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Conquering the Americas

Started on 21 November 2009 by joannes3000
Latest Reply on 17 February 2010 by joannes3000
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You're looking real good in your second phase, congrats on the wins. Shame about the finances, hopefully you'll be able to leave together with your out-of-contract players :P
Your doing really well at the moment. I'm enjoying the story so far. I'm sure the finances will sort themselves out. Lets just hope a random business tycoon comes knocking on the door
Thanks for the kind words, guys. It's definitely tough to have my hand forced in the transfer market like that. I've managed to sign some of my key guys, but I'm afraid that without a bump up in our wage budget, we're just not going to be able to fight for promotion. I'm hoping this strong showing in the second phase gets ownership on board with the positive movement! I get excited to "see" our home stands getting more crowded with green shirts, although our best crowds of ~800 are dwarfed by the average attendance of the higher clubs that draw a few thousand.

On a personal note - my coaching reputation has gone up a notch. I can't remember which category it is, but I'm now being touted as a talented manager. I'm guessing that's one step up from where I began. I'm hoping this will help me when I start bugging the board for more funds, as well as help draw attention from bigger and better financed clubs. I'm still only known regionally, but I'm hoping that if we can finish the second phase on a high note and possibly make noise during group play, maybe I'll gain a little more notoriety.
League Table

[imgw]http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/6038/2011p2table14.jpg[/imgw]

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Quick screenshot for the momentous occasion - we have clinched a 1st place finish during league play! Fittingly enough, here is the game recap of the clinching match:

Escuela Carlos Sarmiento Lora 2 - 1 CD Real Santander (Second Division 2nd Phase)

Escuela Carlos Sarmiento Lora came out on top on a fine afternoon game at Ingenio Sancarlos against CD Real Santander.

Carlos Sarmiento finally took the lead when striker Ricardo Serna scored a real poacher's effort on 45 minutes. Striker Julio Caicedo then equalised for Real Santander in the 48th minute with a powerful close range effort.

Young striker Juan Carlos Gómez then clinched a late winner for the home side on 88 minutes with an effort from the edge of the area. Gómez's impact delighted the fans with his late goal.

Attendance: 665


Bring on group play!
What a result... Congrats!!
great result!
joannes3000's avatar Group joannes3000
15 yearsEdited
[imgw]http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1654/2011p2groupclinch.jpg[/imgw]

I'll go over the above list from top to bottom.

First things first, we clinched a trip to the Second Phase Playoff with a win in our fourth game! We did it in convincing fashion at home, winning 2-0 over Union Magdalena. It is yet to be determined who we will play, but the winner gets promoted to the First Division!

Second on the list, you see how we managed to clinch a berth in the playoff. We're red hot right now, having notched a club record six consecutive victories. No resets or reloads, mind you; just a fantastic run of form.

Third on the list is the payout we received for clinching our berth. On average, the $16,500 is nearly half of what our normal monthly income is. :shock Will it convince the board to open up the purse strings so we can keep up these kinds of results? I can only hope.
[imgw]http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/7629/2011p2groupplayoffdraw.jpg[/imgw]

After clinching our playoff berth, we lost 3-2 to Cortulua and our team just didn't look up for it. Maybe a little too much celebrating, eh? We followed up that effort with a somewhat better one; this time salvaging a 1-1 draw vs Academia FC.

Our opponent in the two leg playoff will be Rionegro, the 8th place team during league play that barely got into the group stage. Once they got into group play, however, they went on a bigger tear than we did. Rionegro rampaged their way to a 5-0-1 record.

For all the positive vibes we've been having at the club, from getting to the top of league play to winning group play; things are about to get serious. As good as we've been so far, I can't help but feel it will be wasted if we fall short now.

[youtube=<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IUH3JQjcweM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IUH3JQjcweM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>]
Good luck man... Seems like you're on track to doing some miraculous things in your league, and with the season ending soon I hope you manage to keep up the form.

What's the league table/fixture list looking like?
joannes3000's avatar Group joannes3000
15 yearsEdited
saplingg : Good luck man... Seems like you're on track to doing some miraculous things in your league, and with the season ending soon I hope you manage to keep up the form.

What's the league table/fixture list looking like?

My biggest concern is that Rionegro is in the midst of a great run, while our run has stumbled a bit after we clinched. Case in point - I was rated a "talented manager" just prior to my 3-2 loss. After that loss and the 1-1 draw, I'm back down to the baseline of "normal manager". I think this shows just how difficult it has been to build up the team to this point, and how quickly the team can be devalued.

With the first leg away, I'll be more than content to concede a loss as long as we notch an away goal. Then we can head home knowing we'll have a raucous crowd on hand to hopefully spur us on to victory!

As for the fixture list, it's been bare since we've gotten into group play. Now that the Columbian Cup is out of the way (we're just too outclassed there), we only had one game per week during the group stage. This has given us some much needed recovery time as I have relied heavily on my starting 11.

The two legs vs Rionegro are only four days apart, however, so we'll be shuffling the starting 11 a bit. Normally I don't have to rest my back line and DMC; only having to worry about rotating my striker pair, center mid pair, and AMC. With only 4 days between games, though, I'll either sub out some players much earlier than I normally would if I don't start a bench player or two outright.
[imgw]http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8954/2011p2groupplayofffixtu.jpg[/imgw]

All I can say is, wow! We followed up a well-earned 1-1 draw away from home with a thrilling 1-0 victory on our home pitch. Funny thing is, though, winning the group playoff stage only qualified us for what looks like the big playoff - the two leg match that truly decides who gets promoted to the First Division. Must have been a misinterpretation on my part.

Nonetheless, we're one step closer to promotion! I just looked at the breakdown of the upcoming playoff, and even if we lose we will take home a purse of $124,000! A quick look at our finances shows that payout would be more than 20% of what we've made on the year. The winner will take a cool $247,000 with them to the First Division.

Upon finding this out, I feel like we're in a win-win situation now; unlike before. There was no prize given to us for advancing to the next leg, and there was certainly no prize given to Rionegro for being the runner-up.

Our opponent will be Union Magdalena. They finished 7th in the second stage of league play and finished dead last during group play. Head to head, we have gone 4-3-3 against Union with a +1 GD. Do I like our chances? You bet your ass I do!
I just wanted to let u know that ur exploits in America and Newport County inspired me:ave.
I usually just played Chelsea.Now I hav started a new career with Redditch United.I will try posting my progress once I make some progress...
superFrank8 : I just wanted to let u know that ur exploits in America and Newport County inspired me:ave.
I usually just played Chelsea.Now I hav started a new career with Redditch United.I will try posting my progress once I make some progress...

Thank you for the compliment! It's highly frustrating to play lower league teams and/or teams that don't have the spending power of top sides, but there's a lot of fun to be had as well. I was just thinking that even if I don't win promotion, the prize money should go a long way toward helping my team's finances. All I want is a competitive wage budget and I'm happy to coach anywhere. :yes
Brilliant story man! Real exciting! Makes me want to try out a harder game with unknown people. How did you end up playing with that team? Keep us updated on the game!
latido : Brilliant story man! Real exciting! Makes me want to try out a harder game with unknown people. How did you end up playing with that team? Keep us updated on the game!

Glad you're enjoying the story! Carlos Sarmiento was the first club to offer me a job when I started my game (I started unemployed), so that's how I wound up coaching them. :yes

You are reading "Conquering the Americas".

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