Dustin Powers: International Manager of Mystery

[DodgeeD]

....managing obscure nations, so you don't have to

I've been quiet on FMCU so far since FM12 was released due to my rediscovery of the Small Club to Big Club Challenges over on CSE. However, I find it hard to commit to one club for too long and always find my journeyman eye roving after a while. I've missed the journeyman way of doing things and I've also missed international management as well so I thought "why not combine the two?"

So I've come up with an later ego: Dustin Powers, the International Manager of Mystery!

Nobody knows where he came from or how a Sunday League footballer came to be an international mangement sensation...

The Aim
Starting with the more obscure nations of international football, I hope to work my way up to more prestigous jobs with the ultimate aim of winning a World Cup. I may pick up a few continental and regional titles on the way as a bonus.

The Set-Up
This has all been made possible by the sterling work of two contributors to the editors forum, namely Unknown Hacker, who has created a series of downloadable leagues which I will be making use of, and Poop, who created a whole bunch of extra international competitions which will add some extra incentive to my time with smaller teams.
I will also be making use of the add/remove leagues feature as I trot the globe at the helm of various national teams. After watching Gabon's exciting win over Morocco in the African Cup of Nations, I decided to start in Africa so I have loaded South Africa and all of Unknown Hacker's extra African leagues, except for the North African ones which I shall load when trying to win some of the Arab compeitions.

I have also loaded England (down to BSS/BSN), France and Belgium (due to the number of African players in those leagues) and also the top two divisions in Germany, Italy and Spain - I expect I will keep these running throughout the game but I will most likely remove the African leagues when I move onto another continent.

Poop's extra competitions include all the regional African championships so I have loaded those (only the senior ones as all the U23 and U20 ones would take too long!)

Now to decide where to start this epic journey....

[deltablue]

Great title and manager pic

[SRL88]

I like his tash .

[DodgeeD]

Bring on the FAT boys: Tanzania

And so it begins in Tanzania! I chose this team for a few reasons: first of all, they are from East Africa, which is traditionally one of the weaker regions of African football so I will be looking to make a difference here; secondly, they will host the 2011 CECAFA Cup, a regional tournament for East and Central African teams; thirdly, I will be working for the Football Association of Tanzania, shortened to FAT and that made me chuckle.

Here's my profile upon taking over and my personal information. And here's Tanzania's current info:

Our current world ranking is 125. We have one qualifying game for the 2012 African Cup of Nations to go but we are already out. However, in November we will play Guinea-Bissau in the first round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup and we have the CECAFA Cup coming up immediately afterwards. Here's hoping the Taifa Stars can shine!

[Dejay]

Great name, quality picture

[DodgeeD]

Great title and manager pic

I like his tash .

Great name, quality picture

Cheers guys.

It's been around for a while now but I got the pic from here.

[Dejay]

Cheers guys.

It's been around for a while now but I got the pic from here.

I like Harley Ramsden

Good luck with the FAT boys

[SRL88]

Cheers guys.

It's been around for a while now but I got the pic from here.

I think someone has to much time on their hands .

Good luck with Tanzania.

[AcidBurn]

Love the manager picture, good luck dude.

[iHeadHunta x]

Really look forward to this!

[B.W.G]

Good luck with Tanzania

[HotChocolate]

Great idea Dodgee!

Should be a good read, best of luck

[DodgeeD]

2011 Review: Tanzania



Quick Overview

2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifying: 3rd in Group D
2014 World Cup Qualifying: Qualified for Second Round Group Stage
2011 CECAFA Cup: Winners!!

December 2011 World Ranking: 125 (-)
2011 Results

Friendlies - A Slow Start...
I took over in July and had three friendlies lined up to see what I'd got myself into before competitive fixtures towards the end of the year. We travlled to Djibouti first, a game we were tipped to win easily but in the end we only managed a 2-2 draw needing an own goal just to get that. The lack of accuracy from my strikers was a worry. Next, we travelled to Sudan with the home side heavy favourites. In that case, a 2-1 defeat was no big cause for concern. However, a loss by the same scoreline in our next match with Guinea-Bissau was, as we were heavy favourites and this was the side we would face later in the year in the first round of World Cup Qualifying...

African Cup of Nations Qualifying - Inevitable Defeat...
There was one game to play in Group D and we were already out of the running. In fact, so were our opponents with Algeria having secured top spot with agame to spare. Pride was all that was at stake and it was our North African hosts who took it by a score of 3-0.

Final Table - As I said, we were already out but at least we didn't finish bottom, despite that defeat.

World Cup Qualifying - Picking up speed...
We went back to Guinea-Bissau with a much improved performance, earning a 0-0 draw and leaving the tie finely balanced ahead of the second leg, which would be my first game in front of a home crowd. That proved to be the difference as we fired in three goals in the first 20 minutes and then cruised to a 4-1 win.

When the second round of qualifying begins next year, we will face Madagascar, DR Congo and Senegal. Topping the group might be too much to ask but I think we can put up a decent challenge for 2nd place.

CECAFA Cup - In top gear!
The year ended with a tournament for Eastern and Central African teams with Zambia also invited to make the numbers up to 12. The teams were divided into three groups with the top two and the best two third-placed teams going through meaning the knockout rounds were the minimum I expected. Our group consisted of Somalia, Zambia and Ethiopia with the Somalis up first. They lived up to their billing as one of the weakest sides in the tournament as we won 4-0. A much tougher test awaited us in the next game as we took on pre-tournament favourites Zambia. Luck would be on our side as the Zambians had a man sent off in the first half and we took advantage of our numerical superiority to claim a 3-1 victory and secure progression. That meant our final game with Ethiopia was just a formality to confirm top spot in the group. They made a good game of it but we came out on top with a 3-2 win.
Group Tables

We would face Zambia again in the quarter-finals and this time it was an absolute epic! We took an early lead from the penalty spot only to find ourselves 2-1 by the half hour mark. We equalised before half time and then reclaimed the lead early in the second half. Zambia plied the pressure on and got back in it with a goal 5 minutes from time to force extra-time. They then took the lead before we got a late equaliser of our own to take the game to penalties. Both teams took turns to miss early on but we eventually prevailed to advance 3-2 on penalties!

Sudan awaited in the semis and we got off to a dream start, racing into a 3-0 half-time lead. That turned to a nightmare as the Sudanese hit us hard and fast to level the scores at 3-3 by the 65th minute. Thankfully, my boys got their heads together and reclaimed the lead shortly afterwards before adding another near the end just to make sure and give us a 5-3 win.

Onto the final then and a clash with fierce rivals Uganda. We led at half-time but conceded a soft penalty midway through the second half to let the Ugandans back in it. We survived all the way through to the end of extra time meaning the game would be decided from the penalty spot. A crazy shoot-out saw the first five penalties scored and the last five missed. Luckily, we had gone first meaning we won the shoot-out 3-2 and claimed the CECAFA Cup on home soil!
Which leaves only one thing to say...

Year | Nation   | World Ranking | Achievements
2011 | Tanzania | 125th (-)     | CECAFA Cup Winners

[DodgeeD]

2012 Preview: Tanzania

Active Leagues (new additions underlined)
England (down to League 2); France (down to National); Italy, Spain, Portugal (top two divisions); Germany (top divison only); Belgium (all available divisions); Angola; Cameroon, Mali, South Africa (top two divisions); Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe(top division only)

Leagues Removed
-

The Season Ahead
The year starts slowly with a friendly against Togo in February and then nothing until World Cup Qualifiers with Senegal and DR Congo in June.

Qualifying for the 2013 African Cup of Nations gets underway in September with a two-legged tie with Zambia. If we can beat them again, we face Tunisia in another two-legged tie with the winners going to the finals in South Africa in January 2013 (no group stage in qualificaiton due to the switch from even to odd-numbered years and the resulting 1 year gap between tournaments).

The year will then finish with the chance to defend our CECAFA Cup title (it's an annual tournament). This year's tournament will be hosted by Kenya.

Aims

1. Win a match away from home, something we failed to do in 2011.
2. Make a positive start to World Cup Qualifying.
3. Reach the second round of African Cup of Nations qualifying.
4. Defend our CECAFA Crown.

It will be tough but I like a challenge!

On the job front, I've been linked with lots of League 1 and League 2 jobs in England (Bury, Shrewsbury and Stevenage to name a few) and also West Brom! Interesting but I have no plans to go into club management.

Also, Ivory Coast won the 2012 Cup of Nations. The Tunisia and Nigeria jobs became available after the tournament but I wasn't linked with either of them.

[deltablue]

Pity about the tough ACN group, but well done in a first triumph.

[rancer890]

Good start with the FAT Boys DodgeeD, winning something already. Keep it up.

[Deisler26]

Nice start!

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the early trophy win.Hope your able to achieve some of your goals in the year.

[HotChocolate]

You faced a very strong challenge in the CECAFA! Congrats on the win

[Dejay]

Nice work winning a trophy so soon!

[SRL88]

Nice start so far .

[AK22]

Good to see you back with a thread in FMCU. Already a great start too, winning a trophy in your first season

[DodgeeD]

Pity about the tough ACN group, but well done in a first triumph.

Good start with the FAT Boys DodgeeD, winning something already. Keep it up.

Nice start!

Congrats on the early trophy win.Hope your able to achieve some of your goals in the year.

You faced a very strong challenge in the CECAFA! Congrats on the win

Nice work winning a trophy so soon!

Nice start so far .

Good to see you back with a thread in FMCU. Already a great start too, winning a trophy in your first season

Cheers guys - it's good to be back and coming back with a trophy win makes it all the sweeter. Not sure how we will fare against Senegal and DR Congo in the World Cup Qualifiers though - it could be a case of back down to earth with a bump!

[iHeadHunta x]

Nice start mate!

[TaoTev]

I was gonna follow this thread just for the name of it . But what a start, well done

[DodgeeD]

2012 Review: Tanzania



Quick Overview
2013 African Cup of Nations Qualifying: 1st Round
2014 World Cup Qualifying: On-going
2012 CECAFA Cup: Quarter Finals

December 2012 World Ranking: 130 (-5)
2012 Results

Friendlies - Oh dear!
It all started so well as we beat Togo 3-1 in Dar es Salam. However, that would prove to be our only friendly win of the year. August saw us lose 2-1 at home to Oman and in October, we slumped to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Burundi, late goals costing us dearly in both games. A bad year of friendlies was brought to a close in painful fashion as we lost 5-2 in Gabon...


World Cup Qualifying - A mixed bag
OUr toughest game was up first as we faced Senegal. An early goal gave us hope but it was short-lived. Within 12 minutes, Senegal were level and it soon became a matter of how many they would score. The answer was five more as we suffered a 6-1 thrashing... We had to pick ourselves up for a much easier game in Madagascar just a few days later. This time, it was our turn to hand out a beating as we won 4-1 for a first away victory unbder my management.

There are no more games scheduled until March next year when we face DR Congo.


African Cup of Nations Qualifying - Disappointing Defeat...
This year's shortened qualifying programme meant we had to play Zambia over two legs with the winner going on to face Tunisia for a place in the finals. Expectations were high following our CECAFA Cup wins over the Zambians last year. However, I was wary of the fact that it took a red card in one game and penalties in the other to give us the advantage... Alas, my sense of pessimism was not misplaced as a full-strength Zambia side saw us off 2-0 in our own backyard. We went for a more counter-attacking approach in the away leg and it almost worked as we led 1-0 at half-time before a strong second half performance saw Zambia come back into it. That game finished 1-1 and we were eliminated 3-1 on aggregate.

CECAFA Cup - A weak defence...
This year's competition took place in Kenya and we were drawn with Burundi, Uganda and Zanzibar as we looked to defend our title. An opening 1-1 draw against Burundi was a decent result following our poor performance against them in the friendly match earlier in the year. We followed that up with a 4-0 win over Zanzibar that more or less secured our place in the next round. Uganda totally outplayed us in the final game and we were lucky to lose only 2-0.
Group Tables - we ended up finishing third in the group but that was enough to see us progress as one of the best 3rd placed teams.

Sudan awaited in the quarter-finals, looking for revenge for last year's semi-final defeat. It was a very even game but our opponents edged it as we went down 1-0 thus ending our title defence.


2012 Aims

1. Win a match away from home, something we failed to do in 2011. Just about with a 4-1 win in Madasgacar.
2. Make a positive start to World Cup Qualifying. Not really - the game with Senegal was a terrible start but at least we won the second game
3. Reach the second round of African Cup of Nations qualifying. Fail. Zambia were too good for us in the first leg.
4. Defend our CECAFA Crown. Fail. It was a close game in the quarter-final, however.

The Story so far...

Year | Nation   | World Ranking | Achievements
2011 | Tanzania | 125th (-)     | CECAFA Cup Winners
2012 | Tanzania | 130th (-5)    | N/A

[HotChocolate]

Oman that was a poor result, couldn't resist

A tough year but still got some decent results.

[DodgeeD]

O man, that was a bad joke

I guess we were lucky and home advantage helped in 2011. 2012 was a bit of a 'back down with a bump' year. Not sure what 2013 will bring!

[DodgeeD]

2013 Preview: Tanzania

Active Leagues (new additions underlined)
England (down to League 2); France (down to National); Italy, Spain, Portugal (top two divisions); Germany (top divison only); Belgium (all available divisions); Angola; Cameroon, Mali, South Africa (top two divisions); Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe(top division only)

Leagues Removed
-

The Season Ahead
We have a friendly with Djibouti in February and then it's all about World Cup qualifiers with the remaining 4 games in the seond round group stage to be completed by October.

We then have a few more friendlies before finishing the year with another crack at the CECAFA Cup.


Aims

1. Avoid humiliation in World Cup Qualifying.
2. Make the semis of the CECAFA Cup.
3. Get our World Ranking aboce 120.

On the job front, I've had direct approaches from Rochdale, Notts Co and Wolves and I am also continually linked with West Ham, currently bottom of the Premier League. However, I will only leave Tanzania if another African natiopnal job comes up, preferably one with an active league. I'll be hoping for nations to fail to reach expectations in World Cup Qualifying to open the door for me.

As I write this, the 2013 Cup of Nations has just concluded in game, with Ivory Coast defending their title. No managers stepped down or got the boot after the tournament though...

[DodgeeD]

Oooh, this is a bit unexpected but I've just been approached by the Australian FA abour taking over their national team after Holger Osieck decided to retire.

They've already qualified for the 2014 World Cup and will host the Asian Cup in 2015.

So what do you think? Stick it out with Tanzania a bit longer and wait for another African job to come up?

Or jump ship now and go and have some fun down under?

I shall save now and mull it over while I have some dinner

[B.W.G]

Was a tough 2012.I would probably take over the Australia role as they are a bigger nation.

[deltablue]

Australia sounds like a good option.

[cragswfc]

that be a rally good job!

[DodgeeD]

2013 Update: Time to shed the FAT

A Final Friendly

The new year started off well with my biggest win to date at the Tanzanian helm, a 5-0 whipping of Djibouti ('whipping Djibouti' .... must be a joke in there somewhere! )

World Cup Qualifying
Our game with DR Congo was literally over after 5 minutes as we went 2-0 down very quickly. At least we didn't embarass ourselves by conceding anymore... A visit to Senegal was up next and we made a good showing of it despite failing to get a sniff of goal. A solid defensive performance restricted the home side to just one goal as we lost respectably. The easiest game of all was next as we faced Madagascar at home. Although we had by far the better of the play, we only managed a 1-1 draw.

All that action left the table looking like this.

The final game will be played in August with qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations getting underway shortly afterwards.

However, I won't be around for any of that because...

Getting Groovy Down Under!!

I was quite surprised when my interest in the nation ranked 33rd in the world was not laughed off. I was even more surprised when the Aussie FA offered me the job!

To make things even better, a look at Asian World Cup Qualifying revealed Australia had already qualified. In fact, our place at the next two major tournaments is assured as my new nation will be hosting the 2015 Asian Cup. My initial aim is to stay until the end of that tournament at least (hopefully winning it) and then moving on to some other poor unsuspecting country!

[AK22]

Good luck with the Aussies. I found them quite a tough nation to manage on my save; very few quality players and not a lot of depth in the national pool. Factor in their complacency, and general inadequacies, it was pretty hard work!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Liking this.

[DodgeeD]

Good luck with the Aussies. I found them quite a tough nation to manage on my save; very few quality players and not a lot of depth in the national pool. Factor in their complacency, and general inadequacies, it was pretty hard work!

LOL - reminds me of this

Having looked at the national pool, there does seem to be a lack of depth, especially up front. Most of the star players are well past 30 as well.

Liking this.

Cheers. It's shaping up to be a fun save

[DodgeeD]

Hmmm, I guess the local media and fans are going to need some convincing:

And my first two matches in charge are both friendlies with Spain

[HotChocolate]

Have to admit, I'm surprised you got the job never the less, all the best

[roganp]

A pretty big jump up from Tanzinia. Good luck with the Aussies

[Johnny Drama]

Huge jump up, you had some decent results in Tanzania and I hope it continues down under. Good read so far

[AK22]

LOL - reminds me of this

Having looked at the national pool, there does seem to be a lack of depth, especially up front. Most of the star players are well past 30 as well.

That's quite some show reel! Following the Terry Venables' one, there's an ad for 'Gay Change', whatever that may be Thankfully, I didn't have the sound turned up

[SRL88]

Nice move to Australia mate!!

[DodgeeD]

Cheers for the comments guys. Firing this save up after a few days away from it. A couple more friendlies to go before my first World Cup

[DodgeeD]

It's been too long!! MA thesis is still not done but at least I've reached a point where I can spare an hour or two for the odd FM session.

Time to take these Aussies to the World Cup

[DodgeeD]

2013 Review: Australia



Quick Overview

December 2013 World Ranking: 62 (-29)

2013 Results

Friendlies
Not the easiest of starts to my new job as we faced Spain in Zaragoza and were on the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat. Bizarrely, our next friendly little under a month later was a re-match as Spain made the trip to Melbourne. We made a much better showing of ourselves this time and earned a deserved 1-1 draw (even if it took two own goals to make it happen!)

Next was a clash with regional rivals New Zealand (even though the are technically in a different confederation these days). Again, we would benefit from an own goal in the first half but we couldn't add to our tally as the game finished 1-0. We then had what should have been a nice run-out against my former employers Tanzania. Despite dominating the game, we let the FAT boys come from behind twice to grab a 2-2 draw. We will have to start taking our chances better when we play stronger opponents.

Another draw came in the first of our November friendlies but this time it was a better scoreline as it came in Belgrade against Serbia, 1-1. A few days later we travelled to Turkey and made a decent showing, twice levelling the game after falling behind. Unfortunately, our concentration slipped after equalising on 81 mins and two minutes later, we were behind again meaning the match would finish 3-2.

To round the year off, our very own Tim Cahill was named 2013 Asian Player of the Year.

[DodgeeD]

2014 Preview: Australia

Active Leagues (new additions underlined)
England (down to League 2); France (down to National); Italy, Spain, Portugal (top two divisions); Germany (top division only); Belgium (all available divisions); Australia, New Zealand (top division only)

Leagues Removed*
Angola; Cameroon, Mali, South Africa (top two divisions); Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe(top division only)
*will be added/removed at the end of the current season

The Season Ahead
Friendlies for the first few months with Japan, Slovakia and Portugal coming to visit before we head to Brazil to play a couple of club sides and the hosts themselves just before the World Cup kicks off.

We have a fairly tough draw for the tournament itself as we face holders Spain. With a bit of luck, we can beat Paraguay and Slovenia to second place.

Aims

1. Reach the second round of the World Cup
2. Improve our world ranking

[cerud]

Very interesting! A purely international management save and you've made it enjoyable to read I'll be watching!

[ollie laaaaaaaad]

Very Very good!

[SRL88]

You should be able to get through that group.

[Razer82]

A great read so far, international journeyman saves aren't something that you see very often.

Good luck at the World Cup, you should be able to make it out of that group. With the improving results across the previous two games with Spain it looks to me as you're on for a win this time around.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Oh oh... you've added leagues.

[DodgeeD]

Oh oh... you've added leagues.

Sounds ominous.... Is that going to cause major problems? If so, I'm not too far in - I can always start again with a permanent set-up...

[nie jem frytek]

Oh oh... you've added leagues.

But he removed soma aswell. I think it won't cause major and long lasting problems.

[crouchaldinho]

I hope it'll be all right adding the leagues as this career thread is awesome!

[DodgeeD]

I've looked up the problem on the forums and it seems it may render this save unplayable in the long-term with hundreds of thousands of regens coming through even after leagues have been deactivated... My original plan was to keep adding/removing leagues as and when I changed jobs meaning at present there aren't any Oceanic or Carribbean leagues loaded.

I might play out the 2014 World Cup and then start again with a more stable set-up that will allow me to manage obscure nations around the world without any in-game changes.

[PaulHartman71]

A shame to see another promising career potentially ruined by the adding/removing league feature bug. Good luck in the upcoming World Cup regardless, definitely think you could get through to the second round and then with a bit of luck, who knows how far you could go? Is there a league system with nations edit for FM12, I remember there being one for FM10. Perhaps you could toy around with some ideas on that?

[deltablue]

Probably for the best to be sure rather than lost much more if things go wrong.

[Chutney132]

I encountered the issues with the add/remove leagues feature, which unexpectedly curtailed my save that I'd been playing since day of release, about 3 weeks ago. In my case it made the save so HUGE that it wouldnt load... I'd got to 2051 as well...

I was advised by the guys in the bugs forum to start with the leagues you want rather than adding/removing all the time, and also to run incremental compressed saves (if you don't already)...

[DodgeeD]

Hmmm... think I'll restart before the problems arise, this time with a varied set-up of leagues. I've also checked the thread for the extra International comps I'm using and it seems there are newer versions of those with a few bugs fixed so maybe it's for the best.

Now I need to decided whether to stick with the 'International Manager of Mystery' theme or move onto to the sequel - 'The Manager Who Shagged Me'

[Chutney132]

Now I need to decided whether to stick with the 'International Manager of Mystery' theme or move onto to the sequel - 'The Manager Who Shagged Me'

Surely that depends on your success rate. If its a tale of woe then perhaps it should be 'The Manager who Shagged my Team'

[DodgeeD]

Hi guys,

I've decided to pre-empt any possible problems adding leagues may cause further down the line by starting a new save with an accompnaying new thread.

Please follow the new adventures of Dutin Powers over here