[retired_soldiergrl487]

well after some thought I have decided to go with GimnÃ*stic de Tarragona a small Spanish Club now in the LIGA BBVA but in 06/7 in the La Liga (finishing 20th)

good link on GimnÃ*stic de Tarragona - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimn%C3...lected_Players

upon taking the job the boards expectaions of me are 'a brave fight against relegation' and I have a £270,000 budget to sign new players with...

the squad looks fairly poor and my ass man thinks that we have 'no chance of avoiding relegation unless the squad is significantly strengthened'

i will post some screenies later of squad and the like....


anybody else willing to become tarragona manager and try and keep them in La Liga? anybody done so before?

[retired_soldiergrl487]

looking for a couple of good soild experienced central defenders? any ideas?

[retired_cycleman8]

Well im going to give them a go, try and keep them in La Liga....well try to anyway!!

Gimnastic Chairman Josep Maria Andreu has welcomed you to Nou Estadi, assuring you that you can rely on the full backing of the club's board.

Josep Maria Andreu has indicated that this year's transfer budget will be 575k. The wage budget for this season will be aproximately £230,000 p/w.

In terms of your contract with the club, you have been given a deal until Jun 2007 worth £13,750 per week.

After a quick look at the squad I see familar La Liga names like Javier Porillo, Angel Morales, Albano Bizzari and Alejandro Campano.

The squad will need some strengthening and with little cash it looks like loans will be my saving grace. W

Will update with squad list shortly.

[retired_soldiergrl487]

good lad SkinSaint

at Xmas we are 14th but only three points above relegation zone...if you want any advice on players etc let me know

[retired_cycleman8]

Thanks Jamie

----

Sept 12th 2006 Update

OK after initial inspection the squad isnt THAT bad, but if I hit some injuries it will hit hard.

Ive decided to do the following trading :

Transfers IN

Rodrigo Gral - Free Transfer
Sherman Cardenas - £500k
Ruben De La Red - Loan
Jaroslav Plasil - Loan

Have sold a few surplus players as the squad was a bit too big and needed to free some wages. PLAYERS OUT

So with the season kicking off my squad looks like this :

SQUAD

My Results so far :

2 June 2006 - Home Friendly v Lleida - 7-0 win
9 June 2006 - Away Friendly v Castellon - 4-0 win
13 June 2006 - Home Friendly v Cercle Brugge - 1-1 Draw
19 June 2006 - Away Friendly v Rayo Majadahonda - 3-0 Win
31 June 2006 - Away Friendly v Eibar - 2-0 Win
5 August 2006 - Home Friendly v Sporting Lisbon - 2-0 Win
13 August 2006 - Away Friendly v Villajoyosa - 5-0 Win
19 Ausust 2006 - Home Friendly v CSKA Moscow - 2-1 Win
27 August 2006 - Home League v Betis - 1-1 Draw (Portillo)
30 August 2006 - Away League v Deportivo - 2-1 Loss (Gral)
3 Sept 2006 - Home Friendly v LA Galaxy - 2-0 Win
10 Sept 2006 - Home League v Osasuna - 2-1 Win (Gral, Gil)

An average stuttering start for Tarragona, but the performances have been good and 2 red cards in the first 2 games didnt help.

Will update at the new year!

Skint

[retired_soldiergrl487]

how is that campalano doing he was gash for me and I had to sling him

first game after xmas break we scored on 82 to level against Barca and then had an open goal which Morales kicked out as one of there players was injured...cue the deco free kick to score seconds later

[retired_cycleman8]

Yeah Campalano isnt doing too great and he is on the list, shame as his stats suggested he could be a useful player.

Bad Luck against Barca, i scraped a 1-1 at home against them, but they was all over me.

[retired_cycleman8]

Thursday 1st February 2007 Update

Things are going pretty well for Tarragona as we sit safetly in midtable. A few things need to be addressed for the team to climb the table. None of my 4 strikers have scored more than 5 goals including cup goals. Also im suffering with a lot of red cards away from home, not sure how to counter that but I will figure it out!!!

Only transfer in during the window was :

Tidiane Diao

Current transfers out:
TRANSFERS OUT

Results since last update :

League Away v Zaragoza - 3-0 Loss
League Home v Recreativo - 1-0 Win (Gral)
League Away v Athletic - 2-0 Win (Llera, Plasil)
League Home v Levante - 2-0 Win (Generelo, Llera)
League Away v Real Madrid - 2-0 Loss
League Home v Racing - 2-1 Win (Juan, Portillo)
League Home v Barcelone - 1-1 (Plasil)
Cup Away v Murcia - 1-1 (O.G)
League Away v Sevilla - 2-1 Win (Caceres, Plasil)
League Away v Mallorca - 1-0 Loss
Cup Home v Murcia - 2-1 Loss (Portillo)
League Away v Celta - 1-0 Win (Juan)
League Home v Villarreal - 3-1 Loss (Gral)
League Away v Getafe - 3-1 Loss (Plasil)
League Home v R.Sociedad - 1-0 Win (Irurzun)
League Away v Espanyol 3-2 Loss (Manolo, Gil)
League Away v Valencia 3-0 Loss
League Home v Athletico - 2-1 Win (Llera)
League Away v Betis - 2-0 Loss
League Home v Deportivo - 3-0 Win (Plasil, Gil x2)
League Away v Osasuna - 2-1 Loss (Gral)
LEAGUE STANDINGS

So with less than half the season to go im confident of avoiding the drop, it would take a massive drop in form to relegate my team, and with a strong home record I cant see it happeneing.

Another concern is the amount of money flooding out the club each month. With a ground capacity of 10,000 im losing around 650k a month even though my wages are around 115k per week.

Skint

[retired_cycleman8]

1st July 2007 Update

Unlucky Gimnastic miss out on UEFA Spot

Well the headline says it all really, had a good end of season run and finish 7th, losing out on a UEFA place on GD. Most of my team has left as they were on loan and its looking a bit empty, espcially looking at my transfer fund its going to be a tougher second season I feel.

Results:

League Home v Zaragoza - 1-1 (Portillo)
League Away v Recreativo - 7-1 Win (Plasil x3, Llera, Gral x2, Portillo)
League Home v Athletic - 0-0
League Away v Levante - 2-0 Win (Generelo, Portillo)
League Home v Real Madrid - 0-0
League Away v Barcelone - 4-2 Loss (Plasil, Juan)
League Home v Sevilla - 1-0 Win (Cardenas)
League Away v Racing - 2-2 (Gral x2)
League Home v Mallorca - 1-1 (Gral)
League Home v Celta - 2-0 Win (Portillo x2)
League Away v Villarreal - 0-0
League Home v Getafe - 2-0 Win (Llera, Gral)
League Away v R.Sociadad - 2-0 Loss
League Home v Valencia - 2-1 Loss (Cardenas)
League Away v Athletico - 2-0 Win (Manolo, Portillo)
League Home v Espanyol - 1-0 Win (Llera)
Friendly Home v FC Bayern - 3-0 Win
Friendly Home v CSKA Moscow - 1-0 Win
Friendly Home v Arsenal - 2-0 Loss
Friendly Home v Liverpool - 2-1 Loss

END OF SEASON STANDINGS


So im very happy with the end of season standings, was expecting a tougher season. We are due to move into a new 16000 stadium this season so hopefully that will increase my revenue quite a bit.

------------------------------------------------

Transfers In:

Lionel Scaloni - Racing - Free Bosman
Stefano Seedorf - FC Gronigen - Free Bosman

Transfers Out:

Alejandro Campano - AZ - 1.5m
Marco - Levante - Free Bosman
Anibal Matellan - Ejido - Free Bosman
Alvaro - Cadiz - Free Bosman

------------------------------------------------

The club also announced a link up with the mighty Liverpool, so Im hoping to bring in some good Liverpool talent in, starting with Jack Hobbs.

[retired_cycleman8]

1st Sept 2007 Update

Admin Error leads to Gimnastic being awarded UEFA Sport

After thinking I had missed out on a UEFA place, I recieved a call from Mr Blatter's secretary telling me we had been drawn out against FC Twente in the first round. I laughed and immediately pointed out we missed out, but due to Betis winning the Cup it meant we snuck in.

Ive been pleased how pre-season has gone and the squad has had some major changes, and Ive decided to blow my budget on 2 players putting the club firmly in the red.

------------------------------------------------

Transfers IN
Antonio Adan - Loan from Real Madrid
Andrea Caracciolo - Loan from Palermo
Djibril Cisse - Loan from Liverpool
Alou Diarra - Loan from Lyon Domenico Iuliano - 130k from Siena
Sylvian Monsoreau - 2.2m from Monaco
Lionel Scaloni - Free from Racing
Stefano Seedorf - Free from FC Gronigen
Per Ciljan Skjelbred - 2m from Rosenberg
Roberto Soldado - Loan from Real Madrid

Transfers OUT

Javier Portillo 1.1m + 40% future fee
Rodrigo Gral 26k

-------------------------------------------------

Decided to get rid of the misfiring strikers who were a strain on my wages. Replaced them with 3 on loan strikers with a combined wage of 10k a week, and also they appear to be better so a good deal I think. Adan has been brought in as a back up. Cant believe I got Diarra who will be a major player for me this season.

Results thus far:

Home v Inter - 3-2 Win (friendly)
Home v Everton - 1-0 Loss (friendly)
Home v Lazio - 4-2 Loss (friendly)
Away v Bognor Regis - 6-0 Win (friendly)
Away v Dover Athletic - 3-0 Win (friendly)
Away v MK Dons - 6-0 Win (friendly)
Away v Southampton - 2-1 Loss (friendly)
Home v Shakhtar - 3-1 Win (friendly)
Home v Santos - 4-1 Win (friendly)
Away v Real Madrid - 0-0 (La Liga)

So a tough league fixture to start with and missing a few first team players I was expecting a battering. Indeed they did batter us but we held out and nearly nicked a winner but Cisse hit the bar in the 89th minute.