Hello folks and welcome back on the shores of the Black Sea for the start of my third season in charge of Viitorul Constanta! As you remember we ended our first ever season in the top flight in 10th place, we all agreed that it wasn’t too bad but I was eager to take the club to a new level. However, the lack of money was surely going to be a problem…
On June 17th the board announced the initial budgets and I have to tell you that the news wasn’t good at all: just a few pennies for transfers and only 300 pounds in extra wage money!
The situation improved slightly after we received the TV rights money for the new season, we received just over 1 million pounds. That wasn’t enough to bring the financial balance on a plus but it was a lifeline…
That money changed the situation but not by much. I promised the board a top half finish and they gave me a weekly wage budget of 21,500 pounds. However, with contract renewals and some wage increases that budget was not even covering the current expenses at that point.
Despite that our odds improved dramatically compared to last season when we had 2000 to 1. The media prediction is that we would finish 11th, it’s good that we are no longer seen as prime relegation contenders…
Back to business: I had to sell players, that was the only way out! I’m pleased to report that between loan fees and sales I managed to get over half a million pounds into the club’s coffers. That gave me a bit of space in the wage budget and a bit of transfer money…
… which I spent on 12 players, 11 on free transfers and just one real buy. Just six of these players will join the first team squad right away though, all the details are coming up…
So, here is the new squad with short descriptions for every player (you can also see their profiles by clicking the names):
Goalkeepers
Dragos Balauru, Octavian Ormenisan — (Both are new players, Balauru is slightly more experienced but they seem to be at a similar level. I am going to keep both for now and probably sell one of them for a profit during the winter break. Both are better than my previous keeper though and I expect a vast improvement in our «goals conceded» column.)
Right backs
Ionut Peteleu, Miroslav Sedlak — (Both are confirmed players, Peteleu did a good job last season while he still has room for improvement and Sedlak is a talented youngster that might step up this year.)
Left backs
Lucian Filip, Florin Krajcar — (Filip was the target of many transfer rumours and offers this summer but I decided to keep him at the club because there’s a shortage of good left backs on the market. Krajcar is a new player, he’s just 17 years old and I hope that he will make some progress this season because he will surely get quite a bit of playing time.)
Centre backs
Chakib Benzoukane, Alvaro Casanova, Ionut Putanu, Zarko Markovic — (The first three are confirmed players, you all know them from last season. Benzoukane is a reliable player while Casanova and Putanu seem to be making very good progress. Markovic is our last and probably most important transfer of the summer, he joined the club on the very last day of pre-season for 26,000 pounds. He is not considered a foreign player because he has spent over 5 years in Romania and I think he will become a very important player because he’s a giant with pretty good speed for his stature.)
Central midfielders
Mihai Onicas, Alexandru Lazar, Georgian Marcu, Corado Carstoiu, Nenad Grumic, Dejan Danicic — (There aren’t many changes here, just one new player and that is Danicic — a young Serbian midfielder with bags of potential. Onicas, Lazar and Marcu already are established players while Carstoiu and Grumic should further improve their skills.)
Strikers
Vlad Rusu, Valentin Simion, Joabe, Marius Albu, Zdenek Cervenka, Santiago Vazquez — (I admit that I would have wanted at least one more new striker but that disappointment fades when I look at Vazquez’ profile. This Argentinian youngster joined on a free from Boca Juniors and I think he is by far the best player I ever had at this club. You should be familiar with the other names from last season, all I can say is that I expect a bit more especially from Simion and Joabe while Cervenka will feature mostly in the under 19s games.)
The friendlies went well this time, we won all bar one but what’s most pleasing is that we kept things tidy at the back opposed to last season when we conceded quite a few goals.
A few players impressed me during pre-season, especially Joabe who bagged four goals. New lad Santiago Vazquez was unavailable for some of the friendlies because he was on international duty with the Argentina Under 20s but he still put in some nice performances and provided 4 assists. The most surprising name on this list is young defender Ionut Putanu, a Viitorul trainee that seems to be maturing into a very good player.
The season will start with a cracking match against FC Vaslui, the team that we defeated so surprisingly last season to ease our relegation concerns. Then we’ll have a pair of easier matches before meeting reigning champions Steaua…
Normally this is where the post would end but not this time, I have a bonus for you! I was just too eager to start the season and I played the game against FC Vaslui! This team finished second last season and that was mostly because of us, it was quite clear that the defeat against us cost them the title. I was sure that they had revenge on their mind but I was also extremely curious to see my new team in action. Let’s see what happened…
Viitorul vs FC Vaslui (Liga 1)
Starting Line Up: Dragos Balauru — Ionut Peteleu, Chakib Benzoukane, Zarko Markovic, Lucian Filip — Dejan Danicic, Mihai Onicas, Georgian Marcu — Joabe, Vlad Rusu, Valentin Simion
Unfortunately my South American youngsters (Alvaro Casanova and Santiago Vazquez) were unavailable due to international duty at the Under 20s World Cup so I fielded just three new players in the starting eleven. The game didn’t seem to start well for us as it were the visitors who had the first chance on 10 minutes, I admit that we were quite lucky to get out of that play without conceding a goal. Moreover, we got the ball and sprinted on a counter attack, Joabe took it down the right flank before crossing at the back post where Valentin Simion headed home! Bad luck struck four minutes later when Benzoukane had to leave the field due to an injury and I replaced him with Ionut Putanu. But that didn’t affect our game, the lads continued to play well and we made it 2-0 on the half hour when Georgian Marcu fired in low to wrap up a good move. I admit I was jumping up and down on my seat at that point! :) My joy cooled off due to another injury though, Zarko Markovic was unable to continue so I was forced to send in Miroslav Sedlak as a makeshift centre back. I was worried but that was just for three minutes, the smile came back on my face as substitute Ionut Putanu headed home on a corner kick! The first half ended 3-0 and what was even more impressing was that Vaslui didn’t have any shots on target!
I decided to switch to the counter version of my tactic at half time because I was fearing a reaction for Vaslui. However, it was us who could have scored again on 49 minutes when a cracking effort from distance by Mihai Onicas was sensationally diverted behind by the goalkeeper. We managed to keep things safely under control but we couldn’t prevent Vaslui from scoring a superb free kick goal from more than 30 yards. That didn’t change the game though, we held out easily and started the season with a bang! By the way, the two injuries were not serious: Benzoukane out two weeks and Markovic just a few days.
Match highlights: click here to watch
That’s where this post ends, on a quite optimistic note :) Thanks a lot for reading and I’m looking forward to hearing your predictions for the season.
Mikulas Nemeth
22 ноября, 2011 at 12:13
Nice nice Johny. I’m also having this financial struggle with my MSK Zilina story. Every month losing 200k. So selling is neccessary and also friendly cups during breaks are quite helpful. My idiot owner didn’t gave any money to fund the club so it’s all on my shoulders.
But you’re looking very good in the league. Keep it up.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 12:23
Thanks mate, I guess it’s quite tough from that point of view for most Eastern European clubs except the two big Ukrainian ones and a few Russian clubs.
Mikulas Nemeth
22 ноября, 2011 at 12:49
Yeah…but that’s the fun part. In previous FMs where I played for Zilina I implemented system similar to Darrens youth-to-gold and I was basicaly farm for top club youngsters as they were all buying my young lads..but it took a while to start it properly. Now I can’t afford more than 3 scouts because I have to be carefull with money. But I will get there. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:06
Good luck to you too!
Tribalflames
23 ноября, 2011 at 03:38
I faced the same problem of money with my team HK in Iceland as well, but my run to the 4th qualifying round of the Champions League raised 2M and Europa League another 800K. Knock Steaua off their perch and everything will change. Coincidentally, I played both Steaua and Zilina during my Champions League run, funny huh.
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 06:45
You are right, reaching Europe should take the club to a new level both in terms of finances and reputation.
Mikulas Nemeth
23 ноября, 2011 at 08:37
OK…I managed to won my league with Zilina finally (story update soon :)) so now the hard work begins so I can get ot CL and make some serious money there.
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 09:51
Well done! It will be tough to reach the group stage, that is if you’re not entered in the groups automatically after winning the title.
Bhargav
22 ноября, 2011 at 12:50
Your greatest strength, in my opinion, is by far your ability to man manage staff and players and here you’re demonstrating it again. You are definitely building an awesome platform to build from. You and your scouts are constantly unearthing incredible players — it’s a great example of Darren’s Y2G system. I have 2 questions, though. The first is I’ve noticed that you tend to vary your teams quite a bit from season to season. How do you get them to gel so quickly? And the second is with regard to backroom staff and scouting. How have you managed to score such a skilled backroom staff that help you locate these gems? The only way I’ve been able to do that was by spending an absolute fortune to hire an awesome backroom, but that forces me to straddle this very fine line. I need to pray that my staff regularly find me wonderkids in the making so I can sell them for intense profit to pay my scouts and coaches. Viitorul doesn’t have that much money, so how are you still able to hire such a solid backroom? Or are you searching for the next big players yourself!? That must take hours!
Sorry about the long post.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:05
Thanks for the compliments Bhargav but I think you’re giving me a bit too much credit :) Now to answer your questions: squad gelling can only be achieved through playing matches, so what I do is arrange quite a few friendlies. Another thing to consider is the player personality, signing players who have compatible personalities with the overall squad personality is what I always try to do. About the backroom staff, I have nine scouts but none of them are world class (in fact I didn’t have many to choose from because most good scouts are not interested in joining my club at the moment). I assigned them to regions but sometimes I give them a nudge towards the right direction by getting them to scout players from Under 19 or Under 20 national teams, that’s where quite a few good players can be found. I also try to search for players myself but that’s pretty difficult with attribute masking enabled.
Laxeyman
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:00
Good pre season Johnny, and Vasquez looks like a brilliant player, and at just 17 he will surely get better and better :) You’re side is still very young and has bags of potential, so hopefully they can show it this season. Great start against Vaslui and good luck for the season!
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:05
Thanks Laxeyman, that was an exciting start and I’m looking forward to seeing Vazquez in action ;)
Darren Smith
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:07
Wow that new Argentine striker is insane, he good be the best player to ever play in Romania come 5 years time so well done. I also think you did a great job in other areas and your new Serbian centre back looks handy. This will be an interesting season and looking at the improvements you’ve made I wouldn’t be surprised to see you get a top four finish or even better. Well done Johnny, excellent work with awful funds.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:11
Thanks Darren, a top four finish would be just great but I don’t know if we can get there. It’s true that beating Vaslui was a great start but there’s a long way to go.
Sibo
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:28
Haven’t commented on this in a while. Well done on promotion in the first season and well done on surviving last season. The players look good and I agree with the bookies that your odds should have improved, however with your magic touch I think Vitorul will be able to be the best of the rest, you still need a bit of work to be competing with the big boys of Bucharest etc. but you never know! :D
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:12
Thanks Sibo, I’m sure we’ll beat the big boys sooner or later.
Stromson
22 ноября, 2011 at 13:53
Okay, I’ll admit I chuckled a little at that unbelievably useless transfer budget. I mean seriously, why even bother? :-P Overall though, I like your signings, especially that pair of keepers. I’m going to go on a limb and predict you’ll finish 3rd.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:12
You’re optimistic again mate, thanks! :)
TheZiggy
22 ноября, 2011 at 14:15
Some good work over the summer, especially with the signing of Vasquez, he looks truly exciting and with more room to develop yet, I think he will come to the attention of a lot of clubs before too long.
My prediction, a bit of a lick the finger and stick it in the air job, but I’m going for 4th or 5th. You look ready to make that step, especially as your defence looks a good deal better. Great start against Vaslui, how they didn’t score that first chance is astonishing, but for some great defending in desperation.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:14
Yeah, that first chance was huge and it would probably have changed the match if they would have scored. Vazquez should become the best player at the club, no doubt about that.
Joelance
22 ноября, 2011 at 14:55
Great start to the season. I still dont know how you cope managing a broke club. Some of us are better suited to where the money flows. I’m predicting a top four finish for you. How come that young ambitious owner of yours is trying to sabotage you?
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:15
I don’t see it as sabotage, the club just doesn’t have money so I guess it’s up to me to take care of that. You have to understand that the owner is not Abramovich or that guy from Anzhi ;)
vaibhavc
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:29
With that start for an opening game, you never know what will happen in the season. I hope its positive things. Vasquez is an absolute beast, and the amazing thing is since you will play him so much, he will improve.
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 18:12
I agree and I hope that Vazquez will stay clear of injuries and reach his potential as soon as possible.
Alex
22 ноября, 2011 at 16:36
You’ve made a few top quality signings there. I think you’ll finish in the top four, how many teams qualify for Europe? I noticed you have a considerable number of foreigners in your squad, is there a limit on the number you can have/play in Romania?
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 18:14
Top team goes into the Champions League and the following three (depending on who wins the Cup) go into the Europa League. About the foreign players, there’s a limit of five non-EU players in the first eleven and at least five Romanians in the match squad. For now I don’t have too many foreigners but that will surely be a problem once I’ll be able to buy more players.
Ana Garcia
22 ноября, 2011 at 19:06
Big clear out!!
But you did make £575k and an extra million from the TV money so that will really help your finances.
Your squad looks a lot stronger than last time and your new Argentine striker looks amazing!!
Well done on finding him he will surely score the goals you need am just hoping you can keep them out! The biggest problem I had. :)
Pre-season went very well, plenty of victories so you teams morale should be very high going into the new season, am sure what to expect but things look quite optimistic.
I will say a nice comfortable mid-table finish but hopefully you can get a bit higher, so the best of luck!
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 19:46
Thanks Ana, the finances have not improved by much but I’m happy that at least I brought in a few of the players that I wanted. The defence was pretty solid during pre-season and I hope the lads will keep that attitude in the competitive games.
denson
22 ноября, 2011 at 19:49
Great start johnny, That young argentine striker looks like a wonderkid!, but i think as he improve’s he will be a struggle to keep hold with all the big club’s being interested, Anyway i predict you will finish 5th come the end of the season!.
Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2011 at 20:23
Thanks mate. I’m sure that Vazquez will attract some interest after a season or two but I hope I’ll be able to keep him for a while and then maybe sell him for a very large profit which, of course, will be invested in other good young players :)
Kevin
23 ноября, 2011 at 00:16
Hi Johnny
Sorry for the late comment — had to get some items off ot The Hague today.Well you spent your 26K very wisely on Markovic , he looks like a great defender and could head a few in at the other end for you. As always you managed to find a dynamite South American in Vazquez and he should be a great asset to the team. Fabulous pre-season results and a great opening victory!
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 06:44
Thanks Kevin, I’m quite happy with how things went although I could have gotten a couple more exciting South Americans with a bit of money…
Lye
23 ноября, 2011 at 00:28
Hi Johnny,
Great signings despite you don’t have any serious money for transfers. Markovic looks very strong in the air and could contribute a few goals as well. Varquez is a great find as his technical attributes is excellent at the age of 17. You beat Vaslui, what a big boost on the morale and probably show what is coming up which should be exciting. Good luck for the season.
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 06:45
Thanks Lye, I’m hoping for an exciting season.
CsAtlantis
23 ноября, 2011 at 09:26
Impressive wheeling and dealing in the transfer market there, Vasquez on a free and already 4 stars CA at 17 (and in the U20s Argentinian squad at that age!), his actual PA might be a lot more than the 5 stars indicated
A good start against Vaslui, despite having 2 players taken off injured already, hopefully they are not out for long
Good luck for the season Johnny, for all you know your team could be a dark horse for an European spot
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 09:50
Thanks buddy, Vazquez should become an essential player for us. You can imagine how happy I was when he signed the contract :)
Erick Wolf
23 ноября, 2011 at 13:23
Woah! That is quite a fabulous start for your team!
I am glad that the injuries were not bad either.
I really hope that loss doesn’t cost Vaslui the title (:lol:) or they will try to kill you!
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 15:03
Thanks Erick, I think I’m already on Vaslui’s black list :)
Sears
23 ноября, 2011 at 16:31
My goodness, Vazquez is incredible. He surely must be one of the best strikers in the league right? Some good season pal, all the best! Good luck!
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2011 at 17:03
Thanks mate. Vazquez isn’t the best striker in the league yet but he surely is the best 17-year old player in the country ;)
paine
24 ноября, 2011 at 07:31
I read somewhere that FM 12 is easier than previous versions, I don’t think it’s true and your career shows that well.
If you play with a small team in a small league, the game is still challenging.
My prediction is a top 5 finish for you, feel free to choose the position you prefer! :)
Johnny Karp
25 ноября, 2011 at 06:31
I agree, I don’t think FM 12 is easier but I don’t think its more difficult either. It’s just a bit different. If I’d get to choose the position I’d surely pick 1st but 5th would be pretty good ;)
Chris @ Chester
25 ноября, 2011 at 09:40
A good solid start with some good signings johnny. Surely a top 4 finish this year is a fairly realistic goal. Good luck for this season mate :-)
Johnny Karp
25 ноября, 2011 at 10:18
Thanks Chris, I’d be very happy to finish in the top four, even fourth :)
Mariano
7 декабря, 2011 at 15:41
It´s amazing for a free player to have those attributes at 17 like Vazquez does!
He is going to be the star of the new season, I recommend you to set an asking price of 100 million pounds so you don´t have your chairman selling him for a few millions against your will Johnny, that´s what I do with the players I don´t want to sell, I set a very high asking price straight away.
I´m disappointed with George Hagi, he could raise more founds, maybe ask Petrscu or Illie:)
Cheers and good luck in the new season
ps:When you send your scouts to a region like South America, you send them to scout the whole region or to to your prefered countries in that region?
Johnny Karp
7 декабря, 2011 at 21:50
I wish I would have set that asking price… You’ll know more about that later on… Anyway, to answer your question: I assign a scout to the whole region but now and again I give him specific assignments especially on the under 21 and under 19 national teams in the region.