[FM11] I'm Sochaux that I'm destined for Greatness

Season 1: FC Sochaux Montébeliard; 15th place, Ligue 1

Season 2: FC Sochaux Montébeliard; 10th place, Ligue 1

Season 3: FC Sochaux Montébeliard; 17th place, Ligue 1, sacked in February

Season 4: C.F Badalona; 20th place, Segunda Division B2, resigned after 7 games

Season 4: Go Ahead Eagles; 17th place, Dutch Jupiler League

Season 5: Go Ahead Eagles; 17th place, Dutch Jupiler League, sacked in September

Season 5: S.C. Covilhã; 11th place, Liga Orangina

Season 6: S.C. Covilhã; 8th place, Liga Orangina

Season 7: S.C. Covilhã; 8th place, Liga Orangina

Season 8: F.C St. Pauli; 1st place, 3.Bundesliga, champions

Ha class thread name, Good luck

Well, I took over at Ligue 1 club, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. We were expected to attempt to avoid relegation, there was no money for transfers and the £230k wage budget was right up against the limit. Ah. Still, in the spirit of all my other saves, I've gone with a new formation; a tight basic 4-4-2 with the two CM's being designated a Ball Winning Midfielder with a Defend assignment (MCR) and the other a Advanced Playmaker with Support assignment (MCL). The team is actually in excellent condition, so very little needs doing with it.

My first game was the 2010-11 Ligue 1 season opener against AC Arles-Avignon. And it took all of 4 mins for us to get off the mark. A quick break and a 1-2 with Marvin Martin set Modibo Maïga free and he lashed home from 10 yards. 1-0. Five minutes later, we doubled our lead. The Arles keeper beat out a fierce drive from Maïga and it was simplicity itself for loan signing Aírton to cut back for Marvin Martin to fire home a low, deflected strike. 2-0 and we were crusing. On 36 mins, we had the game wrapped up. New signing Neri Cardozo picked the ball up on the left near the touchline and drove inside. He then looked up and floated a beautiful curling shot over the top of the keeper into the far corner. HT and we were rampant. After HT, things got interesting as we conceded a penalty after 10 mins of the restart, which was converted to put them back in the game at 3-1. However, equilibrium was restored on 66 minutes with a sumptuious left foot strike from 20 yards by Dani Pacheco, on loan from Liverpool. The shot arrowed into the top corner, giving the keeper no chance for 4-1. We completed the rout on 80 mins, Dani Pacheco again curling in a low 20 yarder past the keeper. There was still time for them to get one back in injury time, but the points were secured a long time ago. We ran out 5-2 winners. Not bad for my first game in charge.

Our next game was away to AS Saint-Etienne and we came back with our tail between our legs after a very impotent display. We only had 5 shots on goal and went 1-0 down on 23 mins, when the St-Etienne striker beat our offside trap and ran on to slam home. We went further down five minutes later when a free-kick into our area was deflected out to a St-Etienne defender who hit an absolute screamer on the volley into the roof of the net from 6 yards out. We recovered enough not to concede any more, but not enough to threaten at all and we lost 0-2.

We looked to bounce back against LOSC Lille-Métropole, a team who were expected to challenge for Europe at the least so it was going to be a tough game. We went one down on 30 mins, the defence again losing the striker on the through ball and the winger netted to make 0-1 to Lille. However, just after half-time we levelled as, on 49 minutes, Marvin Martin went on a barnstorming run, swerving through three players and as he made it into the area with all the attention on him, he laid the ball off to an unmarked Modibo Maïga who rolled home for 1-1. More joy came in the 62nd minute as a whipped cross caused haovc in the Lille area. The keeper fumbled the ball like a hot potato and it bounced out to the penalty spot, where it was met by Modibo Maïga steaming in to lash home into the roof of the net. 2-1 and we ran out winners.

Our final game of the month was against Paris Saint-Germain. We incredibly took the lead on 14 mins, when loanee Sergio Araújo was felled in the area. Up stepped that man Modibo Maïga to send the PSG keeper the wrong way and put us up 1-0. It was then siege mentality for the rest of the game as they battered us, but we always looked dangerous on the counter. It took til the 84th minute for PSG to haul themselves level, courtesy of a 30 yard rasping strike that Pierrick Cros could only palm into the roof of the net, such was the power. However, we hung on for the draw and I was very proud of the lads for that!

Not much in the way of entrances and exits, simply as the squad had a lot of depth and players worth keeping. However, conversely, it left us with little money to spend and meant that I had to raise funds by selling. I got three loans in; AM/FC Daniel Pacheco from Liverpool, ST Sergio Araújo from Boca Juniors and DM Aírton from Benfica. This mean that a lot of any money that came in went out on wages. A small blip was DM/MC Sem Ogolong coming in on a youth contract. However, I utterly blew the hinges off any budget I had with a monster £2.3m signing of Monterrey's tricky winger Neri Cardozo. The deal was over 48 months, with Monterrey recieving £1.3m in cash, 50% profit sell-on clause and £1m when Cardozo makes 20 appearances for Argentina. He also took home £16k p/w. This left us with a gaping -£16k in the red in wages..

So selling was paramount. We'd already sold DM Badara Séne for £1.1m to FC Utrecht and ST Eduard Butin to Málaga for £1.4m + 50% sell-on, in order to fund the Cardozo deal. However, we had to also gut the coaching staff and sell two more players. Next out was DC Mathieu Peybernes, for £1m + 50% sell-on to Atletico Madrid and finally, D/WB/ML Boukary Dramé was sold to Norwich for £1.1m.

Finally, here is Neri Cardozo's goal in all it's glory

[video=youtube;QBTMF5LqvXE]

I don't know how happy I'll be following this thread given Maiga and his shambolic non-transfer to us (Newcastle) this summer, but I'll be following anyway!

I don't know how happy I'll be following this thread given Maiga and his shambolic non-transfer to us (Newcastle) this summer, but I'll be following anyway!

Thanks man!

WTF?? I just double-checked on this guy in the reserves and he's on £27k p/w til the end of the season! That's nearly £1.5m in wages! I've GOT to get rid of him!

Loving the title

Loving the title

Thanks man!

If my start had got me dreaming, the rest of the season brought me down to Earth with a bump as we finished 15th in Ligue 1, barely escaping relegation. A 6 game streak without winning followed soon after , thanks in part to an injury to Modibo Maiga. His return saw us have a mini-run of three wins out of four, but another injury kept him out as we crashed to another 6 game winless streak. This streak took us over the Xmas break and I knew I had to do something.

I tried switching to the bane of my FM life, a 4-5-1, signed two tall strikers, one on loan and hoped that my excellent wingers would provide some great ammo for him to score. I also put some faith in the youth players. Yeah. This promptly fell apart as we lost 0-3 to PSG and 0-2 to Stade Rennais. A wonderful 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille. courtesy of Neri Cardozo's low finish on 13 mins, made it look like we'd turned the corner. however, a 5-game winless streak followed this time. Three successive 2-1 results (two for, one against) led us to the business end of the season. We were around 11 points clear of relegation, but a bad run in the last seven games would see us in real trouble..

With fate tempted, we went in to battle. Jan signing Nikita Rukavytsya netted the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Valenciennes and Neri Cardozo also did the same against AS Nancy-Lorraine in another 1-1 draw. And then the bottom fell out. Bordeaux beat us 0-2, AS Monaco beat us 0-1 and, in our worst result of the season, we got humped 0-4 by LOSC Lille-Métropole. Panic mode. Our only saving grace was the teams below us were just as bad. A Modibo Maiga strike wasn't enough to hold of AS Saint-Etienne as they came away with a 1-2 win. However, Stade Mulherbe de Caen had lost too and guaranteed us Ligue 1 football next season. A more relaxed side went out in our final game against AC Arles-Avignon and, although a double by Nikita Rukavytsya meant we'd scored more than one goal in a game for the first time in a month, we lost 2-3 to end our season on a 5-game losing streak.

Coupe de Francais This was short and sharp as we lost in the Ninth Round, 1-0 to fellow Ligue 1 side FC Lorient

Coupe de la Ligue This was a humiliating 0-1 defeat against National side, En Avant de Guingamp in the Third Round. We'd played the kids, but been outplayed.

We swooped for DM Pierre-Baptiste Baherlé for £275k from LOSC Lille-Métropole in the Joker Transfer window. Coming in during Jan were ST Nikita Rukavytsya for £700k from Hertha BSC. AMRLC/ST Lazaros Christodoulopoulos for £300k from Panathanikos and ST Angelos Charisteas on loan from Schalke 04. All in line with the new 'hump-it-into-the-box' philosophy. We also agreed a deal to bring in AM/ST Francisco Tavano from Torino on a free transfer on July 1.

Outgoing for the Joker window was AMRL Geoffrey Tulasne for £1.6m to AS Saint-Etienne. With Christodoulopoulos coming in, he was surplus to requirements. He was also to be voted 'Worst Signing Of The Season'. I finally was able to free-transfer GK Teddy Richert. He was good, but not for £27k p/w, so despite the £675k it cost me to terminate his contract, it was good to get his money off the books. ST Ideye Brown went to Sevilla on a £3.5m + 50% sell on deal. He was great, but I needed the money.... Finally, AMRL Ryad Boudabouz, a real talent of the future, was shipped out to AC Milan for £5m. The price was too good for a struggling side and we were desperate.

Goal of the season was Cardozo's first for the club, waaaaay back in August.

[video=youtube;QBTMF5LqvXE]

(stolen from rancer)

And if you haven't heard in the news, there was a plane crash and all but one member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL hockey team died. Notable players include Pavel Demitra, Karlis Skrastins, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, and Alexander Vasyunov, who all played in the NHL, as well as European veteran like Stefan Liv and Jan Marek. Brad McCrimmon was a former NHL assistant, and former NHL defenseman, who recently got the head coach position at Lokomotiv this summer, is also confirmed to have died in the crash. RIP to the players, coaches, and flight crew who died in this tragedy, as well as RIP to Derek 'Boogey man' Boogaard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak who all passed away this past summer.

Especially sad at Pavol Demitra and Igor Korolev losing their lives, both ex-St.Louis Blues (my other passion)

Well. It's been another roller-coaster month. We kicked off our Ligue 1 season by welcoming Stade Brestois 29 to Montbéliard. And as last season, we kicked off in style. Using a 4-4-1-1 formation again, we took apart Brest in a 5-3 victory! Francisco Tavano hitting FOUR and missing a penalty. He also set up Marvin Martin for the fifth goal before HT. We relaxed after HT and conceded three goals, which is something I'll have to look at.

Next up was AS Monaco FC. This game couldn't have been more different as we were humped out of sight 1-4. However, this was one game where the score wasn't all. We hit the woodwork FOUR times, saw the Monaco keeper get a 9.3 rating for the match and only got one through Francisco Tavano, despite Monaco going down to 10 men on 66 mins. What a nightmare. Loan debutant Michelangelo Albertazzi got a 5.0 at left back for his first game.

Coming next was Stade Rennais FC, and there were changes for this match. Jerzy Dudek was dropped for Mathieu Dreyer. Thiago made his debut too for the club after being away on U20 duty with Spain. They took the lead (as ever) and it took a nice close-range finish by Modibo Maiga to pull us level. We were given a penalty on the stroke of full-time, but Maiga, the best pen taker in the side, missed that one too, leaving us with a 1-1 draw.

Finally this month, we played Olympique Lyonnais. Oh dear. They proceded to go through us like a knife through butter. It was only surprising that it took til the 36th minute for them to register their dominance on the scoreboard with a rasping angled drive from the left winger. Thiago needed to be subbed before HT, as he was on a yellow and had just gotten away with his second foul inside a minute. However, like Arsenal against Barcelona, we scored without hitting the target. Maiga chased down a long ball to the right flank. He knocked it past the defender and hit a hopeful low cross into the six-yard box. The Lyon left back attempted to clear, but only succeeded in driving the ball against another Lyon player, which then rebounded into the net. 1-1. The second half we came out with a lot more purpose and drive. However, I'd just made my last sub on 80 mins when Michangelo Albertazzi got injured. Wonderful. Which meant I was stick with 3 DC's at the back. However, despite a total onslaught, we walked away with a precious point in a 1-1 draw.

A number of arrivals this off-season, mainly experience to get us through. Coming in on free's were ST Francesco Tavano who's been an absolute hit

, experienced GK backup in Jerzy Dudek and an absolute steal in M/AMC Thiago, who'd been let go by Barcelona! I threw money at him and got him early on. Also coming in were DM/MC Jamal Ait Ben Idir from relegated AC Arles-Avignon for £350k. Next in was DC Sebastién Puygrenier for £950k from Zent. St Petersburg. Also on a DC trip came the co-owned Matteo Darmian for £1.1m overall from both Palermo and AC Milan. Finally, DM/MC Morgan Schneiderlin for £3m over 48 months from Southampton. Three loans also graced our door this season. ST Sergio Araújo returned for a second stint from Boca Juniors, AMRLC Nacer Barazite came in from Austria Wien and DLC Michelangelo Albertazzi came in from AC Milan for the season.

Outgoings were a lot. Yassin Mikari (DRL, £3.9m, Stade Rennais), Charlie Davies (ST, £1.8m, Osasuna), Vincent Nogueria (AMRL, £3.6m, LOSC Lille-Métropole), Ivan Stevanovic (D/WBR, £700k, Siena), Pierrick Cros (GK, £1.5m, AS Monaco), Sloan Privat (ST, £1.6m, Lecce), Vaclav Sverkos (ST, £1.1m, OGC Nice), Jéremie Bréchet (DC, £1m, Bologna) and Maxime Jossé (DRL, £1.8m, Stade Caen)

[video=youtube;Daf8veFY-bU]

10 September 2011

Ligue 1

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Att: 52,675

Olympique Marseille 2 - 0 FC Sochaux-Montébeliard

Mathieu Valbuena 23

Ireneusz Jelen 76

This was such a funny game. Marseille battered us throughout the game, outplaying and outshooting us. Mathieu Dreyer cemented his claim to the Number 1 shirt with a fantastic display in net. Marseille took the lead as a ball into the back of the six-yard box was bundled home for the lead. A Marseille midfielder then 'endeared' himself to the away support by first putting Matteo Darmian out of the game and the next two weeks with a gashed leg. Then he proceeded to upend a number of our players with wild challenges that didn't attact a single whistle from the referee. On the stroke of half-time, a deep, floated cross to the far post found Maiga in ACRES of space. However, he headed the ball down and wide. Sigh.

After half-time, we improved and had a good number of chances to tie it up, but our strikers must have been paid by an Asian bookie as the ball went wide, high or straight at the keeper. We couldn't have scored in a brothel. They got a second late on, the substitute running down the left and thundering a shot past Dreyer. But I was happy with the result, if not the perfomance of the strikers and told them so.

Ha class thread name, Good luck

Indeed. If I ever needed a reason to follow a thread, the name alone did it.

Indeed. If I ever needed a reason to follow a thread, the name alone did it.

Cheers! Appreciated!

Seriously, you have to count us as one of the unluckiest teams in the league. Constantly hitting the woodwork, having goals disallowed and losing. Dammit.

10 September 2011

We couldn't have scored in a brothel.

I thought about that when looking at your transfers (after letting go Ideye, Maiga, etc.). Tavano will be great for at least 2 seasons (had him in an old Monaco save and he was really immense, good as a deep lying type too...). Perhaps you could look to loan the likes of Yannis Tafer or Ishak Belfodil from Lyon. Young, but French and can contribute right away.

I thought about that when looking at your transfers (after letting go Ideye, Maiga, etc.). Tavano will be great for at least 2 seasons (had him in an old Monaco save and he was really immense, good as a deep lying type too...). Perhaps you could look to loan the likes of Yannis Tafer or Ishak Belfodil from Lyon. Young, but French and can contribute right away.

Thanks for the advice dude, but I'm not really into picking up the big young players.

[EDIT] I'm embarrassed now...

[video=youtube;LPDWWGGzn-4]

Not a bad effort for your first goal for the club...

Well, it was a successful season of sorts, as we finished in 10th place in Ligue 1. A formation change in Jan and better players helped us do better, but I always got the feeling we were a few bad results away from relegation again. Plus, with the players I'd picked up, it just seemed like throwing players at the situation and trying to cram them into a formation. So that is somethinng I have to work on in the close-season, whether it be sell some prize assets or re-jig the squad totally. We didn't win another game after the opener for another three months, losing game after game. The highlight was a three game streak of draws, a 2-2 draw with FC Lorient, a 2-2 draw with AS Saint-Etienne and a 0-0 with RC Lens. We broke our 12-game winless streak with a 2-1 win over AS Nancy-Lorraine with goals from Nacer Barazite and Matteo Darmian. In amongst another round of defeats and draws in December, two results stood out. First was a storming 4-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain. Rukavytsya, Christodoulopoulos, Schnederlin and Darmian getting the goals there. The other was a cracking 4-2 win over LOSC Lille-Métropole. This was more remarkable in that Sebastién Puygrenier hit, or rather, headed a hat-trick, with Morgan Schnederlin hitting the fourth.

The transfer window came and, due to my out-of-control buying, I had to settle for a 4-2-3-1 formation to accomodate all of my midfielders. It started badly as we proceded to lose three in a row. 0-2 to Stade Rennais, 1-2 to Olympique Lyonnais and 0-6 to LOSC Lille-Métropole, gaining revenge for my 4-2 win earlier in the season. However, as the team got used to the formation, we went on an 8 match unbeaten streak with 6 wins and 2 draws. Highlights were a 3-0 win over Olympique Marseille and a 4-0 win over CS Sedan-Ardennes. Add to that, three 2-1 wins in a row and we were looking up! However, it was a semi-false dawn as we only managed two wins (4-0 vs AS Nancy and 2-1 vs Girondins Bordeaux) in the next 7 games to finish the season. Our final match was a woeful 3-1 drubbing by Stade Brestois 29, which helped them leapfrog us and push us down to 10th.

Coupe de la Ligue: A terrible 1-2 defeat at home to FC Nantes put paid to our interest in the cup once more at the first hurdle

Coupe de France: We actually won through the Ninth Round, beating Stade Rennais 3-0, with goals from Marvin Martin (2) and Modibo Maiga. However, RC Lens stopped us in the Tenth Round with a 0-2 defeat.

In came a quartet of heavy-hitters during January. First up was AMRLC/ST Marquinhos from Flamengo on a free. He was to be one of the high points of the season, playing on the right of the attacking three. Also coming in was AMC Isco for £150k from Valencia. He looked too good a prospect on the transfer list to turn down which, again, contributed to my overload of AMC's and formation change. GK Marco Amelia was signed on a free as Jerzy Dudek was woeful and Mathieu Dreyer was just not good enough for us at that point in time. Finally, I bit the bullet. I saw there was a player fallen out with this club and would be happy to join us. Now, having a fair wad of cash (£6m) available from transfers out, I put in a £20m (48mth) bid for Paulo 'Ganso' Henrique, figuring that I could really use him. Santos were disinclined to acquiesce to my request, however, another bid of £25m (48mth) had them biting my hands off. £33k p/w later and he was a Sochaux player. This meant I had 7 players that could play AMC. Ah.

A new thing, because I want to try to coalesce what I've seen this season as problems and try to work it out on the pitch. For a start, I don't like the 4-2-3-1. We've got some EXCELLENT AMC's, but that seems to be about it. The main thing with be to build any new formation around Ganso as, at £25m, he'll be the fulcrum of this team. Which leads me back to using a variation of my Leiria 4-4-1-1. I tried getting the team to learn it, but even though they mastered the formation, it didn't seem to have the effect.

So I'm thinking a 4-4-1-1 with a deep defensive line. Reasoning is that we were caught at the back a number of times last season and I want the players to not allow balls over the top as much as possible. The two MC's will have to be either Ball-Winning Midfielders (Defend) or Central Midfielders (Defend) as I want disruption of passing lanes and no fancy stuff in there. Team will play narrow, with a lot of closing down and pressing, with a more direct style of passing. However, I also worry that won't bring out the best in Ganso, who I have no idea what role to play him in. Treq? AMC (S)? AP (A)? Not a clue. Trial and error, it seems. The final pressing issue is the lone striker role. Tavano's done OK, but he's not going to be able to lead my line forever. Rukavytsya has been a disappointment and Maiga, well, Maiga was a ghost last season. So those three are for the chopping block.

Wait, what the hell?

Never seen this before. Good touch.

Well, I went into this new Ligue 1 campaign full of confidence. This was the year we were gonna crack Europe. The board had given me a top-half finish as a target so I felt we had the chance. We kicked off the new season at home to Stade Brestois 29. Howeer, we went 0-1 down on 40 mins, a ball over the top completely stranding Kévin Anin and the Brest player had an easy time sliding the ball across for the right winger to finish. However, we bit back with two goals from Cédric Bakambu before HT. Both were products of through balls and his pace, taking him clear before slotting home. We were cruising, but we then fumbled the game by making a hash of a corner and the right winger popped up again with a looping header. The game ended 2-2, but I was reasonably happy with the run-out. Next up was an away trip to Stade Malherbe de Caen. Our incisiveness in the final third TOTALLY deserted us and we served up the kind of 0-0 draw that Mogadon would be happy about. So I swapped back to the 4-2-3-1, to fully maximise the attacking talent for our final game in August against OGC Nice. Marquinhos really didn't do himself any favours by rattling the underside of the crossbar from 6 yards after being put through by Ganso. We were so wasteful, it hurt. Our third draw and second 0-0 in a row meant we hadn't won in August for the first time since I'd joined the club.

Well, I went a little crazy on transfers this August, trying to get that blend just right. MRC Saphir Taïder came in for £1.2m from relegated Grenóble Foot 38. This was especially sweet as they wouldn't sell him for less than £4m until they dropped into Ligue 2. 15 year old DL Vincent Nyam came in for £275k from SC Bastia, his potential was rated at 4 stars, so it was a bargain. Finally, D/DM/MC Federico Fazio came in for £1.7m from Sevilla. Coming in on free's were GK Quentin Beaunardeau, DM Gaultier Mahoto, AMR/ST Gilles Sunu and AMRL Gai Assulin. We also loaned AMLC Thorgan Hazard from RC Lens and got DLC Michelangelo Albertazzi back on loan from AC Milan for another season.

Selling-wise, it was a little more frantic. Nikita Rukavytsya[/b was shipped out to AS Saint-Etienne for £2.9m, 17 year old AMC [b]Sanjin Prcic went to Espanyol for £775k + 50%, DC Damian Perquis went to Genk for £1m and 17 year old ST Romain Davigny went to Lazio for £1.2m + 50%. The other sale was one not of my doing. Olympique Lyonnais came in for a £3m bid for GK Matthieu Dreyer. The chairman thought it was too good to turn down and accepted. I tried to get him to stay, but I couldn't and he left.

I can't see there being many more in my future with Sochaux....

Oh......f**kweasels!

I'd lost the team by November to be fair. I bought so badly and couldn't rescue it.

Although you have to admit the juxtaposition of the last two posts was quite something.

unlucky with the sacking what now for you?

Ouch, bad luck there. Time for one more club before FM12?

Ouch, bad luck there. Time for one more club before FM12?

There's always time for one more club!

unlucky with the sacking what now for you?

See wherever it takes me!

Although you have to admit the juxtaposition of the last two posts was quite something.

I thought it went rather well too!

So, my management career ended me up at C.F Badalona in the Segunda Division B2. Having taken the reins on 2 September, I have no chance to buy players, a threadbare squad and a wage budget that was £5k over what it should be. Errm...

We played our first game a day after my arrival. I wish to God, it had been before my arrival as we lost 2-9 to CD Logrones. Injuries bit hard, including all three strikers out for a minimum of a month before the game and two players getting injured during the match AFTER all three subs were used. We then proceded to concede 4 goals in each of the next three games, losing 0-4, 1-4 and 0-4. Yeesh. This was hard work. We actually took the lead against FC Barcelona Athletic, however all for naught as we were hammered 1-3. We conceded a 90th minute heartbreaker against Real Acalá, losing 0-1. This made 6 games lost in a row. If this next game was a bad loss, I was getting out. Hospitalet were our opponents and I debuted the 4-4-2 I'd had them training on since the beginning of my reign. We took the lead on 42 mins when Grégory Ferreira stabbed home after good work down the left. We were comfortable and fielding everything they sent at us. I noticed that they were changing formation on the 80th min, so I took steps to combat this. They equalised in the 89th minute with a header from a corner and although I was gutted, we'd played well enough for our first point. However, a deep free-kick hoisted high into the area was headed home by the Hospitalet defender in the 94th minute. FFFFFUUUUUUUU.

So, the next day I tendered my resignation. I couldn't handle this team and I had nothing to work with.

Hmm. It's been the only job I've been offered so far, but somehow I just want a bit more....

Hmmmm. Heavily in debt, no good players, a staggering £16k p/w over the wage budget... Why would I accept this?

So, a team that's not won anything since God's dog was a puppy? Sounds like fun.

Well, I pitched up at Go Ahead Eagles, currently languishing in 14th place in the Dutch Jupiler League. The squad was extremely poor, with only one or two bright spots. Worst of all, three players made up nearly 50% of the current wage budget! It was time for action. I decided to play all-out attack until the end of the season, then craft something on the off-season. Our first match was against SBV Excelsior and we went down a goal on 6 mins, a freekick from the edge of the area arrowing to the top corner. Excuse me while I weep and have flashbacks to Badalona. Luckily, I was saved this as, two minutes later, a header from debutant Adrien Stoian off a deep cross hit the post and rebounded in off the goalkeeper. 1-1 and I'll take that anyway it comes! HT came and went however, on 62 mins, a low cross to the back post was fumbled out by debutant keeper Nial Burdon and the Excelsior striker slammed home the rebound into an empty net. 1-2. Again, we showed character in coming back. A break was started by yet another debutant, Mohammed Yattara. he fed fellow striker Blom, who was tackled just as he was about to pull the trigger, the resulting ball broke kindly for Yattara, who swept home to make it 2-2 on 72 mins. However, all resistance was broken three minutes later as debutant Gonzague Vandooren saw red for a second yellow card offence. Excelsior then netted two goals in 5 mins. A header from a corner and a penalty and we went down 2-4 and out in my first game.

The next game against AGOVV Apeldoorn couldn't have been more different. We, again, went down a goal early on. A cross from the right rebounded off the back of Voorm's head and landed at the feet of the AGOVV striker just two yards out, who finished easily.. 0-1 and we were rocking again. We came out on fire after HT and Sedar Ozturk turned the defender and lashed home to tie it up at 1-1 on 52 mins. Defender Dave Bus then put us ahead on 58 with a firm header from a corner and Sedar Ozturk then put us 3-1 up on 65 mins by stroking the ball past the keeper after a wonderful ball from Rabiu Ibrahim. Rabiu Ibrahim would wrap it all up on 82 mins with another cool finish after being teed up nicely. 4-1 was the final score.

Well, this was a hard job. No funds or wage budget, so I clawed as many loanees off parent club FC Twente as possible, snagging 7 overall. Also coming in were Irish GK Niall Burdon and DLC Gonzague Vandooren on free's. 15 year old DL Alexandre De Bryun came in for £16k compensation from Hasselt and finally, the jewel in which I'll be building this team around, AMRC Adrien Stoien on a free + 50% of his sell on value + a £1m buy-back clause from AS Roma. I also got in DM Matthias Lambrich and ST Pato on loan from SC Bastia and Grémio.

Leaving were ST Koen van der Bizen for £130k to Westerlo, ST Kaye Coppoolse for £120k to RW Ahlen and DM Olivier Bonnes for £16k to RK Molde. These represented nearly £20k in wages and finally put me into the black on the budget. I also free-transferred as many of the U-19 and Reserves as possible. Also leaving were Mels van Driel (D/WBL, £55k) to Lierse and Wouter Dronkers to Middlesbrough on loan.

My goal of the month, technically isn't as it was the first game in Feb, but it was such a comedy goal, it needed putting up.

[video=youtube;tpaHbpxAoaA]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well, that could have been closer....Christ...We finished 17th in the Dutch Jupiler League, staying up on goals scored. We seemed to really suffer with luck this season, conceding a number of goals from deflections off our players into the path of the opposition strikers, penalties that shouldn't have been given and having legal goals for us disallowed. The rot started in a 2-2 draw against SC Cambuur. They went ahead from a harsh pen, then we proceded to equalise in the 89th min and take the lead in the 94th. However they EQUALISED in the 96th minute. We then ended up 0-4 down after just 20 mins against Helmond Sport, on the way to a 3-5 defeat. We then proceded to lose another three in a row; 0-1 against MVV and FC Top Oss and then a humiliating 0-4 defeat against Willem II really put the skids under us.

We salvaged some pride with consecutive draws against VVV (0-0) and BV Veendam (1-1) which put us into the crucial part of the season. Our penultimate game was against the team below us, FC Zwolle, Win and we were safe, draw and we lived to fight another day. Lose and we were deep in it. And lose we did, putting up a pathetic display in a 1-3 defeat. We weren't at the races in the slightest.

So, it came down to the last game of season. We HAD to win. Anything else and we were relying on other people. We kicked off against Fortuna Sittard and it started badly, closest rivals Helmond Sport took a 20th minute lead over SC Cambuur. We were down and out. HT came and they still were leading 1-0. We were holding on at 0-0, having survived Fortuna hitting the bar from 25 yards out early on.

but still relegated at this point. And it got even worse for us a minute after half time. Our defence was caught napping as the Fortuna player latched on a cute dinked ball over the top and finished low into the far corner. Fortuna 1 - 0 Go Ahead. This left us adrift by four points and there was not much time to save the game. Fortunately, help came from an unlikely source as SC Cambuur equalised in the 50th minute. A corner was drifted in and there was Cambuur's central defender to head the ball home. Helmond 1 - 1 Cambuur. And they took the lead just 20 mins later in exactly the same fashion, with the defender on hand again to head home. Helmond 1 - 2 Cambuur. This narrowed the gap to just one point and we were in far better shape in our game too, loan striker Pato being tripped in the box on 75 mins. However, despite even the commentators saying it was a stonewall penalty, the referee waved play on. I was ashen-faced on the bench. Was that our one chance? Would I be cursing all the decisions not given on the way to the unemployment line? Time ticked, ticked, ticked. Helmond hit the inside of the post on 85 mins, the striker rolling the defender and then delicately lifting the ball over the advancing Fortuna keeper, only to be denied by the combination of the post and defender hacking it off the line. On 89 mins, we came forward. Katsikogiannis moved just past the half-way line. He passed forward to Jerge Hoefdraad, who came forward.

He looked for the pass, but seeing none there and the defence open up a little, drove on. With time almost up and the entire away support screaming for him to shoot, he steadied himself and hit a low shot from 20 yards that seemed to slow down in the air. Time elongated. The world stood still. I, along with every other Go Ahead fan, couldn't breathe. The ball curled agonizingly away from the goalkeeper's hand and nestled into the corner of the net. Silence. Fortuna 1 - 1 Go Ahead. Then, such a roar like you never heard, erupted. My ass man jumped on me and gave me a bear hug. But it still wasn't over. We still had 4 mins to go, but the supporters were celebrating like crazy. The news filtered through from Helmond that they'd lost the game 2-1, just as we entered added time, so our defensive play was ignored in the party atmosphere. Finally the whistle went and the players sank to their knees! They and I had avoid relegation by the skin of our teeth.

Here is the goal that saved my and the team's (but mainly mine!) bacon!

[video=youtube;fXm14JB3uqc]

And, why not?

Ah that's fine, you had +12 goal difference between you - a veritable chasm

Good luck next season!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Should have applied, then resigned. Of course that would have been a risk

Good luck for next season with the Eagles, even if I personally would have gone for the Chaves job (assuming they weren't any lower than the Portuguese 2nd league...)

Should have applied, then resigned. Of course that would have been a risk

Good luck for next season with the Eagles, even if I personally would have gone for the Chaves job (assuming they weren't any lower than the Portuguese 2nd league...)

Thanks man. They were Second Division - Central. I'm not going that low.

After 3 games of the new season, in which we were 4-0 down after 30 mins in our first game against FC Den Bosch, lost 0-1 after a 1st minute goal in the second against VVV and got an own goal in the 90th minute in a 1-3 defeat against Almere City, the board took action.

It was probably my hardest job on any FM. No money, no wages, no players good enough. Oh, well. Back to the unemployment line.

Bad luck, seems like it was a bit of a poisoned chalice that job.

Bad luck, seems like it was a bit of a poisoned chalice that job.

Thanks man, it was seriously tough to get a formation working with the players there.

Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting Covilhã, is Portuguese football club from the city of Covilhã who currently play in the second-tier Liga Vitalis. Founded in 1923, Sporting Covilhã is one of the oldest and historic clubs in Portuguese football. Their nickname is the Leões da Serra, meaning "Lions of the Mountain Range," due to Covilhã's location in the Serra de Estrela, the highest mountains in Portugal. In 2007-08, they finished first in the Portuguese Second Division Serie C, out-scoring teams and exceeding expectations and also, in remarkable fashion, finishing first in the playoffs and beating historic club GD Chaves. Their current home ground is Complexo Desportivo da Covilhã in Covilhã, which holds a capacity of 3,000 spectators. Their current chairman is José Oliveira Mendes and current manager is Hélio Sousa, who has played for Vitória de Setúbal his entire career. They have won five Second Division in 1948, 1958, 1987 (second-tier), 2002, and 2005 (third-tier). Their most notable former player is former Portuguese international footballer Rui Barros.

(info from Wikipedia)

I negotiated a 1-year deal and was given nothing to work with. Again. Why do I always find these jobs??...

Wow, what a way to announce your loan debut

[video=youtube;NTyNPDykrsU]

[video=youtube;QsitDbztJ-8]

Last minute 3-2 win over second place? Always good. Could things be looking up?

Well, I pitched up at Sp. Covilhã back in Portugal. My first Liga Orangina game in charge after the winter break was against second-placed Boavista. Covilhã had lost 6 in a row prior to my arrival and found themselves second bottom, 5 points from safety. And, although we got to HT drawing 0-0, we conceded just after the break. Sigh. However, I subbed on teenage loanee striker Francois Duhart and he changed the game. First of all, he thundered home a 25 yard strike to draw us level on the 74th minute. Then captain Paulinho netted the rebound after the Boavista keeper saved the first attempt ftom Miguel Pedro. Boavista got themelves back level on 84 with an easy header from a corner. However, we weren't finished and Francois Duhart made a solo run all the way from the halfway line before finishing low under the keeper for us to take a 3-2 lead and win in the 93rd minute.

We then were up against league leaders Varzim. However, a spirited defensive display brought us home a point in a 0-0 draw. That was 4 points against the top two in my first two games! My last game of January was against Gil Vicente. They took the lead on 16 mins with a looping header from a deep free-kick. However, Paulinho drew us level on 29 mins with a stabbed effort from close range. We traded shots and possession, but we just couldn't force a goal. However, a defensive breakdown led to Vicente's 86th minute winner. A long ball into the box was controlled and passed into the back of the net and we lost our first game of the season.

We only loaned in three players, all sent from our parent clubs and all strikers. ST's Francois Duhart from Valenciennes FC and Guillermo Maldonado plus Claúdio Ribeiro from Nacional de Madeira.

Well, another nail-biting end to the season. With a lot of contracts expiring in the team, there was a lot at stake, however, I had been awarded an extention to my contract three to four games earlier. We started February in Liga Orangina with a 0-2 defeat against Fátima and we were in trouble. 5 points out of safety and panic was starting to set in. Young striker André Almeida hit the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Leixoes and then popped up with a double in a 4-2 win over the only team below us, Gondomar SC. This got us closer to getting out of the relegation zone as we gained a point on the teams above.

March saw us snatch a point at Moreirense in a 1-1 draw, thanks to an own goal. Then came a 0-1 defeat to P. Ferreira. We then took a 2-0 lead over Trofense before surrendering it in a 2-2 draw. Back-to-back wins over Santa Clara (3-0) and Feirense (2-1) saw us draw to within a point of safety. We then took the lead three times against fellow relegation battlers SC Beira-Mar before being pegged back three times to end up in a 3-3 draw. We went 2-0 up again against Oliveirense, but again were pegged back to 2-2 for another draw. 2-2 was also the score against U.D Leiria, this time we pegged back them twice to land the draw.

With 4 games to go, we were still a point out of safety. However, SIX different scorers netted for us against Estoril in a 6-0 win. That monster win lifted us out of the relegation zone and two points clear!. However, back-to-back defeats against Boavista (0-3) and Varzim (1-2) put us back into the relegation zone again. The brief for our last game was simple. Beat Gil Vicente. And we flew into this game with all we had. We took the lead on 21 seconds when André Almeida slammed home a deflection off the Gil defender. Defender Joao Pedro bundled home from a dangerous, curling free-kick into the far post on 30 mins. 2-0 up at HT, but with the memories of a number of games thrown away from winning positions still fresh, I got nasty with the team, telling them it wasn't good enough. Paulinho poked the ball past the keeper from 20 yards to put us 3-0 up on 56 mins and it looked like we were safe, however, a disintegration of our back line meant that Gil Vincente pulled a goal back on 77 mins and then had the ball in the net again on 83 mins, however that was whistled offside (rightly). The whistle went and we'd survived again. In fact, both teams in the relegation had pulled themselves out in that last game, leaving Oliveirense and SC Beira-Mar to suffer the ignomity of relegation.

Goal of the season was this effort

[video=youtube;tqu4_uzohtA]