Romanian FM 2012 Story — Time to Celebrate. Or Not…

Hello folks, it’s time to see whether I managed a promotion in the first season of my FM 2012 story or not. As you remember we were top of the Second Division table at the end of March 2012 as we fought back after a horrendous winter break. But the situation was still pretty unclear as we had no less than 3 teams with 5 points behind us. Let’s see what happened in the last five games of the season…

The first game in April was a tricky one as we were travelling to meet 4th placed CSMS Iasi, one of the three teams in the chasing pack. Despite playing away from home I decided to use the attacking version of my tactic in an attempt to surprise the opponents. Well, the choice didn’t pay off as we found ourselves one goal down after just five minutes when the home side scored on a free kick. At that point we had no choice than to attack and we could have pulled level 8 minutes later but midfielder Mihai Onicas squandered a very good chance. The team was playing well though, we had 75% ball possession on 35 minutes when we finally bagged the equaliser: my left back swung in a deep cross and striker Valentin Simion headed it home. The fightback was completed seconds before half time when striker Vlad Rusu scored one of the most beautiful goals of the season with an awesome strike from 25 yards out. The second half was reasonably quiet so we grabbed the three points and took CSMS Iasi out of the Second Division title race. (click here to watch the highlights)

But we still had two teams five points behind us with four games left so we had to keep it up. The next game saw us welcoming 6th placed Dinamo 2, a very tricky opponent to meet because they always have a few players from the Dinamo Bucharest first team in their ranks. We got off to a bright start this time as Vlad Rusu converted a nice team move after just five minutes but our joy lasted just a bit more than a quarter hour as a stupid mistake in our midfield allowed Dinamo 2 to make it all square. My lads were quite confident though and we managed to restore the lead before half time when Rusu found Simion with a great long pass. Valentin Simion could have extended our lead on the stroke of half time but his shot from inside the penalty area came back off the post.

We paid the price for that miss shortly after the hour mark when Dinamo 2 scored an almost identical goal, an error in my midfield gave the ball away, the defence was totally out of position and the opponents scored. We started to push forward quite desperately after that goal but there was no joy, we threw away two points… (click here to watch the highlights)

Here is the situation at the top of the table with three games left:

1. Viitorul — 54 points

2. Snagov — 51 points

3. CS Otopeni — 48 points

So, despite throwing away the two points our promotion odds were much better as we only needed three more points to secure our passage to the top flight. Our next game was away at 12th placed relegation candidates Dunarea Galati so it was a perfect opportunity to secure those three points. The lads seemed quite determined to take no prisoners there, we missed the first clear cut chance just 20 seconds into the game  and then took the lead in the 9th minute through Valentin Simion. Then centre back Pacuraru made it 2-0 with a free kick header and young substitute striker Cristian Gavra banged in the third goal moments after coming off the bench to replace injured Simion. It was as good as over at the break but Vlad Rusu added further comfort 5 minutes into the second half to the delight of our travelling fans. (click here to watch the highlights)

The league table with two games left showed that we were 99% sure of getting promoted, we only needed to grab one more point out of the last two games:

1.Viitorul — 57 points

2. Snagov — 52 points

3. Otopeni — 51 points

There’s no suspense this time, we won the last two games easily and the Second Division title was ours!

I guess we have a pretty good league record although I would have been a lot happier with a few less draws and a few more wins.

Our best player of the season was Moroccan defender Chakib Benzoukane, a very good signing and a player that could serve us well in the top flight too. Strikers Rusu and Simion managed 23 goals between them, that’s not too many and it surely makes me think that we need at least one better striker to survive in Liga 1.

I have more than that to worry about though, take a look at the club finances! We lost money every month and the balance is now over 1 million pounds in red! Our stadium has just over 2,000 seats so we can’t expect much income from there, I guess I’ll have to sell players to keep the club afloat.

But then I had a look at the expenses and, as you can see, it’s the youth setup that required the most money this season, even more than the player wages! I guess keeping such high standard youth facilities is quite expensive so maybe chairman Gheorghe Hagi will have to dig deep into his pockets and give the club a much-needed cash injection… Well, at least that’s what I hope…

So, we will play in the top flight next season, mission accomplished! However, given the financial situation, I doubt that I will be able to bring in the quality players that we will surely need to survive in there. I have already wrapped up no less than 8 free transfers, those players will join upon contract expiry on July 1st, but I’m sure we’ll need more. Anyway, I guess I should be happy for now and worry about the future later. Thanks for reading folks, looking forward to your feedback.