[FM14] - I've Hit Rock Bottom

Football Manager 2014

Welcome dear readers and followers. This thread will about me and my journey as an inexperienced newcomer to the world of Football and managing. As a sunday-league experienced manager I will step into the world I've set up:

I've loaded all leagues in the game, no editors used and set them all to playable.

I wonder how my career will start and where it will end, taking things as realistic as possible. There is no greater goal or anything set out to get specifically.

The only goal I set myself is to update this thread everytime a month has passed in game.

I hope you'll enjoy my recordings.

Football Manager 2014

Unemployed

My first interview was in September, with Valledupar interested in my services. Valledupar plays their games in the Colombian Second Division.

Also Albirex Niigata showed interest in my application for the job, so the invited me for a interview. Albirex Niigata plays in the S-League in Singapore.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

I agreed with Albirex one a one-and-a-half year deal, because the challenge is amazing (note: only Japanese players allowed) and I've never been in Singapore.

Albirex Niigata plays their games in the Jurong District. The Stadium is called: Jurong East Stadium with a capacity of 3000.

And here is some club info:

Team Report | Overview | General Info | History | Facilities

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

October 2013

S-League

Before I start to set my results down here, I want to show you the results before I arrived:

And what position Albirex had when I arrived:

So we're participating in the bottom last 5 games of the league, much like in Scotland, but there is no relegation. Let's make the best out of things shall we.

So results have been amazing since I came and took charge. 4 out of 4, not bad! (queue: Miley Cirus) It shows that the tactical set-up is a winner. I decided on a counter, rigid 4-1-3-2 formation. One player really stood out this month, but more on him later.

Top of the bottom league. Things look promising for Albirex and hopefully I can keep them in the winning streak untill the last game of the season.

Records

2 records in a month time. I can see nice thing happen here, but not for too long though. I like a challenge, just like the next Joe, but I do need some perspective to get some improvements.

Bruno has been on fire this month, scoring from every corner! he's been brilliant and deserved the Player of the Month award.

Next Month

S-League

Only 1 more game to come. Not quite sure what to think of it. I just hope our winning streak continues.

Singapore Cup

Apparentelly we're in the final. This will be a nice bonus to see what we're really made of. Some silverware will do the club some good as it will to my reputation.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

November 2013

S-League

I don't know what happenend in this last game, but we showed amazing strenght and should've burried more then 1 goal. We didn't and they scored a fluke goal. It was a cross that hit the head of my defender and my keeper was able to push it wide, wide into his own net, qualifying the goal as an own-goal. It was really sour for the lads, as the chance and goal ratio was completelly off. Last game of the year lost in this fashion, I sincerley hope this won't happen too often.

Our loss didn't mean anything in the league thankfully. We're at 7th position, because we had a good run of 4 games won over 5 games.

Singapore Cup

We had to play the Champions of the league and although they had much better quality players we did ok! I was really proud of the players that we came back from a 2-0, I didn't think we we're capable of doing this. We got screwed over by a biased referee in the extra time, granting the Champions a penalty. After that it was over for us, we're Tanjong managed to score even 1 more. Even though we played the majority of the game with 1 more man, Tanjong proved to have more individual quality and that was shown in the end. We end up with no silverware and I hope this won't repeat itself in the future.

Records

Bruno has been choosen as the Young Player of the Year. I've only been at Albirex for 2 months and I have to say, I'm really excited about this guy, he's a real star for my team and I think he could improve in the years to come.

Next: Season End​

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

December 2013

Financial Update

December went by quick and only had some news about our financial situation, still some news I love sharing with you.

So last year wasn't profitable at all and most of it came down to wages. However, we're doing fine and we're not in the red numbers yet.

The board managed to get a transfer budget up, be it small, I am happy they're trying to aid me in my bid to make the most out of next season.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

January 2014

Achievements

Bruno deserved to be awarded Fans Player of the Year. He's been my bright and shining star since I arrived. He even attracted the attention from other clubs in Japan.

This season best eleven. The tactic shown is used by the previous manager. Not a bad tactic, but wasn't quite effective. 1 of the reason why he got sacked.

Next: January

Friendlies and Summary

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

February 2014

S-League

So the league has started and we're off to a flyer! 2 games played 2 won. It may look like we've won with the smallest of margins, but it's the strikers who failed to really show how well we've played this month. My strikers failed to score clear cut chances, but in the end, I won't complain. We're off to a fantastic start of the season, with 2 wins from 1 team who finished above us last season. Hopefully this will continue.

2 games won, automatically top spot. It's a wonderfull feeling getting up top quickly. DPMM has played 1 more game, but also draw 1 game. If we continue to keep up great perfomances I think we'll end up in the championship split at 22 games. Don't want to get overexcited, only 2 games played so far. So many things can happen, but early signs for a great season are there.

Confederation Cup

The Confederation Cup is to my suprise a international league for Asian teams. I think/believe it's an equivalent for the Euro League, but correct me if I'm wrong. This could be a nice addition for the low set of games played in the S-League.

It hasn't been easy for us so far. We forgot to make the most out of things when we drew against South China. Taiwanees Ninh Binh showed us around, but we managed to grab a draw aswell. A nice victory over New Radiant, from the Malidives, which we needed. We're in the 3rd spot in this competition, with 5 points. Ninh Binh and South China have 6, next update I'll include a table.

Records

So we've a steadily fan base, around 500 people love seeing us play.

Bruno showed once again his amazing skills on the pitch, earning the Goal of the Month award.

Next: March

S-League

So march shows us a busy program. Not much rest in between games and 4 away games. After no transfers we're having a small squad and hopefully fitness won't be too much of a concern.

Confederation Cup

Luckily only 1 game in March, but it's against South China. This team has the best quality in our group and I hope we can counter them to grab a result.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

March 2014

S-League

7 games in total was waiting for us in March, 6 of the games was played for the S-League and I think we did marvelous! Only Warriors FC showed they were better then us in that match. It was a needless loss, we simply didn't finish our chances and Warriors FC did. It was pretty even, but they scored one more then we did. Suprise wins over Tanjong Pagar and Hougang United, Tanjong is the reigning champion and Hougang was no.1 when we played them. Hougang just won a record for most consecutive wins and we shattered that record instantly. What pleases me more is that we played 4 away games in total and we managed to get good results in 3. Tactics seem to work fine and the players show real quality. If this is going to last, I don't know, because we're getting pretty injury prone lately with the schedule at hand.

And here is the table for March. With one game behind we're 1st. 21 points gained after 8 games is good start for my side. The competition is only in it's second month running and we're competing with the top teams. Something that makes this manager really proud. As I mentioned before, I hope this will last, but not quite sure how we'll fare in the long run.

Confederation Cup

Only 1 game this month and a great perfomance from our lads. We simply countered the attack from South China, Hong Kong. They had us cornered, I admit, but our counters are sharp as a knife. Bruno showed his amazing skill on more then just 1 or 2 occassions and this result is a major step in getting us through to the next round.

With 4 games played in the Confederation Cup, we've accumulated 8 points. We need 1 more win to secure passage to the next round.

Records

Bruno scored amazing goals this month and no wonder he received an award for his perfomance.

My second striker showed good skill this month aswell, banging in the goals. An award well deserved.

More player recognized with their excellent performances this month.

Yoshi scored after 21 seconds, was a new record for Albirex as for the S-League.

Next: April

S-League

4 games for the S-League. Not going to pretend it's an easy month, but we should get some results. Only worry is DPMM, their manager is Steve Kean. Should be easy right? It's not like he did great things at Blackburn? He's probably enjoying the weather

Confederation Cup

The last 2 games and both are at home. We should get through, but in the Confederation Cup, you just never know and we're the underdogs.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

April 2014

S-League

April started out really poor. I blame complacency, we've been on a roll for too long and forgot that we're good as a team with 1 or 2 outstanding class players. Suddenly everyone wanted to score, gettting injured in the process isn't helping either. I lost my main players in first 2 to 3 weeks in April. It shows, we lost against DPMM and league favourites Tampines. The funny thing about those games is that we got beaten with our own style of play. It was very frustrating to watch, subsitutes didn't do any good and first rated players being injured was a pain aswell. Luckily the tide turned when Bruno came back from injury. He's been on fire ever since. scoring 3 goals in 2 matches to make sure we atleast got 6 points in the league. Young Lions never posed any threat and Balestier tried to counter our style, but never succeeded.

With 1 more game in hand, we're second with equal amount of points to Hougang United. Hougang has a better goal difference, the fact we beat them in the league doesn't mean anything apparentelly. There are 10 more games to be played for the S-League and the summerstop is about to begin, curious how this will enfold later on.

Confederation Cup

2 games played, first one we've lost. Same story as in the league, we're just not good enough without our star-players. Luckily we've won the 2nd game and that saw us going through to the next round. An epic achievement for Albirex, as no-one reckoned we would go through.

We came in second after Ninh Binh from Vietnam.

Records

Bruno has proven to be a loyal player to the club and being a massive star! he already broke a record for longest serving member of Albirex.

Some odd news about me I'd like to share.

Next: May

S-League

Only 2 games, not the most difficult of opponents. Slow month, summerstop will be soon, I think.

Confederation Cup

2 games against an unkown opponent. We're regarded as underdogs. I like to be underdogs.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

May 2014

S-League

We started May with what looked like an easy match, but Geylang fought for every inch on the pitch. It seemed that they would be in for a shock win, untill Arima hit the net, finally, in 65th minute. We've been really poor in finishing in this match and should've won this match easily. But I guess complacency is about the players and we need to be carefull that this won't affect us in too many games. We had an excellent result against Harimau Muda B (Why B? couldn't they send A-team?), it was a direct effect after my slight outburst against the Geylang result. Everything clicked from the first untill the last minute. With Sato playing a wonderfull game.

We're second in the league, with one more game in hand. At this point we're on equal points as leaders Hougang. Only difference is that Hougang have a better goal difference, only separating 2 goals. I hope this won't come to a direct confrontation with Hougang to see who's the better. I'd like to have some room for a mistake or two. At this point one mistake would mean we're second.

Confederation Cup

So we started out as huge underdogs in this match. It served us well to be in that position, because we really showed them how to counter their play. Kelantan, from Malasya, never posed any threat against us, despite scoring the first goal. Although this was from a penalty, they managed to score the first goal of the match, maybe this put them off. After the goal it was Albirex game, with not much opposition. In the 2nd leg we got away pretty good. It looked like the table had turned and now all of a sudden we were the favourites. Kelantan played like they should in the first game, nearly destroying us. Luckily for us, we managed to score twice in the first leg, making the goals scored on away games rule kick in and see us through to Quarter Finals of the Confederation Cup. Games haven't been drawn yet, so I've no idea who will play.

Records

Sato and Arima have been on fire in May, definitely earning their just awards. Sato claimed Player of the Month and won it rightfully.

Next: June

S-League

Only 2 games in June. 2 games in quick succesion and away. It certainly aren't the easiest of games either, with Home United recently sacked their coach. I bet the players want some retribution for that, so that's going to be a tough game and to finish the month playing against Tampines, who have a similar situation. Tampines used to run the league, but find themselfs in a rough patch. A new manager will bring their spirits up, undoubtely.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

June 2014

S-League

Only 2 games in June. 2 away games aswell, with not the most difficult of opponents, it seemed. It seemed rather easy, but Home United really gave us hell. We both had plenty of chances to end up as winners, but the fight ended in a draw. After the game, both manager had a spat against eachother claiming that their team should've won. The Tampines match was a better performance from our side as we beat them in a fashion I like to see. We did extremely well in defence and we were clinical in offence. We should've score more then just 2, but in the end I was happy with the score.

The draw against Home United made us league leaders with only 1 point difference. Considering our run last season, we're doing so much better. Personnally I'd like to see that we would've had more points between us and no.2. in the league. But as they say: It is what it is and we need to push on if we're going to compete for the top spots this season. It really looks like we're going to.

Records

So we're halfway into the season and I'm allowed to change the expectation. Seeing we're doing great I showed a bit more ambition and went for the top half finish. Championship isn't my immediate concern right now, we're lacking 1 or 2 star-players to achieve that in my opinion. Not only that, I sure don't want to push my players into something they're not up to yet.

Next: July

S-League

Only 1 game for the league. Against former champion Tanjong and again, we're playing an away game.

League Cup

So the League Cup is about to start, with 2 games. In the mini-league of 3, Home, Balestier and us our going for place no.1. First place will go through to the next round.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

July 2014

S-League

Actually July was all about the League Cup, however, we needed to play 1 game for the league aswell. Former champions and now mid-table team Tanjong really played a hard game against us. I lost my star player in this game. He'll be out for 2 to 3 months. We were down 2-0 at the time his injured occured, we were the better team, but we looked unable to finish the deal. Tanjong on the other hand had all the luck they could wish for. 3 shots outside the box, my keeper looked like he had glue in his eye and 3 goals. It was quite embarresing to see the goals. This was the fist game of the month, I hoped it wouldn't leave any marks for the League Cup.

It luckily didn't leave any marks in the table though. We're still first and only 1-point seperates us from the Hougang United, with Warriors FC closing in with only 2-points difference. There are still 5 more games to be played for and then the break will happen. I can easily say we're in the top break and will have a shot at championship. We need to improve performances a bit, but we do a great job against higher rated clubs.

League Cup

It has been 2 tough games. Home United for everything they're worth, but I thought it got a bit embarrising in the end. They tackled for too hard and it was a miracle they ended with 11 players. Home United sure wants to make a statemant in the game with their new manager, but we've been able to defeat them. Home United had control of the game, but never got anywhere near serious in the last quarter of the game. We on the other hand were cool as a cucumber and clinical to the bone. We continued in that same fashion against Balestier. We did amazing in front of goal. It was rewarding to see that we're able to go on well without my star-player. Hopefully this will last for more then just 4 to 5 games.

After beating Home United we qualified for the Quarter Final of the League Cup. Due to a high amount of injuries and suspensions (leftovers of previous season, thanks to previous manager), we've been named a troubled side.

How the table looked after 2 games. Balestier came in 2nd and also progressed to the Quarter Finals.

Next: August

S-League

2 games in August, against the no.3 and 4 in the league. This spells out to be a difficult month. Hopefully we'll do good against them, securing our 1st place and get some room between us.

League Cup

The League Cup game in August will be against Warriors FC. no.3 in the league. Last time we played them at home and got a good result, hopefully we'll get another good result. Fun fact: we're playing Warriors FC twice this month, talk about crazy scheduling.

Albirex Niigata Singapore F.C.

August 2014

S-League

This month was a bit odd, we had to play Warriors FC twice in a row. One for the League Cup and the second was for the S-League. We didn't do great on both occassions, but before I tell you how we did against them in the League Cup, I'll show you the league result. This result had to do something with the previous game, the League Cup one, who we played earlier this month. Warriors FC seemed hell bend on getting a good result against us and nearly exceeded. One great excuse for me as a manager is that I can tell other I miss the majority of my starting XI and have to play with back-ups and reserves. 3 star-players injured and 2 playing on a position not natural to them equals difficult times ahead. In that perspective we did ok in the first game. I was much happier to see 1 star player return in the Woodland game and apparentelly so was he. He bagged in 2 goals for us, just to turn the tide for me and gain top place in the league once more.

Still on top of the league, with 3 more games to go before the league splits and then we play 7 more games. We're doing not too bad, having gained a point on Hougang United. Insteed of being 1 point ahead, we're 2 points ahead, not near safety though. I rather have a little run away from them, but Hougang United is also a title contender. It's still long way to the end of the season and championship, but I have my hopes up. I just need my 2 other star players back and we'll be there abouts.

League Cup

And we're out of the League Cup. With all star-players injured and crazy sheduling we were far from fit to start this game. Warriors FC really wanted to make the most of it and won the game. It was only one little step for Warriors FC, because the went on to win the League Cup. So I guess I can say we got beaten by the winners, which isn't all that bad.

Records

It's getting bad at Albirex, there isn't much money and from the succes we had, we didn't gain much profit from it. Hopefully this won't affect any upcoming contract renewal talks.

2 players made the Team of the Month award this time, not sure if they deserved it, but a great achievement for the both of them.

Next: September

S-League

The remaining 3 games left in the league before the split. Not the easiest of opponents. I just hope for a good result for all 3 games, it's going to be hard as it looks.

Confederation Cup

You didn't forget about the Confederation Cup now did you!? I did... We got drawn in with Shabab Ordon and I have no information of them. Hopefully we'll do something good away and then to beat them at home.