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.