Welcome to a new mini-series on Fuller FM. This is something a bit different…

Having just finished my four-season Fiorentina story “Shades of Deep Purple” on Football Manager 2019, I’ve caught a bit of a calcio bug. Before I begin my next FM19 career back in the familiar surroundings of England, I want to enjoy one more fix of Italian football.

So, where better place to go than to a time when Italian clubs were at the very top of the European game? That’s right, folks. It’s time to switch Channel 4 on and spend your Sunday morning in the company of James Richardson, because we’re going back 25 years… to Championship Manager Italia. GOLLLLLLLLLAZOOOO!

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INTRODUCTION

The year is 1993. Bill Clinton is settling into the White House, John Major is residing in 10 Downing Street, Mr Blobby is about to storm the UK Singles Chart (yes, really)… and Championship Manager 93/94 is released. It’s the second installment of the new football management video game series developed by brothers Paul and Ov Collyer under the name Intelek (Sports Interactive wasn’t formed until the following year).

CM93/94 was the first game in the series to include real player names (the original Championship Manager from 1992 had entirely fictional players). However, one could still only manage in the English leagues… until a new version came out that made the Italian leagues playable. On Championship Manager Italia, you could take charge of any team from Serie A or Serie B, and lead them to glory.

For many British football fans who’d fallen in love with the Italian game in recent years, this was a dream come true. They could now try to dominate Serie A with Milan’s legendary ‘Invicibili’, or they could try to topple the champions with rivals Inter. Juventus and Torino were waiting to be restored to their former glories, Napoli needed someone to avert a post-Maradona decline, and Parma were ready to become a major force.

A different challenge awaited at Fiorentina. After a shocking decline in the second half of the 1992/1993 season, the Viola had been relegated from Serie A. They retained some truly fantastic players, but now the pressure was on them to secure promotion from Serie B at the first attempt.

In this story, I will step into a young Claudio Ranieri’s shoes and take the helm at Fiorentina. The aim is to secure promotion with a top-four finish in Serie B. Of course, I would love to emulate the real-life Viola by winning the division, and then maybe even bettering their haul of 50 points from 38 games (back in those days, you only got two points for a win).

Yes, I could’ve picked a tougher team to manage on this game, but I’ve become so attached to Fiorentina of late that I wanted to take charge of them for one final challenge. Also, I really wanted to manage ‘Batigol’ for once in my virtual managerial career.

I was only three years old when Championship Manager Italia first came out, and I’ve never even touched it until now. Indeed, I have next to no experience with any of the early CM games, so I’m going in cold. I don’t know who the best players to sign are or what the most successful tactics are, so it’s quite possible that I could fail spectacularly.

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SQUAD & TACTICS

So here’s the squad I’ve started out with. I’m sure at least a few of those names will be familiar to you if you’re of a certain age, or even if you’ve come across them in my earlier Fiorentina story. Certain players are perhaps less familiar, but I’ll quickly guide you through some of the more important ones.

Every player has a set position, at least one side, eight attribute ratings (if they play outfield), and a particular ‘character’. Staff members also have a certain ‘character’, and I got to choose mine when setting up the game. My manager is ‘Responsible’, though that’s perhaps not the most suitable choice when you remember I once signed Luciano Vietto.

Goalkeepers only have one attribute rating, so it’s quite hard to tell who has the shot-stopping ability of Walter Zenga, and who has the shot-stopping ability of Walter Mondale. Even so, I know just who my number 1 will be. Francesco Toldo has a higher Influence rating than our other two keepers, despite being only 20, and he went on to have a pretty decent career in real-life.

We’ve got a bevy of versatile defenders, and one of the best is Stefano Pioli – the current real-life head coach of Fiorentina. He’s pacey and strong in the air, and at 28, he should be in his prime. However, Pioli is wanted by three Serie A clubs – Atalanta, Genoa and Udinese – so we might struggle to keep him.

Pasquele Bruno and Gianluca Luppi each have high ratings for Tackling and Heading, but they have nothing on 19-year-old Vittorio Tosto. He’s got 20 Tackling, 20 Flair (?), 15 Flair, and he can play anywhere across the back. Expect him to feature prominently.

Our midfield general – and most valuable player – is the German playmaker Stefan Effenberg. ‘Der Tiger’ is incredibly well-rounded, and his creativity in particular could rip Serie B defences apart. Despite playing outside of the top tier, he’s set to represent his country at the 1994 World Cup, where I’m sure he’ll be an upstanding individual in a very strong team.

Not quite so brilliant as Effenberg, but no less of a pass master, is Giuseppe Iachini. You might remember him from “Shades of Deep Purple” as the manager who left Palermo on the eve of a new season, and then did the same to AEK Athens when the Milan job became available. With that in mind, the 29-year-old’s ‘Unselfish’ character doesn’t seem quite so fitting.

We’ve got seven central midfielders in total, but only two can play on the right wing, and Massimo Orlando is our sole option on the left. He is likely to be a backup option behind Effenberg, the energetic Antonio Dell Oglio, and the tough-tackling Anselmo Robbiati.

Finally, we come to the attackers, and who better to start with than the main man himself? Gabriel Batistuta is in his third year at the club, and looking to build on the 16 goals he got in last season’s valiant attempt to keep us up. While there is no specific attribute for shooting or finishing, the 24-year-old Argentine has enough pace, stamina and creativity to cause problems.

If ‘Batigol’ doesn’t get you, though, then surely Francesco Baiano will. The future Derby icon is even more flamboyant than his strike partner, and he is very confident in front of goal.

So this is the tactic I’ll be using to begin with. I’ve had plenty of success using a 4-4-2 diamond in other CM/FM games, and here’s hoping the magic rubs off again.

Here’s the logic behind it. We’ve got loads of strong defenders that we can make good use of, so I doubt we’ll concede too many goals with a back four. The two full-backs will push forward to give us some attacking width.

We have very few wingers, so we’ll instead pack the middle of the park. An anchor man will protect our two centre-halves, while the central midfielders will help us transition from defence into attack. Ahead of them will be an attacking midfielder, who provides some extra support for our front two, so expect plenty of service for Batigol and co.

As for the style of football, we are going to play ‘continental’. Isn’t it obvious why?

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PRE-SEASON & TRANSFERS

Pre-season went quite well for us… well, at least our first two friendlies against non-league opponents did. We went to Fano and thrashed them 4-0 (with braces from Effenberg and Batistuta), before inflicting a 3-0 defeat on Leffe.

Then things got a bit weird. Our first match at the Stadio Communale (which was what the Artemio Franchi used to be called) was against Serie A Reggiana. Out of nowhere,  Toldo scored in the first half, only to play terribly and gift our opponents a late equaliser! Come to think of it, that might’ve been due to a tactical mix-up that had Baiano playing in goal instead! I’m a silly bear, aren’t I?

Our final friendly was also a home draw against top-flight opposition, though it wasn’t without controversy. Piacenza appeared to have won the game in the final minute, but their goal was disallowed for a foul, and so it finished 0-0.

Now let’s talk about two players that I signed over the summer. If you looked carefully at the screenshot of the Reggiana match report above, you’ll have a good idea of who the first one was.

Yes, it was indeed the late, great Ray Wilkins. Signed for £100,000 from England, the evergreen 37-year-old still has fantastic passing ability. ‘Butch’ will likely be my captain for this season (with Effenberg and Bruno as deputies), and he’ll lend us invaluable experience from when he played for Milan in Serie A during the mid-1980s.

Wilkins wasn’t the only Englishman to join us. At the end of pre-season, I boosted our firepower by spending £1.7million on a pacey, tireless teenager named Nick Barmby. The Yorkshireman can play either in midfield or up front, but he might need to pick a position and stick with it sooner or later. Should he ever wish to move to Merseyside later in his career, he might have a similar conundrum.

We now had four non-Italian players on our books. That perhaps wasn’t the smartest move on my part, as we were only allowed to play three foreigners at most in Serie A and Coppa Italia matches, and (I believe) only two in the Anglo-Italian Cup. We couldn’t use Batistuta, Effenberg, Wilkins and Barmby all at the same time, so I would need to think carefully about who would play and who would sit on the sidelines.

While looking through the transfer list earlier, I had come across a 17-year-old midfielder who had been put up for sale by Roma. I was half-tempted to sign him, but his raw attributes and his ‘Rebellious’ character put me off. To be brutally honest, I’m not sure that Francesco Totti will ever amount to much.

Though the three clubs who were interested in Pioli didn’t make any offers, we did sell another centre-back. Lorenzo Danna was off to divisional rivals Venezia for a smidge over £1million. Danna was probably the least talented of the defenders we had, so I wasn’t too sad to see him leave.

I’d transfer-listed a couple of players to try and free up some space in the squad, but to no avail. Sadly, there was just no interest in either third-choice goalkeeper Gian Matteo Marregini or midfielder Giovanni Tedesco. At least it was worth trying.

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AUGUST 1993

We kicked our first balls in anger in August, with the start of the Coppa Italia. Unless we could pull off a surprise Round 1 victory over Parma, it would also be the end of our exploits in that competition.

FIORENTINA 0-0 PARMA – Fiorentina win 3-1 on pens (Coppa Italia, Round 1)

What a result to begin my Viola reign with! We created several chances against the top-flight giants in the first half, though Baiano had a goal disallowed just before half-time. We then lost Robbiati to a red card after a shocking challenge injured Parma forward Alessandro Melli, and losing a man looked like it would prove costly.

Despite that, we held on to force extra-time, and then penalties. Batistuta, Baiano and Sergio Campolo all found the net for us in the shoot-out, though Effenberg’s spot-kick was saved. Our real hero was Toldo, who saved three penalties – including one from the 20st Swede Tomas Brolin – to put us through to a Round 2 match with Modena.

MODENA 0-4 FIORENTINA (Coppa Italia, Round 2 – Leg 1)

Robbiati was suspended for this match, and Tosto was also ruled out after breaking his arm. Despite their absences, we still ran rampant in Modena to take a commanding first-leg lead.

Our lesser-heralded strikers Daniele Beltrammi and Giacomo Banchelli stole the show with two early goals. Beltrammi added his second goal after the break, and when Batistuta came off the bench to make it 4-0. The hosts only had one attempt on goal, and it was a dreadful one from future Viola icon Enrico Chiesa.

FIORENTINA 2-0 MODENA – Fiorentina win 6-0 on aggregate (Coppa Italia, Round 2 – Leg 2)

Was there ever any doubt we would make it through? Barmby marked his Fiorentina debut with a goal (and a yellow card), shortly after Campolo had opened the scoring. Though we couldn’t add to our sizeable lead, the fat man was already singing loud and clear for Luciano Pavarotti’s hometown club.

Our excellent form was rewarded with a Round 3 tie against Reggiana… and a hat-trick of awards. Nice to see Campolo and left-back Stefano Carobbi get recognition for their impressive performances.

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SEPTEMBER 1993

September marked the long-awaited start of the league campaign, and a chance to see where we stood relative to our peers.

FIORENTINA 3-0 RAVENNA (Serie B, Round 1)

Well… that was easier than I expected. Batistuta carved Ravenna apart with a couple of first-half goals, and Baiano added another after the break to send us straight to the top of the division. Effenberg was booked, as were a couple of visiting defenders.

If that was a sign of things to come, Serie B would surely be a walk in the park. Before continuing in that, though, we had to begin our exploits in another cup competition. The Anglo-Italian Cup was a cult hit from the 1970s that had a brief 1990s revival. In a way, it was a bit like Celebrity Squares, except with less Bob Monkhouse and more chance of Notts County winning something.

We were in Group C of the Italian section, along with Bari and Pisa. Each team would play one another once, with the top team in the group advancing to the next round.

FIORENTINA 1-0 BARI (Anglo-Italian Cup, Round 1 – Group C, Match 1)

After a bit of a struggle, A screamer from Antonio Dell Oglio in the 36th minute was our only shot out of four to find the net in what proved to be a tame encounter. Bari couldn’t manage a single attempt on goal and were perhaps yearning for those golden days when they had David Platt running their midfield. 1992 sure felt like a long time ago for them…

MONZA 0-2 FIORENTINA (Serie B, Match 2)

Our first away game in this league season was basically the Sergio Campolo show. The in-form midfielder audaciously chipped Monza goalkeeper Maurizio Rollandi early in the first half to get us off to a flyer. Campolo then capped off a brilliant attacking move after the break with a second goal, though he later missed a great chance to seal his hat-trick. Monza might have had Edoardo Artistico up front, but the only virtuoso on show here was wearing purple.

This result kept us at the summit, as the only team with a maximum four points after two rounds. How long could we keep our perfect record up for?

FIORENTINA 3-0 PADOVA (Serie B, Match 3)

The winning streak continued, as did Toldo’s run of clean sheets. Mind you, he did have to stop an early shot from Padova right-back Andrea Cuicchi to preserve his impeccable record. Bruno then opened the scoring for us, and a second-half brace from Baiano confirmed our dominance. Even without an injured Effenberg, we were far too strong.

LUCCHESE 0-4 FIORENTINA (Serie B, Match 4)

Okay… maybe this might be getting too easy now. It finished 12-0 on chances, and for a while, I thought we were going to hit double figures on the most important stat. Lucchese crumbled the moment Dell Oglio flicked a downward header into their net after 14 minutes. He then completed the four-goal rout after star man Baiano found the target and Wilkins secured his first Viola goal.

FIORENTINA 2-0 PALERMO (Serie B, Match 5)

Now this was a proper test… for one half at least. Palermo held firm in the first half to go into the break at 0-0, and their rough play was proving a real challenge.

Baiano eventually broke the deadlock after the break, only to injure his calf in a terrible challenge from Maurizio Spigarelli. The visiting winger escaped with a booking, but our centre-half Bruno saw red for some cynical foul play of his own a bit later. By then, though, Beltrammi had given Fiorentina a 2-0 lead, setting us up for a FIFTH straight Serie B win.

Several Viola defenders could’ve been contenders for Serie B’s Player of the Month award for September. It was Luppi who won out in the end, having consistently put in very high ratings. Toldo took the equivalent Young Player award and had now kept nine consecutive clean sheets since the start of the season.

Let’s finish this chapter off by having a look at the league table, and what a sight for sore eyes it is…

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So far, so straightforward… but is this just beginner’s luck, or the start of a truly memorable season for Fiorentina?

I hope you are enjoying this trip down memory lane, which will help fill some time before I return to FM19. As always, any feedback is welcome.