2014-08-20 22:50#191062 Walter : Why did you leave Braga Jack?!I felt I'd done all I could at Braga, and Derby need to be back in the PL so I set myself a challenge!And for a League One club too!
Some great signings so far, especially Nilmar is a great player (but that's because he was great in FIFA 
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October Update
October could have turned out to be a great month had we managed to beat Bury, but ten minutes into the game Bury were already 3-0 up so we were never in the game in the first place. That result was closely followed by a 6-0 trouncing by Premier League champions Chelsea after wingers Willian and Eden Hazard controlled the game. Apart from these two results, the month has been very solid, entering November in 6th place.
Derby County 3 - 0 Doncaster Rovers
Pride Park
Sky Bet League 1
Attendance: 15,628
Anthony Lozano (6, 72)
Andy Delort (90+2)
Doncaster Rovers 1 - 3 Derby County
Keepmoat Stadium
Johnstone's Paint Trophy North 2nd Round
Attendance: 1,615
Nilmar (12, 36)
Rob Jones (59)
Andy Delort (72)
Gillingham 2 - 3 Derby County
Priestfield
Sky Bet League 1
Attendance: 4,544
Leonardo Capezzi (pen 33)
Rafa (39)
Andy Delort (45+1)
Antimo Iunco (53)
Myles Weston (77)
Derby County 3 - 2 Stevenage
Pride Park
Sky Bet League 1
Attendance: 15,943
David Mooney (38)
Zakarie Labidi (40)
Liam Davies (53)
Anthony Lozano (67)
Federico Viviani (84)
Bury 4 - 2 Derby County
Gigg Lane
Sky Bet League 1
Attendance: 4,294
Pádraig Amond (6, 35)
Andrew Tutte (9)
Hallam Hope (10)
Rafa (12)
Nilmar (45)
Chelsea 6 - 0 Derby County
Stamford Bridge
Capital One Cup 4th Round
Attendance: 31,069
Eden Hazard (7, 38, 44, 73)
Willian (15)
Jeremie Boga (46)
Derby County 5 - 0 Dover Athletic
Pride Park
FA Cup 1st Round
Attendance: 9,334
Anthony Lozano (2, 16)
Nilmar (38)
Zakarie Labidi (44)
Federico Viviani (67)
The Month Ahead
November
November is one of the most congested months on the football calendar, especially for League 1 as we play a huge 9 games which include only two cup games, against Grimsby Town (Johnstone's Paint) and Bradford City (FA Cup). All the rest are League 1 games. Most of the league games seem very winnable, and if we win all of them, we end up with 21 points to our name which will certainly help our push for automatic promotion.
Player of the Month
Kostas Manolas
The Greek has been a huge addition to the side since he joined at the back-end of September. He's has really added stability to what is a reasonably inexperienced back line which consists of four players under the age of 25 years old. Although midfielder James Dunne currently holds captaincy, but Manolas is definitely pushing to be our captain.
Derby County: 132 Years of Change
The story of Derby for the past few years has been pure disappointment for the club's fans. The arrival of former England manager Steve McClaren, 'The Wally with the Brolly' as his nationally known nickname goes, due to the overuse of his umbrella in charge of England sparked optimism around the club following Nigel Clough's dismissal of his managing role at the club he had taken over from Paul Jewell in 2009.
Many knew Clough already due to being the son of Derby legend Brian Clough who led the Rams from the depths of the Second Division, where they had been rooted for 12 years in a row. Clough took Derby from where they had finished the previous season, 18th, right up to winning the league the very next season from his controversial, but successful management style.
Whilst Derby's first season in Division One was successful, finishing 4th in their first season in Division One since 1953, got even better. Derby finished 9th the next season which seemed like it had taken the momentum out of the side but that wasn't it. In the 1971/72 season, Clough led his Derby County to be the champions of England, which was followed by a strong European Cup campaign the next season.
That now seems a distant memory for many fans, and with the new generation of Derby supporters, they haven't had much to shout about since. Managers such as former MK Dons boss Karl Robinson and Dave Jones have taken the reigns at Derby since McClaren's sacking back in December 2013, 3 years ago. It was Karl Robinson who took the club down to League 1 in the 2013/14 season and he was eventually sacked in 2015. This led to Welshman Dave Jones taking over for just one season in which they sold wonderkid Will Hughes for a steal of £1.9m to West Bromwich Albion under Jones' management. They also sold fans favourites Luke Ayling and Johnny Russell for fees of £1.8m and £650k. Under Jones, Derby finished one point off the final play-offs spot which obviously wasn't good enough to keep his job. Jones was sacked by Derby in June 2016.
Then, following weeks upon weeks of speculation came along a rumour which shocked not just Derby fans but football fans worldwide. Champions League winning manager Armando Azevedo had reportedly shown interest in taking the managerial role at Pride Park. This caused huge amounts of optimism on social media and Derby forums. Azevedo had been manager at Braga for three years and in that time won ten trophies. That was enough to encourage the Derby board to offer the Braga manager the role.
In September, Azevedo took over from the role left behind by Dave Jones. He added eleven players from his old club, Braga and it added a continental feel to the club. Something that the lower leagues of English football have never experienced before, and as soon as the team started gelling, that was when the results came. Torrado and Domej added pace and strength to the back line. Rafa, Capezzi, Viviani and Abreu brought flair and creativity in the middle of the park whilst Labidi and new signing Nilmar brought pace and width to either side. Andy Delort and Anthony Lozano have brought goals, 33 goals in just 44 games just shows what a deadly partnership they are proving to be.
Whilst lower league managers prefer a simple 4-4-2 which includes route one football or just very direct football, Azevedo has implemented his own tactic on League 1. He plays 3-5-2. Very risky but it has proven to be very beneficial for strikers and midfielders who can easily pack out the midfield due to higher numbers in the center of the park whilst feeding the strikers with some brilliant passes. Teams have tried to expose the limited numbers in defence but due to the high standard of the additions, the attackers get closed down easily.
Some Derby fans are already going as far as saying that Azevedo is a better version of Brian Clough, they may be right but Azevedo still has to lift a trophy yet to even compete with the attitude and success of Clough. It's been a positive change for Derby, though.
2014-08-22 14:34#191382 Bashy345 : You put such time i'm loving it keep it up!Thanks mate!
A Hero's Return
I realise Derby was a mistake in my career, but that doesn't matter now. I'm back in the business. I'm back at Braga. It's time for me to rule the world once more, starting against Seoul FC in the Club World Cup Championship. A chance for me to add to my successes here.
We touched down on the warm road at the airport, with the plane's engine creating a cool breeze for the arriving passengers. As I took my first step off the plane, it felt good. Good to be back. Back where I belong, Braga.
I approached passport control, the man took one look at the passport, one look at me.
"Are you Armando Azevedo?" He said, his face surprised.
"Yes, indeed I am." I replied, without any hint of glee in my voice. It was all trapped inside me rather than my voice.
"Then what are you doing back here, in Braga?"
"Ah, you'll find out in a few hours. Get back to your job." I said, smiling at him.
I approached the luggage collection, many people almost immediately recognising me and taking photo's of me, no doubt they were going on social media soon.
I approached my taxi driver who was holding up his cardboard sign which read 'Mr Azevedo'.
"Estádio AXA please sir." I ordered.
"Armando! Are you back at Braga for business?!" He asked
"Well, I've agreed a contract at the club so you could say I am yes, unfinished business."
"Unfinished business you say?!"
"Yes, I know that we won the Champions League, but why can't I do it again?"
"Very good point sir, we've been playing well but you can tell the Azevedo spark has gone from the team, Pirlo was sold! That made me angry, considering such a legendary personality was free to leave, we should have got him in a coaching capacity I think."
"Yes, you never know. He could come back."
As we stopped at the traffic lights the taxi driver whipped out his phone from his pocket. He was going onto Twitter.
"Azevedo my friend, could I have a picture please?" He inquired.
"Of course!" I said, smiling for the photo.
"Thank you sir!"
He then proceeded to type something in on his Twitter account. The news was about to break...
We arrived at the stadium, greeted by some fans who were shopping in the club's shop, I was flooded with people asking for photo's, which they all got eventually.
I then walked straight to the entrance in which I had walked through many times. The security guard called André who, I had become good friends with during my previous time here had welcomed me back. I knocked on the oak wood door - the chairman's office.
"Ah, Armando! Very good to see you again! Welcome back my friend!" He greeted me.
"And you, sir."
"As you know, the contract was agreed the night before your match against Hartlepool so that's sorted. Do you want to see your team? We've added a few, Luca Marrone, Stefano Denswil, Wojciech Pawlowski and Gastón Gil Romero so you may want to familiarise yourself with a few new faces."
"Sure."
I headed down to the training pitch.
Oh it felt good to be back.
So, after I made that lovely banner for you, you are just going to replace it like that? HOW DARE YOU 
Good luck back at Braga
Good luck back at Braga
Azevedo Marks Braga Return With Italian Signing
Braga manager Armando Azevedo has marked his Portuguese return with a special signing for his old, but new team.
Francesco Bardi has joined for a fee of £425,000 from Serie A Champions League contenders Inter Milan following a five year spell at the fallen giants, making just thirteen appearances for the Nerazurri over the course of his spell, in which he was loaned out to Serie B side Novara in 2012, and former club Livorno in 2013.
Azevedo has set the bar high for Bardi, expecting him to compete for the number one spot at the club which German Oliver Baumann currently holds.
"Oliver (Baumann) has been an absolute credit to this club since joining last season, he can say that he has a Champions League winners medal to his name, whilst winning the league in the same season. But Francesco Bardi has brought youth and competition to the table for us. He had a rough time in Italy after starting off bright for Livorno but when his 'dream' move to Interzionale came around, his reputation in Italy had deteriorated.
"He's barely played in the past two years, so there is a bit of rustiness to shake off which I'm confident he shall do very soon. He's a steal for the price we got him for. He's a brilliant keeper and Braga fans will fall in love with him, just watch."
Those were the words of legendary Braga manager Armando Azevedo. Francesco Bardi has refused to speak to the media since his move to Portugal materialised, such is his lack of Portuguese speaking skills but his commanding of his area has earned him a lot of praise in Italy, especially from such a young keeper.
The initial move was meant to be a free transfer, with Bardi joining on the 1st of July, 2017 but Inter and Braga spoke about an immediate move to the north of Portugal hours after the initial move was completed and with Bardi being kept out of the side by captain Samir Handanovic, Inter let him go early.
SC Braga: Support The Youth
This year Braga chairman António Salvador has tried to make a big push in terms of getting Braga fans down to the youth team stadium to show their support for the wonderkids.
Braga under-19's currently top their league, with sixteen games played, they have accumulated forty-six points. One point ahead of bitter rivals Vitória Guimaraes. They also cruised through the Under-19 Champions League Group Stage, in a group which contained world class academy's like Manchester City, AFC Ajax and Besiktas. Braga finished second in the group with Ajax finishing top with eleven points, whilst Braga ended on nine points, two points ahead of third placed Manchester City.
The Under-19's have the game of their lives against Chelsea in the knockout stage though, a team boasting talent such as Mario Pasalic, Kurt Zouma, Nathan Aké and Nathaniel Chalobah. Club officials have done their utmost to get fans down to the Estádio de Maio to support the youngsters.
First team coach Armando Azevedo has hinted that he will be down at the youth stadium to watch the European tie and maybe promote a few players should they impress him.
Braga have an excellent side though. The defence is made up of Englishman Carl Nicholson and Argentinian Miguel Angel Bravo, the midfield which contains Italian Daniele Gatti and Danish Kristian Seiling, and a lethal strike-force of Frenchman Mohammed Messaoudi and another Italian in Flavio Spagnoli.
Although predator Facundo González has left on loan to join German giants Schalke 04, the deadly strikeforce has earned the under-19's forty-two goals this season and have yet to lose a game this season.
nice signing, and i like the focus tere on the youth side!
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