Author: Chris Fuller

I have now come to the final month of my first season at Fiorentina. European football will be coming back to the Artemio Franchi in 2019/2020, but it remains to be seen whether we’ll play in the Champions League or the Europa League. These final four games of the Serie A campaign will decide that.

If you’re still to catch up on all the goings-on in April, click here to read through Part 10. (WARNING: Clicking on that link might greatly increase your Injury Risk.) Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 11” →

Peerless at home, hapless away. That just about sums up my first season as Fiorentina manager so far. Time is running out on our quest to qualify for the Champions League, and the five matches awaiting us in April could go some way to either making or breaking our top-four hopes.

You can catch up on Part 9 here if you haven’t already. It truly is unmissable, particularly if you have a keen interest in watching virtual Football Managers screw up relations with their best strikers. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 10” →

We are two-thirds into the Serie A season, and after a very strong start, reality has finally hit home. Can I still get Fiorentina into the Champions League at the first attempt, or have I left it too late? The Europa League isn’t the worst consolation prize, but that’s like getting a Bullseye ‘Bendy Bully’ when I could have won a speedboat.

If you missed it last time out, you can go back to Part 8 here. I guarantee that there are no references to 1980s TV shows presented by Jim Bowen in that chapter, though I can’t promise that you won’t read of any violent acts from Serbian hardmen. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 9” →

Welcome back to Fiorentina. After a somewhat quiet January transfer window, my trusty band of brothers is ready to fight for Champions League qualification. Our February schedule looks relatively kind, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t cling onto our top-four position.

In case you missed what happened in January, you can revisit Part 7 here. If you are a certain Uruguayan left-back who doesn’t know the meaning of the phrase “play it cool”, I would suggest you don’t. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 8” →

We’re halfway through the 2018/2019 Serie A season. Fiorentina have defied expectations so far, but that’ll only make the bigger teams even more determined to knock us back down.

In today’s chapter, I will talk you through the first few weeks of 2019, which includes the start of our Coppa Italia pursuit, plus our mid-season transfer business. Prepare to say goodbye to one of the unsung heroes of this Fiorentina team…

P.S. If you missed it last time, you can catch up on Part 6 here. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 7” →

I’m fast approaching the halfway point of my first season as Fiorentina manager. This bumper part features SIX matches – including a top-of-the-table duel with Lazio – as we continue our charge towards a top-four finish.

If you haven’t read Part 5 yet, then oh boy, you’ve missed a cracker. Click here if you want to see what happened when I had my first major falling-out with one of my players. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 6” →

After all the excitement that came Fiorentina’s way in October, I’m hoping November will be a rather less stressful month. That doesn’t seem awfully likely, though, with fellow high-flyers Roma awaiting us at the Olimpico.

In case you missed it last time round, you can read Part 4 here and pretend that we’re still in October. (Yes, I know we’re still in October in real life… unless you’re reading this after Halloween, in which case… argh, THAT’S NOT THE POINT!) Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 5” →

The Football Manager deities have been smiling on Fiorentina so far this season. The journey through Serie A has been very smooth… perhaps a little too smooth. As we enter October, I’ve got this nagging fear that our ride could be derailed pretty soon, especially with a certain Madeiran menace looming large.

If you missed Part 3, you can click here to catch up on all the latest drama in Florence. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 4” →

The 2018/2019 Serie A season is underway, and my reign as Fiorentina manager has started brightly, to say the least. If you missed out on all the fun last time out, you can quickly revisit Part 2 here.

In today’s chapter, we will progress through all five of our fixtures in September and start to develop an idea of whether we’re capable of European qualification. Before all that, though, there’s something I just want to get off my (rather sizeable) chest… Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 3” →

Welcome back to “Shades of Deep Purple”. My reign as Fiorentina manager is about to get underway in earnest. Today’s post includes a round-up of our pre-season campaign, plus the opening two matches of the Serie A season – at home to AC Milan, and then away to Sassuolo.

If you missed out on my squad report and my initial tactical plans, you can go back to Part 1 here. Continue reading “Shades of Deep Purple: Part 2” →