Perishing Partizan
Perishing Partizan; Season 1 Completed, Season 2’s Setup
In this next installment of Perishing Partizan, we look at how the AI did in its first season in charge, result-wise. We also have a peek at their financial status and the transfers they conducted at the start of the second season.
The previous accomplishments
Partizan had a decent season, by AI standards anyway. The title was pretty much in the bag from day 1, as the squad is miles ahead of the competition in terms of overal quality.
The league table reflects that. 20 points clear of the number two, the best offence and best defence in the league. Yep, Partizan are the convincing champions. However, the main body of the squad is still mine, all the AI added into that mix are some actual strikers and a change of tactics. With the squad I left behind, Partizan were expected to perform like this.
Their true litmus test came on the European stage. Partizan had won a Champions League and reached the final in the season where I departed a few days prior to the final (they lost that one and dammit FM, I wish you could tell AI clubs to wait a few days until after such big finals before approaching you!), so how will the AI do with a squad clearly capable of performing well in Europe?
Apparently, not very well. Third place in a group with Everton, Monaco and Zenit is a poor performance from such a talented group of players. Their Europa League run is much more decent, being brought to a halt by Man Utd in the semi-finals. I still feel that not progressing into the knock-out stages of the Champions League can be deemed a failure.
To add some more insult to injury, the team failed to retain its Serbian Cup title, losing to local rivals OFK in the final. It sums up a sub-par overal performance. The team invested a lot of money in three expensive strikers, but seemed to lack firepower on the critical moments in its most important matches. If there are still people wondering why I play strikerless…