Author: Chris Fuller

I’m now into the 10th chapter of my Sporting CP adventure, but the last 18 months in Lisbon have really turned my mind into scrambled eggs. I feel like I’ve tried almost every tactical trick in the book to get this team firing consistently, particularly in the last installment!

But as 2020 nears its conclusion and 2021 approaches, it seems that Sporting have hit some good mid-season form at last. We’re still fighting hard in all four competitions, and today’s chapter could end with us winning the Taça da Liga. Can we pull it off? Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 2, Part 4” →

I’m back with another chapter of my Sporting CP story… and things aren’t going too well. While it hasn’t quite been 84 years since the Leões scored before half-time, we haven’t exactly given our fans much joy in the opening stages of this season.

In case you missed it, you can revisit Part 2 using the link provided. There, I go into more detail about our results from the past two months – including our historically bad record at starting matches.

Today’s post will recap our results on October and November, where the focus is mainly on the Europa League. We start off by travelling to Vienna for the second time in less than two months. Maybe Thursday night football will mean at least something to our opponents? Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 2, Part 3” →

“Olá” again, folks. Are you ready for another installment of my Sporting CP adventure?

In the previous chapter, we met all our new summer signings and went through a productive (and very goal-happy) pre-season campaign. Today, we’ll progress through the first the first two months of the season proper, which includes the Champions League qualifiers. Can we secure a place amongst Europe’s elite?

(By the way, I hope some of you like that little Ultravox reference in the image above. You can probably tell that my graphics skills are steadily getting better…) Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 2, Part 2” →

[Sigh] That was a brutal end to last season, wasn’t it?

Anyway, welcome back to “The Sporting Life” – my Football Manager 2020 blog story with Sporting CP. My second year in Lisbon is about to get underway, and there has been some much-needed reshuffling after our sudden collapse in form last spring (which you can read about right here).

In today’s chapter, I will be summarising all the ins and outs from our summer transfer window. I’ll then reintroduce you to the first-team squad and go through our pre-season results before explaining our objectives for 2020/2021. Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 2, Part 1” →

Welcome back, folks. The first season of my Football Manager 2020 career with Sporting CP is coming to an end, and there’s still some silverware on the line for us. (There will be major spoilers from the start, so if you haven’t caught up with Part 5 yet, please read that first.)

So… can Big Phil fire us to Primeira Liga glory, and maybe even help us win the Europa League as well? Or will it all come crashing down? Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 1, Part 6” →

Welcome to another chapter of my Football Manager 2020 blog story. As you can see, things have gone pretty well for me at Sporting CP lately! If you want to read about our post-Christmas surge in greater detail, you can revisit Part 4 here (just don’t ask me about the cups).

Can we carry that impressive league form over into February and March, and into the Europa League knockout rounds? We’ll find out soon, but first, there’s somebody I’d quite like you to meet… Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 1, Part 5” →

My new Football Manager 2020 save with Sporting CP has gone pretty well so far. Mind you, there have been a few hiccups along the way, not least because the players are still getting used to the physical demands needed to regularly and effectively counter-press.

That being said, my job is very much safe… but will that still be the case as we prepare to head into 2020? Can a good run of form get us back in the title hunt and/or win us the Taça da Liga? Or will I need to delve into my transfer budget for the first time?

Don’t forget that you can catch up on Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 using the links provided if you haven’t read them yet. Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 1, Part 4” →

My new Football Manager 2020 series with Sporting CP is now into its second week. Even at this late stage in FM20’s life cycle, this story seems to have drawn plenty of interest, which is always pretty nice to see as a blogger.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the first two chapters of “The Sporting Life”. If you’re new to this story, you can catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 on the links provided to see how we fared in the opening months.

Today, I’ll be taking you through our results in October and November. This includes a huge Primeira Liga match at Braga as well as our first game in the Taça de Portugal, but much of our focus here will be on the Europa League. First up, a daunting trip to the Czech Republic… Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 1, Part 3” →

“Olá” again, readers. My Football Manager 2020 series with Sporting CP is about to kick off with earnest, with our opening matches in the Primeira Liga, the Europa League, and – of course – the Taça da Liga.

In case you missed it last time, you can read the first chapter of this new story right here. In that, I looked at the various players at my disposal and played through the curtain-raising Supertaça (the Portuguese Community Shield, basically).

But now it’s time for the serious business to begin. By the way, if you’re wondering why there’s a silly image of Jenna Coleman wearing a Father Christmas hat while standing outside the Estádio de São Miguel in Ponta Delgada, all will become clear soon. Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 1, Part 2” →

Embed from Getty Images

Hello there, readers, and welcome to the official start of my new Football Manager 2020 blog story! I have taken over the reins of Sporting CP, with the aim of returning them to the top of Portuguese football – and hopefully making them competitive in Europe again.

In case you missed my introduction to this story, in which I went through Sporting’s history and explained my goals for this story, you can read it right here.

Today’s opening chapter will begin with a squad report, where I’ll go through each first-team player and then look at my tactics. I’ll also summarise our pre-season results before finishing off with our first competitive match – the season-opening Supertaça against league champions Benfica.

Are you ready for this new adventure? If so, let’s begin… Continue reading “The Sporting Life: Season 1, Part 1” →