http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/89/MTK_logo.png/160px-MTK_logo.png

Inspired by the incredible rise of Masopust's Dukla Prague, I have decided to try and do the same thing with the most important club that you have probably never heard of, MTK Budapest.

The club has an incredible history, starting in 1888 by friends in a Budapest coffee shop and like many top clubs such as Ajax, Bayern, and others, was initially a mostly Jewish club (you might be able to tell by the club Logo). MTK Budapest was the most successful club in Hungary in the amateur era, prior to World War II. They were managed through World War I by legendary English Manager Jimmy Hogan, widely considered to have brought football to the Continent and one of the legends of the game. When war broke out and he did not return to England he was called a traitor by the head of the English FA, and the bad blood never really went away. Hogan helped transform the footballing culture in central Europe, being instrumental in the Danubian School credited usually to Hugo Meisl, which is the style the Austrian Wunderteams played.

One of Hogan's players at MTK was a man called Bella Gutmann, a Hungarian Jew who probably needs no introduction in this forum. The greatest journeyman in the history of managing, Guttmann has tasted immense success, most notably winning 2 European Cups with Benfica and signing Eusebio out of Mozambique. In addition, Guttmann managed Ujpest, APOEL, AC Milan, Honved (when the team, including Puskas, defected to the west), Sao Paulo, Penarol, Porto, Panathinaikos, and Austria Wien, tasting success almost everywhere.

Marton Bukovi was the manager of MTK during the golden era of Hungarian football, when the Mighty Magyars were the best team in the world. Despite Honved having more star power (Puskas, Cocsis, Czibor, Bozsik), he nonetheless managed to win the Hungarian League twice in 1951 and 1953, and then won the league again in 1958 after Honved defected to the West. During his reign as manager, Hungary went Communist and MTK was the team of the Secret Police. He is credited by many with creating the 4-2-4 formation which was THE THING in the late 1950s. In fact, his pioneering use of the 4-2-4 saw Guttmann take the formation with him to Brazil, win the Sao Paulo state Championship in 1957, and influence Vicente Feola into using it with the Brazilian National Team in the 1958 World Cup. Most know what happened there.

One of Bukovi's best players was Nándor Hidegkuti, who introduced the deep-lying central forward playmaker to the world in two friendlies against England in 1953 and 1954. At the time, just about every team played a WM formation and man marked (Center Half on Center Forward, Fullbacks on Wingers, etc). Hidegkuti played center forward, but came deep, which pulled the english center half out of position so much that Hungary won these friendlies 6-3 at Wembley and 7-1 in Budapest, Hidegkuti scoring at Wembley inside 3 minutes, and basically ending the perception of English dominance on the sport. This was England's first loss on home soil to a foreign team. Later Hidegkuti managed HTK briefly, but had his biggest managerial success in 1961 when he won the Cup Winner's Cup with Fiorentina. He also won the Hungarian League in 1963 with Gyori. The MTK Stadium is named in his honor.

Also Henk ten Cate managed for a year winning the Cup. Whatever.

So that's it for the history of MTK; a club that positively helped shape the game a lot more than you probably realized. With this background, I am taking over MTK to return them to the glory they once had. Like Dukla, I'm much too impatient to do this honestly, so I have added a sugar daddy in the foreground and improved the training and youth facilities. Sue me. There is a restriction on only 5 Non-EU players in the match squad, which could pose an early problem because no EU player has any desire to join MTK.

LET'S GET IT ON!!!

As a hungarian FM gamer, I can't miss this, good luck!

Reason to love MTK #59: The stadium was used in the filming of epic movie Victory (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083284/) starring Sly Stallone and Pele.

The first order of business was to change everything. None of the coaches were good enough to start what is going to be the best youth academy in the world. So I brought in coaches. Hungarian Imre Kenyeres is the new assistant manager, selected for his motivation and tactical knowledge so he can give team talks, handle the press, manage friendlies, and give good advice. Also in are the Englishmen Mark Chamberlain, John Murtough, and Tosh Farrell; Irishman Des McAleenan a great goalkeeping coach; Brazilians Rodrigo Chagas, Narciso, and Cassiano Luis.

Scouting was another problem, so I hired Englishman Barry Whitbread, who will be roaming in Eastern Europe, Brazilian Ticao who is scouting the Hungary U-19s, and Brazilian Juarez Fischer who is looking for young gems in his native land. I'm considering bringing another scout or two on to handle Africa.

As for the transfers, we had the issue that we can only name 5 Non-EU players in the squad for our domestic matches, so we had to make these players count. Virtually no one in Europe will come to Hungary, and the same can be said for the best South American Players, and even the top players from the Arab World, so we were forced to turn our attention south to Africa. The first transfer was Itumeleng Khune, the South African International and Kaiser Chiefs Keeper for 500k. While we were out looking at him, we liked what we saw, so we have also brought aboard his teammates Zimbabwean defensive midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha and South African International and World Cup goalscorer Siphiwe Tshabalala. With all 3 players in, hopefully there will be no problem settling.

http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/7152/khune.jpg
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/4893/nengomasha.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5232/tshabalala.jpg

We also brought in Angolan International Winger Job who looks to have some real potential especially in this league.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4988/jobt.jpg

The final Non-EU purchase was Eliandro, a talented young striker who was in the Cruzeiro reserves. While he's never going to be a Brazilian International, I think he can certainly be a force in Hungary until our reputation gets high enough to attract a top replacement (or our excellent striker prospects emerge... more on them later).

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1737/eliandro.jpg

With the attack, central midfield, and goalkeeping positions now relatively squared away, I had to scramble to find a competent EU defender. While this is clearly going to be the biggest hole in the team this season, we settled on 20 year old New Zealand international Tommy Smith from Ipswith Town who was born in England.

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/9963/smithf.jpg

As far as the Hungarian players already in the squad, there are a few good ones, which is good because until our reputation gets much higher they will form the backbone of the squad:

Captain Jozsef Kanta appears to be the best player in the team by a wide margin. Talented attacking midfielder who will be asked to play a big role in the team this season behind the lone striker.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1576/kanta.jpg

Andras Gal is a 20 year old defensive midfielder who will probably start the season partnering Nengomasha in the holding midfield roles.

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6474/galv.jpg

Adrian Szekeres is very tall 21 year old right back who looks to have quality enough to be a top player at his position in this league. He was a member of the Hungary U-20 side that finished third in the 2009 U-20 World Cup. Can also play left back, which he probably will this season because I don't really have anyone else capable of playing the position.

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/5693/szekeres.jpg

Laszlo Suto is a 24 year old central defender who isn't great, but aside from the Kiwi is the best we've got.

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/5131/suto.jpg

So not great; clearly the foreign players are going to have to carry a lot of weight, but some of them have such extreme quality and room to grow that hopefully they can take this club to the top of the league by themselves. There ARE some fantastic young players however.

First, is 18 year old striker Patrik Tischler, promoted by me from the reserves to the first team. Very quick player who has good off the ball movement, can dribble quite well, and isn't bad at finishing either. He will be the main attacking reserve should anyone get injured.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4867/tischler.jpg

Zoltan Somogyi is a 16 year old striker who is big, stong, and has good technique. The season has not started yet, but in my opinion this kid looks to be the crown jewel of my youth system right now. My assistant not only considers him to have the potential to be better than everyone on the team, but he has more potential than anyone else's potential. Exciting. Needs better finishing though.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5228/somogyi.jpg

Tibor Kiprich is a 16 year old central defender who is big and a good tackler, but needs improvement in every other facet of his game. Slow, weak, not very smart, and a poor marker; despite potential matching Somogyi, he will need a lot more time before breaking into the first team.

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/4424/kiprich.jpg

Patrik Major is a 16 year old keeper with pretty good reflexes for a 16 year old and is considered to have the potential of Khune. Possible future Hungarian National Keeper? Who knows.

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6008/major.jpg

Those are the youth players I'm most excited about; rest assured that they will be getting very personalized schedules and close attention from the coaches.

We also have a long term affiliation with Liverpool, so hopefully we can get a few of their youth players in on loan from time to time.

We played our first game, which was in an odd format: Hungarian League Cup with 3 team groups. Anyway, the important part wasn't the 3-0 victory, but rather that we were only adjudged to have played 1 Non-EU player. It seems like Africans don't count as Non-EU, at least in Hungary. Knowing this, I set out to improve the remaining weak spots in the squad.

Lima is an 18 year old Brazilian left back who will start for us and has a ways to go to realize his true potential.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7599/limai.jpg

Ze Vitor is an 18 year old defensive midfielder who looks like a very good all around player; solid, but unspectacular in any areas, but a lot of room for improvement.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1741/vitoryr.jpg

Idrissa Coulibaly is a 22 year old defender and Malian National Team fringe member. Very good player and probably Euro League quality; short, but a good jumper.

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3209/coulibaly.jpg

And with those signings, barring an opportunity that we can't pass up before the signing deadline. Here is the squad to face the Hungarian League in year 1.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4479/teamdu.jpg

You go girl!


Man I've been missing that spark of will to play the game, unfortunately. :(

The season started out well in the league as we faced off against legendary club Honved who are also the current Hungarian Cup holders. I figured it would be a real test for my squad to see what they could do and I was not disappointed:

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/654/vhonved.jpg

In the first half of the season our other two big games were the two biggest title challengers: Fehervar, which I THINK is called Videoton in real life right now who are currently top of the real life table, and Debrecen who are the defending champions. We were perhaps a little lucky that all three of these games were at home giving us a nice cushion going into the Winter Break.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/749/vfehervar.jpg

We won on two penalties, which seems cheap, but we definitely had the better football and the three points were deserved IMO.

And against Debrecen, the last game before the break:

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/9558/vdebrecen.jpg


The biggest development of the first half of the season was that Tshabalala was out for about a month with an injury, so we had to go to a 4-4-2 diamond. And we were BRILLIANT. The problem is that we only have 2 good strikers, and I even had to use 18 year old Patrik Tischler to get the second. Tischler suffered an injury just after Tshabalala returned, which meant we had to go back to the defensive minded 4-2-3-1 that we've adopted.

Our two best players have been playmakers Job and Jozsef Kanta (Kanta in the 4-3-3, Job in the Diamond). Job has 7 goals and 10 assists in our 17 league games and Kanta has 8 goals and 7 assists. Beyond that everyone has been good, and I wouldn't consider anyone a flop aside from perhaps Tshabalala, but he's been good enough. Khune has been a rock at GK, except for an 84th minute goal he let in that went over his head after he only got a slight touch on it. However, that is the only time where I feel it has hurt us to have a keeper who is 5'8''.

Here is the table through 17 or 30 games and going into the winter break. Looking good.

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/2973/wintertable.jpg

Awesome! I'm glad the rise of Dukla is an inspiration! Really interesting history lesson aswell. Good luck & I'll be following.

Yup, Fehérvár has been renamed to Videoton FC again.

The first order of business in the winter break was to improve the team for a true title push. I looked through my scout reports and found a kid named Tardelly at Goias, very recently unearthed by my Brazil scout, but never reported back to me. His potential is 5 stars and his teamwork attribute is 19. He must be mine. Unfortunately we had some competition for his signature, most notably Barcelona (!!!!!!!!!!!). When it came time to negotiate his contract I made sure to give him a huge bump in every area including adding an unsolicited match-highest wage earner clause. Eventually, he decided:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3096/tartrans.jpg

Here is the lad, 19 year old Tardelly, who has all the attributes to be another Nandor Hidegkuti or Peter Palotas. I'm a little giddy.

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/695/tardelly.jpg

In addition, we sold Tshabalala to PSV for 1m Euros. We are going to fully commit to this 4-4-2 wingless diamond that gave us our greatest successes this season.

We were eliminated from the Hungarian Cup very early in the season, but the League Cup just wouldn't go away. Despite fielding absolutely awful teams to rest players for the League push, we stayed in the competition and advanced to the final. If it hadn't happened before, Eliandro announced his presence as THE FORCE in Hungary.

http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/1173/leaguecupwin.jpg

The fans even have a song for him:

Score with the right
Score with the left
Eliandro

Run past your man
Then place the shot
We love you

We want a chip
we want assists
and you deliver always

We'll call your name
We'll call your name
We love you

Eliandro
Eliandro
Eli-Eliandro
Eli-Eliandro

Set to this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ZUuHXgQ8k#t=01m11s

What can I say, Europeans love this ****.

Eventually we also clinched the title in front of our numerous die hard fans:

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2012/leclinch.jpg

OH COME ON! 971 fans to watch us win the title!??! The stadium holds 10,000!! Good to know the entire country is going to loathe us when we start to dominate.

Oh well. On to next season where we will start in the Second Qualifying Round of the Champions League. Hopefully that helps us attract some new players, and keep the stars we already have.

MTK's average attendance was around 1500, even when they became champions in 2008, don't be too surprised about it.

Jawohl!

cool story bro.






































literally :(
p.s. this sounds insanely interesting maybe I should coach a third world country club.

Right as the transfer window opened I had already found a gem in Ukraine, 21 year old Adolphe Teikeu who is a MASSIVE upgrade over what we were playing and should also form a Senegal-Cameroon partnership at the back with Coulibaly.

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/916/teiku.jpg

In addition we had one decent youth player come up through the ranks this year, 16 year old Attila Nagy who is probably already our second best left back and will have a chance to prove it as he will start as #2 in that position.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7133/nagy.jpg

Next, Khune went down with an injury that could threaten our Champions League run before it started, so we loaned in 21 year old Brazilian keeper Fabio who looks to be a great talent and perhaps we will think of signing him after the season if he impresses.

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/6416/fabiood.jpg

Next up is 18 year old Guinean midfielder Moussa Sylla who looks to be a pretty good player already, but with immense potential. He'll have a chance to crack the starting 11 this year. Very determined and influential player, which is great.

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/7606/syllaa.jpg

To give a little bit better depth in the defense, we brought 20 year old Dedryck Boyata in on loan from Manchester City. Not the best defensive mental attributes, but clearly the best defender in Hungary excluding our two other defenders.

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/8674/boyata.jpg

I also was recommended Anas Cherkaoui, an 18 year old Moroccan keeper by my Brazilian scout doing the rounds in Africa, so we snatched him up for a paltry 400k from Raja Casablanca.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1365/anasb.jpg

And finally, it won't go through until next year, but here is the transfer that can seriously begin our assent to the top of the world. His contract runs until 2017 and he WILL NOT be sold. I will play him unhappy. Poor kid probably thinks this is just going to be a quick stop on his road to Chelsea. Nope.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7120/kovacicdeal.jpg

Also of note is that 17 year old wonderkid Zoltan Somogyi will spend this coming season on loan at ZTE, another First Division squad as a valuable first team member. Likewise 17 year old defensive player Tibor Kiprich will spend the year at affiliated First Division club Siofok who are probably losing both first team CDs. Excellent.\



The season began in the Second Round of Champions League Qualifying against Bosnian side Zeljeznicar Sarajevo and we cruised through, setting up a meeting with....

RAPID VIENNA!! Austrian team! Sweet little rivalry there dating back to when fans of both teams bowed to the Hapsburgs. First leg would be in Vienna, and we shocked the world.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/659/wienleg1.jpg

In front of 20,000 Austrians with their jaws on the floors, Eliandro put on a masterclass performance and all but sent us through to the Group Stages of the Champions League. Eli-Eliandro Eli-Eliandro!! The Second Leg Party was set for a week later; maybe we'd even attract 1000 fans.

http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/5564/wienleg2.jpg

Hey, hey, almost 5k!

Well, you can tell I don't have experience in lower leagues, because there is a "Playoff Qualifying Round" which we must play in. Here's the draw:

http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/8430/drawz.jpg

Manageable.

The first leg was in Bulgaria, and while I suspected Rapid Vienna were a better team that Litex, I wasn't sure.

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/5620/litexleg1.jpg

Now I'm sure. Absolute domination, and I changed Ze Vitor's role for the first time in this game and he came away with his first goal in quite awhile. Very good. We're going to the Group Stages! And just to seal it:

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/3600/litexleg2.jpg

So that brings us to the draw, and I was expecting the worst. Here's what we got:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4273/champsgroup.jpg

Thats.... possible? Fingers crossed.



First things first, I desperately need another striker, and I was hoping that entering the Champions League in the Group Stage would attract better players to the club. That was not the case, so instead we settled for Suso, a 17 year old Attacking Midfielder on loan from Parent Club Liverpool. Great potential; certainly not ready for the Champions League, but should do the business in Hungary.

http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/2011/susom.jpg

So with our final signing made, we got aboard our chartered (CHARTERED!! YEAH!!!!) flight and headed north to Glasgow to make our first appearance in the Champions League Group Stage in... it's gotta be decades.

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/4716/rangersa.jpg

What do they say in Britain? Three points is three points innit? Of course, not all games would be Candy and Sunshine

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7098/interhd.jpg

All 4 Inter goals coming off set pieces. ******* Italians.

**** you guys because of you lot I want to play the game so badly, but I can't be arsed to pick my Bucharest team again at this point...


Great job btw Nim (Y)

Cool, Kovacic. I had him on my shortlist in my early Dukla days, but I decided to go with Alan Patrick instead. Kovacic surprisingly never blossomed in my game. He had a decent time at Shakhtar between ages 22-26, but only has 1 cap for Croatia. He never even averaged a rating over 7 in a season in his career either. Now he sits on the bench at Napoli aged 29. I hope you can get the best out of him, because he looked VERY promising.

BTW, if you can't tell by now here are the ABCs of my transfer policy: A) Africa, B) Brazil, C) CCCP Protectorates

p.s. this sounds insanely interesting maybe I should coach a third world country club.

Yeah, just do what Juventino and I did, edit in a foreground sugar daddy to some small club. That way you'll have room to grow and cash to spend, but there are still a lot of other obstacles to get over.

Third World?! Hungary is in the EU!

Cool, Kovacic. I had him on my shortlist in my early Dukla days, but I decided to go with Alan Patrick instead. Kovacic surprisingly never blossomed in my game. He had a decent time at Shakhtar between ages 22-26, but only has 1 cap for Croatia. He never even averaged a rating over 7 in a season in his career either. Now he sits on the bench at Napoli aged 29. I hope you can get the best out of him, because he looked VERY promising.

That's interesting, because I have had a top Brazilian scout criss-crossing the country for almost 2 years now looking for any player 21 or younger, and Patrick was never highly recommended. In fact, I only clicked on his name once because I remembered him from the Dukla story, but wasn't impressed and moved on.

The third game saw us host HSV, and hold onto your hats ladies

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/295/hamburgh.jpg

I have no words. I'm in shock right now. Through 3 games the group table looks like this:

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/9681/grouptab.jpg

If Inter beat them both... and if they draw again... holy ******* ****.

Our rematch in Hamburg was a 3-1 loss, and then hosting Rangers we had the better play, but could only manage a 0-0 draw. Combined with Hamburg also getting a 0-0 draw against Inter (despite being out played), MTK would either need to take a point off Inter, or hope for a draw or Rangers win in the other match. It would be at Ibrox, so anythign was possible, but clearly only up 2 points headed to Milan was not the scenario we were hoping for.

Inter had already qualified, so they trotted out this lineup:

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/2825/interlineup.jpg

Some good players, but that's not impossible for us. No Eto'o and Sneijder makes me very happy.

The game started off terribly... young right back Szkeles making his first start in over a month keeps Destro onsides, and he slots home an easy goal. Is this a repeat? Then something happened in the 40th Minute.

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/5425/halftime.jpg

Eli-Eliandro Eli-Eliandro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You also might be interested in this:

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/79/gershsv.jpg

OMG. What kind of a team talk do you give here? I'm more nervous than the players. I tell them one more goal will do it. Which it did; unfortunately, it was for the wrong team. HOWEVER... savor it boys.

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4203/lastgroup.jpg
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/7377/knockoutc.jpg

I've been ignoring the league, largely because it's uneventful. Despite not having a great season and being riddled with injuries, we still go into the winter break at the top of the table, albiet on goal difference.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3513/wintertab.jpg

On to the second half, and the Draw.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4300/firstknockoutdraw.jpg

Manageable!

BTW, my final match of the fall season was a second leg Cup Match against non-league side Oroshaza. The manager described my pitch as "treacherous" before the game. I waited until the draw to decide if I wanted to relay it; had we drawn Barca, Man U, or Real Madrid, I probably would have turned the pitch to **** and turned on hard tackling. Against Sevilla, I think we should probably just relay the pitch; as the best domestic team it helps us to have a nice field. However the board have decided that the pitch won't be relayed during our nearly 3 month winter break, but rather in the summer. Watch out Sevilla.

Nice, I didn't know other managers complained about the pitch.


Good luck, if you don't concede at home I'm buying tickets to watch the match in Sevilla (H)

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7489/cedrikonettinewsinbox5.th.png (http://img96.imageshack.us/i/cedrikonettinewsinbox5.png/)

Very fun indeed. More challenging. I revamped my training staff. And Im still debating if I should play a Barca formation with 1 striker up front or diff? either way Im going to enjoy my minor success. Must admit I feel more comfortable with the board here then in Schalke 8|. I must admit with my passion I convinced the board with transfer budget, more coaches, and more wage. More to come.....this is sooo fun. Its ridicules.....:skip_e:

Lower leagues I would suggest 2 strikers. They go through droughts a lot.

That's interesting, because I have had a top Brazilian scout criss-crossing the country for almost 2 years now looking for any player 21 or younger, and Patrick was never highly recommended. In fact, I only clicked on his name once because I remembered him from the Dukla story, but wasn't impressed and moved on.
I misremembered. Kovacic didn't want to join me as a youngster. My second season at Dukla was my first in the First Division, and I was only fighting for an Europa League spot then. I won my first title in my 3rd season in the First Div, but by that time Kovacic was already playing for Shakhtar. Alan Patrick is probably the lesser player then, yes, but he sure had a better career than your boy Mateo. (H)

Stunning performance in the CL, by the way.

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/2411/cedrikonettinewsinbox9.png (http://img577.imageshack.us/i/cedrikonettinewsinbox9.png/)

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/1127/cedrikonettinewsinbox7.png (http://img571.imageshack.us/i/cedrikonettinewsinbox7.png/)

having soo much fun so far. I love my attack. These kids came to play. :skip_e:




EDIT: Who should be my parent club? Im leaning on Racing because of the spanish premier league But on the other hand?

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5980/cedrikonettinewsinbox10.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/cedrikonettinewsinbox10.png/)

I don't want to be a douche, but could you start your own thread? Thanks.

Eliandro has been making waves about joining a bigger club, so in anticipation of that we signed Adailton, a 21 year old Brazilian striker from Vitoria who has the potential to be better anyway.

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1323/adailton.jpg

We also signed a couple Czechs for the future; the first one is 17 year old Czech forward Radek Vagner who is tall, brave, and determined. Not a bad finisher either. Lots of potential in this one; you can thank the Eastern European scout for him.

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/6098/vagner.jpg

The second is 15 year old Jan Smetana who looks like he has a massive future ahead of him in defense, and hopefully his very determined personality sees him improve quickly.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1919/smetanad.jpg

The first game back would be no cake walk, but luckily we had a full strength squad. I notice I haven't posted it recently, so here it is:

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/7973/squadep.jpg

On our disgraceful pitch, we condensed play, tackled hard, pressed, and played direct passing... and would you look at that.

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/1605/sevillah.jpg

Sevilla replied instantly after Tardelly's great goal, but did we fold up and take the draw? NOT THIS TEAM! Kanta was dragged down at the edge of the area on the left side and he went down, winning the penalty, which he stepped up and converted. And hey, the stadium was at capacity too. All of Budapest (at least the few that like soccer in this cosmopolitan city) was out tonight!! Hopefully that can win us some fans.




The return leg unfortunately saw Eliandro out through an injury, so he was replaced by Adailton who scored a hat-trick in his debut, and then had another one in his league debut. My new assistant, brought in partially for his motivating techniques recommended I tell the team before the game "the pressure is off". **** THAT. I told them they could win it!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4393/sevillaa.jpg

SAY SOMETHING! YEAH YEAH!!! We went hardcore defense, sweeper, time wasting, and Ze Vitor sure looked like faked an injury to me in the 90th minute. But you know what... QUARTER FINALS!!!!!!! This is the most incredible Cinderella Story I've ever been part of in FM. I'm beside myself with each result. Oh, and just BTW...

http://img815.imageshack.us/img815/5830/disallowed.jpg

He was on (H)

It's also of note that despite scoring 8 goals in his first 8 appearances for ZTE this season, Somogyi has since been relegated to the bench. Figuring that he can sit on my bench just as well as he can sit on ZTE's bench, I have recalled him from his loan. I will try to play him a little bit when possible.

As one of the best 8 teams in Europe, we get entered into the draw for the Quarter Finals.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3793/quarterdraw.jpg

This is where the road probably ends. I was hoping for Lyon, the only team I'd actually think we have a chance against. But the first leg is at Stamford Bridge... if we can just keep it low scoring... and maybe get an away goal. If we find a way to win we would face the winner of Real Madrid vs. Inter.

So we go to Stamford Bridge, pretty much hoping for a draw. And what's this... a little arrogance from Chelsea?

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4897/chelsform.jpg

This looks like a second choice team!

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/77/chelseaa.jpg

A LOT of bookings in this one from my poor players who were basically run off the pitch, but Khune had one of the best goalkeeping performances I've ever seen to keep them at 2 goals, and Boyata headed in from a corner late to give us a vital away goal taking it back to Hungary. Perhaps Chelsea's lead and dominance will lead them to send the same B Team to Budapest.

In other news, we advance to the Hungarian League Cup Final after beating Debrecen 2 days after the Chelsea game. They were completely dominant and had 6 clear cut chances. Remember when I said Khune had one of the best performances I'd seen against Chelsea. Well this is now the best I've ever seen. Hopefully his form carries over in 6 days to the Chelsea Home leg.

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/5080/debrecen.jpg

So with Chelsea travelling 899 miles to Budapest, I had to prepare meticulously and hope Khune had one more super-keeper performance in him. A 1-0 win would do it. The most concerning part about choosing the lineup was this:

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/4287/injure.jpg

All 3 of those guys would start if they were healthy, so we were down. A miraculous recovery from injury by right back Szekeres was welcomed with a sigh of relief, but who knows how long he could go. On the left, we will be starting 17 year old Atila Nagy, who has had a baptism by fire sort of year, but done alright.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/5424/linechels.jpg

Unfortunately, Chelsea would not risk losing the tie to arrogance:

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/8682/chelsline.jpg

I let myself get excited in the 53rd minute, but ultimately it wasn't meant to be. We were just outclassed by better individual players. I play in 2D and don't load up the 3D match engine, so I can't upload highlights, but I'll describe the Chelsea goals to you. Drogba gets the ball in the Chelsea half on the right side, beats Coulibaly, beats Nady, gets into the box to the byline, beats Boyata, beats Nady again, and then powers it into the near post. The second one, Torres shoots from 25 yards out of nowhere with one touch on a pass back to him with 3 defenders between him and the goal and it goes into the top corner. Torres scores from 20 yards out, the original shot would have gone at Khune, but it took a slight deflection off Boyata so it went into the lower corner. Our goal was a nice cross by Nady slotted home by Job.

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/8361/chelseah.jpg

I moved to a 4-3-3 to try and confound Ancelotti's diamond, but he just kept switching back and forth matching our players, so I couldn't get an advantage. The goal came with the 4-3-3 against the diamond. I also forgot to press and tackle hard on the ****ty pitch. I don't think this cost us, but perhaps it did.

So the European adventure is now over. Time to turn our attention to this mess:

http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/6809/division.jpg

The B team has played a LOT of games this year and conceded a LOT of goals. We conceded 15 all last year.

There's also this:

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7205/gyoro.jpg


Match Day 25

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/6083/30246946.jpg

This almost certainly means that we will not win the league, and therefore we will not qualify for the Champions League next season. Seems our fitness and overall squad quality was simply not good enough to compete on so many fronts. Fluky draws and losses like these have been the rule rather than the exception this year, for which I blame myself... despite knowing we would play a 4-4-2 Diamond, I made a big pitch. Had I put in a narrow one I think things would have been different.

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/4215/table25.jpg

And it really just got worse; it seems like the team lost any will to even play after going out of the Champions League, which I can understand because I don't really enjoy coaching these games either. But this is RIDICULOUS.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/3664/formw.jpg

In fact, in the 10 games after getting knocked out by Chelsea we have scored 11 goals, 7 of them by defenders, and only 1 by a striker. In fact, Eliandro went 18 games without a goal, and in the league it's even worse. Neither Tardelly, nor Eliandro (the starting strikers for most of the second half of the season) have scored in the league since November 26th. They haven't exactly been wanting for chances. After dropping those two buffoons, this game represents our season:

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/883/onegame.jpg

We had more clear cut chances than they had shots. Draw. Unbelievable. Chelsea beat Barcelona 2-0 in the Champions League Final, Drogba's goal against us in the second leg is the #2 goal of the competition, and not only that, but we get absolutely ****ed in the asshole by UEFA.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9033/revenue.jpg

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!? We played at LEAST 10 games on television! Wow.... financial fairplay indeed.

We finish the league on 5th place, although Suso had the goal of the year and shockingly, Kanta is the Player of the Year for the second year although this time it is undeserved.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2135/tableend.jpg

The last game of the year was the Hungarian Cup Final against Champions Debrecen, and we actually did take home a trophy this year, so it wasn't a complete waste. The only goal coming on a brilliant solo run by Job.

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/6816/winnerkq.jpg

And more importantly...

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/5328/qualify.jpg

The new season starts in the most perfect way possible, as help has arrived in the form of 18 year old Croatian sensation Mateo Kovacic

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/6609/kovacic.jpg

Africa continues to bear fruit, this time in the form of 18 year old Abdellah El Moueden

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4370/moueden.jpg

It's also worth mentioning that after well over a year of flirting with signing him, we finally signed 30 year old left back Nadir Belhadj from Al-Sadd who, much like El Moueden is a left sided Algerian player. He should take over the left wingback duties from Lima and Nagy. As far as I can tell, he's also the first player to join up who's played in the World Cup.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8906/belhadj.jpg

We're loaning in defender Dedryck Boyata again and continuing with the theme of loans, we got a GREAT one here; in fact this could really piss off some established members of the squad. Arriving from Liverpool is Jonjo Shelvey

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8674/boyata.jpg
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3357/jonjo.jpg

We also brought back Suso who impressed as a 17 year old last season for us on loan and is interested in signing with us permanently. Liverpool are driving a hard bargain right now, so instead we bring him in on loan and hope to reach an agreement later in the season.

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7896/suso.jpg

The next signing is Aboubakar Kouakou, a 19 year old Ivorian right back, who isn't much for the mental stats or crossing, but he's quick, sure in the tackle, and can run up the sideline with the ball. He's also got some decent potential and views his 425 Euros a week as a dream come true. Brought to our attention by his agent while he was plying his trade in Tunisia for Club Africain; 2 days after signing for MTK he sacked his agent.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/679/kouakou.jpg

The final signing is Matija Smrekar a decent 23 year old Croatian forward who certainly could be useful, but I only signed him because Kovacic said he need this guy brought in to help him settle. Of course, this could stunt the development of Tischler, so I'm thinking about loaning him out.

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/8985/smrekar.jpg

We were also handed our first game in Europe, although I must admit I've never heard of either club.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3517/eurodraw2.jpg

Fed up with his inability to score, we sold star striker Eliandro for 3.5m to Ankaragucu to make an example of him. **** off. We also sold keeper Itumeleng Khume for 1.5m because 19 year old Anas Cherkaoui is now his equal in ability and 4 inches taller. Khume's "match highest earner" clause had also taken his salary to unacceptable levels.

Our early season is inconvenienced by The Olympics, which robs us of three starters. The loss of Kovacic is particularly harsh as I need to integrate him into the squad as our primary playmaker. And oddly enough, Jonjo Shelvey isn't in the graphic, but he's with the English (should be British!!) Olympic Squad too.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/6286/olympicsf.jpg

And after a few ineffectual performances, we have decided to loan out 'in demand' 18 year old Zoltan Somogyi. This time he will be a valuable member of Havre AC in the French First Division. Let's hope he succeeds there, and more importantly, improves.

Oh, and Croatia are the 2012 Champions of Europe.

Fed up with his inability to score, we sold star striker Eliandro for 3.5m to Ankaragucu to make an example of him. **** off.
I bought Akif Kara this summer (2012) from Ankaragucu, so they needed a new striker and had some cash to spend. It all just figures!

Unfortunately, we would not have any European success this year as we crash out to Panathanaikos thanks to a disastrous home tie where we played about even with them, but conceded a huge amount of stupid goals. Lost at home 5-2, and drew 2-2 back in Greece. Probably the team not understanding the new tactic as much as they should. It could also be a difference in team experience as I only have a handful of players over 22. The Board expected us in the Group Stage, but understand how we lost to Pana.

Speaking of the new tactic, here it is; at it's best it can give the illusion that we have 12 or 13 players on the pitch.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/1323/newtac.jpg

One particularly good result from this part of the season was a win over Debrecen

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/916/ggtisch.jpg

Tischler, for all of his faults, is probably the most consistent striker we have at actually scoring goals, and he came up big in the second half of this game to help us rout our rivals. We also thoroughly thrashed nearest title contenders Ferencvaros, which puts us in an early almost unassailable position to take the league. Amazing what good management and only 1 game a week can do for a team.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8935/ferenm.jpg

As we head into the Winter Break, here's the table. We have matched last season's point total already, and a completely ridiculous new goal captivates the team.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2973/wintertable.jpg

The last game before we go on holiday is the second leg of the Cup 5th Round against Debrecen; we lost the first leg 3-2.

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/7603/cup1y.jpg
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/5696/suso1.jpg

Look at Suso's 45 minutes, wow! Hat-trick and 2 assists. I think we definitely have to buy him when the window opens.

My reputation also appears to be increasing nicely as in the last 6 months I have been offered the managerial jobs at Rubin Kazan and Boca Juniors.

So we go to the winter transfer window and add 18 year old phenom Serigne Faye, which puts into doubt the Suso signing (as Liverpool continue to demand an outrageous fee).

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/7713/faye.jpg

We also sign 20 year old Czech defensive mid Jaroslav Lerch, who has good potential, and now it's our job to get it out of him. Probably more of a reserve player for a few years.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/5434/lerch.jpg

Out goes Belhadj for 3.2m, double what we paid for him and his minimum fee release clause. Not the worst thing in the world, although I also forgot to renew Lima's contract before it got to the 6 months expiration date, so he's out too. Left back will be our biggest need in the summer.

That is one weird looking tactic.

Yeah, it's the result of a lot of different things:

Feeling the need to play 2 strikers, not having wingers, having Belhaj who can run the entire left side by himself, and the need to balance out very attacking players.

haha "Magic Box" ... Dan went Brazilian, and then embellished! (H)

It's actually VERY Brazilian, right down to the left wingback. The 1982 side was my inspiration for the tactic.

this kind of threads are always a great read and this is top class nim.. you CL experience was wonderful.. keep it on..

It's actually VERY Brazilian, right down to the left wingback. The 1982 side was my inspiration for the tactic.inspired by '82, playing like '94? or are you (feel the disbelief in my voice) actually considering a non-counter-attacking, non-physical tactical approach?! :-D

inspired by '82, playing like '94? or are you (feel the disbelief in my voice) actually considering a non-counter-attacking, non-physical tactical approach?! :-D

Hahaha, I only play that way when I need results. When my team is miles better talent-wise I will, and do, play fun attacking ball.

The second half was an absolute cake walk for MTK, winning the league on April 14th on matchday 24/30 and setting a new record for points that day as well.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/4836/leaguew.jpg

The league cup against rival Debrecen went well as we won 3-0 at their home stadium in the first leg, making the second leg at the Hidegkuti a mere formality.

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8518/leaguecup.jpg

We also advanced to the Semi-Finals playing against a surprisingly good ZTE team. What makes them so dangerous is their pitch, which I must admit I've never seen anything like it before.

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6725/narrow.jpg

It doesn't matter how long it's been since I played it, I ALWAYS use the diamond here. The carilleros are essentially wide enough to be wingers on this bowling alley.

And then in the final we smashed Siofok, to take the Hungarian Cup

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/473/cupwin.jpg

Which makes this happen

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/3738/treblet.jpg


Adailton, Suso, Job, Boyata, and Coulibaly make the Division Team of the Year. Adailton is the league's top goalscorer with 23, the most in the Hungarian League ever (of course FM stats only go back to 05/06). Kanta completes a hat trick of Player of the Year Awards as it seems clear now that only Hungarians are eligible for the award; odd considering someone named Ibrahima Sidibe won it in 2007. Tischler is the Young Player of the Year, despite splitting his time with MTK II, who are in the Second Division; regradless he scored 9 First Division goals in 5(6) appearances for an average rating of 7.69; he also banged in 8 in 14 for the reserves, leading them to the top of the league, before I promoted him (and a few others) due to injuries near the end of the season and the reserves lost 4 straight to end the year. Oddly, he also won the Second Division-West U-21 Player of the Year Award. At this point he's pretty much the Hungarian version of Michael Owen at Real Madrid.

I continue to not be eligible for Manager of the Year as an American. Abdellah El Moueden lead the Second Division-West in assists with 10. I should also mention that Zoltan Somogyi scored 14 goals for AC Havre in Ligue 1 this year and was probably responsible for keeping them up as they finish 14th. They conceded the 3rd most goals in the league, but Somogyi lifted their Goals Scored to a high enough level that they were able to stay up for another year. Zoltan is so so good and I really want to find a place for him at MTK as he's Hungarian... but with his lacking pace and questionable finishing, it's hard to put all of my faith in him. I guess a Target Man-Support is probably his best role, and we will probably try him there next season.

So the season ends with Suso and Boyata seemingly uninterested in coming to the club permanently, although we'll certainly try to bring them back by hook or crook next year. But in case they don't, we have already made 6 signings for this coming summer, with a few more sure to come as left back still has not been addressed. All 6 of the arranged future transfers are Africans coming from African clubs as we continually work to alienate whatever racist fans are in Hungary and exploit a huge loophole in the EU Player restrictions in the country. These new players are very good, and will make me seriously examine the current members of the squad to see who to keep around and who to sell. First team places at MTK will no longer be easy to keep. Also, the Hungarian First Division makes it's way up to #44 on the European Competitions list, up 18 places from last year, and much better than the 70 it was only 2 summers ago. MTK is up to the 97th ranked team in Europe on the back of our 19.600 coefficient from 11/12. Can only help us attract players (Suso and Boyata hopefully).

Haha 2D :D

I'am "extremely" impressed Dan. Wow inspiration anyone??? Keep it up.



btw

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/5561/cedrikonettioverview.png (http://img585.imageshack.us/i/cedrikonettioverview.png/)



:( besides the fact that I wanna win this cup because of last years shocker against Rapid Gjidjfisdjofj (H)


your story motivates me.

So the transfer window opens a scant 6 days after our final league game of the year, which is odd. Here are the signings:

18 year old Sekou Tidiane Ouattara is a big, strong, smart, and hard working Ivorian central defender who already has what it takes to be a star in the Hungarian League, although I'll probably send him to MTK II this year to get him acclimated to Hungary. His potential is largely untapped.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3161/ouattara.jpg

Hamza Saidi is an 18 year old central midfielder from Morocco who is very technical and a hard worker. His great long shots are probably my favorite part of his current game as the more box-to-box midfielder in our system gets a lot of space from 20-25 yards out and hopefully he can take full advantage of that. It will be up to him, along with Sylla, who is already here, to make up for Jonjo Shelvey's production this year.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3416/saidi.jpg

Mogamat Maluka is a 19 year old phenom from South Africa who is equally great on both right and left flanks. There were some contract stumbling blocks here as he wanted to be guaranteed a first team spot while I would only go as high as making him a rotation player (because we don't use wingers at the moment), but just before this threatened to ruin the deal, I decided to cave into his demands. Maluka is the kind of player that we won't get very often; determined, fast, technically adroit, and with loads of flair, he can win games single handedly.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/5696/malukax.jpg

Olivier Alabi is an 18 year old Nigerian keeper who we actually signed 2 years ago at the same time as Cherkaoui hoping they would duke it out for the #1 spot. However, Cherkaoui's accelerated development means Alabi will probably be the #2 for a good while. He's said to have more potential than Cherkaoui, but our current keeper is one of our best trainers almost every month, so it's a tough road for this youngster to become the #1.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7237/alabi.jpg

Coming up through the youth ranks is 16 year old Robert Soos who... oh my. This kid could be Tischler on crack. I picture him and Somogyi as the big-man/small-man combo for Hungary in 5 years. Everyone at the club feels like his potential outstretches anyone else here.

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/1850/soos.jpg

Signing on his 18th birthday is Yaw Mohammed a talented technical forward who probably has a few good years before he'll be ready to make the leap to the senior squad.

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/7913/yawz.jpg

Joining 6 months before his 18th birthday is Geoffrey Onyango from Kenya. Strong, good tackler and marker, and very good mental attributes would make a bigger faster player absolutely world class. Unfortunately Geoff is 5'11'' and pretty slow. Capped for the first time by Kenya 4 days after signing for us.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2430/onyango.jpg

Suso comes back for his third season at MTK, hopefully he never leaves. He has a future fee clause in the loan deal.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2011/susom.jpg

Finally, we signed a Boyata replacement, 24 year old Prince Oniangue from Congo Brazzaville who's big, strong, and smart. Should start as a central defender immediately and I'm glad to have him.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8699/oniangue.jpg

BTW, for all my African scouting, I've missed out on a few massive signings. This is the White Whale, the one that got away (actually was considering a contract from them when my scout found him). Signed for 150k from Djoliba in Mali. Cry.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/464/abdou.jpg


As far as players leaving, we lose a ton of reserve team players, but the only two notable departures are Lima who left for Rosenborg on a Bosman, and Patrik Major, who was actually our #2 keeper last year who is an average keeper for Hungary and 19 to boot, left the club and then signed for Division II-East side Szolnoki. He was one of the kids I was excited about when I took over the team.

My assistant arranges the friendlies... I thought this was funny. Rumor has it they have a talent young manager almost equal to my abilities.

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/275/dukla.jpg

Should be a good one, although my assistant would handle it.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/7587/classicop.jpg

Oh. Well then.

Captains are selected. Kanta keeps the armband, but the vice-captain this year is 19 year old keeper Anas Cherkaoui. The kid is a true superstar in the making and he gets better literally every month:

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/5271/anasf.jpg

2nd Round of the Champions League Qualifying. Let's just say I started to feel very sad for the Birkirkara manager before even half an hour was up. Of course I didn't call off the dogs, we're trying to send a message.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/9453/birkir.jpg
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8407/birkir11.jpg

So... hat trick and an assist from Maluka on his debut, 3 assists and a goal for Somogyi on his return, and of course Tischler with a goal and an assist as a sub. I don't think teams this good usually play this early in the Champions League.

The return leg was pretty cool too. Ouattara and Soos played in their first games as professionals... both scored and the young Ivorian centerback was named man of the match in a Champions League game.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3365/bir2g.jpg

After a very testy 3-2 aggregate win over Cypriot side Omonoia we draw our opposition to get to the Group Stage.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6532/draw1.jpg

So it's manageable and with the squad quality where it's at we should advance. Still, Red Star are a team that can give us problems.

First Leg in Hungary couldn't have gone better, and the second leg wasn't much more than a formality.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/337/redhu.jpg
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/3557/redag.jpg

Man, this Maluka is realllllllllly good

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/8171/mogamat.jpg

The Group Draw was the next day

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2695/groupgi.jpg

****.

After losing 2-0 and being completely outclassed by Barcelona, we went to Manchester and were expected to get slaughtered, but we put up a good fight.

http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/5579/citya.jpg

How the hell am I supposed to beat this?

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3717/cityform.jpg

So the Leverkusen games will pretty much be the difference between a Group Stage exit and the Europa League. Well... we've beat them before.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4015/levh.jpg
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5594/leva.jpg

So it would all come down to goal difference.

Remember 16 year old Robert Soos? Well his first 6 months as a professional have been pretty good:

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/6730/soosstats.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7451/nexthideg.jpg

Quite frankly, I don't think he's anything like Hidegkuti except perhaps his lack of strength. I think he's more like the next Sandor Kocsis, but whatever.

We pulled off a nice 3-3 draw at home against Man City in a game we, frankly, should have probably won, but in the end it didn't really matter. Goal difference would have seen us through to the Euro League anyway.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/10/grouphp.jpg

And finally, much like last year we go into the Winter Break with the league for all intents and purposes already won.

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5298/leaguetop.jpg

And we also made a HUGE signing to arrive in January, but that's the cliffhanger!

Hahaha that City team is insane! But I can see why you managed to score two goals though...

Hahaha that City team is insane! But I can see why you managed to score two goals though...

Yeah, not quite sure why they're so stupid about their defense. In the second leg Gareth Barry played left back. The team is a disgusting collection of talent; guys not mentioned on their team: Sahin, Dzeko, Chygrynskyi, Silva, Tevez, Farfan, van der Weil, Anyukov, and Lucio. Not to mention Ballotelli, Yaya, Pedro Leon, Boateng, Onouha, Alex Chamberlain, and John Fleck in the reserves. Yes, they won the EPL title last season. I've been desperately trying to sign Fleck for 3 years, but he won't come to Hungary.

****, they've got too much money.

And we also made a HUGE signing to arrive in January, but that's the cliffhanger!
C'mon, tell us already!

Maybe the Prague massacre is what provoked the talented Dukla manager to really get down to business and beat MTK to European glory. I have that scene in my head of the film The Damned United, in which a young Brian Clough and his second division side Derby County draw Don Revie's great Leeds United in the FA Cup. Clough is so honored and excited to host the great Don Revie, only to be snubbed by him upon Leeds' arrival in Derby. That's how I felt, just out of the Czech Republic's Second Division, dreaming of European glory with Dukla; snubbed and humiliated by the Hungarian champions and CL quarter finalists MTK and their manager. Dirty, dirty bastards, that MTK. I'll sort 'em out one day.

Hahaha, I didn't even go to Prague, I sent my assistant!

How the hell am I supposed to beat this?

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3717/cityform.jpg


Haha, that is amazing. Love it how their wide midfielders are forwards, their full backs are wingers and they have the world's best target men as forwards.

Sorry the pace has slowed a little. I discovered Europa Universalis 3 a few weeks back, so that's been taking up most of my gaming time. I try to make every post have a good amount of information, not just 1 signing and 2 big games, which is all I have written so far that's left.

First things first, the Euro League Draw was much nicer to us than the Champions League was

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5526/eurodraw.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/9132/eurodraw2nd.jpg

That big signing, maybe you've heard of 21 year old Jonjo Shelvey now a permanent member of MTK.

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/3357/jonjo.jpg

Let's just say that no one has quite been able to play the box-to-box type DM right since Jonjo left 18 months ago. I'm thrilled.

Our first game back from the Winter Break has made my decision for me, and after this game a promising youngster is officially given a promotion to the First Team.

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/6500/azan.jpg

It would not surprise me if Soos has overtaken Adailton by the start of next season if he keeps this up. 17 years old.

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4166/azhax.jpg

AZ are brushed aside in Hungary, although the weaknesses in our defense are shown again. Not really sure if there's anything I can do, although I think next year could see the full first team introduction of 20 year old Tibor Kiprich. Marseilles brush aside Heerenveen, so we meet them in the next round.

The first leg is in France, and we pulled what's becomming the MTK special this season in Europe, with more clear cut chances than the other team, but no goals. An away goal could have proven vital, but it eludes us.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9744/omaf.jpg

With the return leg approaching, the media once again underestimates the scrappy Team Africa of Hungary.

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/2320/miseryd.jpg

The Situation in Hungary is the same as ever:

http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/4442/tablemarch.jpg

Although we still only fill about a third of our stadium for league matches.

That big signing, maybe you've heard of 21 year old Jonjo Shelvey now a permanent member of MTK.

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/3357/jonjo.jpg

Let's just say that no one has quite been able to play the box-to-box type DM right since Jonjo left 18 months ago. I'm thrilled.wth?! that was your big signing?! he's a good player and all, but no way does Jonjo merit a cliffhanger announcement ... I am disappointed in you, Dan :nape: ...

first I thought of Balázs Dzsudzsák ... if not him, then I was expecting someone like Josip Iličić -- an Eastern European with bags of skill and flair (real life), but who maybe needs star billing to take on responsibility, and thus gain consistency ...

Ilicic is at Malaga, and not half the player that Mateo Kovacic is.

Not sure what you really expected. I'm still playing in Hungary after all. Reputation can't go THAT high, and it's not like I've really been outstanding in Europe aside from that win over Sevilla.

I'll probably do a big post up of the team at some point in the summer of 2014 here. Some really good players emerging, particularly Adailton and Kovacic. Maluka is insanely good too.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Despite a dominating second half performance with well over 60% of the possession, we couldn't get the winning goal. In in the 90th minute, Idrissa Coulibaly as the last man drags down Pablo Piatti at the edge of the box. The ensuing freekick from Lucho Gonzalez is deflected to Lucas Biglia, who shoots low. The ball is tipped by Cherkaoui, but he can't get enough of it and the ball goes into the net. Game over.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5818/omhz.jpg

Things like these are becoming typical, as I've now been praised by this guy, Pep, and Quique Flores this season. The name Reitz is on everybody's tongue, and with national managerial casualties a surety after this summer's World Cup the American might think about adding a National Team to his resume.

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2302/correan.jpg

Not that our domestic dominance has been in doubt the last year, but I feel like this game sends a message to the rest of Hungary that MTK is now the unassailable king of football.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/5080/debrecen.jpg

Soos suffers and injury in late April effectively ending his first season as a professional.

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/4481/soos1.jpg

By my count, in all games U-19, Youth Internationals, First and Second Team, Cup, League, Europe, and friendlies, he scored 64 goals. Watch out Pele.

Why so many Non Competitive games?

Those are mostly U-19 youth team games.

Captain Jozsef Kanta hoists the League Cup after the most brilliant performance I've ever seen. 4 goals in the first 23 minutes, all from 25 yards out or better. He also hit the post and assisted Serigne Faye's goal.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8712/kantai.jpg

We absolutely run the league to a degree I did not think we were capable of.

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/2973/wintertable.jpg

While Soos was the breakout star for us this year, Adailton became the biggest star in Hungary since the 1950s scoring 29 goals in only 20 league matches, and bringing his total in competitive matches this year to 46 in 37 games. He is being tailed by HSV and AZ.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/7352/statslq.jpg

Kovacic also set a record for most assists in the Hungarian League with 16. He started only 16 games and came off the bench in 2 more.

Zoltan Somogyi sweeps the POY awards as both Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year.

Marseilles wins the Euro League. Sad.

Our last game of the season would be the Hungarian Cup Final against ZTE. Soos was cleared medically and inserted in the starting lineup for a tired Adailton, who played in the final league match only 3 days ago in an attempt to pad his stats. You can probably guess what happened...

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/6041/cupfinal.jpg

Did I say 64? I meant 67. Wow. Unfortunately Hungary did not qualify for the World Cup, so this 17 year old's chance to announce his presense to the world just like Pele did 56 years ago is thwarted.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8742/interestb.jpg

Yikes.

Here are the stats for the year, sorted by assists to leave the goalkeepers off

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9603/statsyear.jpg

Finally, I felt like I HAD to post this:

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/5995/teamseason.jpg

We generally don't play with anyone near the right wing, so we take 9/10 possible spots in the team of the season. Only some good play from Lajos Bertus, and an injury to 20 year old first choice left back Attila Nagy prevented a clean sweep.

So we go into next season. We lose both defensive midfielders in Nengomanshe and Ze Vitor, but gain 2 in their place who promise to be better. The defense is close to matching the offense, but we need probably one more year before Geoffrey Onyango and Sekou Tindiane Outtara are ready to carry the torch. Hopefully they will spend next season on loan gaining the experience necessary to for the backbone of a defense capable of a deep European run. We will also try to sign Suso on a permanent basis in the window between when we get next year's transfer funds and when his loan runs out. It would be a MASSIVE signing for us as Suso has been our of our best players for 2 years now.

It is an exciting time at MTK, with a new generation of players coming up, and a new generation of Hungarian players making a push for the full national team. Will MTK hold strong to its reputation as Team Africa, or will it give more time to Soos, Nagy, Szekeres, Kiprich, and Somogyi? And who will be the next gem to come up through the world class MTK youth system?

Oh, and Germany wins the World Cup over Brazil on penalties. WOO!!

Only 1 day after our players go on holiday, we have new signings.

18 year old Brazilian Campos is an extremely talented central midfielder with so much potential it's hard to believe he won't be a global superstar. The only thing that could hold him back are some suspect mental traits; traits that could have been improved if only Nengomanshe had stayed one more year to tutor him. He has been a full time starter for Santos the past 18 months, helping them win the National Title last year, and starting both legs of the Copa Libertadores Final against Independiente, which Santos won.

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/8409/camposi.jpg

He does not arrive without competition however, as also joining is 18 year old Mohamed Al-Sayed a big defensive midfielder from Egypt who isn't as technically gifted as Campos, but is excellent at the defensive side of the position. He doesn't have the potential of Campos, but he isn't as far along either, so he will be MTK's to mold and shape.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/3252/sayedu.jpg

Africa continues to bear fruit in the central defense for MTK as 18 year old Jalel Zitouni signs from Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia. Big strong talented defender who needs to get faster and smarter, but a bright prospect for the future.

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5654/zitouni.jpg

Sad to leave after his loan, Suso returns to MTK, and hopefully this time it's for good as the 20 year old Spaniard touted as the next Guti signs. He more than doubles our previous record transfer, which was 5m for Adailton.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/4082/susog.jpg

MTK's relative success in Europe the past 3 years brings with it an improvement in the standing of Hungary, as starting next year we will get 2 teams in the Champions League

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4899/improve.jpg

Now, I wanted to post up the entire squad and actually ask for some tactical insights. Who would you play, what formation would you use, any little adjustments you'd make? So without further ado, here is the defense:

GKs:
http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/7615/anasu.jpg
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/7237/alabi.jpg

CBs:
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/6131/coulib.jpg
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/4424/kiprich.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/3668/orinan.jpg
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/6110/teikeu.jpg

FBs:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8954/kouak.jpg
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/4579/nagyw.jpg
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6181/szek.jpg

Midfield:

DM/MC:
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9401/camposa.jpg
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/3357/jonjo.jpg
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/3416/saidi.jpg
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/3231/sylla.jpg
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6272/sayed.jpg

Attacking Mids:
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6896/kantas.jpg
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6609/kovacic.jpg
http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/5879/maluka.jpg
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7896/suso.jpg
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1858/moueda.jpg

Forwards:
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/1323/adailton.jpg
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/1126/fayez.jpg
http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/7977/jobi.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1968/somogs.jpg
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1850/soos.jpg
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/7305/yaww.jpg

Historical tidbit: did you know that the first manager of Juventus in the Agnelli era (1923) was Jeno Karoly, who played 7 seasons at MTK where he was the Hungarian League top scorer twice. In 1925/1926 he managed the club to it's second Scudetto, and first in 20 years.

Oh, that's cool. It says on the Italian wikipedia that he died a couple of days before the regional final vs Bologna. How tragic. Another Hungarian player on the team, Jozsef Viola, took over and won both the regional and national championship. The Agnelli's really put their faith in these Hungarians!

Your team looks very promising, especially in midfield. Considering your superiority in Hungary I think I'd try a 4-3-3, with Kovacic at AM, backed by Campos and Al-Sayed in midfield. That may be too dangerous in Europe, but you can always shift to a formation with a DM (like I do with Dukla). One problem for that may be that Maluka seems to be your only speedy talented winger on the squad, but wingers are such a weapon both in the game and in real life. I think they were the key to my early European success (I've posted enough goals that were the example of that), and especially in games against stronger opposition they made the difference. I always try to develop a formation with wingers when I'm managing a good team with financial possibilities.

A 4-2-3-1 without wingers but with three attacking midfielders may be most suited for your current squad. It's a bit hard to make a line-up and a suitable tactic based only on player profiles.

Yeah. I'm a bit pained that Campos and Al-Sayed seem to be my best DM/MC players because they're both new transfers and committing to them is going to take a concerted effort on my part. As for wingers, Suso is actually comfortable on the left wing, I'm not sure why it isn't listed as a position with him. I've been considering that, and I suppose I can also try Somogyi on the right flank in some role that doesn't require him to run with the ball much, and I'm positive that Job will work on the right as well.

What's really keeping me from making the switch is that a few years ago I switched to this weird formation because we couldn't score with only one striker. The team is a lot better, but I'm still uneasy after that awful 2nd season.

The season stars, as usual in the early rounds of the Champions League, and with MTK firing on all cylinders now that most team members have been around for a few years, the games would be easy. Northern Irish side Glentoran falls in the 2nd Round 11-1 on aggregate, and in the 3rd Round Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava (the new home of former MTK defensive midfielder Ze Vitor) are crushed 9-0 on aggregate. The Champions Playoff opponent would probably suffer a similar fate:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/356/drawtirana.jpg

And Soos gets his first cap at 17 years 182 days.

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/9214/firstcap.jpg

A month later, Tibor Kiprich gets his first too.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4424/kiprich.jpg

After crushing Tirana 6-0 on goal difference, we get our Champions League Group.

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/6148/groupkj.jpg

Dammit, Horatiu resurrecting Chelmsford has absolutely killed the dwindling interest I had in this game. I want to play with Vinet!

Will try to play when the urge strikes me; should be lots of time during the summer, but don't expect regular updates.

that group is a quite brute indeed