BATE - Belarus
Nitra – Slovakia, Us
Torino - Italy

That could have been worse. We have one major club and two other Eastern European folks. After getting through a heavyweight of the region with Rapid Wien, we shouldn’t be looking askance at BATE or Dynamo Kiev. I could come out 2nd.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Were you able to raise the minimum release clause on Dodoi's new deal?

Nope I left it as is. That fee would change the club.

[Abe Sargent]

September

2nd – Home vs Trnava
15th – Home vs Streda
20th – Away vs Dynamo Kiev – We start with a rough ask
23rd – Away vs Ruzomberok
26th – Away vs Bernolakovo, Cup Match
29th – Home vs Vrable

Good training –

Dodoi wins Goal of the Month, and Wohlfarth and Krasic were in the running for player of the month

Fortuna Match #6 – Home vs Trnava. I begin controlling. Jungr is back and in my AMC spot. Bilbao is tired and Pinter starts. The first ten minutes is all them and I ease back to standard. We injure one of their players lightly. Wohlfarth is injured in the 28th minute. I send in Militosyan. Ederson with a card. 0-0 at the half. Kona for Ederson. They get a card. Bilbao for Pinter. 5 minutes of added time. 0-0 tie.

Wohlfarth is injured for a week, but we enough of a break that he’ll be back for the Streda match.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Match #7 – Home vs Streda, who won the Fortuna last year. I have Milovac and Bilbao back in the starting zone. I begin standard. They are starting three lightly injured players. Quiet 15 minutes rolls by. We injure another of their players. Half, Another 0-0. I send in Pinter. They score in the 63rd. Then in the 65th, they hit a Pk. I send in Militosyan. Wohlfarth feeds Militosyan for goal in the 75th. Kona heads in. We lose 1-2. MOM is Militosyan.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO GROUP E Game #1 – Away vs Dynamo Kiev – I begin defensive. They are dominating the early game. They score in the 13:47 mark. They collect a card. They score again in the 29th. They had 21 shots in the first half. Jungr to Dodoi, goal, in the 59th minute. Pinter for Bilbao. Wohlfarth to Dodoi and we are suddenly tied in the 68th minute…

Here let me show you!



I doubt the score lasts, but it’s nice right now. Two minutes later they hit goal again. It didn;t last. Chovanec for Milovac. Kona for Ederson. They score again in the 78th. Wohlfarth to Dodoi a minute later. Now that gives us a way back into the match. 5 minutes of injury time. I had a great shot on target at the 92:26 mark by Wohlfarth but they stopped it. We lose 4-3. Respectable. Dodoi was MOM

The transfer deadline passes

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Match #8 – Away vs Ruzomberok – I begin countering. Dodoi feeds Jungr for goal in the 13th minute after some early dominance by them. Then on a counter Krasic feeds a nasty cross to Dodoi for goal. They claw one back in the 23rd. Ederson with a card. Jungr to Dodoi, score, 43rd. Half we are up 3-1. Don’t get complacent! Card for Milanovic and I spell him for Pinter. Kona for Ederson.They have two yellows as well. Militosyan for Wohlfarth. They score on a corner in the 85th. 5 minutes. That’s a lot of time, can I hold. We hold and win 3-2. MOM is Dodoi.

[Abe Sargent]

Cup – Away vs vs Bernolakovo, I start Kamenik, Pinter, and Bruno. I begin standard. We have the early power. In the 18th, Milovac feeds Wohlfarth for score. Bruno scores a few minutes later. Wohlfarth feeds Bruno a pass for goal in the 32nd. Then in the 38th, Bruno this paydirt and that’s his hattrick. Wohlfarth scores a few minutes later. Half 5-0 us. Keep it going! I send in early Miric for Milanovic and Chovanec. Jungr to Wohlfarth, goal, 51st minute. I send in Militosyan for Wohlfarth now that he’s scored three. Miric to Mitrea for goal in the 71st off a corner kick. We win 7-0 MO m was Wohlfarth!


I’ll leave Bruno in at ST with his hot leg. I’ll pull Pinter and Kamenik though.

That was our biggest ever win! Of course it was against a lower level club.

Last year was all about my mighty offense and my weak defense. I finished with a goal differential of 0 and had the most goals scored against and the most scored. But now? My defense is playing much better after adding in GK Javi Jimenez as well as Mitrea and Bilbao. But where has my offense been? With a game in hand I am currently 6th although if I win my game in hand that’ll help and it’s home against the #10 team in the league, but I had home games recently where I didn’t dominate like I did last year.

I need to.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Match #9 – Home vs Moravce, another of our promotions and currently 10th in the league of 12. If I win today I’ll jump up to 4th. Hopefully the great cup match will carry over into this one. I begin controlling. Two of their players begin lightly injured. Ederson to Bruno goal, 2:51 mark. We’ve had the early game. Vrancic feeds Bruno on an attack run in the 8:51 mark and scores. By the 20th minute I have 8 shots to their 0. Milovec with a nasty whipped cross to Wohlfarth for goal in the 42:47 mark. Half 3-0 us. Keep it up! They make two subs at the half. They finally get their first shot on the 53rd minute. Welcome to the game Moravce! Kona for a tired Ederson. Wohlfarth to Bruno, goal, 61:02 mark. There’s his hattrick. Dude is clearly good. Pinter for Mitrea. Militosyan for a tired Wohlfarth. On a corner kick in the 89th minute our foes finally had a shot on target. We stopped it. Krasic to Jungr, score, 91:19 mark. We hold and win 5-0. MOM is Bruno.

We have 12-0 in the last two games, albeit against less than powerful teams.

Have we gotten our mojo back?

I’ll start Bruno in the next game too. Dude has six goals in two games. I’ll start Dodoi for a tired Wohlfarth. Nevermind I had out lots of rests. Our next match is against BATE.

[Abe Sargent]

October

4th – Home vs BATE, EURO Group E, Game 2
7th – Home vs Senica
10th Away vs Gabsik, Cup Round 2
20th – Away vs Zdana
25th – Home vs Torina, EURO Group E, Game 3
28th – Home vs Trencin
31st – Away vs Podbrezova

That’s a big month. We’ll have chances to show quality in Group E at home against foes. Was our narrow loss on the road vs Dynamo Kiev something we can better at home against Torino and BATE?

Good training – Bruno, Kamenik, Ederson

Our training facilities are upgraded!

Jungr wins player of the month. I congratulate him!

NINE of my players were announced in Team of the Week.



Home vs BATE, EURO Group E Game 2 – I leave in the hot leg of Bruno. I thought about going back to Dodoi but this match is too important. Hot leg matters. Jungr gets loose and drives the box juking past a defender and slides the ball for Wohlfarth for goal in the7th. Not a bad start! After we push aside two of their attacks, we score off a built up, Krasic slides to Vrancic for goal in the 25th. Good cause so far they have out played us . Except on the score board. Half 2-0. I am shocked that with their 10 and 5 on target we are blanking them as they have had some great shots. They weren’t just long shots on target or something. Don’t get complacent! BATE hit paydirt in the 53rd. Yeah I didn’t think that would last long. Jungr to Wohlfarth, goal, two minutes later! Good. Our vaunted offense is not letting us down. Pinter for Bilbao and Kona for Ederson. They score in the 75th and claw one back and it’s 3-2 now. Closer than I wanna be. Dodoi for Bruno. Wohlfarth to Jungr, goal, 85th. Whew. 4 minutes of extra time.




We hold and win 4-2. Nice! MOM is Wohlfarth. But that was our easiest match. The rest could be rough.


I will move Dodoi back to the starting role for the next game or two.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Match #10 – Home vs Senica – They are currently first in the Fortuna so I begin standard. I respect them. It’s driving rain today and they have an injured player starting. They have the early momentum but we push them aside and quiet follows. They get a yellow. Half. We don’t even have 10 shots between us. Do you even wanna win this game! Milovac is injured and I send in Chovanec. Kona for Jungr. Militosyan for Wohlfarth. They have been parking the bus hard. I go attacking and speed up. Then it happens. At the 89:44 mark, Vrancic feeds Militosyan for goal. I pull back to counter. Here they come. We hold and win 1-0. MOM is Vrancic. Nice!

Milovac is out for a month. Chovanec will start for him.

[Abe Sargent]

Here is the table after most teams have 11 games but we are just 10



As you can see we don’t have the dominant goals or assists. But 6-2-2 is a strong record and we have a game in hand to try and move up. It’s tight from 5th to 1st. A win in our extra game would vault us to 1st.

[Abe Sargent]

Away vs Gabsik, Cup Round 2 – I’ll be starting Bruno and Pinter and Kamenik for this game. Actually Kamenik is away on international duty and won’t be starting. I move Krasic back. I begin standard. We have the early momentum but they push it aside without a score. They collect a card. They push aside two of our moves. Quiet. Half. We have 12 shots to their 0. I send in Kona for Jungr when he gets a card. Krstic for Ederson. Bilbao for Milanovic. Then in the 78th Wohlfarth feeds Bruno for goal and we’ve broken the rough ask. Six minutes of added time. Bruno pounces on a deflection and scores in extra time. We hold and win 2-0 ,MOM I Bruno. We made that harder than it needed to be.

We draw Inter Bratislava in the 2nd division for the next round

Our six games won in a row is a new Nitra record!

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #11 – Away vs Zdana. I begin countering. Dodoi, Bilbo are back and Chovanec is still starting for us. Pretty yellows! Hopefully the kits will be a good luck charm against the 10th ranked foe. They have the early and middle momentum. They score in the 34th. Half 1-0 them. They dominated us. Where is your passion? Bruno for Dodoi. Pinter for Mitrea. At the 70th minute they have 15 shots to our 4. We are being dominated. Can we steal a goal and get a tie we didn’t earn? Maybe! In the 76th off a corner Milanovic scores! 1-1 us. I send in Kona for Vrancic. 4 minutes. Can we hold them? Yes we can! 1-1 tie. MOM is Milanovic.

That would have been a 3-1 loss with Hrasso.

Milovac is back from injury for the next match,

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Group E Match #3 – Home vs Torino – If I want to get out of this Group I need to get points from Torino and/or Dynamo Kiev. We hung 4 on BATE at home earlier this month. Even a tie here would be helpful, but a win… that’d be huge. We have 7 goals in two games against BATE and Dynamo Kiev. Can we also score well today? We’ll find out! I begin standard. They are staring with a injured player.

Here!



I know this score won’t last, but I’ll take it. Our guys have really been playing up to the EURO games. We each have opportunities turned aside. They score in the 24th. Like I said, it wouldn’t last. They hit us on a counter for a goal in the 33rd. half 2-1. Show me something else! They have 13 shots to our 4. They score in the 54th. Then again a few minutes later. Then again in a few minutes later. Militosyan and Pinter head in. They score again. Kamenik heads in. Might as well give him experience. Game. We lose 1-6. Nasty.

Well we clearly don’t belong yet. If we are going to get out it’s through Dynamo Kiev. We have to defeat them when we host them.

At the halfway mark here is Group E

Torino – 9 points
Dynamo Kiev – 6 points
Nitra – 3 points
BATE – 0 points

If I finish with wins over Dynamo and Kiev and BATE I could still lose if Dynamo Kiev defeats BATE. We won’t make it out with a tie on GD. That loss is probably it.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #12 – Home vs Trencin – We lost 1-5 to them when we had Hrasso. Will my new GK keep us in this game? I hope so! I begin standard. They have the early momentum and three shots on target are stopped. By the 20th we have half the shots they did. We injure one of their players lightly. Half. We have 5 shots to their 12. Wohlfarth is injured and I send in Militosyan. Handball in the box in the 56th minute, Mitrea steps up for a PK. Nasty sink. We are up 1-0. Bruno for an underperforming Dodoi. They score off a corner in the 72nd. Set piece goals by each of us. Krstic for Jungr. They score again in the 84th. I come forward. 5 minutes. Can we tie? Nope. We lose 1-2. At home. Trencin just have our number.


Wohlfarth is out for 2-3 weeks, Militosyan will start for him.

[Abe Sargent]

Cup Round #3 – Away vs Inter Bratislava – Militosyan and Bruno are starting, as is Kona at DMC and Kamenik. Krstic for Jungr. I need to rest some players. I begin countering as they are a good 2nd division team. They have actually won the Fortuna. Multiple times. They are in our pretty yellows, it’s hard to figure out who I am supposed to root for. They collect a card in the 21st. They are playing very defensively. It’s hard to crack them. 0-0 half. We have 9 shots but just one on target. They score off a DFK in the 49th. Kona booked. They score again a few minutes later. I send in Dodoi and Ederson. We need to come back. Pinter for Bilbao. Milanovic gets a card. 4 minutes. And with that we are out of the Cup with a 0-2 loss on the road.

Unai Bilbao is jaded and I’ll start Pinter for a bit.

[Abe Sargent]

November

2nd – Home vs Michalovce
8th – Away vs Torino
11th – Away vs Zilina
24th – Home vs Slovan Bratislava
29th – Home vs Dynamo Kiev

Good Training – Miric, Kamenik, Dodoi


Fortuna Game #13 – Home vs Michalovce – I begin controlling. Militosyan and Pinter are starting as a reminder. Let’s do it! At the 2:46 mark Vrancic leaps on the intercepted ball and scores a long shot. On a corner, Milovec to Mitrea for goal, 7th minute. I am so glad I brought those set pieces on. They figure us out a few minutes later and quiet returns to the game. Krasic nice cross to Militosyan, goal, 30th. By the 37th minute we have 9 shots to their 0. We injure one of their players. Half. We are up 3-0. Keep it going!!! Bruno for Dodoi. Kunik for Milanovic. Kona for Jungr. We hold and win 3-0. MOM is Krasic. A good solid win.


Now it’s time for the big one.

Jack Bruno was called up for the Australian squad.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Group E Game #4 – Away vs Torino. There is a roughly 5% chance we’ll tie, a 2% chance of weird win, and a 93% chance of losing today. We’ll see what happens. As I’ve discussed, even with a win over BATE and Dynamo Kiev, we’ll likely tie and lose to DK, so we’ll need to get a point or have DK drop points to BATE today. We’ll get a better knowledge of that today. I begin defensive. Mitrea sinks a DFK in the 6th minute.

Again here



It won’t last, but I’ll take it! Mitrea is the gift that keeps on giving. Quiet after we push away two thrusts. At the 25th minute they have 5 shots to our 4. We lightly injure one of their players. 37th minute they score. Militosyan to Dodoi, goal, 41st minute!



Woot! If you thought starting Militosyan was a potential loss over Wohlfarth he has given. Half, 2-1 us. Don’t. Get. Complacent. They make a sub at the half. They get a card. They score doesn’t last long they score in the 51st. They score off a corner kick in the 57th. Bilbao for Pinter. Kona for Jungr. Yellow for Milovac. I send in Chovanec. They score again in the 83rd. I was hoping to steal a late goal. They get another late score a few minutes later. We lose 2-5.

Now I have good news for you…

BATE defeated DK.

That means here is the Group E right now after four games:

Torino – 12 points
Dynamo Kiev – 6 points
Nitra 3 points
BATE 3 points

If we defeat DK and if Torino defeats them, we have a chance if we win out. It’s a dim chance but I’ll take it.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #14 – Away vs Zilina – I begin countering. No shots in the first ten minutes. They score in the 23rd. They score again in the 44th. 0-2 them at the half . Show us something us! The problem? They are lethal today. Only 8 shots but 7 on target. Bruno for Dodoi. They have two cards. They score again in the 66th. Kona for Vrancic. Ederson with a card. Bilbao for Mitrea. We lose 0-3.

We still aren’t showing up against the heavyweights at times.

Wohlfarth is back from injury,

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #15 – Home vs Slovan Bratislava. I begin standard. We have Bilbao and Wohlfarth starting for us. We each have attacks pushed aside. It’s mostly quiet. Half, 0-0, we each have 5 shots.

Then everything changes!

Wohlfarth with a goal in the 47th minute. They score back a few minutes later.

Mitrea gets goal off a penalty kick in the 57th. Now we are up 2-1.

I send in Bruno and he scores in the 79th. We are up 3-1.

In extra time Wohlfarth hits another goal. We win 4-1. Wohlfarth is MOM.

Is our offense back or are we just good at handling Slovan Bratislava?

The UK has left the EU and they have announced their new rules

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Group E Match #5 – Home vs Dynamo Kiev – We only lost on the road by a goal. Can we win by a goal at home? I begin countering. They are starting three players with minor injuries. They have the early initiative. They score in the 37th. Half. They have 16 shots to our…2. Mitrea’s DFK in the 49th is on target but blocked by the GK. They score off a corner in the 59th. Chovanec heads in. Bruno for Dodoi. They give aPK in the 76th. Up steps Mitrea. He misses…. And there goes any chance of coming back. Pinter heads in. 3 minutes. We lose 0-2 and there goes our EURO campaign

[Abe Sargent]

December

2nd – Away vs Streda
5th – Away vs Podbrezova
8th – Away vs Trnava
13th – Away vs BATE
16th – Home vs Ruzomberok

Good training – Begovac, Kamenik, Bruno

Mitrea 2nd in Player of the Month

Militosyan isn’t happy with his lack of play.


Fortuna Game #16 – Away vs Streda – I begin defensive. They won the Fortuna last year and are on a 10 game unbeaten streak. They get a card in the 3rd minute of the game. It’s driving rain today. We get an old goal at the 3:35 minute off an IFK. I’ll take it! They have the early initiative. A shot by them rebounds off the goal to another attacker and they sink it in the 15th. Now we score a goal! Krasic to Dodoi for goal in the 18th off a counter. They get another card in the 36th. We each have offenses turned aside. Half 2-1 us. We each have 10 shots but we have 5 on target to their 2. Don’t get complacent! 57th, Milanovic hits Jungr for a goal on a counter. Nice! They haven’t gotten complacent! Kona for Vrancic. Pinter for Bilbao. Militosyan for Wohlfarth. Here they come! 4 minutes. We hold and win 3-1. MOM is Milovac.

That win moved us from 6th to 3rd.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #17 – Away vs Podbrezova – I begin countering. I start Kona for a tired Jungr. They have the early momentum. They get a card in the 6th. We injure one of their players slightly. They get a second yellow card in the 13th minute and that player is sent off! I make my 11 vs 10 tactics. Krasic to Milovac, score, 26th. Half. They make two subs. They score back off a long shot in the 59th. Bruno and Pinter head in. I send in Militosyan. I move to attacking from control. Nothing. Game, tie, 1-1. Horrible. We had moved to the top of the table with a win here.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #18 – Away vs Trnava – We have Jungr back but Kona will spell Vrancic. I begin countering. We turn aside their first offensive impetus. We give up a pk in the 19th minute and they sink it. Half. Show me something else! Pinter for Bilbao. Miric for Milanovic. Kamenik for Krasic. 4 minutes. We give up another PK in the 89th and they sink it. We lose 0-2. That drops us to 4th.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Group E Game #6 – Away vs BATE. I have my top XI back. I hope to win this as we get a lot of cash if we do! I begin defensive. They have the early offensive going. Marek Jungr gets a red card in the 16th minute. They score in the 19th. Again in the 40th. I’ll skip the rest of the game. We lose 4-2 with two late goals by Dodoi from Militosyan and Vrancic. That was an ignoble way to end our first EURO campaign

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #19 – Home vs Ruzomberok – I begin controlling. They have no manager and they have dropped to 11th. Bilbao to Wohlfarth for goal in the 14th. They get a card two minutes later. Dodoi to Wohlfarth goal in the 20th. We turn aside two major attacks. Half, 2-0. Don’t get complacent! We hurt one of their players. Pinter for Milanovic. Chovanec heads in. They score in the 69th. Kamenik for Krasic. They get another card. Can we hold on? 5 minutes of extra time. They score in extra time. Tie 2-2. MOM is Wohlfarth.

We are 3rd heading into Winter break



Here I’ll show you. See how the tie gave us the one point needed to move above 4th – 6th? It’s close there. Getting a full game there would have been nice, but we’ll take it.

[Abe Sargent]

I set up friendlies with a number of Czech teams in January and February.


I’m saying no to around 10 clubs a week looking to interview me. Some are in top flights in western Europe like Nice.

December 29th arrives

Rumors in the media that a club in Poland are interested in Ederson. He’s been playing well for me with a 7.25 rating in the EURO and 6.99 in the Fortuna. He wants to leave. I tell him I will if they make an offer as soon as I sort out a replacement. I was looking at replacing Ederson next year and letting his contract run out.

I was just about to talk about my squad and look at potential replacements. I figured that I’d bring in one major player in winter, and going into the year I thought it was likely to be AMC and Jungr. I even moved Jungr from first team to rotation to plan around that. Jungr has been at 6.99 with 4 goals and 2 assists. That’s possible. I also figured I’d let Ederson play out his deal and then play on.


But let me look and see if I can find someone for DMC instead.

I move forward.

I am runner up for Manger of the Year.

Krasic won best player. I congratulate him!

[Abe Sargent]

January

19th – Friendly vs Dukla Prague
26th – Friendly vs Zlin

I turn down a Chinese offer for Bilbao.

Who is available on a free?

I may have found my Ederson replacement! Although he’s Ukrainian and he’d be foreign. I offer him a trial. I scout about 10 DMC on a free and a few AMs too. He arrives on a trial.

I get an offer for Dodoi and I tell them that I’ll release him for his min, release clause of 3.1 mill. We get an offer of 1.2 mill from Reading and our board accepts.

On January 4th my Ukrainian stud signs! Jungr is upset but I tell him I am not playing this guy in his position and he’s okay. Although I could!

Take a look at the best player on my team:



I’ll be running him out there for Ederson at DMC right now, but he’s better than Vrancic at MC and better than Jungr at AMC so I could play him anywhere. He has a 4.5 start rating, and he’s young. We have Yurchenko signed for three years at a key player deal. Dude wanted first team play he wasn’t getting it. I also have Ukrainians in my youth squad so he has people to talk with. This guy will be worth my precious non-EU spot. He’s not slow for the DMC role and he’s very strong all across the board. I want someone faster at AMC but the rest he’s great for.

I make two moves to help with that.

First I remove Krstic’s from my main backups. This guy can play the positions he does, plus as a Macedonian he wasn’t EU either. I like Krstic and if he was EU I’d offer to keep him around with a transfer.


Second, I offer my Bosnian DC Miric, also a non-EU player, out for loan and remove from my subs as well.

That means my five non-Eus are these:

Jack Bruno
Vladlen Yurchenko
Milan Milanovic
Zoran Milovac
Ognjen Krasic

Basically Serbia, Serbia, Serbia, Ukraine, and Australia.


I need to find another Miric to be my 5th DC with a hot prospect deal.

I add Yurchenko into my tactics for set pieces.

[Abe Sargent]

Bilbao is upset that I blocked his transfer to China. To China, come on now. I told him we’ll sell him for his min release (3.5 mill) and nothing more.


We extend my deal here by two years

Alright now I need a new Miric. I may have him. English man named Anton Walkes, 21 years old.

I offer him a trial.

We have sold Dodoi. I will move Bruno to his spot.



We have signed Walkes. As you can see we have him on a hot prospect deal for a few years. I’ll rotate him into the lineup as a rotation when needed. He can also sub in at DMC as needed.

[Abe Sargent]

Now that we have the Dodoi money I head to my board. I ask for enhanced youth facilities. They agree. It’ll be finished in October.

I have a filthy transfer budget now. For the first time I am asking this question – is there anyone I wanna transfer?

I need a new Bruno. There is a 19 year old player who is both English and Australian I make a hot prospect offer to. Will he be my new Bruno?

I get an offer for some of my studly youth but I turn them all down.

Duggan and Jungr got along really well.

The transfer window rises.

Luke Cunningham arrives and the English/Australian youth and he’s not where I need to be for my 4th St. I offer to loan him out.

[Abe Sargent]

We have agreed to a 450k transfer of stud Slovakian youth from Zilina. I’ll let you know if we can bring him in. He is the Slovakian best youth right now and it’s not even close. He has all of the signs of a wonderkid.


We bring in the stud!




Here take a look at Kotora. He’s 16 years old. He’s already my 6th best DC. Ideally in a year or three when Milanovic and or Mitrea retire or finish their contract he’ll be ready to step in.

Friendly vs Dukla Prague – We win 4-1. Goals by Wohlfarth, Jungr, Vrancic and Yurchenko.

I give Wohlfarth a leave of absence for a month as he is missing home. I wish he asked for it a month earlier.


Friendly vs Ziln - We lose 2-3.

We extend Mitrea by a year. He wanted 3.3k/week after I blocked a transfer to China.

I accept a 600k offer for one of my Australian youth by Udinese. Kona doesn’t like that we sold him but I explain that he wanted to leave.

[Abe Sargent]

February

2nd – Friendly vs Brno
9th – Friendly vs Opava
16th – Friendly vs Karvina
23rd – Home vs Podbrezova

Good training by Bruno, Miric, and Chovanec.

Friendly vs Brno - We win 1-0. Our lone score was by backup sub ST Adam Dunda in the 87th.

I link up Milanovic and my new stud prospect DC Kotora.

I extend Rene Kotrik by a year.

I get my first offer for Jack Bruno. It’s from my old club Slavia Prague. I reject it.

Friendly vs Opava – We crush them 4-0. Goals by Militosyan, Bruno, Militosyan, and Mitrea.

Friendly vs Karvina – We win 3-0. Goals by Luke Cunningham and two by Militosyan


Fortuna Game #20 - Home vs Podbrezova – Wohlfarth is back and I begin controlling. I have given Yurchenko a deep lying playmaker role. Quiet first 15 minutes. On an indirect free kick Mitrea feeds Jungr for goal in the 19th. Mitrea is the gift. Krasic crosses to Wohlfarth for goal in the 26th. In the 40th our foes finally have a shot on target. Vrancic to Bruno, goal, in the 44th. Milanovic goal in extra time off a corner is waived off due to a foul. They score off a counter a minute later. Half. 3-1 us. I send in Chovanec and Pinter. Ederson for a tired Vrancic. We hold and win 3-1. MOM is Bruno.

[Abe Sargent]

Chovanec has announced he’ll retire at the end of the season.

That win kept us at 3rd. Which is an auto EURO Spot if we finish there after the upcoming tumult.

Here’;s how it works:

1st – Champion
2nd – EURO
3rd – EURO
4-7 – Playoff for EURO

But that’s after then 10 game gauntlet.

Feb 28 arrives and it’s the end of the transfer market day. Anyone I wanna target? Nope

[Abe Sargent]

March

2nd – Away vs Moravce
9th – Home vs Senica

Then we play in whichever group we finish in our EURO Qual group

Good training – Kamenik

Bruno’s goal against Podbrezova was 2nd.

Fortuna Game #21 – Away vs Moravce – They are in 12th and only have 9 points in 20 games. I begin standard. At the 7:18 mark Bruno feeds Jungr for goal. They get momentum for around ten minutes but nothing comes from it. Half. 1-0 us. They have 11 shots to our 5. I slide to counter. They start to push forward around the 55th minute. On a corner in the 60th, Yurchenko feeds Wohlfarth for goal. They score 3 minutes later off a cross. I send in Pinter. Kona for Vrancic. Now Chovanec heads in. They are coming hard. 5 minutes. Can we hold on? We do! We win 2-1. Credit to them for making this hard, they had 19 shots on the day and 9 on target. MOM is Krasic

That win helps to solidify our 3rd spot.

Unai Bilbao is injured for a few days in training and will miss the next match. I’ll start Pinter.

[Abe Sargent]

Our next intake of players has arrived! I take a look at Moravcik. He’s fine. I scout some other Slovakian youth to see if anyone else got some strong young bodies.

Trencin got a stud DMC

Our guy appears to be the 2nd best youther in this class.

[Abe Sargent]

Fortuna Game #22 – Away vs Senica. I begin countering. They just upset Slovan Bratislava so they are on a high. As are we. They score in the 9th off a header. Half. That was a quiet half. They have 3 shots to our 2. I send in Wilkes for an underperforming Pinter. They get a booking. Militosyan for Bruno. I pull Jungr for Kona after he gets a car.d They get another booking. 3 minutes. Can we score? We lose 0-1.

[Abe Sargent]

Well we backed into the 3rd spot after losing, but all credit to Senica for playing us hard.



Here we are after the regular season. We rose from 6th after 22 last year to 3rd. We are tied with Streda on points. Now we have to run the gauntlet. That win sent Senica to 6th.

Now, how well will we do?

Kamenik came way very happy with his Krasic hookup.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #1 – Away vs Senica – Yes, it’s the same team in the same place. I begin countering. Again. Bilbao is back. We turn aside their early runs. They get a card in the 21st. half 0-0. We have 7 shots to their 5, We’re in this game. So far. They make a sub at the half. Then get another card and then Milanovic does. I send in Pinter for him. Chovanec heads in. Militosyan for Bruno. Can we break this tie? 5 minutes. We injure one of their players. Nope. 0-0 tie.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #2 – Home vs Streda – I begin standard. Bruno is out for international responsibilities and Militosyan is starting. We turn aside an attack by theirs and then they return the favor. And then……….nothing. Half 0-0. We haven’t scored in 5 halves. Show me something else! They get a card and then lightly injure Jungr. I send in Ederson and swap the DM and AMC. Pinter heads in. In the 66th, Vrancic scores off a long shot that was in the upper right corner. I send in Kamenik for a tired Krasic. Here they come! 4 minutes. We hold and win 1-0, MOM is Vrancic!

That win puts us over Streda in the rankings by a point and back into 3rd.

[Abe Sargent]

April

6th – Home vs Trnava
13th – Away vs Slovan Bratislava
20th – Home vs Zilina
27th – Home vs Senica

Good training – Cunningham, Kotora, Brown

Jack Bruno was capped by Australia.

EURO Qual Game #3 – Home vs Trnava – Bruno is back. I begin standard. Krasic with an early card. 3rd minute early. In the 12th I injure one of their players and they head out. Jungr to Bruno on a breakaway, goal in the 21st. They’ve had more momentum than us. Bruno to Wohlfarth, goal, 45th minute. Half. 2-0 us. Don’t get complacent lads! We have the same possession at 50% and have just one fewer shot than they do, it’s been back and forth. They can get back in this! We lightly injure another of their players. Jungr to Wohlfarth, goal, 56th minute. Wohlfarth to Bruno, goal, 58th. Kamenik for Krasic, no red card here. We always seem to play up to Trnava. Walkes for Bilbao, let’s give him a few minutes. Ederson for Yurchenko. They get a card. Bruno to Jungr, goal, 87th.. They score in extra time and we win 5-1. MOM is Bruno.

Here let’s brag




We just always show up against Trnava. 7 shots on target for us but we sank FIVE.

That win moves us up to 2nd.

Ruzomberok defeated Zilina 2-1 to win the Cup.

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #4 – Away vs Slovan Bratislava – I begin defensively against the big bad wolf. The just fired their manager and are manless. But I respect them too much. They just lost to Senica, so its not just us! I lightly injure one of their players. Bruno breaks away on a counter and feeds Wohlfarth for score at the 10:02 mark. They get a yellow a few minutes later. Krasic feeds Bruno on another counter and he scores at the 28:38 mark. They get another card a few minutes later again. Half, we are up 2-0. We have 5 shots to their 10. This could be the reverse score. Jungr to Krasic, goal, 47:26 mark. I have three shots on target so far. Pinter for Bilbao. Kona for Vrancic. Ederson heads in for Yurchenko. Here they come! Game, we win 3-0, MOM is Krasic.



Another dominant offensive game. We shut out a team with 19 shots and 8 on target.

That win keeps us in 1st, speaking of which…

[Abe Sargent]

EURO Qual Game #5 – Home vs Zilina, #1 in Group – I begin standard. They just thumped Senica 5-1. They score in the 3rd. At the 20 minute mark they have 5 shots to our 1. They grab a rebound in the 36th from a shot on target and finish to go up 2-0. So it’s going to be one of those games. Bruno breaks away and feeds Wohlfarth for goal in the 41st and we answer a few minutes later. Wohlfarth picked up a knock and I send in Militosyan in for him. Half. 1-2 them. Bruno with a card. We give away a PK in the 67th and they sink it. I send in Pinter. And then Kamenik for a tired Krasic. We injure one of their players in the 81st after their last sub and now have a 11 on 10 game. Can we get back into this match? Four minutes of extra time. We can’t. We lose 1-3.


Wohlfarth is injured for 2-4 days but he’ll be back.

We have 10 points in the first half of the Quals, not bad