Jump to content
Sports Interactive Community

*** | iacovone's Behind The Curtain: Travels in Eastern Europe | ***

iacovone

By iacovone,
in FM Career Updates

Recommended Posts

iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Nice one. You look safe for the season.

Do you look like being in a position to do so some off-season signings in preparation for the climb up the table next season?

Unsure really. Finances are a mess at -£300k but I've already tied up a deal for a really promising 16-year-old AMC. Should know more in the summer where I can cut a lot of the deadwood from the squad. I'll go from there. There should be more than 1 place available for promotion next year but also 5 relegated Division 1 teams in the league. It won't be easy!

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 102
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Lower Leagues Rule

Lower Leagues Rule

Posted
Posted

OUCH. I only call these meetings when we are on a bad run in an attempt to turn it around, only bad reaction I had was when my daughter had hit the space bar, so I went back to see if I could finish the meeting and the answer was "OH Great another Meeting"

Hopefully that meeting doesn't hurt too much as you head down the stretch. Good Luck.

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

41791_35604126398_5238_n.jpg

HASK - June 2012 End of Season Update

CroatianSecondDivisionOverview_Stages-3-1.jpg

We escaped. But only just! A dreadful run of results, sparked by my underwhelming (to say the least) team meeting had me thinking we were headed for relegation. Fortunately those below us were just that bit worse!

So it's a mildly successful first year in management for me. I see no reason to leave and look forward to dumping the deadwood and snapping up some flotillas of footballing prowess in the summer. One slight problem - we're £450k in debt and the board have just done this:

AlexanderRomantsevNews_Inbox-2-1.jpg

The idiots.

Career so far

 Season | Club |     League     | Position | Achievements |
--------|------|----------------|----------|--------------|
2011/12 | HASK | Croatian Div 2 |   11th   |   Survived   |
-----------------------------------------------------------

If there's any other screenshots people would like to see or if you want more detail in these updates, let me know as I'm very open to trying different styles of updates :)

Link to post
Share on other sites
BadManager

BadManager

Posted
Posted

That was one bad team meeting. Bad morale makes things nigh on impossile in this game.

Still, you got through and the new seaosn is always full new (and I find usually false) hope. The extra expense on the stadium hurts, that's rough luck just when you are loking to turn over some players and hunt for more talent.

Another 3300 capacity when you start with just 2000 seems like overkill, even if it is "to comply with league requirements".

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yeah I'm none too pleased but there you go.

So, I know everyone's been wondering about the league structure for this season...

Four went down last season and just one side got promoted.

Well, this year, one gets promoted (still) and SEVEN teams get relegated from Div 2 :eek:.

Three come down from Div 1. So next year there will be a top division with just 10 teams - it's bizarre! And also terrible news for us - how can you have 7 teams relegated from a 16 team division?! We're in major trouble :(

Link to post
Share on other sites
Motherlover

Motherlover

Posted
Posted

My board also committed stadium lunacy recently. They built a brand new 37,000-seater stadium in 2015 for 80,000,000... only to decide to build another new one for 2018 before we'd played our first match at the new venue :confused:

I can only envisage it's some sort of temporary athletics-related arrangement or something :D

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted
My board also committed stadium lunacy recently. They built a brand new 37,000-seater stadium in 2015 for 80,000,000... only to decide to build another new one for 2018 before we'd played our first match at the new venue :confused:

I can only envisage it's some sort of temporary athletics-related arrangement or something :D

What!? That's insane haha!

Going to enjoy reading this. Good luck mate.

Congratulations on survival at least.

Thanks, I'm sure this next season will get markedly more interesting...

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

41791_35604126398_5238_n.jpg

HASK - August 2012 Update

I have some new signings to introduce. With SEVEN (that's right, I just can't get over how ridiculous this league is!) teams going down this year, the odds are massively stacked against us. Predicted to come 15th of 16 teams, I really have my work cut out for me...

Anyway, to the signings:

Mario Tadic (AMC) - 16-year-old who looks to have a fair bit of potential. He's determined at least.

Josip Bojo (ST) - the man entrusted to score our goals this year.

Samir Pohizek (DRC) - someone to shore up the defence? Hope so.

Tabi (DM/MC) - an African workhorse for the midfield.

Robert Deak (DC) - another defender to improve a leaky defence? Again, I hope so.

We're not going to set Croatian football alight but we may just have a chance of survival...

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

41791_35604126398_5238_n.jpg

HASK Update - SACKED! - 23rd September 2012

Erm, well that was swift. There's clearly no messing about in Croatia - a dreadful start to the season saw me relieved of my duties. I suppose when you look at the results and league position you can understand why. Still, I thought I'd be given slightly longer than that to see if we were capable of sticking around in the division!

AlexanderRomantsevNews_Inbox-3-1.jpg

CroatianSecondDivisionOverview_Stages-4-1.jpg

NKHASKFixtures_Fixtures-4-1.jpg

Yes, I've included friendlies! It's to pad out my CV alright? I should add - this season I decided to turn into an utter b*stard and criticised any manager who dared question HASK or my management. I made NO friends in Croatia. I wonder if that impacted the board's decision to sack me?

So, the first step into Eastern Europe ends fairly badly. Where will I end up next? You shall see...

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Wow, harsh stuff. I mean, your record in friendly matches was incredible. I don't understand why they didn't keep you on. ;)

Good luck with the next move. Hopefully to somewhere where you can get a bit more stability than you did in Croatia! :D

Ha! Thanks (I think...) ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites
BadManager

BadManager

Posted
Posted

Five games in, that was harsh. Sure, 7 get the drop so perhaps there was pressure to move because of that. But you were predicted to finish 15th, what did they expect.

Its the early setbacks and eventual sucess that make an iacovone career what they are, good reading and often better than playing the game myself.

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

So two months passed and I got offered this:

AlexanderRomantsevNews_Inbox-4-1.jpg

Now the problem (aside from being utter crap) is that their season has just finished (in November) and doesn't restart until April. So I'll be sitting around staring blankly at a map of Belarus for 6 months...

Also, another problem - they came 14th out of 16, just escaping relegation to the third tier...

I'll leave it to you to give me some advice - I'm going for a run to ponder where it all went wrong at HASK :p

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Five games in, that was harsh. Sure, 7 get the drop so perhaps there was pressure to move because of that. But you were predicted to finish 15th, what did they expect.

Its the early setbacks and eventual sucess that make an iacovone career what they are, good reading and often better than playing the game myself.

Thanks! I don't know what they expected either tbh!

What do you think about a trip to Belarus?

Link to post
Share on other sites
BadManager

BadManager

Posted
Posted

You've got time to find players to build a squad better than 14th. If there a few you can axe without paying out their contracts and the wage budget isn't too far off the other lower clubs in the league, take it. I'd be less inclined to take it if I had to sell complete duds in order to free up some wage budget, quite often you just can't get rid of them without paying them out.

Are there any other jobs under pressure in the lower leagues that you might be a shot at?

Link to post
Share on other sites
Niebiescy

Niebiescy

Posted
Posted

If I were you I'd wait. Find yourself a job with a useless crap in a more exciting league such as CZ, SK, PL, HR, RS, RO. That break is too long and you'll get bored as hell and there aren't enough good teams in Belarus to make the league exciting to play imo.

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

190px-FC_Dnepr_Mogilev.svg.png

Possibly even more humble beginnings

FC Dnepr Mogilev

Transfer Budget: £2,800

Wage Budget: £3.2k p/w

My next step in this adventure finds me posting up in the Belarusian First League (amusingly, the 2nd tier). Mogilev have just been relegated from the Highest League after initially surviving their first campaign. So who to turn to in times of trouble? Well Alexander Romantsev of course - that Lithuanian manager despised in Croatia :cool:. That's me by the way...

So who are we?

Well we hail from Mogilev (as you might suspect), which is located in the east of Belarus. The city has a reasonably large smattering of Belarusian's - 360,918 by 2011's estimate - making it the 3rd largest city in Belarus.

Founded in 1267, Mogilev has been through the mill in it's time. Claimed by Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Germany, the Soviets and now Belarus, it is likely to be an ethnically diverse place. It is also twinned with 12 cities from around Europe - all of which are alien to me.

What about the club?

Well, we play at the Spartak Stadion, which holds a decent 7,990 people in an all-seater. We have well established youth recruitment and excellent junior coaching - a brilliant surprise for me on arrival. I'm pleased with that.

We hate Dinamo Minsk and Slavia Mozyr - neither of which are in our division. They're in the Highest Division - one that we've won once in our history - in 1998.

Speaking of - this is a 16 team league. Two go up, two go down. And we're predicted to come 1st :D.

The Spartak Stadion:

page_3059_stadion spartak.jpg

Wish me luck!

Link to post
Share on other sites
corinthiano

corinthiano

Posted
Posted

Best of luck iacovone - I have always had an interest in the Belarusian leagues, just a shame that whenever I manage there I fail miserably :rolleyes: The strict foreigner rules means having those good facilities to produce good youngsters will be hepful. Hope you manage to gain promotin at your first attempt.

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Best of luck iacovone - I have always had an interest in the Belarusian leagues, just a shame that whenever I manage there I fail miserably :rolleyes: The strict foreigner rules means having those good facilities to produce good youngsters will be hepful. Hope you manage to gain promotin at your first attempt.

Thanks mate. Yeah, I've got 1 foreign player in the squad. He was fine in the top flight where those restrictions don't exist but I'll have to get rid of him whilst in the 2nd tier. Shame. We look to have a decent squad.

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Ah, it seems I've got a few mutinous Belarusian's in my camp. The three best players - all represented by the same agent are transfer listed by request. With us a cool half a million in debt, I'll be offloading the three sadly. I'm particularly annoyed at losing Denis Obrazov our left-back as he's rated as a 5 star ability man.

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

190px-FC_Dnepr_Mogilev.svg.png

Dnepr Mogilev - April 2013 Update

So, the new season is upon us and I won't lie, I'm concerned. We don't have a good strike-force nor a decent central midfield. Our tag as favourites to go up could be wildly misplaced!

Anyway, I'll show you our key players for the upcoming year. I'm pleased to say I kept our 5 star man:

Denis Obrazov (D/WBL) - the 5 star man. Will be great but not in a vital key position.

Andrey Orochko (AMRLC/ST) - signed on loan for the campaign, he'll give us plenty of options across the three AM positions behind the striker.

Fyodor Tchernykh (AMLR/ST) - annoying surname but one of the best players in the squad. May have to be used up front.

Aliaksandr Tarlikovskiy (D/WBR/DM/MC) - a versatile defensive minded player with decent physical and mental attributes. Useful.

Kirill Demenkovets (DM/MC) - another loanee, but brought in mainly to give us some depth in CM. But may have to start we're so short in quality at CM. At least he can run about.

Yep, that's my best. Doesn't look as though they are promotion contending standard but we'll see what happens...

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

190px-FC_Dnepr_Mogilev.svg.png

Dnepr Mogilev - RESIGNED - 1st May 2013

Deary me, this is beginning to resemble my career on FM11! We were tipped to come first and although I expressed my trepidition, I didn't expect it to be as bad as this. We lost 5 out of 5, including 5-1 to Belcard - the other side I had a job offer from. There was no way I was going to stay after that. The job hunt starts again.

BelarusianFirstLeagueOverview_Stages-1.jpg

DneprMogilevFixtures_Fixtures-1.jpg

Even our friendlies were poor this time. I really need to find a tactic that's going to work in the lower reaches of Eastern Europe, and a decent club to build up. This is going dreadfully :D

Link to post
Share on other sites
iacovone

iacovone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

cf-braila.gif?width=227

The humblest beginnings

CF Braila

Transfer Budget: £0

Wage Budget: £7.3k p/w

Well at least I'm getting a good tour of Eastern Europe right? After the Belarusian disaster, I really couldn't show my face there again. Fortunately little-known Romanian 2nd Division side CF Braila decided I was the right man to save them relegation in the upcoming 2013/14 season. Ha.

So who are we?

Founded in 1922, Braila are one of the oldest clubs in Romania. The club enjoyed the best period of success in the early 90s, finishing 6th in the top flight and reaching the Romanian Cup final (and losing). Since then, they've flitted between the 2nd and 3rd tier.

Braila is the 11th most populous city in Romania (thanks Wiki) just shy of 170,000 people. It is also in the east of the country. It's also twinned with Calais - I guess because it's a port town on the Danube.

What about the club?

Alarmingly we're £1m in debt as I take over - doesn't bode well.

The Municipal stadium holds 18,000 people (8,000 seats) which is rather impressive. Our facilities are basic across the board so nothing to see there.

I'm also back to the tricky league structure where 5 go down and 2 go up. 14 teams in the division.

The Municipal Stadium:

5458.jpg

Lovely eh? Here we go again...

Link to post
Share on other sites
corinthiano

corinthiano

Posted
Posted

Unlucky iacovone, but Belarusia really is tough, I have tried a small to big club save there twice and got relegated twice, badly! Just not enough good players around. Hope you finally get your lucky break in Romania.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Jason the Yank

Jason the Yank

Posted
Posted
Ah, it seems I've got a few mutinous Belarusian's in my camp. The three best players - all represented by the same agent are transfer listed by request. With us a cool half a million in debt, I'll be offloading the three sadly. I'm particularly annoyed at losing Denis Obrazov our left-back as he's rated as a 5 star ability man.

Should have sent them to the gulag. I'm sure Lukashenko would have some places available. ;)

I had a trip to Belarus in FM 12 and did about as well as you did. Friendlies went well, then the league started and we were getting humped 5- and 6-0 every time. :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...