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Time for a new challenge and as there is plenty of time to kill these days, time for the ultimate challenge. Taking over as the manager of San Marino... #FM20
First match couldn't have been much harder against #2 ranked Belgium. To the shock of everyone, managed to take an early lead, but we were hammered in the end. Solid performance from the keeper making 23 saves in the match... #FM20
Managed to score again, but fell to a narrow defeat in Kazakhstan. Looking forward to the home game against them as a chance to end our losing run... #FM20
Not a fan of my press officer. Did he really think that was worth informing me about? #FM20
We were helped by the early red card, but finally San Marino's 91 game winless run has come to an end... #FM20
Back-to-back 1-0 wins for San Marino (admittedly helped by scheduling a friendly against one of the teams that are as bad as we are) #FM20
Three wins on the bounce for San Marino. We have managed to score in 7/8 matches now with Scotland the only team to keep a clean sheet against the new attacking San Marino... #FM20
The San Marino winning run comes to a halt in a randomly organised friendly against Syria. Kept it competitive, but their one or two quality players were too good in the end... #FM20
Will be tough with Latvia in the group, but if things go well, I reckon we have a chance of getting San Marino into Division C of the Nations League... #FM20
A shocking start to the Nation League for San Marino. A couple of injuries before the game, then our best player was sent off inside 8 minutes. Tough task now to win the group... #FM20
A solid comeback win against the Faroe Islands at home avoids our Nations League campaign being over before it has really started. 4 wins in our last 5 home games now at fortress San Marino Stadium #FM20
Shame to throw away a two goal lead, but still a solid result against the best team in the group. Needed to win to be in with a real shot of promotion, but still progress... #FM20
At club level, we were promoted out of Serie D at the first attempt and going well in Serie C. Only three Sammarinese players in the first-team squad, but all part of a longer term plan to build up the finances to improve the youth system... #FM20
Revenge for the away defeat against Andorra and probably the best performance to date. 27-5 in shots, 10-1 in shots on target... #FM20
Turns out we are not out of the running for promotion in the Nations League. Didn't entirely deserve the win from this one, but we are now top of the group on H2H with one game remaining... #FM20
An easy win in the final game against the Faroe Islands means that San Marino has been promoted to Division C of the Nations League. Up to 181st in the world rankings and looking forward to the World Cup qualifying draw... #FM20
That is certainly not an easy group for World Cup qualification. None of the very top teams, but struggling to see too many games where I'd be confident in us picking up points... #FM20
A disappointing start to qualifying with a heavy defeat in Hungary. Was always going to be a tough match, but a 6th minute red card turned it into damage limitation. Romania up next... #FM20
So close to an excellent point against Romania. Denied by a stoppage time penalty, but signs of progress to perform well against one of the better teams in the group. Few months off now until a potentially winnable game at home to Belarus... #FM20
After a good start to the season, it has been tough as the only semi-pro team in Serie C. Just about managed to hang on to secure a playoff spot (although I have no clue how the playoffs work). Turning pro next season, so should hopefully be able to progress further... #FM20
A very disappointing result against Belarus. Fancied that we might have a chance in this game, but pretty comprehensively outplayed and signs of how far we still have to go to just be competitive in this group... #FM20
After the promising signs of the Nations League campaign, it is definitely back to reality in qualifying. Another heavy defeat for San Marino with very few signs of progress... #FM20
Beginning to think that my San Marino team might have an issue with discipline as well. Already picked up 27 yellows and a red in just 4 qualifying matches. We don't exactly have a big squad to deal with suspensions either... #FM20
As we were against Romania, just moments from picking up an unexpected point, but a 92nd minute winner meant San Marino got nothing despite our stirring comeback... #FM20
Every time we put in a decent performance, we fail to back it up. Losing to Croatia is no surprise, but that was rather embarrassing. Just the 6 goals for Kramaric... #FM20
Decided to try a change of system to make us slightly more solid at the back. Not entirely sure it worked as we suffered two more disappointing defeats. Only two matches left for us to try and avoid finishing on 0 points... #FM20
Not convinced that the change of tactics are working. Seems to have killed any attacking threat that we had without really limited the shots that we are conceded at the back. Only so much you can do without decent players though... #FM20
That also brings a pretty brutal qualifying campaign to an end. 0 points and a minus 32 goal difference. Let's hope for better for San Marino when the Nations League restarts... #FM20
Romania will be tough, but hopefully we might stand a chance of nicking a result against either Lithuania or Armenia in the Nations League... #FM20
Safe to say that San Marino struggled with the step up in the Nations League. Big problem with five of our squad, including multiple starters, not actually having a club team right now. Will be a long-term project to start building up a pool of players that can compete... #FM20
It was only a friendly, but we have a first ever San Marino hattrick. Simone Zafferani writing his name into the history books against Palestine... #FM20
Wins home and away against Azerbaijan means that San Marino will retain their place in Division C of the Nations League. Given our results this time, not entirely sure that is a good thing... #FM20
So close to the biggest win thus far for San Marino, but yet another injury time goal has cost us. Not bad for a team with 7 teenagers in the starting XI. At least we won't finish qualifying with 0 points this time... #FM20
Finally made it out of Serie C and into Serie B at the third attempt. Hopefully soon we can start making some money and investing it into improving the youth system and eventually the Sammarinese player pool... #FM20
Couldn't have asked for a more dominant start to life in Serie B. 35-3 in shots against the team predicted to finish 6th this season... #FM20
After a good start to 2023 in winning our relegation playoff, the year rapidly turned sour for San Marino with a few embarrassing defeats, including conceding double figures against Norway. Lost the attacking threat and getting worse defensively... #FM20
The San Marino club side have made it to Serie A. We have just completed the first upgrade to the youth facilities, so fingers crossed that it will start to benefit the national team in the coming years... #FM20
Accepted that San Marino's defense right now is just nowhere near good enough, so decided to attack instead. Scored a decent number of goals and picked up a point, so slightly better than the last Nations League campaign... #FM20
San Marino now has a new record goalscorer replacing the great Andy Selva. Only 18 years old, but already has 9 goals in 16 matches, so who knows how many he could eventually score... #FM20
While we may have a new record goalscorer, there is still a long way to go before we can stop these type of results. Biggest defeat since taking over as manager... #FM20
With the exception of the 1-12 defeat against Belgium, pretty happy with our progress in World Cup qualifying. A win, 3 draws and 6 points for San Marino and, more importantly, we didn't finish bottom of the group... #FM20
Two solid performances in the two spring friendlies for San Marino against North Korea and Cuba. No idea how we did not beat Cuba though with 43 shots to 4. Tough game up next in June against Paraguay... #FM20
Meanwhile, with 9 games left of the season, the San Marino club side is in with a shout of a Europa League spot. Top 4 probably beyond us, but hopefully we can get European football for next season... #FM20
The San Marino club side will be playing in the Europa League next season after we finished 5th in Serie A. We even achieved it with a Sammarinese player as our starting LB... #FM20
Currently, these are San Marino's top stars. Volpinari is already the record goalscorer at just 18, while Podeschi is the starting LB for the San Marino club side. Benedettini is the captain and will break the all-time appearance record for San Marino in his next game... #FM20
A look at who is managing the big clubs in 2025 in my San Marino game. Think the biggest surprises would have to be Neil Lennon at PSG and Guardiola at Atletico Madrid... #FM20
Safe to say, I don't think many people were predicting the USA winning the World Cup 2026 on home soil. Maybe one day San Marino will make it to the tournament... #FM20
In further weird occurrences in my San Marino game, I'm not sure too many people would have expected Lionel Messi to start his managerial career with Hull in the Championship. Obviously did well enough to get a Serie A job out of it though... #FM20
San Marino's best result to date. It took an injury time own goal, but a draw with the Czech Republic is definitely a big step forward... #FM20
A hattrick from Volpinari, who now has 18 goals in 29 caps, gives San Marino our biggest ever victory and means that we avoid a relegation playoff in the Nations League for the first time. Definite signs of progress ahead of the European Championship qualifying draw... #FM20
Not the easiest qualifying group for San Marino. Will be interesting to see how we compare with the likes of Northern Ireland and Bulgaria, plus reunited with the Czech Republic after drawing with them in the Nations League... #FM20
Only in mid-December, but the San Marino club side has finally reached the top of Serie A. Quite the journey from Serie D to reach this point... #FM20
Another one to add to the unexpected occurrences in this game. Hertha Berlin, who haven't finished above 7th yet, splashing £144m on the star player from Serie A champions Inter Milan... #FM20
We may have lost to Italy, but pretty happy with how close we kept it. Had we not ended up with 9 men after two late injuries, might have been able to go looking for a late equaliser... #FM20
With 6 games left, the San Marino club side are in quite the 4-way battle for the Serie A title. Unfortunately, we lost in the QF of the Europa League to Monchengladbach... #FM20
We fell away slightly at the end of the season, but San Marino are now a Champions League team. Not bad given we haven't spent more than £3.2m on a player yet... #FM20
Time for San Marino to move into a bigger stadium. Upgraded from the old 5,500 capacity ground to a brand new 14,147 capacity stadium for our first season in the Champions League. Hopefully should increase our revenue a bit... #FM20
First match at the new stadium is a comfortable win in front of a record crowd with last season's player of the year Lewis Bate getting two goals. Hopefully the start of another title challenge for San Marino... #FM20
Undoubtedly San Marino's best result to date and it means that we are no longer bottom of the group. Those two goals mean that Volpinari now has 20 international goals and he is still only 20-years old. Certainly on course to become San Marino's greatest player... #FM20
Outside of Italy, Thomas Tuchel's Manchester City finally ending a run of three straight titles for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United team. Both lost players last summer with Haaland going from City to PSG for £101m and Bellingham going from United to Bayern for £107m... #FM20
Meanwhile, Neil Lennon's PSG and Jorge Jesus' Bayern continue to dominate their leagues, while it is now three straight titles for Quique Setien's Barcelona in Spain... #FM20
Unfortunately the win against Czech Republic was as good as it got in qualifying. Could really do with a couple of good defenders through the San Marino youth system as I'm not sure how we improve without that... #FM20
A tough group for the San Marino club side in the Champions League, but the double over Atletico Madrid and a win at home against Bayern was enough to see us progress. We would have won the group, but for a careless home defeat against Fenerbahce... #FM20
Heading into the short winter break, San Marino are currently top of Serie A, one point clear of Atalanta. Our star striker, Elia Petrelli, signed on a free transfer from Juventus 3 years ago, is currently banging the goals in for fun this season... #FM20
Safe to say that increases our record transfer fee received just a bit. Didn't want to lose him, but Lyon met his release clause and they can afford to pay him £110k per week, so we couldn't compete with that... #FM20
Two solid friendly wins for San Marino against higher-ranked opposition in India and Papua New Guinea. Promisingly, we were creating plenty of chances in both games... #FM20
OK, really should save my game more often. Game has just crashed, so I have lost about 4 months worth of play. Starting back at the end of the winter break again, so Vargas is still here and the two San Marino friendlies haven't happened yet...
Back up and running. Vargas still left although went to Real Madrid this time. It also turns out that Neil Lennon has not reacted well to San Marino beating PSG in the 1st leg of the Champions League tie. Still baffled by the fact that he is PSG manager... #FM20
An almost perfect pair of performances for San Marino against India and Papua New Guinea. 80-3 in shots over the two games and two clean sheets... #FM20
With 5 games left of the season, we are just about still hanging on in the title race. Although holding off Roma for a Champions League spot is probably the bigger objective at this stage... #FM20
Our keeper and captain Samuele Vitale breaks the record for the most league appearances for the club. He has been first choice keeper all the way from Serie D up until our Champions League season now. Quite the servant, although likely to lose his spot in the summer... #FM20
A disappointing defeat to AC Milan on the final day of the season means San Marino drop out of the top 4 for the first time since the third week of the season and miss out on the Champions League... #FM20
A heavy defeat in the first of three post-season friendlies for San Marino, but pretty pleased with the number of chances that we were able to create against a far superior Russian team... #FM20
Elia Petrelli finished the season as the top goalscorer in Europe. He has now scored 91 goals in 148 games since joining on a free transfer, which makes it tricky finding enough game time for Volpinari to develop for the national team... #FM20
A mixed end to the season. Followed up the promising performance against Russia with an abject loss to Moldova before hammering Guyana. Next up is the Nations League in a group with Israel, Latvia and Hungary... #FM20
A mixed start to the Nations League. Fell away after a good start against Israel, but bounced back well to beat Latvia 4-1 with a hattrick from Filippo Berardi. The home game against Hungary will be a good test up next... #FM20
A struggle against Hungary as we continue to struggle to step up against better opposition, but then a remarkable double-hattrick from Volpinari as we put seven past Latvia. That takes Volpinari to 31 international goals now... #FM20
One of San Marino's best performances as we beat Israel 4-1 at home. Lost the final game to Hungary, but we recorded our highest ever Nations League finish and go into the World Cup qualifiers with some confidence... #FM20
Given the future of the national team is pretty dependent on our club youth intake, that is not exactly promising. Not good early indications for my new head of youth development... #FM20
Our title challenge faded away in January as it often seems to, but there was European glory for San Marino with captain Giammarco De Cillis coming off the bench to score a 95th minute winner at Villa Park in the Europa League. Quite the moment for San Marino... #FM20
An unexpected pair of results, drawing with Hungary and beating Switzerland, finishes off a mixed season for San Marino in style. Currently means that we sit 2nd in our qualifying group after 4 games, only behind France. Could this be the time for San Marino... #FM20
Not exactly a major tournament, but another trophy for San Marino after we win the International Champions Cup. The highlight was definitely a 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid... #FM20
Quite the opening day performance against the defending Serie A champions. Hopefully it bodes well for our title challenge this season... #FM20
Another win for San Marino against the Czech Republic meaning that, excluding France, we are unbeaten at home during qualifying. Currently sitting 3rd in the group with away games in Hungary and Switzerland to come... #FM20
A fifth win in the group means that we go into the final group game still with a chance of taking 2nd place if we can win in Switzerland. Either way, a big step forward in this campaign for San Marino... #FM20
Sadly was not to be, but very happy with our World Cup qualifying campaign. Big hopes now for the Nations League next year... #FM20
Sitting in 5th going into the winter break, but only 3 points separating the top 5, so still in the title race. Decided to change our formation for the first time in many years, so we are now going with a 4-4-2 instead of our usual 4-2-3-1 in the hopes of a title... #FM20
Neil Lennon finally left PSG to take over at Manchester City and was replaced by Zidane. Klopp and Solskjaer still going strong, joined in the Premier League by the likes of Simeone, Fabregas and Conte. Lionel Messi currently managing at RB Leipzig... #FM20
Elsewhere Thierry Henry, Julian Nagelsmann and Danny Cowley are all in the Premier League, Robin Fraser, who led the USA to an unexpected World Cup triumph, is at Roma, and a 70-year old Carlo Ancelotti has just returned to Napoli... #FM20
Didn't really want to lose one of our key players, but when Manchester City match his £79m release clause, not much we can do to stop it. Plenty of money to reinvest now to improve the team though... #FM20
A big-name signing (admittedly well past his best) in Harry Kane as a short-term replacement for Pavlenko at San Marino. Hopefully his experience off the bench can provide a few big moments for us... #FM20
We finally produce a good crop of youth players and the star player is a dual-national and wants to wait for Italy. And two of the other promising players are Spanish and illegible for San Marino. Not an ideal outcome... #FM20
San Marino may not have made it to the 2030 World Cup, but it was England that would lift the trophy after a 1-0 win against Brazil in the final. Far fewer surprises this time after the USA v Ukraine 2026 World Cup Final... #FM20
Meanwhile, the focus for San Marino switches to the Nations League and we have a tricky group this time. No easy games there, although we will fancy our chances of picking up a win or two, particularly at home where we have only lost 2 of our last 9 games... #FM20
The opposition was truly terrible, but pretty happy with generating 54 shots in the match and picking up the solid 17-0 win in our pre-season friendly. Definitely our biggest ever win... #FM20
A mixed start to the latest Nations League campaign. A good 3-0 win at home against Kosovo, but we were unable to back that up losing 3-1 in Montenegro. Big game at home to Slovakia up next... #FM20
A tweak to our formation and San Marino really starting to roll now. A 3-0 win against Slovakia and an almost unbelievable 8-1 win against Montenegro means that we are in with a real chance of promotion to Division B of the Nations League... #FM20
A record win for the San Marino club side against Galatasaray in the Champions League. We took 45 shots, 36 of which were on target, in hammering them 7-0. The attack is really clicking this season with 48 goals in 14 games in all competitions so far... #FM20
Unfortunately, defeat against Kosovo meant that we failed to win the group, but a solid away win in Slovakia meant that we finished in style. Next up is qualifying for Euro 2032 and going into it with some optimism that we can challenge for a best 2nd placed qualifier... #FM20
A solid start to Euro 2032 qualifying with a win in Estonia before a good performance in defeat against France. Up next is a big pair of games home and away against Czech Republic - need a result there to give us a chance of 2nd place in the group... #FM20
San Marino are also right in the title race as well heading into the closing stretch. Safe to say that scoring goals has not been a problem for us this season with 89 scored in 31 games in the league... #FM20
This season has also seen a first major trophy for San Marino after we hammered Atalanta 4-1 in the Italian Cup final. Dreams of a league, cup and European treble are still alive... #FM20
Part two of the potential treble is in the bag. A first ever Serie A title for San Marino to complete the domestic double and hopes are high going into the Champions League final against Zidane's PSG... #FM20
Unfortunately the treble was one step too far this season. San Marino pretty comprehensively beaten in the Champions League final by PSG. Still a great season, but a lot of top clubs circling our star players ahead of the summer transfer window... #FM20
Difficult to hang onto your players when Manchester City come knocking with absurd money. A blow to lose two of our star young players, but plenty that we can do to strengthen with an additional £150m... #FM20
After a hugely successful club season, big disappointment in the end of season internationals as poor defeats home and away against the Czech Republic scuppers any hopes we had of a second place finish in the group. Back to the drawing board... #FM20
Quite the tempting offer to make the move from San Marino to Barcelona. Have I taken San Marino to a point where someone else can keep them at that level and bring through more Sammarinese youngsters while I look for success elsewhere? #FM20
Hopefully one day I will return to San Marino, but for now, a new challenge begins in Barcelona. First thing is to bring a couple of Sammarinese youngsters to the Camp Nou... #FM20
A good win over Romania to finish off a slightly disappointing qualifying campaign. We were hoping for better than a 4th placed finish after our Nations League results... #FM20
An excellent pair of results in the March friendlies against Jamaica and China. We are also rewarded by moving to San Marino's highest ever position in the world rankings at #114... #FM20
Not a great first season at Barcelona as Real Madrid win their first title in 9 season. We did win the Spanish Cup, but lost in the R16 of the Champions League, so a lot of work to refresh an ageing squad this summer... #FM20
Good performances against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Togo without getting our just rewards before finishing the season with an easy win against Madagascar. Next up is the Nations League in September, starting at home to Latvia... #FM20
Some big managerial moves in the Premier League. Liverpool sacking Jurgen Klopp after 16 years and replacing him with Gerrard. Spurs immediately brought him in to replace Conte, while Zinedine Zidane leaves PSG to replace Neil Lennon at City... #FM20
The perfect start to the Nations League for San Marino with 6 points from our first 2 games. With Israel currently in 2nd on just 2 points, we have a real chance of promotion this year with home games against Slovakia and Israel still to come... #FM20
A huge result in Israel followed up by a demolition of Latvia means that San Marino secure promotion to Divison B of the Nations League with 2 games to spare. A pretty flawless campaign so far and we will be hoping to finish in style next month... #FM20
So close to a 100% record in the group, but unfortunately we just came unstuck at the final hurdle. Still, a very successful Nations League campaign and hopes will be high ahead of the World Cup qualifying draw... #FM20
Not the worst group for World Cup qualifying for San Marino. Iceland should be beatable, so hopefully we will be challenging Russia for 2nd place in the group behind England... #FM20
A solid win for San Marino over Luxembourg to start with, but slightly disappointed at a home draw against Iceland. It means that we will probably need at least 4 points against Russia to stand a chance of a second place finish... #FM20
And at club level, after the disappointment of the first season, it is a first league title since taking over at Barcelona, almost reaching 100 GD. We also won the Copa del Rey, but again lost in the R16 of the Champions League. We need to improve in Europe next season... #FM20
A stunning pair of wins against Russia means that our hopes of World Cup qualifying are back on. We have also broken into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time in San Marino's history as well... #FM20
A solid win in a friendly against Lithuania for a second-string San Marino team before we switched back to the full strength team against England. Sadly, we were comfortably beaten by the world champions, but whoever thought San Marino would dominate possession at Wembley? #FM20
A straight-forward win over Luxembourg before a huge win in Iceland. With one game left in the group, we are currently in pole position to qualify for the World Cup as one of the best 2nd-placed teams... #FM20
San Marino has officially qualified for the 2034 World Cup. Despite an expected defeat against England, Turkey failing to beat Greece means that we qualify as the final second placed team. We can look forward to the draw next month now... #FM20
A tough draw for San Marino's first ever appearance at the World Cup. Australia were the highest ranked team in the 2nd pot and their star player is far better than anyone that we have. Still, qualifying was the objective this time and anything more is a bonus... #FM20
