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.