Andria Challenge: Season 4 Final Update

Wow! That's everything I can say about my fourth season with Andria in Football Manager 2009. I am impressed, amazed and blown away by the progress we have managed to obtain: dubbed for a mediocre season, my Andria Bat challenge went extraordinarily and we've managed to promote to the Serie B! Yes, that's right, we are now part of the real football - impressive, having in mind that four seasons ago, when the computer was randomly placing me at the helm of Andria, the team was dubbed for relegation from the Serie C1/C.

I must admit that I was completely impressed by how the players played. I never expected to obtain promotion and I was only hoping for them to gel and build up for the next season when I was planning to attack the promotion to the Serie B. However, thanks to Rozman and the company, we are up and ready for the real challenge: Serie B, a division in which I'll most certainly have trouble staying in.

As you can see, we've placed six and won incredible battles (incredibly easy also) in the playoffs. There was a point in the final when I thought about losing the game with intention, since there's no way my team is ready (or has the financial power) to go one division up, but then thought that if the players want it so much, maybe we'll be able to do something next year, too. Congrats to the lads, they were impressive!
As you can see from the standings below (and above), Andria's main strength was the defense. We never lost hard, and we battled bravely for every result. We're not yet a scoring, powerful team, but we do have strength back there and, even though the games are not always a joy to watch, we're still doing a great job getting the results. First we'll get the results, next we'll focus on making a real show for the fans.
From the players, I must signal out, once again, Bostjan Rozman, the young striker which might turn into a legend if he keeps playing like that (a legend for the club, and at least until we get to Serie A :P) - he scored 9 goals and was impressive always, creating goals and playing well. Also, I was surprised by the strength proven by Johnny Giansante, a striker Roma (my parent club) sent to me and who managed to score an impressive 8 goals, despite I didn't have any plans to play him. But due to bad performances from Sami (gambling on a striker without pace was not worth it) and Marco Di Matteo (who simply can't gel with the squad), he proved a great loan.
Also, Ivan Vellucci was considered the second best signing of the season, so I must say I am impressed with him as well. Hopefully we'll build on this incredible, unbelievable feat next season and manage to stay in the Serie B. I do hope we'll finally get over the financial crysis we have in the team and I will finally be able to purchase some players and not be forced to keep my eye on expiring contracts. But about transfers and plans for the future, in another post!