F.C. Pro Vercelli 1892

[Smurph]

January 2019

We can buy players again! I signed a few players who will be in the youth squad, again, but I only signed one player who will be in the first-team just now. Gorka

Hmm. I think I should introduce you to someone. His name is Alessio Esposito. I signed him for €3.4M from AC Milan and he should be a star. I've started to play him due to poor form up-front.

and I think I love him. A hat-trick on his début! However, he was injured during the game against Parma, so that's his season over...

We were poor against Triestina and against Atalanta. Esposito saved us against Livorno and Parma were too good. Disappointed with the first two results but three points will do.

Nine points above the relegation spots now. Not too bad I guess. My aim is to finish 13th.

[Smurph]

April 2019

We needed to get a few points on board so we weren't sucked into a relegation battle.

Dear God...

I needed to impress the new board (the deal went through this month) so I needed to get a few decent results. This month was going to be tough - three very good teams and then-bottom team Catania. But wow. That was horrific. A lot worse than I thought. A win against Catania was what we needed and we only managed the one point - though we did go behind twice. Roma and Milan results were unsurprising but I reckon I could have scraped a point against Roma. Puglia, a youth player, was drafted into the team and he did quite well scoring on his début and the game after.

The game against Napoli, though... The game against Napoli. That was painful. Every time they went forward we just couldn't cope and they kept coming and coming. I know that Napoli are a very good team - but to concede seven goals to a team in the same league as you is very hard to take - especially at home. We scored three goals which makes it slightly better but those seven goals conceded were hard to swallow and really does our goal difference no favours whatsoever.

My aim to finish 13th is gone. I just want to prevent relegation now. I don't want to admit that I'm in a relegation battle but it's a possibility. One win in the next four games would probably do us but we need to get this. The lowest points total of any team to have survived was 33 and we're two points away from that. This is massive.

[Swampy]

I've seen teams go down being six points ahead with this many remaining. One win should do it but you never know...

[Smurph]

Season 2018/2019

It was our second consecutive season in Serie A and again my aim was to try and improve on last season - but if that fails, just avoid relegation again.

We were caught in what could be seen as a relegation battle but I felt we were safe if we could just get one win or results went our way. It was going to be tough though and I didn't feel awfully confident.

Poor results against a resurgent Udinese and a title chasing Juventus were to be expected given our terrible run of form - but the loss against relegation threatened Genoa was a tough one to take. Such a heavy scoreline. However, results went our way, and we were safe from relegation again. We dealt with Bari fairly comfortably and I was relieved that we were in Serie A for another year.

Comparing this to last season, we gained nine less points, scored five less goals and conceded twenty three more goals. That's quite a heavy change from last season - but we finished eight points above the relegation place, which was the same as we did last season, so it means it was a tighter league this season. We can be better than this though, and another incredible run of terrible form cost us finishing higher. We really, really need to cut that out and win more. As I've said for ages - our squad is still a very young squad and they're still going to improve over time, and the youth players that I've invested heavily on will gradually come into the fray and play games for us. It may have been a disappointing season, but we're still finding our feet in the league. We will start to rise soon.

Our best players this season were midfield maestro Remi Salles. Three goals and six assists in the league. He's still going to improve in years to come and I hope he stays at the club. If he goes, I'm sure a heavy transfer fee will be involved.

Jean-Paul Leonard, our Cameroon-born left-back, was excellent again this season. He scored two goals and assists four times, but he was solid in his position.

Micheli and Le Moal finished our top goalscorers with 6 goals each. Both played around 17 games which isn't too bad a return. Le Moal also gave three assists in the six months he was at the club, so he did reasonably well as Izaola's (who scored 10) replacement.

The key is to keep our best players. We lost too many last season due to release clauses, so it's up to me to keep the younger ones and the best ones tied to the club for as long as possible. We can't afford to sell them to other clubs in the league.

[DarkBlue62]

Fantastic reading!. I'm expecting you to do more good things next season!

[Smurph]

I hope so too!

Pre-season 2019

This season we see a new owner and a new stadium - The Pro Vercelli Stadium. An imaginative name, I know. It turns out that the win against Bari at the end of last season was the final game to ever be played at the Silvio Piola so it was good to say farewell to the ground with a win. The new owner was also in place and he asked me what me season expectation were:

I think I like this new owner! That is a lot of money. I chose to avoid relegation again. That's the aim. I could aim higher but anything that I manage to do will be a bonus on-top of that. With my massive transfer budget, here are my transfers:

Burcea, despite his interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United last season, really hasn't hit it off - so I put him out on loan for a season with the intention of selling. If he does well for them, I may reconsider, but for now he is not in my plans.

Rosati was one of the kids I signed in B who I had high hopes for, but he was sent out on loan a few years and hasn't developed as I wished. We managed to make a €1.2M profit on him though, so I'm pleased with that.

Yeray was signed from real Madrid on a free last season but hasn't done very well. This is the first EVER player I've put on a co-ownership deal. I hope Foggia keep him.

Ledesma was a tough one to depart with. He was with us for eight seasons, but I decided that it was time for him to leave. He was an incredible servant to the club, making 242 league appearances for the club, scoring 44 times and assisting a further 76 times. It's a shame he's not listed as a club legend or anything, but he is to me, and if he does well as a staff member he's definitely coming back. Thanks for the memories, Emmanuel.

Sau and Madsen never developed as I had wished so I let them find new clubs, making a profit totalling over €1M.

The rest of them, barring Bini and Rognone, have a future at the club, and I was delighted to get so many of them on loan deals this season. I feel loan deals are better than sitting in the U20's so I hope they can benefit from first-team football in most of their cases.

Signings:

Samuel is a Spanish striker who I have massive hopes for. He was worth €2.1M but was on the transfer list. Bargain.

Ambrosi is a kid who will be in the youth squad for the season but he's going to be a star hopefully.

Buonagura will be our first choice goalkeeper for the season. He's still young but is rated better than De Goisa and Casali (who has been dropped to the U20's squad this season). He looks quality and I hope he can fulfil his potential.

I had to. I simply had to. When I noticed he was released on a free from Inter I needed to try and get him in. He brings experience to the front-line and I reckon he's still got goals in him despite how he's rated. He's only here initially on a one-year deal but we'll see how he does. I was wanting to partner him up with Montolivo again, released from Fiorentina, but he chose Cottbus over us.

With Rizzi going out on loan, Dolci moves into the centre of midfield alongside Sálles, so I needed a new defensive midfielder. This lad caught my eye. He was rated very highly when at Caen and I hope he can continue his excellent performances.

That's all I brought in, so I didn't spend anywhere near the amount of money the board gave me. I didn't feel I had to.

And this is our squad for next season. Salles will be in charge.

Funny story, actually. I had initially signed Ritter to replace Salles. Roma came in with a bid of €22M for him which triggered his min. fee release clause. I was prepared to let him go for a fee like that but I offered him a contract anyway. To my delight, he accepted. I love the man now. He's also a favoured personnel to the fans.

The fixtures, then.

Pleased with that. Good to see strong wins against Bordeaux and Villarreal, and we did all right against Mallorca. The result against the U20's was poor but we'll pretend that never happened. It was good to see Le Moal and Pazzini score given they'll probably be our favoured front pairing. Good for other players to grab goals too.

We played Serie B Pisa in our first cup game. I expected an easy win.

Oh.

Er.

We're concentrating on the league...

[The Troll]

Brilliant story Mr Smurph! Hope you can push on with support from your new owners, I've been waiting to be taken over for 10 seasons now

[Mr. Brightside]

FORZA PRO VERCELLI!

[Smurph]

September 2019

I wanted us to continue our good pre-season form into the actual league. Those results count for nothing if we can't bring them to the front domestically.

I'd say overall, that's pretty decent.

Strong wins against Napoli and Roma at home gave us a solid 6 points and draws against Atalanta, Sampdoria and Bologna earned us an extra three points. The Atalanta and Sampdoria games were tight but we should have finished Bologna off. They scored a last minute equaliser courtesy of a Balaj mistake. I was disappointed at dropping two points.

Too early to call anything but the table's looking all right. It looks like Vicenza will be the whipping boys. It wouldn't surprise me if we're the only team they beat!

[ginge123]

I've just spent the entire second half of my bus journey from Aberdeen to Glasgow reading this story. I only clicked into the thread because looking anywhere but my phone was wreaking havoc with my hangover but I think I might just have fallen in love with this story. Fantastic!

[Smurph]

Glad you're enjoying it!

October 2019

We had been doing really well so far and a slump in form was probably to be expected given what's happened in previous seasons. A tough trip away to Juventus I felt was going to be the start of it all...

Yeah, we lost, but it wasn't too bad actually. An early goal saw them gain the three points but an absolute wonder-goal by Hauck saw us win against Bari, and a strong performance got us the points at Empoli. Against Fiorentina, we took the lead very late on in the 82nd minutes, but they went straight back up the park and equalised. A good performance though, and Dolci, Pazzini and his replacement Bennetti all got injured in the first half, so I couldn't change things about. Dolci is out for two months but the others are fine.

7/12 points isn't a bad return at all - especially with three away games.

The league is wonderful viewing to be honest. I really hope we can keep this up!

[Smurph]

November 2019

Now for the decline in form.

Well?

The game against Cagliari was a bit of a roller-coaster. We went 1-0 up, to then go 2-1 down but managed to win 3-2 in the end. Our two strikers and the incredible Hauck getting the goals. The game against Triestina was a little disappointing but Benetti scored a last minute winner to collect the three points. Lazio was always going to be tough but we got a decent point - Lazio scored in the first half when we dominated, and we scored in the second half when Lazio dominated. Finally, a demolition of Genoa was in order. Hauck scored another wonder goal, Le Moal got a brace, and my main man Pazzo scored his first league goal for the club. A truly excellent result.

and that quite frankly is sublime. I have nothing to say. The league speaks for itself. Look at it. LOOK AT IT.

In other news, I have good news, and bad news.

The bad news:

Bordeaux came in for an offer, Rizzi accepted, and ultimately our captain Salles accepted. Really, I don't blame either. €22.5M is an incredible amount of money and I hope I get a large chunk of it to try and find a replacement for the wonderful Salles. He's been fantastic in the three and a half seasons he's been at the club, and he's been even better this season. I can only wish him the best, really.

Orsolini is expected to leave too after Rizzi accepted a €3.3M offer for him - which is more worrying. I hope it's only because he's a fringe player.

The good news:

Hello there.

Maringá comes in as a free transfer from Elsborg in Sweden. He comes in as my best player already.

[Mr. Brightside]

Fourth. Fucking fourth!

[ginge123]

Fucking hell, €22.5M?! Would you say he was actually worth that or have you came out of it fairly well?

[Smurph]

Fucking hell, €22.5M?! Would you say he was actually worth that or have you came out of it fairly well?

Roma offered €22M for him in the summer and it triggered his minimum release clause, but I offered him a new contract (in hope, more than anything) and he accepted. I couldn't do it this time.

It's a massive amount of money and I reckon we have done well for him - but if I had been offered that and had the option to decline, I would have declined. Perhaps that sounds silly, but as you know, I focus heavily on the youth players. That's very well, but it takes years for them to become decent Serie A players, and Salles was already at that level.

I have a large chunk of my transfer budget still, and the sale of Salles should give me even more (plus, I'll be changing the season expectations) so I should be able to find a replacement - but it will involve a heavy fee.

[Smurph]

I don't normally post just specific games, and this won't be a habit, but I need to share this as I'm going out for a bit and probably won't update again tomorrow.

Our first game in December was against AC Milan in the San Siro. Obviously Pro Vercelli are having an incredible season by their standards, but this is Milan. They're doing brilliantly in the league as per usual and anything that we could get from this game is a bonus. I would expect our 7-game unbeaten streak to be broken at this game.

Yeah.

Honestly: This is probably my proudest moment in Football Manager and perhaps my best ever result. I've been smaller teams before and beaten teams of this magnitude, but this is absolutely outstanding. To go 2-0 up away to Milan in itself is an incredible feat and to eventually not lose is just such a sublime feeling. We matched them at absolutely everything and took everything they had to throw at us. The last ten minutes of the game was probably the most nervous I've ever been playing a Football Manager game - and this involves several Champions League finals. They absolutely hammered us in that time and every minute seemed like a week - and there were numerous goal-line clearances and Buonagura had to pull off some one-on-ones - but we did it. When the final whistle went, I jumped out of my chair and shouted "YAAAASSSSS!!!!" probably louder than I do at football games, and I shed a tear. I know that sounds quite sad, but I really don't care at this moment in time.

FORZA PRO VERCELLI.

[Smurph]

December 2019

So how did we get on after that incredible result against Milan?

A reasonable win against bottom side Vicenza, where centre-back Felice got injured for a few games, and then we dropped a few points. Udinese were really good despite their league position and our unbeaten run was ended away to Palermo who then leapfrogged us in the league. Two of the goals in those two games were from corners, and it's where Ferrero was positioned, so perhaps it could have been different. I can't really complain about any of that though. It was good to see Maringá get his first few goals for the club and I hope he and Le Moal can form an excellent partnership.

It's still quite incredible where we are. We have one of the best defences in the league which really helps our average goalscoring record. We're fifth though, with one game until we're half way through the season against Parma at home. If we can get one point from that game - we have the same number of points we had for the WHOLE of last season. That is sublime.

January obviously sees the transfer marker come into play and with Salles and Orsolini leaving, I can tell you that the chairman Rizzi has also accepted a bid for another one of our players - and this time it's big too. I won't tell who, but I can see us losing quite a few players in this window. I can't really complain - we're performing a lot better than I had expected (I did think we'd be around mid-table perhaps) so it's hard to see our team being broken up like this - but I will try my best to get in a few new players if not integrating more of the younger players. We'll need to see how it pans out.

[Smurph]

January 2020

So, Salles and Orsolini have departed the club. Who else was to go?

Diego Felice. Signed from Empoli for €7M one and a half years ago, he became a solid player in the heart of the defence. We managed to double the amount of money we got him for, but it's still tough when our team keeps getting dissected like this. I expect Ferrero will come in to replace him again and Valencia (Chilean lad) has been moved from the U20's to the first team.

So, with three players leaving, who did we bring in?

No-one special. I signed three youth players - a right back, a centre back and a striker. They won't feature for a while and cost about €5M all in. However, we have a player coming in the summer (he actually cost money, but because of the horrendous rule that only one non-EU player can sign per season, and Maringá qualified as one of those, I need to wait for him to come) but oh, he will be worth it.

Right, so to January.

It's happened. It's finally happened! We've had the horrible turn in form that we all expected would happen. Three game losing streak and a draw but we turned it around against Roma. Parma were above me and Napoli were sniffing about but to lose by such a thin result is disappointing but pleasing all the same. A poor draw against Atalanta looked bad but a cracking away win against Roma did us well and Le Moal banged in the goals again.

We were without Maringá for the last two games, and we will be for the rest of the month because he was feeling homesick, and me being the lad that I am, said he can go home for a month. I hope this isn't a reoccurring thing though.

We're still up there. We need to keep going strong.

[ginge123]

The worst part of any success is the inevitable bids that will come in and, in most cases, be accepted by chairmen. Easily the most annoying thing to happen in FM.

[Smurph]

Aye. It happens all the time. I guess it is what happens to an extent, but we could have got a lot more for Felice...

February 2020

...and it's happened again.

Two really poor results against Sampdoria and Bologna, an expected loss against Inter Milan and a fantastic win and wonder-goal from Pazzini secured a win against Juventus. But it's happened again.

After the turn of the year, we seem to just turn to mush and can't pick up wins consistently. This happens every single year. I can understand we've lost two of our best players, but it's not as if we're conceding hundreds of goals. I just don't understand...

If we can start to pick up some form again, I reckon we could finish as high as fifth. Seventh isn't bad at all to be fair, and I would be happy with the top half, but given how our season started, we should be better than that.