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Large DB, pretty much every country I saw in South America, plus Mexico and USA. (In retrospect, hey, I know why it goes so slowly....)
I opt for Chile, in honour of an old friend. I totally miss that Frank is real, so I mull over my choices, and opt for the smallest value franchise and lowest predicted finisher.
Curico Unido
2007
Media Prediction: 12th (of 12)
I have no idea how the leagues work, so I have to learn the rules as I go.
I do, however, learn that there are, in fact, no scouts in Chile.
Season starts. We're a threat at either end. Our veteran striker can score on anyone at any time, and no lead is safe. Of course, none of our leads is safe, either. It's not a great combination for my blood pressure, but out ability to steal games keeps us clear of the relegation zone.
First Round: 5th of 12: W: 8 D:9 L: 5 P: 33 D: +5
The good news is that we're clear of relegation. \o/ Veteran striker is scoring something like 0.8 goals per game.
The second round starts, and veteran striker gets injured. The combination of our scoring drying up and still being porous at the back is lethal.
Second Round: 7th of 8: W: 2 D: 4 L: 9 P: 43 D: -10
Somewhere in there, the board decides we should be a feeder to Atlanta of Argentina. No idea why, they're arguably a worse team than we are. Whatever.
They also offer me a 3 year contract. \o/
In other new, Bolton Wanderers' Moaning Frenchman wins World Footballer of the Year!!
West Ham's Ugly Striker was third....
A decent transfer budget of $70k (US), along with some scouts finally appearing, gets me going. I'm pretty deep at striker, but need help everywhere else, especially defense
In: 6 signings, including Creative Versatile Midfielder, Aerial Defender, and Impulse Buy Striker *facepalm*
Out: 2
Media Prediction: Mid-table
The defensive purchases pay dividends. Veteran Striker is a shadow of his former self, but Young Striker picks up the slack. We start out mid-table, and late in the campaign string together a few key victories.
First Round: 3rd of 12: W: 10 D: 6 L: 6 P: 36 D: +3
\o/
...but not so much. We're still poachers. The media can't believe some of our victories, and nor can I. We're riding our luck with young striker, but for how long?
At least we're free of relegation.
The second round starts, and we're still riding our luck. In fact, no team is really dominating the league. We start out in reach of the leaders, and late in the season surge to the head of the table. Could we actually be promoted?
With 2 matches left, we're 1 point up on 2nd and 3rd. Luckily for us, they're playing each other. If my math is right, we'll be guaranteed top 2 if we win, and automatic promotion.
We win. \o/
Second Round: 1st of 8: W: 9 D: 1 L: 4 P: 64 D: +8
Two things spring to mind:
1. This will be a boon for the club debt, which is around $800k
2. We're SO doomed.
We were outplayed a lot in First Division B. The First Division is going to kill us.
Oh, I should mention, Creative Midfielder was the top rated player in the First Division B in 2008. He was also 2nd best signing, which nicely balanced my second worst signing award. /o\
The board and fans would like for me to avoid relegation. Yeah, so would I.
The TV revenues wipe out more than half of the club debt. The board reward me by giving me a transfer budget just less than 1/3 what last year's was.
Um, wow.
Unexpectedly, I get an offer for Creative Midfielder, for 3x what I paid for him. It's a huge sum. As I look over my scouting list, I notice that the player the like the most happens to play for the team who want to buy C.M. I hate to sell CM, but I figure I could use the money to buy multiple players. I counter that I'll sell for all the money, plus Winger Striker. They agree!
In: 4 for 100k ($US)
Out: 3 for 255k
Once again, the rules catch me off guard. In First Division B, you get 2 months of transfer window at the start of the season, and that's it for the whole year. In First Division, you get 2 months in June/July, but only 3 weeks at the start of the season. I end up being SHOCKED by the "1 week left to the transfer window", and only manage to secure one key player - a goalkeeper who we'll call Clown.
(For the record, I SWEAR I saw hime join the rush in the 24th minute of a match once!)
The Open stage (Apertura) starts. We float around just below the midpoint for a while. Our scoring has run dry, though, and we're barely holding on. Towards the end, we swandive magnificently.
The transfer window opens, as some bizarre playoff takes place, of which we naturally play no part.
Somewhere in the spring, I cancelled our feedership to Atlanta. As soon as the summer transfer window closes, the board signs us up to be feeders to Estudiantes de La Plata. Estudianted are a MUCH better club.
In: 6
Out: 0
I beef up my midfield, but also try to acquire youth. One young argentinian who snubs me ends up being released on a free, so I swoop him for much less than he wanted. Ha!
We play much better in the second half, holding some good clubs to close results. Close only counts, though, in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Note that's the exact same record as the first half. Bleh.
We finish 18th in the overall, and go to a relegation stage, with the 17th finishers, as well as the 3rd and 4th finishers of First Division B.
(As an aside, I figured out the playoff stage. The First Division gets randomly drawn into 4 groups of 5. You play the regular schedule, but the top 2 in each group go to a playoff stage. Bizarre.)
Originally posted by avstwentyone:
Player naming, mate.
Gah, you mean the Footballer of the Year stuff? Gah, it never even occurred to me that that would fall under naming. Guess it stands to reason, though. Sorry, mates.
If it's any consolation, the only reason I mentioned was for humour value.
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