[FM10] Hoppin' around Europe

[CoachFlu]

North American Gold Cup 2015

Semi Final:

USA - Guadeloupe: 3-3 aet (3-1 p)

Well, we forced them into extra time again - to a shootout even - but damn, a missed chance.

We were fortunate to go into the break all square, but then we got lucky when Edu got a straight red. We took control of the match and went two goals up with twenty minutes to go, and it looked like it was in the bag. But then came their final push forward, and they managed to pull alongside again (with a frustrating "misjudged the flight of the ball" error from our young goalie to allow the equalizer.)

When they went down to nine men in extra time, we started piling on the pressure and looked for the winning goal, but they held on.

As feared, the penalty shootout was an uneven match-up between Tim Howard and 16yr old Kelvin Vialle. Vialle actually did well by saving one penalty, but Howard saved three out of four.

Third place playoff:

Guadeloupe - Costa Rica: 0-1

We had beaten Costa Rica in the group stage, but with two center midfielders suspended - and we're light in that area - and our star striker injured, we were unable to make a fist. We weren't a man down for very long, but long enough for them to score.

So we finish 4th. Which is great, really, but I'm still slightly diappointed, as we missed a great chance to be in the final two years in a row.

I think I'll stay on as Guadeloupe manager for now, and try to make an assessment of the near-future squad over the coming weeks and months. Unless a few of the talented youngsters can be convinced to pick Guadeloupe over France pretty damn soon, there's not going to be much talent left in a year or two, I think.

[PaUlHuNtInGtOnLuFcBoY]

You don't have much luck with penalties do you? 1 penatly scored is pretty poor !

[DodgeeD]

I've found some of those youngsters change their minds eventually. I think a combination of realising the call-up from the bigger nation isn't coming plus the chance to play in a tournament or two will sway them in the end.

[CoachFlu]

Every team I've managed so far, we suck at penalties. Haven't won a penalty shootout yet, but I also have a horrible record with penalties within the match. I didn't keep track exactly, but I think it's something like 3/15.

And yeah, I go through the list every few international matches to see if any of the talented lads have changed their mind yet.

I think the few really good ones probably won't budge until their mid twenties, at best. (there's one or two in the French U19 squad now)

I'll probably stay on until after the 2017 Gold Cup.

[CoachFlu]

Aug.9, 2015

Feirense pre-season update:

Almost time for my first league match since October 2012. It's about time.

I strengthened the squad as much as I could - or rather, as much as the budget allowed. Ah, how nice it would be to be at a club, for once, which isn't at the verge of bankruptcy. The board has made a few small cash injections so far, though. Hopefully they continue to do that.

Finding decent players to bring in on loan in Portugal is a bit of a challenge. I did manage to bring in a handful - a few good ones, a few just for squad depth - but finding twelve or more like I did in Sweden, to keep the wage cost down, isn't possible here. There just aren't that many.

Which means I had to make a fair amount of free signings - ten, to be exact - for which I had to make a bit of extra room in the wage budget. So I had to resort again to releasing a batch of crappy youngsters and paying them a departure fee. Nothing quite as drastic as at Torslanda though.

Our key players, hopefully:

Nandingna - DR

Probably the best player of the ones who were already at the club - at least accourding to my coaches. As such, I've made him the team captain.

Mohamed Keita - GK

A new goalkeeper was urgently needed, and hopefully the experienced Keita will do the job for us. He's been a starter at Olhanense, a club in our league, for the past five seasons, so he should be up for it. I do hope, however, that Guinea doesn't qualify for the Cup of Nations.

Marinho - AMRC

Another experienced player, Marinho comes from the top tier - albeit from one of the relegation battlers. A short li'l dribbly guy, and just about pacey enough to do the job for us, I hope.

Michel Heck - DC

I did manage to bring one Belgian player to the club, but only on loan. Heck is an important reinforcement to our defense, which was a weak spot. We should be fine now, but there's not a lot of cover in case of injury. Although, that goes for the entire squad, not just the defense.

I didn't manage to bring in any of the Guadeloupean internationals. Utility midfielder Loizeau was the only one without a club, but he wanted a wage which was higher than I could offer a key player, while my scouts rated him a useful squaddie at best, so I had to pass up on him.

The best I could do was this guy:

Rolando Padilla - DLC, DM, MC

Not a Guadeloupe international, but one of the lads that I'm trying to convince to become one. He's not that great - of marginal quality for Feirense, actually, he may not get to play much - but the Guadeloupe midfield is light on quality, so he'd be useful.

No idea if signing him will have any influence on his decision to accept call-ups at all. Probably not unless I play him a lot and he somehow ends up with me in his favourite personnel list or something. Which isn't gonna happen. But we'll see.

Right then, time to get the season underway. The media predicts us to finish 12th, and the board expects a safe midtable finish. That sounds fine by me, I'd be pleased with that.

I'm not sure what to expect, or where we rate within the league in terms of quality. We've played a home and away League Cup tie against one of the teams in our league, and lost the away match 3-1, then won the home match 5-0. Hopefully the second leg was a more accurate indication of our quality than the first.

[CoachFlu]

Sept. 21, 2015

Feirense update:

Results:

It looked like we were going to have a very poor start, but we recovered just in time.

I was glad we got out of the starting blocks with a draw, especially since it was against Boavista - a club with a bit of history, even if their best years have been behind them for a while now. After that, though, we played a few very poor matches, so were bottom of the table after three games played.

But a cup match against an easy opponent - breaking the club's biggest win and highest scoring game records - put us on the right track again. We followed up with two league wins, which brought us back up to mid-table.

A few injury problems causing some forced shifting around isn't exactly helping the team gel together, but hopefully that'll settle down eventually. Though it's early to tell, it doesn't look like it's gonna be one of those seasons where we unexpectedly challenge for the prizes at the top of the table, but I'm still hopeful that we'll be able to stay well clear of the relegation zone.

Guadeloupe update:

Results: (friendlies)

Aruba - Guadeloupe: 0-3

Panama - Guadeloupe: 1-1

Guadeloupe - Netherlands Antilles: 3-1

Only friendlies for now, and that won't change until - I think - October 2016. I've given a new batch of 14-16 year olds their first senior cap, to prevent them from changing their mind later. A few of them look like they might turn out useful down the line, but none to get really wild about.

Also looks like my little "we miss penalties" whine helped, as we scored three penalties in a row. Only in friendlies though, I'm sure we'll start missing again once we hit the tournaments.

[CoachFlu]

Nov. 10, 2015

Feirense update:

Results:

Our false start of the first three matches is now long forgotten. We got a nice Cup away draw at top league club Académica, and went on to beat Trofense, which earned me the September Manager of the Month award. Santa Clara interrupted our little winning streak in the league, but we've been unbeated for seven matches now. That puts us very close to the top of the table - 4th with 20 points, two points behind the league leaders.

We continue to have some injury issues though. We lost three players in the last two matches, which brings our amount of injured first team players to five - though one of them should be back soon. Nothing to get overly depressed about, but still, enough to hold off on promotion ambitions for now, and just take the good form as a nice bonus to take into the rest of the season.

Our cup results have been decent as well, and we achieved the board expectations for both of them. In theory I wouldn't mind a hasty exit from at least one of the cups, to give our battered squad a bit more rest between fixtures, but since we're in the "international friendlies" months, the schedule isn't too bad really, so we'll try to hang on for another round if possible.

[CoachFlu]

Jan.10, 2016

Feirense Mid-season update:

Results:

Mid-season table

Alright, so maybe it is one of those seasons where we unexpectedly challenge for the prizes at the top of the table.

I'm a bit surprised at how well we're playing. We keep getting the results. Well, we did lose one match, but that one was undeserved.

We're still flying high in the cups as well, first taking out top league relegation battlers Rio Ave, and then doing even better in the League Cup by holding on to a 1-0 lead against Sporting CP, who are in the Champions League. I'm not getting my hopes up for the cups - I'm sure we'll be put into place soon enough - but every good result against superior opposition is a nice bonus for my (and the club's) reputation.

Obviously, being in the lead now, my mid-table ambitions have been adjusted upwards a bit. If we can hang on to this form a while longer, promotion should be within reach. While that would almost certainly be a mixed blessing for this cash-strapped, small-stadium club, I wouldn't mind managing in a nation's top league for a change.

Guadeloupe update:

Friendlies:

Guadeloupe - Cuba: 2-0

Martinique - Guadeloupe: 3-0

Guadeloupe - Dominican Republic: 3-0

Not a very promising result against Martinique, one of the teams we may be facing at the next Caribbean Ch'Ship.

Meanwhile, Guadeloupe records are starting to get broken. A few of our veterans are in contention for the most capped player record, with Ciani currently in the lead. And the new all-time top goalscorer is Yoann Arquin, with a rather incredible 27 goals from 31 caps. And he still has a few years to add to that total.

[CoachFlu]

Feb.21, 2016

Feirense update:

Results:

Our cup form clearly plummeted, but considering the opposition, that's not a big surprise. And I don't mind too much either, since that gives us a chance to focus on the league. And focus will be necessary - we lost two of the last five league matches, not the greatest month. I'd like to blame it on the injury of our goalkeeper, but the rather mediocre backup goalie actually did fine.

A little bit of bad luck as well. The 1-0 loss against Olhanense was thanks to a penalty kick which shouldn't have been given. I spoke out in the press conference - which I rarely do - and the FA remained silent.

Despite the mediocre month, we're still in the lead, three points ahead of second placed Aves, and five points ahead of 5th place. Ten matches to go. No playoffs in Portugal, the top two gains promotion - though obviously I'd prefer to win the title - so every point will count.

[rancer890]

You're doing well with Feirense and Guadeloupe Coach Flu. Keep it up and maybe you'll taste top flight football next season.

[CoachFlu]

Thanks. We're trying, though it's a bit of a struggle.

April 3, 2016

Feirense update:

Results:

Another stretch of results which is not exactly title-contender-worthy. We currently have the form of a mid-table team, which we probably are. It's not that we're playing poorly, we've just lost that edge which can turn a draw into a win, and a narrow loss into a draw. We're particularly struggling to convert our chances.

The narrow loss against Portimonense, a team we had beaten twice already this season, was particularly painful, as that put us on a 4 match no-win streak. With morale starting to drop, the next match against Santa Clara may well turn out to be the crucial match of the season - we got two penalties and converted them both, finally picking up three points again. An easy win against relegation battlers Varzim - though we waited until the 93rd minute to put the game beyond doubt - put us on the right track again.

Despite picking up only 7 points from the last five matches, and only 14 points from the last ten matches, we're amazingly still in the lead.

It's one of those seasons where nobody seems to really want the title that badly. The teams behind us have had just as mediocre results as us, so we're still in with a good chance. Five matches to go; I'd be disappointed if we don't manage to finish this off.

[CoachFlu]

May 9, 2016

Feirense - Portuguese Liga Vitalis - end of season 2015-16

Results of the last five matches:

For the third stretch in a row, we only get seven points from five matches...

Mid-season table

End of season

Or in other words: whew! That was close!

Before the last match, we were one point ahead of Boavista and three points ahead of Portimonense, with those two teams set to play each other, while we had a tricky away match at P.Ferreira. It was in our own hands - all we had to do was win - but the match was rather representative of our second half of the season, and we lost 1-0.

Luckily Boavista crumbled as well - Portimonense came alongside us, but with "results between teams" as the first tie breaker, we came out ahead by one goal: We lost 0-1 to them at home, but beat them 0-2 away. That second goal we scored there, back in October, was scored by our sub midfielder in the 92nd minute. As it turns out, every goal can be important.

And so we win the title, rather unglamorously. We only got 21 points in the second half of the season, and we equal the "winning the title with the least amount of points" record (at least since 2009/10). We were crawling on hands and feet to get over the finish line, and only made it by a nose length. But I suppose it's not our problem that those behind us were crawling as well.

The squad:

Feirense squad 2015/16

A decent mixture of veterans and youngsters. Very few - if any - absolute stars who'll go on to set the football world alight, but a nicely balanced squad without obvious weak areas. Well, squad depth was a bit limited, and there were a few moments when we had to play some lads who weren't quite up to the task, but nothing too serious.

The key picks of the bunch:

Michel Heck - DC

The young Belgian loanster was a rock in our defense, and he added a few goals and assists to his tally as well. Made it into the Liga Vitalis team of the year. He got no injuries at all this year, playing pretty much every match except the match against Sporting, as he was ineligible, and one other cup match when he was away on international duty with Belgium. Hardly any yellow cards as well. I might try to get this kid on loan again next season.

Marinho - AMRC

Our veteran right winger turned out to be a great signing, with both his nr. of goals and assists just about hitting double digits. He wasn't always consistent though, and especially towards the end of the season he played some poor matches. At his age, I'm also not sure if he has a season in a division higher in him.

Our absolute star player, however:

Pierre Rousseaux - AMLC

This young French/Portuguese left winger has been at the club for six years. He looked quite promising to me, but my coaches didn't consider him anything special, and his performances of the past six years seemed to back up the coaches' opinion. So I signed a more experienced left winger last summer, but decided to start with Pierre for the first few matches, and he never gave me a reason to take him out of the first 11. On the contrary. He came second in the league's player of the year award.

He might indeed lack the potential to make it a division higher, but I'm sure he'll get a few chances to prove himself next year.

The Cups:

Our great form of the first half of the season carried over to the cups as well. Not that we were ever in danger of going all the way in one of them, but we exceeded the board's expectations in both the Portuguese Cup and the League Cup.

Portuguese Cup: In this striaght-up knock-out system, we made it to the Fifth Round, where we were knocked out by Penafiel, but we managed to get past top league club Rio Ave along the way.

League Cup: this one's more of a group system, and we managed to survive the Round Two groups by beating Portimonense and drawing top division club Académico.

The Third Round group stage was a bit too much for us, facing three teams of the top division: Sporting CP (2nd), Braga (5th) and Leiria (6th). We did finish last in the group, but with a very satisfying three points from beating Sporting CP.

Next season:

...will undoubtedly be a struggle.

The club's finances aren't exactly great. The only reason we're roughly break-even for the season is because the board made cash injections every two months or so.

I'll be curious to see how the board will treat our promotion; as a season to make some quick cash before relegating again, or will they be ambitious enough to make some investments to try and settle down in the top league?

The Estadio Marcolino de Castro is rather small (3667), so an expansion might be a good idea.

As far as the squad goes, we'll need strengthening all across the pitch - probably pretty close to an entirely new squad, I think. I doubt that's gonna happen, but I hope there'll be some room in the wage budget to do some serious free-transfer shopping, at least.

[CoachFlu]

June 4, 2016

Guadeloupe update

Results friendlies:

Guadeloupe - Haiti: 2-0

Cayman Islands - Guadeloupe: 1-3

And after a year of friendlies, competitive matches again soon. The first stage of the Caribbean Ch'Ship is scheduled at the end of July. (Last time we went straight into the 3rd Round in December, as defending champs.)

We've been drawn in a group with Montserrat and Puerto Rico. Two matches, group winner plus a few best second placed teams go through to the next round, so this should be only a formality.

Still, with our squad slowly losing a little bit of quality left and right, due to retirements, we'll have to stay focused even in the early rounds.

We did, however, just get a little bit of reinforcement, as a decent player finally decided to choose Guadeloupe over France: Joël Dielna

We welcome him with open arms, though it would have been nice if it had been something other than a left winger - we already had a few options there. Oh well, horse gift mouth etc. Hopefully a few other talents follow his example soon.

We're also low on goalkeepers again, as a few of the (granted, crappy) young backups fell without a club and retired. But there should be a new batch of youngsters coming through the clubs' youth systems soon.

[rancer890]

Congratz on Promotion mate. Most clubs in Portugal bleed money left and right so don't worry too much about it, although it certainly does hinder you a bit. My strategy would be to stick with the players you know well on permanent contract that can play at this level, add a bunch of loans, and sign players to short term (1 or 2 year) contracts in case worst comes to worst and you get relegated.

[CoachFlu]

Thanks.

I was hoping to bring in some quality loan kids, but that doesn't look like it'll happen. Since the promotion to the top league, everyone wants a fee for loans now, and since we have no budget, that route seems closed.

So I did some serious shopping on the free transfer market, and went over the wage budget. (my "financial control" stat is almost rock bottom anyway from always managing teams in debt, heheh.)

I don't know if it'll be enough to survive. With a maximum wage limit of € 3100 / week I can offer a player, the quality of the players we can attract is rather limited. But under the circumstances, I think we did ok. I'll showcase some of the signings tomorrow.

The €1M debt doesn't seem so much now that we promoted, heheh. With all the free signings, the club's value shot up from 200k to 3M, and the financial situation is now "okay", apparently, no longer "insecure." Made a few hundred k just by selling some deadwood. So if we do manage to survive this season, and then manage to do some more wheeling and dealing, that 1M debt might be gone pretty fast.

Of course, don't know yet how much money we'll lose every month with our li'l 3.667 stadium; could be we're 4M in the red by next summer. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[DodgeeD]

Well done on promotion! Even if it was by the slimmest of margins

Rancer's right about the money in Portugal - the only way to stay afloat is to match the top teams or constantly sell players and replace the with freebies or bargains.

Best of luck for next season

[CoachFlu]

July 20, 2016

Feirense pre-season update:

Still a few weeks to go until the first league match, but the squad is pretty much complete. Not totally by choice, I'd like to bring in one or two more players, but I've already exceeded the €31k/week wage budget by €6.5k, so the board won't let me offer more than €150/week to a player now. In other words, I'm done for now.

The wage budget is clearly the main limiting factor in signing decent players. That may seem obvious, but in the past I've promoted with small clubs with plenty of wage budget, but hardly anyone willing to join because of the club's low reputation. That's clearly not the case here - there were plenty of quality players who seemed willing to join, if only I could offer them three or four times what I was allowed. Which is good news for the future - if we survive in this league, that is. Once we get our debt sorted out, there's plenty of room to strengthen the squad.

But for now, it was a bargain hunt. €3.1k per week isn't all that much. Still, I managed to find some aging fringe players who were willing to join Feirense. The most important ones:

Brahim Zaari - GK

I was considering taking a chance in goal with last season's veteran Keita, but needed to bring in an extra goalie for backup anyway, so eventually I decided on this guy. Occasional international for Morocco, though probably not quite strong enough to be their undisputer nr.1 for years to come. He spent most of his career in Holland; the previous four seasons at RKC.

Jean Calvé - DRL, WBR

Our new right back is French, but his Portuguese is fluent. He spent the last six years at Sporting CP, but didn't get a lot of play time for the past two seasons.

Zé Castro - DC

A former Portuguese international is just what this team needs to take the captain's belt and guide us to survival. Zé Castro played for Atl. Madrid, Deportivo and Werder Bremen in his glory days, but after a half-season at German 2nd division team Karlsruhe, he returns to Portugal for the twilight years of his career.

Réda Johnson - DC

Alongside him, this Benin international will hopefully do the job. Five seasons at Bari in the Serie A - though not as a starter lately - should have made him used to dealing with high calibre attackers, at least.

José Tiago - DC, DM, MC

Competing for Réda's place will be this youngster, currently in Greece for the Euro U19 Ch'Ship. José is a product of Benfica's youth setup, and he made a handful of appearances for them, but ultimately didn't make the cut. He certainly makes our cut. I'm secretly hoping he'll earn his place in the first team, plays a cracking season and will be worth 87 gazillion million at the end of the season, to bring the club out of debt.

Nuno Morais - DC, DM, MC

Potential cover for the defense, but mostly hired as a midfielder. This experienced Cyprus international was one of the key players at Boavista last season (who challenged us for the title). Among his other previous clubs are APOEL Nicosia and Chelsea (though he only made a handful of appearances for them as a youngster).

Leandro Salino - DM, MC

Another experienced midfielder, this Brazilian spent the past seven seasons in the Liga Sagres already - at Nacional de Madeira - so he should be up to the task.

Carlos Alberto - AMC

And we opt for some more samba in midfield with this journeyman Brazilian. He spent the last four seasons at AS Monaco, but was starting to struggle to get in the match squad, so he returns to Portugal. (He briefly played for Porto in 2004).

Gerlem - AMRLC, FC

Our two wingers should stay the same as last year, but this utility attacker might take over from either of them if the need arises. He played in his home country for the past ten years, but before that he spent a season and a half in Portugal, at Estoril, so at least he speaks the language. Gerlem might also be used up front, if our two young-ish strikers don't seem up to the task.

Souleymane Mbengue - ST

Probably not quite good enough to become the league's topscorer this year, but we're hoping his pace can be used to our advantage on the counter. Souleymane has spent the last six years in this division already, at Leixões, though not as a starter.

Ugur Sevimli - ST

Ugur was released by Porto, but never played for them, mostly spending his time on loan in the second division. He'll get his chance to make his Liga Sagres debut for Feirense instead.

I'm not familiar enough with the Portuguese top flight to asses the strength of these guys in relation to the other teams in our league. Obviously we're likely to get creamed by the top teams, but I'm hoping the difference with the mid-table teams isn't as high as I fear. We'll know soon enough.

No stadium expansion or facility upgrade so far, which is logical, though it'll limit our match day income, but those are worries for later.

The board offered me a new contract as well, for three seasons at €2.500/week, which I accepted. No idea if I'll last that long here, but since it took me 29 months to get a new club after I resigned from Torslanda, I don't plan to leave Feirense unless I get a specific job offer, or I get the sack.

[CoachFlu]

Well done on promotion! Even if it was by the slimmest of margins

Rancer's right about the money in Portugal - the only way to stay afloat is to match the top teams or constantly sell players and replace the with freebies or bargains.

Best of luck for next season

Thanks.

Yeah, some bargain signing, then selling some players at the end of the season, is pretty much what I have in mind. It'll take a bit of wheeling and dealing the next few years to get this club in secure financial shape, but that's ok.

Of course, it's quite possible we'll get relegated again and I get the sack, but for now, at least I have a plan, kinda sorta.

[CoachFlu]

July 28, 2016

Caribbean Ch'Ship 2016 - Round 1

Guadeloupe - Montserrat: 5-1

Puerto Rico - Guadeloupe: 1-1

With the matches only two days apart and everyone still unfit at this stage of the season, we had to completely alter our lineup against Puerto Rico. Still, as expected, an easy ticket to the next round, which will follow in October.

The Round Two group draw:

We'll get a rematch against Puerto Rico. Our group is by far the toughest, but with the top two, plus a few third places, moving on the the next round, that shouldn't be an issue.

[rancer890]

Solid group of free signings there mate. I think if you have a good start you can stay in the top flight.

[CoachFlu]

Sept.19, 2016

Feirense update:

I agree, a good start to the season would make the battle against relegation a lot easier. So far, however, not quite the start I was hoping for.

Results:

We're clearly playing at a higher level than last year. Very little room for error now. Especially at the back, where we've been punished repeatedly. 14 goals conceded in five matches is a bit ouch.

On the bright side, we've been scoring reasonably well. Nine goals so far, that's decent enough, if we can plug the holes at the back.

It's a bit too soon to start drawing conclusions, but so far we've been thoroughly outplayed away from home. The matches in our own stadium were notably better - especially the one against Belenenses. Looks like it's going to be another "every point counts" season.

[CoachFlu]

Oct. 5, 2016

Guadeloupe update:

Friendlies:

Guadeloupe - Nicaragua: 3-0

St. Lucia - Guadeloupe: 0-2

A pair of friendlies in preperation for the next stage of the Caribbs, and to give the new batch of youngsters who appeared in June a chance to pick up their first cap, to lock them into Guadeloupe nationality. Meager harvest this year though; only one youngster didn't refuse my call-up. A bit of extra quality to ensure future competitiveness would be very welcome.

Caribbean Ch'Ship - 2nd Round

Martinique - Guadeloupe: 1-0

Guadeloupe - Puerto Rico: 4-1

Cuba - Guadeloupe: 2-4

A bit of a slip up against Martinique - we deserved at least a draw, if not more, but we failed to score. Not our strongest match in recent history though.

But no harm done. We easily qualify, as expected, for the "Third Round", basically the tournament proper.

Again we end up in by far the toughest group though:

Outsiders Martinique basically get a free ticket to the Semi Finals, while Group B puts us against defending champs Haiti and hosts/five-times-winners Jamaica. Hopefully we haven't lost too much of our edge compared to two years ago.

[CoachFlu]

Nov. 7, 2016

Feirense update:

Results:

Ouch. The cups have been the only positives so far. Wish I could trade the two results against Vit. Setubal though.

One win, nine losses; it's a miracle we're not rock bottom. Yet.

The home match against Leixões was disappointing, since we deserved at least a draw there, but it was the match against Leiria which really did us in. Leading 1-2, well deserved too, but then goals in the 90th and 92nd minute sent us home with nothing. The moment that last goal went in, I knew that this is not going to be our season.

Long way to go, of course, but there have only been a few league matches where we weren't outclassed. I think I better do some major tactical tinkering and hope we hit on something that works.

[CoachFlu]

Dec. 3, 2016

Caribbean Ch'Ship 2016

Right then, time to try and do just a tiny bit better than two years ago, when we lost the Final in the penalty shootout.

But first we need to get through the group stage, where we've been handed a tough draw.

Good news and bad news before the start of the tournament.

The bad: our lethal topscorer Yoann Arquin (28 goals in 33 caps) is out with a torn calf muscle. The alternatives for the striker position are of notably lesser quality.

The good: another decent player finally realized he wouldn't make it into the French squad: Timothée Kolodzieczak joins the squad as our new left back.

Guadeloupe - Jamaica: 1-2

And we start off poorly, even though we deserved to win this match. An incisive counter attack and an individual error at the back put us two goals down. After that we were by far the better team and managed to claw one back just before half time, but the Jamaicans weathered the storm in the second half. The lack of a decent goalie, and in this tournament also the lack of a decent forward, worked against us in this match.

Netherlands Antilles - Guadeloupe: 1-3

The easiest match of the three, and we won it comfortably enough, though again we failed to keep the zero.

So we need to win against Haiti now - a rematch of last year's final. Looking forward to it.

There is, however, a Feirense match scheduled at the same time as the Guadeloupe vs Haiti match. I'd prefer to let the Feirense assistant take over for one match, but not sure how that'll work out. I'll know soon enough.

[CoachFlu]

Dec. 6, 2016

Caribbean Ch'Ship 2016

Slightly disappointed that the game didn't take the two matches at the same time thing into account. Would have liked to have seen a media issue about priorities or something, but oh well. Best I could do was let the Feirense assman handle the press conferences. So I had to sit through our league match first before moving on to the crucial Guadeloupe match. But we won the league match, which certainly made it a little easier.

Guadeloupe - Haiti: 3-0

In a somewhat easier manner than expected, we take revenge on Haiti for the 2014 Final, and knock them out of the tournament. We also qualify for the Gold Cup again.

The semi final draw, like last time, doesn't seem to make much sense. We'll be facing Jamaica again in another final avant-la-lettre.

[CoachFlu]

Dec. 12, 2016

Caribbean Ch'Ship 2016

Semi Final:

Guadeloupe - Jamaica: 1-2 aet

Damn. Disappointed...

They had us pinned down on our own half for the first half hour, but we weathered the storm well, and just as we were starting to get in the match a bit more, they nailed us with an offside goal. Luckily we managed to hit back immediately.

After that we had the match firmly under control, but we just couldn't finish it off - their Serie A goalkeeper came up big a few times. And then we got punished in extra time with one of their very few attacks since half time. Another missed chance.

Third Place Playoff:

Grenada - Guadeloupe: 2-1

And then we ended the tournament on a complete downer. This was a match we should have won easily - even the press thought so. And, while we were a bit unconvincing, we did have the match firmly under control. But then Kelvin Vialle - 18 and more than 30 caps by now, but not good enough for a regular spot in the U19 squad of a team in the French National league - made the two most glorious goalkeeper errors I've ever witnessed.

First he rushes towards the center circle for no apparent reason, with Grenada in possession, giving their striker an open goal for a 45 yard strike from the sideline.

And then he comes out of his area again on a kickout from the Grenada goalie, rushing past our four defender to engage in a header duel with their lone striker - a duel he, of course, loses, so he can only watch as the ball slowly bobbles across the goal line.

Not that it matters that much if we finish 3rd or 4th, but it's kinda hard to win tournaments with a goalie who makes more blunders than saves.

And since there doesn't appear to be a replacement available any time soon, I think this will be my last term as Guadeloupe manager. I'm half-tempted to resign right now, but I think I'll probably stay on until after the Gold Cup next summer. After that, however, it's time for a new international challenge.

[CoachFlu]

Dec. 18, 2016

Feirense mid-season update:

Results:

Well, that's certainly an improvement. We got three points from the first ten matches, and now we've been unbeaten for the past five games.

I did start tinkering with the tactics, but the changes were so small that I doubt they made a difference. More likely, the team finally started to gel. And, of course, we didn't face one of the really big teams.

Mid-season table

Still far from safe, but for now we're out of the relegation zone. Now to try and hold on to that form a little bit longer, inbetween a busy cup schedule. I might give some of the reserves a chance in the cups.

[CoachFlu]

Feb. 13, 2017

Feirense update:

Results:

A busy cup period, but we got through it reasonably okay.

We went out of the Portuguese Cup in the Sixth Round - effectively the Quarter final - but we're still in the League Cup. Somehow we managed to finish top in a group with Sporting CP, Braga and second division team Trofense, mainly thanks to a spirited win against Braga by a largely reserve squad. So now we're in the League Cup semi final.

Hope of surviving the Semi Final is minimal, since we face an away match against league leaders Porto. We'll play our strongest squad though - who knows, we might get lucky.

Another win against Braga, in the league, ended this stretch on a high; six points from the last five matches keeps us on schedule. Earlier we had survived the must-win match against Chaves - the whipping boys of the league, they haven't won a match yet - but it was a bit too close for comfort. The 3 points against Braga were very helpful though, as they give us a bit of a buffer to go into the final ten matches of the season.

We face Leixões and Leiria next, before we get another tough stretch against teams from the top end of the table. The match against Leiria is a crucial one. If we win it, we should have enough of a buffer to relax. If we lose, however, we'll only be three points above the relegation zone, and it'll get tense again.

[CoachFlu]

April 3, 2017

Guadeloupe update:

Two easy friendlies played so far this year:

French Guiana - Guadeloupe: 0-3

St Pierre & Miquelon - Guadeloupe: 0-5

Yoann Arquin, our best striker, returned from a long injury against St Pierre & Miquelon and immediately bagged a hattrick. Hopefully he'll stay fit until the summer. We'll need him if we want to have a chance at a decent result in the Gold Cup.

The Gold Cup groups have been drawn:

Not too bad. Obviously USA is a tough opponent, but with the top two plus two 3rd places moving on the the next round, we have every chance of surviving the group stage.

The Gold Cup starts late July. We'll have two more friendlies in June first.

Feirense update:

Results:

A great away win against Leixões, then a vital point against the team behind us - should have been three, but a draw isn't a disaster.

After those two decent results, we had a bit of a rough schedule. Away at Porto (1st) and Benfica (3rd), then home against Vit. Setubal (4th) and away against Porto again.

We played our strongest squad in the League Cup Semi, and played back at Porto for a good hour, but then they nailed us with three goals in 7 minutes time. The Benfica match three days later was a case of playing whoever wasn't too tired, and our B-squad didn't have a fun day. 6-0 was a new biggest loss record, and most of the players involved in that match had a bit of a morale crash.

We bounced back kinda sorta, with two very even matches, but individual quality won the day in both cases.

Luckily the teams behind us have had equally poor results, so it's still looking good. A nine point gap with five matches to go should be enough. We have a few matches coming up where we could get some points, but with team morale really taking a big hit this past month and "squad harmony" down to 32%, the end of the season can't come soon enough.

[rancer890]

Nice work so far CoachFlu, meeting expectations at least....how many games left in the season?

Pity you couldn't win the Caribbean Championship. Looking forward to your new international challenge though.

[CoachFlu]

Five matches to go at the time of that update, but played another match since. Another loss, squad harmony dropping like a stone. Only red and orange arrows now. And Leiria won, so our lead is down to 6 points with 4 matches to go. Could still be close. I can only hope that Leiria starts losing again; our lads aren't very focused at the moment. In urgent need of Prozac.

And yeah, part of me wants another go at the Caribbs. But I think it's time for a new international challenge soon.

[SwiftyBlade]

It took me a good hour and abit to read all of that, but I did simply because I couldnt look away, I really enjoyed reading this and congrats on all your successes, I'm praying for you too stay up! Good Luck

[CoachFlu]

May 10, 2017

Feirense - end of season 2016-17 - Liga Sagres, Portugal

Last results:

Well, not a bad way to end the season, though the match against Naval made me nervous. They're an opponent against which we really should stand a chance, especially at home. But with squad morale on a free fall, we were really struggling, and didn't get a single shot on target.

But how quickly things can turn in football. We finally scored a goal again less than two minutes into the Maritimo match, and that seemed to jumpstart the boys alive again. We added three more goals that match, and five more against Portimonense, which was enough to make us certain of staying in the Liga Sagres.

Mid-season table

End of season table

Position graph

And so we end the season on a high and finish 11th. That's better than I expected, especially after our terrible start with 3 points from the first ten matches.

But after that we found our groove and managed to get some results, and we quickly settled down just above the relegation zone for most of the season. Though it did help that two teams were clearly just a bit more crap than all the rest.

Even when not taking those two bottom teams into account, the difference in quality between the top teams in Portugal and the ones in the bottom half of the table is pretty big. I never had the "we can beat anyone" feeling at all this season. Teams like Porto, Benfica and Sporting outplayed us left right and center, as if we were an amateur team. Then again, the difference in budgets is immense, so we shouldn't be embarrassed about that.

The Cups:

Again we did well in both cups, exceeding the board's expectations.

Though not by much in the Portuguese Cup. Our first non-non-league opponent came in the Fifth round (Leixões), and then we had a Sixth Round (Quarter Final) exit against Vit. Setubal.

In the League Cup we actually made it to the final four, after topping a group with Braga and Sporting. In the Semi Final we didn't stand much of a chance against Porto, but I suppose that's no shame, as they went on to win League, League Cup, and possibly the Portuguese Cup as well (Final still to play.)

The squad:

Feirense squad overview

Well, the batch of experienced 31-33 year olds I brought in last summer did the job for us. Though it took some time before they got going - it wasn't looking good after the first ten matches.

And some of them never quite got going entirely. I had expected a little bit more of our center midfield (Leandro Salino, Nuno Morais, Carlos Alberto), but I ended up regularly making use of some of last season's midfielders, even though the coaching staff rated them at two stars or less.

Our full backs were also a bit below par - no surprise on the left, I knew that was a bit of a weak spot, but I had expected a bit more from right back Jean Calvé. No complaints about our center backs, however.

This season's key players:

Zé Castro - DC

This veteran was our team captain and quite crucial at the back. Almost the entire squad mentions him in their "Good relationships" section, mostly saying "Feels Zé Castro orchestrates the defence." He made it to the ten man shortlist for Central Defender of the Year, though didn't feature in the top three. He's clearly on the decline now, but I hope he can do the job for one more year.

Pierre Rousseaux - AMLC

My coaches already rated him no more than average last year, a division lower, but with the budget rather tight I decided to stick with Pierre on the left wing, and didn't regret it. Sure, it's quite possible that his CA/PA isn't hugely impressive, but he does well enough on the pitch. 9 goals and 7 assists is nothing to sneeze at. He won one of the Player of the Month awards along the way, and ended up voted 2nd best Young Player of the Year.

Souleymane Mbengue - ST

Also rated as nothing special by our coaches at the start of the season, but they since adjusted their opinion upwards a bit. Hard not to, after a marvelous season which saw him voted 2nd best Player of the Year - though I feel that's a bit generous. Still, Souleymane did even better than I expected, with his pace and heading ability the determining factors. I'd love to keep hold of him - and probably should - but since he's our most valuable player now, I might have to accept any good offer, to bring the club out of debt.

The future:

Next season will probably be more of the same. In fact, my job might very well get even tougher, as the squad kinda needs strengthening, but there's no money for it.

Feirense finances.

The cash injections have stopped, so we're losing money every month again. Only the prize money from the League Cup prevented our debt from going below 2 mil. We should still get some prize money for finishing 11th as well - I hope - but I doubt it'll be enough to help significantly.

Which means that I don't expect a significant improvement on our current (pitiful) wage budget of €31k / week. And we're already 20% above our wage budget at the moment. Because of that, the board is putting a cap on contracts, making it hard to extend the contracts of our cheaper, semi-crappy squad depth players. I'll lose at least half a dozen of those - none of them good enough to lose sleep over individually, but they'll still need to be replaced.

So I'll have to figure something out. Selling some players, most likely. Or I might have to take a chance next season by promising them a better result - mid-table perhaps - in exchange for a higher wage budget. That could be risky though.

There's also the small stadium to take into account. Given our average attendance this year, an expansion would not be a bad idea... though that costs money as well.

While I wouldn't mind staying at Feirense and taking on the challenge of getting the club out of this little financial mess and trying to move them forward in the league, I'm also not opposed to a new challenge, if offered.

The media persistently linked me with Atletico Madrid and Schalke since January, but only in those insignificant rumors about managers whose contract will run out at the end of the season - it's highly unlikely that anything will come of that.

More substantial rumors - with a press question - were there about Chaves and Leiria as they relegated, but I denied interest in those jobs. And recently also about Siena, about to relegate from the Serie A. Since that would be an offer I'd certainly consider, I declined to comment on that rumor rather than flat out deny it. Our board took that as "loyal to Feirense", and maybe the Siena board did as well, as they never came knocking and gave the job to someone else.

I dunno, staying could be risky, depending on how difficult the board makes my task next season. But if they're willing to take a few more financial risks, I'm sure I can move the club forward over the next few seasons.

Then again, my "financial control" attribute does't speak in my favor - manager profile - but that's not entirely my fault.

[CoachFlu]

It took me a good hour and abit to read all of that, but I did simply because I couldnt look away, I really enjoyed reading this and congrats on all your successes, I'm praying for you too stay up! Good Luck

Thanks, Swifty. Your prayers helped.

Might need more praying next season though.

[rancer890]

Good season staying up mate. Hope your wage budget isn't slashed that much...and no second season syndrome too.

[SwiftyBlade]

I'm glad you stayed up, cracking job done mate! Even if you did exceed the wage budget, I do have a feeling the board are going to cut your wages down to about 25k tho... Things like that used to happen to me most of the time. I'm also looking forward to you taking on a differant international challenge, hopefully one you can attempt World Cup Qualification with Keep up the good work!

[CoachFlu]

Thanks, guys.

I'm indeed a bit worried that the wage budget will be adjusted downwards rather than upwards. If that happens it's gonna be a very difficult season.

For now, I'm hoping they'll decide to expand the stadium and loan a few million extra to get us in the black again, or something along those lines. I'll know soon enough.

Guadeloupe update:

Friendlies:

Guadeloupe - El Salvador: 2-0

Guadeloupe - Trinidad & Tobago: 2-1

Two home friendlies against not-total-pushover opposition (at least at this level), as final preperation for the Gold Cup which starts in a month and a half. We'll face El Salvador in the group stage there, so this was a promising result.

The goalkeeper position remains the main problem area. We're down to two eligible (and not rejecting call-up) goalkeepers now: 18yr old 39-capped Vialle, and a 16 year old whose most likely fate will be retirement after his youth contract expires. A new batch of youngsters should arrive on the scene soon, but that's not really my concern anymore. After the Gold Cup, I'll leave the Guadeloupe job to someone else.

[DSYoungEsq]

Geesh, if you can beat T & T and Los Cuscatlecos, you could actually have a chance of qualifying for a World Cup out of CONCACAF!

[rancer890]

Geesh, if you can beat T & T and Los Cuscatlecos, you could actually have a chance of qualifying for a World Cup out of CONCACAF!

It's hard to qualify for a World Cup when you actually aren't eligible for qualify in the first place.

[SwiftyBlade]

It's hard to qualify for a World Cup when you actually aren't eligible for qualify in the first place.

That halts your progress just alittle bit

[CoachFlu]

Aye, no World Cup for us any time soon.

But, true, we might stand a decent chance of qualifying, if it were possible. Once there though, we'd be the whipping boys of the group stage.

July 23, 2017

Gold Cup 2017 - Hosts: USA

Alright, my last international tournament as Guadeloupe manager. I'm hoping to leave on a high, or at least not on a whimper. Which means, reaching the semi finals like two years ago would be good. The FA expects us to reach the Quarters - in other words, survive the group stage.

No injuries at the time of call up, so I could pick the best 22 players available, but of course that luck didn't last. Days before the first match - too late to pick replacements - we went down two men. Left back Samuel Camille and left winger Joël Dielna are out. Not a great start.

Guadeloupe - USA: 1-4

We forced the Americans to penalties two years ago, but this time we never had a chance. The match was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests, but only after their star AC Milan forward had bagged a clean hattrick. Not good for our goal difference.

Also, more bad news: another left winger - Cédric Collet - picks up a knock and is out for two weeks. Down to 19 after one match.

El Salvador - Guadeloupe: 1-3

A clean, dominant performance in a must-win match, with striker Yoann Arquin getting up to speed. Still on schedule to reach the Quarters.

A draw against Guatemala will probably be enough, but obviously a win would make certain, so that's what we'll aim for. Resting a few key players for the next round will be a consideration, but with our squad reduced by three already, it'll probably come down to playing whoever is fresh enough.

[CoachFlu]

Gold Cup 2017

group stage match 3:

Guadeloupe - Guatemala: 0-1

Yikes, what a disappointing result. I decided to rest star right winger Biabiany, as he was tired and one yellow from suspension. That wasn't the determining factor though; we dominated the match well enough, but we just couldn't get the ball into the net, and they nailed us with one counter attack.

I hadn't examined all the possible scenarios beforehand - relatively confident that we wouldn't lose this match - so I half expected we'd be out of the tournament, but we scraped through to the Quarter Finals anyway.

And we'll be facing Honduras in the Quarter Finals. Could be a lot worse; we've beaten them in the knockout stages of the previous two Gold Cups.

Biabiany will have to sit that one out, though. He picked up another yellow late in the match and is suspended, as is one of our defenders. So we'll have an empty spot on the bench, heh.

[SwiftyBlade]

Good Luck against Honduras, sounds like you need it! You have been really unlucky with injuries...

[CoachFlu]

Gold Cup 2017

Quarter Final:

Guadeloupe - Honduras: 1-2

And so, with a lacklustre performance, we exit a disappointing tournament, in which all the injuries and suspensions proved to be too much of a crippling factor for a Guadeloupean squad which is clearly past its golden generation.

I very much enjoyed my four years as Guadeloupe manager, but I missed my best chance at winning a trophy when we lost the 2014 Caribbean Ch'Ship Final against Haiti. More and more of the decent veterans retire every year, and while the odd good player pops up now and then, the overall quality of the squad is on the decline, and squad depth is close to non-existant now.

With a few stars still pulling the squad forward, winning the Caribbs might still be possible with the current squad - maybe - but it would take a complete absence of bad luck, which is a big ask in football. So, with mixed feelings, I stepped down as Guadeloupe manager after 1457 days in charge, with a win-draw-loss record of 36-7-10.

I'm not sure yet what my next international challenge will be. It will largely depend on what becomes available. Perhaps a mid-range European nation, to try and qualify for Euro 2020. Or maybe an African nation. I'd even consider going back to youth management, but only of one of the top nations, I think. I shall see. Meanwhile, the focus is back on club management for the time being.

[CoachFlu]

Good Luck against Honduras, sounds like you need it! You have been really unlucky with injuries...

Yeah, that was a slightly frustrating way of ending my reign at Guadeloupe, but it did make resigning a little bit easier. Not that I was considering to stay on - I had made up my mind - but it wasn't with full conviction. Leaving without winning the Caribbean Ch'Ship felt like I left before the job was done. But this last Gold Cup made it clear that it doesn't take much for the current Guadeloupe squad to get unhinged, so it's the right time to move on, really.

[CoachFlu]

August 8, 2017

Feirense pre-season update

My relegation battling skills apparently hadn't impressed any club enough to offer me a job, so I remain in Portugal for the time being. Which is ok, really; the board hasn't made my job impossible (yet), so I managed to prepare the squad for another undoubtedly rough season.

Last season's wage budget of €31k / week was increased to 37.5k / week - which is pretty much what I was spending already, heh. The expectations have also gone up though; avoiding relegation is now the task. The media backs this up by predicting we'll finish 14th. I was briefly tempted to claim we'd finish mid table, but since that would only give me 3k extra wage budget, I decided against it.

With a few players retiring and a few others leaving on free transfers, I went under the wage limit again. Not by much, but enough to be able to offer contracts of more than €100/week to players, so I could strengthen the squad. And by sending out enough contracts before anyone signs the dotted line, it's possible to go significantly over the wage budget before the board starts interfering in contract negotiations. So that's what I did: I ended up with a weekly wage expense of €54k/week at one point, though it has now gone down again to 49k/week by selling a few players.

The most notable sales at this point were 33yr old right back Jean Calvé, who largely disappointed last season - to Bragia for 70k - and also-disappointing Turkish striker Ugur Sevimli, to Vit. Guimaraes for 100k. 170k didn't make much of a dent in our debt total, but more on that later.

I managed to bring in 11 new players on free transfers, and feel that I achieved my main objectives: to regain squad depth by replacing all the players that left the club with not too expensive players who can still do a good job for us. And I also wanted to significantly strengthen a few key positions: left and right back, and right wing.

In the squad depth category, I tried to include a few youngsters with an eye on the future. If we're to start making money from some "wheeling and dealing," we'll need some of those.

In that sense, I signed the current Dutch U19 goalkeeper as our 3rd goalie, while for the 2nd goalkeeper spot I looked towards Asia:

Yuki Harada - GK

Or to Italy, actually, because this Osaka AC youth product spent the previous four seasons at Napoli, though he didn't get to play much. Our coaches rate him at approximately the same level as our Moroccan goalie, so he should provide decent cover/competition for that spot.

And we signed another Asian player:

Wang Chu - AMC

Released by FC Metz where he spent his entire career, but didn't feature all that much. I don't expect him to become a regular first team starter either, but our veteran midfielders weren't always equally consistent last season, so I wanted an extra backup who looked like he could do the job if needed.

Sereno - DC

I needed an affordable extra defender, and with Sereno I went for another veteran, but he might be good enough to challenge for a first team spot.

Then for the key signings, in the positions where we really needed a first team starter and were prepared to pay a bit more for them (wage-wise).

Gerson Magrao - D/WBL

Another Brazilian veteran fills the left back spot, and should be an improvement over last season's limited options. Gerson spent the previous two seasons at PSV, and has also performed key duties for Cruzeiro and Dinamo Kiev in the past. We should get a few good seasons out of him, I hope.

Philippe Ritter - DR

Calvé was replaced by another Frenchman, but one who's significantly younger. Man City paid €1.5M for him as a schoolboy and loaned him out to various Championship teams over the years before releasing him this summer. He was a regular starter for Wigan last year and helped to bring them back into the Premiership.

For the right wing position, we ended up with two players, but since one of them is a utility player, I don't mind at all.

Andrea Prestia - AMR

Released by AC Milan, though he never played a match for them, but he did get a handful of appearances on loan in the Serie B. Nevertheless, a youngster who still has it all to prove. My scouts rated him notably higher than my coaches, we'll see who turns out to be right.

Tom - AMRLC

A Bulgarian international with Brazilian roots, and another experienced player. He was on Everton's payroll for the past 8 seasons - and featured regularly for them - but was loaned out to Hull, in the Championship, last season and then released. We gladly pick him up for free. Right wing is his best position, but he'll be welcome cover for the left wing as well.

These guys, plus most of last year's core players, will hopefully make our relegation battle equally successful as last season.

Up front, we will continue with Souleymane Mbengue, although he's our most valuable player and there's some interest in him. I was initially planning to sell him, either this summer or in January, for the following reason:

This nice lookin' kid came out of our youth academy. Rated as almost as good as our current best striker (Mbengue), and with a potential of 4.5 stars - "dubbed the new Néné" - I figured he might be ready to take over as first team striker before the end of the season.

I was, however, not fast enough to offer him a professional contract. It took all of a week before Barcelona and Man United had offered him contracts. He chose Barcelona, and apparently went straight into their first team - at least for the pre-season friendlies. We recieved €1M compensation, with a 15% sell on clause and some appearance clauses. This cut our current debt in half, and will probably make us some more money in the near future, but I'm a bit annoyed with myself for letting it happen this way.

After that forced sale, however, the board adjusted the wage budget to €56k / week. So now I'm in fact under budget again. My squad had pretty much been formed, however, so while I'm still looking around a bit at a few players, I'll probably stick with the current squad for now, leaving me the option to make use of the rest of the wage budget in January.

And I might be forced to make do with the current squad anyway, because this just popped up:

Still just a rumour for now, but it looks like I'll get one of them transfer embargo thingamajigs soon. Hopefully the new chairman pumps some money into the club. Not holding my breath though.

[rancer890]

Good job mate, signing a couple Asians.

Pity you lost Lameiras though, he coulda been something for your club...but at least you got some cash out of it so I guess it ain't that bad. Good luck this season.

[SwiftyBlade]

Yeah, looks like you've signed some decent players to help you keep afloat, on the brightside, at least your under your wage budget now and that your recieving money out of debt, just imagine if he had been a flop for you

[DodgeeD]

Great job staying up - when the pressure was on, your boys really delivered with those 4-0 and 5-0 wins. Lameiras looks amazing for a 16 year old! I'd break him into the squad asap if I were you.

A shame your timne at Guadeloupe ended on a downer. That's one thing I don't like about managing smaller nations (or ones without active leagues) in FM - once the current generation retires, there's nobody decent to replace them. It happened to me with Solomon Islands and Cameroon in my career... Hope to see you back on the international trail soon though

[rancer890]

Great job staying up - when the pressure was on, your boys really delivered with those 4-0 and 5-0 wins. Lameiras looks amazing for a 16 year old! I'd break him into the squad asap if I were you.

A shame your timne at Guadeloupe ended on a downer. That's one thing I don't like about managing smaller nations (or ones without active leagues) in FM - once the current generation retires, there's nobody decent to replace them. It happened to me with Solomon Islands and Cameroon in my career... Hope to see you back on the international trail soon though

Erm DodgeeD, technically Barcelona will be trying to break him into the squad in the near future...