Ana, FM 2012 : Season 6 Black Aces 2016-17

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.

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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. :)