Any Port in a Storm or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Managing Around the World

Good day all. My journeyman career starts here. With the add/remove league situation it was an interesting choice as to which leagues I picked and which ones I didn't, but might load later. In the end I chose this set-up:

12.1 Medium database (players from top clubs in Europe/South America/Africa)

England: League 2 and Above

France: National and above

Germany: Third Division and above

Italy: Serie B and above

Spain: Liga adelante

Finland: First Division and above

Northern Ireland: Second Division and above

Uruguay: Second Division and above

The big five I will keep along with Uruguay while Northern Ireland and Finland I plan to rotate out as and when I feel the need.

Obviously I will aim to become the best manager in the world but I will want to achieve the following things during my career:

Manage a Finnish team in the Champions League

Manage my club Charlton

Manage Roma

Win the Libertadores with a team not from Brazil/Argentina

Finish my career in Norway

All that is a long way off.

For now though our story begins with young Wavelberry visiting his mate who has just moved to a nice wee seaside town in Northern Ireland called Portstewart. While there he gets blind drunk and boasts that he could easily manage the local football team out of mid-table mediocrity such was his brilliance at FM2011. The chairman of Portstewart it turns out was at that very pub and the next day while attempting a less than successful Hair of the Dog Wavelberry is approached by the Portstewart chairman...

Interesting story, it sounds like something that would happen in a movie rather than real life .

Lol at the comment above - looking forward to this!

Portstewart F.C. is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 2. The club, founded in 1968, hails from Portstewart, County Londonderry and plays its home matches at Seahaven, near the centre of the town.

Board Expectations

NI 2nd Div: Mid-table position (predicted 11th)

NI Cup: 3rd Round

NI League Cup: Learn from it

NI Intermidiate Club: 3rd Round

Manager Profile

So I walk into Seahaven and find a club that is severely lacking in good backroom staff, but also lacking the funds to replace them. Given some advice I make a few key signings and this is how the team's strength looks with the four signings I've made. I'm a bit lacking in midfield, but the two players I've signed in James Cronesberry and Dean Lawrence are the best players at the club and I'll be hoping they hit the ground running. This squad should be more than capable of hitting mid-table and I'll need them to as I can't sign anyone now until I unload some players.

My first two friendlies have been a 1-1 draw against league rivals Sport and Leisure and then a 3-2 defeat to Larne from the division above (after leading 2-0). The journey begins...

And in pre-season Cronesberry is already looking a bit tasty given he only gets 45 minutes a game. Currently 2 goals and 1 assist in 3 games...

Really? How much?

I'm going to spend that on a pint in The Anchor I think...

Okay. I'll say it. My team are absolutely awful. Every match we've played we can't pass and we can't tackle no matter whether I ask them to keep it simple or lump or step off or go in hard or anywhere inbetween. Is this usual for NI Div 2 or have I the worst team in the league?

Okay. I'll say it. My team are absolutely awful. Every match we've played we can't pass and we can't tackle no matter whether I ask them to keep it simple or lump or step off or go in hard or anywhere inbetween. Is this usual for NI Div 2 or have I the worst team in the league?

It's usual in the Northern Irish 2nd Division, it took a while for my newly promoted Brantwood squad to come together but you can never predict the result or any stupid mistakes. You get used to it .

We're doing slightly better. Scored a couple of goals from open play and everything, but you just can't tell how things are gonna work out. It's fun though.

It was a difficult start with the team not really performing and my assistant telling me the team couldn't pass or tackle every match. I feared the worse however some micro-management of tactics and keeping a good eye on what the devil was going on was enough to steady the ship. After the ship was steadied the team actually started to pick up and we've come to the halfway stage in very good form. We've picked it up and the optimist in me reckons we've a shot at promotion while the realist in me reckons we need a few more points to have a good season and avoid relegation. The main problem I have is that the squad is as it is and I have no money to sign anyone. This is very annoying as my only decent striker is very injury prone and all my other strikers are either 16 or ****. I've signed some good 16 year olds but they are all backup and at this stage I'm relying on my average older players.

While the league's been good we sucked in the League Cup losing early doors. We've done well in the Intermidiate cup getting through to the 4th round with an excellent 1-0 win away at Bangor, but we lost in the 3rd round of the Irish cup to Newcastle and that displeased me. This was especially displeasing given that we had a come from 2-0 down win to beat them in the Intermediate Cup. Things are not too bad though considering I thought we were boned a few games into the season...

The Good

We're somehow 2nd in the table and in the Promotion hunt

We're in the 4th round of the Intermidiate Cup and have a shot at the title.

Some of my young signings are stepping in straight away

The Bad

No decent strikers to acutally turn dominance into goals

Knocked out by bloody Newcastle (NIR) in the cup

My RB I bought is a tempermental bitch who won't play well.

Results - League Table - Squad - Squad Depth - Me

Heh! Great title!

Also, why does your team's badge look like the Rebel Alliance logo?

Heh! Great title!

Also, why does your team's badge look like the Rebel Alliance logo?

I have no clue. We're playing like rebels without a cause though if that means anything. It probably doesn't.

Finally got my computer back after months of nothing so updates are about to roll in. In the meantime my first game back ended in a 5-4 away win to me against Wakehurst and then this happened in the Intermediate Cup

It's a crazy world out there...