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San Marino Challenge 2008
It's back and it's, er, more or less the same as it was before. As before, the challenge is pretty simple. Take the San Marino club side from the lower Italian leagues to Serie A and the second part is to qualify for an international tournament with the international side. You can do this in any order you please and have two managers if you want.
Setting Up Your Game
Leagues: Italy down to Serie C2 and any others you want to choose
Database Size: Your choice
Retain Players From Nation: San Marino
Rules
This is just for fun so there aren't really any rules. If you want to cheat to enjoy this challenge then go ahead and cheat, but don't come on the forums boasting about your progress if you have cheated.
The sacked for over achieving bug seems to be fixed. might have a go at this, im getting bored with managing Vauxhalls all the time. Plus ive always loved the idea of taking San Marino to the world cup
Please note, I'm a long way through this, so screenshots are at a premium for the first few updates. Apologies for this
A New Era at Serravalle?
Following the San Marino side's disastrous relegation to Serie C2/B, the board have taken the bold step of appointing an unknown from the Monte Titano region of the capital.
Daniele Spottiginio had an undistinguished career with the Juvenes side before injury and the realisation of his own crapness prompted his retirement and move into management.
The board have awarded him a two year contract with the express aim of turning San Marino Calcio into a "Major Player in the Serie C2/B" by the end of the two years.
Spottiginio in his welcome press conference admitted to having not the first ****ing idea what that is supposed to mean, but has promised to do his best for the Titani and their loyal fans.
2007/08
Serie C2/B: 3rd
Pld 34, Won 14, Drn 13, Lst 7, For 45, Ag 37, GD +8, Pts 55
A pretty decent first season for us, all things considered. I inherited an aging squad that needed some pretty serious overhauling to start to get the profile that I wanted. The goals of Carruezzo were vital, along with the loans from Cesena of Jidayi, Bova and Cristea in particular. The third place finish saw us into the playoffs, where we were paired with SPAL, a team who had taken 4 points from us in the league season. And the play-off semi was no different, as we were beaten by a goal to nil in both legs.
The Serie C cup was a competition with no expectations placed upon us by the board. Which was lucky, as we went out in the group stage.
Sadly it took me about six months to realise just what sort of state the finances were in at the club, and that despite the board giving me around 14k a week to spend, they really didn't have anything like that available. By this time I'd signed a number of players from the San Marino clubs, as well as elsewhere on medium-term deals, and we up to my limit on wages. Cue six months of offering nigh on every player I had out, for £0, to anyone who was interested. And still we got to 500k overdrawn. With the board battering my door down and "distraught and devastated over the state of our finances", what else could I do?
Obviously no money to improve the facilities at all, and the board were telling me in no uncertain terms that winning the league and sorting out the financial situation were the only things likely to win me a contract extension.
Intrernational side were woeful. No goals, no points. Their manager seems incompetent too...
Lots of work to do over the summer, but a free run at Cesena's reserves should help.
Apologies for the slight delay. We had to go and make an emergency pineapple upside-down cake. And the Arsenal - Sevilla game is quite distractingly interesting too..
2008 / 09 Season Update - spotg
2008/09
Serie C2/B: 1st
Pld 34, Won 25, Drn 8, Lst 1, For 86, Ag 33, GD +53, Pts 83
2007/08
Serie C2/B: 3rd
Pld 34, Won 14, Drn 13, Lst 7, For 45, Ag 37, GD +8, Pts 55
We absolutely destroyed the league. The figures show our superiority. Unfortunately, to all intents and purposes, the "we" was Cesena Reserves, as I had to basically give away every contracted player to try to do something about the abject financial situation. Ferrini, Zanigni, Mazzotti, Buda, Jidayi, Bova and Cristea all came in on free loans from Cesena, and all played the majority of the season. Add to them the free signings of youngsters from abroad who only wanted £500 p/w - Lartey from Leverkusen, Erkaya from Schalke and Nijs from Belgium, and we had a side that romped home. Cristea and Zanigni both scored > 20 goals. Lartey and Erkaya both got > 15 assists. And the defence was miserly, despite my relatively gung-ho approach. Our only defeat came early in the season, away to a mediocre Juve Stabia side. Amusingly, passing us on the way down were the once mighty and now debt-ravaged Reggiana.
Got to the second round of the Serie C cup, with some good results against higher placed sides, before Pescara did for us.
Wins over Massese and Andria secured the Serie C2 super cup too, to leave the board thrilled with my performance, and the award of a new three year contract. Long-term target was to establish the team in serie C1.
Finances were now just about under control, and we were holding steady at around 200k in the red, thanks to the removal of most of the squad, and the board helpfully injecting cash every month or so.
No change in levels of facilities at the club, or the woefulness of the national side who were still yet to score a goal in competition play.
The promotion to C1 was vital, as hopefully the stadium will fill up again, and we can start to build a squad....
2009/10
Serie C1/B: 5th
Pld 34, Won 16, Drn 8, Lst 10, For58 , Ag 41, GD +17, Pts 56
2008/09
Serie C2/B: 1st
Pld 34, Won 25, Drn 8, Lst 1, For 86, Ag 33, GD +53, Pts 83
2007/08
Serie C2/B: 3rd
Pld 34, Won 14, Drn 13, Lst 7, For 45, Ag 37, GD +8, Pts 55
Our joy at reaching Serie C1 was unconfined, and then as the season started, it became confined. "San Marino's board has cancelled the link with Cesena, due to them playing in the same division". The bastards got relegated (to C1/A), and we had to waste precious weeks of recruitment hoping for a good replacement, and then hoping that they still had people available to loan. Two weeks later, that joy was lacking confinement again, as the communists of Livorno agreed to share their wealth with us. Five came in on loan, along with a couple of Hungarian U-21s who looked good, were available on a free, and agreed to a trial.
We still suffered from a shaky start to the season, with an early exit from the Serie C cup, and flirting with the bottom well into the new year. However, the finances were recovering, and a couple of player sales finally allowed us a little transfer money. A bid was immediately placed for last season's hero Cristea, who mystifyingly was out of favour at Cesena.
January 9th 2010 will become a red letter day in the history of San Marino Calcio, as Christian Cristea agreed to sign for a club record £40k. Immediately he was asked for opinions of Romanian U-21 team-mates to bring with him, and a week later, Tudor Mandrusca followed.
The Romanian pair, and another Hungarian recommended by Takacs made an immediate impact, and we lost only one more match all season to storm into 5th place and the play-offs, goals being shared between Cristea, Mandrusca and (the deceptively quick) Immobile who had come on loan from Livorno.
The play-offs saw us paired with Taranto. A much much bigger club, whom we had destroyed 4-1 earlier in the season. However, the fear was they'd want revenge, and despite a 2-1 victory at home, they rolled us over 3-0 at their place to knock us out.
Financially, we were starting to hold our own, but still not making much money, still in debt, and still unable to break that cycle. So still no improvements to anything about the place.
Similarly, no improvement to the national side, and no sign of the inept manager being dismissed...
Originally posted by Boskovic:
The sacked for over achieving bug seems to be fixed.
However, after scouring the bugs forum, it seems that its been replaced by a 'board thinking the playoffs are to avoid relegation' bug. I made the playoffs twice and it seemed that the San Marino board thought that meant I only just scraped out of being relegated instead of coming 90 minutes away from promotion.
Ideally I'd like to load one of my autosaves and get my new contract that I deserve, but I'd hazard a guess that the next patch wont be out until Feb, so until then its Merthyr Tydfil - at least the English leagues have been tested, so less chance of killer bugs.
San Marino "double" Challenge 2008 
The bastards got relegated (to C1/A), and we had to waste precious weeks of recruitment hoping for a good replacement, and then hoping that they still had people available to loan. Two weeks later, that joy was lacking confinement again, as the communists of Livorno agreed to share their wealth with us. Five came in on loan, along with a couple of Hungarian U-21s who looked good, were available on a free, and agreed to a trial. 
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