FM16 - From Rags to Riches......Hopefully!

A bit of background on the save

Hello there ladies and gentlemen. I have never done a career update thread before so don't be too harsh, although I will always welcome constructive criticism. Basically I started a blog a few months ago and have written two posts on it to do with my football manager story but because of life and a few things that got in the way I didn't have time to update as regularly as I would have liked. I initially wanted it to be a story as you will see with the first two posts but after thinking about it I have decided to make it monthly updates on my progress so I am actually able to play the game.

Career Aims

• Win the top division in N.B I realise there is a lot of leagues there and I may not end up doing them all if it is taking a while but I do want to manage in most of them especially different countries in different continents like USA, China, Australia and Brazil.
  
  
• To follow on from the first point I won't be taking charge of teams like Man City, Bayern, Real Madrid, PSG etc. I will be looking for teams that don't have much history so I can create something for the fans.
  
• In each country I will always have a large % of my team made up of players from that nation to create an identity.
  
• Win the Champions League with an underdog i.e Mourinho - Porto.
  
• Become the most successful manager in the world.
  
• Win the World Cup, European Championship and Copa America.
  
• To eventually come back home for my last years in management and make my local team Barnsley a major force in Europe and the world.
  

Managerial Ideals and Philosophies

• I don't have a single managerial style and may go from focusing on clean sheets and defensive stability in one job to open attacking football in another.
  
• I do though, have a way of managing that means I only ever buy players that are 24 and under as I believe youth and potential to be the way forward. I MAY MAKE THIS A RULE THROUGHOUT MY CAREER!
  
  
• Always, always, always give the youth a chance that come through the academy if they have potential, there's nothing supporters like more than one of their own in the starting XI lifting trophies.
  

If anyone has any questions or thoughts or even things they would like to see in a career thread that they would find interesting and/or haven't seen yet then let me know and i'll see what I can do as it is for you lovely peoples benefit as well as mine.

A link to my blog is here if anyone is even remotely interested : https://crossingthatwhiteline.wordpress.com/

The Journey Begins

I've only played Sunday League football and although I have had a few bad injuries, I have played in a few academies when I was youngster. My real passion is being a manager, I think deep down it always has been so without any coaching badges just yet I packed my stuff and set about trying to find myself some low profile manager job to make my name in the game.

Only been a week into my job search and i've been turned down for 4 jobs already with people looking to give people with experience another chance rather than me, a new kid on the block. Not to worry though i'll keep going in the hope that one club owner wants to give someone like me, a chance.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, my names Pat Lyons, the chairman at Cork City. I have come across your application and am interested in going down a different route of a youthful manager with new, fresh ideas and want to invite you to an interview this Thursday at 5pm before I leave the office."

"It's brilliant to hear from you Mr. Lyons and I would be honoured to come down to the club for an interview."

"I'll see you Thursday then Lewis, good night."

"Night to you also, Mr. Lyons, see you Thursday."

I was as excited as I think i've ever been. Felt like a 6 year old me at Christmas in when I had just unwrapped my first ever pair of Blue Puma King football boots. I can remember that day as vividly as ever and i'm sure in 20 years I will remember this one as clearly.

Thursday was only two days away and I had to get out of this hotel and up to the Republic of Ireland in time. Right time to get off Football Manager and make this dream a reality.

So I arrived in Cork city centre and checked into hotel Imperial. I got an early night as I had to be at my sharpest tomorrow.

Not done much today, woke up at 9 o'clock in the hope of having a tour around the city for the best case scenario that I become the new boss at the local football club. 5 o'clock soon came around so I put my best suit and tie on and armed with my weapons in the shape of plans I had for the football club I made my way to the Turner Cross stadium.

His first question was the obvious one really given my circumstances.

"You have never managed a football team before. Why is that and why should I overlook that fact?"

I knew this was coming as I had prepared and had my answer ready.

"I have been waiting for the right opportunity to take my first steps into football management and I believe this great club to be that."

He looked surprised but impressed by my answer and that gave me confidence. Pat then asked me a question that he probably needed to ask me, more than what he wanted to ask.

"The club would be looking for a candidate capable of performing to our expected standards across multiple competitions. Are you confident of handling that better than our previous manager?"

Now this wasn't a right or wrong answer as the only answer was "Yes". Otherwise what was the point in me being here wasting Mr. Lyons' time if I wasn't confident in my own abilities and philosophies? In hindsight I think he was looking for how I answered rather than the actual answer.

"I am very confident of achieving every single target asked of me. I have watched these players' in a few games now online and in person and the ability and potential is there, it is just a case of realising both and harnessing it on the pitch so the people of Cork go home happy every Saturday evening."

He gave a wry smile as if to try not give anything away but I caught it and it made me smile too. We seemed to be at ease speaking to each other which was refreshing and was only going to be a positive sign if I managed to convince him to offer me that contract.

"Lewis, the club is also looking for a manager that is comfortable working with limited resources, are you that manager?"

"I certainly am, I am a massive believer in young, hungry players with passion and determination to better themselves and those players are ones that are often on lower wages. The older, more veteran players that most managers go for as the "safe" option and more often than not it turns out that they are just there for one last payday and aren't totally committed to the cause. To that end, with a lower wage bill full of talent and youth we can use money left over for improvements on infrastructure and build a football club not just a team that can dominate for years to come."

We went over a few things regarding staff and I intimated that the club didn't need wholesale changes and that better training methods and tactics would bring in results and confidence and we shook hands and I left feeling cautiously optimistic that my phone would ring with an offer from Mr. Lyons.

As you will learn about me I am a stickler for preparation and just in case I didn't get the job at Cork I was still looking around for other manager roles.

I must of impressed Pat as the very next day he told me the job was mine if I wanted it, of course I did he was willing to give me a chance and I was very grateful for that. Now I just needed to get out on that pitch and show him what a good decision he had made!

The facilities were decent, good at best, what I was expecting really. We had the basis to do good things and I was told our youth recruitment was at an extensive level which excited me as my style of managing is based on integrating young players into the first team and getting them to realise their potential.

The stadium was good too for a club our size I took a picture too from when I went to watch. I got myself a good seat.

My first game in charge is an FAI cup quarter-final away against Wexford Youths and they're in the division below which means nothing in cup competitions as we all know. I've had the players lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation on the training ground and set up our set piece routines in the hope they get us a few points.

I had 1 of my players in my office this morning regarding a move to a 'bigger club' despite no clubs being interested in him, which is precisely what I said to him and he accepted it. If a team finally shows interest John we'll re-visit this particular chat mate. Just between me and you though, he is a really good player and our current captain so i'm glad no-one has enquired.

Very busy first day but i'm brimming with excitement at starting my career in Ireland.

Night.

As this was originally going to be a story and I don't have enough time to play as it is never mind write I thought i'd break it down to monthly updates rather than my first two posts.

My first month in charge has been a weird one really. These are the results :

To put some context on them the 2-2 draw against Bray was disappointing as they are second from bottom.

The win against Longford was the opposite as they are 3rd in the league which was promising.

The loss against Derry was gauling as we dominated and got hit on the counter attack in the last 10 minutes. They are a place behind me.

October

What a month! Think my players are starting to get used to my formation and tactics. The best win was against Dundalk who ran away with the league. Shamrock finished second which was another fantastic result.

The season has drawn to a close, the league looks like this.

6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in my first 8 games is very encouraging. I think I have the players to get into the top 3 european spots. I have a cup final to play next against Derry City. Hopefully my first silverware of my career.

Impressive start.

Just finished my first cup final and it was a very tight game that wouldn't of excited the neutrals. The bottom line is we WON, 1-0!!!! The winning goal scored by my best attacking player Karl Sheppard. Came in off the left flank and smashed it past the goalkeeper. 1 moment of magic all game and we lifted the cup.

Got a very welcome message that I didn't think I would get.

I know it's only the first round but hopefully it will increase both mine and Cork Citys reputation. The extra money will help massively too.

Roll on next season.

So after a few incomings and a few outgoings my first full season as a fledgling manager is upon us. I have sought to use the loan market as I was given no transfer budget but a little bit of wiggle room in the wage budget which was pleasing. My first port of call was making sure I kept hold of my own players that were in their last year with us. Thankfully every single one of them renewed, with only one or two wanting a slight pay rise which was encouraging.

Transfers

Starting from top to bottom.

George Higgins - Found this lad on the free agent list. He's young, my coaches say he has potential but his low natural fitness means he will never be a regular. Starting the season as back up defensive midfielder.

James Pearson - The son of former Leicester manager Nigel was plying his trade at Barnet. I spotted his contract was running out and snapped him up. Very versatile and is back up RB and 4th choice CB.

Callum O'Dowda - Whilst scouring the loan list I came across Callum. Another young player capable of playing in a multitude of positions with an added bonus of being Irish and even having U21 caps. Backup LM at the moment.

Jack Payne - Another loanee from league one club Southend. I wanted a mobile, technical front man and he more than fits the bill. Starting striker.

Corentin Jacob - Before I had joined the club Cork had Ligue 2 team Brest as an affiliated club so I travelled over the channel to see what talent they had. They had this lad who is my best defender at only 19 years of age. High hopes.

Bryan Pele - Obviously not quite as good as his surname namesake but Bryan is probably the best attacking player in the league attribute wise which is exciting. He was another that caught my eye on my trip to France.

Matty Foulds - The last loanee to join was young Everton lad Mr. Foulds. He's gone straight in to LB which has freed me up to play my first choice LB from last year in central midfield which has only helped the team.

Pre-Season

I arranged some lower league opposition to gain fitness, confidence and to instill a winning mentality. I have made sure to avoid complacency in team talks both mid-match and post match.

Starting the season

We had the Irish version of the community shield and we were up against the runaway champions from last year. I knew it was going to be tough and after a very tight affair we went into extra time at 0-0. From then on we dominated and took our chances. We did deserve to win the game but it was nice to see debutant Jack Payne score two goals in 6 minutes. Sign of things to come? Hopefully.

So two trophies in only a matter of months for me at Cork City is very pleasing. Not a massive cup win but they all count. Let's try and win the one that counts this season which is the league.

We start of the season in a week and these are our fixtures for the first month. Aiming to start unbeaten and progress in the cups. Fingers crossed.

First match of the season and I may have the assist of the season.

Wait for it......

Don't see many FMCU journeymen start in Ireland.

Good going. How do you think starting the Europa League mid-season will affect things?

Don't see many FMCU journeymen start in Ireland.

Good going. How do you think starting the Europa League mid-season will affect things?

Thanks for reading mate, appreciate it a lot.

On the Europa league, I think it could be good simply because in most European countries the qualifiers are pre-season which means tactical familiarity is usually not 100%. Hopefully I can take advantage of that and that my players are fully fit.

Of course on the flip side my league matches will sandwich the European games so if they are just 3 days apart I may have to rest some players in the league and see how far I can compete in Europe. (Probably not that far ).

I was quietly optimistic starting the season and I felt we could have a good go at the title if all went well and we avoided injuries to key players.

Wow better than I had expected. We managed to keep 6 clean sheets as well which I never even thought about. I even got the steam achievement for 5 games in a row. (Can tell i've not played many seasons in this FM). Our keeper kept the clean sheets intact with a great penalty save against Derry City when we were 1-0 up. Hopefully this run can continue, wish us luck.

So after those results this is the current league table :

Dundalk have gone one better than us, won all their games and haven't conceded either. They ran away with the league last season and I knew they would be the team to beat this season so a bit gutted they haven't dropped any early points. April is going to be a hectic month as we have 9 games in a month with games every 3-4 days.

So somehow 7 out of the 9 games are at home which I think is a good thing. Hoping we can get further in the Munster Senior Cup. Obviously as you can see the away match at Dundalk is going to be the biggest test of the season. That will tell me where we are this season and if my tactics will be stand up.

With the hectic month over, all didn't go to plan. It started out plain sailing and then we came up against two teams that sat back and countered us effectively late in the game. This is my first red flag and it's an issue i'm very keen to address as the season pans out.

We aren't conceding many goals which is good but in a few games, especially the two losses and the following 0-0 against Finn Harps we were doing everything but score and sometimes struggling to break through very stern defences.

The crunch match against Dundalk was one that was going brilliantly, we scored in the first half and passed the ball about well. Things went even better when their captain made a two footed lunge on our central midfielder and went for an early bath in the 75th minute. We had them camped in their own half until the 90th minute where the ball broke at the edge of the box and their right winger scored from 20 yards and robbed us of all 3 points. Gutted.

We progressed well in the cups and we're into another final against a team in the first division which is the league below us.

As you can see those two losses were really damaging and not only have Dundalk opened up a bit of a lead over us but it's allowed St Pat's Athletic into the title running as well.

At the other end of the table it's safe to say Aston Villa *cough* Bray Wanderers are doing well.

(Sorry Villa fans)

Looking forward to May these are our upcoming fixtures.

So no matches against the other title rivals and hopefully a few tactical switches to release a few shackles and score a few more goals is needed.

So remember when I said that thing about trying to improve our attacking play? Ermmm....

Yeahhh it didn't happen. I don't know what I was expecting to happen but I have decided to keep to my original tactic and hope the players gel more in the second half of the season. Who am I kidding? Chants of "1-0 to the Cork City" are starting to surface around Turner Cross stadium.

My alternate tactic which is a 4-4-1-1 looks more attacking and I may switch to that a few times in games if a goal is needed.

Losing to Shamrock twice in a month isn't good albeit one was technically a draw and then a lottery. I know most managers say this but at the end of matches i'm having 60%+ possession in every game and around 3-4 clear cut chances and only scoring 1 at a time whereas other teams are scoring from half chances. I may need better forwards.

Dundalk are starting to pull away which is starting to worry me slightly although not too much just yet. Surely someone will beat them soon. They've been losing a few times this month in the latest scores tab only to pull it back and either draw or win so hopefully soon.

Mid-season in Ireland like some will know is when most European teams' players are becoming free agents. I have my eye on a few that would improve the team without compromising our wage bill so if they come off I may be able to catch Dundalk. The Europa league will start soon too which may give us some money for a few things.

Just the 3 games this month and one massive one sandwiched between two teams that are close to the bottom. The aim realistically is to win all 3 as we have the squad to. I just somehow need to become more potent in the last third.

Also guys who are reading as I have a few views but no comments. If there is anything I am missing that you want to see just let me know. This is my first attempt at this so I could be either doing it wrong or providing a lack of info. Much appreciated.

What a way to retain the cup and make it two cup wins this season already and 3 in total as a manager.

We were brilliant from start to finish.

So the Europa LEague 1st round qualifying draw was kind to me....

Worst draw I could of got. On the plus side if we manage to fluke past the Israeli's then we play either Cliftonville of Northern Ireland or an Icelandic team which is very winnable. Park the bus it is then.

Well, your attack finally woke up against Waterford

That's not the kindest of Europa draws...

Very good read so far, looking forward to reading more.

Well, your attack finally woke up against Waterford

They certainly did Delta. Let's hope they stay awake, i've bought them all some rockstar energy drinks to help with this Europa League tie.

That's not the kindest of Europa draws...

No it's not mate. I've noticed you haven't been getting kind draws either with San Giovanni. You'd think the FM gods would smile on us at some point.

Very good read so far, looking forward to reading more.

Thanks michael for the kind words, and to Delta and Jupjamie too. They're always appreciated and make it worth doing. I decided yesterday as well that i'm going to turn down unrealistic job offers and get to the top very, very gradually. More chance of me failing then and the threads where people aren't always successful are the best ones I find.

It's time! Come on lads!

Kavanagh slides the ball across the box and Sheppard puts the ball right in the corner with a brilliant finish! The travelling Cork City fans are delirious!

O'DOWDAAAAA!!!! OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING! What a finish from the tightest of angles after skinning two Maccabi defenders down that left hand side!

They honestly haven't had a shot on target in the first half an hour. We are battering them somehow. All their players are superior to ours but our Irish heroes are showing them what hard work and spirit can do.

46 minutes in and the Isreali's have obviously had a kick up the arse. But WHAT A SAVE from McNulty. He's kept them out from point blank.

It's full time in Israel after quite an uneventful second half as i'd hoped and we have come away 2-0 winners with 2 away goals.

I especially like the first line as i'm trying to build a young talented team. So surprising given the attributes on some of their players could of played in the Champions League group stages.

In our quest to reel in the defending champions we had as good a month as we could hope for capped off by probably the best performance i've had on this FM.

We only had 1 league game as you can see but we won it convincingly. As delta said before our attack woke up and stayed woke up which i'm hoping with an important month ahead can keep going. I only made one change which was to remove the 'retain possession' instruction which seems to have sped up our play going forward and managed to disorganise other teams with quicker passing.

Ignore the friendlies as they were against non-league teams to improve fitness of our back up players. Another cup win as well which is always welcome.

A lot of league games which if truth be told i'm glad to get back to as we look to get top spot. I've purposely left our the league table this month as we only had one game last month and it's basically the same other than we are 3 points closer to Dundalk as they didn't play a game last month.

Just a quick update regarding two new signings. It's the end of the season in the other European leagues and many top teams are releasing their youngsters that won't quite make the grade and that is the jackpot for teams like us.

So we found two new players from West Ham and Liverpool which i'm looking forward to developing.

Josh as you can tell by his picture is from the prestigious West Ham academy and again as you can see he is Irish which is also a massive plus. He will be coming off the bench into central midfield until he's fit and then he will become a starter thereafter. He's on a hot prospect contract so I need to get him tutored straight away to imrpove his personality.

Alex is from the Liverpool academy and is another young Irish lad with potential. We are stacked with midfielders so he is being re-trained to left back which will give us another option back there after a nasty injury to our first choice CB that ended his season. He also needs tutoring.

Another 4 new lads have come through the door at Turners Cross stadium and in danger of clogging up the thread and making it slow to load for 'all' my viewers i'll just leave links to the players as i'm nice like that.

James Graham - James will be back up to start with and he came from the other top club in merseyside. He has a bit of developing to do but is our first choice back up if something should happen to our current CB's. Another one that needs tutoring. He's also a Welsh U19 player which proves he has something.

Dion Conroy - Dion has just been let go by European heavyweights Chelsea and has a lot of potential. He has pace which is a massive bonus for a centre back. He needs work on his positioning and will become our first choice next season if i'm still here.

James Weir - Comes in from Manchester United and isn't a master of any role just yet but has a lot of potential and fits in with our type of player we're trying to sign. If any of you has watched Man Utd recently you'll notice the picture is Fosu-Mensah the defender who has been playing for the first team.

Harry Charsley - Another youngster from Everton and another Irishman to add to our contingent. He's the least ready for first team football out of all our new signings but with a lot of stats around the 8/9 mark a bit of training and game time he will become a very rounded midfielder.

So 5 new young players in. 3 Irish, 1 Welsh and 2 English. Keeping most of the squad homegrown with a few from the United Kingdom.

It's time to finish the job.

1-0 20 SECONDS IN! I'm speechless. First attack and our lone striker hits an unerring finish from a tight angle into the far corner giving their keeper absolutely no chance.

WE ARE RAMPANT! 2-0 after half an hour again and they can't get near us. I'm watching as a fan as surely this can't be my tactics. They now need 5!

Consolation goal from Haifa and it finishes 2-1.

We play semi-pro Cliftonville in 7 days.

The game has been put on TV so i'm hoping I get a bit of cash. Not holding out much hope though.

Quick question guys if anyone knows. When you're playing in the Europa League when is it that you start earning money? Group stages? We're losing money at the minute so i'm keen to address this.

Harry Willard - Another signing and this time he's from Southampton. Very low wage and hot prospect squad status means he's a very able back-up on both wings with a lot of potential for this level.

We are seeded for the draw which is brilliant and my preference is Fjolnir or Dacia. Both aren't as good as Haifa on paper. Brondby or Heerenveen would be very hard.

So who did we get?

Drum roll........

GET IN THERE! Hopefully we can get past Cliftonville and to the groups and earn some serious money.

With the Europa league games coming thick and fast our league fixtures again took a back seat and apart from a few were all re-arranged for later on in the season. We faced Cliftonville in the 2nd qualifying rounds and here's how we did.

A professional job in the first was followed by a boring 0-0 draw which I will take all day long. I was very excited to see who we would get in the 3rd round and it turned out to be Dacia. I didn't know who they were so I had a quick look. They are a Moldovan team who haven't got much silverware so i'm assuming they aren't a top, top team in Moldova but a few of their players were better than mine so it could go either way.

The first leg was at home and I was a bit apprehensive and the first half proved me right. We went 2-0 down and i'm sat thinking, "We've comfortably beaten Maccabi Haifa and now we're going to throw it all away." When the players got in the dressing room I gave them the hairdryer treatment and told some of them individually, in no uncertain terms that they weren't performing to the standards that I and the fans expect.

We roared back in the second half to claim a 2-2 draw. I'm not happy about the result but from where we were after 45 minutes I have to take it and hope we can nick a few away goals at their ground.

We had another unbeaten month which is very pleasing but the Dacia game was the one I was most unhappy about obviously. Conceding two away goals isn't ideal.

Onto the League and we played two games this month and won both convincingly. Especially Longford who we just battered and scored 4 second half goals in 13 minutes to go 6-0 up. Me being me was unhappy about the late goal we conceded as I pride myself on clean sheets but i'll let them off.

Just before I came to do this update top of the league Dundalk had a league match against rock bottom Bray Wanderers and this happened :

Never saw it coming but a very very pleasing result. It is Dundalks first loss of the season and has given me some renewed hope of catching them. I'll post the league table below and the matches for next month but because of our forays in Europe we have a few games in hand over some teams.

We can go two points behind Dundalk with a match against them coming up so fingers crossed by the time the final whistle has been blown in that match we are 1 point ahead of them but at the minute it's wishful thinking. Our defence as you can see remains very solid and 6 goals conceded in 19 games is better than I thought it would be.

This is our next month and our matches against Dundalk have been re-arranged that many times we play them twice in 3 days in the league the month after this so that will be the defining month.

Absolutely gutted!

We couldn't deal with their crossing. I think a draw would of been a fairer result but we didn't deal with it and didn't do enough to win the game. We just didn't seem to mark them when crosses were coming in and they scored two late goals because of it. Our own faults after some good results. Maybe next year.

Such a shame about Dacia. I thought you might be able to get past them.

Such a shame about Dacia. I thought you might be able to get past them.

Me too mate. We just seemed to not turn up and threw it away. Really disappointing. Slightly on the plus side they drew FC Kobenhavn in the playoff and got battered in the first leg with the second yet to be played. We would of been handed the same treatment.

A near perfect month of August, blighted by losing the most important game with a poor performance.

We seem to be pretty comfortable in the league at the moment. Going to show you the league table and why august has been such a pivotal one this season.

What a turnaround, Dundalk seem to have imploded this month. Look at their last month.

September is coming up and we have a crunch match against rivals Dundalk that i'm looking forward to. We're going to be playing Monday-Friday the entire month so the whole squad is going to be needed.

Not the best but at least we had a few worth signing. When I got the message through about the new youth players it said,

but he isn't even the highest potential player my coaches say so I have high hopes for Graham Knox even though he doesn't look outstanding attributes wise.

Graham Knox

Colin Condon

Gareth Fennelly

Peter McNulty

Not sure how i've just lost this but I did.

Should of seen the goal as well. 35 yards from their striker.

Oh no, just played a game and literally my three best and most important players are all injured for at least 3-4 weeks. Might be in for a few losses now.

EDIT : And another to another first teamer. Change of formation needed.

Unlucky to lose to Dacia, but that was a great run in Europe.

I've just had a meeting with the board and after they had reduced my wage budget because we were losing money each month I asked them for an increase and they agreed. I also asked for the youth coaching to be upgraded and they told me it wasn't going to happen so I said I can't sign a contract then. I may stay with Cork as I have brought in a lot of young players and want to develop them.

If we manage to win the league we will qualify for the Champions League which is also tempting so we'll see.

Unlucky to lose to Dacia, but that was a great run in Europe.

Thanks man, I did think we would beat them after the two terrific performances against Maccabi Haifa. I just saw your matches against Dinamo and you're definitely getting closer. They're the best team in Croatia which is impressive.

As September passed, injuries decimated 4 of my first eleven and with squad depth a bit stretched in terms of quality in the Irish top division it was a hard month.

First we struggled against a poor Waterford team and in the entirety of both games they had 3 shots on target and watched as we squandered chance after chance.

When we came up against Bray Wanderers they have been rock bottom all season and it was fairly routine and we took our chances. The game after against Shamrock was more even than I would have liked as they played very well and a draw was probably the fair result.

Longford and Derry City were real struggles and we scraped through both without losing somehow. The Derry City match was a hard one and we were lucky not to lose.

Our luck ran out against St. Pat's as they were way too clinical in the 18 yard box and without a striker I was forced to put a central midfielder up front and it didn't work.

The league table isn't the best as we failed to capitalise on Dundalk's poor form in the last month.

With 4 games to go and two of them against Dundalk i'll be getting 3 of my 5 first team players back for the second clash. The first one i'm just going to have to hope and pray because if we lose that's it, I doubt we can catch them. If we can take a draw off them it might come down to the penultimate game of the season against them unless either I or them drop points against other teams in the interim.

The final 4 matches are coming up and us and Dundalk are fighting it out for the title. Our first game was against the arch rivals and without 2-3 of our best players I just wanted a draw in all honesty with a hope of beating them in the second game.

As the title suggests we were lucky to escape with a point and we rushed back to Cork waiting on the injured to return.

The next match was against Galway and Dundalk were playing 3rd place Shamrock Rovers which gave me hope.

We drew 1-1 thanks to a late equaliser and I thought we had blown it until.....

Dundalk were 1-0 up when I checked and I just thought they would go on to win it as they usually do but no, good old Shamrock did us one massive, huge favour in our search for silverware.

Our must win match and the most important of my short career up to now was next and we welcomed back another one of our top players and....

YESSSSS!!!!!!! We did it! Once we went 1-0 down I thought the worst but we roared back with 3 goals and they made us worry with a late consolation but we held out like heroes!

So it's in our hands for the last game and we're against 10th placed Finn Harps whilst Dundalk take on Derry City. As long as do our job then we're good.

CHAMPIONES, CHAMPIONES, CHAMPIONES, OLE OLE OLE!

Dundalk raced into a 2-0 lead and I knew I HAD to win! The game was petering out into a 0-0 and I had to something. I changed a few roles and told them to hassle in an attempt to catch them out disorganised and it worked, as a 30 yard defence splitting ball from our central midfielder sent our left midfielder racing through on goal and his composure was ice cold as he slid it underneath the goalkeeper. We then won a late penalty and his coolness showed again.

Final league table :

Just realised Cork hadn't won the title since 2005.

We also qualified for the Champions League.

I've only won 4 trophies and was put in the Ireland managers hall of fame.

Just got through my initial budgets for next season and although we weren't given any transfer budget our wage budget has been tripled to 29.5k which is promising.

Firstly our transfers. We had a lot of incomings and a lot of outgoings. Most of the incomings were young back up players with potential and most of our outgoings were fringe players, older players or youth players that were never going to make the grade as I tried to completely clear the decks.

The main signings who played massive parts in our season were,

Callum O'Dowda came in as our first loan player and until the last two months of the season was one of our top players. He was fantastic in our Europa League qualifying run and also in the league. He provided a lot of chances from that left hand side and if I stay here he will be one I look at bringing back.

Corentin Jacob from our parent club Brest who suffered a nasty injury halfway through the season so only played until around the end of May. He was key to us making a good start.

Bryan Pele who, again came from our parent club along with Corentin. He did get a bad injury near the end of the season but his form and performances when he was fit were key, especially the final two goals of the season when we really needed them to win the title.

Matty Foulds who came in from Everton on loan. He's a tall lad for a left back and that's where he started the season but a bad injury to our French centre half above meant he needed to shuffle inside and he never put a foot wrong. Very fast too.

Our squad list looked like this at the end of the season.....

Our starting XI (usually) was as follows :-

GK - Mark McNulty - I can sum this man up in one sentence. 'He got more clean sheets than goals conceded' Enough said.

DR - John Kavanagh - Right winger at RB, class act.

DC - John Dunleavy - Captain fantastic.

DC - Corentin Jean/Matty Foulds - As mentioned above our French CB got a bad injury months into the season so our starting LB had to move across.

DL - Kevin O'Connor - Started in CM but we needed another LB so Kevin went back there and was world class both attacking and defending.

DM - Greg Bolger - Our 'hard man' at DM as you can see from the screenshot got a ratio of 1 yellow card for every two games he played but never a red card which I think says a lot about how influential he was. Not afraid to stick a foot in, brilliant.

RM - Bryan Pele - This guy is probably the best player at the club but niggling injuries interrupted was still was an amazing season. He came inside and went past players for dead which at times was Ben Arfa-esque with that left foot.

CM - Gavan Holohan - Our attacking central midfielder was immense at getting into the box and getting his fair share of goals and assists. Very under-rated by my coaches but when he was missing it showed.

CM - Georoid Morrissey - Jack of all trades man but always put in solid or good performances. Rarely dipped below a 7 and became a vital part of the team.

LM - Callum O'Dowda - Our left winger loved the big matches and produced assists, goals or both in many of the big occasions. Bad injury stopped his season and we got worse after it.

ST - Karl Sheppard - Our top scorer and most influential player. He came deep, he linked up play and was usually in the box at the end of moves either putting it in the net himself or putting it on a plate for others.

Other mentions/back-up players.

Garry Buckley - Deputised well in most roles in midfield when we had injuries or players needed resting. Started a fair few games as well which showed our depth in that area.

Stephen Dooley - Played on either wing and came in seamlessly when we got injuries to both our wide men.

This was nice to win as I thought maybe Dundalks manager may of won it for some reason.

The player of the year went to Dundalks RB as opposed to ours who had a better average rating.

To say we are the champions we only get 1 player in the team of the year which is ridiculous.

For a start our GK had the most clean sheets by far, our striker scored more goals than both the strikers and a better average rating. No idea how that gets selected.

Nice to see the U19 players we got on a free were keeping their match fitness up by winning matches for the U19's and the cup at the end of it.

I only have 2 months left on my contract and the board have refused my demands twice so far. I have only asked for the junior coaching to be upgraded and got told no twice. Keeping my eyes on the job openings but nothing of interest at the moment.

Well done winning a great title race.

Well done winning a great title race.

Thanks delta, not sure if i'm staying or going at the moment. I'm signing players as if i'm going to stay but if something opens up maybe in another continent I may take it.

Well done winning the title.

Well done winning the title.

Thank you for the kind words Elvar . Well done to you too on cracking Scandinavia and good luck with the Champions League. I'm sure you will do it. Before I started my thread I read through all yours in one sitting and it was a very good read.

Cork City|Pre-Season|2017

I still haven't agreed a contract yet but i've brought in a lot of new players and got rid of a few as well as we lacked depth last season when injuries hit us hard. I feel we have a much better squad now to deal with everything. These are the new guys so far. If I can get a few more out we may see some more coming in. We need to well and truly oust Dundalk off their perch and make it a 1 horse race.

Dylan Burns

Andy Boyle

Dylan Connolly

Ryan Connelly

Connor Smith

Brandon Miele

Ismahil Akinade

Jim Campbell

Juho Grahn

Frank Mulhern

It's only a friendly but the new guy is settling in okay.

2017|Starting the Season|Cork City

Most of the games were against lower league opposition so ignore the scorelines they're not impressive. The Teplice and Hamilton results were impressive in my opinion as both of their teams players are better than ours.

Transfers

The top 5 players came from other Irish clubs so hopefully as we have strengthen they are weaker. I do think we will win the title this year and the board are also insistent we do. I have linked the transfers and their attributes in a post above in case anyone is curious.

We start the season against 3rd tier Avondale that is a small team based in Cork so a bit of a rival goegraphically. Following that we have the President's cup which is the league winner against the FAI cup winner.

We start the league season in earnest the month after as we try to retain the league and get off to the best possible start.

It's only a friendly but the new guy is settling in okay.

I'll say! He looks unbelievable for this level.