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Sport Clube do Penalva de Castelo, Portuguese Second Division B, group C
Year Founded: 1945
Stadium: Parque Desportivo de Sant'Ana, capacity 2000
Honours: none
06/07
Media Prediction: 11th (of 14), just above the drop zone
Board & fans want a brave battle against relegation.
Squad is woefully thin and untalented, in come 14 players for a combined fee of 1k, out go four, also for 1k.
We start with four wins in a row, but our defensive frailties soon show and we drop to midtable. A few January signings, including a promising 16 y/o centre half, allow us to shore up our defence and our up and down form (WLWLWL) improves a fair bit. Two thirds into the season we find ourselves in 5th position, where we stay until the end, 16 points off the only promotion spot, 28 points above the drop.
League: 5th
p26, w14 d4 l8, gf44 ga42, pts46
Cups sucked arse, out in 5th round after a humiliating 1:6 loss to 2nd Division Santa Clara.
Top scorer and fans' POTY was a Guinean striker whose pace allowed him to run rings around opposition defenders and score 18 in 26, with a rating of 7.31. Other outstanding performers included the promising 16 y/o D C, who averaged 7.75 in 8 games before tearing a calf muscle, and a striker signed on the last day of the transfer window, who scored 6 in 8.
Finances are poor, we lose 50k over the season and end up 30k in the red. The fact that I exceeded the wage bill by 400 pounds might have something to do with that.
Benfica win the Premier League, Maritimo defeat Setubal in the Taça final, Inter take home the Champions Cup and Liverpool get the UEFA Cup.
07/08
Media prediction: 11th again
Board and fans want to battle bravely against relegation.
5 players come in for 1k, two of those are on season long loans from Belenenses, a striker and a goalie. 8 players leave for 3k. My outstanding scout and physio both jump ship to greener pastures and their replacements are nowhere near their standard, making my job all the more difficult.
We started poorly but gradually shifted into gear and found ourselves in the familiar surroundings of 5th position, several points behind the top four and several points above the rest. A late surge lifted us briefly to the dizzy heights of 3rd, but two defeats in the last two games sent us back to 5th. Curiously, we drew only one league game all season.
League: 5th
p26, w15 d1 l10, gf52 ga 38, pts46
Cups sucked arse... sort of. We dispatched amateur sides Ouriquense and Marialvas, then beat Second Division side Rio Ave despite being down to nine men. As a reward we were destroyed 6:1 in the 5th round by a full-strength Porto side, but the cool 400k in ticket sales we pocketed eased the pain considerably.
The Guinean striker had a tough time with injuries, but still scored 20 in 24 games, averaging 7.54. The promising D C stayed relatively injury free and had a great season, averaging 7.56 and chipping in with 7 goals. Other outstanding performers included a veteran Angolan defender with 7.32 and a loanee striker with 10 goals and 7.57 rating.
The cup run put us over 200k in the black, but we're still making losses every month, despite reducing the wage bill.
Porto win the championship and Estoril take the Taça home. In Europe, Inter retain the CL and the UEFA Cup goes to AC Milan.
08/09
Media prediction: 10th
Board and fans: battle bravely.
7 players in for 12k, 7 out on frees. One of the new guys is last season's loanee striker, who was released by Belenenses. We are refused an extension to the keeper's loan, but I feel that one of the two promising GK's in our squad can make the step up. Well, I'm wrong, and by the time I notice the transfer window has already closed, and then their replacement arrives in January with a broken finger. As a result we ship 37 goals in 16 matches and briefly flirt with the relegation zone. The new keeper finally gets fit and concedes 7 in 10, keeping 5 clean sheets and leaving me to wonder what could have been.
League: 6th
p26, w11 d5 l10, gf 49 ga44, pts38
Once again the Guinean striker topped the goalscoring charts, though this time with only 14 in 25, but he added 10 assists. The promising (or should I say star by now) defender again was a rock and averaged 7.54 over 27 games, again getting 7 goals and earning his first u21 cap. A skilful winger signed from Ribeirao got a 7.58 rating and 12 goals and a Brazilian DM provided steel in midfield with 7.31.
There was to be no repeat of last year's cup heroics, as we went out in the 4th round to Operario. As a result we lost almost 200k over the season, but are still just in the black.
This year the champions are Sporting and the cup winners are Benfica. Milan follow up their last season's success by winning the CL, while Manchester United beat Newcastle in an all-English final to lift the UEFA cup.
It looks like your developing a sturdy team here, if your chairman doesn't sell your stars and your 1st team steer clear of injuries, I hope you will do well.
Promotion to the Liga De Honra is hell. Not only do you have to win the league but then you have to come first or second against the other 3 league winning teams. I went that path and was a bit lucky.
Media prediction: 13th (ouch)
Board and fans: battle bravely
During the preseason Fatima come in with a 100k bid for my star defender which my chairman overrules me on. Again we have a bit of cash to spend and the scouts find some interesting players, too bad none of them want to join us. I manage to sign a few by throwing silly money at them, but most just laugh and refuse - 6 players transferred in on frees, 25 players leave for a combined 102k. Most of those out are crappy youngsters, but also the two protagonists of last years' goalkeeping debacle. One of them joins a team in our division and promptly concedes nine goals in two games against us.
With a reliable goalkeeper we quickly climb to the top of the table and play brilliantly, ending up with an eight point lead with six games to go. We then proceed to almost throw it all away, picking up a grand total of one point from the next five matches. With one game to go we're one point clear and need a victory against Operario. 12 minutes into that game we're down to nine men and the prospects look grim, but then my wrinkly old defender heads home a corner and we survive a veritable onslaught from Operario to clinch victory, the divisional championship, and a place in the promotion playoff.
Of course on that sort of form we stand absolutely no chance against the other top teams and come dead last with 0 points and 0 goals.
On a side note, our u19 team wins the championship for the fourth time in a row. Which is strange, because all my youngsters are crap.
League: 1st
p26, w15 d6 l5, gf54 ga28, pts 51
Playoffs: 4th
p3, w0 d0 l3, gf0 ga3, pts0
Guinean striker scored 23 in 27, skilful winger averaged 7.32 over 26 games, and a newly signed defender got 7.22 and 4 goals. Rating-wise we actually played worse than in previous seasons.
Cups sucked arse, out in the second round to O Elvas. Finances are 50k in the black.
Benfica regained the championship, Nacional won the cup. Barcelona beat the Scousers in the CL final and Manchester United retained the UEFA cup.
My youth teams always end up comming last except in Portugal. It's probably the easiest u19 division in the whole wide world even though I ain't ending in the top now because I refused to play.
Media prediction: 6th
Board and fans: stay clear of relegation
In the preseason Fatima again come in with a bid of 100k, this time for my Brazilian DM, and my chairman again overrules me. 10 other players are released on frees, 7 guys are bought for a total of 7k.
From the beginning we hover near the top, move into 1st place halfway through the season and don't leave it until the end, going on a 14 match unbeaten run in the process and setting a new club record. With two games to spare we clinch the championship and promotion to the playoffs, where we are to play against Fatima, Paredes and Trofense.
The first match pits us against Fatima, who stuff us easily 3:1 and injure the Guinean striker for three months. When in the next game Paredes score with their first move, it seems as if a repeat of last year's failure is on the cards, but we somehow manage to score four in the last fifteen minutes and set up an exciting finale to the season. In a scrappy game we beat Trofense 1:0 and finish the playoffs in 1st place; Liga de Honra awaits \o/
League: 1st
p26, w17 d6 l3, gf50 ga22, pts57
Playoffs: 1st
p3, w2 d0 l1, gf6 ga4, pts6
Guinean striker scores 21 times and reaches 100 league goals for us, a pacey DM signed from Setubal averages 7.50, the wingers and centre backs also shine. Arguably though the best player was the versatile Angolan veteran, who at 38 years of age has pace and acceleration of 1, but still managed to get six assists and a rating of 7.20.
Cup was boring, out in the third round to Vizela. Despite making a profit on transfers, we made large losses over the season and our balance stands at around zero.
Benfica win their second championship in a row, Porto lift the Portuguese cup, beating a brave third division side Casa Pia (managed by an ex-Rangers ginger Jock of all people) in the final. Liverpool beat Man Utd in the Champions League final, while Roma win the UEFA Cup.
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