FM16: A Management Career Based on No Idea

So after this

save got ruined by me being rubbish and having no love for Kettering. I've decided to start a new save. I've scratched around trying to find something that will interest me, including a couple of career saves but none have taken off.

So having finally deciding to man up and just get on with it, I'm back. I've loaded all leagues from the following nations. Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Holland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and Wales.

I've decided to start as a Sunday League Footballer with no coaching badges.



As you can see, I've already got myself an enemy in current Derby boss Paul Clement. I highly doubt we'll be battling it out for any trophies in the near future so as far as I'm concerned, he can do one. I'm more of a defensive manager and prefer the direct style of football. Not quite hoofball but quick play whilst being solid at the back.

Anyway, it's time to rock and roll.

So already into this save we've had a bit of interesting news.

If he does move then he's worse than me when it comes to jumping ship.

Unemployed

2015-16 Season

So, with me now set up it was time to see what jobs were out there. To be truthfully honest, I didn't really have a clue where I wanted to manage. I just wanted a club that would allow me enough in the budget in order to shape the squad how I wished.

With that in mind I ended up applying for the following jobs;

















From those jobs I was offered five interviews at Berwick Rangers, FC Cape Town, Teplicka, Vasco da Gama Cape Town and Yahukimo FC. Three clubs offered me contracts and they were Berwick Rangers, FC Cape Town and Yahukimo FC. For the FC Cape Town and Yahukimo FC roles I was asked to choose the staff who I would like to keep/get rid of. I was ready to take a certain role when this came up;





I decided to delay the three offers I'd received just in case I was offered this role as the wage budget was a massive £42,000 per week which is massive for a South Korean Second Division club.

I never really got chance to see whether anything would come of the Gyeongnam application as the three other clubs wanted an answer. As I wanted to get into the management game I decided to accept FC Cape Town's two year offer. Initially they had only offered me £750 per week along with a 15% promotion increase and a 35% relegation decrease. I've managed to change that so the contract I accepted is this;

As part of the contract I have a couple of philosophies I have to stick to and they are to play defensive and direct football.

So for my first management role I am off to sunny South Africa.

Joining The Club/Pre-Season

So upon my arrival we saw five of the current backroom staff depart the club as per my requests for joining. The staff in question were goalkeeping coach Mark Kapman, physio Bradley Petersen, fitness coaches Shaun Daniels and Simon Montanus along with assistant manager Robert Nauseb. The only backroom staff to remain was director of football Nevan Payne who accepted an offer to be director of football/coach. The only reason that he stayed was because I agreed to keep him at the club and work with him as part of the interview process. It meant that I was requiring a number of backroom staff now. So I put out adverts for an assistant manager, chief scout, coach, fitness coach, goalkeeping coach, head physio, head of youth development, physio, reserves manager, reserves assistant manager, scout, under 19s manager, under 19s assistant manager, under 19s coach, under 19s fitness coach, under 19s goalkeeping coach and under 19s physio.

Having been given a brief history of the club, who were formed in 2006 and had no previous success. I immediately assessed my squad. As you can we had a fair bit of depth, squad 1 and squad 2. I had identified that the following players would be key; Andile Khumalo, Kgotso Mogagabe and Sphamandla Sithole.

I still felt we were a little light in some areas and some of the players we had weren't up to the required standard that I felt was needed. For me to make any signings I had to look to move some of the transfer budget into the wages budget. To help me find some new player I managed to persuade the board to arrange a trial day. In the end we saw ten players arrive over the course of pre-season whilst three players departed. Including one key player who I was gutted to lose. However, we'll start with the incomings and they were; Benjamin Van Heerden, Eddie Ngalo, Emmanuel Mahlangu, Itumeleng Nkwana, Njabulo Manqana, Sandile Hlatshwayo, Solomon Hlahane, Xolani Mabaso, Thomas Madimba and Pineas Jacob. The three players who departed the club were Bongane Nyambi, Siphiwe Gwala and Andile Khumalo. The first two left as I terminated their contracts as I didn't think they'd be good enough whilst Khumalo heads off to Sweden. I attempted to get Khumalo to stay but his agent wasn't accepting my offer. Khumalo sacked him but unfortunately it wasn't enough and I still couldn't persuade him to stay. With him only having a year left on his contract I felt it was best to allow him to leave.

Over the course of pre-season we saw fourteen members of staff join as they formed part of my backroom staff. Those fourteen staff took roles of assistant manager, coaches, physios, fitness coaches, goalkeeping coaches and other roles. I'll be truthfully honest, most were really bad but I was desperate.

Due to me trying my hardest to bring in new players I cancelled a number of pre-season friendlies which may have cost us sufficient development time in order for the new pre-season. In the games we did play I was still happy with how we played.

League

Table - Results 1 - Results 2

In the league we finished where the media predicted us to, 11th. I have to say I am rather pleased with the position but it wasn't easy at times. Whilst we were never fully in a relegation battle we were constantly looking over our shoulders just in case and at one point in the season, early on, we had dropped into the relegation zone. Our first six games of the season saw us draw three and lose three. The three we lost were away from home where we didn't score a goal. The three we won were at home where we didn't concede a goal. The next eight games saw us only win one game and we were looking desperate. Our strikers couldn't score and we just couldn't seem to get going. We then managed to pick a win up against African Warriors before collecting one point from the next three. The start of February saw us string two wins together for the first time that season before we lost to Amazulu. The draw against Royal Eagles was followed by our best win of the season as we dispatched of Cape Town All Stars 5-0 in our best performance of the season. This was then followed by another two wins and a draw to give us a five match unbeaten run. Against Swallows were appalling and two late goals made the score look respectable. We relegated Highlands and secured our safety in the 2-2 draw but that should have been a win in our favour. We finished the season with two losses in games that we again looked poor.

South African FA Cup

Results

Nothing much to see here as we got to the first round before being beaten by Swallows.

Other Bits

In December I was on the verge of being sacked. It was around the time when I was called into a meeting to discuss a poor result. Luckily the board accepted my answer of it was 'my fault and I hold my hands up'. Our finances are in a bad state and in January we required an injection from the board for £210,000. We had a good youth intake. I believe Godfrey Mazibuko, Jabulani Mzizi, Leroy Mpengesi, Prince Mofokeng and Xolani Mabitla may have a chance of making the grade. Another key player in Sithole left the club for an initial £37,500 during the middle of the season. Another player who was out of contract and wasn't interested in staying. We also saw a few other members of staff join as well in various roles.

Key Players

Bafana Kali - The right winger had to wait his turn to get a chance but boy did he take it. As the season went on he became more effective. He finished the season with 11 goals and 4 assists from 23 games.

Solomon Hlahane - The central midfielder played in every game this season and whilst he didn't pull up any trees like a goalscorer or playmaker would he did the basics. I'd actually say he was our best player over the season. I have extended his contract as per the clause in his initial one.

Wade Miller - Miller was our first choice keeper at the start of the season and when he came back from injury. His two month spell out put us in a difficult position. Kept the most clean sheets in the league with 10 and also signed a new improved contract.

Future

I'm not quite what the future holds to be honest. I have a contract for another year but I'll be honest and say that this season hasn't been fun. We've had our good games and bad, but as a side we don't seem committed. The players don't like me either and I'd imagine the wage budget will be cut due to the clubs current finances. A number of key players will be departing as well due to them not performing. I've got my eye on Scotland should I leave. But in theory I'd take any job over this one right now.

So, it wasn't an easy decision but I decided to do this.

I just couldn't commit any more love to the team and felt it best that I resign now in the hope that something a bit more up my street comes in. Hopefully they'll push on and improve gradually.

[center][b]Days in Charge[/b]    [b]Games Played[/b]    [b]Games Won[/b]    [b]Games Drawn[/b]    [b]Games Lost[/b]    [b]Goals For[/b]    [b]Goals Against[/b]    [b]Goal Difference[/b]   [b]Win Percentage[/b]
299             32             11           6              15           47            44                +3                34%

Unemployed

Early May 2016

So having resigned from my previous post I wanted to get back into the management game as soon as possible. I decided that the best approach would be to apply for jobs at clubs who were in the bottom league or about to be relegated to. There was eight jobs that took my fancy and they were;

















The only club who had shown any interest so far was;



I did attend the interview.

Unemployed

May/June 2016

With nothing coming from the Teplicka interview as of yet. I continued the process of applying for as many jobs as possible within reason. As May went on we saw a number of clubs relieve their current managers of their duties. This saw me scattergun approach clubs and slowly pick off an application. Over the course of the rest of May and early June, I applied for fifteen job vacancies. The clubs in question were 1461 Trabzon, Adanaspor, Aue, Guiseley, Kayseri Erciyesspor, Perseta Tulungagung, Salernitana, Shanghai Shenhua, Tokatspor, C.E. Sabadell F.C. SAD, University of Pretoria, Forfar, Barrow, Chester and East Fife.

Dergview, Lisburn Distillery and Cobh Ramblers all offered me interviews from the application I submitted earlier in May. They also gave me the option to request staff changes. Due to them not having the required finances, I couldn't make wholesale changes to the backroom staff. Which kind of helped me make up my mind that they wouldn't be the clubs for me if I was offered the job. I was indeed offered the jobs and despite not being interested, I still delayed them for a week in case nothing better came up.







In the end I rejected these offers as University of Pretoria offered me the chance to make some staff changes. Due to them not having the required budget, all backroom staff kept their jobs and this was down to the club being oversubscribed. The University of Pretoria board offered me the vacant managerial role.



I decided to counter their offer with the following;



The reason for this was due to me still being unsure whether a return to South Africa would be in my best interests. The club unfortunately finished bottom of the South African Premier League which means I'd be facing up against my former employers. I delayed the offer for a week which they accepted.

Guiseley then decided to offer me an interview the following day and on the 9th June they offered me the vacant position of manager;



I again countered and delayed this offer with the following;



Shanghai Shenhua decided I wasn't the right man for the job and rejected my application before The University of Pretoria came back with their initial offer of £675 per week.

I decided that I counter the offer and asked for this;



They agreed and that's where I'll be heading off to. South Africa again.

University of Pretoria FC

June 2016

Taking Over

Having taken over a club that had just been relegated, I was hoping there would be funds available and a bigger wage budget than what I had at FC Cape Town. Whilst this was the case, unfortunately the finances at the club weren't the greatest. We also had quite a bloated squad. As these three images show; squad 1, squad 2 and squad 3. Due to the finances and the budgets in place currently, I would have to look to offload players before I entertained the thought of bringing anyone new in. I wasn't that concerned though as we had a number of key players already and the squad was quite strong. Personally the key players were Atusaye Nyondo, Junior Sibande, Lucky Mathosi, Mpho Maruping, Partson Jaure, Philani Cele, Ronald Ketjijere, Thabiso Nkoana, Thabo Mosadi, Washington Arubi and Wayne Arendse. Unfortunately having assessed them, most are unhappy with the clubs relegation last season and want to leave. I've managed to persuade most of them that I will allow them to leave should we receive reasonable offers for them. For the time being though, I need to try and allow them to leave when an offer does come in so I keep squad harmony at a good level as per the board's request. Washington isn't interested in renewing his contract so he'll be leaving at the end of his contract. We have some good backroom staff at the club already although none are world beaters. Due to financial constraints and being oversubscribed, all staff shall remain. Despite this, I still put out adverts for a reserves manager, reserves assistant manager, scout, under 19s manager, under 19s assistant manager, under 19s coach, under 19s fitness coach, under 19s goalkeeping coach and under 19s physio. Our facilities are fairly good and we have a couple of youngsters who could well be pushing for a first team place by the end of pre-season.

University of Pretoria FC

2016-2017 Season

Pre-Season

Board, Media Expectations & Other Bits

South African First Division: Win the League

Media Prediction: 1st

Title Odds: 7-4

South African FA Cup: Second Round

Season Ticket Sales: 3,010

Finances: £98,955

Wage Budget: £25,491 (Spending £18,925)

Transfer Budget: £120,000 (Currently £200,316)

We had a busy pre-season as I looked to shape the squad in order to put together a promotion/title push. As mentioned previously, a number of players had requested to leave the club due to our relegation last season and I had manage to persuade them to stay until a reasonable offer was received. Unfortunately clubs must have heard about this as 28 players left the club. Of the 11 players highlighted as key players when I joined, only three have remained. Along with the 8 key players who have left we have seen another 20 backups and youngsters leave on permanent or temporary contracts. The players who have left have made the club some reasonable money and they have all left with my say so.





Incoming we saw 16 players arrive and I have to say, I'm extremely pleased with our dealings;

Alcardo Van Graan - Coming towards the end of his career now, Alcardo scored 11 in 29 for Vasco da Gama Cape Town last season. In total through his career he's got 43 from 81. Hopefully should be the sort of firepower we need to keep us in and around the title hunt.

Bongani Manana - At the second attempt I managed to get Manana to join as initially I failed to meet his requirements. The former Black Leopards man has had an average few seasons to date but my backroom staff and scouts were raving about him. Whilst I agree he's a good player, he's got a lot of improving to do over the years. Also becomes my top earner by just under £900.

Jarrod Moroole - One of my former players at FC Cape Town and my last signing of pre-season. He was only signed as Philani Cele departed and I needed a back up right back to initial back. Not overly confident about this signing either. As he was at fault for most of our errors last season. But I suppose desperation does that for you.

Johannes Motlhaping - It was either him or Munetsi for the final central midfield signing that I needed and whilst I pushed ahead with this signing before Munetsi's work permit hearing, it proved to be the right decision. Johannes has had a good career to date plying his trade in the South African Premier League for most of it. Last season he was at Vasco da Gama Cape Town as well where he didn't pull up any trees. I'm not expecting much this season but experience can be crucial.

Kyle Peters - Signed initially as back up to Coetsee but then a better, more experienced keeper came along. Unfortunately this pushed Peters further down the pecking order and he's been sent out on loan to a Czech Second Division side to help aid his progression. Had a good season for Cape Town All Stars last year and my staff seem to rate him. So I'd expect him to come back in the near future and fight for the #1 jersey.

Mbulelo Wambi - Another reasonable midfielder to have and one I was looking forward to watching develop. Actually came through the ranks at Tuks a couple of seasons ago but has spent the past two seasons at Vasco da Gama Cape Town where he had a reasonable season last year. Unfortunately picked up an injury in our third pre-season game which will rule him out for about 5 months.

Mfanufuthi Dlamini - A reasonable signing but at this present moment in time he'll be nothing more than back up. Spent last season at Royal Eagles where he didn't get a game and the season before that he was at Amazulu where he made 7 appearances with no return. If he's to have a future at the club he'll need to get some goals.

Mothusi Gopane - Another signing I am really pleased with. Gopane is only on loan for the season from Supersport United where he hasn't played for three seasons. If we're to go up, I'm sure he'll have some involvement in it. Has taken the captain's armband for the current season so hopefully the added responsibility will help him.

Nelson Malula - Came through the ranks at Kaizer Chiefs but didn't make the grade there. Spent last season at African Warriors in the First Division where he chipped in with 16 assists and 5 goals from 30 games. If he can repeat that form here, then I'll be delighted.

Postnett Omony - A great keeper for this level and one I'm delighted to have captured. At 33 he's in his prime so if he has a good season he could well lead us to some silverware. Spent last season at Mthatha Bucks FC where he played in every league and kept 7 clean sheets. Will also be my free-kick taker.

Sello Matete - Nothing more than a backup but what a backup to have. Spent last season at African Warriors where he played in 28 league games out of 30. I can't imagine he'll play in that many games for us, but if we can get 10 to 15 out of him at the same level then we should be good at the back.

Seun Ledwaba - A versatile defender to have and one my staff feel is more suited to right back than centre half, which is where I'll be looking to play him. He came through the ranks at Sundowns but didn't really get a chance there having spent a couple of seasons out on loan with First Division clubs. Had a solid spell at Milano United last season. Hopefully he can repeat the same here for us.

Shaun Sopio - Shaun isn't here to be anything more than a backup. But again it's a signing I'm pleased with as it gives us some good depth. Came through the ranks at Santos FC who were promoted last season to the Premier League. He did have his best spell at Santos last season as he played 21 games whilst chipping in with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Solomon Onkgopotse - Initially signed to be Cele's backup. But with Cele moving up a division, Solomon will get his chance as first choice for this coming season. Having started at Kazier Chiefs he failed to make the grade there. He joins us with a chance to cement a place in my first team and help us to promotion.

Tumelo Letuka - Tumelo comes in as a replacement for Sibande. I actually think he's better than Sibande and his history would suggest I'm right as he's spent the past two seasons successfully playing in the Premier League. He's still time on his side to get back into the Premier League and hopefully that will be with us.

Zukile Mkhize - Has played all his career at this level, which is two seasons. Unfortunately he doesn't have the best record as he's only got 4 goals in 34 games. I'm looking at the bigger picture and even though he's backup, if we can get 7 or 8 goals out of him for the season that will be a success.



I have to say I'm delighted with the pre-season we've had as we've dominated all the games we've played in. We bit Wits, a Premier League side in the Varsity derby whilst we drew with Polokwane City who are another Premier League side. In this game we had 20 shots at goal but could only get one on target. African All Stars were promoted to our division for the coming season and we looked extremely comfortable against them.

University of Pretoria FC

2016-2017 Season

Season Review

League

Table - Results 1 - Results 2

Wow, what a season! We started like a house on fire as we collected maximum points from our first four games. In the process we scored 12 goals and only conceded 1. That 1 was scored within the last 5 minutes of the fourth game from long range. What I would class as our only blip followed as in the next two games we went winless. The first being against FC Cape Town, yep I know and Swallows. Despite bossing the game against FC Cape Town we just couldn't get the breakthrough and the game finished 0-0. Against Swallows we took the lead in the first half. They levelled midway through the second half before they grabbed a late winner. As gutting as it was, we didn't deserve to win. If only we'd have drawn that game! After that slight hiccup we went 24 league games unbeaten, drawing 5 as we beat some teams fairly comfortably. Due to how Amazulu were playing it took us a while to reclaim top spot but when we did that was it. They faltered towards the end of the season which makes it look like we won a lot more comfortably.

South African FA Cup

Results

The board wanted us to get to the second round and I was hoping we could so the same. Unfortunately we played Golden Arrows in an even game. They got the breakthrough to knock us out on the preliminary round.

Other Bits

Once again I took part in Movember. I didn't change my style though. Johannes, one of our summer signings kicked up a fuss about his lack of playing time and every time he failed to turn up to training, I fined him two weeks wages. This didn't seem to go down to well with him. In the end I decided to offer him a mutual termination of his contract which seemed to upset him even more. Once I realised this I just terminated his contract and decided to be done with him. We broke a number of records of the season with a points record, defensive record and various other bits and bobs. In early January to early February we didn't have a competitive game. Infact, it was 35 days. I didn't want the players to lose any match fitness so I arranged some 'easy' friendlies against some local sides. We won all of them comfortably as you'd expect. Towards the end of the season the board had proposed new contract talks which I requested to be delayed until the end of the season. To which they agreed. We've had another good youth intake and Katleho Mohapi, Lebo Mokoena and Thomas Mulaudzi are the best three from this group. Financially we're in a horrendous position. I think this gives you the picture.

Key Players

This is probably the most difficult decision I've had to make as every player has had a great season. Postnett Omony and the defence have only conceded 19 league goals all season whilst we have kept 17 clean sheets. But for me, the three players who just seemed to click were the three front men of Thabo Mosadi, Alcardo Van Graan and Mothusi Gopane. They chipped in with 57 goals between them and without them we probably wouldn't have won the league.

Thabo Mosadi - Mr vice captain, as a winger his return was great as he got 26 league goals in 30 league games. Also chipped in with 16 assists.

Alcardo Van Graan - 17 goals from 28 games with 10 assists is another great return. It should be noted that he didn't score for until the 7th league game of the season and he only got 1 in 9 at the end of the season.

Mothusi Gopane - Mothusi was given the captaincy for the season which as a loan player must say something. He managed to chip in with 14 goals and 15 assists from 26 league games. I've also managed to persuade him to sign a permanent deal with us for next season as his contract with Supersport United was coming to an end.

Future

I've really enjoyed this season and I'm hoping the board come back with their contract renewal talks. With a couple of weeks to go they were getting slightly worried with how squad harmony was dropping. The league win has helped that somewhat and it's back over 50%. There will be a few changes at the club over the summer but I'm going to have to be shrewd with my signings as the board have given me the initial budgets and the wage budget has dropped from the current season.