Season 6 - Portugal and Season 7 - Preview

These are gonna be short, so I thought I'd lump them together.

Season 6 - Portugal

Portugal thus far has been fairly uneventful. A 100% record and qualification for Euro 2008 after just 6 games. I did have a very easy group. When Bulgaria are your most pressing opponents, you're laughing.

To Madeira has a 'flat-track bully' kind of thing going on at international level. A marvelous hat-trick against Cyprus, but other than that, not great. Vasco Pinto is my number 1 and he's awesome here too. And I've just discovered an incredible 17 year-old forward at Porto. Valued at 350k, I tried to buy him for 7 million and they wisely said no.

Season 7 - Preview

This part is here so I can gripe about my stupid, stupid board. First I'll say something nice, they upgraded my training facilities. Thanks. They refuse to expand the stadium though, despite the fact I have A LOT of spare cash lying about. The first 2 seasons in Serie A they gave me the expectation of "stay clear of relegation". Now, after a UEFA Cup final, they literally expect the world. Not European qualification, not a "serious title challenge", no. They expect "great success in all areas".

This is not a good sign. It means I HAVE to win something and HAVE to challenge in everything or as my dad would say I'm for "the tin-tack". Cockney for sack I think. Maybe he made that up. Anyhow I digress. I'm fairly confident of UEFA Cup success as long as no one good qualifies after dropping out of the Champion's League. But the league looks like a 6 way battle after Juve's and my own reinforcements. Who can predict that!?

Grrr. Big signings this summer - Cherno Samba (SC), Bojan Djordic (AM/FLC), Gabriel Milito (DC), Andrea Barzagli (SW/DC), Joao Perreira (DC), Zvonomir Deranja (FC), Daniele De Rossi (DMLC) and Ben May (D/M/FC). For the combined total of 5.25 million (all on Djordic). Also, hopefully Kaka will settle in too. So there's a lot of settling in to do, which is why I was hoping for a more relaxed season. This could all go horribly wrong...