Howdy everyone, and welcome back to another update of the Bear’s journey in the Portuguese third tier. When last we left off, our heroes were flying high in 6th place, and were looking to defy all expectations (Media Prediction of 15th) and survive our first season in the third division. Still, the season was only a third over, and there was a lot of work to be done if we were to continue.
Let’s kick off with something I neglected to post last time, our first ten fixtures:
Perhaps not the picture of consistency, but at 6th place, I wasn’t complaining. Unfortunately, I would quickly learn that I knew absolutely nothing about this league. Our next ten fixtures weren’t quite as pretty…
I’m not sure I can expressly say what went wrong here, but I’m willing to absolve myself of all blame and suggest it was simply the lack of depth on the team (caused by the board’s refusal to provide any funding) that caused us to sputter out. We lost games against some of the worst teams in the league, and won them against some of the better ones. We also found ourselves drifting uncomfortably close to the relegation zone:
At the height of our downward spiral, I decided something had to be done in January. Unfortunately our debt was pushing the $160,000 mark, and we only had cap space for a single signing. While I desperately wanted to add another attacking threat, or find that ever illusive left winger, I ultimately settled on attempting to shore up our defense.
He’s pacy, he’s young, and he’s from Paraguay. What else do you need out of a defender at this level? By playing him as a wingback, he’s actually helped alleviate some of my left winger concerns by bombing up the flank and providing some decent crosses in his own right. I’ve been able to move the old left winger further inward to where he’s more comfortable, and the pair seem to be doing fairly well in this setup.
But did it help us down the stretch?
Ehhhh, not so much. We continued to struggle, and we were beginning to drift ever closer to 13th place and the dreaded relegation. To add insult to injury, that loss to Oriental allowed this to happen:
We…we gave them the title…
A bitter, bitter rivalry was born on this day, and I’ll never forget the humiliation and shame Oriental subjected us to. One day, hopefully soon, the time will come when we meet again.
Anyway, you may remember this from the last post:
«Fatima and Esterla V.N. are way better than us, and there’s simply no way we’ll be able to catch them up.»
Yeah, well…
Turns out I was only half correct. Absolutely anything seems plausible in this league. Oriental went from bottom half to run away leaders, and Fatima ended up sacking their manager and barely escaping relegation. While we ultimately finished with a comfortable 5 point cushion, we were at one juncture only two points off 13th. Still, survival is survival, and we even manged to set a record:
A dubious record if ever there was one, but I suppose it’s better than nothing. I also had this little tidbit float across my desk:
Ehrm, okay? I wasn’t even aware we were in the process of building a stadium, so I guess I can’t be too upset that the mysterious project failed?
All in all, I’d call this season a «success». We finished a bit lower down the table than I would have liked, but we survived to fight another year, which is ultimately all that matters. I’m planning on overhauling the squad this summer and trimming a lot of dead wood out of the reserve and youth ranks. I don’t know that we’ll be good enough to mount a title challenge next year, but we’ll see where it goes.
A little sneak preview:
(That’s about half the team.)
Thanks for reading all!
Laxeyman
19 марта, 2012 at 20:18
Decent season Stromo, you managed to stay above water, which is the main thing, so well done :) Looks like a major overhaul of the squad is underway already, hopefully you can make some progress.
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 11:55
I may have gone a little overboard with the whole squad revitalization thing. >.>
Johnny Karp
19 марта, 2012 at 20:47
That looks like a pretty crazy league so I guess staying up is good enough for the first season. Now you know what’s going on there and I believe you will be much stronger next season.
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 11:55
Haha, somehow I have a feeling I’m still pretty clueless. Anything can definitely happen though!
saltwater
19 марта, 2012 at 21:02
Well done on managing to say in the league, you almost done the Blackpool there! Incosistecy was the main problem, and I can imagine how low morale would’ve been after those 5 loses in a row.
While squad overhauls can be tricky, obviously something had to be done to get this team out of this low division and needless to say the bad players had to go, and I’m looking forward to your transfer activity.
Sorry for the late reply as the main page says this was published 3 days ago but I’ve only got it now.
Good luck, Stromo
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 12:00
You actually commented within 30 minutes of me posting this, so I have no idea why the main page was showing 3 days ago. Weird?
I’ve probably gotten in a little over my head with the transfer activity, and I’ll be damned if I STILL can’t find a left winger I like. Kudos for the Blackpool reference. :)
saltwater
19 марта, 2012 at 21:06
Well done on managing to stay in the league, you almost did the Blackpool there!
Inconsistency seems to be the main problem, and I can’t imagine how low morale would have been after those 5 consecutive losses.
A squad overhaul can be tricky, but needless to say the players who aren’t cut out for it had to go. Looking forward to your transfer activity as replacements will be needed.
Sorry for the late reply. The main page says this was published 3 days ago but I’ve only seen it now.
saltwater
19 марта, 2012 at 21:07
Sorry, ignore this one, I had a little mishap
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 11:56
Nope, going to have to hold this against you from now on. I’ve got my eye on you sir. ;-)
saltwater
20 марта, 2012 at 16:09
Ha, lol
TheZiggy
19 марта, 2012 at 23:02
I didn’t expect things to head downhill quite like that. At least things picked up enough right at the end to avoid the ignominy of relegation.
Hopefully the drastic clearout ahead of the new season will bring about the required improvement you want.
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 12:03
It was pretty unexpected, and it was like I was playing in a completely different league for part of the time there. I’m honestly still not even sure what caused the downturn.
CsAtlantis
20 марта, 2012 at 01:25
At least you finished a few places higher than the predicted 15th, and the new Paraguay wingback looks decent
Now you just need to find a good keeper who can server for a few years and find that elusive left winger (maybe search South America a bit, offer some trials)
I wonder why your club would try to build a new stadium with the amount of debt they have………..good luck for next season Jon
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 12:06
The stadium thing was seriously a complete mystery. I verbally uttered a «the f**k…?» when that news blurb came up. Who knows?
I have a pretty good inside scoop on Brazilian players (Go, go Portuguese!), but still haven’t found anyone that’s decent (or doesn’t have wage demands equaling a third of my budget). Thinking about maybe scoping out Africa. I’ll have to do it manually, since the board won’t let me send any scouts there, but maybe I’ll uncover a few gems.
Kevin
20 марта, 2012 at 07:50
Hey Stromo
Well at least you didn’t get relegated so that has to be a good feeling — right? Sounds like that you have your work cut out to get this team moving upwrd in the league though your «sneak preview» suggests you have more than coffee brewing :)
** Unlucky loss for VCU, just 2 point difference.
Stromson
20 марта, 2012 at 12:08
Haha, yep, survival is key at this stage! There has definitely been more than our fair share of turnover this offseason, but hopefully it pans out (which evidently we won’t know until sometime after the 1/3rd mark).
VCU’s loss was actually fairly palatable. We played IU hard, and took them to the wire, nothing to be ashamed of there.
Darren Smith
20 марта, 2012 at 19:02
Well that was a surprise turn for the worse, considering your consistent form I felt like you’d finish the season in the top half to shock your critics, but that is FM for you. :) Sometimes a poor run just comes from nowhere, still a good season though and I think that speaks volumes for the incredible start so well done.
Stromson
21 марта, 2012 at 12:33
Yeah, evidently we were significantly worse than I’d originally believed. :-P I suppose we just seriously over achieved in the early going.
Bence Répási
20 марта, 2012 at 19:10
Hi Stromson!
Congrats for your first season in this weird league. It looks like predictions and prejudice don’t play a role here in Portugal. I hope your next year will be more successful, but this season was also decent.
Well done, i wait for the next chapter.
Stromson
21 марта, 2012 at 12:37
Thanks Bence, yeah, I’d say media predictions mean even less here than they usually due (Fatima was predicted to finish 1st).
vaibhavc
21 марта, 2012 at 14:14
The league is weird here, but you will get used to it eventually. Well done on staying up, hopefully next year is better for you.
Jose Belbute
30 марта, 2012 at 16:55
Hey guys, ive been doing a league myself on the district regionals division (dont search for it, its a fan made patch with all the amateur leagues in Portugal) it has been really tough because my players have amateur contracts and the best ones usually leave on the transfer windows… so i have to build a new team all the time… iam on my 3rd season gettin near january so lets see if i can get to the 3rd division soo.. if you want someone to play just send me a message on facebook, i havent played online yet :)