I. Population
I decided to keep Ibrahimovic. When it came down to it, his character was just too fascinating to lose. I've never seen a player who was so expansively self-defeating or one so capable of turning every moment of triumph into a bellow of despair. It's as if the better he gets, the more he has to betray himself: he's playing for his favorite club, yet desperately wants a transfer; he's playing for his favorite manager, yet spends all his time complaining; he's a born leader, but never had a worse season than when he was asked to be captain. I've come to think of the darkness in him as the mysterious key to his power, and I can't transfer a player who I kind of want to see written up as a Tuesday Portrait. I gave him a contract extension.
Of course, he then immediately started complaining and talking to the press about Liverpool. I thought about the future, and I confess, I wavered. But no sooner had I started talking to Liverpool about a possible transfer fee than Ibrahimovic came out with this—completely unprecedented—statement.
He can't even get the transfer he wants without undermining it the moment it looks like it might go through. And yet he's one of the best players I've ever coached. Anyway, that settled it. He's staying.
II. Immigration/Emigration
There's no reason to stage a revolution the minute after you win a championship. We had a relatively quiet summer on the transfer front, improving the team in a couple of key areas but essentially keeping the existing group intact.
We sold Marcelo, our willowy Brazilian defender who seemed to make a bad mistake every time he played last season, to Lecce for €8 million, and Arjen Servais, our Belgian defender who'd been a stalwart of our Serie B campaign, to Torino for €625k. We also sold Andrea Battaglia, a backup left winger who only spent one season with the club (and who I don't think I ever told you about), to Triestina for €5 million.
We brought in Giovanni Magnoni, a young defender from Sampdoria who'll back up Ibrahimovic and the Ferj, for €6.5 million (Sampdoria are a giant fire sale since they were relegated):
And we bought Mark Linnane, Tottenham's versatile attacker, for €15 million—painful, but he can play on either side of the pitch, covering both Contini and David, and can also fill in at striker if both Teixeira and Galli are out with injuries:
(The funny backstory here is that there's a real-life Mark Linnane who works for SI, and, like a few other SI developers and testers, he's been imported into the game with a random ability set and a bizarre personality description. Click to see the image in a larger size:
If you're playing FM yourself, you can see more of these transcendent figures by doing a search for "faceinthegame." Personally, I just hope the dude can fill in for David.)
Sad news: We also said goodbye to a couple of Pro Vercelli stalwarts this year. Landry Akassou and Miguel José were both at the end of their contracts, and since they've been surpassed by youth players and would never get any playing time, I let them both leave on a free. Akassou (who played 237 times for the club over eight seasons and was our captain for four) immediately signed with Brescia in Serie B, and José (who played 177 times and went with us all the way from Serie C to Serie A) is now playing for Naval in the Portuguese Liga. Godspeed, gentlemen, and thanks.
III. Geography. Festivals & Customs.
The new stadium was finished in mid-June, and on the 30th, we made our final move from the Via Massaua to the Via Dante Alighieri.
We're still looking for a "Highbury name" to use colloquially in place of the soporific "Pro Vercelli Stadium" (more on this soon—be thinking of ideas). In the meantime, we decided to introduce the new ground and pay homage to the namesake of the old one by launching the Silvio Piola Cup, a four-team friendly tournament that we're hoping to make an annual tradition. Among other things, it was a mark of the club's rise in stature that Arsenal, Real Madrid, and Lyon agreed to come to Vercelli to participate.
We beat Lyon 4-1 in the first game, then beat Arsenal in the "final" 2-0. It was a fun event for the fans, we got four sellout crowds at the stadium (where the grass has a cool stripey pattern—no more playing in an Irish sphagnum bog!), and to top it all off, the cup-winning goal was scored by our 18-year-old centerback Riccardo Caprioli.
Our other friendlies came against Legnano (whom we beat 2-0) and at the Camp Nou (where we lost to Barcelona 2-1).
IV. Alliances
With an eye on completing the rare reversal-of-patronage maneuver, I asked the board to make Sampdoria, our ex-parent club, our feeder. Sampdoria must really be in a panic about their relegation, because to my surprise, they agreed:
V. Gross Domestic Product
At the start of the summer, I was named Serie A Manager of Year, Michael Dogan was named Foreign Player of the Year (Ibrahimovic finished third), and Gabriele Contini was named Italian Player of the Year. Teixeira finished second in the Top Goalscorer race (he scored the same number of goals as Francismar, but Francismar did it in two fewer starts). Dogan, Ibra, Contini, and Teixeira were all named to the Team of the Season. Jacob Larsen finished second in the Goalkeeper of the Year poll.
At the end of the summer, we won both the Supercoppa Italiana (played between the winners of Serie A and the winners of the Coppa Italia—in this case Juventus, whom we beat 2-0) and the UEFA Super Cup (played between the winners of the Europa League and the winners of the Champions League—in this case Milan, whom we beat 2-1 at the Stade Louis II in Monaco).
Neither competition was a burning priority for us, but it's nice to beat Milan in anything, and nice to pick up a couple of shiny objects for the trophy room at the new stadium.
VI. Projections
So all in all, it was a really enjoyable summer. As a last bonus, the revamped training program we adopted a year ago seems to be getting results. We now have a few youth players who are providing some legitimate squad depth, as well as a couple who are knocking on the door of the first team. Probably the most notable is Paolo Martini, an extremely promising defensive midfielder who came to the club from Milan last season. He gained 53 total ability points last year and is now featuring semi-regularly in the first team.
Start of last season:
Start of this season:
So at the moment, everything looks good. It's impossible to predict the future, and this could easily be the scene in the movie in which the fatcat leans back with a cigar in his mouth and says, "What could possibly go wrong, on this day of all days, October 24, 1929?" But I like the cut of this team's jacket, and I like where it's going. We're not tousle-headed innocents anymore; we are players on this stage, and we are ready to defend our championship.
Wow, has Akassou really been there for eight seasons? Seems like yesterday I was nerviously watching him carve up your left side in the promotion playoff. So sad.
Speaking of feeder clubs, are the other Piedmont clubs on board with Vercelli?
And while ol' Paulo might have gained 53 points in his footballing skills, you forgot to mention the -35 point drop in his cosmetic talents. I mean Jesus Christ thats an awful haircut! Is he trying to do the Jedi apprentice hair braid thing a la Rodrigo Palacio?!? Did his girlfriend forget to dread it this morning?
Completely off topic, but gvb, I am playing as the San Jose Earthquakes, and signed Palacio on a free. Needless to say, I'm still in last.
Given that you're on Via Dante Alighieri, don't you simply have to call your stadium the Inferno? Or the City of Dis? Or perhaps you could emphasize its glory by referring to it as the Primum Mobile.
Magnoni looks like he could be a very good player, and I've never seen the SI developers with their crazy personalities.. Is that because I play with the real players names or can they be REGENS in them too?
Okay, so follow me here: Hell has circles, Purgatory terraces, Paradise spheres. You see where I'm going with this? — so the cheapest seats will be the circles, the medium ones the terraces, the boxes for the suits the spheres. (Yes, I know this requires some shifting of terminology from the familiar. But it's worth it.) Dante's whole universe re-created in a stadium. When people come through the turnstiles you can have someone dressed up as Minos assigning them their places. Maybe build a moat around the stadium so Charon has to ferry people across. This has astonishing marketing possibilities.
And an engraving over the visiting player's entrance which reads "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
Senad's inner turmoil is becoming increasingly similar to that of his real-life namesake. I'm not sure who is emulating whom, however.
And I'd be tempted to go with "Paradiso" for the ground, though it does set the bar a bit high. You might even be able to get a naming rights deal from these guys: http://www.acquaparadiso.it/
Senad's inner turmoil is becoming increasingly similar to that of his real-life namesake.
It's uncanny, isn't it? I keep waiting to hear about his solid-gold stretch Hummer. As it is, I'm just glad I didn't sign "Senad Barton" when I had the chance.
I find that I'm surprisingly open to the idea of playing in Acqua Paradiso Stadium. I'm assuming we'd get complimentary water with a deal like that, which would also cut down on our overhead…
2018 WORLD CUP RESULTS
(you have to see them to believe them)
SECOND ROUND:
Italy loses to Saudi Arabia on penalties
SEMIFINAL:
England beats Brazil 2-1
FINAL:
England beats Argentina 1-0
I thought of making a joke Sun headline, but I couldn't come up with anything that was unbelievable enough.
Five Pro Vercelli players featured in the tournament (David, Contini, Sammarco, Dogan, and Akassou). Sammarco made his penalty against Saudi Arabia. Contini didn't.
Michael Dogan scored four goals and was named to the team of the tournament.
Yes, Italy losing to Saudi Arabia is hard to believe, and England beating Brazil and Argentina to lift the cup even harder, but what makes it impossible for me to assign any kind of veracity to these results is that the United States loses to Spain by only three goals. After last night's bloodbath, we all know that not even the most fanatical American fan should entertain hopes of such a dreamy scoreline.
I'm assuming Spain used to the opportunity to rest their starters and their substitutes and most of their women's team and gave their bus drivers and kit launderers the chance to feature in a World Cup.
Jesus, that was ugly.
I hope the England goal was via an unseen handball that, on reply, was shown not to have crossed the goal line.
Presumably Guus Hiddink was managing Saudi Arabia?
Do real-life managers exist in this fictional world? If so, what are some of the big names up to?
And if not, who ARE the big names and what have they done?
Wow, two game-winning goals in the last two stages of the World Cup, Tony Charles never has to buy his beer ever ever again.
What team does he play for?
I can already smell the ink drying on the 'Prince Charles' headlines. Poor Padaruth – his is a name never knowingly overpunned.
Brian, as the manager of Serie A Champions, were you doing any punditry for Rai Uno during the tournament? Use the time to scout the latest Saudi Arabian wunderkind? Or just kick back at home with Senad and a couple of beers and talk about how different things might have been if you were in charge of Bosnia?
Brett – if you select fictional players – then almost everyone is fictional – there are some oddities, which Brian can explain better than I can, like the case of Oliver Kahn, but other than that players, managers, boards – fictional.
Oh – and as for ground names, a suggestion – if the Silvio Piola was poignantly named after a player whose exit coincided with a slump into mediocrity, perhaps this stadium ought, for the opposite reasons, to be the Walter Colombo.
I love the idea of the "Walter Colombo Managerial Mastercall Memorial Stadium", however, I feel it might not do Walter justice.
Welcome to "The Colombo". Sounds nice, right Brian?
Quick question that may have been answered already, how are the youth facilities shaping up? Improving them will help bring in some youth talent that may be suited to the Serie A.
Cerberus — Tony Charles plays for Everton. He's a 22-year-old central defender. He's scored three goals in 24 appearances for England. Two of them were in the last two rounds of the World Cup, and one of them won the whole tournament.
Do you think he's…popular in England now?
Tim — The youth facilities are state-of-the-art and can't be upgraded any further. The board assures me that every square inch that can be devoted to repurposing a Ninetendo Wii as part of a training exercise, has been devoted to repurposing a Nintendo Wii as part of a training exercise.
Doubt Everton will be able to afford his wage demands after that tournament.
Good to see the Wii Fits you requested had arrived. New initiative – skateboarding. It's great for balance. Get the young Italian kids on 'em and you kids will never be toppled. You'll have a bunch of Weebles out there.
Ok, so this is probably a dumb question with an obvious answer, but since you're always bringing up the quality of your stadium/training facilities: I can't figure out where to go to see the current status of the stadium/facilities in FM. (I do see where to request improvements). Perhaps someone could point me to the right menu?
That stumped me the first time I opened up the new version, too. It's still on the club information screen; you just have to click "Views" at the top right and scroll down to "Stadium/Facilities."
Ah, ok. Kind of you to pretend it wasn't a dumb question.
Brian,
How did you arrange the "Silvio Piola Cup?" Is this optional for all sides or is this a privilege you received as a result of one of your championship runs?
In addition to skateboarding, may I recognize a tried and true favorite: soccer tennis? Its loads of fun, competitive without risking injury, and greatly improves the first touch.
My friends and I actually play soccetball – basically racquetball with a soccer ball – quite frequently, although a 3 touch limit is usually necessary.
To: Brian.Philipps@Provercelli.It
From: Amare.Stoudemare@Liverpool.co.uk
Subject: Unhappy Players
Body: In regards to Ibrahimovic, I've been dealing with a similar situation with both Gourcuff and Balotelli in the past two years. (They are 2/3rds of the backbone of the Liverpool team now that Steven Gerrard is 36, thankfully Mahamadou Sakho, the premier CB in the world, loves Liverpool and is angling for the Captaincy).
Balotelli and Gourcuff both wanted to move on to a new challenge, because they felt they'd accomplished all they could at the club. I was understandably resistant, but gave in to both their demands. I transfer listed Gourcuff at the end of last season, and the moment I transfer listed him, he realized he didn't have the heart to leave his teammates and the club he loves.
This year, the exact same thing happened with Balotelli. I could probably have gotten 40 million for Gourcuff and 60 for Balotelli (He's a two time runner up WPOY and only 26), but everyone on the team lists one of the two as "Vital," and selling either of them would devastate team chemistry.
I acceded to Balotelli as well, and transfer listed him. The moment I did, he came to the same realization that Yoann did–that he could never leave his teammates and the club he loves.
The moral of the story: Once you call their bluff and put them out there all alone, they realize the enormity of moving from a club they're an integral part of to a completely foreign one.
Speaking of 36 year old Steven Gerrard and how this game can mirror life uncannily: At the advanced point that he's at in his career, he can barely stay on the field for more than fifty minutes a game, and it's unwise to play him more than once a week.
But in the first leg of the Champions League Quarterfinal, he blasted a 40 yard rocket past Casillas at the Bernabeau to steal a 1-0 win. We hammered them at Anfield to advance on aggregate 5-1. The same thing happened in the semi-final against Barcelona (not nearly as imposing in 2016 as you'd be inclined to think, although Bojan won WPOY this year). He hit another 40 yard rocket past Valdes (not nearly as impressive a feat), and that opened the floodgates as he had one of the worst games of his career. We were up 4-0 by the 25th minute.
In the final, we played Manchester City, our biggest non-Real-Madrid Rival (Madrid has beat us in the Final once and the Semi Finals twice, and we've beaten them in the Final once as well as the aforementioned QF win). We win 1-0, and how? A 35 yard Cracker from an exhausted Gerrard in the 53rd minute.
This brings me to a question: Jamie Carragher (now 38 and playing Sami Hyppia's role this season) is still Vice-Captain. Steven Gerrard is still the captain despite his decline in fitness and inability to stay on the field day to day. When do I pass the torch?
I remember way back when you started this, Athletic Bilbao was one of the teams you were considering playing with. I started a game with them a week or so ago and it's been great. Definitely a real challenge but I'm doing surprisingly well, sitting in 2nd after 19 games, 13-3-3 record. Only major transfer was bringing in Xabi Prieto from Real Sociedad for 5.5m, just good coaching and tactics really though. Very fun.
And as an addendum to my last comment, I finished the seasn in 3rd place, behind a 1-loss Real Madrid and an almost equally potent Barcelona. Final record is 24-6-7, 78 points. 4th place is Villareal, 6 points behind me. Fernando Llorente finished the season as the league's top scorer with 30 in 35(!!!).
And as an addendum to my last, namely the Gerrard conundrum, Mascherano is now the Captain, Mahamadou Sakho is the vice-captain, and during the last transfer window I found this diamond in the incredibly-not-so-rough. The positioning worries me, but I that will come with time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2.....601190888/
Additionally, he is also my (real) namesake.
Tony Charles get in you beauty!
And also, USA USA USA! Get into the knockout stages finally.
hetz — Click the "type" dropdown when you're setting up the friendly. You get the option to stage a friendly cup, a foreign tour, or a mini-league, in addition to the default 90-minute game.
Brett — Nice job. Let us know how it goes in the Champions League.
Amare — Those technical stats are tremendous for a player who can use both feet. I wouldn't even worry too much about the positioning since his Off The Ball is okay. Great find.