Football Manager 2024

[Whiskey]

2 minutes ago, Goku de la Boca said:

WorkTheSpace also left his job for FM. He's one I enjoy watching. Youtube gives you good pay these days, the tough part is getting to that point.

WorkTheSpace is a gimp with a very punchable face. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of most of the FM YouTubers, I watched a bit of Lollujo until he did a sellout video on FIFA last year that didn't sit right with me.

[Bluebird Hewitt]

1 hour ago, Tommy said:

 

@Dan and @RandoEFC. Your dream job awaits.

[Tommy]

So yea, this was very easy. I think they made our squad OP. 

[Tommy]

Just had job interview offers from Valencia, Sevilla and Roma after getting Fortuna promoted. 

[Bluebird Hewitt]

59 minutes ago, Tommy said:

So yea, this was very easy. I think they made our squad OP. 

That's fine and all, but you would have been undefeated if you had Bobby Glatzel. 

[Goku de la Boca]

Surely this can't be my CL playoff tie 

[Goku de la Boca]

13 hours ago, Goku de la Boca said:

Surely this can't be my CL playoff tie 

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, we beat TNS to reach the CL groups (or league whatever the new format is called).

[Tommy]

[Dan+]

On 13/11/2023 at 20:38, Dan said:

The first part of the job is done, we're into the playoffs after winning our league alongside O Elvas. We have been placed into a group alongside them, Camacha (2nd in Prio A) and Uniao de Santarem (2nd in Prio C) so we've got a quite kind draw really being put alongside three sides who came second. Infact if you ranked all 8 teams who have made it, they have the 6th, 7th and 8th best tallies - so it's a really good draw.

We have shown a few signs of wobbling though. We finished terribly. The results below will explain all.

We were carried early doors by a sensational run of form from loanee midfielder Juan Herrera. The biggest issue for me has been the really mediocre form of the two supposedly key players in Zequinha and Heliardo. Heliardo picked up a bit late on but has been pretty poor most of the season, Zequinha got a bad injury half way through it but wasn't really pulling up many trees beforehand.

We've let in far too many goals for my liking, particularly during the dismal run in March.

But the truth as well is we have been really quite unlucky. We've run cold in front of both goals all season. We are underperforming xG at both ends of the pitch - we apparently should've conceded 7 less, and scored 5 more. I think this tells you the system is working but some of the players are letting it down, at face value at least. I don't really have many long term plans for any of these players though - pretty much anybody can go for me, although I do like my young winger Diogo Sequeira.

We are in my opinion the best team out of the four, but I don't think it's a guarantee at all that we pull this off. The biggest red flag for me is that we lost both games to our local rivals Barreirense and this tells me this is a side that isn't very good at handling a big occasion - although we did give top tier Moreirense a good game in the cup and beat 2nd tier Torreense, so maybe I'm wrong.

As feared we completely bottled it.

Santarem (h) - Drew 1-1, Zequinha misses early penalty, Santarem score from their first shot of the game, sit back and we equalise fairly late on. Largely the better side but another instance of our profligacy and the fact our keeper never actually makes a save anymore.

Camacha (a) - Lost 1-0, set up differently, went behind early, dominated the rest of the game without scoring. I'm pretty much already convinced it's done. We are flunking it, nothing has changed.

O Elvas (h) - Won 3-2, the worst performance yet, yet the one we actually won. Complete mess of a game, 0-2 down late on, went for some stupid 4-2-4 system to wreak havoc and we somehow ended up pulling it off.

Camacha (h) - Drew 1-1. Another game we had about 80% of the play, Camacha score from their first chance of the game in around the 70th minute. Elvas proves a false dawn. Another total bottling.

Santarem (a) - Lost 2-1. One goal up, tried to tighten it in the second half, conceded immediately, and then again with 5 left. We now need to beat Elvas away and hope that Camacha don't beat Santarem, who are already promoted.

O Elvas (a) - Won 2-4, the best performance in a while and we still managed to nearly throw away a 3 goal lead we held with 15 left, although we hit them on the break for a late 4th. Camacha beat Santarem and finish ahead of us on head to head.

So basically, it was absolutely everything I feared it would be. Just simply more of the same. Can't keep a clean sheet, can't take our chances, seems to take us about 10 shots to score a goal while it takes us 2 to concede one. As much as anything I think we just didn't have the nerve. We have a squad of players who notoriously cannot handle a big game. Given we can't circumvent having to play these crunch games by getting promoted automatically, this was always likely to bite us, so just like the first ever Andorra season we flunk it and my plan going forward is to totally overhaul the squad, focusing a lot on the big game mentality, as I think that above all is what cost us. The warning signs were there in the season.

[Tommy]

Listening to a Japanese J-Pop radio station while managing a Japanese 3rd division team. The ultimate immersion. 

[Tommy]

Nvm, J-Pop gets annoying fast. 

[Goku de la Boca]

I've nearly thrown the title. Going to the final day. Needed to beat Steaua on the final day to seal it, but it's ended 3-3 and they've won the head to head.

If I at least get a draw on the final day I win my 6th title in a row. If I lose and they win (which is a near guarantee given they are at home to Sepsi), they take it.

I take on FC Rapid, a team I've pissed on 3 times this year already. Despite curses and fate, I don't see myself losing this final game at home. We should at least manage a draw again.

[Goku de la Boca]

Sorry Steaua! Maybe next year.

[Goku de la Boca]

I have a bunch of studs at the club.

@Dan

[Goku de la Boca]

Finally made it through

[Tommy]

I finished 9th in the Bundesliga in the first season after getting promoted. And I almost won the German Cup. 

[Dan+]

On 16/11/2023 at 19:43, Dan said:

As feared we completely bottled it.

Santarem (h) - Drew 1-1, Zequinha misses early penalty, Santarem score from their first shot of the game, sit back and we equalise fairly late on. Largely the better side but another instance of our profligacy and the fact our keeper never actually makes a save anymore.

Camacha (a) - Lost 1-0, set up differently, went behind early, dominated the rest of the game without scoring. I'm pretty much already convinced it's done. We are flunking it, nothing has changed.

O Elvas (h) - Won 3-2, the worst performance yet, yet the one we actually won. Complete mess of a game, 0-2 down late on, went for some stupid 4-2-4 system to wreak havoc and we somehow ended up pulling it off.

Camacha (h) - Drew 1-1. Another game we had about 80% of the play, Camacha score from their first chance of the game in around the 70th minute. Elvas proves a false dawn. Another total bottling.

Santarem (a) - Lost 2-1. One goal up, tried to tighten it in the second half, conceded immediately, and then again with 5 left. We now need to beat Elvas away and hope that Camacha don't beat Santarem, who are already promoted.

O Elvas (a) - Won 2-4, the best performance in a while and we still managed to nearly throw away a 3 goal lead we held with 15 left, although we hit them on the break for a late 4th. Camacha beat Santarem and finish ahead of us on head to head.

So basically, it was absolutely everything I feared it would be. Just simply more of the same. Can't keep a clean sheet, can't take our chances, seems to take us about 10 shots to score a goal while it takes us 2 to concede one. As much as anything I think we just didn't have the nerve. We have a squad of players who notoriously cannot handle a big game. Given we can't circumvent having to play these crunch games by getting promoted automatically, this was always likely to bite us, so just like the first ever Andorra season we flunk it and my plan going forward is to totally overhaul the squad, focusing a lot on the big game mentality, as I think that above all is what cost us. The warning signs were there in the season.

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 1

When I took these over at the start of the game I made a target to get back to the top flight in five seasons. Blowing promotion as favourites in the first season is a massive knock to my chances here, but I think I knew the root of the issue and it's that in these leagues there is no forgiveness for blowing important games. You can't simply accrue too many points for the others, you have to do this and deliver in some big matches. It was the latter where we failed.

 

 

I totally overhauled the squad, releasing all bar around eight players and bringing in those above to pad out the squad. Highlight signings were Rouai (winger), Diogo Gomes (holding midfielder) and Paraskeva (goalkeeper). A concerted effort was made to ensure that unless they had an ability that vastly exceeded the division we were in, nobody who has an aversion to playing in big matches would be signed. I simply cannot risk having players who will bottle it. I need reliable heads.

It's hard to measure your progress in this situation as we'd delivered such a comprehensive domination of the fourth tier last season, but fell when it mattered. A good start however was having the same opening day fixture as last season in Oriental Lisboa at home, and this time winning 7-1 rather than drawing 1-1. We did however lose our 3rd and 4th games and I realised that I needed a bit of a tactical switch, that our system while capable of producing pure obliteration was vulnerable to the counter attack and created ding-dong games which we would occasionally lose.

We went on to get a record of 21 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses from our league. The highlight being an extraordinary game away to second placed (at the time) Lusitania Acores where we would go down to 9 men and still remarkably pinch a winner in injury time. Another of note was a 4-2 win in the cup over second tier Varzim - a massive test of our credentials passed, and we took Sporting Lisbon to extra time in the next round at home but did crumble during it. To my mind, we were operating already like a side who could push 2nd/3rd tier teams and we were far too good for this league.

 

 

So back we went into the play-offs to be put into a group alongside Tirsense, Beira-Mar and moneybags Lusitania Lourosa. We went into the group on the back of a 10 match winning run and we kept it going for most of the group, dropping points just the once to secure promotion. 

 

 

We would then face Sporting Lisbon B on a neutral ground in the play-off final. A game simply to decide a champion rather than any promotion. Their record was even more dominant in the league than ours was - a record of 25-1-0 and scoring 90 goals, simply a team far too good for this level of football. We lost the final on penalties after a goalless draw that saw Sporting pick up two very late red cards. I was happy with the performance against a side that was better than us but a bit gutted to take no silverware. I fully expected that both teams could make a promotion push the following season as well.

 

 

The best XI and subs for the season. Seven of the first XI were new signings. Heliardo delivered after a poor first season for me. Pedro Graca was the player I had to concede I'd made a big mistake on. He didn't feature much in the first season and he was absolutely instrumental throughout. We had become a well functioning team, a solid unit and I thought providing the wage budget wasn't too unkind to us, we had a good foundation to go up again next season.

More to follow.

[Dan+]

I have to say the hire an intermediary is my favourite feature on this game in years. It's both realistic and so convenient to me.

[Dan+]

18 hours ago, Dan said:

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 1

When I took these over at the start of the game I made a target to get back to the top flight in five seasons. Blowing promotion as favourites in the first season is a massive knock to my chances here, but I think I knew the root of the issue and it's that in these leagues there is no forgiveness for blowing important games. You can't simply accrue too many points for the others, you have to do this and deliver in some big matches. It was the latter where we failed.

 

 

I totally overhauled the squad, releasing all bar around eight players and bringing in those above to pad out the squad. Highlight signings were Rouai (winger), Diogo Gomes (holding midfielder) and Paraskeva (goalkeeper). A concerted effort was made to ensure that unless they had an ability that vastly exceeded the division we were in, nobody who has an aversion to playing in big matches would be signed. I simply cannot risk having players who will bottle it. I need reliable heads.

It's hard to measure your progress in this situation as we'd delivered such a comprehensive domination of the fourth tier last season, but fell when it mattered. A good start however was having the same opening day fixture as last season in Oriental Lisboa at home, and this time winning 7-1 rather than drawing 1-1. We did however lose our 3rd and 4th games and I realised that I needed a bit of a tactical switch, that our system while capable of producing pure obliteration was vulnerable to the counter attack and created ding-dong games which we would occasionally lose.

We went on to get a record of 21 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses from our league. The highlight being an extraordinary game away to second placed (at the time) Lusitania Acores where we would go down to 9 men and still remarkably pinch a winner in injury time. Another of note was a 4-2 win in the cup over second tier Varzim - a massive test of our credentials passed, and we took Sporting Lisbon to extra time in the next round at home but did crumble during it. To my mind, we were operating already like a side who could push 2nd/3rd tier teams and we were far too good for this league.

 

 

So back we went into the play-offs to be put into a group alongside Tirsense, Beira-Mar and moneybags Lusitania Lourosa. We went into the group on the back of a 10 match winning run and we kept it going for most of the group, dropping points just the once to secure promotion. 

 

 

We would then face Sporting Lisbon B on a neutral ground in the play-off final. A game simply to decide a champion rather than any promotion. Their record was even more dominant in the league than ours was - a record of 25-1-0 and scoring 90 goals, simply a team far too good for this level of football. We lost the final on penalties after a goalless draw that saw Sporting pick up two very late red cards. I was happy with the performance against a side that was better than us but a bit gutted to take no silverware. I fully expected that both teams could make a promotion push the following season as well.

 

 

The best XI and subs for the season. Seven of the first XI were new signings. Heliardo delivered after a poor first season for me. Pedro Graca was the player I had to concede I'd made a big mistake on. He didn't feature much in the first season and he was absolutely instrumental throughout. We had become a well functioning team, a solid unit and I thought providing the wage budget wasn't too unkind to us, we had a good foundation to go up again next season.

More to follow.

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 2

Each tier of the Portuguese system seems to have a particular quirk. In the fourth tier you had a split after 26 games and a group stage to confirm your promotion, so a 32 game season, potentially a 33rd (which we did play). The third tier's system had 20 teams in it. These were split into north and south leagues, so two leagues of 10, you would play 18 games before it splits as the top 4 of each go into the promotion league and the bottom 6 of each go into the relegation league. We are placed into the southern section and will face the likes of Sporting B again and I fully expect both of us to get into the top 4 given the level of dominance we demonstrated in the fourth tier.

 

 

I continued the seemingly never-ending overhaul of the squad and brought in some... interesting shall we say players. Islam Slimani catches a few eyes, once of Sporting Lisbon, once Leicester's record signing, just off the back of a 20 goal year in Brazil aged 36 but clearly on the wane and has come to us. Henqirue Pereira (left winger) and Habraao (centre back) are coup signings, as well as young winger Goncalo Martins who we beat a couple of second tier teams to sign. He's got very big potential so it's a real coup.

We make no mistake in the first half of the season and we finish 2nd behind the ever relentless Sporting B, who are the only team who beat us (doing so in both games). Academica Coimbra and Sporting Covilha join us from the southern section to go into the promotion league, along with Porto B, Vianense, Lank FC Villaverdense and Vitoria Guimaraes B. The fact there are three B teams is a bit of a concern to me, seeing the way Sporting have blitzed their way through the last 18 months. I fully expect them to win the league. There are 2.5 promotion places - the top two go up, and the team in third will face the team third bottom of the second tier over two legs to determine who plays in the second tier next season.

I bulk the squad further in January, the signing of Pedro Santos is another real coup on the right wing and he's a player I see going pretty far should he develop well. We have a strong squad and I think we can push the top two, but it is going to be tough.

 

 

We make virtually no errors at all and fly up as champions. We're presented with what was in my opinion our biggest game as the opener and we beat Porto B 3-0. I considered this the biggest as I believed Sporting B would win the league and that 2nd was probably going to be between us and them. I wasn't miles out, but there was a surprise in the league.

 

 

Vianense claimed a shock promotion. They were ranked as literally the weakest of the eight teams and they seemed to find this horrible style for teams to play against. They were the only team to beat us in the championship group as you see there, and they pipped Porto and Sporting B against all odds to 2nd spot on the final day. Porto B did actually unfortunately manage to get promoted and I say unfortunately because I'd rather less B teams flew up the leagues. There will be three in the second tier next season which is a shame. Never have liked the idea.

 

 

Lots of the players who delivered for us in the fourth tier stepped up with ease. Patrick was the story of the season as for the second year running he forced his way into the team late on and couldn't stop scoring. Slimani was actually a huge disappointment on the whole but clearly tailed off massively during the season after an impressive start. I fancied a lot of the players who had come in to step up to the next league up, with our strength undoubted being out wide as Pereira, Santos and Martins were all players who belonged at a higher level. I gave myself a five year mission to get to the top tier. We've made it to the second tier after three despite flunking the first season. So we have two years to get back to the top tier. With yet another generous relative wage bill that was comparable to what 7th in in the second tier spent this season just gone, I felt we could look up the league rather than down, although this would be a bit trickier than the last two years.

[Dave]

On 04/01/2024 at 00:50, Dan said:

I have to say the hire an intermediary is my favourite feature on this game in years. It's both realistic and so convenient to me.

Yeah, the changes to selling a player may take a little more time but it feels far more effective.

 

[Dan+]

2 hours ago, The Palace Fan said:

Yeah, the changes to selling a player may take a little more time but it feels far more effective.

It's far quicker I think. You can pretty much just get anybody you want gone, gone. Nobody is ever running a contract down again under my watch!

[LFCMike]

I bought this over Christmas, first one I've played since FM21. 

Did my usual start off at the bottom, unemployed. Ended up in the Croatian Second League with Solin. Only made a couple of signings. The squad is a bit unbalanced and it took a while to get going but we're on a 5 match winning streak at the winter break. This league is nuts, Sibenik at the top have already lost 6 from 17. Second half of the season should be fun.

[Tommy]

I think this is the first time (that I can remember) that I had a player with a 10.0 rating at the end of a match. 

[Dan+]

On 04/01/2024 at 19:48, Dan said:

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 2

Each tier of the Portuguese system seems to have a particular quirk. In the fourth tier you had a split after 26 games and a group stage to confirm your promotion, so a 32 game season, potentially a 33rd (which we did play). The third tier's system had 20 teams in it. These were split into north and south leagues, so two leagues of 10, you would play 18 games before it splits as the top 4 of each go into the promotion league and the bottom 6 of each go into the relegation league. We are placed into the southern section and will face the likes of Sporting B again and I fully expect both of us to get into the top 4 given the level of dominance we demonstrated in the fourth tier.

 

 

I continued the seemingly never-ending overhaul of the squad and brought in some... interesting shall we say players. Islam Slimani catches a few eyes, once of Sporting Lisbon, once Leicester's record signing, just off the back of a 20 goal year in Brazil aged 36 but clearly on the wane and has come to us. Henqirue Pereira (left winger) and Habraao (centre back) are coup signings, as well as young winger Goncalo Martins who we beat a couple of second tier teams to sign. He's got very big potential so it's a real coup.

We make no mistake in the first half of the season and we finish 2nd behind the ever relentless Sporting B, who are the only team who beat us (doing so in both games). Academica Coimbra and Sporting Covilha join us from the southern section to go into the promotion league, along with Porto B, Vianense, Lank FC Villaverdense and Vitoria Guimaraes B. The fact there are three B teams is a bit of a concern to me, seeing the way Sporting have blitzed their way through the last 18 months. I fully expect them to win the league. There are 2.5 promotion places - the top two go up, and the team in third will face the team third bottom of the second tier over two legs to determine who plays in the second tier next season.

I bulk the squad further in January, the signing of Pedro Santos is another real coup on the right wing and he's a player I see going pretty far should he develop well. We have a strong squad and I think we can push the top two, but it is going to be tough.

 

 

We make virtually no errors at all and fly up as champions. We're presented with what was in my opinion our biggest game as the opener and we beat Porto B 3-0. I considered this the biggest as I believed Sporting B would win the league and that 2nd was probably going to be between us and them. I wasn't miles out, but there was a surprise in the league.

 

 

Vianense claimed a shock promotion. They were ranked as literally the weakest of the eight teams and they seemed to find this horrible style for teams to play against. They were the only team to beat us in the championship group as you see there, and they pipped Porto and Sporting B against all odds to 2nd spot on the final day. Porto B did actually unfortunately manage to get promoted and I say unfortunately because I'd rather less B teams flew up the leagues. There will be three in the second tier next season which is a shame. Never have liked the idea.

 

 

Lots of the players who delivered for us in the fourth tier stepped up with ease. Patrick was the story of the season as for the second year running he forced his way into the team late on and couldn't stop scoring. Slimani was actually a huge disappointment on the whole but clearly tailed off massively during the season after an impressive start. I fancied a lot of the players who had come in to step up to the next league up, with our strength undoubted being out wide as Pereira, Santos and Martins were all players who belonged at a higher level. I gave myself a five year mission to get to the top tier. We've made it to the second tier after three despite flunking the first season. So we have two years to get back to the top tier. With yet another generous relative wage bill that was comparable to what 7th in in the second tier spent this season just gone, I felt we could look up the league rather than down, although this would be a bit trickier than the last two years.

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 3

So now we enter the second tier. I think this is the first for two things of this save. It's the first time we play in a fairly conventional league system, with a pretty straight forward promotion and relegation system that mirrors that of the Bundesliga. No league split. 18 teams, 34 games, 2 or 3 up, 2 or 3 down. Conventional stuff by this country's standards. The other first however I would argue is that we face genuine adversity. You have to remember that Setubal being in the 4th tier was a travesty and that we had the resources of a club far superior to it. It was a rare case of being expected to go up two seasons running. This is a real test for what this team truly has about it.

Given I set out a pretty ambitious five year plan to get to the top tier, that gives me two years in this league to get out of it. I think I can do that. We have the 7th biggest wage bill in the second tier immediately and, as ever, I make a big rehash of my squad.

  

 

Isnaba Graca (striker) and Joao Queiros (centre half being converted to inverted full back) made their moves here permanent. Vasco Lopes (winger / mezzalla) was a coup on a free transfer. Talaia, Gerard and Olofsson were all comfortable players for this level and the rest were largely squad pad outs. We had a glimpse into the future in January as two of my key wingers left and we were given very little of the money to replace them with, but I did manage to get winger Eduardo Fernandes on loan. Boro Krstic (Goalkeeper) is the first foreign gem signing of the save, a superb find from the scouts, 18 years old and probably about at Paraskeva's level already.

We make a very bright start and win our opening two games, then draw the next two before losing 0-4 to Benfica B for our first home loss in over a year. The reaction from this is to produce a 9 game winning run which was ended by a 5-5 () draw with Feirense. We're knocked out of the cup by top tier Moreirense for the second season in four years.

 

 

By this point it was pretty clear that we were emerging as contenders to pull off three straight promotions. We sat on top of the table but had Nacional and Estrela Amadora breathing down our necks. We would eventually lose a crucial game in Madeira to Nacional in January to end our long unbeaten run, but once again we bounce back, although not after another loss to Benfica B.

 

 

Our system is clearly extremely effective, with players we've had since the fourth tier such as Panutche Camara, Pedro Graca and Diogo Gomes still continuing to offer important service to my team. After a pretty drawn out battle with Nacional and Estrela Amadora, we are promoted with a 4-1 win over Tondela on the penultimate weekend, and are crowned champions after a 2-0 victory on the final day over Leixoes. We have done it. Three straight promotions. The five year job done in four.

 

 

The efficiency of my 4-3-3 system was proven by how little our performance dropped off despite a big loss in Henrique Pereira (who played precisely zero minutes at Estoril) and Goncalo Martins. Others simply stepped up to the plate. We don't have a powerful squad, but we have a functional and effective one. A little bit of everything in the side really. Just how I like it.

 

 

A number of names saving their places upon stepping up from the third tier (Habraao, Queiros, Santos) and some even from the fourth tier (Paraskeva, Camara, Pedro Graca). Joao Queiros took home a surprise POTS award and but I can see why - remarkable consistency for a player who has had his position totally converted, barely has a bad game, and even chipped in with some important goals to boot. Matias Hernandez was excellent on loan and will be missed. None of the loanees will be sticking around for next season, but that's OK. We will dust off, and replenish. Like we always do.

The aim in my first season up is very simple - survival.

[Dan+]

9 minutes ago, Dan said:

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 3

So now we enter the second tier. I think this is the first for two things of this save. It's the first time we play in a fairly conventional league system, with a pretty straight forward promotion and relegation system that mirrors that of the Bundesliga. No league split. 18 teams, 34 games, 2 or 3 up, 2 or 3 down. Conventional stuff by this country's standards. The other first however I would argue is that we face genuine adversity. You have to remember that Setubal being in the 4th tier was a travesty and that we had the resources of a club far superior to it. It was a rare case of being expected to go up two seasons running. This is a real test for what this team truly has about it.

Given I set out a pretty ambitious five year plan to get to the top tier, that gives me two years in this league to get out of it. I think I can do that. We have the 7th biggest wage bill in the second tier immediately and, as ever, I make a big rehash of my squad.

  

 

Isnaba Graca (striker) and Joao Queiros (centre half being converted to inverted full back) made their moves here permanent. Vasco Lopes (winger / mezzalla) was a coup on a free transfer. Talaia, Gerard and Olofsson were all comfortable players for this level and the rest were largely squad pad outs. We had a glimpse into the future in January as two of my key wingers left and we were given very little of the money to replace them with, but I did manage to get winger Eduardo Fernandes on loan. Boro Krstic (Goalkeeper) is the first foreign gem signing of the save, a superb find from the scouts, 18 years old and probably about at Paraskeva's level already.

We make a very bright start and win our opening two games, then draw the next two before losing 0-4 to Benfica B for our first home loss in over a year. The reaction from this is to produce a 9 game winning run which was ended by a 5-5 () draw with Feirense. We're knocked out of the cup by top tier Moreirense for the second season in four years.

 

 

By this point it was pretty clear that we were emerging as contenders to pull off three straight promotions. We sat on top of the table but had Nacional and Estrela Amadora breathing down our necks. We would eventually lose a crucial game in Madeira to Nacional in January to end our long unbeaten run, but once again we bounce back, although not after another loss to Benfica B.

 

 

Our system is clearly extremely effective, with players we've had since the fourth tier such as Panutche Camara, Pedro Graca and Diogo Gomes still continuing to offer important service to my team. After a pretty drawn out battle with Nacional and Estrela Amadora, we are promoted with a 4-1 win over Tondela on the penultimate weekend, and are crowned champions after a 2-0 victory on the final day over Leixoes. We have done it. Three straight promotions. The five year job done in four.

 

 

The efficiency of my 4-3-3 system was proven by how little our performance dropped off despite a big loss in Henrique Pereira (who played precisely zero minutes at Estoril) and Goncalo Martins. Others simply stepped up to the plate. We don't have a powerful squad, but we have a functional and effective one. A little bit of everything in the side really. Just how I like it.

 

 

A number of names saving their places upon stepping up from the third tier (Habraao, Queiros, Santos) and some even from the fourth tier (Paraskeva, Camara, Pedro Graca). Joao Queiros took home a surprise POTS award and but I can see why - remarkable consistency for a player who has had his position totally converted, barely has a bad game, and even chipped in with some important goals to boot. Matias Hernandez was excellent on loan and will be missed. None of the loanees will be sticking around for next season, but that's OK. We will dust off, and replenish. Like we always do.

The aim in my first season up is very simple - survival.

The great fightback of Vitoria de Setubal part 4

We've arrived in the big time. The bright lights of the Dragao and Estadio da Luz finally await us. But the truth about Portuguese football is bar the top teams, it really is all a much of a muchness. I would not be exaggerating to claim that the gap between a midtable top tier team, such as say, Moreirense, and Benfica, is greater than the gap between Moreirense and a team in the third tier. The disparity of the teams in this country is on a level that I think only maybe Scotland can rival. This, in theory, should make survival achievable, even if it is going to be tough. We are rank outsiders. The bookies think Nacional, and particularly relative moneybags Estrela Amadora have the edge over us. That's fair enough. We conquered them last time. We can do it again.

We receive another paltry budget. I'm under no illusions that this club is a wealthy one, but to say we've taken in a couple of million for players I hoped for a little more than £200k. We're going to have to play this cleverly, with frees and loans.

 

 

The standout signings on that list are Alex Valera (striker), Tomas Silva (right back / centre midfield) and Sinica Sanicanin (centre back), all pretty comfortable top flight level players. The pick of the bunch for sure though had to be Pau Prim, recently released by Barcelona, a product of La Masia - quite frankly, this kid is Busquets-lite. He could've easily gotten a deal at a La Liga club and I was surprised he even spoke to us, let alone joined.

The January business you may happen to notice produces a bit of a twist for us. We bring in Iceland international Mikael Egil Ellertson (midfielder) but make our first very substantial sale of the save, being forced into the sale of star winger Pedro Santos. He developed enormously and for a player I paid a mere £45k for in the third tier, it's a massive win for the club. But I see the first signs of trouble arriving as the board seem hell-bent on denying me any of the proceeds. The fact I've replaced him with £6k Adam Arvelo speaks volumes.

We make the most extraordinary entry into the league beyond my wildest expectations, by going away to Braga and beating them 0-6. On further investigation it appears Braga had a malfunction and seemed to think this was a friendly of some sorts. They named a reserve team, resting their most 9 valuable players and starting two 16 year olds in defence. I still can't really explain why it happened, but we will take that all day. We follow this up with much scrappier home wins over Boavista and Farense before losing at Famalicao, but then beating Chaves 1-0 and Casa Pia 0-4. I'm not going to beat around the bush. This team isn't going to be relegated.

 

 

.We slow down after the Casa Pia win and go winless in 7 league games before beating surprise strugglers Alverca (another tinpot club who've been bankrolled to a top half wage budget). We flunk both of the big trips pretty spectacularly. By this point, we're not going to be relegated, and we're very unlikely to make Europe. So I want to actually aim for a cup run.

January starts pretty controversially. We produce our biggest scalp of the save so far, beating Sporting Lisbon 1-0 at home, who's manager Ruben Amorim leaves them the day after for Manchester United, and guess who they want in to replace him?

 

 

I don't tend to leave teams in saves but the mix of a tempting big club and the fact my board had just given me a few buttons of the lofty Pedro Santos transfer fee made me take the interview, hoping that I would at least be able to force an argument with my board. As it happened I got neither the job or the money, they much preferred the option of Famalicao's manager, who were sitting below us in the table despite being expected to finish 6th.

The Santos loss hit us pretty hard. Arvelo did his best, but he is a second tier at best player in the current climate and the fact I've had to try an rely on him is laughable in itself. We dropped off quite a bit and didn't seem to have that same magic on the break anymore, which was understandable.

 

 

The season petered out to midtable in the end, and Braga got their revenge by ruining my cup run in the quarters, but it was worth remembering how far we had actually come to get to this position in the first place. Given I wanted just survival, it was quite remarkable that we were still looking at an outsider European spot late on in the season.

 

 

The Santos sale scuppered our unlikely European bid but the fact we were in one in the first place was beyond my expecations. I want to think now though that we've made a relatively game-changing sale in Santos, so we should going forward actually be able to spend money. I sit there expectant of next seasons budget. I want some room.

 

 

The ease which the likes of Queiros, Habraao, Yriarte (this seasons surprise package), Santos, Matos (our first academy product to break through) and most impressively of all, Graca stepped up to this level really was impressive. Paraskeva got a 6 month injury after a bright start and was pretty much ended by Krstic coming in and doing little wrong, and he will depart in the summer back for his home country of Cyprus. Graca likewise will depart for newly promoted Penafiel. Valera did a very steady job. Santos was obviously great but has now gone. We just need to try and replace his impact. For all I think we're working above our real ability, I'm probably guilty of underplaying the quality of some of the players in my team. I would say the likes of Ellertson and Pau Prim are both good enough for somebody like Guimaraes. We've a mix of quality players and functional reliable heads.

Now we have to crack on, and hope that the board remember their pin number.