Halfway Through Season 2 Update

Well normally i would do my mid-season update at the start of January but this time November and December went so badly for my team i decided to see if January went any better as this post would just be filled with some colourful language and talk of the sack! Thankfully for me January couldn't have went any better and seen me climb up to 8th in the league and an incredible 10 points from the top! This is after a seven game run where i couldn't buy a win!

Key to my change in fortunes was the arrival of strong Czech Republic full back Martin Jiranek and a change of tactics. The bain of my life and the cause of many shakes of the head was Kikin Finseca. I have loaned him out to Napoli with an agreed price of 2.6 million after failing to adapt big style. I lost count of how many times he blazed over the bar from 6 yards out so his stats simply lie!! To bring some firepower to the 2nd half of the season i have brought in 2 loan signings. Ben Sahar from Chelsea and Guto from International in Argentina. Players to leave in January were Aranburu to Wigan for 4 million and Estrada to Malaga for 1.5 million.

My star man by a country mile who has dragged me through many matches all by himself is the Brazillian Wagner. He is the reason i am doing so well at the moment and is fast becoming my favourite player.

As you can see the next 4 matches are gonna tell me if the tactic i have is any good and i'm not expecting much success but my target now is to get into the top 6. This confidence would have been ridiculous at the end of December. I will update agin at the end of the season where hopefully i will have achieved my goal of a top 6 finish.

If you fancy taking on the challenge yourself don't forget you can update me on your progress by commenting on this blog or by posting on the official thread on FM Style.

Start Of Season 2 Update

Well folks thats me done my pre-season duties and my Real Sociedad squad has a completely new feel to it as i have gambled on a mixture of old and young (or experienced and eager to put it another way) to ensure i stay clear of relegation and consolidate my position in La Liga for a higher push up the table for season 3.

The experienced guys i went for were Jorgensen from Fiorentina and Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Feyenoord. I feel these two have at least one more good season in them and have signed 1 year deals. The youngsters are the one's i am really excited about and will hopefully be at the club for a long time. Firstly is Iker Zelaia who came through the youth system at Real Sociedad. Next up is a player i signed on a free transfer from Bordeaux called Jeremy Laval and i will be giving him plenty chances in the first team for obvious reasons. Finally i signed an 18 year old Brazilian youth internationalist called Paulo so all in all the future looks bright.

On to my more serious signings who i hope will make a real impact this season. First up i needed a new first choice striker with the departure of Kovacevic so though long and hard about this one. I finally decided to take a gamble and brought in Kikin Fonseca, a player i have had no experience with whatsoever and only signed him due to his stats. Next up i wanted someone to play in the AMC role behind him so spashed out 6 million to land Brazilian Wagner from Corinthians. I'm hoping he will give my team a creative spark that can hurt Liaga BBVA defenses. Below are my other signings :-
Mikkel Andersen - Danish under 21 internation and backup to Riesgo
Xavi Jimenez - at 30 years of age won't get much game time but back up to Prieto
Ever Banega - On loan for the season and should be a good squad player
Mark Crosas - Signed from Celtic as squad player - will be backup to Banega
Sebastian Leto - Will hopefully make the left wing spot his own
Fran Merida - On loan from Arsenal and will be backup to Wagner

You can see from all the transfers i did i managed to sell and buy the exact same amount so i'm happy with that. Players who left i feel just weren't up to the standard needed for the top league.

As usual i have played my first game of the season and i got hammered 4-2 at home by Valencia. Harsh lessons were learned and its made me -

1) Question whether i should have signed better defenders
2) Wonder why the hell i signed Fonseca cos he had a nightmare
3) Question my tactic for this season. At the moment i play 4-4-1-1 but i'm not sure a lone striker is gonna be best for me as against quality defences he will be outnumbered alot.

Of course i could be reading too much into my first game and hopefully things will improve. Something i am very happy with considering all the changes i made is the squad harmony.

I want to offer my congradulations to a member on FM Style called ArmageddonAsh who has had an amazing first season in charge. He became the first person to win the Liga adelante and even more amazing he reached the final of the Spanish Cup and was unfortunate to lose to Barcelona. This is after beating Valencia and Real Madrid on route. He also picked up his 2nd piece of silverware tonight when he won the Spanish Super Cup beating Barcelona over 2 legs. Keep up the good work Ash! I'm delighted to also announce my thread for The Real Sociedad Challenge won an award on FM Style for "thread of the month" so get yourself over their and get involved!

As usual i will update again at the start of January on the game where hopefully i will be clear of the relegation zone and doing ok. Adios for now amigos.

Season 1 Finished and Promotion Secured

Well here is my long awaited update for the end of season 1 and what a finish to the season it was! I came 2nd in the league but finished on the same amount of points as Real Zaragoza only losing the Liga Adelante Championship on goal difference. This final push came as i managed to win 7 out of my final 8 league games but i was left to reflect on some very poor defeats which cost me dear. In my final game i knew a victory for me would mean Zaragoza would have to beat Xerez away from home but they did 2-0. I beat Castellon also by 2 goals to nil but wasnt enough to win. In reflection though my disappointment has gone and i'm now just delighted i got promoted!

My top scorer for the season was Darko Kovacevic and had a fitting send off scoring in his farewell game. I haven't renewed his contract as i feel at his age now he wouldn't make the required impact needed in the Liga BBVA. The player with the highest rating over the season was Xabi Prieto and will be trying to keep him with interest already from other clubs.

One thing i am absolutely delighted about is one of the players thats been promoted from the youth team - Iker Zelaia. At 16 years of age he looks like he will be a superb player so will be looking to play him next season to give him experience.

On the Kenan Kodro front i forgot to register him in the January window so he never played a first team game but next season i will definitely be giving him some chances.

I will update again once pre-season is over as i am planning to have a mass-clearout as most of my squad are not up to standard. Don't forget you can post your progress on the official Real Sociedad Thread over on FM Style. At the last count it has 569 posts and many people taking part so head over and get yourself registered.

Thanks for reading and adios for now.

Halfway Through Season 1 Update

Well folks thats me up to January 1st 2009 in the game so time for an update on my progress. I'm 3rd in the league and quite chuffed with this considering i know a few people were in a similar position at this stage.

My best win so far came in the 4th round of the Spanish Cup against Liga BBVA side Recreativo where i won 4-0! I managed to draw the 2nd leg 2-2 so now face another Liga BBVA team in the 5th round - Racing Santander. My worst defeat came against Albacete away from home. Not only did i lose 3-0 but my team played awful!

My top scorer so far is Necati Ates but despite this i think i will terminate his contract and bring another loan signing in to replace him. He misses too many chances for my liking and his wages are much higher than anyone elses.

Darko Kovacevic has been fantastic for me so far and every time he scores is a "punch the air moment" however unlike on older versions of Football Manager where i would keep him till he retired i think i will release him at the end of his contract in the summer. With so many people doing the challenge this time, (especially on FM Style) i'm getting quite competetive and there is little room for sentiment now.

Another player i am over the moon with is my 34 year old right back Gerardo. He has a very impressive 6 goals already (5 have been penalties) and has the highest rating in the squad.

I still can't decide on a settled tactic but i'm having fun trying to create one. Hopefully if i get promoted i will have a good home and away tactic in my locker for Liga BBVA.

Results so far

Adios for now folks and thanks for reading.

Quality Real Sociedad Goals

One of the guys taking on the challenge at the moment is Jack Franklin. You may remember him as being the co-founder of FM Style and the guy i played on a network game a few weeks back. FM Style currently has a thread for goal of the month and Jack has three belters to choose from as he is only allowed one entry.

Take a look at the goals below then vote on the poll to the right of the blog to help Jack choose which one is best.

*EDIT* Poll has finished and been removed. Goal 1 and 3 received 3 votes and goal 2 won by receiving 4 votes.

Goal 1 - Mikel Aranburu


Goal 2 Necati Ates V1


Goal 3 Necati Ates V2


You can catch up on how Jack is doing with the challenge on his FM Style Blog.

The Pride Of Basque Country

"The Pride of Basque Country" is an exciting new feature i am delighted to be adding to this blog. Its a soms currently featuring on FM Style by one of its members Liam. He goes by the username "The Magik Prat" and is from Cambridge in New Zealand. For those of you who don't know what a soms is it stands for "story of my season" and aswell as taking on the challenge he is doing a story on it. His past efforts have been of very high quality and i am personally very excited he has chosed to do one on Real Sociedad. The first 2 installments are below.

The Pride Of Basque Country Part 1

Sunday 17th June 2006, 5:30pm

Deflation. Pure and simple deflation. I was in despair. My beloved Real Sociedad had been relegated. I didn't think this was possible. I thought we were better than this. Throughout the season there had been flashes that we may be able to stay up. Thoughts came rushing back to me of such games. The thrilling Three all draw with Valencia where there were Three goals in the final ten minutes. Including a stunning last minute equaliser from Nihat. But it just wasn't consistent enough and the club was dragged into the relegation zone for much of the season. It came down to the final day where we needed a win at all costs against Valencia. But we couldn't do it. Again drawing with the Valencians three apiece. By the time the third own goal of the game hit the net I was already out of the stadium. Tears streaking down my face. I couldn't face up to the team when they did their lap of honour, knowing they had let the fans down at having been cosigned to Liga BBVA. It wasn't good enough. The club knew they had to fight back and claim their rightful place in the promised land of the First Division. Promotion is a must for next season I thought. Heads would roll if this wasn't achieved.

The Pride Of Basque Country Part 2

San Sebastian. My House. Later That Night.

I walked in the door. Shocked. Devastated. the whole city seemed to have been plunged into sadness after we exiled to the depths of Liga BBVA. It wasn't only the fact that we were down. it was the fact that Athletic had stayed up. How had they. They employ a Basque only policy and they still stay up. Its amazing how they do it. Heart breaking to know that they can actually produce results from it. We used to be the same, a basque only policy. Now look at us. Exiled to Liga BBVA. I spat. I walked over to my windows and looked out over the neighborhood. There were little kids playing football in the street. One of them was wearing a Kovacevic Number Nine tee shirt. I wonder if they knew that their hero had played his last game for the club. Probably not. looking at the kids faces, the enjoyment etched on their faces, they didn't know that Sociedad had been relegated. I longed for that youthful bliss. Unaware of the troubles our beloved club was going through. I turned my head away from the game on the street and cast a glance around the rest of the neighborhood. Thats when I saw just how much the relegation of the team had hurt the people of San Sebastien. I saw a man of no-more than twenty drinking straight from a bottle of vodka, staring absent-mindedly at the Nihat tee shirt he was holding in his hand. Tears streaking down his face. That was when I realised that the team was much bigger than just an excuse to get away from work, away from reality for ninety minutes. Real Sociedad was a way of life. It meant so much for the fans to be able to say that they had survived the Howard Kendall reign. Or that they had seen John Aldridge play. In the first division. Now we were in the Liga BBVA I didn't know what was going to happen. One thing was definite however. I was going to put everything in my body into turning the fortunes of Real Sociedad around. Whether that be by contributing money. Cleaning boots of the players. I don't know. But I will be there to help the team. In one way or another.

Coming soon - My mid season update, The Pride Of Basque Country Part 3.

Season 1 With Real Sociedad Started!!

Yesterday i officially started the FM2009 Real Sociedad Challenge so here is an update on how i got on.

After being really disappointed by the demo that was released i was more than a little nervous about how the main game would be but i have to admit - I LOVE IT!!!
I considered having a game first with another team to get used to it but then thought "what the hell" and jumped straight into the hotseat of Real Sociedad.

The first thing i checked before anything else was the transfer budget - 80k!! Not good so i immediately analysed the squad to see who i could sell for a quick buck as my assistant said the squad needed strengthened if we were to challenge for the title. I was then thrust into my first press conference which was much more enjoyable than i thought it would be.

I immediatley established i was lacking in the left back department so brought in a loan signing - Ravzan Rat from Shaktar. Next target was a striker as i felt if any of my current strikers got an injury, the backup was very poor and not ready for the big time yet. Out of curiosity i typed "Kovacevic" in the search box not really expecting Darko to be available from Olympiakos. To my amazement he was and for a knockdown 300k! Having sold one of my deadwood Markel to Reading for 1.4 million i snapped up Darko Kovacevic and had my first punch the air moment on FM2009! He has been by far my favourite player on the Football Manager/Championship Manager series of games and to have him again will make the game even more enjoyable - especially since he is still really good!! We have already had a minor disagreement however when i suggested he should try and place his shots in future (just wanted to see what he would say).

For my first friendly i chose to watch the 3D action and was really impressed! We won 7-0 and every goal was completely different. It did slow my computer down slightly so will watch in 2D from now on but watch the goal replays in 3D i think. The highlight of the friendlies was an 11-0 victory!

I played the first league game of the season at home to Huelga and managed a 1-0 victory although we created plenty chances and should have scored more.

As usual i will be trying my hardest to turn (the now 16 year old) Kenan Kodro into a superstar and will post my progress on that throughout the challenge.

Overall i'm quietly confident i can steer the club to promotion and i've decided i'm not gonna play any elaborate tactics, just a simple 4-4-2 just now.

Results
Transfers

Real Sociedad News

Well as the readers of this blog will know by now i have a fairly healthy passion for all things Real Sociedad but trying to get up to date info on them in English is pretty much impossible - until now!! I have decided to take the matter into my own hands and have created Real Sociedad News. As with all new blogs its gonna take a while to build up a following of readers and just now i'm not sure how many Real Sociedad fans there are in the world but i'm sure i'll have fun updating it anyway. Any feedback or suggestions for it would be greatly appreciated.

Real Sociedad News

The Challenge Overview FM2009

Hi folks i have decided i'm going to use the same format as i used for the FM2008 Challenge as i feel it worked well. Last time out i managed to get 195 points with my 2 UEFA Cup wins making up the bulk of the points. I will be over the moon if i manage to do as well as that again on FM2009.

The aim of the challenge is to win Liga BBVA in 5 seasons. This is a very difficult challenge to do with Real Madrid and Barcelona being so strong so i have created a points system below so if all you managed in 5 seasons was a Spanish Cup at least you will have achieved something from the challenge.

Below is the points available for winning each trophy:-

2nd Division Champs = 20 points
1st Division Champs = 100 points
1st Division Runners Up = 50 points
1st Division 3rd Place = 25 points
Spanish cup = 50 points
Spanish Super Cup = 25 points
European cup = 150 points
UEFA cup = 75 points
European Super Cup = 25 points
World Club Championship = 50 points

Good luck to anyone who tries it - lets bring some glory to the mighty Real Sociedad!!

Sometimes You Just Fall In Love With FM

Is the name of a blog post on FM Style this month by the co-owner Jack Franklin. The reason its getting a mention on this blog is because of the part i'm currently playing in it. Now I had planned on not updating this again until the challenge starts but recently I started a network game with Jack. With season 1 just finished last night I couldnt believe how dramatic the finale was so felt it was my dutie to update here aswell!!

I am Aston Villa and Jack is Manchester City. With 3 games left before the end of the season he was top by 2 points with Arsenal in second place and I was in 4th chasing a Champions League place for next season. The next game was Aston Villa against Jacks City and with both us needing wins it was Villa that was victorious with a fantastic 3-1 victory although Jack is adamant 2 of the goals were offside!! It was all the sweeter after he beat me earlier in the season 3-2! The next game we both won so going into the final game Jack had Sunderland away and Arsenal had West Ham. To our amazement Arsenal lost so all Jack needed was a draw having superior goal difference. The result - Sunderland 1 Manchester City 0. I demolished Fulham 6 - 0 to consolidate 4th but my eyes were on msn as Jack let rip! Never before had i seen such a painful end to a season on a network game. It was all the more painfull since he had already lost the League Cup Final to Man Utd. To Jacks great relief he got Revenge on Man Utd by beating them in the FA Cup 3-1 so the night wasn't a total disaster.

League Table
Star Player Alvarez (wow!)
Season Summary

You can follow our exploits on Jacks blog he has set up on FM Style. As a member you get your own blog and can tell the world anything you like it doesn't even have to be about FM. The other co-owner Mal has a fantastic blog on his trials and tribulations being a season ticket holder with Stoke City in their debut Premiership season.

If Real Life Is Anything To Go By...

With FM2009 due to be released this month i am now looking forward to taking on The Real Sociedad Challenge again and getting this blog back on track and back to its original purpose. I was delighted by the amount of people that took on the challenge for FM2008 and hope to see many more doing it for FM2009.

If real life is anything to go by its gonna be very difficult and much harder than last time. Below are all the pre-season tranfers comings and goings.

Transfers in: Rivas (Cádiz - loan period ended), Sergio Rodríguez (Alavés), Marquitos (Villarreal - one year loan), Moha (Espanyol), Necati Ates (Galatasaray - one year loan), Boukary Dramé (Sochaux - one year loan), Zubikarai (junior teams).

Transfers out: Delibasic, Víctor (Mallorca - loan period ended), Fran Mérida (Arsenal - loan period ended), Martí (Sevilla - loan period ended), Nacho (Getafe - loan period ended), Garitano (Alavés), Uranga (Castellón), Vaughan (Blackpool), Riesgo (Recreativo - one year loan), Larrea (Levante), Mikel Balenziaga (Athletic Bilbao), Skoubo (Utrecht), Novo, Víctor López (contracts ended).

The signings that have stood out for me are midfielder Mohammed El Yaagoubi (Moha) signed from Espanyol and Turkish Striker Necati Ates who has been brought in from Galatasaray on a 1 year loan deal. Moha is a combative midfielder and Ates is a powerful striker.

Things haven't started well for Txuri-urdin though and after 9 games played they are in a very disappointing 14th place with only 2 victory's in the league so far. Their plight hasn't been helped by the fact their Turkish striker Ates has been injured and only played 1 game so far for the club. Hopefully now though he can form a lethal partnership with Iñigo Díaz de Cerio afer the latter managed a healthy 16 goals last season.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Kenan Kodro is on FM2009 and if he has improved since 2008. If he is half decent i will no doubt have another crack at trying to groom him into becoming a superstar.

Thanks for reading and i hope this has possibly wetted your appetite to take on the challenge for FM 2009. A few of the lads on FM Style including Vincent have already said they will be taking on the challenge so a thread will be started on there if you want to discuss signings, tactics etc and post your progress on there. I have decided i won't be starting the challenge on the demo thats released but will wait for the 14th November official verion instead however for anyone who is starting it on the demo feel free to update me as usual by posting comments on this blog or on FM Style. Adios for now amigos.

*Edit* Screenshots are from the latest FM2009 Demo and can be downloaded by visiting the News Of The Word Website.

FM Style Member Of The Month

Haven't updated this for a while so i thought i'd let you all know what i've been up to in the world of Football Manager. Firstly i'll explain the gold medal to the left. This is the actual (yes actual) gold medal i received from FM Style for winning the member of the month award - click here to see.
On a more disappointing note my attempts to take Newport County from the Blue Square South to the Premiership ended in misery when i was relegated back to the Blue Square South on the last game of the season. I had to beat Burton at home and lost the game 2-0 at home. I also suffered a heartbreaking defeat a few games earlier when i lost the Setanta Shield final 4-3 to Northwich so after the relegation i did the honourable thing and resigned. I have one more game in me before the return of The Real Sociedad Challenge on FM2009 and will fill the gap between now and then by going Fenerbahce. A recent holiday to Turkey for a week has got me in the mood for playing the Turkish league.

If you haven't already get yourself registered on FM Style and see if you can bag yourself the newcomer of the month award! Tell em Kovacevic sent ya! Adios amigos.

FM Style - The Best FM Site On The Scene

Of course that i just an opinion but its my opinion and i believe its true. Let me explain why. In my last post i said i was giving FM2008 a break as my motivation for the game was gone. That was until i stumbled across FM Style - a brand new site on the FM Scene. At first i thought i was gonna be like all the others out there at the moment, i would post a few times then lose interest. I couldn't be more wrong. The guys that run the site Jack and Mal are a great couple of guys and everyone who posts regular are friendly and easy going. My user name on it is Kovacevic after the legend of course.

I have re-kindled my love for the game after taking on a challenge set to take a Blue Square South team to the Premier League. I am Newport County as are a few of the other guys and it won't be long before the banter starts flying as it becomes more competetive. I have 2 games left to play of season one and have just won the league. Click here to see. You can follow me and the guys progress on the BSN/S Discussion Thread.

If you are fan of FM2008 then you owe it to yourself to head over now and get yourself registered. Start of by introducing yourself in the "welcome thread" and remember to post well. Lets make FM Style the most talked about and successful site on the scene and tell e'm Kovacevic sent ya! CLICK HERE to get started and i'll see you in there!

2nd In League And UEFA Cup Retained

The Challenge is now officially over for me and season 5 ended with me finishing 2nd in the league and retaining the UEFA Cup with a 4-0 demolition of Reading. As you can see from the league table Real Madrid went the whole season unbeaten which was very disappointing as from very early on in the season i knew i wasn't going to win the league.
Bogdan Stancu was the hero again for me scoring an amazing 64 goals in 52 appearances. Thats 110 goals in 2 seasons!
Andrey Arshavin had another amazing season aswell getting 29 assists and 16 goals.
The other 2 players that stood out for me were Nortdveit and Kodro although the latters chances were severly limited by Stancu.

One of the disappointments of the challenge was the fact i played Real Madrid 10 times and never beat them once. My record over Barcelona however is much better. I also never made it past the Quarter Final Stages of the Spanish Cup. The finances at the moment are looking ok and the wage structure is well under control.

I have now officially resigned from the club and checkout this screenshot to see the Board pay tribute to me. I am also happy at my staff because 3 of them have left in the wake of me resigning including my first signing for the club Ray Wilkins and legend Darko Kovacevic.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 5 seasons but like i said in my previous post i am now going to shelve the game and wait for FM2009 to be released. Thanks for reading and for those still taking the challenge on please keep me updated with how you get on. Adios amigos. Till next time....

UPDATE 27/08/08 - Being the sad individual that i am i couldn't help but let the game run on for a season while i "went on holiday" to see how Real Sociedad would get on without me. Avram Grant the former Chelsea Manager took over my position and by all accounts had a nightmare. He only managed to finish 9th in the League, got knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage, sold Stancu to Valencia and replaced him with Lavezzi from Napoli and to top it off has allowed my prodigy Kenan Kodro to join Roma for free! Bloody hopeless!

The End Is Near....

No the world is not about to end but my challenge is (for me anyway) so apologies for the dramatic post title. After giving it some thought i have decided i won't be continuing with my game after this season and will in fact be having a break from the game in anticipation for FM2009 coming out. I currently have about 10 games of season 5 left to play and once completed i will update with the details.

I have decided however the Real Sociedad Challenge will be making a comeback for FM2009 as Real Sociedad will unfortunately still be in the 2nd division next season after finishing 4th in real life and with many players leaving and financial problems affecting the club it should be even harder next time. I am undecided whether i will continue with the current blog or revamp it. Stay tuned for details though.

I would like to say a massive thanks to all who have taken on the challenge and congradulations again to headshotbg for winning it. Also thanks to everyone who contributed by posting comments, especially you Vincent (i will continue to follow your FM career with interest). Adios for now.

Cameroon Stint Ends In Failure!

I said in my last post i would update if anything major happened and it did. After a hugely disappointing African Nations Cup campaign where i was defeated in the Semi-Final to Ivory Coast, i decided not to continue for the World Cup Qualifying campaign and quit the post. To make matters worse i got beat in the 3rd/4th place match against Ghana much to the disgust of the fans. Despite the disappointment, the Cameroonian Football Association were satified with the teams performance but my heart wasn't in it enough to continue and can now focus on finishing the challenge with Real Sociedad. I managed to satisfy my hunger for International management but probably should have waited for a European team. Oh well, cest la vie!

Stancu Blowing Opposition Away!

Well here i am with the mid-season update for the final season of the challenge. I am currently 2nd in the league behind Real Madrid which for me is a fantastic achievement but is tainted with some disappointment after the run of victories i have had. I find myself 11 points behind them as they run away with the league with no defeats so far. I am still in the UEFA Cup though and have Copenhagen in the first round knockout stage.

Two defeats that crushed my chances of winning La Liga came back to back from first Barcelona and then Real Madrid. On the plus side i am having the best season so far. This is largely down to one player - Bogdan Stancu! He is having an incredible season so far and is winning most games by himself. In one game against Gimnastic he scored 5 and to think i nearly kept Samaras instead of getting him. His current goal tally in all competitions so far is 37 goals in 22 games and is well on course to beat last seasons tally. Arshavin has also been great with 23 assists so far.

On the Cameroon front i am soon to play in the African Nations Cup so will be looking to do well in that although i won't be crying too much if i don't.

As usual i will update again at the end of the season unless something dramatic happens and i will update sooner. Adios amigos and thanks for reading.

Start Of Season 5 Update...

After having a wee break from the game its back up and running and season 5 is under way. I have decided to use Kimz tactics for season 5 as i aim to get more silverware in my final season of the "Challenge". The friendlies went well with a tour of Scotland providing a useful run-out for the squad.

I was absolutely delighted to get another trophy under my belt with an unexpected victory over the European Champions Barcelona winning 2-1 in the European Super Cup where the hero again was Bogdan Stancu. This was followed by a crushing 4-2 defeat at home to Betis where they scored twice in the 90th minute.

As usual the transfer situation was a bit of a disaster with the only player to join me being Ruben De La Red from Getafe for 8.5 million. This wasn't due to the lack of trying but every player i went for refused to join me after a contract was offered.

The transfer saga of the summer was that of Bogdan Stancu where his minimum release clause of 20.5 million was nearly met on many occasions as he continues to reject contract offers from me and Chelsea and Juventus continue to probe with bids. If i can hang onto him for the rest of the season i will be very happy.

Cameroon have a new manager - me! I took the job after giving it some thought although i'm not sure at this stage how much focus or effort i can put into the job as i have always found it hard to juggle two jobs in the past. My main objective is to qualify for the World Cup so will keep posted on my progress with this aswell.

My next update will be in the new year so until then adios.

UEFA Cup Winners And Finished 6th

I am going to start this post with an explanation of something. At the end of the last post i was plodding along nicely in the League and still in the UEFA Cup. Then headshotbg won everything with Kimz tactics and it got me thinking.... For the 2nd half of season 4 should i give it a go and see how i get on or should i stick with my own? Well i changed it to Kimz and here is how i got on.....

I finished 6th in the League again and as you can see from the results in the 2nd half of the season they changed dramatically with high scoring games flowing!

After a dodgy start where i lost some stupid games i stuck with it and it brought some unbelievable results. Good examples would be the 8-5 victory over Betis and the semi-final 2nd leg againt Valencia. I got beat 3-1 away from home and in the home leg return i won 6-1!

The UEFA Cup final was an incredible match with Bogdan Stancu being the hero scoring the winner in the 90th minute to win 3-2. Another one for the "punch the air" hall of fame. Other highlights of season 4 are below:-

Bogdan Stancu scoring 46 goals in 50 appearances!
Marius Niculae having his best season yet with 25 goals and 14 assists!
Arshavin getting 13 goals and 34 assists!
Kenan Kodro improving again and getting a man of the match award after only 20 minutes on the pitch. (Never seen that before)
Riquelme in disbelief saying he doubted i could win the UEFA Cup.
Supporters saying the supporters club will be named after me. (A nice touch ha ha)
Nordtveit getting young player of the season ahead of Bojan.

I have made 3 bosman signings for season 5. Oscar from Fiorentina, Vasilis Tosoridis from Olympiakos and Celsinho from Sporting Lisbon.

So i'm left wondering what to do next. I have one season left of the challenge and i'm caught in 2 minds whether to continue with Kimz 8.0.2 no tweaking or not. If i hadn't changed the tactics i know i wouldn't have won the UEFA Cup. I suppose i still can't decide whether using someone else's tactics will give me any real sense of achievement because although i'm happy i won the UEFA Cup i know i would have been a million times happier if it was with my own tactic. Please feel free to leave a comment on your thought on the subject and whether i should go back to my own tactic for season 5. Adios for now and thanks for reading.

League And Cup Won In 3 Seasons!

Over the last few months people have been taking on the challenge and updating me on their progress via the blog, e-mail, or by posting on forums. A few days ago a guy posted on the FM Updates Forum by the name of "headshotbg" and said he didn't think it was really that difficult. At that point he had made huge changes to the playing staff and was just about to start season 3. Season 1 he cruised the 2nd divison with 111 points then season 2 he finished 4th thus getting into the Champions League. Later that day he posted again with Season 3's achievements. La Liga won, Spanish Cup won and Champions League Runners-up! This pretty much makes a mockery of the word "Challenge" on the blogs title. The below screenshots show the 3 seasons of success:-

Season 1
Transfers
Fixtures Part 1
Fixtures Part 2
Fixtures Part 3
Final League Table

Season 2
Transfers
Fixtures Part 1
Fixtures Part 2
Final League Table

Season 3
Transfers
Fixtures Part 1
Fixtures Part 2
Fixtures Part 3
Final League Table
Squad Performance
Manager Overview Screen
Finances At The End Of Season 3

If that wasn't enough my post called "Take That Barcelona" has also been overshadowed. Take a look at this - Screen 1, Screen 2. I have left a post on the forum asking him to post screenshots of the tactics he used and if he does i will update this post with them.

I doubt if anyone will do better than this and up to now he is the only person i've seen be able to win anything. He says he is stopping at 3 seasons and to be honest i can't blame him. He is probably off to try something much harder!

*UPDATE* headshotbg had responded on the forum and has kindly given the following screenshot of the tactic used to win at Real Sociedad. The screenshot is from his new Real Madrid game and called Kimz. It can apparently be found on most FM websites or by doing a Google search. The version is v 2.1 with v1 layout. Thanks again to heatshotbg for letting me use the screenshots for the blog.

Dundee Utd Vs Barcelona 2008

I'm gonna go off the topic again with this post as i thought i'd share my exitement about this months friendly clash between Barcelona and Dundee United on 26th July. I bought my ticket today and can't wait to see the European Championships best player Xavi and his team mates at Tannadice again. It will also be a chance to see the worlds most expensive right back in the world Daniel Alves up close after he signed from Sevilla for 23.5 million.

I went to the game last year when United were very unlucky to lose 1-0 with Henry scoring a rebound from his penalty after his initial effort was saved. This was moments after Barry Robson (now Celtic) had a perfectly good goal ruled out. Hopefully we can beat them this time and exact revenge for last year! COME ON UNITED!


*UPDATE* 28/07/08 I went to the game on saturday and i was delighted with how Dundee United played. We lost 5-1 to the mighty Catalans but the scoreline didn't really reflect how the game went. Dundee United took the lead after a header from Ghanaian midfielder Prince Bauben but Henry equilased 60 seconds later when i was still celebrating. In the 2nd half they brought on Lionel Messi and he ran the show. He grabbed a fantastic hat-trick and got a standing ovation from the Utd fans. Samuel Eto'o scored the other goal.

Halfway Through Season 4 Update...

Halfway through season 4 and things are going well in the league. I'm up to 7th after going on a great run of victories. I had a major slump where i went 6 games without a win and was listed on the "under pressure managers" list but have turned it around.

I managed to beat FC Zurich no probem in the first round of the UEFA Cup and got Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund, Dinamo Bucharest and Palermo in the groups. After an opening defeat to Shakhtar i managed to beat the rest of the teams and now have Panathinaikos in the 2nd knockout stage. I am also still in the Spanish Cup and look good to progress after a 4-1 first leg over Gimastic.

The stars of the show so far have been Bogdan Stancu, Andrey Arshavin, Leonardo (who was rubbish last season), Dorian Dervite and Marius Niculae. Stancu has justified my sale of Samaras with 20 goals in 20 appearances.

I am very happy as i managed to sell my striker Yildirim Serkan to Marseille for 4 million. I got him for free and he hardly played in 2 seasons. With the money i am hoping to sign Ilsinho from Shakhtar and Dimitar Makriev from Panathinaikos. Makriev is available for only 275k and i'm amazed at this considering his stats. He will be good backup to Stancu as Kenan Kodro is having another injury plagued season.

I had another "punch the air" moment when i was 2-0 down at home to Real Betis and we scored 4 in the last 13 minutes to win 4-2.

I will update again at the end of the season so for now adios.

Big Changes At Anoeta For Season 4!

I have to say the pre-season i have had for season 4 has been one of the most enjoyable i have ever had. I decided i had to build on last years successful 6th place finish so there has been many changes to the playing staff.

The main players to leave were Giorgos Samaras to Sunderland for 6 million, Xabi Prieto to Bayern Munich for 6.5 million and Riquelme has joined Besiktas on loan for the season. This means he had effectively left as his contract is up at the end of the season.

I signed Bogdan Stancu from Besiktas, Andrey Arshavin from Zenit, Calvin Jong-A-Ping from Wolfsburg, Jose San Roman from Lille for free, and Xisco from Deportivo for free. Last Christmas i signed Romanian winger Doran Vladescu for 300k for the future but is now a first team regular which i'm delighted at. I have also signed Frank de-Boer as Assistant Manager after the contract expired on the old one.

My pre-season friendlies went well with no defeats for the first time. As usual with my first update of the season i have played my first 2 matches of the season. A fantastic 4-0 victory over Mallorca was followed by a 5-3 defeat to Real Madrid. To enter the group stages of the UEFA Cup i must first defeat FC Zurich in the 1st round so hopefully i can avoid an upset.

I have managed to upset my star defender Håvard Nordtveit in just about every way possible. He is angry that i have rejected enquiries from Man Utd, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Then because i sold my captain Xabi Prieto i was asked to pick a captain before a friendly and because his influence is 20 i picked him. Almost the whole team was unhappy about it so changed it to my goalkeeper so he asked for a transfer - which i refused!

I will update again halfway through the season where i will hopefully be riding high in the league and maybe even still in Europe. Adios for now.

The Poll Had To Go!

After getting 167 votes for my poll i pulled the plug on it because i was getting a bit bored of it.

There was no real surprises in the results with most people saying they would rather go the top 4 teams. Barcelona nicked it with 33% of the vote just ahead of Real Madrid.

As yet i have still not heard of anyone being able to win anything in 5 seasons (other than the 2nd division) but thanks to everyone who has been updating me of their progress so far. Apologies also for anyone who e-mailed me and never got a response. I had my e-mail account deleted when i cancelled the contract with my hosting company but a new one will be set up soon.

Season 3 Over And Finished 6th

With season 3 now over i am surprised and delighted at how it went for me. I managed to finish 6th in the league and have secured European Football for next season. I managed to go on a decent run on the 2nd half of the season despite losing key players to injury and had a very strong finish to the season.

My best players this season were Samaras who came runner up in signing of the season and Niculae. Samaras unfortunately got injured for 3 months but Niculae hardly missed a game. Something else i was really happy with was the defensive partnership of Dorian Dervite and Håvard Nordtveit. I played Nordtveit for the first half of the season as a defensive midfielder but he wasn't that good but when i moved him to defence he was great. Those 2 will be my central defenders for next season.

I was disappointed when Kenan Kodro broke his leg and very concerned when he returned to training the physio suggested he may never realise his full potential because of the injury. Next season i will continue to give him chances in the team.

In the summer i am going to try and offload 2 of my higher paid players. Xabi Prieto and Riquelme. Prieto had a very poor season and with Bayern after him i think i will sell him. Riquelme had a good season with 17 assists to his name but at 32 i will try and get a younger AMC.

In my next update i will hopefully have strengthened my squad so i can make an impact in the UEFA Cup and have another fantastic season. Adios.

Take That Barcelona!

Every so often while playing Footbal Manager 2008 a moment will happen to most of us which i like to call the "punch the air moment"! By this i mean you will be sitting perfectly normal in your seat then without any warning you will jump up and throw your fist in the air like a lunatic. For the first time in a long time this happened to me and i felt it deserved to be documented because if i don't win anything with Real Sociedad this will be my crowning glory!

As i previously mentioned in my last update i drew Barcelona in the 5th round of the Spanish Cup. The first leg ended in a 3-3 thriller at home and my aim for the return leg was simply to keep the score down and avoid embarrasment.

The fans were fearing the worst and i dealt with this by trying to take the heat off my team by telling the press i was just looking for a good performance and played down our chances of beating them. I also singled out Iniesta as a dangerman which very interestingly led to them leaving him out of the team. Perhaps the pressure got to him ha ha.

The tactic i went for was one of caution with the hope of us being able to catch them on the counter-attack. Things started badly with Henry scoring after 6 minutes to put them 4-3 up on aggregate. Then for the next 84 minutes i sat in utter disbelief as my team played them off the park. The hero of the hour was Giorgos Samaras. He put Barca to the sword with a brilliant double and prompted my fist to hit the air! To rub it in they had a goal dissalowed for offside and when asked to comment i stuck the knife in even more by saying they were bitter! Genius!

If anyone else has any "punch the air moments" like this please feel free to leave a comment.

*UPDATE* To follow on from me boasting about beating Barcelona i thought i'd also share my pain. In the next round i played Sevilla. In the 1st leg i was beaten at home 4-1 and Samaras got injured and is out for 3 months then in the 2nd leg i was beaten 5-4 and Kodro broke his leg and is out for 5 months. I should have made the title of the post - How To Beat Barcelona Then Get Absolutely Thrashed From Sevilla!

Promotion Missed On Final Day!

With all the attention on Euro 2008 at the moment i have been keeping one eye on the Spanish 2nd division which finished yesterday. Going into the last game my beloved Real Sociedad, sitting fourth, needed to beat Cordoba and hope either Sporting Gijón or Malaga slipped up. Unfortunately we could only manage a poor 1-1 draw with Cordoba but both teams above them won anyway so wouldn't have mattered. Gutted! I fully expected them to bounce straight back after their relegation last year and was looking forward to seeing them on the television again next season. Maybe i should e-mail the screenshots of my promotion season on fm2008 to the chairman of Real and he might give me the job!

I'm starting to get into this...

Hi folks i'm now halfway through season 3 and i'm delighted with the progress my team is making. I'm 8th in the league and still in the Spanish Cup after drawing 7-7 on aggregate with Almeria but going through on away goals. I have Barcelona in the fifth round so thats probably as far as i'll get. The league form started very poorly but we have went on a fantastic run which has seen us go 7 games unbeaten. The reult of the season so far was the 3-2 away victory over Sevilla. It was a very unexpected victory and was all the sweeter since it was the first of the season and got us off the foot of the table.

The stars of the show so far have been Giorgos Samaras and Marius Niculae who have been brilliant for me so far. If i want to maintain my challenge for a European place next season key to it will be keeping them fit. Keeping them on their toes though has been 17 year old Kenan Kodro. I said in my last post i was looking to give him a chance this year and i have. He has the potential to be brilliant in the game. A massive surprise and also key to my good fortunes has been the form of central defender Dorian Dervite. He was signed on a free for Spurs as one for the future but has been thrown in at the deep end. Due to the strikers great form poor old Morten Skoubo has been dumped in the B team where he will probably stay until he is sold.

I will update again at the end of the season when hopefully i will be looking forward to playing in Europe next season . Adios.

Season 3 Is Under Way

Hi folks season 3 is now under way and my expectations are that i will push for a European place but i think the reality may be i struggle in mid table again. In my last post i complained about being unable to sell anyone and this hit my pre-season preperations quite hard. At the time of writing i have played the first 3 league matches of the season and as you can see from the results so far my only win has came against our under 19s in a friendly. My first 2 league matches were away from home and both ended in 3-2 defeats to Espanyol and very painfully to Real Zaragoza where they won in the last minute!

The only player i got that wasn't a freebie was Bernard Mendy who i signed for 2.8 million as i was desperate for a right back. The best players i got for free were Greek forward Samaras, defensive midfielder Eduardo Costa and Gonzalo Garcia. For the rest of the tranfers you can view them by clicking here.

I have decided i am going to change my tactics for season 3. My home tactics will be much more attacking and key to it will be Riquelme who will hopefully pull the strings in the middle and create chances. My away tactics will be more defensive and will look to catch the opposition on the counter attack. I will also be looking to give my young striker Kenan Kodro some first team action this season as for the last 2 seasons he has been scoring an unbelievable amount of goals for the under 19's.

I will update again mid-season where i will be able to see if my poor pre-season of tranfer action has cost me.

Time For A Rant! I Can't Sell A Player!

I have just about to play my first league game of season 3 and have about a week left of the transfer window but am at my wits end! How do you sell players??? I have tried offloading several under performers and got nowhere! I have tried changing the tranfer status to "not needed by club" and placing them on the list. I even offered a player who is valued at 3 million to teams for free and still no-one was interested. If anyone has any suggestions or had the same problems please leave a comment. I'm wondering if its because we had such an average season but its unusual for me not to even have anyone wanted.

My next post will update on how pre-season went and unless i sell someone to get extra money there probably won't be any big signings unfortunately so another season of struggling is on the cards.

Season 2 Over And Finished 13th

Hi folks with season 2 now over i managed to finish a respectable 13th in the league which on reflection I have to be happy with. My board are happy with me as i met the expectations i set myself at the start of the season.

As you can see from the results since my last post i was eliminated from the Spanish Cup by Real Betis for the 2nd season in a row. The amount of high scoring games is a concern for me because more often than not we were on the end of some heavy defeats. We scored 77 goals in the league, more than any other team in the league but conceded a shocking 87, also more than any other team. We don't do nil - nil draws! In the close season i will be clearing out my whole back line and goalkeeper to try and resolve this and will have to start playing more defensive away from home with possibly a lone striker up front.

The top performers this season were Niculae, Skoubo, Xabi Prieto and Riquelme who was runner-up to Messi in the Player of the year awards. A disapoitment was Mista but his chances were limited due to Skoubo's fine form so may be sold if i get an offer. Supporters player of the year was Riquelme.

In January i decided to add a bit of sentiment to the game and hailed the return of King Kovacevic on a deal till the end of the season since he was a free agent since leaving Olympiakos. He managed to chip in with 2 goals (one of which was a match winner) and was rewarded with a job as coach to keep him at the club.

In my next post i will update on the signings and departures for season 3 as i will be looking to break into the top 10 next season and try to concede less goals!

I had to post this fantastic screenshot after someone i was talking to on the Goal Kick Forum posted it. He had originally went Real Sociedad but then moved on to manage Arsenal and i was telling him its hard to keep motivated when there is such a gap between the top teams and the average teams. Murcia winning the league!?!? Its shown me that with persistence then the impossible could maybe happen. Even if it doesn't it has given me a glimmer of hope and proved that a smaller team can win it.

I'm Back And Halfway Through Season 2

As the title suggests i'm now halfway through season 2 and things are going quite well. I'm in 11th position in the league and i'm still in the Spanish Cup after a 3-1 win at home to Real Betis.

My team are very inconsistent as you can see by clicking here and most of that is down to my defence which i should have bolstered in the summer but never. What also hasn't helped is my star signing Riquelme has been out for 4 months and Niculae for 3 months. The star of the show again though is the captain Xabi Prieto. A call up to the national team is surely just around the corner and Spurs are interested so keeping him in the summer may be difficult.

The highest scoring game of the challenge so far has been the home defeat to Valencia where we lost 5-4.

If i can finish mid-table at the end of the season i will be more than happy then next season we will hopefully push for a European place. The board are happy with me so far so confidence is high. I will update again at the end of the season. Its good to be back after my unexpected break and my passion for success with the team is as strong as ever! M'on the Sociedad!

Need To Get Back Into This....

Hi folks, with no posts in the month of April i thought i would update to advise of the reasons for my silence. The beginning of the month seen my computer die on me so had to get it fixed then in the last week i have had the joy's of moving house to deal with. The challenge will be resuming soon where hopefully i can continue my quest to bring silverware to the mighty Real Sociedad. I know no-one will have been losing sleep over it but thanks to those who have kept me updated on your progress with the challenge and keep them coming.

The Last Chance Saloon Brigade Arrive

Never in all my days of playing this game have i put more of an effort into a pre-season yet when i look back at the comings and goings i have made i sit back and wonder if it could have been better.

I thought about having a policy of buying young stars on the up but ultimately i ended up going for seasoned old pros. To put it another way i went for players who are either past their best with old age or players that once set the world alight but have faded - hence the title of the post. The 2 main signings i made fall under this bracket - Riquelme and Mista. Riquelme only a couple of seasons ago was one of the best players in the world at Villareal but has recently been back in his homeland at Boca. Mista was a revelation at Valencia a few years ago but has been unheard of recently at Atletico Madrid. Both have a point to prove - hopefully! I brought in Nedved on a free transfer as i needed cover for my other new signing from Ajax Leonardo. To see all the comings and goings click here. I feel if Riquelme and Mista can bring back the old magic my gamble will pay off.

A big decision i hade to make was telling the board what i though my team could achieve in the coming season. I am realistic to know that i am never going to win the league so opted to tell them a mid-table finish was achievable. For this they gave me a transfer budget of 7 million. By telling them i could win the league they were only giving me an extra 4 million anyway. The league will be mine one day hopefully but not that quick!

The pre-season started with me getting offered the Atletico Madrid job out of the blue. I thought my board would be over the moon with my loyalty but never said a bloody word about it! The only friendlies of note were an incredible 4-4 draw with Recreativo were i was 4-1 down at one point and a 3-1 defeat by Inter Milan. I always like to have at least 1 glamour tie even though there is a good chance of getting beat.

At the point of writing this i have played the first 2 games of the season. I started with a fantastic victory over Osasuna followed by a 2-0 defeat away to Espanyol.

I will update again at Christmas where hopefully i will be comfortably holding my own in the league and Riquelme will be the king of Real Sociedad!

Bring On The Big Boys!

Hi folks i have finished my first season now and to my delight it couldn't have went any better for me. The league was effectively won at christmas so my biggest challenge was to keep the players motivated. I managed to finish on 103 points which ended up 28 points clear of my nearest rivals. To my surprise the board summary wasn't as glowing as i had expected it so this has helped keep my feet on the ground and realise the real challenge will begin next season.

The players who stood out for me in season 1 were Morten Skoubo (who i slagged off in my first post for being inconsistent), new boy Marius Niculae and Xabi Prieto. Lazio have been sniffing around the latter trying to unsettle him but there is no way i am letting him go.

I won't milk this post any more than i need to as i realise i face a tough pre-season to get my team ready for the 1st division. Players need to come in and players need to leave. In my next post i will have the pre-season completed and will reveal who i manged to sign and who left. Adios for now amigos.

The Challenge Overview FM2008

Hi folks i have decided to get a little bit of structure to the challenge as i initially put the idea out there to see if there would be an interest in it and i'm glad to say that there is. I have decided i will need to have a points system in place as i never really considered the fact that people might win things!

2nd Division Champs = 20 points
1st Division Champs = 100 points
1st Division Runners Up = 50 points
1st Division 3rd Place = 25 points
Spanish cup = 50 points
Spanish Super Cup = 25 points
European cup = 150 points
UEFA cup = 75 points
European Super Cup = 25 points

If anyone would like this changed please let me know as i literally made it up in seconds. The overall Real Sociedad champion will obviously have the most points at the end of 5 seasons. Good luck.

Sitting Top And Feeling Fine!

Well here I am into January 2008 and all is going to plan much better than I ever expected. I'm top of the league and over the moon with how things are going as I fully expected to be struggling but thankfully I have found a steady tactic that seems to work well home and away - click here to view. Remember to click once on the image to zoom or it looks like you are viewing the image through frosted glass.

The results show how good the run has been with the only defeat being away to Cadiz but what concerned me slightly was the manner in the way I got knocked out the cup. Real Betis tought us a lesson and in the away leg we mustered 1 measly shot on goal and even that was off target! This shows me that sweeping changes will be needed in the summer otherwise we could end up the whipping boys! My priority will be 2 new central defenders but everywhere else I am happy with the quality.

I was worried at the start about my strikers scoring but they have done quite well. The biggest surprise has came in the form of Morten Skoubo. Only the captain Xabi Prieto has a better average rating with 7.55.

At the time of writing I am halfway through the January transfer window and have just made my first significant signings for the club. Romanian International Striker Marius Niculae has signed from Inverness Caley Thistle and judging by his picture the first thing i'll be doing is demanding he get a haircut!!! He may have got away having a barnet like that at Inverness but not here! Again, clicking on the image shows how bad it really is. The second player Grzegorz Szamotulski is a Polish Goalkeeper currently at Preston but became something of a cult hero with Dundee United fans due to the fantastic performances he put in while at the club. "The Monk" doesn't arrive until the summer but i believe he could become a star for my team. Finally i got central defender Havard Nordtveit on loan from Arsenal untill the end of the season but at only 17 he could be a star in the making and will definitely be looking to sign (poach) him in the summer.

Unless I manage to sell one of the deadwood he will be the last until the summer as the 375k I spent on Niculae has left the club skint. I'm hoping he will score the goals to carry the team's form on for the rest of the season.

I'm off back to the game as I have a league to win. Barring any major disasters I'm hoping the rest of the season will be a formality and I can start thinking about next season in the 1st division and back with the big boys. If for any reason it goes tits up i will be sure to update this blog on events but hopefully my next post will be either me gibbering a lot of pointless crap or I will be posting screenshots of my chairman telling me how bloody fantastic I am for winning the league. Adios.

Berbatov Scores 120 In A Season Apparently!

When bored at work i sometimes find myself passing the time by visiting various fm2008 related forums and commenting on various topics but today i came across a post from someone on the Football Manager Portal forum where someone has claimed Berbatov scored 120 in one season for his Chelsea team! Is this possible?!?

Thinking of all the teams i have managed over the years i can remember a game years ago when i was Fiorentina and Gabriel Batistuta scored over 50 goals in one season but 120 seems unbelievable to me especially when the thing that makes me enjoy the game so much is its realism.

If anyone reading this post has had a player score an unbelievable amount of goals in a season please let me know and obviously screenshots would be great to back up your claim.

The Real Sociedad challenge is now into January and will be posting how my season is going tonight but until then adios.

Ray Wilkins Knows Whats Good For Him!

To do this game any justice i paid attention to every detail during the pre-season but have ultimately started the season quite dissapointed. The only signings i managed to make was left back Christian Kalvenes from Dundee United and Ray Wilkins as a coach as he has great attributes for coaching strikers. Hardly earth shattering! The main problem has been i was unable to offload any of the over paid players no matter how hard i tried so had hardly any money to spend. That being said the squad i have should be more than capable of promotion and hopefully a good cup run will bring in some much needed money. I've been drawn at home against a very beatable Cadiz in the Spanish Cup 2nd Round.

The friendlies were unspectacular but did manage a good 2-0 victory over the mighty Barcelona although they did play their 2nd string so i can't get too exited.

The first 2 games of the season started with an away draw and a home victory over minnows Ferrol 3-0.

My next update will be mid-season where i will hopefully be riding high and on my way to the 1st division with relative ease but my gut feeling it may not be as smooth as that!