Luckily the first game in May seemed like a perfect chance to get three points as we were about to face already relegated 17th placed CS Mioveni. Their morale was extremely low and their skills were not great either since they had just 16 points…
Viitorul vs CS Mioveni (Liga 1)
Starting Line Up: Alberto Cobrea — Ionut Peteleu, Alvaro Casanova, Chakib Benzoukane, Lucian Filip — Georgian Marcu, Alexandru Lazar, Nenad Grumic — Georgian Paun, Valentin Simion, Joabe
We had a slight problem in midfield as Mihai Onicas, our best player, was suspended for the game but I was happy to field Grumic again as he had recovered from a nasty injury that had him on the sidelines for three months. The lads seemed determined to get it over with quickly, we were all over them right from the start and the goal finally came on 20 minutes when Valentin Simion headed home on a corner kick. Our domination continued and Simion came close to scoring again but his good finish on 40 minutes came back off the upright. Mioveni had their first shot of the game seconds before the interval but they nearly did the damage as the ball bounced off the crossbar.
The game was fairly quiet after the break, nothing important was happening and we seemed to keep things under control with ease. Well, that was true until the 64th minute when Mioveni caught us on an unlikely counter attack and scored with their one and only shot on target… My team reacted, we pushed them against the ropes but unfortunately we missed a very good chance 20 minutes from time and that was that, we had thrown away two very important points.
Match Highlights: click here to watch
Our next game was an impossible one as we were facing league leaders FC Vaslui away from home, they were in a hot title race with Steaua so I was quite calm before the game because I wasn’t expecting anything good. I was just hoping to record a narrow defeat or at least not a humiliating defeat. Well, I was shocked! My team played probably the best game of the season, they fought back from 1-0 and 2-1 behind and won the game thanks to a Joabe brace! I was incredulous, I just couldn’t believe what we had done there as that game cost Vaslui the 1st place! (click here to watch the highlights)
Those unexpected three points dramatically improved our situation, we had an 8-point cushion with three games left and that meant that we only needed two more points to be 100 percent safe.
Since we were about to face 14th placed Gaz Metan in the next game we had a chance to wrap things up with two games to spare, we just needed three points but even one point could have been enough in theory…
Gaz Metan vs Viitorul (Liga 1)
Starting Line Up: Alberto Cobrea — Miroslav Sedlak, Alvaro Casanova, Chakib Benzoukane, Richard Asamoah — Corado Carstoiu, Georgian Marcu, Mihai Onicas — Georgian Paun, Valentin Simion, Joabe
We had a big problem on both flanks in defence as both full backs were suspended for the game so I decided to go for the counter version of the Barcelona tactic since full backs are less important in that version. The game was very quiet in the first half as both teams seemed quite afraid of losing the match. Two goals were scored though, Gaz Metan had taken the lead on a free kick and then we made it all square two minutes before the break despite not playing too well.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half were quite tough for me as my lads were playing quite poorly and the home side came close to scoring twice: first on 49 minutes when they hit the crossbar and then shortly after the hour mark when they squandered a huge chance (you can see that in the highlights, as always). Then my lads woke up and made the final minutes of the game less painful for their manager, they kept possession just like I wanted them to and kept things well under control.
Match Highlights: click here to watch
Luckily 15th placed Brasov were unable to get more than a draw in their game so we were officially safe with two games to spare! Curiously enough the team played much better after getting rid of the relegation threat and we won the last two games of the season quite easily…
Those last two games pushed us up in 10th place at the end of the season, not too bad I guess but I wish we had conceded a lot less goals…
The player stats are not too impressive, I think that Vlad Rusu, Mihai Onicas and Chakib Benzoukane kept this team on their shoulders throughout the season. My goalkeepers were disappointing and my strikers didn’t do much better either so those two areas will probably need the most amount of work during pre-season.
You can probably tell that I’m not very happy with how the season went but somebody is happy for some reason: the board!
I hope they will convert at least some of that satisfaction into some cash into the club’s coffers because the financial situation is still looking… red! By the way, we received a stunning amount for our league position: 37,320 pounds! We should get a quite a bit more in TV rights before the start of the next season (almost 1 million I hope) but that won’t get us out of trouble.
That was it friends, thanks a lot for reading and for encouraging me during this tough season. I can reveal that I already have four major signings already lined up for July 1st (two Romanian goalkeepers, a Serbian central midfielder and a very exciting Argentinian striker) but I hope I’ll manage to bring in a lot more new players because we surely need them. Money will probably be a problem again though…
Chris @ Chester
19 ноября, 2011 at 20:13
I’m sure you are glad to be at the end of a tough season there johnny, at least your still in the top flight so you should be able to push up the table next season. Some key signings are needed though and some of your youth will have to step up a bit. I look forward to your next post to see how you prepare for it. Good luck mate :-)
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2011 at 21:56
You are right Chris, I’m glad it’s over! Thanks for the good luck wish, we’ll surely going to need some luck if the board won’t come up with some cash :)
Alex
19 ноября, 2011 at 20:29
A nice comfortable mid-table finish there ;). Good to see you stayed up, I can’t wait to see your signings. With a few quality additions I think you’ll be up in the top five. That must have been quite an inspirational team meeting you had there, dragging you players away from suicide.
All the best for next season.
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2011 at 21:57
Thanks Alex, it was really tough but I guess that team meeting did the trick ;)
Marc Patching
19 ноября, 2011 at 20:43
Great job!! Let’s hope you can build upon the great achievement of survival and begin to make some real dents in the Romanian League. Question, did you ever feel like giving up on the tactics or was it down to players not being good enough?
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2011 at 21:58
Thanks Marc. I did think about changing the tactics but in the end I decided to stick with the current set up because I know it can give me the kind of football that I want to see.
Kevin
19 ноября, 2011 at 21:11
Hey Johnny
Well that whole season was quite a struggle and a real nail biter going into those last few games but I’m delighted that you survived in the end. A great story as always and I’m anxious to see those new signings particularly the one from Argentina as you always seem to find some gems south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2011 at 21:59
Hey Kevin, this probably was one of my toughest seasons in the business ;) That Argentinian lad is good, I can tell you that! :)
Joelance
19 ноября, 2011 at 21:15
That was a pretty serious season. Finishing 10th in your first season isn’ t too bad. Knowing you, you’ll probably be challenging for the title next season. All the best with your finances. :)
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2011 at 22:00
Thanks for the confidence mate but it will be highly unlikely to be in the title race without some money to spend. It’s quite different here compared to England where you can get some excellent players even at a small club in the Premier League.
denson
19 ноября, 2011 at 22:05
Good season johnny, just wonderin have you found any good regens in your game ?
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:34
Thanks mate. I did find some good newgens, one will be joining the club on July 1st ;)
Darren Smith
19 ноября, 2011 at 23:14
Well the season was a low point considering your usual Johnny, but when you put that next to real life it was a fairytale which says a lot about your ability :) I can’t wait to see the new signings and have no doubt that a top 6 finish is just around the corner. Well done for staving off relegation mate.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:35
Thanks Darren, I really don’t know where we could end up next season but I’m quite confident that it will be higher than 10th ;)
TheZiggy
20 ноября, 2011 at 00:21
I believe I predicted a mid-table finish, but I didn’t think it would be quite so tough in getting there. Well done, survival was the first part of building for the future.
Look forward to seeing the new signings you make, to strengthen the squad for the next season.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:35
Thanks Ziggy, I admit that I wasn’t expecting it to be so tough either.
CsAtlantis
20 ноября, 2011 at 01:56
You managed to finish well off the relegation spots in the end, and beating Vitorui away is an excellent thing to bring to next season
Your goalkeeper needs more time to develop, he still has some way to go in terms of PA, with all those games surely he will start improving very soon
Your bank balance is not the best but I think the board will support you, after all you are sticking to the budgets that they set, any losses shouldn’t really be blamed on you
Next year should be an exciting season, with some reinforcements challenging for a top half finish should not be a problem at all
Oh yeah Johnny, I think for FM2012 away games are far harder than in FM2011, even when I was playing as AS Monaco my attacking formations (4-2-4 or Manchelona) thrashed most opposition teams at home comfortably yet choosing the same tactic away against the very same teams turned into a thrashing (with them thrashing US though :()
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:36
Thanks for the comment mate. I think you’re right about the away games, I had the same feeling.
vaibhavc
20 ноября, 2011 at 03:45
I am sure you are not too happy with the season, but your board is, and that is what matters quite a lot. The team meeting helped your team quite a lot. And good job upsetting the big teams! You got some good points from them.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:37
Thanks Vaibhav, I guess Vaslui really hate us right now because that loss cost them the title!
ri916
20 ноября, 2011 at 08:20
exciting striker from argentina? you better not have poached becchio from leeds! ;)
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:37
No, it’s not Becchio, I doubt I could afford his wages. It’s a 17-year old newgen ;)
paine
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:32
Just one word: difficult!
A difficult season, you risked a lot here Johnny, I’m glad you survived and surely you’ll have some work to do to improve your team.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 09:38
You are right Paine, it was difficult and I fear that improving the team will be an equally challenging task given the lack of money.
Themightymcphed
20 ноября, 2011 at 10:40
Survival is always the main aim when taking such a small team up. As Valentino Rossi says «first year to learn, second year to win»!
Good luck for next season, looking forward to seeing how you take your team forward mate!
I agree with the theory of the away games being more difficult this year. I know teams will always get a boost playing at home, but wee diddy teams that should be easily turned over all of a sudden gain a whole new level of ability and performance at times and I’ve had to make more severe tactical shifts than normally I would.
Also, getting annoyed at the amount of times players close down the ball………running backwards. Anyone else finding this?
This is the first time in a few years that I’ve bought the game right at launch. I normally wait until there’s been a few patches out and all the main bugs are fixed. Perhaps my players are just monumentally talented at playing football in reverse! Haha
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 14:15
Thanks mate. I haven’t noticed the reverse glitch that you are mentioning, maybe you do have a special team :)
Ana Garcia
20 ноября, 2011 at 12:55
I still think you had a good season, and you got your main goal which was survival.
Your finances are still quite worrying but hopefully with prize money and TV rights you can get them back on track.
Whats the rules on foreign players in Romania?
Anyways the best of luck! :)
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 14:16
Thanks Ana. I am allowed to have unlimited foreign players but the rule in Liga 1 is to have no more than five non-EU players in the first eleven and at least five Romanian players in the match squad.
Laxeyman
20 ноября, 2011 at 15:20
Well, it all turned pout all right in the end Johnny, a nice mid table finish, comfortably away from the relegation zone :) Your young players will all have improved after a season in the top flight, so hopefully they can push on next year, and push you up the league.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2011 at 17:29
Thanks Laxeyman, I still have faith in some of the youngsters and I hope they will step up next term.
Lye
21 ноября, 2011 at 01:14
Hi Johnny,
I have never seen you fall into relegation struggles in FM before. I think Viitorul may become your biggest challenge out of all your stories. There are some nervy moments but you did pretty well especially the win over Vaslui which give you a boost to survive. Next season will be the real work and i believe you are in frame to challenge for a top four finish. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
21 ноября, 2011 at 07:23
Thanks Lye, I agree that this seems the most difficult career I’ve had so far.
Martin Pickard
21 ноября, 2011 at 09:02
Well done on staying in Liga I. It was a hard fought season but YOU’V delivered top league football again for Viitorul. You’ve now laid the foundations to progress and I’m sure you’ll bring in the right player to enable you to do so. Great post and I’m looking forward to your next one with all you signings :)
Johnny Karp
21 ноября, 2011 at 12:18
Thanks Martin, it will be difficult to get the funding for all the signings that we would need but I guess I have to settle for a small steps policy for now.
Stromson
21 ноября, 2011 at 21:15
Sorry for my late response, Skyrim and all. ;-) Regardless, this was a really thrilling season to follow, and honestly one of my favorites thus far. I enjoyed the constant «Will we or won’t we» fall into the relegation zone thing, and I’m glad your squad buckled down in the end and capped off a successful survival campaign. Looking forward to the next season!
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 07:47
Thanks mate, all is well that ends well I guess :)
George Dobson
21 ноября, 2011 at 21:49
well done to stay up Johnny good luck for next season I cant wait to see who your new signings are :D
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 07:48
Thanks George, I hope I’ll have the time to write a new post today.