Sakka Densetsu (The Soccer Legend)

Ground Expansion

The board unilaterally decided on a ground expansion, which I was very happy with considering our stadium only held 100 seats!

The stadium we're using until the expansion is complete holds 375.

New Logo and Kits

We also have an official logo and new kits made. Ikeda-san pulled some strings and got Atlus to sponsor our kits. I'm happy because I'm a big fan of Atlus games. I'm really excited for Persona 6!

2015 Season Recap

Parent Club Announcement

Finally, after cajoling Ikeda-san, I finally got him to get a parent club! $9,340 and hopefully some very good loanees.

Well, for some reason they gave me an option to pick again so I picked S-Pulse since they have great facilities and are in J1.

Mitsugu Oda's Contract

This might be our last chance to win a promotion for a while. Mitsugu Oda's contract is up in a year, and right now he wants way too much money. I don't even want to think about if he leaves, how can you replace 15 goals a year?

Season Preview

With our victory last year, people are not going to get as good of odds as they were last year. Still, we're only projected to finish fourth. I know we can do better than that!

Transfers

There's been a lot of transfers so here's the summary of them.

February 22, 2016
Sasuke FC 0 - 1 Gamba

Maybe both teams were getting used to the clay, but the only goal was Keisuke Ishida's goal late for Gamba.
Player of the Match: Keisuke Ishida (Gamba)

February 27, 2016
Sasuke FC 1 - 1 Sony Sendai

Both teams struggled with attacking but after an early goal by Sony we were playing from behind. Only Mitsugu Oda's screamer saved it from being another 1-0 loss.
Player of the Match: Ryota Arimitsu (Sony Sendai)

March 12, 2016
Marysol 1 - 2 Sasuke FC

A little better, as Shohei Nagata scored a late goal to win it for Sasuke on the road.
Player of the Match: Ryosuke Nagatomo (Sasuke FC)

March 16, 2016
Meli 0 - 2 Sasuke FC

This time, a confident win, but there were some hints of complacency amongst some of the players. Hideya Tsukahara made a great interception, got a free run of goal, and converted the chance into a goal. We also got a penalty to get a 2-0 lead into half and that's how it stayed.
Player of the Match: Hideya Tsukahara (Sasuke FC)

March 19, 2016
Scheinen 1 - 1 Sasuke FC

We had more success getting shots on target but couldn't get them in the net. Scheinen equalized late to deny our victory.
Player of the Match: Yoshito Kawai (Sasuke FC)

March 26, 2016
NTFC Wiese 0 - 3 Sasuke FC

Ironically, we scored more goals after (2) than before (1) Fumihiro Kato's red card.
Player of the Match: Kotaru Suzuki (Sasuke FC)

In Closing

The team is now in playing shape, the tactics have all been drilled into their heads, it's time to drop the curtain on a new season, and hopefully win the promotion we should have last season.

The Rundown

Our first 3 opponents are Ganju Iwate, TDK Shinwakai, and Cambiare. We should have a good start to the season!

April 3, 2016
Sasuke FC 1 - 1 Ganju

We were unlucky today, Ganju scored on their only shot on goal. We could have won if we were less wasteful with our shooting but we didn't.
Player of the Match: Shohei Nagata (Sasuke FC)

April 10, 2016
TDK Shinwakai 0 - 1 Sasuke FC

We picked up a lot of cards. After Yoshito Kawai scored off a corner and got us the lead, one of our players was sent off, so I changed to a catenaccio style tactic with a libero and man marking, but the man marking seemed to be horrible, so I switched back to a 4-3-2. Thankfully, we were able to hold on and keep the 3.
Player of the Match: Yoshito Kawai (Sasuke FC)

April 17, 2016
Sasuke FC 0 - 0 Cambiare

We had chances but struggled with scoring. Thankfully, Atsuchi Uchino played well in goal and salvaged us a point.
Player of the Match: Atsuchi Uchino (Sasuke FC)

League Table: 3/18 Complete

We're only 2 points out of first but it's a packed top-table and we could be scoring more. The 0-0 draw with Cambiare was very disappointing.

Not the greatest start to the season but I still think you can promotion this year after being so close last year. Good Luck!

Let's hope you can have another stellar season, and hopefully get promoted this time

The Rundown

We play against Iwaki Furukawa, Venraure, and Grulla next. Iwaki Furukawa is recently promoted so we should have a good chance, but Grulla will be a real test.

April 24, 2016
Iwaki Furukawa 1 - 2 Sasuke FC

This looked like a close match but it really wasn't. Our defenders kept sweeping up long kicks by the opposing goalkeeper and turning them into counterattacks, but we didn't start scoring until just before halftime. Our lead went up to 2-0 in the second half. They pulled one back, but they didn't seriously look to make a game of things.
Player of the Match: Yoshito Kawai (Sasuke FC)

May 1, 2016
Sasuke FC 2 - 2 Vanraure

Musashi Takai scored 2 goals in the first half for Vanraure and it was a disaster. I yelled at the team and they came back in the second half to pull it level, but we still should have gotten 3 points here.
Player of the Match: Musashi Takai (Vanraure)

May 8, 2016
Grulla 2 - 0 Sasuke FC

I wanted to try to grind out a result so I went with a 5-3-2 with a libero. Unfortunately, it didn't work because Grulla scored early on an indirect free kick. Then they scored again, and Nishida was getting tired so I subbed him out for a striker as I went back to a 4-3-3. We were unlucky to lose as Grulla scored on both their shots on goal.
Player of the Match: Daijiro Okuda (Grulla)

League Table: 6/18 Complete

We're 6 points out of first and something needs to change fast. We're doing well defensively but we need to score plenty more goals.

An alright month, hopefully you can kick into action and get the results you need

Not to bad first couple of months there mate, hopefully you can get promoted this season! Great come back against Vanraure as well and unlucky not to get the win.

May 15, 2016
Sasuke FC 2 - 0 Cobaltore

Cobaltore didn't even get a shot on target as Sasuke picked up a confident 2-goal win thanks to great direct play and prowess on set pieces.
Player of the Match: Kojiro Hatanaka (Sasuke FC)

Job Interview

I was in the middle of training, when I got a phone call from an unknown number. I turned to Shota Yamamoto, my assistant manager, and asked him, "Can you take over training for me? I'll be back in a little bit." He seemd confused, but said "Sure."

I went somewhere private to answer. A businessman-like voice answered the phone. "Hello, Mr. Mizuno. My name is Fumio Kahei, and I'm the chairman of Ehime FC, which is in the JFL. I've just recently sacked my manager, because we're on the verge of the relegation zone. I've heard about your successes in the lower leagues, and it can be a pain to get your team promoted out of the level you're in. Why don't you come in for a job interview?"

My mind went in circles. "A JFL team! Interested in me! But I was loyal to Sasuke FC. Still, this is exactly what I need to kickstart my career, and I'm probably doomed at Sasuke if I can't get them promoted this year. "Sure, when do you want me to come in?" Kahei said, "Tomorrow would be wonderful."

The next day, I went into Kahei's office, and he asked some questions about the wage budget and transfer budget, which I agreed were appropriate. He also asked about philosophies, and I said I would like to play direct football and sign young players to the first team, which I thought might endear me to the board, and were things I wanted to do anyway.

Training

I tried to conduct training for the week as though nothing weird was going on, but I couldn't help but think about the Ehime job offer. I wondered if they would seriously consider me for the job, it seemed likely, considering they specifically searched me out, but still. I think the players could tell something was going on, but Ikeda-san, he seemed oblivious to the whole thing, and no one knew. The media didn't say anything, nothing was leaked. It was too perfect.

Formal Offer

Just hours before we were supposed to play Sendai Nakata on May 22, 2016, some representatives from Ehime FC formally approached me with a job offer, with a contract that offered me over twice as much money as what I was earning at Sasuke, and the philosophies that I proposed at the interview. I am an ambitious man, so I naturally signed the contract. Before I took their car back to Ehime Prefecture, though, I gave a short speech to the players:

"There's no reason why you can't continue to play as well as you have so far this season. I'm sorry I won't be around to see you guys develop as players, but I'm grateful to have had this opportunity to begin my managerial career. Hopefully you guys will continue to build on everything Ikeda-san and I have started, and keep building up the club for another young ambitious upstart to mold into his kingdom. Thank you, and goodbye everyone."

Wow, emotional move there to a bigger club. Hopefully you do very well at Ehime and begin to pave your way into being a world class manager!

Damn....I quite liked Sasuke
Well written update, it's going to be interesting moving to a new club, be sure to raid all your old players (kawai, Kawai, KAWAI!!!)

100TH REPLY! Great work on reaching 100, here's to a couple hundred more

Upheaval

It was an anxious time for everyone at Ehime FC, and me, as they also had a game to play against Saitama SC today. I think Saitama SC is surprised to see me on the other side of the field so soon, as they had won promotion to the JFL through last year's tournament. Also, I'm having to sign some new staff on the fly, and develop some tactics quickly for today's match.

May 22, 2016
Ehime FC 2 - 0 Saitama SC

Going back to my original tactic, I had Ehime play like a whole new team! Ryota Watanabe got us off to a good start with an early goal and our tight defensive shape prevented Saitama from getting many chances.
Player of the Match: Ryota Watanabe (Ehime FC)

In Other News...

Sasuke FC defeated Sendai Nakata 1-0 in their first game without me. It must have been hard for them, but they pulled through!

Get to Work!

Now that I got the first game on short notice out of the way, it was time to reconstruct some of the staff who left after the old manager got sacked.

Back In Action

I took the managerial role at just the right time, as when I joined there were several players out of action due to injuries, but they're starting to rush back into the fold, and that's great, because I have no money to sign players with!

May 29, 2016
Yokogawa Musashino 2 - 1 Ehime FC

They limited our chances and we couldn't advance the ball up the pitch very well.
Player of the Match: Hiromichi Nemoto (Yokogawa Musashino)

Sasuke FC Names Manager

33 year old Kazuya Sogabe has been announced as the new manager of Sasuke FC. His first and previous job was with Valente in Tokai League Division 2.

June 5, 2016
Ehime FC 2 - 2 Nexfaji

Ryota Watanabe had two goals, but two goals for Nexfaji off corners, including an own goal, and Michitaka Akimoto's second red card in as many matches didn't help things.
Player of the Match: Ryota Watanabe (Ehime FC)

Michitaka Akimoto Fined

In an effort to curb Michitaka Akimoto's misconduct, I fined him a week's wages to teach him a lesson. He complained that the fine was unfair, but you can't let the team down by getting red cards!

June 12, 2016
Fujieda MYFC 0 - 1 Ehime FC

With the game tied at halftime, Caio made a great run to score early in the second half. Despite another red card, we hung on to keep a clean sheet and pick up an important road win.
Player of the Match: Eric (Ehime FC)

League Table: 15/34 Complete

We've built some distance between us and the relegation zone, but the real task is to finish in the top half of the table.

Left Sasuke :'(... Anyways good luck at Ehime, and hopefully you'll finish in that desired top-half spot!

OK,

what the hell,

how did I know they wore orange as soon as I read the job interview? Anyway, good luck with Ehime even if I don't have to make a badge and kits for them

June 19, 2016
Ehime FC 3 - 1 Honda FC

Honda FC's Luis Paulo scored two goals in the first half, first for Ehime, then an instant reply for Honda. Ehime took over in the second half, scoring two goals and playing solid defense.
Player of the Match: Tetsuro Ota (Ehime FC)

The Mizuno Effect

Ehime FC fan blogs and magazines have hailed me, as Ehime have 20 points after 16 games, when they only had 10 after 11. They say my ability to motivate and willingness to experiment tactically have brought Ehime big returns early, but even the best of honeymoons have the potential to turn sour.

Sasuke FC's Youth Facilities Upgrade is Complete

Sadly, I won't be around to see it, but Sasuke FC have finally finished their youth facilities upgrade. Hopefully it will help them break into the JFL.

June 25, 2016
Yokohama Sports & Culture Club 1 - 0 Ehime FC

We kept getting called for fouls, and Yuta Murase's goal in the second half didn't help when we struggled to move the ball up the pitch.
Player of the Match: Kazuma Yada (YSCC)

July 3, 2016
V-Varen 0 - 2 Ehime FC

With Ryota Watanabe's two first half goals and the defense not allowing a single shot on goal, Ehime cruised to a surprising road win.
Player of the Match: Ryota Watanabe (Ehime FC)

July 10, 2016
Ehime FC 0 - 0 FC Ryukyu

In a way, we were both lucky and unlucky. Lucky, in that Wendell saved a penalty for us that would have cost us the game, and unlucky, in that just after I use my third sub, an injury reduces us to ten men.
Player of the Match: Rene (FC Ryukyu)

The Curious Case of Ryota Watanabe

As you can see, Ryota Watanabe doesn't look very special. However, since I took over the club, he has 6 goals, where he has only scored 2 before. I wonder what's the deal with him?

League Table: 19/34 Complete

Things are going much better than they were before, but we need to keep climbing the table, 11th won't do.

(Sorry Louis O. If it makes you feel better, I am still subscribed to Sasuke so I still see your logo every time they come up. :D)