Meldert, Belgium - May 14th 2012 Mid-season table End of season
Whew. And wow. What an incredibly smooth sailing season. I kept expecting it to go wrong, but it didn't. Well, brief moment of slight worry right after applying the patch, when it seemed like my strikers suddenly needed loads more chances to score, but it settled down again after a few matches, so that was probably coincidence.
We never had a comfortable lead. Mouscron in particular held on tight, making every point count until the last match day. But we were pretty much in the lead throughout the entire second half of the season (apart from a week or two when we were second, but tied on points).
The team.
A few new signings and lots of new loans made this an almost entirely new first 11. But it was a balanced team - something I always strive for - and everything just clicked together well.
One absolute star, obviously:
Lukaku
The kid had an even better second half of the season, and just kept on scoring. He broke the club's goalscoring and MoM records. His striker partner - whoever I put in that position - didn't quite perform, but that didn't matter much, this kid scored for two.
Honorable mentions for
Georges Yalic, who made it into the club's record books with his 16 assists, and
Glenn Rucquoy, my only loan signing not from parent team Anderlecht, whose 11 goals are quite respectable for a midfielder.
So, up we go, to Belgium's top division. It has taken only four seasons, with a big fat thank you to all the quality loan players I managed to land over the years.
But now comes the real challenge. The big question is: is Meldert ready for promotion?
The answer: probably not.
Finances and infrastructure will be the main problem - two sides of the same coin.
We've been in the red for two seasons now. At the moment, we're almost back in the black, just 10k to go. With the squad bonus payout, and no matches for a month and a half, that'll drop down again though. But on the other hand, there should be some TV money next season, hopefully that'll counter that.
But we've been selling out our 3400 stadium this season already, so it's likely the board will start another expansion. I'll be curious to see , with the new patch applied now, whether that'll put us several million in the red again, and whether I'll get the blame for that again.
If so, I fear for my job, because I doubt there'll be many good results early on to keep the board happy. On the other hand, I just appeared in the club's Favoured Personnel list, and I'm up for a new contract any day now - at least I'd expect so. Perhaps that'll make it just a touch harder for them to fire me.
The affiliation with Anderlecht will also be disbanded. I should still be able to get a few decent players on loan though. No more than a few, however, because for the first time there will be a limit - no more than three.
Which means I'll need a few more players to put on the, you know, actual payroll and stuff.
I'm kinda hoping that the club doesn't turn full pro just yet (which wouldn't be unusual IRL, but may not be the case in the game).
In any case, I expect a tough season ahead. That is, if I keep my job that long.
but by the 
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