Hola everyone!
Welcome back to my sixth season in South Africa as we prepare for out first go in the champions league. This post is a little later than I wanted but for those who have been living in the UK will have noticed the severe storms we have been having.
Where I live power lines were down for a few days so we had no electricity!
So my season took a little longer but thankfully things have returned to normal.
So lets see how the season went.
Managerial C.V
— Black Aces (June 2011 – Present)
African Premier League : 2016
Super 8’s Winner : 2015
First Division : 2012
So like last year anything in red was won last season.
——————————————-
So the season began (or ended!) with me winning manager of the season! I was miles ahead in terms of points of second and third so was pretty pleased to see my hard work rewarded. :)
Transfers in and Out — First Window
I didnt go mad! Despite spending a massive fee on Mofokeng I wanted to add the very best talent I could and seeing as I have been making good money every season I felt I was due a big money signing.
A million pounds may not seem much to most but to us it smashed our transfer fee, during my most expensive window whilst in South Africa.
Siyabonga Mhkize
Sibussio Mofokeng (Record Signing)
In all honesty I was delighted with the window as I felt I added alot more quality to our squad. But the two above were the big money transfers with the plan that Mhize will compete with Songwiqi at AML but Mofokeng will start in the centre of my midfield.
Finances and Club Info
So despite our record signings we are still in a healthy position financially, and we could spend a little more if we need to.
But I dont want to risk too much just yet, I have done pretty well to turn the money I have I dont want to throw it all away on a few extra players!
Yay!
I have joined the the favoured personnel list alongside Black Ace’s greats like Shongwe and Khwela!
We are predicted sixth which I feel is a little low and am looking to push again at the top, will be tougher I feel but I have faith in my squad.
Results and Table 15 Games Into Our Season
So things are not going as well I hoped its tough to say where we are going wrong, as I feel our squad is far better than last year.
We have been scoring goals and our defence has been doing ok but we find ourselves seven points behind leaders Kaizer Chiefs.
So not too bad I guess but we are not playing as well as I know we can.
League Table With Three Games To Play
Ok so here we are, three games to play and we need a miracle to overturn the Orlando Pirates.
Four points but just look at their goal difference and goals for 79!!
They have a crazy strike force who have BOTH hit 30+ league goals this season they look unbeatable and I need them to drop points whilst I have a very tricky run out, bear in mind I always struggle against lower opposition I have to win all three games and just hope for them to collapse.
Result vs Sundowns
What a performance we made the Sundowns pay for their mistakes taking a three goal lead and winning pretty comfortably.
I took this pic of the league the day before Orlando Pirates crunch game with Platinum Stars a side unbeaten at home all season, I need them to win again or at least draw for my slim chances of retaining our title.
But miracles can happen.
Result Vs AmaZulu
Or not! LoL!
For those who are not that good at maths our title dream is over, Orlando went on to win against the Platinum Star’s with an 87th minute penalty and as such ended our slim hopes of retaining our title.
We will be back and better for next season but the forwards they have they will take some stopping.
Disappointing but that’s life I guess. :)
Result Vs Kaizer Chiefs
So we ended on a high and were far better over the second half of the season finishing second behind a very good Orlando side.
I feel my team is better than last years team but South Africa is a tough league and we found that out, Orlando Pirates may have won this time but we will be back again to try and reclaim the league title!
Career Stats — 200 Games
Am starting to think these milestones may be a bad omen for me! At 100 games I lost and and 200 I lost a 3-1 lead against Bloem Celtic!
But still have a good win percentage with lots of goals scored so cant complain really. :)
Final Player Ratings of the Season
So Ntuli leads the way this season which was a surprise as he hasnt been that prolific for me but he did score 25 times so cant complain!
De Villiers was moved to AML where he did very well in scoring and creating and Mahashe was another star at the heart of our defence. Sanele Mkhize was a freebie at the start of the season and ended up netting 17 times whilst record signing Mofokeng played every minute of every game this season ending with six goals and tons of assists.
All in all was very pleased with all my players, we just need to keep hold of them for any chance of winning the champions league or the premier league.
Star Man — Sibussio Ntuli
End of Season Finances and Save Game Status
So despite winning a few trophies getting to the group stage of the champions league and finishing second we didnt turn over a huge amount of money, but we are still secure which is fine by me and I dont expect to spend that much in the up coming season.
Note : I have continued to run into some problems at times with my game freezing or crashing etc. So I have been saving a bit more as am getting annoyed with having to play games over again that I have already played or getting through the same pre-season twice.
Cup Competitons
Super 8’s
They made a big mistake laughing at me a few seasons ago! So ok, we were lucky I guess but a penalty win is still a win! My keeper was the hero of the hour saving twice and allowing us to retain our super 8’s trophy.
South African Knockout Cup
Who’s laughing now? Me of course! :)
Sorry, I dont want to sound smug but I do have a vendetta against the Orlando Pirates and having seen my team defeat them again in the final with penalties to the rescue (Cant believe I am saying that!).
Again our keeper was the hero saving the decisive spot kick and giving us our second trophy of the season.
The African Champions League
Yay! We won it!
Just kidding. :)
The champions league here works a little different than the one in Europe, as every team that qualifies must play in the preliminary rounds then two extra knock out stages leaving only eight teams to compete.
They are drawn into two groups and then follow the same path as the European champions league with the winner and second placed team meeting each other in the quarter finals.
The competition starts in February roughly half way into our domestic season but group games are played during the very begging of our season, so as such will be posted next update! :)
End Of Season Round-Up
So where to start!
Lets go with the league and I was a bit disappointed we didnt managed to retain it despite having a better squad in my opinion. Orlando Pirates have a great squad as well so even winning it next season will be a big challenge.
That said we did win two trophies and retained our Super 8’s so I can be fairly pleased with those victories.
Champions league is a walk in the unknown am optimistic but having to play so many games in such a short period worries me, fitness levels aren’t the greatest in South Africa.
Keeping my players will be difficult a few are not wanting to discuss new deals and some have handed in transfer requests so I will have a big job in keeping hold of my star players, but at least financially we are doing ok.
So thats that! Another big update but another season down and we do have the champions league proper to look forward too, am sorry I have to bring it like this but thats how they operate in South Africa so hopefully I can bring even better news in the next update!
As always thanks so much for reading and bye for now. :)
Alex
14 декабря, 2011 at 21:08
Well done on a great season. Unlucky to miss out on the league but like you said your squad does look stronger. Good luck in the champions league. I was thinking and I actually think that Shongwe’s retirement may have helped you in the long term, as had he not retired you may have been inclined to keep and play him when he probably wouldn’t have been good enough in a title challenging team.
Ana Garcia
14 декабря, 2011 at 22:07
Thanks Alex!
League was weird as I have just seen now we lost less games than the Orlando Pirates!
The problem was drawing games when we were winning them that said I think we did have a good season.
Its a good point but he may have made our first season in the premier league an easier affair, but he also made lots of chances as well and led assists in my team but thats what good about this game every game can be unique! :)
Matt Clark
14 декабря, 2011 at 21:31
very unlucky ana but provided you can win the champions league the first time you can move on. How does the african champions league work as SA is the only nation you can manage in?
— with the save game issues you could try setting it to save every day and save it as 2 or 3 rolling files just incase one wont load
Ana Garcia
14 декабря, 2011 at 22:14
Thanks Matt! :)
You are correct, South Africa is the only playable nation in the African champions league but the bigger teams in the competition like Ismaily and Zamalek etc are made up from some real players and some un-selectable ones.
This made them very over powered last year as they could have amazing players every year that couldnt be bought/sold. However this year its seems more balanced and the un-selectable players are more average with other teams so its a lot more open.
I have decided to maybe save after every month and each time make a new save, I have never really had problems before but it can get quite annoying playing three or four months when you already have done them!
TheZiggy
14 декабря, 2011 at 22:09
That’s tough missing out on the league title, especially as you beat Orlando Pirates everytime you played them. When a team gets lucky to grab a couple of really prolific goalscorers, it is tough to compete with them over the whole season. Apart from that, though a great season.
I laughed when you said about the transfers not being much money to many, because to me you spent an absolute fortune. The wonders of playing Torquay and staring at an ever increasing debt each month. lol. Eventually what you spent will seem like peanuts, but for now I’m jealous. ;)
At least you got the two cups, and even sweeter to do it over Orlando Pirates, even if it did require penalties each time. Will be interesting to see how the champions league works out, but it certainly seems to have some strange timing of when it’s played.
It seems strange to me that players are wanting to leave given how you’ve played the last two seasons. I think this is something that SI have not got right. I had this a couple of years ago with QPR, leading the EPL with a healthy lead, had won the Carling Cup, still in the FA Cup and in the knockout phase of the Champions League, and I still had players saying they wanted to leave for a bigger club so they could win trophies. To me that is badly wrong.
Ana Garcia
14 декабря, 2011 at 22:27
Thanks Ziggy!! :)
True! There strikers were defiantly the difference and the daunting prospect is one is 23 the other is 19 so they could be around for a while.
LoL! But my biggest signing before that was £22k I think and I have been working very hard to up our finances so I felt I earned the right to spend a little!
The timing for the CL is a nightmare for South African sides and I may need to ‘throw’ all our cup games so we dont end up playing so many games in a short spell.
I dont like doing it but I may be left with no choice as last year when I went to try and win everything we were playing champions league games with players at 64% condition. Not to mention the massive injury list we had it really was a nightmare! :)
I agree 100%, the biggest example is Mofokeng my record signing he joined me saying he wanted to play at a higher club and now he has requested to leave thankfully I talked him out of it but its only been one season!
We won two cups finished second by four points and are in the group stages of the CL! There has been no bids no interest and no-one scouting him so why does he feel the need to move on already? Annoys me LoL!! :)
Devilfish
14 декабря, 2011 at 22:28
Well done Ana! (Yes I got the name right this time!!) Sorry for the mistake on Darren’s post guess I got confused with your Spanish backround :D ! Your million pound signing looks good and if he improves his mental attributes he should turn into a good player for you, even though he already is! Champions League setup is a bit of a strange one but hopefully you can do well in it! Good luck next season!! :)
Ana Garcia
14 декабря, 2011 at 22:41
LoL! :)
Its fine I make mistakes all the time!
I agree he is probably one of the best midfielders in South Africa at the moment so if he can improve we could have a real star on our hands, the problem we had is I signed him from Dynamos our biggest rivals!
Think about when Figo left Barca for Madrid! Ok not that bad! But our fans were pretty angry despite his potential but he had a brilliant season so am sure they will accept him now. :)
Champions league is a little different but imagine teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Ac Milan, Chelsea, Arsenal, Inter Milan etc instead of all these teams going straight into the group stage they all have to qualify in a knockout format first for three rounds.
Then they go into two groups(Group A and B )of four teams then normal European CL rules apply bar the final which is played over two legs.
Devilfish
15 декабря, 2011 at 21:28
Yeah I’m sure he has won the fans over! :D
Champions league sounds good, hopefully you can make Black Aces the champions!
Ana Garcia
15 декабря, 2011 at 21:41
Trouble is he keeps requesting a transfer now!
Only had him a year and now he wants to leave for a bigger club!
Luckily I keep talking him out of it but I will need him if I want to win the league again! :)
Kevin
14 декабря, 2011 at 23:42
Hola Ana!
Very dramatic end to your league season though too bad you couldn’t overcome those pesky Orlando Pirates but at least you had the satisfaction of beaten them in two cup finals. Sanele Mikhize looks quite impressive with a tally of 17 goals from 24 starts. You have an interesting adventure in front of you with the Champions League which does sound a little complex!
Chao Amiga!
Ana Garcia
15 декабря, 2011 at 21:46
Hola!!
Agreed, they were just too strong this season but like you said we can take comfort in beating them twice in finals.
Mkhize looks pretty good, I bought him then re-trained him as an AML but it didnt really work but when I put him as a center forward he seemed to be much more of a constant threat.
Its honestly not that much different to Europe the major problem is I can never explain anything in simple terms! I have probably over complicated it as usual. :)
CsAtlantis
15 декабря, 2011 at 01:20
Ana Orlando Pirates were just too good this season, but you are still in the African Champions League which should be interesting, does finishing 2nd qualify you for anything?
Oh yea Ana do you mind if you show the assists your players got for the season at the end of season player ratings? Goals alone somtimes don’t show how your team did ;)
Ana Garcia
15 декабря, 2011 at 21:52
Thanks!
Afraid not, only the top team in the league qualifies for the champions league and winning any of the cups does not equal CL football either.
The only way to enter is to win the league which is what makes South Africa that little bit more challenging.
I will in the future! For some reason I thought they were already there but I have played a few seasons past this post (I like to be ahead so I just need to find time to write them up) so expect assist etc after a few more posts.
Johnny Karp
15 декабря, 2011 at 10:42
Not a bad season Ana, you were a bit unlucky to face such a strong Orlando Pirates side. Good luck for the Champions League, I think you can win it this time!
Ana Garcia
15 декабря, 2011 at 21:54
Thanks Johnny! :)
Darren Smith
15 декабря, 2011 at 19:34
So unlucky in the league Ana, that must have been frustrating but your performances elsewhere were nothing short of stunning. The Champions League is shaping up nicely so I really hope to see you avoid your dreaded luck in matches like that and win on penalties :)
P.S. I replied to your comment from yesterday, in case you haven’t seen it, sorry for the confusion.
Ana Garcia
15 декабря, 2011 at 22:00
Thanks Darren!
It was a bit frustrating as I felt we played well all season but some things are just not meant to be.
Hopefully! I have had quite a lot of success on penalties since my Real Union game so am more confident of winning them now! Lets just stay away from playoff’s. :)
P.S. I read it! But couldn’t reply as the comments were full so will post it here. Dont worry about it! I thought something may have been mixed up was just confused when you replied but am glad things have been sorted out. :)
Darren Smith
16 декабря, 2011 at 12:18
Well that’s a relief Ana, thanks for putting my mind at rest…didn’t want you having any bad feelings about the mix up. :) Thanks
Darren Smith
16 декабря, 2011 at 18:26
Well I’m relieved you understand Ana. It was an honest mistake and I actually thought the comment seemed misplaced but decided to assume anyway which is a cardinal sin. Anyway, sorry again and thanks for been OK about the mix up. ;)
Ana Garcia
16 декабря, 2011 at 20:55
Honestly its fine Darren! Forgive and forget (not that you had anything to really apologise for as it was a mistake) I have no bad feelings about it.
I was more confused than anything but the mix up has been sorted so no hard feelings as they say. :)
Laxeyman
15 декабря, 2011 at 21:07
Shame that you couldn’t win the league again Ana, but you still had a pretty good season, and congrats on the Super 8 and Knockout Cup wins :) You’re going well in the CL, so hopefully you can keep going, and regain your title next year! Good luck!
Ana Garcia
15 декабря, 2011 at 22:03
Thanks Laxeyman!
Just wasnt meant to be! I knew things looked bad after I saw their forwards, we will improve hopefully and our squad is getting better and better every season so we will give it are all in trying to beat them next season!
vaibhavc
16 декабря, 2011 at 08:29
Thats unlucky on the league, but great job on winning the cup competitions. So far in the Champions League, you are doing well, I hope you can continue your form there and finish Africa!
Ana Garcia
16 декабря, 2011 at 20:58
Thanks!
I agree, we were unlucky but dropping points from winning positions is always dangerous. We needed to see games out instead of drawing them but its a lesson learnt so hopefully we can do better for next season.
Sears
16 декабря, 2011 at 18:17
You were really unlucky Ana, I’m sure you’ll win the title next season! And best of the in the African CL!!
Ana Garcia
16 декабря, 2011 at 20:59
Thanks Sears! :)