Atlético Madrid: Golden Age

Go Falcao!

I hope you will try to keep a lot of spanish in your team.

Good luck Toon

Good luck Toon

Good luck Toon. I will definitely follow this story, Ive loved Atletico Madrid for years, ever since the days of Aguero, Torres and Forlan..

Love the avatar by the way

Atlético de Madrid fan favorite and manager Diego Simeone has announced that he will be leaving the Europa-cup holders to have some time outside of football, despite only taking the helm of the cub seven months ago. This has been Simeone's third stint at los Colchoneros, after joining el Atléti as a player twice, accumulating over 125 appearances.

Simeone is said to have enjoyed his spell as head-coach, and after taking home the Europa Cup, he feels he has achieved something good for the club. He has told Media that he is going on a long-term holiday in the Mediterranean, where he will have a few months to evaluate his next move in world football and enjoy himself at the same time.

It is blatant to see that fans are disappointed with his decision to leave, but they respect it nevertheless and look forward to having a new boss who will guide them through La Liga, and hopefully, help them grow and meet the expectation of rivaling the two Spanish Giants, Barcelona and Atlético's local rival, Real Madrid.

At the moment speculation on the next manager for the team is very vague, but odds have been provided by sky bet. The main group of managers expected to be in for the job are; Unemployed Roberto Di Matteo: 6/1, At. Madrid supporter and Celta manager, Abel Resino: 6/1, Chelsea Interim Manager, Rafa Benitez 10/1. Some outsiders who are being hyped up at the moment are; Ex-Atlético player Kiko: 13/1, Current Atlético player, Gabi, for player manager: 17/1 and Portugal manager, Paulo Bento: 20/1.

It will be interesting who will take the job

Francisco Miguel Narváez Machón, known commonly as Kiko has officially signed for central-Spanish outfit, Atlético Madrid. Following in his predecessors footsteps, Kiko has become the second consecutive manager for the club to have played for them in his senior career. The Spaniard arrived last night, and poached the job from what seemed was already tightly in the hands of Italian, Roberto Di Matteo who was favorite for the job.

Di Matteo rejected his contract, hence Kiko's arrival at Estadio Vicente Calderón. Kiko sniped the job from under the Italian's nose before the Champions league winner could negotiate.

"I was going to take a gamble on joining this club, and I don't have to now. I would have liked to take over here, but I wish Kiko luck."

Di Matteo seemed calm and contained, and, after leaving, he was spotted shaking hands with Kiko, suggesting that the relationship of the two managers hadn't been damaged by the conundrum.

Club President, Enrique Cerezo, announced Kiko's appointment to press at the stadium itself.

"I knew that fan-support meant a lot, and our fans love Kiko. When Diego (Simeone) left the club, I knew I'd need someone similar. When Roberto (Di Matteo) came along, I didn't think I could turn him down, he is very reputable.
Kiko showed up while Roberto was in advanced talks. Roberto wanted to adjust his contract, but Kiko was fine with what we offered him.
I have the utmost respect for Roberto and I wish him luck in wherever it is he goes next. But, on to the point. The contract is only for a year, but, if expectations are met, it will be extended. He'll be on roughly £25k a week."

Meanwhile, the man of the hour met with his squad for the first time.

Atletico Madrid, nice, hope you can finish 2nd every season over Real Madrid (Go Barca :P)

Kiko arrived at the press conference today after a lengthy training session with his squad. Despite it being his first ever interview as a manager, he did not look at all nervous. As he sat down, wearing casual attire complemented by a simple t-shirt with the Atlético crest in the center.

Press Kiko

First of all- congratulations, Kiko.

Thank you.

How do you feel about starting your career as a Manager at this club?

As soon as I retired I felt I would one day return to this club, not as a head-coach, maybe something a little less prominent, but, if there was anywhere I would do that, it would be here. It's fantastic that I get to lead this club, though, more than I could have expected.

Media, and board expectations aside, what would you like to accomplish with this club?

Truly, the sky is the limit. Of course, in the short term, It is a bit less vague. I'd like to have a serious go at retaining the Europa League trophy, and I want to be as high as possible in La Liga. If I had to put us on a particular position in the league, it would be third.

Your club has a lot of money around, but you are also in quite a bit of debt, how will this affect you in the window- and what do you plan to do in the window?

It's quite complicated. I can confirm that we will not be signing any big names this summer. I know that is quite disappointing, but it is important not to exhaust the budget, and work back the money we have lost. Generally, in the transfer window, I'm going to be looking for younger players who can turn out to be some of the best, using our excellent training facilities to get them to their potential.

Are you going to make any changes in the backroom?

I am happy with the staff here. I do not need to disrupt the work they are doing- however, I might make some minor changes. Nothing major, though.

I think that's everything. Good luck, and good afternoon.

Thanks.

Nice posts so far toon, deffo will be following

A great story so far Toon! I do hope you stick at it and manage to dethrone Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

An odd, but, to some critics, smart series of signings has shown that Kiko was very serious about purchasing youth. Despite acknowledging the fact that the Madrid outfit's training facilities are top class, Kiko has decided that his new youth signings should all go out on loan- all 4 of them. He hinted that as soon as they came to an age where they would begin to break on to the bench, they would really profit from the facilities.

The first two to enter were a PSV duo. Tristan Burghuis, a Dutch attacking midfielder costing half-a-million and Belgian Forward, Zakaria Bakkali, costing £600k. In attempt to keep chemistry, and allow the two to settle in to Spain together, Kiko put them both out to affiliate-club, Almeria.

They were followed to the club by Miki Ruiz, a second attacking midfielder joining from LIGA adelante outfit Heracles. The Spaniard, already familiar with football in this nation, was sent to RSD Alcala in attempt to gain experience.

The fourth, final, and most expensive of the signings would be adaptable German midfielder Maximilian Meyer from Schalke for a sum of one and a half million. It was blatant that Meyer would find it hard to settle in to Spain, joining a club that lack any players that share his nationality, prompting Kiko to loan him out, which he did. Meyer is on his way to Hoffenheim to improve and rally himself to his trip to spain.

As the Transfer deadline grew closer, it looked as if the transfer window would hold little impact on the season ahead for Atlético, their only signings so far- youth prospects who have all left on loan since. The truth came from manager Kiko's own mouth, that no big names would be purchased in the summer, and, as the deadline day ended, he was sort of right.

In the matter of 5 hours, a player left the Spanish outfit and another entered- on loan. Tom Cleverly was the man to join Madrid for a 12 month period, gaining first-team experience and benefiting from the training facilities, meaning, upon his return to Manchester United, he perhaps will be a more talented player.

The player that left, however, did not go on loan, but permanently. It was defensive midfielder Mario Suarez who left for PSG for £9 Million. Kiko provided an explanation for the departure the following morning.

Mario was a player I wanted to hold on to, but, when PSG offered me £7.5 million for him, I knew I could try and negotiate a price that would benefit both of us. During the dying hours of the day, we agreed terms. From then on, I had to really work to find a replacement, and luckily, Tom (Cleverly) was available, the perfect short-term replacement.

Fans are said to be excited about Cleverly's development at the club, and, despite their affection for Suarez, accept the transfer as they deem it a very good negotiated price.

Seems like you made some good signings