This is post one of a wider series. A series for FM24. “Modern football has no soul. She is a shell of her former self. Viktoria Köln is the antidote.“ In-game date: 17 July 2023 Inauguration Enzo Scutari cuts an iconic silhouette as he stands in the middle of the pitch at the Sportpark Höhenberg. The philosophical economist has recently taken the manager’s job at beleaguered third tier German side Viktoria Köln and is studiously watching his players train in a late evening session during pre-season. With his tailored blazer hugging his slim shoulders and signature thin frame glasses perche ..read more

This is post eight of a wider series. A series for FM23. “If you never lose, how are you going to know when you’ve won?” In-game date: 29 May 2028 The lights in Enzo Scutari’s office are switched off. As darkness descends over the Luigi Ferraris, the manager exits the building and heads for his car for the final time. After managing 291 games across six seasons, picking up two trophies and earning three manager of the year awards, the journey is over. Before we take a wider look at his six years in charge of Sampdoria as a collective body of work, how did Scutari’s final campaign turn out ..read more

This is post seven of a wider series. A series for FM23. “Experience is the teacher of all things.” In-game date: 23 May 2027 In the year 49 BC, Julius Caesar purportedly crossed the Rubicon. At that time, the river Rubicon marked a key political border between the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul and the rest of Italy. Such a move was considered an act of war and treason on the state and is historically considered the trigger event which ultimately led to Caesar’s dictatorship of the Roman empire. Fast forward 2,000+ years and the idiom “crossing the Rubicon” is still widely used to sugges ..read more

This is post six of a wider series. A series for FM23. “Without the piano, my life would be a disaster.” Jools Holland. In-game date: 27 May 2026 I’ve just had the most surreal weekend. I visited the Sports Interactive headquarters in London alongside a group of other writers for the Football Manager The Byline hints and tips section of the official website. The studio is an incredible place and I was delighted to do the guided tour, but ashamed to be beaten 7-3 a few hours later in an on-site network game by the brains behind the Dictate the Game website, Ryan. At least he bought me a pint ..read more

This is post five of a wider series. A series for FM23. “Spending less isn’t a death sentence, but you are flirting with the chair.” In-game date: 25 May 2025 This time last year, Sampdoria waved goodbye to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Quagliarella, Ciccio Caputo, Antonio Candreva and Tomás Rincón. This left an almost 200-year old hole in the squad, with Enzo Scutari choosing the summer of 2024 to significantly propel his squad into the modern era with younger faces. With an average squad age of 27.19, Sampdoria are still the second oldest side in Serie A, but those exits were a defining momen ..read more

This is post three of a wider series. A series for FM23. “The ideal final piece of the Blucerchiati jigsaw.” In-game date: 5 August 2023 Less than six months ago, Enzo Scutari’s Sampdoria were in freefall. On the 4th of January 2023, Sampdoria had smashed Empoli 4-1 to open the new year with a bang, though unfortunately they were to fail to capture another three points until the 12th of March. Over two months and 11 matches later. I went over Samp’s updated narrow 4-4-2 diamond system in the last post, and it was this shift which improved results and saved I Blucerchiati’s season. An excell ..read more

This is post two of a wider series. A series for FM23. “Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.” In-game date: 8 April 2023 It’s April 2023 and there are ten Serie A games to go in Enzo Scutari’s first season in charge at Sampdoria. This blog post is one of hope and positivity. If I’d paused to write this just one in-game month ago, the tone would have been very different. Scutari’s favoured system initially was a 4-2-3-1, pictured here in an astonishingly well-liked Tweet I sent out about tactical player swaps. #FM23 tip. Mix up your attacks and conf ..read more

This is post one of a wider series. A series for FM23. “If the first button of one’s coat is wrongly buttoned, all the rest will be crooked.” In-game date: 11 July 2022 It was the 16th century Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno who said those words. I guess what he meant was if the foundations are not built correctly, what follows can never be robust and pristine. The modern iteration of Sampdoria clearly did not heed his timeless warning. One of the headline stories of the real life 22-23 Serie A season so far has been the abject performances of the famous Blucerchiati in Genoa. Manager Ma ..read more

This is post five of a wider series. A series for FM22. “This is it.” In-game date: 11 December 2023 The ordinarily energetic Fernando Teixidó looks anxious, sat behind a collection of microphones clipped to a table in the press room at the Monumental David Arellano. The Peruvian’s third season in charge of the Chilean side Colo-Colo has come to an end in the last few days and rumours have been rife about the popular manager moving on. Fernando Marcelo ‘La Palanca’ Teixidó “Veni. Vidi. Vici…” Teixidó surprises everyone in the room as he opens his address in Latin. The room falls into silen ..read more

This is post four of a wider series. A series for FM22. “This is not a statistical anomaly.” In-game date: 8 November 2022 A double-double Two-in-a-row. A tearful Fernando Teixidó held the Campeonato AFP PlanVital trophy aloft at a packed Monumental David Arellano. The Colo-Colo manager had just orchestrated a 3-1 win over Audax Italiano to win a second consecutive domestic league title here in Chile. On the day, a Javier Parraguez double fittingly put to the sword the club who prevented his side from retaining the Copa Chile earlier in the year. That was a valiant third round cup exit at t ..read more