Real Oviedo - Back From The Dead

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Introduction – It’s Good To Be Back

Well, here we are. My second attempt at a story. It may have only been little over 5 weeks since my first one, but to me it feels like months, and as every week passes by I wonder why I am not combining two things that I love; writing and Football Manager.

Possibly because my last story was, well, a flop, and I didn't want to keep letting people down with an ever-growing list of stories that never got finished, or even ever properly began. So, when I decided to try my hand at a Lower League Management save with a club from the Spanish Third Division, I never really expected it would become this.

But to go back to what I said earlier, here we are. I scoured through the Spanish lower tiers, trying to find a club that really caught my eye. And then I saw it, Real Oviedo, simply put; a phenomenal football club. But, for those of you who are still wondering, just who are Real Oviedo, and what makes them so special?

Real Oviedo: A Brief History

Real Oviedo, S.A.D. were founded in 1926, following a merger with Stadium Ovetense. Playing their games at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere, a 30,500 capacity all-seater stadium opened in 2000, and currently compete in the Segunda Division B – Group 1, part of the Third Tier in the Spanish Football Pyramid.

Enjoying perhaps their most successful spell as a club during their pre-Second World War years, a period which saw the club not only gain promotion to La Liga, but also cement their place in the division, finishing as high as 3rd two seasons running and also reaching the SemI Finals of the Copa del Rey. For over 60 years, Oviedo hovered between Spain’s top two divisions, suffering relegation to the Third Tier only once.

Oviedo remained in La Liga throughout the 1990’s, but were always battling relegation, often relying on the lottery of a Relegation Play-Off to guide them to survival. The play-offs, however, were scrapped in 1999 and an 18th place finish in the 2000-01 season ultimately sealed Oviedo’s fate.

This was not a good time for the club, the Carbayones were experiencing severe financial difficulties, with a combination of poor financial management and lack of support from the city’s government to blame. Things worsened for Oviedo, when a second relegation in 2 years resulting in the club’s inability to pay its players, and they were relegated to the Fourth Division.

The club continued to fight however, bouncing back to the Third Tier not once, but twice following yet another relegation in 2007. The club has remained in the Segunda Division B ever since, but is the actions by fans off the pitch that really put a lump in your throat.

Last season, the club were forced to call upon its fans to save itself, with Oviedo supporters from all over the world, and several former players like Michu, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla each chipping in to buy shares, and save the club before its November 17 deadline.

It was on that deadline that the extraordinary happened; the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim, invested $2.5 Million into the club, ultimately saving Oviedo.
This just shows the incredible passion and determination from Oviedo fans and admirers from all over the world to save the club. No one wanted the club to die, and without the amazing support globally, Oviedo would be all but dead.

Honestly? I have no aims. It would be simply fantastic to get Oviedo back to where they belong, back to La Liga, but for now that remains a distant dream. I just want to keep enjoying the save, and hope you guys enjoy my updates. As I am already into February, the first few updates will just be quick catch-ups, so don’t expect to see tables or for me to go into too much detail. This is purely going to be a chilled-out save, if I get relegated I get relegated, If I’m sacked I get sacked. I won’t be writing a big dramatic essay on it, we’ll just take it as we go along.

And, as for the manager, there will be no footballing greats, nor will you see any jobless current managers. Instead, I’m going to be a hot legendary normal guy, with no past playing experience, by the name of Robert Mclaren. Oh god, we are doomed.

Hopefully you enjoyed this first update, any feedback or criticism (honestly, I don’t mind) is welcome and I hope I’ll have you coming back for more.

Because we are Real Oviedo, and we are back from the dead

Nice start I am looking forward to this very much so.

Nice start ! Good luck man !

Guten Luck! Will follow

Thats a nice start. Tough to follow gambit84 and his "The two manager brothers story...
" story with Oveido.

But i will follow all spanish stories so good luck.

A good start! A return to past glory is a compelling motivation.

Good luck !

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A Dream Come True

I stepped out onto the Nuevo Carlos Tartiere pitch. It was breathtaking, I immediately felt a lump in my throat, and, for just a moment, I blurred out the noise of camera shutters around me, the noisy journalists all barging their way through the tunnel, each desperately trying to get the best photo. And, for just a few seconds, I dreamed; I dreamed of a packed stadium on a match day. The fans were proudly waving their flags, the drums were banging and the chants had begun. It was an opposition corner; for a moment my heart sank. I closed my eyes, fearing for the worst. The crowd had gone silent.
Suddenly, the chanting began again. I opened my eyes, and saw 30,000 people out of their seats – Oviedo were breaking, and fast. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was a young Adrian Lopez, looking no older than 17. The crowd were egging him on; “Shoot! SHOOT!” they plead, and shoot he did. It was saved. I hung my head, but then I heard the cheers: MICHUUUUUU! It was him alright, the trademark celebration was still there, the announcer was going wild and the fans were dancing about and hugging each other like crazy. I couldn’t help but laugh. Suddenly I realised that this was more than a club – this was a union.
“Sir,” I heard from behind me. I quickly wheeled around; the stadium was back to normal now. “It’s time for the photo shoot now.”
“Of course,” I yelled back, and quickly got into place. I wanted to please the press, after all. And as I held up that scarf, I wasn’t just happy, I was proud. I wanted to pinch myself, just to check this wasn’t a cruel dream. “Man up, pussy!” I thought to myself, but even still, I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.

The First Press Conference

I was panting heavily as I walked up to the press room; I had practically sweated out my shirt already. ”Just imagine the crowd naked,” I thought to myself. I stepped into the room; it was full of obese, balding, old men. Probably not the best of ideas.

”Mr. McLaren, first of all congratulations on your appointment. However, I’m sure many fans are wondering something – Who Are You?”

”First of all, thank you very much. But really, does it matter who I am? I’m here to manage this football club, the board have trusted me with this job, and I doubt they’d hire the wrong man. I will lead this club to glory, mark my words, and the least I can ask is for the fans to support me.”

”But honestly, do you not think the fans are slightly concerned that their manager is entirely unknown? You have no past playing or managing experience, surely this is a worry, no?”

”Was Andre Villas-Boas unknown when he was taken under the wing by a certain Jose Mourinho? Yes. And look where it’s got him now. I think I have proven my point.”

I was happy with that; I had made the fat old journalist go red all over. Of course, I stayed to answer a few more, but after that the questions were easy. I left the room, feeling chuffed with myself. I got a pat on the back from my assistant.
”Someone’s hear to make a statement! he joked, but in reality, now I knew the fun was over. It was time to get to work.

Thanks to Nick for the awesome banner! Go check out his story here!

Wow this is great You are a great writer.

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Two In, Two Out at Oviedo

It was that time of year that every football fan eagerly anticipates, and every manager dreads – the transfer window. Growing up supporting Celtic, I was used to big-name transfers and a mad dash from the bigger clubs to poach our best players. So, when I received an email from the chairman, Tony Fidalgo, titled “Transfer Budgets, I was reluctant whether to open it or not. But when I did, boy was I in for a surprise, and for all the wrong reasons.

Hi Robert,
Glad to see you’ve settled in well so far here at Oviedo. I have a feeling the players and fans are going to really like having you around this season.
Now, let’s skip to the point. Realistically, the club should be aiming to at least challenge for a play-off place this season. We are not demanding promotion, so don’t worry, your job is safe for now, but we feel, realistically, a club as big as ours should be at least finishing within or near to a play-off place.
So, to help you along, the board had a meeting earlier regarding your transfer and wage budgets for the up and coming season. Together, we decided on the following:

Transfer Budget = £5,000.00

Wage Budget = £30,000.00 p/w

We hope you agree with our decisions, but ultimately, it is not up to you to decide. We hope you spend wisely.
Best of luck,
Tony Fidalgo.

I couldn’t believe it; we get invested in by the richest man in the world, and I get given a transfer budget of 5 grand, and a wage budget basically gone. To say I was angry would be an understatement, I was pissed.
”Five f*cking grand!” I yelled out, I couldn’t help myself. ”Carlos Slim puts millions into this club, and you give me five f*cking grand! My first car cost more than that for gods sake!” Who do you expect me to buy with that, a horse?!? At this moment I had to stop myself, I wanted to bang my head against my desk, but it looked pretty rock solid to me. I lay back in my swivel chair, gazing at the door, hoping no-one had heard that and would come in and complain. It was from this point on that I realised something; this was not going to be easy.

Nevertheless, I managed to group myself together. I put my head down, and by the end of the window, I was happy with my work. Not too happy, but happy nonetheless.
I started by selling off some of the deadwood. The first player to leave the club in this window was our backup goalkeeper, Dani Barrio. He clearly didn’t have the quality I needed, not that any of these lads did, but from the moment I saw him I knew he had to go.


Next, I sold off a bit off a fan favourite, Manu Busto, a player who had been at the club for the last few seasons and a key player under each of his last few managers. However, for me, he was unneeded, we had no intention of playing a Central Attacking Midfielder so he would have basically taken up more than 2k per week of crucial wage budget for nothing. He too had to go, and again, it was Jaen who came in with the winning bid (which also happened to be the only bid we got for him), meaning he will now reunite with Dani at Jaen. Good enough for them, perhaps, but no where near our standards.


Then, it was too the good bit, the bit where I get to bring in my own signings and watch them play. The first signing I made was, quite simply, a major coup:


Casto was a player who just last season played in 22 Liga BBVA games for Real Betis, effectively becoming their first choice goalkeeper. After 5 seasons at Betis, during which he swerved between first choice and backup, he was finally deemed surplus to requirements and released. It was at this point that I immediately snapped him up, for only 3k a week we have ourselves a player who could effectively be playing two divisions higher. I had a feeling Casto could be this club’s first choice for quite a long time now.

However, there was still one area which we were severely lacking in: Left Wing. No-one already at the club was first-team standards, I needed someone to come in and, while not exactly shining, to get the job done. That was where my second, and final signing of the summer transfer window came in:

Jose may not be the best player you’ve ever seen, nor the fastest. However, having spent the last 5 seasons at Second Division level, he could well and truly get the job done. Perfect, exactly the kind of player we needed.

And, as the transfer window soon slammed shut, I reflected on my signings. ”You done good,” I thought to myself, ”You done good.”
And now, with the beginning of the season fast approaching, suddenly that ambition had gone. I was no longer dreaming of promotion – instead I was determined to achieve it.

”Who needs money anyway?

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Oviedo Unveil New Kits

Real Oviedo today unveiled three new kits ahead of the new season. Alongside them, the club finally ended their hunt for a sponsorship deal, with Filipino brewery San Miguel.


The kits were promoted by forward Pepe Diaz and defender David Alba and were unveiled by the club this morning, featuring the slogan: "We are Oviedo. And we will never back down."

Brilliant! It's awesome to see you having a go at a new story again. I'm excited to see where you'll take Real Oviedo

Some sweet kits. The away one especially 'A la España'

good luck

good luck i will be following cant wait to read the next installment