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Life is hard in the Turkish third tier. Attendances are small, money is lacking, the youth is crap, transfer budgets are nonexistent. It's taken me three virtual season to build a squad strong enough to challenge for the division title and automatic promotion, although we did overachieve in the last two seasons in making (and then subsequently losing in) the promotion playoffs.
This fourth season started with plenty of promise - arriving 20-year-old rejects from the Super Lig have made our attack actually threatening for the first time, while I was able to retain most of the players responsible for the league's meanest defense. An early 7-0 hammering of a freshly promoted side raised expectations. But lately, cracks have started to show. The last three league matches have all ended in a 2-2 draw, the last one seeing us conspiring to throw away a two-goal half-time lead to 10 men. Fielding a weakened side, we were also dumped out of the Cup rather unceremoniously, conceding five to a fourth tier team. DPeezylution!
And if my FM story isn't riveting enough for you, have some actual, real-life Premier League football! There are seven matches scheduled on this Saturday, all of them kicking off at the same time. The big one, as far as Chelsea's concerned, is Fulham vs. Arsenal. While the Blues picked up three points at Craven Cottage rather easily, hopefully the same won't be the case for Arsenal who currently sit one point behind in fourth place.
There's a full slate in the Championship, while all four Champions League semifinalist will be in action as well.
Discuss.