[FM11] If there's a fork in the road...take it...iacovone's "Around The World" Career

[deltablue]

Soooo close, always disappointing even when unexpected, but you're really getting there.

[iacovone]

Pre Season Build Up - Treviso - 2019/20

The big question after last year's disappointment was - do I stay?...the answer for now is "yes". I'm still pretty enamored with Treviso and feel there is still a good chance of another promotion. So I signed a 1 year extension and began the job of restructuring an already promising squad.

With Hector Cinalli sold above board, my main concern was to find an AMR. However our long-serving LB Alessio Petti left for Pro Vercelli on a Bosman meaning I'd need a new LB too.

I promised the board I'd be aiming for promotion this year and in return they allowed me a big chunk of the Cinalli fee - £135k to spend and a budget of £32,500 - £3k's worth of room to maneuver. Lovely.

The media are predicting a midtable finish for us this year - 9th. I still haven't quite worked out how qualification for the Italian TIM Cup works but we're in it this year (unlike last year, but just like the year before that :confused:), which means we'll have a few extra games to play. Fine.

Transfers

Fabio Pedrini was released by Milan over the summer and I jumped at the chance to pick him up for free. Should be a great addition.

Alex Canini was also released by Lecce. He looked to have the ability to succeed in the AMR position and for free it made sense. In he came.

So the two main holes in our squad were plugged early. From here I looked for opportunities to bolster and improve on our matchday squad.

Isidro declared it was a dream come true to leave Sunderland (understandable) and join me at Treviso (he's clearly mental...). I'm happy to have him, particularly as Yi Teng is out for 9 months with a serious illness!

Emil Burger - Found a Swede! He made the league's team of the year last season and was on a free transfer. Made perfect sense to bring him in as I'd been looking for a more attacking inclined CM.

Marco Ferraro was a bit of a rushed signing as I realised I was short at CB. He's decent but I don't know if good enough to be a guaranteed starter just yet.

Sebastian De Maio then came to my attention a week later. Though 32 (I need the experience) he was considered an essential signing and now becomes the best CB at the club. It also pushed us over our wage budget quite considerably. Oops.

We have a 34 year old back up striker in Piovoccaro to Grassi but that is all as Dal Cin was let go at the end of his contract. Therefore I needed at least one new striker - particularly as I began to consider switching to 4-4-2.

Martin Olaussen became available in the transfer market and seemed to be a good option. Young and talented, so he was brought to Italy. Another Scandinavian. Excellent.

Finally I found this chap on a free. He's a 6 foot 8 centre forward (here's looking at you Jimbokav!!) hailing from Huesca, Spain. Meet Juan Ramon Ramon

So that's your lot. The objective is to gain promotion and with the signings I've made, I expect to. If I don't I'm pretty certain I'll refuse a new contract and move on. A big season ahead in the life of Jimmy Blixt...

[iacovone]

Those aspirations I spoke about aren't looking too clever right now. Out of both cups and a league record of 2-3-2 and its only mid-October .

[cerud]

I'm glad that you're liking Italy as much as I am right now. Seems to be a great place to build up a career and reputation.

[iacovone]

First time it's happened in my career but my captain - Sander van Aken - has just come to talk to me and said he feels the club is underachieving and he's losing confidence in my management. What a w******!!! I allayed his fears for now, but this is an ominous sign.

[iacovone]

Oh dear, 4 players and counting have approached me with concerns. One is now on the transfer list...

[iacovone]

1st November 2019 Update

Hmmm. So much for those great expectations. My attempts at switching to 4-4-2 were ill advised (or at least should have been - where was my advice fellow successful managers?!). Our form was patchy from the off and I should have noticed something was up after the hammering we took in the TIM Cup from newly promoted to our division Alto Adige. But I didn't and I proceeded to try a few new tweaks.

After a while it was clear things weren't working. A combination of unfamiliar tactics and unfamiliar faces in the dressing room meant I needed to revert to our 4-5-1 of last season and stick a couple of the new faces on the bench. We found a bit of form but it was often interspersed by weak performances at home of all places. After bidding goodbye to the Serie C Cup for another year, we finally found a touch of form at the end of October, just as my players began to question my management.

It was a real struggle and after captain van Aken complained, vice-captain Possentti did the same. He didn't like my answers and I had to strip him of his vice captaincy and place him on the transfer list. He was the back up left back, so no big loss. Grassi is the new vice-captain.

So these are troubling times, there is pressure from the board and fans as I promised promotion this season. We need to maintain this form into the winter period and start climbing the table otherwise I may have to consider doing the good deed and falling on my sword. I was incredibly close to resigning during the SPAL game but veteran Piovoccari scored 2 to turn it around. Could that be my Mark Robbins for Man Utd (and Alex Ferguson) moment? We shall see.

[deltablue]

Still can do quite a bit this season if you can hit a good run.

[iacovone]

Thought I'd list the club's from each nation loaded that I'd want to manage at some point in the future. Wishful thinking?

These are clubs I'd actively apply to should I feel my reputation were high enough.

Italy - Napoli / Palermo

Spain - Villarreal / Athletic Bilbao

England - Tottenham

France - Marseille / Saint Etienne

Germany - Dortmund

Holland - PSV / Ajax

Russia - Zenit

Scotland - Rangers

Argentina - River Plate

Brazil - Gremio

Portugal - Porto

Think that's it. Something to aim for

[iacovone]

AH!

My reputation has finally moved from 'Unproven' to 'Local'

[DodgeeD]

So now people will start throwing things at you in the street instead of ignoring you

[noikeee]

It's still early days in the season, the top teams are still very close, and there's plenty of time for a turn-around. Don't give up just yet.

[iacovone]

So now people will start throwing things at you in the street instead of ignoring you

It's still early days in the season, the top teams are still very close, and there's plenty of time for a turn-around. Don't give up just yet.

Cheers noikeee - things are picking up a little so I'll be playing out this season barring any huge downturns. The next update should be a good one - February.

[rancer890]

All you need to do is string together a few wins and you'll shoot up the table.

[Raware]

There's still plenty of time to turn things around and with your decision to switch back to your familiar 4-5-1, I'm sure the players will respond. I've always liked saves in Italy (although I've not had one myself for a while) due to my love of the Italian leagues since the days of James Richardson, Gazza and Gazzetta Italian football on Channel 4 on Sunday afternoons

[iacovone]

1st February 2020 Update

Ok ok, we're back on track. Sometimes it really is just quite simple. Revert back to what you know and voila!

You'll be able to see below that we are well in the hunt for promotion again and the results show just how dominant we've been since October. 9 wins and 2 losses hurled us up the table and we have a great opportunity to overhaul Varese (former Serie B side) and come top.

Before I get carried away though, it is worth noting that a great deal of our victories have been by the solitary goal, so it could easily have been different. However there is now an air of confidence in our play that just didn't exist at the start of the year. So much so, in fact, that I have actually begun switching to the 4-4-2 I intended to use for home games. It appears to be working .

Result of this period was the most recent, beating Pisa 3-2 away from home. We were 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go but Grassi scored and created to win us the game.

Speaking of Grassi - he's been promised he'll be allowed to leave asap. That didn't happen in January but most certainly will unless we go up. It will actually be a necessity too as our finances have plunged due to my lazy budget control (£6k over) - we are £350k in the red...

[noikeee]

Good turn-around just like we expected. Hunting down Varese shouldn't be impossible. I'm a bit baffled about why you go on such a great run in the winter though, as that's the part of the season where my team always crumbles.

Speaking of parallels between your career in Italy and my own, not thrilled to read you're having the exact same financial issues despite being one level above. Doesn't bode well for the future of my club.

[B.W.G]

Very nice turn-around,you have 13 games to catch Varese which is achievable,good luck in catching them and overtaking them

[AK22]

Good recovery, everything very much to play for.

I haven't got 4-4-2 to work particularly well on FM11 so far, I'm pleased it's just starting to click for you though

[deltablue]

Now thats more like it.

[iacovone]

Hmmm back we go. This season has been a story of three thirds! Crap, amazing, crap. We lost 6 of our last 9 games but still finished 3rd and in the playoffs. Think what could have been!

So these playoffs are either going to end in glory and another promotion or resignation and another club...

Wish me luck whichever way it goes...

[iacovone]

End of Season Round Up - 2019/20 - Treviso

Come February we were flying, winning at home and away and this had propelled us into 2nd place and very much in the hunt for automatic promotion. Everything would depend on our form in the run in.

So imagine my anger when we completely capitulated more or less from exactly February 1st! We won a pitiful 4 league games in our final 13! It defies belief and I have absolutely no idea why it happened. We didn't suffer any big injuries - there was no logical explanation. I did everything the same as the three months previous!

Despite my side's best efforts to throw away this season, the utter crapness of our rivals to string two wins together meant our pathetic form had no bearing on our playoff opportunities and we ended up 3rd!

Fixtures 1

Fixtures 2

So back to those dreaded playoffs. To be frank, I wasn't expecting to go up, nor even make the final. We had been playing atrociously and had lost the ability to score. As predicted, Pro Patria defeated us 2-1 in the first leg. We had to win by 1 goal to go to the playoff final and pleasingly we set about it the right way. We dominated from the first to the last whistle and eventually got our reward to take a tight 1-0 win.

Off to the final where we met Cittadella - a Serie B side just 12 months ago. There was once a time where we sat above them in the table but they ended the season as the form side in the division; unluckily not taking top spot. It was no surprise then when we were hammered at home. It was one of those performances that made me want to boot the PC all up in the graphics card, stupid *******. We waited an entire season, and even threw 13 games of red herring-ness in there for good measure, just to lead me to believe that we couldn't possibly play any worse. Then along came this game and my centre backs decided to impersonate car park attendants, waving the two top scorers in the league through to our goal.

The 2nd leg we actually battled hard in what turned out to be my 200th game in charge of Treviso, but we gave away a penalty to lose it 1-0 and fail at the final hurdle for the 2nd season in a row.

Cue this:

It's been fun at Treviso. 200 games, 3 trophies, but we seemed to hit our glass ceiling here. I also regretably have plunged the club into untold levels of debt. Oops. It was definitely the right time to move on, I would be forced to sell the stars - of which new boy Alex Canini was our best player this year. So it makes sense in my mind. My reputation has marginally improved to "Local" so hopefully this will help me be offered a job ever so slightly above complete nobodies.

The disappointing thing is that going into what will be my 11th season, I still will not have managed in any division higher than the bottom playable division!! Most people would be embarrassed by this....I relish the challenge!

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| YEAR  |      CLUB      |   NATION   |  LEAGUE  | TIER | FINISH |                 ACHIEVEMENTS                  |      NOTES    |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2010/11|African Warriors|South Africa|  NFD/CS  |  2nd |   3rd  |                 NFD Cup R/Up                  |               |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|       |African Warriors|South Africa|  NFD/CS  |  2nd |   N/A  |                      N/A                      |Resigned in Nov|
|2011/12|                |            |          |      |        |                                               |               |
|       |    Carpi FC    |    Italy   | Serie C2B|  4th |   16th |                 Relegated                     |Resigned E.O.S.|
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|       |   Bromley FC   |   England  |    BSP   |  5th |   N/A  |                      N/A                      |Resigned in Oct|
|2012/13|    Sichuan     |    China   |Jia League|  2nd |   N/A  |                      N/A                      |Resigned in Apr|
|       |  Gubbio Calcio |    Italy   | Serie C2C|  4th |   14th |                 Won Playout                   |   Survived!   |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2013/14|  Gubbio Calcio |    Italy   | Serie C2C|  4th |   11th |                      N/A                      |Resigned E.O.S.|
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2014/15| Lokomotiv 1925 |  Bulgaria  | BPF Grupa|  2nd |   18th |                 Relegated                     |Resigned E.O.S.|
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2015/16|    Treviso     |    Italy   | Serie C2A|  4th |   6th  |                      N/A                      |               |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2016/17|    Treviso     |    Italy   | Serie C2A|  4th |   1st  |Promoted,Won Serie C Cup,Won Serie C Supercoppa|               |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2017/18|    Treviso     |    Italy   | Serie C1A|  3rd |  14th  |               Survived Playout                |               |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2018/19|    Treviso     |    Italy   | Serie C1A|  3rd |   3rd  |  Lost in Playoff Final and Serie C Cup Final  |               |
|-------|----------------|------------|----------|------|--------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|2019/20|    Treviso     |    Italy   | Serie C1A|  3rd |   3rd  |             Lost in Playoff Final             |Resigned E.O.S.|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[pezza1]

Good luck finding a new job Iacovone! Loving this thread and all your ups and downs. You had a few good years at Treviso there and hopefully you can build on your improved reputation!

[rancer890]

Good luck wherever you head next iacovone. At least you're learning a lot of languages...

[Raware]

Don't you just hate the playoffs?! . It's tough to lose one but lose two consecutive finals hurts, I know, I've been there. You should be proud of how far you've taken Treviso though .

Any preference of where you'll end up next/or prefer not to end up?

[iacovone]

Thanks guys, unfortunately judging by the three months I holidayed last night my reputation seems to have done very little

I had two offers - one from Eastbourne (never before playable on my save) and another newly promoted Bulgarian outfit. I figure I can't drop down to the previously unplayable level and have to at least get a job in the equivalent to the Italian 3rd tier otherwise what was the point of the last 4 years !!!

Hopefully tonight, the October/November sackings will open up a decent opportunity for me

[deltablue]

I know the feeling. Not being used to doing this sort of save, so have often been a little too impatient, left a club and realized how little better I can do, though I'm improving at that now I'm getting used to it. My rep's been a little higher than that (regional, though starting local, and even when national on my first test, though that was too high) so you'd be really lucky to avoid getting something really low end I'm afraid, though you could always wait a bit and see if something alright comes up, and always take a lower job late once you're sure.

[AK22]

That was tough! Another season, another playoff defeat. Perhaps it just wasn't to be, so maybe it's a good thing you're leaving.

It will be interesting to see what effect you're small increase in reputation has when getting a new job. I can't imagine many clubs take managers from the third tier of Italian football, so I expect you may need to stay at a similar level in Italy or look to start at the bottom again somewhere else.

No matter how frustrating this may seem, it makes for a somewhat intriguing career thread! Success is overrated anyway!

Good luck for where you end up

[iacovone]

Thanks AK - I'm certainly enjoying it, glad you are too. Hopefully all of this slogging around in the lower leagues will make success taste that bit sweeter!

[pezza1]

I have to agree with AK22. The fact you havent really made much progress is as interesting in its own way as a career where people are winning everything! Keep it going!!

[DodgeeD]

Tough luck in the play-offs iacovone but I think you did a great jon turning them into promotion contenders so soon after promotion. After reading all of this, I think my FM12 career will consist mainly of leagues with more than 2 tiers to make success a bit more elusive

[iacovone]

Wycombe Wanderers - Blue Square Premier - 2020/21

Having spent a few months jobless, I was obviously keen to get straight back into the game. I was a little disappointed that the mild achievements at Treviso didn't translate into at least a midtable or promotion chasing bottom tier club's interest. But that's how it goes (particularly in this career!).

So I waited until the usual flurry of sackings in October and ended up with this offer. It wasn't exactly my ideal job, but they're a relatively well known English side just going through a tough time. They almost made the playoffs last season so the potential is definitely there.

I've yet to assess the squad and given it is mid-October, there is little I can do to amend any glaring holes. So for now, I'm going to plough through to the January window and update on the squad's positives and negatives then. We sit 21st and in danger after 15 games but I should be able to turn this around. The league is also very tight so if I'm being ultra bullish, we could make the playoffs...!

A quick overview. We play our home games at the 10,000 capacity (8250 seated) Adams Park, seen below.

Stadium condition is 'very poor', the surface is 'Synthetic'...we do have good corporate and training facilities as well as adequate youth facilities and an academy. The pitch is a polar opposite to Treviso's - 'very good'!

For now though its time to assess and redress the club and aim to move on up. This is my 2nd spell in England after the enormously quick failure at Bromley. And also - notice who's bottom - Eastwood - the club that wanted me. Thank God I didn't go there...!

Wish me luck people!

[jackripper]

Good luck and i see Wycombe as a good move for you.

[iacovone]

Cheers jackripper. Maybe it's above my level going on this comment from the media

[JackJCFC]

Just read through your career and its certainly been an adventure! Good luck with Wycombe, they are a pretty big team for the BSP so you should have a promotion in no time

[B.W.G]

Good luck with Wycombe!!!

[rancer890]

Good luck with Wycombe iacovone.

[AK22]

Synthetic pitch? This gives me flashbacks to the early 1990's where I remember watching a Luton match on the tv, the ball was pinging around all over the place! Better make sure you've got a good physio too, as these pitches tend to put a lot of strain on the players physically! (Not sure if this is taken into account on FM though, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough )

Good luck with Wycombe, they've got the potential to be an average League One team

[deltablue]

Hopefully you can manage a promotion with them.

[Raware]

An interesting move iacovone. Whenever I think of Wycombe, I always think back to a bloke called Roy Essandoh who signed for them after responding to an advert that the club placed on Ceefax! If I remember right, he also scored a last minute winner against Leicester I think which put them into the semis of the FA Cup.

A synthetic pitch too. I thought these were no longer used any more? I too remember Luton Town's...and QPR's. Awful pitches.

[iacovone]

Absolutely correct Raware. I remember watching the game on TV. Lawrie Sanchez had been banished from the dugout and there was a great clip of him watching the game in the ref's dressing room and then celebrating Essandoh's goal. Now that's the kind of drama I need to bring back to Wycombe!

[iacovone]

So I've played a couple of games, not done frightfully well. Having had a look through the squad it turns out that I have four players on long term injuries, a 19 year old pretty crap keeper, a couple of 16 year olds that have to play because I have no-one else. We are down to the bare bones and its only October! We are also an impressive £750k in debt! That means loans are going to have to be my saviour once January rolls round.

My best player is Wycombe academy graduate Kevin Thomas who should be good for a few goals at this level. My defensive midfielder is also very good for this level - Scott Connolly. Other than that, it's pretty slim pickings

(Getting my excuses in early )

[Nobby_McDonald]

So when you do crap we know why.

[iacovone]

Euro 2020 - Hosts: Spain - Holders: Spain

Thought I'd round up the Euro's before I get stuck into my first proper Wycombe update. This year's championship would be hosted by the holders Spain. The biggest absentees this year were the French who have really dropped off the pace in international terms. Aside from them, I think all the major nations competed - I've yet to spot a glaring omission. Onto the groups.

Groups A-C

Couple of shocks here - namely the Dutch and Portuguese failing to qualify - even in a format that can allow 3rd place through! Great effort from the Irish and the Welsh as well. Not only qualifying for the tournament but making the knockout stages is quite something! Hats off to Austria as well for topping their group.

Groups D-F

Immediately you will notice Italy. Bottom of their group with 3 defeats - a shoddy time in Spain for them! But wait...just to make matters worse the Northern Irish AND Albania beat them...! Wow. No great shocks in Group D but in Group F we have a complete set! Scotland and England qualified to make history - the first time all 5 home nations have made it to a tournament (for a start) but also qualified for the knockout rounds. Quite something.

The Knockout Rounds

No huge shocks in the first half of the draw, England through safely, hosts Spain through comfortably. Wales beating Norway was a superb result. The Northern Irish and Scotland less so as they crashed out in style. At the bottom though the Irish took advantage of a kind draw against Albania to make the Quarter Finals.

In a weak line up, the hosts fell to Ukraine whilst England did their usual - losing on penalties, to the Germans this time. In the other half of the draw, the Irish won a thriller against Austria and the Welsh knocked Romania out in extra time.

The semi's saw Germany win through on penalties again whilst the mighty Welsh continued their march to the final, beating the Irish 2-0. The Final sadly was a one way encounter - the Germans summoning all their strength to claim the trophy.

Despite this, what an amazing tournament! I've never seen anything like it. The home nations rarely do well aside from the English. Aaron Ramsey went on to win the World Midfielder of the Year award - congrats to him!

[B.W.G]

Wales and Ireland making the semi finals while having all home nations make at least the 2nd round.....clearly signs of your save being broken ;)

[jackripper]

Wales and Ireland making the semi finals while having all home nations make at least the 2nd round.....clearly signs of your save being broken ;)

Especially when Wales have been ranked lower than Faroe Islands recently..disgraceful

[deltablue]

Wow, quite an amazing tournament then.

[rancer890]

You should send this save to the bugs forum. Wales couldn't have made the final!!!

What's next?? Canada making the next World Cup?

[Nobby_McDonald]

Ireland aren't a home nation.

Italy knocked out by Albania and Northern Ireland.

Wales in the final.

Germany beat England on penalties.

[iacovone]

Ireland aren't a home nation.

Good point