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[FM10] The fool wanders, the wise man travels


iacovone

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Stay on another year! You're building something great, improving the reputation of your club, which might help soften the Chairman's heart and let you continue building instead of selling off assets. It's the life of a non-Elite club manager, the constant build/rebuild/build/rebuild as players pass through.

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Well iacovone, if you wanna leave, then leave. Canada is a nice country, with free health care (well there's free health care in Toronto and the province of Ontario :p), 3 years for foreigners to get citizenship, and players actually want to stay there for once. :D

And it always good to move to a new club on a high note. Whatever you do, best of luck whether with the Clever Boys or some other high profile club. :thup:

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Well iacovone, if you wanna leave, then leave. Canada is a nice country, with free health care (well there's free health care in Toronto and the province of Ontario :p), 3 years for foreigners to get citizenship, and players actually want to stay there for once. :D

And it always good to move to a new club on a high note. Whatever you do, best of luck whether with the Clever Boys or some other high profile club. :thup:

Cheers rancer.

For those that aren't aware of the Toronto link, I mentioned in rancer's thread that I'd applied for the Toronto FC job, just to see what my standing is. Still not heard back from them.

January is arriving and I'm lining up three excellent signings. It'll come to about £2m total but its about time I splashed the cash the chairman is hoarding! I'm now in limbo again - leaning towards another year now that I have Champions League football in the bag. Guess I'll wait and see what Toronto say.

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Iacovone completely fails to spot my take on Kaiser Chief's song in relation to Kaizer Chiefs beating him in the final.

That or he ignored it. :(

Trust me, I plain ignored it :p. Good one though :thup:, I like your random comments

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December Info Time

Well its been a great month. We're back on track in the league, just a point off top place Orlando Pirates. Kaizer Chiefs are level with us. The kids are playing very well alongside the older guard.

So first off, Toronto didn't give me the job :thdn:. Carlos Bocanegra takes his first ever coaching position there.

Secondly, Edwin Ndlovu signed a new contract til 2018 :).

Thirdly club captain Sibande signed a new contract too! This came out of the blue as I expected to lose him.

Basically I think our reputation has been boosted following our CL exploits. This is such great news that I can keep two of the most important players at the club. I'm happy again :D

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Job Offer:

Just got approached by North Queensland Fury :eek:. Strange one this. They are owned by a South African consortium which is quite cool as it shows there is some reasonably good AI going on here with managerial choices. They've looked back at SA and picked me as their next manager. Though at the moment it doesn't appeal to me - I want to stay here for another year at least and am not prepared to sign a contract for the end of the season either. Nice to know I'm being recognised though!

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Job Offer:

Just got approached by North Queensland Fury :eek:. Strange one this. They are owned by a South African consortium which is quite cool as it shows there is some reasonably good AI going on here with managerial choices. They've looked back at SA and picked me as their next manager. Though at the moment it doesn't appeal to me - I want to stay here for another year at least and am not prepared to sign a contract for the end of the season either. Nice to know I'm being recognised though!

Whats your Rep now Iac ?

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Its continental :cool:

Though that is only in Africa. Still, I'm looking for an international job in Africa once the African Nations finishes. Think I should have a chance. Then I can combine it with Bidvest Wits whilst I continue my aim to win the African CL

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Its continental :cool:

Though that is only in Africa. Still, I'm looking for an international job in Africa once the African Nations finishes. Think I should have a chance. Then I can combine it with Bidvest Wits whilst I continue my aim to win the African CL

:( National.

Its a good rep so you should now see people wanting you to manage them, KUTGW

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Cheers buddy. Hopefully so. I put the feelers out to Toronto but that failed. But then North Queensland Fury approached me. My contract at Bidvest expires in 6 months but I like signing 1 year contracts, it makes me more attainable to other clubs. As ever I'll keep you posted on any developments :)

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Cheers buddy. Hopefully so. I put the feelers out to Toronto but that failed. But then North Queensland Fury approached me. My contract at Bidvest expires in 6 months but I like signing 1 year contracts, it makes me more attainable to other clubs. As ever I'll keep you posted on any developments :)

Same, altough I just signed 2yr extension on 3k a week :cool:

I dont know how I get such good wages :o What are you earning now ?

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Job Application and Offer:

The Los Angeles Galaxy job became available and I applied for it. They got back to me offering a transfer budget of £7m and a wage budget of £94k p/w. They are also offering me £5,500 p/w for two years, a massive £4k more than I earn now. I tried to negotiate and get them to wait until the end of the SA season but unsurprisingly they wanted me for the beginning of the impending March season.

This is a bit of a tough one. On one hand its a dream job, I've wanted to go to the MLS for a while and I specifically wanted a west coast job - and this is pretty much the biggest of the lot. The wage is also fantastic. Based on these reasons I want to go.

However at the Clever Boys I still feel like we can go and win more trophies. However the league looks unattainable this year, Orlando Pirates are too strong. Plus the ACL doesn't complete for nearly 9 months down the line. I do love the players I have here, some of the kids will be great a few years down the line. Should I stay with them? Hmmm. :confused:.

I welcome any and all input on this decision before I make my final decision. I'm saving the game there and leaving it til the morning. :thup: or :thdn:?

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Oooh, a tough one. Would you always wonder how far you could've taken the Clever Boys if you leave? If you feel you can still take them further (which you say you can) i'd say stay; if you've taken them as far as you can then go. Just my opinion of course :D.

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Go imo.

If the players are good enough then bring them with you.

Thats alot of money to spend and alot for yourself. Did you get a new agent then ?

It was you IIRC ;).

iacovone, what are you waiting for?!?! Accept the offer and board the next plane to LAX now! :D

Appreciate the input rancer.

Oooh, a tough one. Would you always wonder how far you could've taken the Clever Boys if you leave? If you feel you can still take them further (which you say you can) i'd say stay; if you've taken them as far as you can then go. Just my opinion of course.
I'm inclined to agree with Raware.

Cheers chaps. Raware playing Devil's Advocate just made the decision a lot harder :o. To be honest I think getting to the CL final will probably be my biggest achievement here in SA. I can't see it being repeated. The league is a way off as Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs both have that clinical goalscorer that we need.

A club can always be taken further. It's just a matter of patience.

True. Bottom line is that I feel if I were to stay and try to take the team further I would be undercut by my chairman. There are already interested parties in my academy products, meaning I've realistically got just another season with them. They're the main reason for me to stay as I feel I'm their mentor so to speak.

Sooooo....and I can't believe I'm going to do this....LA Galaxy are REJECTED. I guess ultimately I'd feel like I have unfinished business here. I've requested a new contract at Bidvest which will keep me for another year as I give the ACL another crack. The MLS can wait for now. I don't think I'll regret staying with the Clever Boys :cool:

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I'd say a good decision. I know if I left a club without taking them to their potential (e.g. if I left Fukien in my current save knowing that I could've gone on to win more trophies) i'd of always been kicking myself. As it happens, I took them as far as I could and I moved on to my new team knowing I did everything I could at Fukien. They'll always be more offers on the table :D.

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:mad:.

My chairman. I despair. He just sold my most valuable player to Mamelodi Sundowns for £3.5m. He was club captain and had just broke the assists record in half a season :rolleyes:. Maybe I've made the wrong decision, Galaxy job has gone now...

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Yep...you shouldn't have listened to me after all. You should've taken the job ;)

:(. Just got offered the Hearts job :eek:. Guess my disasterous spell at Dundee went unnoticed! Also applied for the Nigeria job after the African Nations but they chose a homegrown coach unfortunately.

African Champions League 2016

Preliminary Round vs Academico (CPV)

Academico are from the Cape Verde Islands, and massive underdogs against my Bidvest side. This year my squad was fully registered and we completed an expected rout by defeating Academica 4-0 away from home. A convincing result and pleasingly two goals for upcoming striker Godfrey Davids.

The 2nd leg meant I put a 2nd string out and they duly delivered the right result. 8-0 to the Clever Boys and 12-0 on aggregate. The front 3 scored 7 of the goals. Delightful.

The league on the other hand has taken a dive. We've won once in 5 games now which is very disappointing. We're 4th but only just and if it doesn't pick up we could end up struggling to qualify for the continent again :thdn:.

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ACL 1st Round vs Djoliba (Mali)

We travelled to Mali for the first leg and could field a full strength side. The first half was a tame affair but we broke the deadlock through Larry Cohen just after half time. Cohen nearly made it two on 60mins but hit the bar from a header. A lovely ball by new club captain Tsepho Alexander set up Godfrey Davids for number 2 and that's how it stayed. Job done in Mali.

The 2nd leg gave me another chance to rest some players but due to our poor league result in between the two games (1-1 at home to Golden Arrows) I decided to work the players double time. We're underperforming at the moment.

Shane McCarthy scored a great curler to get us on our way before Tsepho Alexander bent a nice free kick in minutes later. Djoliba pulled one back before half time through a Devon May og. This was all the hope we gave the Malians though and by 90 minutes we'd won the tie 4-1 on aggregate. Excellent. Time for things to get more serious in the ACL.

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Wow, a lot of action in this thread since I last checked. I guess you won't be tempted by Olimpo after all. :p

Tough call with the LA job but I'm sure a similar offer will come up soon. :thup:

Good luck with making sure your choice was the right one. ;)

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iacovone, you rejected the LA Galaxy job... :(

But I really do hope you manage in the MLS sometime (only acidmonkey and I have managed in the MLS with the FM10 career threads I've been following, and MeLikeFM is diehard TFC fan), maybe San Jose would be too good of an offer to turn down? :D

In FM10, MLS is finally a playable league! Well the draft is still crap, but no more good players getting waived, and more part-exchanges are happening, and the AI manager are actually utilizing their DP slots. Fix up the draft and MLS will be good (although I would love to have expansion, that's just not going to happen). I'm having so much fun I don't want to leave New York! :D

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iacovone, you rejected the LA Galaxy job...

But I really do hope you manage in the MLS sometime (only acidmonkey and I have managed in the MLS with the FM10 career threads I've been following, and MeLikeFM is diehard TFC fan), maybe San Jose would be too good of an offer to turn down? :D

In FM10, MLS is finally a playable league! Well the draft is still crap, but no more good players getting waived, and more part-exchanges are happening, and the AI manager are actually utilizing their DP slots. Fix up the draft and MLS will be good (although I would love to have expansion, that's just not going to happen). I'm having so much fun I don't want to leave New York! :D

:o I have never even been to a match.

I'll manage in the MLS someday for you rancer :D

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I know rancer, I let you down :(. I'll definitely manage in the MLS soon. As I plan it I have the MLS mapped as my next stop. The San Jose Earthquakes job would be great but if the LA Galaxy job becomes available again I'll take it.

There's something about Bidvest Wits. Its like girlfriends. My first two clubs were just flings, I was looking for anything I could get. Bidvest Wits were the family friend's cousin I fell in love with. They're my first love and to leave her at the altar now would break hearts. I had to resist the California girl for now. I'm giving it one last try with the Clever Girl :D.

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I haven't either MeLikeFM. :o:thdn:

I tried to apply for tickets to watch TFC play the Red Bulls at BMO Field on my birthday with some mates but I found out that there are no tickets available for the next 2 years (exception of the friendlies with European/South American clubs, but they're too expensive and maybe the Canadian Championship, but I have no interest in watching a USL club)...and I'm still on the waiting list for season tickets. :(

Good luck iacovone. Would be nice for you to have some closure with the Clever Boys before moving to the American West Coast and enjoying the Californian sun. Win the African Champions League. :D

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I haven't either MeLikeFM.

I tried to apply for tickets to watch TFC play the Red Bulls at BMO Field on my birthday with some mates but I found out that there are no tickets available for the next 2 years (exception of the friendlies with European/South American clubs, but they're too expensive and maybe the Canadian Championship, but I have no interest in watching a USL club)...and I'm still on the waiting list for season tickets. :(

Good luck iacovone. Would be nice for you to have some closure with the Clever Boys before moving to the American West Coast and enjoying the Californian sun. Win the African Champions League. :D

What a great problem to have for a football club that they are turning people away.

Unfortunate for you but good for the club :D

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:mad:. Just fined a transfer listed player for getting sent off for two booking inside the first 15mins of a cup tie and I've got a mutiny on my hands. Pretty much the whole squad are annoyed at me. So out of the blue, thought we were getting on great :mad:.
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First of all some bad news; Emmanuel Emanike decided not to renew his contract with The Clever Boys and will be leaving for Algeria in the Summer. Big shame but ever since his first season he's failed to hit those heights again.

ACL 2nd Round vs Jeunesse Abidjan (Ivory Coast)

The 1st leg was at our stadium giving us the task of avoiding an away goal and snatching a win. The game itself was fairly uneventful until just after half time. Tsepho Josephs headed in from a corner and that was how it stayed. A 1-0 win is good by all accounts but we do have some hard work to do in the Ivory Coast.

The 2nd leg began superbly. Emanike in his final few games has hit a great patch of form. Here he scored an early brace to put us 3-0 up on aggregate. They pulled one back but Godfrey Davids slammed in a cut back to make it 3-1 at half time.

Tsepho Alexander scored early in the 2nd half to all but secure our passage into the Group Stage for the 2nd year running. Emanike netted his hattrick late in the game but they pulled another back. Still, it was 6-2 on aggregate so there was little to worry about. They did score a 3rd however, confirming to me that my back up keeper is not up to scratch. Emanike took care of this though getting his 4th. Final score in the tie - 7-3 to the good guys :)

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Our group draw is tough:

Al Ahly (Egypt)

ES Setif (Algeria)

Mamelodi Sundowns (SA)

The Sundowns are ahead of us in the league and are stronger this year so I expect them to do well. I'm not sure what the other two are like but Al-Ahly are traditionally a sizeable club. It'll be tough but we need to make the final.

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End of Season 2015/16

The League

Media Prediction: 5th (of 16)

Final Position: 5th|Graph

Notes: Ultimately we underperformed. This is the sad truth that has seen us finish 5th and just outside the continental qualification spots. We now need to hope that we can qualify via winning the ACL or coming 2nd to Kaizer Chiefs or the Sundowns. Basically its a long shot.

So what went wrong? Well Mr Chairman played a big part, selling 5 key players behind my back over the course of the summer. As is expected, it played havoc with my plans and especially disrupted our defence. This shows in our defensive record in the league table. We have finally settled towards the back end of the campaign but ultimately it has messed up our ambitions.

Emmanuel Emanike will be leaving the club but performed pretty well over the season. I'm hoping Godfrey Davids will be able to step into his shoes as lead man next year.

Most pleasing though were the new academy players, who were needed much sooner than expected. Raymond Campbell was the pick of the bunch contributing plenty from left wing. Kabelo Dladla looks to be a fine prospect and had an equally impressive year at the back.

Finally Shane McCarthy was nominated for Young Player of the Year and Musa Masuku deserves a mention on the right wing.

Overall though this has been a poor league campaign. I only hope we can make amends in the second half of the ACL next year.

The Cups

The season began with the Charity Cup which unfortunately ended swiftly to the Kaizer Chiefs. The Knockout Cup this year was the same story as we failed to defend it for the 3rd year running, losing surprisingly to Golden Arrows.

The Super Eight Cup looked more promising but we were roundly defeated by a strong Sundowns side over 2 legs. The first leg was our heaviest defeat in a long while; though it was at the height of my chairman's greed if I'm to have any defence.

The African Champions League saw a lot of fixtures this season with the back end of last years competition and the early stages of the current tournament. As you can see we've been fairly convincing along our way so far but the group stage will be tough.

Finally the FA Cup. This was a tournament we won 2 years ago and is a cup I always take seriously. We had a number of tough games on our route to the final including a stubborn 1-0 at MP Black Aces, an extra time thriller against lower division Carara Kicks and a 1-0 win over Supersport. The final pitted us against Ajax CT. We looked comfortable til they equalised against the run of play. This took it to extra time but Shane McCarthy scored his 2nd of the game to seal the cup! \o/

In the aftermath I was told I'd made it into the SA Hall of Fame. Impressive after just 3 cup wins! Ajax CT sacked their manager as well :D.

The Club

Our finances are in fine fettle, though I'm certain there should be more cash in there if we're to go by the transfers screen. I think the chairman's a crook and has been taking some backhanders ;).

The Future

Well it seems as though the want-away players have all left now. We have speculation about the kids but nothing serious yet, they're on big contracts. So for the future, ie. next season, I have high hopes. It is very likely this will be my final year as my latest contract is another one year deal. Lets hope I can go out with a bang.

Career Summary is updated in my 1st post!

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Latest Youth Intake

Leonard Langa - I've needed to sign a new RB and then this guy game through. I think he'll be good enough to be number 2 RB for now.

Kagiso Damon - This guy came through and was rated as one of the best players of his generation :). His stats are near enough to be a starter. Its great news to have another top class CB at the club.

EDIT: aaaaaaand my chairman's sold another one :rolleyes:. He really is a fool. I hate him. Tsepho Alexander (aka the-most-recent-captain) has taken off to Ismaily in Egypt. Furious.

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I hate that kind of chairman you have with the Clever Boys. I really hope you leave the club on a good note but with the way the chairman keeps intervening on transfers, it's quite a challenge for you to remain upbeat and progress with the club. :(

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It is a massive challenge rancer, I hate him. Amazingly we received a £5m+ bid for our keeper Ndlovu BUT the chairman didn't accept it :eek:.

ACL Group Stage 1st Half

vs Sundowns (h)

Big error was made as we scheduled a friendly 2 days before this so my players fitness was significantly lower than theirs. We paid a price and lost our first competitive game of the season 1-0.

vs ES Setif (a)

They were heavy favourites so I played down our chances in the media. Whatever was said it seemed to do the trick as we came out flying. 5-0 at half time and 6 by full time. Godfrey Davids hit a sensational 4.

vs Al-Ahly (a)

Much tougher game this time. We fell behind 1-0 and the first half was really all theirs. But a rousing team talk sparked us into life and Godfrey Davids bagged 2 to turn it around and claim 3 points.

We are top of our group by 2 points. It's really close and we need to finish top to avoid Kaizer Chiefs in the semi's.

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Some very nice results in the ACL group. :thup:

I think that Godfrey Davids can become a much better and more useful player than Emanike, though I've always preferred quick strikers myself.

The youths you've been getting through the last years are great for this level and Damon is at 15 already better than any CB I have at Ezenkosi. :D

And finally, you've been incredibly unlucky with your chairman. :thdn:

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Correct on all fronts there romanista. Davids is doing a lot better than I expected him to and he's now receiving a lot of interest from Europe. He has 12 in 12 so far this season.

ACL Group Stage 2nd Half

vs Sundowns (a)

This was the key game and avoiding defeat would put us in a prime position to finish the group top. The game was eventful to say the least. We went 1-0 down but turned it back in the 2nd half to go 2-1 up. Then we self-imploded and conceded a whopping 5 goals with no reply :mad:. It was ridiculous. By the end we had the same number of CCC's but they had well and truly battered us. Big improvements required.

vs ES Setif (h)

This game was comfortable in the end and we triumphed 2-0. Not quite as emphatic as the 6-0 away but this will do as it put us back into 2nd place.

vs Al-Ahly (h)

Our final game was against the team bottom of the group. We didn't have many problems and went in at half time 3-0 up. The game ended 3-1 to ensure our progress to the semi's.

Semi Final Draw:

Brilliant news filtered through that the Sundowns were held at home by ES Setif 0-0 ensuring we finished top of our group. This sets up a semi with the same side we beat last year Club Africain whilst the Sundowns would take on Kaizer Chiefs.

South African football is dominating the continent at present :cool:

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ACL Semi Final vs Club Africain

The first leg went as planned as we secured 2 away goals in a 2-1 win. The home leg was a different story though as international callups majorly disrupted the squad. With a thread bare first 11 put out Club Africain took their opportunity and went 2-0 up.

We pulled one back to take the game to extra time but they scored their 3rd early on to take another extra away goal. As we pressed on they countered and secured their passage to the final 4-1 on the day :(.

With my dream of the ACL in tatters I think it is approaching the time to resign here at the Clever Boys.

In fact. Yes I have resigned from Bidvest Wits. The time has come and I'll now be on holiday until a tempting offer arises. My next destination is hopefully going to be the MLS. That's my number one ambition now. I'll keep you posted on job offers :thup:

To the Clever Boys - its been wonderful :).

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