[FM14] Forever in Blue Jeans

Career Progress by Season

Guiseley

Nation: England

Division: Skrill North

More Information

Official Website

Wikipedia

After a lengthy wait I have finally taken my first step into management on FM14 with West Yorkshire side Guiseley. I had a few offers from other English Non League sides; however, none of those felt like a good match. Guiseley are the kind of side I'd normally avoid, in that they a side expectant of success straight away whereas I like to build up a team. That said, I used to go watch Guiseley when I lived in Leeds, so when the opportunity popped up I felt like I didn't really have a choice.

I have just accepted the job and I am in late February 2014 with just 12 games remaining of the season. Guiseley find themselves in 15th place having been predicted to finish in 2nd (the position they finished in the previous two years). This is a perfect time for me to thoroughly analyse the players that have failed to meet expectations before beginning to assemble my own team in the summer. I have a contract until the end of the 2014/15 season and I expect that I'll be needing to finish in the play-offs at the very least.

2013/14 Season Review

Guiseley

Nation: England

Division: The Skrill North

The Skrill North

Media Prediction: 2nd

Board Expectation: Mid-Table Finish

Final Position: 11th

I took over at Guiseley on 21st February with the club in 15th in the table having been predicted by the media to be challenging for the title. I mentioned when I joined the club I was a little wary of the expectations, but with the club already struggling with 75% of the season complete I was on to a winner with a decent side. The previous manager had been relying on short term loan players, which meant that when I took over I had to try and strike a balance of results & steadily replacing the loanees with our own players. I had to combine this with trying to figure out a system that suited my players, but decided to stick to a very plain 442 in my opener vs. Leamington. What followed was a little run of defeats as I played around with a sturdy tactic whilst also playing two of the eventual top three plus a tricky game against fellow strugglers Vauxhall Motors. A very strong first half display away to Stockport, who would earn promotion at the end of the season, settled for me how to play and we continued with a countering 4411. After the defeat at Stockport we went unbeaten until the end of the season and finished in the top half avenging our disappointing home defeat to Vauxhall along the way.

FA Cup

Board Expectation: 1st Round

Achieved: 3rd Qualifying Round

I took charge long after the disappointing home defeat to AFC Flyde.

FA Trophy

Board Expectation: 2nd Round

Achieved: 1st Round

Again I took charge long after the our exit from the competition, although at least this time it was against higher division opposition in Gateshead.

The Manager

Profile

Overview

Biography

History

The Club

Squad

Tactics

Transfers

Staff

Finances

Boardroom Confidence

Records

Summary

A decent start to my first (read only) career on FM14. After 12 games I have a win percentage of 50% and that comes following three defeats in my first four games. Not a lot I could do to change the team, but I made sure to make some quick changes regarding the backroom staff, which will hopefully enable me to shape the club better going forward.

The Future

The core of the team is strong, and the few players I have signed did make a good impact on the team in the few games they played and this was reflected in the fans confidence in the signings too. I have told the players in the end of season team meeting that I expect to go for a top half finish next year, but I'm looking for a top five finish and a play-off spot. What will be key is what players I can pick up in the summer as some of my mediocre players are my highest earners, so I am gambling on selling/releasing these players in the hope I can replace them with equivalents or better for less money. If I can do that then a top half finish should be more than achievable and a play-off spot in our grasp. It'll be difficult for us next year as we gain Gateshead, Southport & rivals Halifax from the Skrill Premier, but I hope we can push on.

My primarily Leeds & West Yorkshire based pre-season yielded decent results and we made some decent cash off the two games agains the two Leeds United sides (I organised the game against the main side, then my affiliation duties meant I couldn't turn down the U21s). The only two frustrating games were the Morecambe & Garforth games. Whilst taking on league opposition it wasn't a shock to lose to Morecambe, but being 2-0 down and down to 10 men inside 8 minutes really was a kick in the teeth! Fortunately we reshaped and even threatened a late comeback. The Garforth match was supposed to be a confidence booster before the season began, but we were completely outplayed by far weaker opposition.

Media Prediction: 5th

Board Expectations: Play-Offs

So the off season was far busy in terms of player movements than I would have liked. In order to keep my best players I had to sign them on non-contract basis otherwise they would have left at the end of the season. Not a problem I thought, I've been down here plenty of times and it's very rare that anyone even approaches non-contract players, let alone them actually leave. It would seem this has been tweaked for FM14, because what happened next can only be described as an exodus. The squad I was quietly confident about is now a lot weaker, and I'm struggling to plug holes as my key men decide to leave. The upside is that I have plenty of budget left, but even that has its draw backs as no-one I want desires to be signed on a part-time contract.

Having told my players in the pre-season meeting that I'd like to go for the play-offs (as the board instructed) I received a negative reaction as they thought I was being over ambitious. In summary I now have a much weaker team signed on a primarily non-contract basis who are expected to achieve a top five finish, but have a negative dressing room because they don't believe that to be possible. Needless to say I am now far from confident about the season ahead, but I'm hoping a decent run at the beginning of the year might stabilse us. Not too great a start mind you, lest I lose the rest of my squad to bigger sides again.

2014/15 Mid-Season Update

Guiseley AFC

At the end of 2014 we find our ourselves within the play-off hunt despite the fact that I believe our team is significantly weaker than our rivals. We got off to a good start, and then managed to keep that going through a run of three games where we scored in the 89th minute or later to remain unbeaten. Inevitably our luck run out and we had two 0-1 defeats in a row. Having seen that we were lucky to come away with anything in five consecutive games I switched things up and adopted my favoured 532 (wingbacks) formation and we started to pick up the points once more, whilst also going seven league games without conceding a goal. Our cup commitments (which I'll cover in the end of season update) meant that we started to struggle as we went from mid-October to mid-December playing Saturday/Tuesday every week. This evenutally caught up to us and we suffered three league defeats in around our cup games. With those distractions over with heading into the Christmas period we were able to put together a run of three wins including a notable away victory at rivals (both in the league & as a registered competitive rival) FC Halifax.

We've not been outside of the top five all season so far despite the dips in form, so I'll be aiming to keep that true until May. If we're able to keep the team ticking with the cup action out of the way I think we've got a real chance at the title. AFC Telford sit just 3 points ahead, but we've already beaten them on their turf. In fact out of the top eight we only have to face Southport & Histon away from Nethermoor in the second half of the year. In what will undoubtably be a grandstand finish we finish our season with two home games; the first against Gateshead before finishing the campaign at home to... FC Halifax.

2014/15 - January Update

Guiseley AFC

The Skrill North

January got off to a disappointing start as we dropped points late on to strugglers Stalybridge Celtic made worse by the fact I thought we'd snatched a win thanks to sub James Lawrie. After that though we began to build up a head of steam and won the remaining league games in January. Originally we'd been due to play Gainsborough before the Blyth game, so I was pretty gutted when it got moved between our two big promotion/play-off rival matches against Histon & AFC Telford. Fortunately I was able to rest players due to their lowly position and whilst we didn't get the score we could have done the result was the right one. As a result we end the month top of the league and with two games against promotion rivals successfully navigated. If we can continue to score big points there is no reason why we can't win the league after all.

I was delighted to pick up the January Manager of the Month award - the third time this season I've won this award. Hopefully February will see me pick up the award once more as a tricky away game at rivals Bradford Park Avenue aside we do have a favourable four fixtures.

2014/15 - February Update

Guiseley AFC

The Skrill North

February was a mixed month as we suffered our first defeats since the turn of the year, but crucially we kept pace with Gateshead who won their game in hand. Annoyingly, but also fortunately when we lost the sides around us failed to capitalise. Both losses were frustrating in their own ways as we completely failed to turn up against Chorley, whilst we battled well to get back level against Bradford PA only to blow it in the last minute. I should have shut up shot at 2-2, but decided to chase a winner instead. This means we're now level on points with Gateshead, but behind on goal difference. I've also been playing whilst I type and Southport have just won their game in hand so it's unbelievably tight at the top with just nine games to go.

Next Month

March sees us play some of the teams dreaming of a late play-off push, which whilst unlikely means they cannot be taken lightly. Given the last few away results I'm not too confident in taking maximum points at Solihull & Boston, but if we can pick up two home wins and remain undefeated this month I'll be happy. At this point it falls back to my usual aim of winning at home and at least a draw away from home. If we can keep to that ratio we'll put pressure on those around us to keep up.

2014/15 - March Update

Guiseley AFC

The Skrill North

Having outlined that I'd be happy to go the month undefeated it was inevitable that we'd lose the first game of the month and potentially damage our chances of promotion. A 3-0 home hammering by Vauxhall Motors was not what I was hoping for and it appears the pressure has got to us a little bit. The players form as gone right out the window and morale is beginning to drop. We went the rest of the month unbeaten and picked up the much needed away points that I had said I wanted. The home win against Worcester kept us in the hunt and thanks to the sides around losing again we didn't lose out too badly; however, the sides beneath us have begun to catch us so it's opening back up to a five horse race.

Next Month

This is it. The final five games of the season all fall in April 2015 and we've got an unbelievably difficult run-in to end the season, which is why I'm so disappointed with our form over the last eight games. We start off with the Easter Bank Holiday playing 6th placed Harrogate at home before travelling to 5th placed Southport on Easter Monday. A second away game at mid-table side Corby (who beat us earlier in the season) before the two home games against current table toppers Gateshead and our final day showdown with rivals FC Halifax. On the plus side our destiny as it stand is firmly in our own hands. If we manage to win our final five games we're champions. Even a win against Harrogate all but secures our place in the play-offs.

Youth Candidates

Despite the hiring of a new Head of Youth Development the quality of youths coming through was absolutely abysmal. This was a point of contention when the club came to me to discuss a contract extension, but they weren't interested in expanding or improving youth recruitment & coaching. As a result I have yet to sign on for 2016 yet and will be waiting to see how the next month pans out as the lack of willingness to focus on any academy development is a big flag for me in regards to long term progression with the club. However, a promotion into the Skrill Premier might make that easier to forget.

2014/15 Season Review

Guiseley

Nation: England

Division: The Skrill North

The Skrill North

Media Prediction: 5th

Board Expectation: Play-Offs

Final Position: 4th

Having had our Easter games re-arranged due to a waterlogged pitch we ended up playing catch up and now hosted on Harrogate on the Tuesday (after most teams had now played twice). A nervy, but essential 2-1 win kept us in check with the lead bunch. A tight game away to Corby Town followed and it looked like we would have to settle for a point when Ollie Palmer, who hadn't scored since January, came on and grabbed a vital winner to take us top with a game in hand and three games to go. Just in case you've lost track at this point, we've now played 6th & 11th in the league. This means our run-in is now 3rd away then 5th & 4th at home. Unfortunately what followed was a complete disaster and we were thrashed 5-1 by Southport who leapfrogged us, and we also fell behind AFC Telford. Once again we had our game was postponed, so we played Gateshead on the Tuesday by then confirming that anything less than a win was curtains. In what was a fantastic, if not unbelievably stressful match, we were able to keep the title hopes alive coming back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 with two goals in the last 13 minutes.

This set up the last day showdown I'd been dreading. We had to win against FC Halifax to have any chance of winning the league. Anything less and it was up to AFC Telford & Southport. We got off to the worst possible start and were 1-0 down after five minutes and we never really recovered. Within 25 minutes it was 2-0 and they were utterly dominant. I threw everything at them, but we just couldn't get back into the game and they crashed our party. In the end Southport lost 3-2 and AFC Telford scored an 89th minute equaliser to secure the title from Southport by 2 points. In one way it was actually slight comfort to know that despite how frustrating it was to lose out this way, I can't imagine how I'd have felt if we'd have done our part only for AFC Telford to deny us that late.

The outcome of that 2-0 home loss was that we dropped below FC Halifax in the league and finished 4th and subsequently had to play our West Yorkshire rivals in the Play-Off Semi-Finals. It was now a matter of revenge for us and we played at Nethermoor once more just 4 days after our last meeting. Instead we suffered from a replay of the final day and struggling to contain them despite an attempt to switch things up to more effectively deal with their threats. A disappointing performance resulted in a depressing 0-3 defeat for the Lions and the dream was all but over. We now had to go to The Shay and hope to suddenly find a way to crack this nut. Whilst we gave it a good go we could only manage a 1-1 draw and FC Halifax advanced to the final to play Gateshead at The Shay.

FA Cup

Board Expectation: 1st Round

Achieved: 2nd Round

The FA Cup provided solid entertainment around our league exploits. We were drawn away to Skrill North strugglers North Ferriby United in the 2nd Qualifying Round, who we dispatched with ease 3-0 and were drawn at home to Shepshed Dynamo where despite a scare we beat 4-2. The final qualifying round paired us up with Bury Town, but neither side was able to put the tie away and a replay was required, in which we scored a 89th minute winner to set up a home tie against League One Crawley Town. What followed was an absolute humdinger.

[video=youtube;VLCG9dURTTw]

In the end League One Fleetwood would prove to be a step too far for us and we waved goodbye to a potentially glamourous 3rd round tie.

FA Trophy

Board Expectation: 2nd Round

Achieved: 1st Round

Not a lot to say about the FA Trophy. We made it to the first round where we lost to Skrill Premier side Hyde. By this point our league form was stalling and our players were destroyed due to constant Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday fixtures.

The Manager

Profile

Overview

Biography

History

The Club

Profile

Squad

Tactics

Transfers 1 | Transfers 2

Staff

Finances

Records

Summary

A great season for us and I'm pretty pleased with how things went for the majority of the season. I had tipped us to struggle and yet I've come away from it cursing the fact we choked and blew the title. I still don't believe this team is promotion material, and our lack of depth towards the end backs this up. Obviously disappointed now, but all-in-all a strong first full season in my FM14 career.

This season will be the one I remember when I eventually go on to get some success. Knowing that I had the big finale coming up I decided to look at my achievements on Steam for the last few iterations of the game to see when I last one a trophy and the answer was depressing. It turns out I haven't won a league, cup or even been promoted since at least FM10. That's the whole of FM11, FM12 & FM13 without ANY success. It is only through finding this out can you understand how excited, then horribly frustrated I was with our final three games of the season and eventual play-off heartache.

The Future

Not really sure where to go from here. Despite the strong showing in the league this year this squad needs another massive overhaul after the previous summer left us depleated and I had to fill in the gaps. Furthermore, the players I do want to keep are now all asking for ridiculous wages for this level, so I won't be able to keep them either. Add to that the board are completely refusing to change their approach to youth, which means we'll continue in this cycle for a few years unless we get a surprise promotion like we almost blagged this year. Further contract negotiations have just broken down in mid-May, so it is looking unlikely that a new deal will be reached at this point. Ideally I'd like to stay at Guiseley as in real life I really like the club, but trying to look at it objectively in the game can I build here long term? I don't believe so, but we'll see.

As I mentioned in my previous post I resigned from my position as manager of Guiseley at the end of the 2014/15 season. Ultimately I didn't believe I could achieve the short term success I'd need to keep my job due to the revolving door policy relating to the part-time/non-contracts. Another factor was that I spend a lot of my early games in the basement divisions in England as I feel that's the most realistic place that I would begin my career. As a result I am somewhat tired of the whole competition, so when I had my doubts about staying I thought I'd get out, which takes me to my next step. For the first time in my Football Manager history I've accepted a job in Portugal and I am please to announce that I am the new manager of Louletano.

Louletano

Nation: Portugal

Division: National Championship - H

Squad Analysis

Goalkeepers

Current number one Lenadro Turossi is only out for a week or two and looks as though he is the clear number one. I'll be looking to utilise Carlos for the remaining games of Phase 1 and hopefully that'll enable me to better assess how good my back up is going forward.

Defenders

We're definitely light on right backs in defence and our left backs certainly could be better. We have potenital in our reserves it seems, but if we pick up an injury or two we could well be in trouble.

Midfielders

A good mix of midfielders here as far as position is concerned, but the lack of depth of quality is only concern here. The available players here combined with the striker situation below suggests to me the best option tactically is the 451/433 with wingers. What is encouraging is the potential that my assistant is suggesting some of these players have, although his judgement isn't the greatest so I won't start planning around them just yet.

Strikers

It's not difficult to see where some of the problems of the team lie with the club having just two strikers with four goals between them in 14 games. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be much that I can do at this point until this phase of the competition, so I will be need to adopt a single striker formation for the time being and hope Rui Andre finds his shoot boots. Depending on how the transfer window works in Portugal this is definitely an are of focus.

Club Profile

General Information

Facilities

Staff

Finances

League Table

Stadium

It turns out that Louletano play at the Estádio do Algarve, which was built for the European Championships in Portugal in 2004. The upside is that we have a brand new 30,000 seater stadium, so should we suddenly jump up a level or two we're actually set for several years. A bit ambitious maybe given that the average attendance for this season is 562!

2015/16 - December Update

Louletano

National Championship - H 1st Phase

Just a quick update after taking over as we've played just three games from when I took over on 29th November to the beginning of January. We began with a tough home game on the day I was appointed against Eléctrico. I knew it might be a struggle to get much out of the game having just taken over, but I was a little surprised to find us 2-0 down after just 7 minutes! However, as the game wore on I came to realise that perhaps that wasn't such a shock bearing in mind the following:

When considering all of things it becomes less of surprise that we kept the score respectable after the opening 10 minutes. Fortunately this wasn't the pattern for the last two games of the month and we improved suitably to take two wins from the other matches. Whilst they wins weren't pretty they did enough to lift the confidence off the floor. The downside is our home form is atrocious with just a single home win so far this season although that's probably not that much of a surprise given the attendance to capacity %.

Next Month

We have just two games to take us to the end of the 1st Phase. From what I understand we will be entered into a "relegation phase", but I don't know what that entails. All I know is that the club entered this phase in 2014 and won their group, which is one of the two trophies the club now has in it's trophy cabinet. Perhaps despite a poor showing in this phase we might end the season on a good note?

2015/16 - January Update

Louletano

National Championship - H 1st Phase

Life in the Algarve sure does seem to fly by. After just two competitive games (plus a couple of friendlies for fitness) we've reached the end of the 1st phase of the season in good form. With confidence comes great scorelines apparently as we hammered second place FC Barreirense 5-2 at home, which given my previous update about our home form was no mean feat. The scoreline suggests they had a part to play in the game, but both their goals came once a 4 goal margin had been established. Having denied FC Barreirense a spot in the promotion stage we then travelled to their only other competitor for the final spot - Braga B. Having told the players to revenge the defeat to Braga B earlier in the season the players decided the best way to do this was to gift them an early lead and we found ourselves 1-0 down within 3 minutes. We looked to have finally put an unbelievably open game to bed, so at 3-2 I decided to try and shut up shop. Unfortunately my changes just brought more pressure on us rather than shutting the game down and they grabbed a last minute equaliser. Fortunately there was nothing riding on the game for us and the error on my part didn't cost us. Rather than making a full tactical change I perhaps should have made a few shouts, which is what I normally do.

Final 1st Phase Table

After doing a little bit of research by looking through previous seasons I've now got a better understanding of how the Portugese lower leagues work. There are 8 groups (A-H) of 10 teams that play each other home & away through the first half of the season (1st Phase). The top two teams from phase one join the other group winners & runners up in two groups of 8 (Group A & B). Once again they play each other home & away and top of these new groups earn automatic promotion to the Second League and also play-off for the right to be crowned Champions in the Champions Play-Off. The runners-up from each group also meet each other in a play-off, but only the victors earn promotion. The Champions Play-Off is a one off final, whereas the promotion play-off is a two legged affair.

As we finished the 1st Phase in 4th position we drop into the section of the draw that is known as the Relegation Stage. Here the remaining 8 teams from each group replay each other minus the top two teams who are now off battling it out with their promotion hopefuls in groups A & B. In the Relegation Stage the bottom two teams of the smaller groups of 8 are automatically relegated to an unknown division. 6th place enter into a relegation play-out (similar to Italy) in which each of the 6th place finishers are paired off and play each other over two legs with the loser on aggregate then relegated alongside the 7th & 8th place finishers.

Got it? Good.

Next Month

February sees the beginning of the Relegation Phase for us kicking off against Cova Piedade who finished bottom of group H during the 1st phase. Given the strong finish to year I don't see why we can't challenge to finish 2016 as winners of the Group H Relegation Stage. In my five competitive games in charge we've been much improved and if we can carry that form through these next 16 games we could pick up some silverware.

2015/16 - February Update

Louletano

National Championship - H Relegation Stage

We're still yet to lose since my first game in charge against Eléctrico and continued with this great form into the second half of the season. A fairly straight forward win over Cova Piedade got us underway in Stage 2 before a more challenging game against Esperança Lagos. It was a tight game, but we took the lead with 10 minutes remaining in both halves. Unfortunately lapses in concentration meant that they equalised before we could see out those halves and we had to share the points. As a result they moved above us in the table due to the fact the Portugese league sorting rules are done in the following order:

We finished the month with another win this time against Sporting Ideal who had drawn their opening two games. We've struggled with injuries this month with first choice goalkeeper Leandro Turossi out injured for three weeks with a groin strain and key winger Sylvain Petit out for four weeks with strained knee ligaments.

Next Month

March sees us play two big games against two of the other teams to register wins so far in phase 2. Braga B looks set to be a key game in the hunt for silverware knowing that away goals even in the league is crucial. We follow that up with a trip to Pinhalnovense who sit behind us also with decent start. If things go well we can essentially confirm ourselves as being out of danger of falling into the relegation spots with the other sides struggling already.

2015/16 - March Update

Louletano

National Championship - H Relegation Stage

I can only sum this month up by saying we've forgotten how to defend. The Braga game was an absolute beast and I'm still unsure why I should be annoyed about it. We took an undeserved 2-0 lead, which we'd squandered by half time. We then found ourselves rightfully trailing only to throw everything at them an equalise. At this point I should have parked the bus, but instead I instinctively when for the winner only to get suckerpunched in the 89th minute. The stats suggest they dominated the game, and they did, but we really should have got something out of it. To make it worse four away goals in their favour could be the killer in a tie breaker unless we can beat them by two or we score at least five at their place. We calmed ourselves down a little for the away trip to Pinhalnovense and took an early 2-0 lead and rode the game out to keep us in touch with the top two.

However once again at home we struggled as they side had done in the 1st phase. With the game 0-0 at half time the first 10 minutes were absolutely crazy. Marcelo Lopes our advanced playmaker opened the scoring before Perafita scored twice in six minutes whilst we also hit the post. Once again we had to throw caution to the eind and our bravery was rewarded with two goal in six second half minutes. We switched to a defensive mentality and saw out at vital home win. What happened next genuinely left me bemused and a little shell shocked as we start off appallingly bad at struggling Eléctrico and were 3-0 down in the opening 15 minutes. We weren't even playing that badly they just scored with every shot they had. Hopes of an unlikely comeback were dashed just after half time as they killed the game with their fourth and we were only able to grab a couple of consolation goals scored too late to build up any real pressure.

Next Month

Despite the disappointing result Braga have been stumbling of late with their draw coming against bottom side Cova Piedade. We've got a chance now to get back into contention for the 'title'. The key is picking up a win at Esperança Lagos having conceded a last minute equaliser at home. If we draw we also need to make sure we score at least two goals to match their total at our place as we need to be attacking, but defensively solid. Chances are it'll be another goalfest or we'll get hammered 4-0. Cova Piedada & Sporting Ideal should be straight forward victories, but due to the nature of our previous home performances I'm not taking anything for granted.

Youth Candidates

I'm very happy with the players that have popped up this year. Our first team has been struggling to get a decent right back and I've been scouting for a new ball winning midfielder, so the fact we've got two potentially Second League quality youngsters come through is perfect. With the clubs relatively decent facilities it is quite possible we will see these players develop their potential and be long term members of the team.

2015/16 - April Update

Louletano

National Championship - H Relegation Stage

It was a month early goals as we were quick of the mark but out end result was mixed. A new record early goal from left winger Russiano after just 17 seconds put us on the way against strugglers Cova Piedade, but we struggled to put them away despite dominating proceedings. A goal soon after half time put the visitors level, but we were able to get a deserved win through a set piece and then close out the match. We attempted to avenge our slip up against Esperança Lagos and managed to break our own record, scoring in just 16 seconds! It was a very even match that was eventually won through a lovely individual effort. We tried to nick a late goal as they had done to us but we just couldn't break them down. Finally we played Sporting Ideal at the Estadio do Algarve and frankly I've never managed such a one sided league match. Whilst the score suggests it was a tight game that couldn't be further from the truth. We dominated from start to finish and Sporting Ideal couldn't even muster a single shot. We could, and probably should, have scored 6 or 7 but suffered from a lack of clinical finishing. Whilst I'd have like to have scored more I was just as pleased with how much we prevented them from playing at all.

Next Month

The defeat to Esperança Lagos could easily have been a season destroyer, but despite that loss we remain just four points behind with four games to go. The next game is certainly the biggest as we head to Braga B hoping to get one over them after 3-4 thriller earlier in the group. A win keeps alive the hopes of turning this season into a good one, whilst a draw or a loss effectively ends our season.

2015/16 Season Review

Louletano

Nation: Portugal

Division: National Championship - H

National Championship - H 1st Phase

Media Prediction: 3rd

Board Expectation: Competitive

Final Position: 4th

Having taken over with the club in the middle of it's worst winless streak during the game so far I was able to make an incredibly positive impact on the club and start moving towards the top 2. Whilst I don't doubt that was still beyond us it was nice to see instant results. It was a case of working with what we had, and that in the end was moderately successful in the short time frame I had and 4th is strong finish.

National Championship - H Relegation Stage

Final Position: 3rd

Having turned things around I was hoping we could take that into the final stage of the season and pick up a consolatory trophy, but we couldn't deliver when we needed it in a couple of crunch games. Whilst it would have been nice, it certainly was expected to top the group and 3rd was an accurate reflection of where we were in this group strength wise.

Taça de Portugal

Board Expectation: 3rd Round

Achieved: 2nd Round

We were knocked out of the cup before I took over, so not a lot I can say about this.

The Manager

Profile

Overview

Biography

History

The Club

Profile

Squad

Tactics

Player Transfers* | Staff Transfers*

Staff

Finances

Records

*Blue denotes movements after my appointment

Summary

Board Confidence Summary

I'm happy with my time in charge in Portugal so far. I was able to steady a sinking ship and turn them into a competitive outift. The board are relatively happy with progress so far with the notable fact that they didn't say anything negative in the end of season confidence review. A solid job done and now the transition from also rans to promotion hopefuls can begin.

The Future

This is where things should get interesting. We have a number of aging players who had done an OK job this season, but quality wise are hardly world beaters. I have most of the squad signed up for next season and will be looking to break in more of our youth talent. If we can improve enough over the summer I don't see why we can't challenge for a top two spot. If we fail to acheve a place in the promotion groups then my aim is to win the Relegation Stage and confirm ourselves as 'best of the rest'.

2015/16 Pre-Season Update

Louletano

National Championship H Season Preview

Board Expectations

National Championship H: Promotion Stage

Taça de Portugal: Third Round

As you can see we're regarded as one of three teams that should definitely finish in the top two, which doesn't really make much sense! Pinhalnovense are expected to win the group with ourselves & last years 1st Phase winners Moura battling out for the second spot. However, Elétrico and FC Barreirense will be close behind waiting to pick up the pieces should we falter. Suddenly the pressure on this season has been ramped right up as whilst I'd hoped to be battling for 2nd I didn't think the board would be expecting that too. Now I have to be on course to deliver that or I could find myself on my way back to the managerial scrapheap! Whilst I'm relatively happy with my squad I don't have much depth as I was hoping to blood in a lot of youngsters. It's a big season for us all and I'm hoping they're ready to step up to the challenge.

Friendlies

Early red cards in both my opening friendlies put us on the back foot as far as preparations were concerned but we improved with team cohesion and I was happy with a decent draw to Recreative Huelva's B side in the final friendly.

Transfers

A moderate amount of changes over the summer as I let go the aging players on inflated wages for their abilities. Diogo Oliviera was the only player I'd have liked to have kept but he just wasn't value for money with the wages he was asking for. Most of the players coming in are youngsters, but with a few experienced pros in Duarte Machado & José Semedo adding some immediate quality too. I'm very pleased with the new players brought in but they might not deliver right away, which might be a problem for me; however, I am convinced that they will be shrewd signings for the club long term even if I get the boot.

Next Month

August is a short month as we we play just two fixtures before we end into September. Our game versus old foes Esperança Lagos was re-arranged due to their cup commitments, so we at least have a slight edge in that they should be more tired ahead of the match. We kick-off against newly promoted Carapinheirense with three points required if we're to achieve expectations of a top two finish.

2016/17 - August Update

Louletano

National Championship - H 1st Phase

We were disappointing in the opening game and suffered once again from a lack of concentration. The first half was uneventful and after giving them a bit of a kick up the backside we came out second half and quickly took the lead. Unfortunately we let them straight back into it a minute later erasing the bright start. We struggled to open them up and had to settle for a draw in a game we really should be winning. After a 10 day break we faced my nemesis from the Relelgation Stage last season and I had a score to settle. Adopting a more counter attacking approach I hoped to frustrate them and grab a goal or two. Pedro Bernado, one of the youth candidates from last season who is playing due to the injury of Ricardo Maneta, obliged on nicking the goal and we sat firm in defence. As the game went on we were able to open up and had two goals disallowed in the final 15 minutes.

Four points from our opening two games, which to be honest I would have been happy with before the season kicked off. Granted I would have expected the points to have been picked up in a different way, but due to the nature of the head-to-head records in Portugal it may be more beneficial to have picked up the win at Esperança Lagos.

Next Month

September begins with another newly promoted side, but this time away from home which has tended to yield better results for us. Our remaining two league games are both at the Estadio do Algarve against fellow promotion hopefuls Pinhalnovense and FC Barreirense. Whilst I won't say these are must wins they are definitely must not lose games. We also have my first taste of Portugese cup action away to non-league side Esposende who we should beat comfortably.

2016/17 - September Update

Louletano

National Championship - H 1st Phase

September started much in the same way as August as we struggled to open up a newly promoted side and had to end up settling for a disappointing point. The only positive I could take from the game was that we remained unbeaten - for now. Unfortunately even that would disappear as we failed to turn up against Pinhalnovense, although it could have been different as we hit post in the opening minute only to concede a 'harsh' penalty. We hit the woodwork a further two times so could have snatched something but we weren't good enough. We continued our poor performance into the cup game at Esposende and it was at half time I had enough and switched to my favoured 532 and we improved immeasurably in the second and should have buried them long before we finally did so in extra time. The final game had become must win due to the poor results in the league leading up this game for both sides and we returned to our league form. Within 2 minutes we were 1-0 down thanks to an own goal and by 10 minutes it was 2-0. Fortunately we were able to re-group and battled back to parity by half-time. A nervy second half, in which FC Barreirense had two goals disallowed we finally got the decisive goal and stole 3 much needed points.

The win against FC Barreirense has kept us just about in the hunt for now, but we can't afford to many more slip ups in the coming weeks. I say we, I cannot afford it as it'll by my neck on the block.

Next Month

I'll get the club credit card out for some hotels then shall I? We've got six games this month and just the one of those at the Estadio do Algarve. We play the top two in the table, which if we lose really will end our hopes after just eight games as far as I'm concerned. If we can pick up at least 5 points from the first three games I'll be pretty happy and if we then win the following two league games we'll be right up there. The cup has drawn us away to Second League side Moreirense who should so us off with ease we should have won our last tie with.

2016/17 - October Update

Louletano

National Championship - H 1st Phase

We started the month with a tough opener away to top of the table Almodôvar, but came through a tough game brilliantly setting up strongly in defence and grabbed a massive 2-0 victory. We struggled a little more at Eléctrico despite taking an early lead. We were pegged back to 2-1 and were lucky to snatch a late goal to level it up. Braga proved too tough for us and frankly we got battered and can be happy we kept it to just two. Looking at the table below you can see that they are now running away with the group and it's become a battle for 2nd. We went defensive against Moreirense and despite taking a bit of battering could have taken the game to extra time with a couple of late chances. Returning to league action we continued to suffer from concentration issues and having taken the lead in the 16th minute found ourselves level again within 2 minutes. Another late goal, this time against us, let Moura off the jook and we were left to rue more dropped points. Finally a win at Carapinheirense was pretty solid and whilst it was just 1-0 we were rarely troubled.

After what should be our toughest month of the season with all the away games to key teams in the promotion chase we find ourselves in third. Whilst we've not been convincing the fact we've generally improved has been reassuring and could be a solid base to build on for the final 8 games of this phase.

Next Month

Three home games and an away trip to Pinhalnovense who recently sacked their managed. This is our opportunity to get some solid points on the board and really stake a claim for that second position. December is going to be incredibly tough, so we need to build up any advantage we can - I don't want a repeat of Guiseley's run-in!

2016/17 - November Update

Louletano

National Championship - H 1st Phase

We made it through November unbeaten which is the first time we've managed that since August and the short two game month. We should have beaten Vila Flor at home but struggled to make any clear cut chances and the game just kind of drifted by. Fortunately the teams around us struggled to put points on the board so whilst we limped on we actually pulled out slightly.

With four games to go we sit five points ahead of Moura & Eléctrico who we play in the run-in. We're in a strong position wth points on the board but a poor month could see us slip out of the promotion places. f we can win against FC Barreirense we'll knock them out and we can focus on the three horse race for 2nd place.

Next Month

This was the run-in I was concerned about and knew we needed to get the points on the board for. Our final four games are against 5th, 4th, 1st and finally in January we play 3rd. We could seal our place in the Promotion Stage if with some big results, or we could slip down to mid-table and I'll be out of a job. I'm excited and worried in equal measure as it has that horrible feeling of Guiseley two seasons ago all over again!

Job News

The last wek of the month has brought on a series of English non-league sides apparently becoming interested in my services having snubbed my advances just a year ago. Eastbourne Borough & Dover Athletic came calling from The Skrill South, whilst the biggest club to offer me an interview has been Welling United. I declined the interviews from Eastbourne & Dover but decided to listen to what Welling United had to say following my enjoyable time with them in FM13. I've made some demands in regards to youth coaching and will see what happens in regards to offers. I'm not too fussed about leaving just yet, but could be tempted by the right club especially depending on how things work out in the next 6 weeks in Portugal.

2016/17 - December Update

Job News

After being approached by a number of clubs I decided to go to the board and ge them to pull their finger out. At first they weren't interested but I managed to convince them they needed me to stay on an successfully negotiated myself a new deal. Welling United decided to appoint Ian Bogie, and with my youngsters starting to get more first team appearances I thought it made sense to commit for another season.