Il Doria – Sampthing Different

With the club and country game coming to a premature end, I was on the hunt for a new save – a decision that a lot of FM players can find problematic.  Stream chats, YouTube comments, twitter, forums – they’re all full of people asking for advice on who to play as, “what’s a good team”, etc.

It’s a question worth asking, particularly these days with the sheer number of hours that save games require.  Who wants to waste 20-30 hours of game time only to discover you’re bored within half a season?

I’ve nearly always managed to pick saves or clubs that have kept my interest and this time round I’ve opted for Sampdoria.  But, as an introduction to the save, why?

Alavés – Basque to the big time (and the latest of the 3-4-3 project)

My Alavés save has taken something of a backseat recently as I’ve been kept busy at work and the majority of my free FM time has been taken up by the network save with Petr Uchio. We have, however, completed a successful second season with Deportivo Alavés and continued the Cantera project in earnest.

Of course, if you read the last blog article on my 3-4-3-ish idea, you’ll be aware that the Cantera is not the only ‘project’ which I’m currently undertaking. Unfortunately, some events are transpiring within the save which look likely to prevent me fully experimenting with the 3-4-3 and so I can only give it a few cursory run-outs in friendlies.

Nevertheless, I should be able to highlight some significant findings on the proposed tactic and the necessary amendments that have been made to the starting shape… but only after a brief update on Alavés’ second season and our promotion back to the big time…

Deportivo Alavés – Basque to basics…

Sorry about the tabloid-esque title but I think this could be a theme for this save. Despite primarily playing my network save with Petr Uchio, I’ve found time to complete a relatively successful first season with Alavés and have, in fact, reached the winter break of season 2.

In a minor spoiler for the update to come, we are slightly ahead of the 3-year plan which I laid out in the opening post – both in terms of on-the-pitch results and the Basque turnover of playing staff.

There have, however, been some disappointing aspects – particularly on the transfer market and in the facility improvements. Read on for more…

Deportivo Alavés – An alternative cantera

Thank you to all of those who voted in the last post about whether or not I should continue with the Rapid and Austria club and country save. I agree with the vast majority – the mistake I made with the edit renders the save more or less unplayable and so I have canned it for now and gone looking for a new challenge.

This post will look at how I’ve arrived at my decision, lay out my overall ‘vision’ for the save including some different ground rules than usual and consider the early days of setting the club up for a medium term save.

Den Haag – A watershed season?

It may seem odd to describe a season in which we didn’t win any silverware as a ‘watershed’, however it feels like significant steps have been made over the course of the campaign and that we are now somewhat closer to the team that I envisaged when I started the save.

Of course, there’s still a long way to go. A looooooooong way. Particularly defensively where we are still so pitifully weak that I have considered altering my course on occasion.

Not yet, though, and I’m going to continue with the clearly-ill-advised gung-ho attacking style that has got us this far. I’ve now padded the top of my desk so it no longer hurts so much when my forehead smacks off it 3 or 4 times a game.

So… a watershed season then. Why? Results? Signings? Youth development? Off the field activities? A little bit of everything really. Read on to find out more…

Den Haag – The squad is starting to take shape

Having now reached mid-season in my second year at ADO Den Haag, it’s probably time that I did a proper update on the club and the various alterations that have taken place since my last update at the end of the last campaign.

As you would expect at this early stage in the save, we are still very much a club in transition and certainly not to be considered a title challenger. Instead, I foresee this year, and probably next too, being spent slowly building a side using the scant resources at my disposal.

Unfortunately, we are still very much a selling club and every so often our efforts at building a squad will be undermined by the necessity to sell a big name. This has already proven to be the case with two big players leaving this summer – requiring some difficult decisions and a little unorthodox thinking to ensure they are adequately replaced.

Read on to find out more.

Also, I made some new kits… a new season, new kit.

Den Haag – Consistently inconsistent

First season done and dusted. Helped by fewer games than I’m used to due to no continental competition and just 18 teams in the league, it feels like the season has just flown by.

It’s also been a more difficult season than I’ve become accustomed to on my previous save as we’ve conceded more than 3 times the goals as in my last season in Salò. Getting beat on a regular basis has taken some getting used to, I have to admit.

Nevertheless, I’d say it’s not only been a successful season but an enjoyable one and I’m really starting to ‘get into’ my new save with lots of plans building up for the future of the game.

The aim of this season was to analyse my squad, in particular the youngsters, and work on cutting the deadwood loose to allow me to bring in the sort of player that I think will fit into my rather dogmatic tactical approach.

Have we managed to do that? Have I managed to achieve the board’s aims whilst doing so?

I reckon so. Read on to find out more…

Den Haag – A new beginning

As alluded to in the final Feralpi Salò update, my new FM career takes me to The Netherlands and a club by the name of ADO Den Haag.

You can read all about the history of the club at their Wiki page but here are the basic highlights:

• founded in 1905
• based in, surprisingly, The Hague in The Netherlands
• play in the 15000 capacity Kyocera Stadion
• won the title twice in the 1940s
• won the cup twice, most recently in 1975

We / they are pretty much a mid-table Dutch side who don’t have much in the way of success in their history.

This, then, will be a brief introduction to the club, why I chose them, what I hope to achieve and, most importantly, some interesting restrictions which I’ll be putting on the save to provide some additional challenge and make it a little different from my time in Italy.

Feralpi Salò – The End. Now what?

First of all, I made a couple of new shirts for the team. Partly to commemorate our Champions League win, partly because I was bored of the old ones and partly just to muck around with the Smart Shirt Designer program. Anyway, I’m not such a big fan of the home shirt but the colours and design are kind of restrictive.

The away top, further in the post, is lovely though. Very happy with it.

They’ll be the last shirts which Feralpi wear with me in charge as I have reached the end of my time in Salò. 13 seasons, over 600 games, 2 promotions, 5 Scudetto titles, cups galore… it’s been fun.

However, it’s now got to the stage that the fun is diminishing. Domestically, we are just much, much better than everyone else. Against most teams I don’t even really bother trying any more and we’ll still run out winners by three or four goals. I’ve been playing a new tactic this season and I’ve no idea if it’s any good or if it’s just because we have far superior players.

So it’s time to move on. This, though, provides a brief history of the club – looking at some key moments or key seasons and the heroes of Salò.

Feralpi Salò – European Champions!!

Champions of Europe.

Doesn’t that sound rather nice?

Champions.

Of Europe.

About bloody time some might say but no-0ne cares about the haters so instead I’ll just take delight in the fact that I have FINALLY secured football’s biggest trophy with our tiny side from the banks of Lake Garda.

With the decision made that I’m going to stay at Feralpi to secure what I hope will be an easy Club World Cup, I’ll give defending our Champions League title one shot and then move on to a new club… which may also entail a new save depending on what game I end up going with.

So this should be a relatively quick update with a little on the domestic competitions, some more focus on the Champions League glory and a little information on a couple of new tactics. But mostly it’ll be about being Champions. Of Europe. 🙂