From Big Zero to Big Four: Sporting Reclaimed (FM2014)

[Abe Sargent]

Dudka’s out for a week with a gashed leg

Lung Jr is out with the flu for a few days. He should be okay by the 18th though.


Nacional is out of Champions Play, losing to Liverpool 4-3 on aggregate.


The 18th is here. Cutchey is back, as is Lung Jr. We host Moreirense. Keep our run going! We still haven’t lost a league game. We’ve had some very close calls though. Cutchey scores in the 12th. Williams springs Sousa loose in the 74th. We win 2-0. MOM is Cutchey.


The 2nd Nacional game arrives. They get a 1:1 opportunity due to speed and score in the 25th. They have all of their starters today. Olivera grabs a booking just before the half. Unlucky!!! Rocker scores in the 54th. Cleison replaces Olivera. Taylor and Salinas also head in. Rocker hits the goal again in the 85th. Game. We lose 3-0 here, 5-0 on aggregate.

[Abe Sargent]

Benfica defeats Vit. Gui to win the League Cup (Taca da Liga) 2-0.


Well, we can hammer Leixoes today to get over that loss. No scores in the first half. I get pissed off. Then Khumalo hits Sousa for a score in the 55th. Then again no one can score for a long time. Finally, in extra time, Williams lifts the ball over a defender to Sousa for a goal. We win 2-0, and Sousa is MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

May, 2021

8th – Away vs Feirense


Khumalo, Williams, Molina look good; Lung Jr not so much

I won Manager of the Month. Again.

I now speak English too.


Our final games arrives and Cutchey is up for it. He hits Sousa in the 10th minute and Williams in the 19th. 2-0 at the half. Keep it going! Williams picks up a knock and I sub in Salinas for him. They score in the 50th but it was just a hair offside. Steve Taylor heads in for Cabrera. Correa heads in too. We win 2-0. MOM is Cutchey. Good win boys!

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s the important parts of the Secunda Liga Table:

1st, Sporting, 37-5-0, 116 points, +76 GD
2nd Beira-Mar, 25-6-11, 81 points, +26

The two of us are promoted to the next level.

We made 780k and paid out 425k

Premier Liga?

1st – Porto
2nd Nacional
3rd Benfica
4th – Vit Gui
5th – Belenenses
6th – Vit Setubal


So, we can see Nacional, Benfica and Porto continuing as the Big Three.

We will be there again. Soon.

Very soon…

[Tellistto]

Nice work getting back to the top division. Not that we ever had any doubts, eh?

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Stats!

Goals – 1st, Joaquim Sousa, 40; 5th, Francis Williams, 19

Assists – 2nd – Javier Cabrera, 19; 4th Vinny Cutchey. 18 – Williams and Sousa each had 11

MOM – 1st – Sousa, 10; tied for 3rd is Williams and Cabrera with 7 each

Khumalo had the 4thbest Pass Completion; Diallo 7th

Cutchey – 1st with 4.43 dirbbles/game; Cabrera 2nd with 3.55/game.

Lung Jr led with 17 clean sheets

Sousa 1st in average rating- 7.69; Cabrera 2nd with 7.40


We set a huge average for attendance in the league, 32k.

Joao Rodrigues won Best National Player of the year for the Liga – Rocker won Player of the Year; Montesi won Young Player of the year

Maritimo were again relegated – as was a surprising Gil Vicente.


Joaquim Sousa won Player of the Year in the Secunda Liga

Vinny Cutchey won Young Player of the year for it

Francis Williams’ goal against Boavista in October ended up in 2nd place

Lung Jr won GK of the Year

I didn’t even get top three fo manager of the Year though

6 players in Team of the Year – Lung Jr, Wallac,e Carlos Rod, Nick Rod, Frnacis Williams, Sousa.

Mid Table finish for next year folks! My squad buy into it…

Training Summary –

Good – Khumalo, Saliunas, Neacsu, Quaresma, Molina

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Nice work getting back to the top division. Not that we ever had any doubts, eh?

Tell

Yeah, it was one of those, obvious things, as long as I could bring in any talent at all. Even down, Sporting have a high caliber reputation and can refill with a huge comparative salary too. It was just a question of who and how. Remember we were 5-1 favs to win it all, (not the opposite, 1 in 5) and outspent the competition massively.

[Abe Sargent]

Sporting B were also promoted.

Porto and Nacional are in the Taca da Portugal Final. Nacional steam-hammer Porto 5-0. Same and the Benfica score in the Champions final last year.

Vinny Cutchey has finished adapting his game to the left wing. He should be even better now.

We made 162k today from AC Milan.

I extend Claudiu Neascu’s deal by 2 years.

We lost 1.09 M last month (May)

I extend some scout contracts

South Africa blow past Comoros in World Cup QUals – with a game to go they have won their group with 5 wins.

Portugal is knocked out in the 2nd round of the U20 World Cup. South Africa won 3-1 against Poland to make it to the Quarter Finals, where they play Argentina’s U20 squad.

[Abe Sargent]

South African begin their Confederations Cup campaign poorly with a 1-2 loss to Qatar.

It’s June 14 and I may have just gotten a game changing message. Olympique Lyonnais is enquiring for how much I’d be willing to sell Vinny Cutchey for He’s still worth 11.25 mill. If I can get a windfall of cash, it could really alter our fortunes. We agree to 16.5 Million dollars.

South Africa edges Argentina 3-2 in the U20 WC.

We moved up 40 spots to 119th in the new club rankings.

The South Africa beats USA in the Confederations Cup 1-0. Mzizi was MOM

Then South Africa win against 3-3 against Mexico in the Semi Final, and win on penalties!

The U20 South African squad have made it to the Finals, where they will play England.

Cutchey has been solid for 16.5 Million dollars!!!

That get’s me out of debt in terms of my salary, and I make some changes, and go shopping…

[Abe Sargent]

I make offers to extend Marcos Molina and Tomas Cristaldo


I begin by looking for a DC to replace Wallace, who is leaving. My defense was the weakest part of my team, and was just adequate. So I want to focus on that first.

I find a guy who’s not bad – DCL Arne Degryse, 19, from Anderlecht, Belgium player. He accepts my offer. That story leaked to the press though, probably Arne trying to find more cash or a better landing pad.


I also make an offer to 22 year old DC Dutch Paul Kersten, for a ton of money.


Molina & Cristaldo extend their deals. I also do so with GK Herlein


After drawing 1-1 vs Italy, South Africa don’t advance from their Group in the Confederations Cup (Mzizi was MOM)

I convince my board to agree to more scouts. Yay!

I get….one more…sigh…

I make an offer to 35 year old Romanian international (68 caps, 22 goals) Ciprian Marica, to help our eastern Europe scouting.

South Africa lost 2-1 in the U20 WC to England.

Marica signs with us. I scout some of the youth players that got awards and such from the U20 WC.

I was already doing Eastern Europe, so I send him to the Middle East.

Degryse re-signs with Anderlecht.

[Abe Sargent]

My scout came in with some ideas for players for DC since that was a need and he suggested Park Seong-Bin, a S. Korean player playing in Saudi Arabia. I scouted him and he came back nice. Like, studly nice. He has 15 caps already for South Korea, and would only take around 250-400k to dislodge and 18-25k in salary. I don’t have the cash for that, but he’s good. His contract currently runs out in December 31 of this year. If we could sign him for the January opening, that’d be awesome. But I’d need more money to bring him in.

What about ML? Someone to replace our guy? Well, we have Dudka/Quaresma, but my youth players who really worked in the Secunda Liga are up against another level of talent here. Dudka is fine. Quaresma has matured enough to be okay as a sub too. So I could start Dudka and be okay. I’d like to be more than okay though.


Joao Aurelio, now 32 years old, is available for free after his 5 years with Galatasaray are coming to an end in a week. I could sign him. That has several benefits – older person to mentor folks, sign someone I know can produce at this level, and give me a Portuguese person, when most of my singings have not been – which helps my squad and such.

I have made an offer for Joao Aurelio

We have signed Joao Aurelio!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joao_Aurelio

[Abe Sargent]

How about a fullback? WHOA! Hello Russell Kelly, from Manchester United. I make him an offer right now. He’s strong with a FIVE STAR future rating (current is just 2.5)

DC Kersten joins us from Paris Saint-Germain.


So what I’d like to do is build up around my current defenders that are returning, moving some to backup/rotation roles (such as 31 year old Carlos Rodriguez or at least one of Olivera or Nick Rod.)

Let’s go ahead and move up a few days and close on the 30th. Then I can see where we are.

FB Russell Kelly joins us. He’s not a dues ex machina, there are reasons why Man Utd have let him go, but he could work out for us.

GK Fabian Ruiz is now the captain of the USA squad.

Joaquim Sousa was named Fans Player of the Year

[Abe Sargent]

June30 arrives

A few players had contracts increase.

Our season expectations are to get a top half table finish.

We got 3.4 Mill for TV rights for the next year

Many of our coaches and staff leave, and this is an attempt to bring in better folks (and perhaps cheaper in the case of a GK coach).

Lets chase some more…

I offer Faryd Mandragon a GK Coaching gig with us

I make an offer to German Christian Jeske to be our U19 Assist manager and Serbian international Milan Smiljanic to be the Manager.

[Abe Sargent]

July 1


We sign:

Joao Aurelio
Paul Kersten
Russell Kelly
Michael Frimpong
Arturo Villasanti
GK Sandro (signed by someone before me)


Let’s take a look at my squad before bringing in anybody else.

Gk Silviu Lung Jr, backup Joao Costa, youthers Sandro, Meza and Herlein

Result – No need for a GK unless he’s such a great one or prospect that he unseats Lung Jr

ST Joaquim Sousa, can also use Michael Frimpong, Salinas, Javier Cabrera and youther Pedro Santos

Result – Again, unless we can find someone who pushes Sousa out, no need for an upgrade – note that Sousa is not a top flight centre forward for this league, and eventually we should look to upgrade here. Not a priority right now.

DC Carlos Rodriguez, Nicholas Rodriguez, Olivera, Paul Kersten, Tomas Cristaldo, and youthers Sergio Jardim, Joaquim Coelho and Jose Matos

Result – Strong, but we lack a true stud, but we are fine here.


Fullbacks – Cunha, Carlos Rod, Nick Rod, Olivera, Russell Kelly, Joao Aurelio, and youther Paulo Baltazar, Diogo

Result – Again, we have a lot of depth here, because most of my DCs can swing over. No more concerns after bringing in Kelly for now. Watch this space for a place for improvement next.


DM – Mandla Khumalo, Marcos Molina, Tomas Cristaldo, Arturo Villasanti, Roberto Gomes from my youth squad.

Result – Deepest spot on the roster


AMC – Francis Williams, Diallo, Neacsu, Steve Taylor, youther Joao Borges


Result – No major concerns. Williams grew some. Again, unless we can stab a great deal here, no sense having problems playing everyone.

MC – Arturo Villasanti, Marcos Molina, Mandla Khumalo, Steve Taylor, CNeacsu, Diallo, Williams, youther Joao Borges

Result - Again, for one starting spot, we have a ton of depth.


ML – Joao Aurelio, Pedro Quaresma, Vit Dudka, Karol Dobias

Result – Three strong candidates and a adequate backup. We’re fine here.


MR – Joao Aurelio, Javer Cabrera, Steve Taylor, Karol Dobias, Pedro Quaresma, Michael Frimpong

Result – With Cabrera playing so well last year, this is his spot to lose. Everyone else will just spell him.


I don’t have any needs. In fact, I’m a bit too deep in youth in a lot of areas. I’m unsure I’ll have enough games to get everyone enough to play.

[Abe Sargent]

I offer GK Sandro for a loan. Even with him and Meza out, I currently have…26 players on my Senior squad. That includes some youthers (Pedro Santos, Quaresma) as well as backups and rotational folks (Costa, Diogo, Cunha) and new signees without spots yet (Frimpong, Villasanti) and rotational development folks I had last year (Salinas, Taylor, Dudka, Dobias, Neacsu, etc).

The best way to manage my senior squad might be to loan out the occasional Diogo or Neacsu to clear out some dead weight.


Nacional could run this big of a squad because they had such great players you could run a few youthers in there and still win, and they had tons more games. We don’t.

So I head into “free agency” with one agenda. Is there anyone out there that is so good I have to sign him?

Yup, but he won’t sign with me. Mexican stud Striker Javier Hernandez is free. But that’s it.

Nope. Nothing.

I check out youthers from Paraguay, Ghana and Holland.

I get am increase to coaches after I ask for some.

I offer a coaching gig to South Korean Seol Ki-Hyeon

I get an offer for Pedro Quaresma. I stall it for a week.

Meanwhile, I brought in a janky 19 year old dutch youth guy for little money. Teun van der Vlugt. I put him on our loan list for later.See also 18 year old Ghanian Bayan Kwofie – moved to the youth squad. AS well as 18 year old GK Juan Carlos Gomez, Paraguayan.

Our Korean coach arrives.

[Abe Sargent]

I reject an offer by a team in our league for Nicolas Rodriguez (Vit Setubal)

I get some others offers – another for Franny Williams and one for GK Costa. Nah.

There are teams interested in Carlos Rod, Nic Rod, and Olivera. Interesting. Moving a few of these would open up spots for others. I would be particularly interested in moving 31 year old Carlos Rod. He’s also the worst of the Uruguayan Triad of Defense we brought in. In fact, that might open up enough salary to bring in a certain studly South Korean I am eyeing.


I loan out Neacsu, Tomas Cristialdo and Diogo

I get a few offers for Carlos Rod. I accept them.

I reject the offer for Quaresma after consideration.

Omar Montesi leaves Nacional for 25.5 Mill to Paris Saint-Germain

I reject an offer for Vit Dudka.


Carlos is sold.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

This is a bit like when Juventus was relegated to Serie B, except they kept many of their players unlike Sporting in this universe.

Just goes to show how important that Champions League money is to making a successful club.

Still, you'll be back in Liga 1 soon enough, and from there it's just going to be about getting the finances back into order. Sign cheap, sell high, don't get attached too much. Think it'll be an even longer process than Madeira was.

Good luck! Following along!

Tell

I definitely did that with Cutchey!

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, time to talk money with my guy.

I make an offer to Park Seong-Bin.

We have arranged to bring him in January 1, 2022

One of the best Korean players plays for Porto here in Portugal. So grabbing someone who has been out of his country for years is not unusual.

I look for some decent Korean youther to join us. I can only see about 10 or 12 18 or younger when I search the world. So I scout those! Maybe one will work.

We rock the first friendly. Who scores the first goal of the new team? Obviously, Joao Aurelio. I should have scripted that. Paul Kersten next. Half. We win 2-0. MOM is Kersten.

[Abe Sargent]

I get transfer offers for Korel Dobias and Vit Dudka.

In the next friendly, we have a literal scrum via Rugby in their box once, where every player was trying to kick the ball in a gigantic huddle that lasted at last ten seconds. It was hilarious!!! (The first time I have, literally, laughed at what was happening on the pitch in FM). 2-0 too. MOM was Steve Taylor.

I reject the offer for Dudka, but the Dobias intrigues me…

525k from Genk. That’s something worth considering. Guy could never hold down a starting job for me – has just a 7 passing.

I have submitted an offer of 250k for Shin Hyun-Ho from Pohang. I make DC Hyun-Ho an offer.

Uh oh. Porto made an offer of 2 million for Quaresma. I negotiate. Nacional da Madeira also make an offer. I accept.

Welcome Shin Hyun-Ho!

He’s just a rotation/project type player to help out.

[Abe Sargent]

Now, let’s figure out the Dobias thing.

I accept the offer for 25% of next sale and 650k.

Porto withdrew their offer for Quaresma.

Right now, we are 40k ish under the salary requirement and have around 800k in transfer money.

If I move Dobias and Pedro Q. I’ll look for another winger to be a back up for me.

Seoul have offered to loan Shin Hyun-Ho. For the rest of the season, at 100% of his wages. I’ll consider it.

I reject the offer – I want to get Shin in for a few months until my studly guy arrives.

Dobias signs for Genk.

HAHAHA. One of the best candidates I’ve found to replace Dobias/Quaresma thus far is a Uruguayan….


We have signed Franco Manzzi, 19 year old Uruguayan middle who can play both ends.

There’s also a starter quality guy in ML Jonathan Gordon, USA, but I didn’t want too much competition to start against Aurelio or Dudka in the ML and I wanted the flexibility to be played at MR and I wanted a cheaper option.

[Abe Sargent]

GK Rogerio Herlein benefited from from the link up with Costa.

Another friendly arrives on the 31st of July. We win 3-1. MOM is Cabrera.


August, 2021

4th – Friendly at Louletano
15th – Away at Aves
22nd – Home vs Tondela
29th – Away at Belenenses

Good train – Pedro Q, Mandla K, Javier C


More and more offers for Q come in from all over, Man Utd and now Roma.

I select Lung Jr to be my captain, and Joao Aurelio Vice

The 4th is here and our final? Friendly. (I could add another if I feel my team needs it, or I get a good offer with the requisite cash attached). 1-1 tie. MOM is Cabrera

Quaresma chooses Nacional and heads to Funchal.