[FM12] Time for a road trip...

Hi guys,

This will be my first career update thread so please be gentle with me to begin with! I've read some of the threads on here and they're really enjoyable to follow along with so I thought I'd have my own crack at it. I will be continuing with a current save I have that is currently in January 2017. I'll give you a brief run down of my career so far.

Welling United: December 2011 - March 2015

I started the game unemployed and was offered a job by Blue Square Bet South side Welling. The Wings were struggling in the lower reaches of the table despite having some very good players for that level. We went on a great run and ended up finishing fourth. Unfortunately, we lost in the play-off final 1-0 to Woking. The following season, I added some good players and we more or less walked the league. 2013-14 would prove to be the best season in Welling's history. We finished fifth in the BSB Premier, qualifying for the play-offs and our brilliant defensive record transferred to the FA Trophy and we reached the final. A 2-0 win over Wrexham handed Welling their first ever FA Trophy. We finished off the historic season with promotion to the Football League. A magnificent 2-1 victory over Wrexham in the play-off final, who must have been sick of me, sent us up. I started to worry as we were still part-time at this stage but we went full-time soon thereafter. We did well in our first season in the Football League with some of the members of my BSB South winning squad still performing. Jack Parkinson, Loick Pires and Zac Attwood were three that stuck with me during our ascension. However, the squad was looking thin in January and I asked the board for funds to improve it. They said no. I gave it a couple of months but injuries began to rack up and it felt as though I had taken the club as far as I could. After a disappointing 1-0 home loss to Bradford, I quit.

Tanzania: September 2014 - February 2015

I took my first steps into international management with African side Tanzania. I knew expectations weren't high for this job and I thought I'd test out the waters a little bit. Needless to say that this experiment didn't turn out well. The stats seem to have been wiped but I remember only playing two games, losing one and drawing the other. I quit to concentrate on Welling. A few days later, the Togo job came up and with them being relatively high in the World Rankings (28) I applied and was given the job.

Togo: February 2015 - May 2016

They say 'once bitten, twice shy' but that didn't really apply to me. I thought things would be different with Togo but they weren't. Expectations were much higher and I felt that the players just couldn't understand how I wanted them to play. Maybe I was too defensive for a team that was clear favourites for every match, I'm not sure. Add that to the fact that I couldn't persuade Emmanuel Adebayor to come out of retirement and I quickly grew bored of the role. I only stuck it out for so long because we didn't have any games lined up! A 0-0 draw with Sudan was the final straw and I quit the same day.

Doncaster Rovers: October 2015 - January 2017

After five months of domestic unemployment, I got back in the game with League One Doncaster Rovers. They had started the 2015-16 season badly after being tipped for promotion and similar to my start at Welling, I turned it around. Unfortunately, a loss on the final day of the season saw us finish seventh, just outside the play-off places. I strengthened the squad in the summer although the budget wasn't quite what I was expecting. The club was in quite a dire financial situation and still are. Coming into January, we were second in the league and had just been knocked out of the Johnstone's Pain Trophy at the semi-final stage. I went into the transfer window hoping to sign one or two as injuries had taken their toll. I like to work with a relatively small squad but obviously that can backfire. Before I had the chance to look for players, I asked for a bigger wage budget which was rejected. Fair enough. However, the club then went behind my back and sold our best player and top scorer Bernard Mensah to Portsmouth for £350,000. I decided that, although the club needed the money, they had sold me down the river. Two days later, I quit.

Total Career Record: P 253, W142, D 60, L 51, GF 382, GA 230, WP 56%

So, as it stands, I am unemployed and it is the 17th of January, 2017. My next managerial step will be overseas. I have already decided that I want my next job to be in South Korea's K-League. From then on, I will keep you updated on my progress and when I'm ready to move on, I will ask you guys to see where you'd like me to go next.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the ride!

I could have been a quick return to League One as 11th placed Crystal Palace offered me the manager's job. I was tempted but I had decided to go to Korea and the there wasn't enough wiggle room in the wage budget for my liking.

I also interested newly relegated Bristol City but again, I decided not to take it. The wage budget was very tempting but as they had just been relegated, a lot of players would have needed to be sold. A whole new team would have needed to be built and expectations would have been very high. I thought about it but decided not to accept.

I applied for a few K-League jobs but none were forthcoming with an offer. Suwon Bluewings, Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk Motors all rebuffed my advances before I was finally offered a job.

I am now the new manager of K-League side Daegu FC.

Daegu were founded in 2002 and joined the K-League a year after. They've never made it big in the league however, with their best finish coming in 2006 when they finished seventh out of 14 sides. They've reached the semi-finals of the Korean Cup but are starving for success.

They play at the giant Daegu Stadium which holds 66,422 people and was built especially for the 2002 World Cup. However, their last K-League fixture attracted just 6,500 fans.

The club are currently bottom of the K-League with just two wins all season, but I am confident that I can keep them up.

Luckily I've got a month until my next game as there's a break mid-season. I'll run down the squad and any new signings before then.