Fledgling manager Roberto di Lazaró had guided Sampdoria to a 10th place finish in Serie A in 2021/22. However, that had largely been inspired by the goals of a 19-year-old striker so much work was needed in the summer transfer window to strengthen the squad.
I wrote one of these blogs last year so I figured, with Football Manager 22 around the corner, I'd do the same again this year. Mainly because I'm really excited about the challenge I've come up with for this year's game.
Having made a flying start to our Serie A title defence, it was interrupted by a mid-season break while players went off to the Winter World Cup in Qatar.
When I took the role as Cagliari manager, the board wanted a top half finish then to work on becoming the "best of the rest" in Serie A. However, as soon as we ticked over into the 2032/33 campaign they suddenly expected us to qualify in the Champions League places.
Heading into 2032, Cagliari Calcio were being well and truly carried into the top half of Serie A by the goals of star striker Thomas De Lucia. The Italian, our newly appointed vice-captain, had scored more than half of our goals.
I'd just enjoyed a summer of soaking up the rays in the beautiful surroundings of my new home in Sardinia. But there was plenty of work to be done in the summer of 2031 to rebuild a Cagliari side lacking quality and, importantly, money.
Life in idyllic Sardinia had gotten off to a pretty solid start with 4 points from our opening two games as manager of Cagliari. That had us sitting safe in 10th position and with an outside chance of challenging for European places.
A new start is upon us and assembled journalists were quick to point out that the new manager was "quite the coup" for Cagliari and "appeared to be a good fit for the club's current vision."
We've stepped into the past to revive our Atalanta series on the blog today, as we push ahead with the save that's taken us deep into the 2030s.
Last time out we stepped into 2034 on a run of 59 league games without defeat and having progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League and into the Italian Cup semi-finals.
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