Your biggest fall from grace?

It's 2024 and I have taken over an Atletico "B" side stuck in 19th place in Liga Adelante. After having won promotions to Serie B with Ternana and Monza between 2008 and 2013 and getting to Serie A with Verona in 2014, thereafter consistently challenging for Europe and ultimately winning the title in 2019 I was appointed Italy boss. This in the year running up to the European Championships. I won qualification with ease and beat England, Serbia and Russia in the group stages of the finals before being knocked out by Scotland in the 1/4's. Obviously I was sacked after the tournament but my stock was still high. I had job offers from most of the seven sisters only to turn them all down in favour of Reggina, hoping to build a team in my own special mould.

It turned out to be the worst decision of my career as I was sacked before seasons end leaving them in the relegation zone (they eventually went down anyway) with my reputation shattered in Italy. I couldn't find any work in the top two divisions for 3 years until I took over 16th placed PL side Swansea in February 2023. Unfortunately I guided them to 20th place by May and as clear favourites to bounce back we sat mid-table in the Championship come December. Again I was sacked after less than a year in charge.

After at least a dozen failed club applications, most back in Italy I was surprisingly offered the Australia job. I declined, only to realise my rashness a few days later when the jobs dried up even further and cap-in-hand went back to the Aussie FA only to be rejected. Then Atletico "B", ultimately the Atletico Madrid reserve side contact me and here I am.

Where did it all go wrong?

Anyway, first game as boss and I introduce a new system to the squad which I haven't used since my mid-Verona days in Serie A. I steal a 2-0 win at home having only 3 shots on goal, but saw my newly and controversially installed captain sent off and banned for two matches. Looks like it's going to be another long season... If I last that long.

I got sacked from Redditch in the Blue Square North. Very embarrassing

I was manager of Motala AIF in Sweden, and guided them from the Second Division Middle Gotaland to the First Division Elite. I thought I could find a better job, but didn't, and had to retire from club management. Worse experience in my FM history. :(

I was Manager of Leyton Orient and after 6 seasons I managed to get them into the Premier League through the play offs – which we won on penalties. The orient teams was nowhere near ready to go up and my poor reputation meant that we could not attract players with enough quality. Needless to say that after a few losses on the trot, morale started to drop and we never really recovered, finishing 19th.

Luckily, a certain Mr Wenger left Arsenal to be the French coach, so I put in my application and was successful. Over the next 5 or 6 years I won everything trophy I could win with that team. In the meantime, leyton orient went into free fall and found themselves laying midtable in the BSP.

At the start of the next season, my mighty arseal team looked a shadow of their former selves. Nothing I did seemed to help and we slipped down the table. My P45 arrived not long after. After years of looking for another job, nothing I wanted came up. Unfortunately, in the time I was waiting y reputation diminished and I couldn’t even get the top jobs anymore. Then, one fateful day, a job offer from Little Leyton Orient came through the post. I snapped it up, dreaming of my past glories at the club. I ended up only getting a couple of points in the remaining 15 or so games of the season and was duely sacked – not even making it through a year at the club!

That was the day I retired to open a country pub!

On FM08 i started a game with Blackburn. I did very well with them, getting them into Europe and even winning the League Cup. Sir Alex retired from Man Utd and i applied for that and got it after only 2 seasons at Blackburn. I had nearly all of the squad from now with some deadwood which was dually sold. I was given a decent bit of money as well as having a good enough squad to challenge.

This season took a turn for the worse after only 4 games in the league. I had played West Ham, Tottenham, Norwich and West Brom and drawn the lot. The fans were not happy but i carried on none the less hoping my season would turn for the better. The next 4 games were Arsenal twice, Chelsea and Liverpool. Needless to say i got beat in all games and was sacked after only half the season. I am now manager at Tranmere Rovers trying to get them into the Prem but this is going to take alot of work.

This may not seem like a big fall from grace so to speak but on a personal level, i went from the bright lights of European football to the Wirral! It still brings a tear to my eye and the thought of what might have been is always with me.

After turning Wigan into a top half side and saving At. Madrid from relegation I thought of myself as a bit of a Harry Redknapp character who could change the fortunes of clubs, a bit of a relegation dog fight pro. I took over lowly Wolves in the EPL who had gone 10 games without a win, I was sacked after a further 14 games without a point let alone a win

On Fm08 i took the lowly Hitchin to a 4th place finish in the prem. The next season went badly, got knocked out of europe at the 1st possible opportunity and suffered some key injuries that left us about 14th at Xmas, when without warning i was sacked.

I was almost instantly offered the Arsenal job. They were languishing in 19th despite having several world class players. Only problem was that their morale was completely shot and they didnt seem to like me. A month later and without a win to my name i stunned to be sacked, again!! Twice in 2 months. I didnt continue after that.....

Took over Koping in the Swedish Second Division Svealand and was predicted to finish 12th. Made a good few signings and thought I would easily avoid relegation. Won my first game of the season and so was confident for the season ahead, however that turned out to be my only win of the season and I finished dead last ( and some way off safety )

I was then sacked unsuprisingly

I like threads like this, and it is evry unfortunate what has happened to you guys. I actually admire you all for sticking it out for so long without resigning or starting a new game completely! There are usually too many people boasting about getting promoted 5 years in a row, without losing a single game, etc etc

I agree, I commend you guys for carrying on. I for one usually just start a brand new game but there has been the odd occasion where I've taken other jobs. A fall from grace is probably the hardest thing to stomach in FM.

I agree, I commend you guys for carrying on. I for one usually just start a brand new game but there has been the odd occasion where I've taken other jobs. A fall from grace is probably the hardest thing to stomach in FM.

Technically mines wasn't really a fall as I was already at the bottom

Technically mines wasn't really a fall as I was already at the bottom

Hahaha!!! You're in the wrong thread then! Maybe you should start you own, for players who start at the bottom... and stay there.... year after year...

My one rule of football manager - never go back to a club where you have had success, it will not work!

My one rule of football manager - never go back to a club where you have had success, it will not work!

definitely true, won the copa america with uruguay and was pretty unstoppable, then got tempted by england, the grass wasn't greener, got my foot back in the door at uruguay and went on to lose every world cup game (was only Nigeria, Iran, and Czech Republic in my group) and got sacked

My one rule of football manager - never go back to a club where you have had success, it will not work!

Not for me lol, I started my game out as Leigh RMI on FM08 and got them promoted and was dominating the league again next season, Reading had been through 4 manager since about the mid-point of last season. Got offered a job from them, after 18 months they let me go despite getting them into the premiership on a shoestring budget and Tottenham gave me a job, after 12 months they let me go even though I won the league and then I went to man utd. All was going well until I got the axe from Man Utd after about 30 games why I'm not really sure, the season before they were in a relegation battle and I had them 3rd. But I had just lost to Arsenal three times, Liverpool and Chelsea on the bounce quite heavily and after that I went back to Leigh RMI and got them promoted again lol.

in my FM08 game I went from being sacked 3 times in a single season to guiding Ath. Madrid to Champions League glory. after 3 seasons with Madrid, I moved onto my beloved Chelsea and managed to get us relegated. Nuff said :'(

I had a bit of a nomadic start to my managerial career began in the MLS with LA had led them to the top of their conference, when Sporting Lisbon came calling, i decided to give it a go.

Struggled really badly before deciding the best thing to do would be leave.

Sat waiting for a while for jobs to come through, eventually the Pompey job came up with about 5 games left of the PL season. Began the new season with confidence with some quality signing, with a media prediction of 14th place was impressed to finish 8th and scrape into the Intertoto. The Chelsea job then became vacant was offered it to my suprise. spent big refining the impressive squad they had must have been something about me though as less than six months into the season was sacked lying 14th in the table yet only lost 3 games.

Am now trying to resurrect my career with Watford, i hope.

i took over lowly east fife in fm08, the love of my life. they were in the scottish third, expected to get mid-table obscurity, but somehow, with some astute freebies i managed to get the team promoted year after year to the spl. the first year in the premier saw me achieve my goal, 11th out of 12 meant safety. second year saw me get a top six finish, then the third year came and i split the old firm, finishing second to celtic. over the next few years the spl had become a three horse race, and i had become a team in the same mould as ajax, bringing through youngsters and selling them to the big teams in england. a uefa cup, 2 spl's, and 3 cups saw me get the man utd job after 10 years at the fife.

man u saw me have reasonable successful. 2 leagues and 2 cups in 3 years, but something didn't seem right. i realised i should never have left east fife, and when the fife job became available, i resigned from utd and applied to take over again at east fife. bad decision!

east fife had been relegated to the second division, two drops in three years. the three years in which i was away saw high wages and old players arrive, none of whom were good enough. the finances were poor, and the club was a shadow of it's former self. i arrived with high expectations but it wasn't like the former glory days. the old players with high wages departed, and i started afresh with some loans, freebies and academy players. i had one season, was embarassingly relegated, and was rightly sacked. my status as an east fife favoured personal was revoked, and i was unemployed, with noone interested in me.

To the OP, i loved that story, and although riddled with misfortune, i find it to be a great career so far, with a former Italy Boss currently slugging it out with a Spanish reserve side.

Would love to see more of the story when it unfolds