[FM10] Have football, will travel

After some updating of files, I feel confident in a massive career game.

I'm using the original SI XML files. Leagues loaded are (brace yourselves): Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, United States, Uruguay. All playable divisions active. (I think that's 56 divisions)

Started as unemployed.

Took a while to find a job, but landed at Geylang United in the S-League with 8 matches left in the season and the club underperforming in 9th place.

I prefer at least 2 up front, but the available players caused me to go with a 4-1-2-2-1 formation.

And we struggled to start, losing my first 6 matches. We also set a record with 7 consecutive matches without a goal (a run that went back to my predecessor).

But a scout I hired found a Nigerian striker playing in southeast Asia. Brought him on trial, liked what I saw, signed him and stuck him up front on his own.

We won our final two matches of the season (including our "fierce rivals" Woodlands Wellington at their place) 1-0, with the new striker scoring the lone goal on an 89th-minute breakaway.

So, we go into the close season with some renewed confidence.

Season	Club		League		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	FINISH	
2009	Geylang United	S-League	8	2	0	6	3	13	6	10th

Bah. Didn't see acidmonkey laid claim to a similar thread title.

Bah. Didn't see acidmonkey laid claim to a similar thread title.

Do you want it changed?

Do you want it changed?

Could you please?

Something like "Travelin' Man"

Or "A girl in every port"

I liked the second one

I liked the second one

In the shower, I also thought of "Have football, will travel." But if you prefer the current title, then don't change it.

Could you put at the front though that it's an FM 10 save?

In the shower, I also thought of "Have football, will travel." But if you prefer the current title, then don't change it.

Could you put at the front though that it's an FM 10 save?

I've changed it to that.

I can add FM10 to the start if you really want, but I've tried to keep all the current version threads without a prefix, using them just for games played on an older version.

I've tried to keep all the current version threads without a prefix, using them just for games played on an older version.

Ah, that's fine then.

That will only be a problem when FM11 runs out, and you have to edit all the topics without the prefix to include the [FM10]

Cool title. I preferred the 'girl in every port' though. Good luck for your career - it will be interesting to see how it develops with so many possibilities.

Now to think of a good title for my upcoming thread....

At least this wont distract you from your MLS thread duties in the FF seeing as the season is over.

Oh and all those leagues and no Ireland. I thought you liked Galway.

Good luck with your stroll around the earth Jason. Nice mixture of playable countries chosen.

At least this wont distract you from your MLS thread duties in the FF seeing as the season is over.

Almost. A couple weeks to go still.

Oh and all those leagues and no Ireland. I thought you liked Galway.

When I first tried starting the game, the "loading database" screen would go to black about halfway through. I thought maybe I'd had too many leagues for it to handle, so I sacrificed some (I had South Africa in there as well, for example).

Turns out, it was still loading the database, just showing me a blank screen. But now I know for next time.

Update:

Anyway, very minor update today: I began the close season by agreeing mutual termination (first time I've done this in any of the FMs that have had this option) with one of my two youth coaches, freeing a coaching position for a goalkeeping coach.

I have an assistant manager, and another coach, but they were rated as 2 and 1 respectively. The new goalkeeping coach is a 17, so I'm expecting better performance from my goalkeepers (like, say, actually trying to stop a penalty instead of simply standing there)

Almost. A couple weeks to go still.

Well for TFC

Just a quick update to give you the World Cup news.

Brazil defeated Cote d'Ivorie 2-1 in the final.

Switzerland beat Uruguay 3-0 to claim the bronze medal.

England crashed out in the quarterfinal (so at least that was realistic. ) The other losing quarterfinalists were Argentina, Cameroon, and Germany.

The Golden Ball award went to Pato, while Samuel Eto'o claimed the Golden Boot with 5 goals.

And your 2018 World Cup host will be .... Italy.

:ghey :

Sorry to be totally of topic here but what sort of monster PC do you have? Or does it run incredibly slow?

Sorry to be totally of topic here but what sort of monster PC do you have? Or does it run incredibly slow?

I have a Sony Vaio laptop.

Specs as determined by Steam:

Processor Information:

Vendor: GenuineIntel

Speed: 1995 Mhz

2 logical processors

2 physical processors

HyperThreading: Unsupported

FCMOV: Supported

SSE2: Supported

SSE3: Supported

SSSE3: Supported

SSE4a: Unsupported

SSE41: Unsupported

SSE42: Unsupported

Network Information:

Network Speed:

Windows Version:

Windows Vista (32 bit)

NTFS: Supported

Video Card:

Driver: NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT

DirectX Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll

Driver Version: 7.15.11.5665

DirectX Driver Version: 7.15.11.5665

Driver Date: 7 Nov 2007

Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel

Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz

DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT

VendorID: 0x10de

DeviceID: 0x426

Number of Monitors: 1

Number of Logical Video Cards: 1

No SLI or Crossfire Detected

Primary Display Resolution: 1440 x 900

Desktop Resolution: 1440 x 900

Primary Display Size: 20.00" x 12.52" (23.58" diag)

50.8cm x 31.8cm (59.9cm diag)

Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x

Primary VRAM: 256 MB

Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:

Audio device: Speakers / Headphones (SigmaTel

Memory:

RAM: 3069 Mb

Miscellaneous:

UI Language: English

Microphone: Not set

Media Type: DVD

Total Hard Disk Space Available: 296527 Mb

Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 202740 Mb

Steam Hard Disk Usage: 4199 Mb

OS Install Date: Sep 17 2008

Installed Packages:

It's running fine so far, but I am only about 18 months into game time. I suspect I'm helped a little by having a split of leagues running July-May and within the calendar year, which spreads out the close-season update and the contract-expiry dates.

Thx for the info Jason.

Geylang United, 2010 season

My first full season with the club, and I was hoping to build off some of the things I'd seen in my 8 matches in charge the previous year.

I did some tinkering of formations, but otherwise left well enough alone. I did agree mutual termination with one of my two youth coaches, allowing me to go get a goalkeeping coach.

League

Not making dramatic changes seemed to pay off, as we claimed draws in each of our first three matches. But, as you might have guessed, it was masking a bigger rot that would show up during the course of the season. It took us 7 matches to claim our first win, against derby rivals Woodlands. It took another 10 to claim the second, against the dreadfully poor DPMM (who hadn't won at all at that point). And then we endured another 8-match winless run.

By this time I was starting to make changes. I drafted in some of my youth players, defenders only 17 years old but who had been holding up well in reserve matches (generally, I like my youth players to play "up" a level. So if I have a U18 team, as here, I put players in the reserve team when they turn 17). They were doing no better than the older players they'd replaced, but they also weren't doing any worse.

Having given up 5 and 4 goals a couple matches earlier, I decided to switch formations to a 5-3-2 (I'd been playing with basically a 4-1-2-2-1 when I had only one out-and-out forward, mixing with a 4-4-2 when I got another one).

The switch to the 5-3-2 paid immediate dividends, as we went 6-0-2 in league play to end the season (and one of those losses was on my assistant, as I was serving a 1-match touchline ban for criticizing a penalty decision going against us one too many times. Hey, I defend my players in public). It wasn't enough to salvage the season, but enough to have my players in the right frame of mind going into the close season.

Cups

We were in two cups, the Singapore Cup, and the League Cup.

The League Cup was a short stay, as we crashed out at the first hurdle, 1-0 at Balestier.

The Singapore Cup was more interesting. We needed penalties to go through the preliminary round after a 0-0 result at home against lower league Eunos Crescent. In the first round proper, we met league leaders Super Reds. We somehow managed to pull off a 2-1 win in the home leg, but lost 1-0 in the away leg and crashed out on away goals.

Transfers

We were quiet in the transfer market, even though the media kept linking us with random Americans.

I finally got fed up with former Singapore international Noor Ali's continual absences from training. He'd fail to show up for a session every 3 or 4 weeks, and then be shocked when I warned or fined him. As the window was closing, I offered him around on a free transfer, but there were no takers. So I left him in the first team, but never selected him, and never made him available for the reserves.

I loaned a young striker to DPMM, but he was only going to be cover for them. The bigger deal was selling WB Walid Lounis to Woodlands for S$20,000. The supporters weren't happy about that, even though he'd never played for me and the presence of G. Lenan meant he was unlikely to ever get a game for me. It's not like he lit things up at Woodlands either: 11 apperances (all starts), a 6.53 average rating, 1 assist.

I also offered around my Slovakian center back who lost his place in my youth movement. But the bastards at DPMM decided they could wait for his contract to expire and signed him to a pre-contract deal.

Player news

Again, the big news rushing a couple of 17-year-olds to the first team, but they seemed to handle it okay. Zhou Yong made 17 appearances in cup and league, mainly as the left man in a 3-man backline, and posted a 6.88 average rating. Bhupinder Colaco made 12 appearances (8 starts, 4 off the bench) in cup and league, mainly as the center man in the 3-man backline, and posted a 6.43 average rating (which was dragged down by giving away a couple of penalties).

Our two best players were Kingsley Ikpotor, the Nigerian striker I signed last season, who bagged 14 goals and 6 assists in 31 appearances, good for a 6.99 average rating. Haruki Seto, our aging Japanese defensive midfielder (who I usually had play a supporting role in the middle of our 3-man midfield), grabbed 3 goals and 7 assists in 36 apperances, good for a 6.97 rating.

Otherwise, not too much, although Zhou Yong, along with Gui Bin and Mohamad Ahmad (two who had sporadic apperances in our first team) played for the Singapore U19s in the Asian U19 Championship. Ahmad scored the lone goal in a win over Oman U19s, and was sent off for 2 yellows in a loss to Bahrain U19s. So he had an eventful tournament.

Ikpotor and Seto were named to the subs bench for the S-League Team of the Year.

Looking ahead

During our poor runs of form, I'd considered resigning at the end of the season, but the finish has convinced me to return. I still have 2 years left on my contract, and with no relegation in Singapore, I think I'll be safe from the sack, as the board is satisfied with my performance (though no doubt they'd like us to be doing better).

I'll use the close season to clear out some of the deadwood, mainly older, foreign players who are beginning to lose a step. Seto will likely be safe, as he's still able to get the job done. Otherwise, the scouts are continuing to scour southeast Asia (but not finding much).

Season	Club		League		Pre-season odds	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Honors	
2009	Geylang United	S-League			8	2	0	6	3	13	6	10th
2010	Geylang United	S-League	150-1		33	8	11	14	37	51	35	10th

Nice solid start Jason.

The model of consistancy.

Geylang United, 2011 season.

This season was mainly treading water. Although the frustration of the season stemmed more from a late season fade than anything else. We (mostly) beat teams we should have, and lost to those better than us. The squad grew, as I signed youth players to professional contracts and focused on developing players. The only move I made in the transfer market was a free transfer to bring Singapore national team center back Precious home from Indonesia, which the supporters were pleased about.

League

Inconsistency reared its head often this season. We started brightly by picking up points in each of our first four matches. For most of the season we were hanging about in mid-table obscurity, but a 6-match winless run to close the season saw us drop down the table.

The highlight of the season was likely our 4-1 home win over derby rivals Woodlands early in the season., in which our English forward Lloyd Butler scored a second-half hat-trick. However, they would get theirs by taking the final 2 league encounters of the season, both times with jammy late goals.

Otherwise, the lowlights were a 4-0 loss at Super Reds (I've beaten them 1 time in 15 tries), and a 5-1 loss at Singapore Armed Forces. The staff says we tend to be overawed by teams with bigger reputations, and it certainly seemed that way in those matches.

As for the players, Butler was named Player of the Month for April on the back of that hat-trick (but would end the season on an 1100+ minute goalless drought), while our aging playmaker Hiroki Seto (February) and forward-substitute Hafez Rahim (September) each took Goal of the Month honors.

Otherwise, the season was mainly about continued player development. Our young defenders Zhou Yong and Bhupinder Colaco continued to make strides, getting regular callups to the Olympic squad (despite only turning 18 this season) and it seemed like we were providing about half of the Singapore U19 squad.

FA Cup

We achieved the minimum aim of reaching the quarterfinals by dispatching lower-league opposition, before falling to Super Reds 0-2 at home and 1-1 away.

League Cup

I took the League Cup seriously this year, thinking even a minor trophy would convince everyone we were heading in the right direction. We made it all the way to the semifinal before falling, yes, to Super Reds. 0-2 at home, and 1-1 away. On the bright side, it gave us another chance to deny Woodlands, which we did 1-0 in the third-place playoff.

Season    Club        League        Pre-season odds    GP    W    D    L    GF    GA    PTS    Finish    Honors    
2009    Geylang United    S-League            8    2    0    6    3    13    6    10th
2010    Geylang United    S-League    150-1        33    8    11    14    37    51    35    10th    
2011    Geylang United    S-League    150-1        33    10    9    14    35    45    39    8th

Looking ahead

I have one more year on my contract, and my job status is listed as "very secure." I'm letting a bunch of older, more expensive players leave on free transfer as I continue the youth movement.

However, I'm not enamored with life in Singapore, especially the way it seems to be impossible for us to make any money (although signing all my youth players to pro contracts probably doesn't help ). I figure I'll leave at the end of the contract and see what else is out there. But before then, Toronto FC is reviewing their caretaker manager, and I might put in for that if they decide he's not the answer.

EDIT: The board offered me a new 3-year deal on a higher wage, but I turned it down.

A steady start to your career in Singapore. I'm finding similar issues with making money in Hong Kong - even filling the often long gaps between league games with friendlies doesn't seem to help. One thing that is liberating about these career games though is not having to worry too much about the long-term prospects of the club - if the money runs out, you can move on!

Do you think you'll have a shot at getting an MLS job? (I assuming the club reps will be higher then in Singapore). What past experience did you start with?

A steady start to your career in Singapore. I'm finding similar issues with making money in Hong Kong - even filling the often long gaps between league games with friendlies doesn't seem to help. One thing that is liberating about these career games though is not having to worry too much about the long-term prospects of the club - if the money runs out, you can move on!

I don't get too long of breaks, 14 days at the most. I have the assistant in charge of arranging friendlies. Plus our stadium only holds 4,000, so it's not like even Man U would be a money-spinner.

Do you think you'll have a shot at getting an MLS job? (I assuming the club reps will be higher then in Singapore). What past experience did you start with?

From what I can tell, clubs with caretaker managers usually end up giving them the job permanently. So I'm not too confident. Plus my winning percentage is down around 30%, which will make it tougher for me.

I started with "automatic" experience. I probably should start as "Sunday League footballer," but I don't think too hard about that.

Bah. Didn't see acidmonkey laid claim to a similar thread title.

what can i say great minds must think a like, either that or the advert for around the world in 80 days was on when i was creating the thread.

anywqay good luck man 56 divisons is ALOT ill be keeping an eye o this so good luck

Decision time: I applied for a vacant position (not even in the Eastern Hemisphere, and Singapore is still in pre-season), the media found out, and now the board have issued me an ultimatum.

I can either apologize or resign.

EDIT: I decided to apologize, and the board accepted. Job application was unsuccessful anyway, so it looks like I'll be staying in Singapore for the last year of my contract.

Assuming the board don't end up sacking me later on.

Reached my 100th match in charge.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to celebrate as we got our teeth kicked in, 5-0.

Decision time: I applied for a vacant position (not even in the Eastern Hemisphere, and Singapore is still in pre-season), the media found out, and now the board have issued me an ultimatum.

I can either apologize or resign.

EDIT: I decided to apologize, and the board accepted. Job application was unsuccessful anyway, so it looks like I'll be staying in Singapore for the last year of my contract.

Assuming the board don't end up sacking me later on.

ive been nabbed a few times, i always apologize and nothing happens i move on

Geylang United, 2012 season

Pre-season

As mentioned above, I got in a bit of trouble when I applied for the vacant Leon job in Mexico. I backed down and issued an apology, and the board were satisfied. As you can gather from the title of this update, I was not hired by the Leon board. So it meant I settled down to the final year of my contract.

S-League

The kerfuffle regarding my employment actually seemed to inspire the team, as we banked 8 points from our first four matches and for the first third of the season were hanging around near the top spot.

But then injuries started to set in. Not long-term ones, but of a bunch of little 1 or 2 week injuries. Just enough to disrupt our continuity. For two matches, I had to play my third-string keeper (he actually didn't do too badly, considering, well, he's the third-string keeper). So our form began to stutter and we slipped back into midtable obscurity. We weren't helped by a defense that continued to leak goals (we lost two matches 5-0, and shipped 4 in two other matches), but I suppose that's the price you pay for starting two 18-year-olds in a 3-man central defense.

The positive was our attack was a bit more dangerous this season, especially once I decided Lloyd Butler was far too inconsistent and dropped him to the reserves, giving callups to a couple of other teenagers. Neither one of them really set the world alight, but Mohd Zaki Ravi developed a good partnership with Kingsley Ipotor and bagged himself 4 goals and 4 assists in 13 appearances (12 of them starts).

And, oh, what a season it was for Ipotor. He broke his own Geylang United records for goals in a season (22 - and would have had more had I not suffered a crash dump after he put 4 past Niigata Unicorn. Not that I'm bitter about that), and most Man of the Match awards (7). He finished runner-up for the Golden Boot, was voted in the Singapore Team of the Year, won Player of the Month for April and August, and won Goal of the Month for March.

Anyway, minor injuries caused the form to stutter and we slipped off the pace. Our final position was a bit unlucky, as we lost our final match 3-2 on an 81st minute goal, and missed out on fourth by one point, and fifth on goal difference.

On the nice side, we did win the Fair Play Award.

Singapore Cup

This was quite frustrating. We had back-to-back matches at DPMM, one in the league, and one in the preliminary round for the Singapore Cup. We won the league match 1-0. And then four days later took one of our 5-0 teeth-kickings to crash out.

League Cup

I took this seriously again, and we did okay. We beat our bogey team Super Reds in both quarterfinal legs to set up a semifinal with our hated rivals Woodlands. We lost the away leg 2-0, then drew 0-0 in the home leg in which we pretty much played them off the park (aside from that whole scoring goals thing). So for the second consecutive year, we went to the third-place playoff, this time against Tampines. It played out much like the Singapore Cup, with a cup-league back-to-back. We lost the playoff to them 2-1, and then proceeded to lose the league match 5-0 at home.

Players

I already mentioned Ikpotor's fantastic season, and Razi's emergence. Our center back Precious had a good season (especially considering he was the linchpin between two 18-year-olds), making 34 starts in league and cup, scoring 3 goals, and averaging a 7.01 rating. Haruki Seto, our Japanese central midfielder, had to be relegated to the bench in mid-season, as he's still got the smarts and technique, but has lost so much pace that his movement can be timed with a sundial. In the second half of the season, I'd usually throw him on for the last 20 minutes to have a wise head on the pitch, and he still chipped in 3 goals and 5 assists.

The youth movement continued to bear fruit, with Ravi, left wingback Sunil Nandi (got the starting job at the beginning of the season and didn't let go) reserve centerback Gul Bin, midfielder Zhao Bing (who would come off the bench for our senior squad) and reserve defender Abdul Halim Abang Othman getting callups to the squad that went to the Asian U19 championships.

Future

Honestly, I'm a bit tired of Singapore, and even though the board is offering a new 3-year deal on an improved salary, I'm letting my current one expire and walk away. I feel I'll leave the club in better shape than I found it.

Season	Club		League		Pre-season odds	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Honors	
2009	Geylang United	S-League			8	2	0	6	3	13	6	10th
2010	Geylang United	S-League	150-1		33	8	11	14	37	51	35	10th	
2011	Geylang United	S-League	150-1		33	10	9	14	35	45	39	8th
2012	Geylang United	S-League	33-1		33	15	8	10	46	42	53	6th

Well, unemployment didn't last long. Was out of the Geylang job for one week when the board of Quilmes Atletico in Argentina accepted my application. They sacked their manager after losing the opening match of the clausura ... 5-0.

My contract is for roughly 18 months.

Quilmes Atletico Club

Founded in 1887, Quilmes are a professional Argentinian club currently playing in the Argentine Second Division. The club play their home games at Centenario Dr. Jose Luis Meisner and possess adequate training facilities and an average youth setup. The club is affectionately known as El Cervecero.

The club enjoyed probably their best spell of success during the 1990s. Although now enduring a twenty-two year barren spell, having not won a competition since 1990, El Cervecero still have a history of which they can be justly proud. Quilmes won the Argentinian top division for the only time in 1978 and finished runners-up once, and won the Argentine 2nd tier for the only time in 1990 and finished runners-up six times.

Quilmes are celebrating a proud moment in the club's history this season, with the Quilmes club having been founded in 1887 - exactly one hundred and twenty-five years ago.

In a short message, chairman Juan Carlos Garbaccio has urged you to use your new appointment to ensure that the proud traditions of this club are upheld.

Oh good, you can guide us through the intricacies of the Argentine league.

Nice move to Argentina. Maybe there's hope yet for me to get out of Hong Kong and somewhere decent

Oh good, you can guide us through the intricacies of the Argentine league.

It is a bit complex.

From what I can see, there's an automatic 2-up/2-down, plus 2 playoffs. The bottom 2 teams in the Premier Division, as determined by average points over the 3 most recent seasons, are replaced by the top 2 teams in the Second Division. Teams standing 17th and 18th in the average points table go to a playoff with the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Second Division.

Relegation from the Second Division is a little trickier. There, the worst Metropolitan zone team and the worst Interior zone team as determined by average points over the 3 most recent seasons are relegated. Problem is, I can't find the info for who's in the Metropolitan and Interior zones.

A good looking career so far Jason. Too bad you didn't go to Indonesia for a chance at global domination.

Good luck in Argentina, and how is your game running so far with all those leagues?

how is your game running so far with all those leagues?

I'm only to late 2012, but it's running pretty well.

I *think* it helps that they don't update at the same time, so it spreads out the processing. I could be wrong, but that's my impression anyway.

Anyway, first match in charge was a 0-0 draw at bottom side Almagro. We actually had the better of the play but couldn't make it count.

The bigger problem is the squad is a bit threadbare, though some of that is courtesy of injuries and suspensions. The backline is a particular concern, as the available centerbacks have been playing like crap - two of them are averaging less than a 6.0. And I have only three to pick from. There's a couple of really good looking centerbacks in the youth team (already rated over 1M pesos), but they're probably still a year or two away.

It is a bit complex.

From what I can see, there's an automatic 2-up/2-down, plus 2 playoffs. The bottom 2 teams in the Premier Division, as determined by average points over the 3 most recent seasons, are replaced by the top 2 teams in the Second Division. Teams standing 17th and 18th in the average points table go to a playoff with the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Second Division.

Relegation from the Second Division is a little trickier. There, the worst Metropolitan zone team and the worst Interior zone team as determined by average points over the 3 most recent seasons are relegated. Problem is, I can't find the info for who's in the Metropolitan and Interior zones.

Do they not include pi in the equation somewhere?

Just discovered the Argies have a summer break (pretty much from Christmas to the end of January). Giving me a chance to sort out the coaching situation (we have THREE fitness coaches, none of them especially good).

It's good that you stated in your title thread that you're willing to travel, because there's some air miles between Singapore and Argentina!

I've never managed in Singapore but on my current save I have the league loaded, so i'm hoping I get to manage there at some point. You were making steady progress during your time there, shame you let your contract expire. But pastures new and everything...

I had a really enjoyable save in Argentina on 08. I knew nothing about the teams or how the league system worked so it was very much a learning curve for me. I played along side Razer's challenge rules which made things a little more difficult. Great experience though Yeah, your summary of how the relegation/promotion works is spot on. As long as you get enough points a season you'll be safe enough.

Good luck in Argentina

It's good that you stated in your title thread that you're willing to travel, because there's some air miles between Singapore and Argentina!

I've never managed in Singapore but on my current save I have the league loaded, so i'm hoping I get to manage there at some point. You were making steady progress during your time there, shame you let your contract expire. But pastures new and everything...

I had a really enjoyable save in Argentina on 08. I knew nothing about the teams or how the league system worked so it was very much a learning curve for me. I played along side Razer's challenge rules which made things a little more difficult. Great experience though Yeah, your summary of how the relegation/promotion works is spot on. As long as you get enough points a season you'll be safe enough.

Good luck in Argentina

There was progress, but it just seemed impossible to avoid losing money. I couldn't even really do rancer's method of scheduling friendly competitions, because Singapore plays in the calendar year, so there's not much time to try and squeeze in a competition.

Going to Argentina is doable, because SI credits American managers with both English and Spanish language.

im enjoying watching reading your journey round the world, i totally understand the issues with singapore i had the same in Qatar, cant belive i forgot to load the Brazilian and argentine leagues oh well too much fun with linfield at the mo to start again good luck in argentina, if you manage to win the copa libratores(sp?) youll get a bye to i think the quaters of the FIFA world club cup so much better chance of a cash windfall for the final game v the Champions league winners

KUTGW

Oh, BTW:

It's good that you stated in your title thread that you're willing to travel, because there's some air miles between Singapore and Argentina!

The thread title is actually borrowed from

I'm too young to remember! Although my old man is a big western fan...the amount of days I had to endure watching all those westerns!

It is a bit complex.

From what I can see, there's an automatic 2-up/2-down, plus 2 playoffs. The bottom 2 teams in the Premier Division, as determined by average points over the 3 most recent seasons, are replaced by the top 2 teams in the Second Division. Teams standing 17th and 18th in the average points table go to a playoff with the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Second Division.

Relegation from the Second Division is a little trickier. There, the worst Metropolitan zone team and the worst Interior zone team as determined by average points over the 3 most recent seasons are relegated. Problem is, I can't find the info for who's in the Metropolitan and Interior zones.

It's also quite a bit wrong. See the various issues here: http://80.64.58.195/showthread.php?t=153183

Quilmes, 2012-13 Argentine Clausura

Well, that was interesting.

So I took over Quilmes after they lost the opening match of the Clausura 5-0. I led them to 0-0 draws on either side of the summer break and I thought while it might take a little while, I could right the ship.

Boy was I wrong.

I used the summer break to reconstitute the backroom staff, ushering out all but the assistant manager and hiring new people (though I reduced the fitness staff from 3 coaches to 1). I also tried to reunite with my Geylang United star, Kingsley Ikpotor, but had to abandon that effort as Geylang kept asking for 4 times his value, plus wanted a friendly against us (and I'm not sending my Division 2 side all the way to Singapore just to try to sign a player).

After the second 0-0, we promptly went into the tank, losing six consecutive matches. After a tactical rethink, I returned to my tried and true 5-3-2 (having attempted a 4-4-2) and it was like a light switch, as in the first match we beat Aldovisi 5-1. We would go on to win 5 on the trot, and unbeaten in 8 despite the sword of Damocles hanging over my neck (pretty much every match on the unbeaten run there was a press report that the board was losing patience with me and a bad result could seal my fate).

The unbeaten run sent us into the upper half of the table (and earned me top-3 finishes for March and April Manager of the Month), but we finished with two losses (a terrible 4-1 loss at relegation-threatened Merlo, in which 3 of the goals resulted from a save by my goalkeeper landing at the feet of another attacker, and 3-2 home loss that gave Olimpo the Clausura title no thanks to a) conceding not one but TWO penalties in the first 20 minutes, and b) my star striker Nelson Gonzalez badly missing a late penalty that would have equalized the match).

Unfortunately, it turned out I took over a team in disarray with players alternately moaning to the press about the club's underachievement. Even encouraging a players-only meeting had no effect.

In the meantime, my job security is listed as "very insecure" and I'm considering jumping before I'm pushed.

Players

In the midst of all the back-biting, I do have a few gems at the club. Gonzalez I've told you about. He ended the full season with 14 goals and 4 assists, while his strike partner Enrique Narvay had 13 goals and 3 assists. They finished 2nd and 3rd respectively for March Player of the Month honors (clearly splitting the vote ), and Gonzalez was runner-up for April Goal of the Month (an angled beauty from the side of the penalty area to the goalkeeper's right).

I went with Maximiliano Gagliardo between the sticks, and he was probably responsible for an additional 4 points this season, standing on his head to preserve a 1-1 draw at Tallares and following that up the next match with a similar outing against San Martin de Tucaman.

Youthful (well, he's 22) attacking midfielder Facundo Silva showed promise with 4 goals and 5 assists.

Future

As said, I may jump before I'm pushed. If I stay on, I think I'm going to do a big housecleaning to get shot of some of the more disgruntled players.

Season		Club		League			GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Honors	
2009		Geylang United	S-League		8	2	0	6	3	13	6	10th
2010		Geylang United	S-League		33	8	11	14	37	51	35	10th	
2011		Geylang United	S-League		33	10	9	14	35	45	39	8th
2012		Geylang United	S-League		33	15	8	10	46	42	53	6th
2012-13c	Quilmes		Argentina Division 2	18	6	4	8	30	31	22	14th

a = Apertura
c = Clausura

weed the club out of trouble makers go through all players personel and look for players with personalites that dont fit, and get shot, id stick with it and if you get sacked you get sacked, but a good clear out i think will help

Wow.

In the relegation playoff, Tiro Federal won at Racing Cordoba 8-0.

EDIT: And then they won the home leg 7-0, to win 15-0 on aggregate.

June confidence update:

To summarize, the board are disappointed with your management of the team.

Their biggest disappointment is, without doubt, the team's terrible performance in the Second Division.

I know when I'm not wanted. :/

Ouch! Good luck wherever you end up next

So, after the less-than-glowing confidence update, I handed in my resignation from Quilmes.

What followed was 10 months of job applications being knocked back, as I tried to find just the right fit. Fortunately, my air miles hadn't gone bad, as I would be heading back to the Eastern Hemisphere.

Club: Sydney FC

League: Hyundai A-League

Founded: 2004

Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium

Honors: A-League regular season champions 2013, A-League finals winners 2006, 2013

I take over a club that seriously underperformed the previous season. Predicted to retain the A-League title, Sydney instead missed out on the finals series completely by finishing 8th. They are still active in the Asian Champions League group stage, sitting 3rd in their group with half their matches remaining.

The club's finances are listed as "insecure," which is not surprising as the assistant manager is on A$75,000/week. My first order of business was to agree mutual termination with him, which blew a $1.9M hole in the budget. But is good value compared to what he could have taken out of the club (he was on contract for 3 more years, and by my calculation 52 weeks of pay would give him $3.9M for a year's employment).

My second order of business is to bump into Kylie.

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised to land the Sydney job, as I was rejected by North Queensland and Wellington.