My Greatest Challenge: Knocking Fergie Right Off His ****ing Perch. And You Can Print That

Nobby_McDonald · November 22, 2012

You're making steady progress though AK.

$P O\'D$ · November 22, 2012

Its tough in the Italian lower league every club seems to be leaking money at a huge rate. Usually around £1m a year. Your doing well to just be competitive.

cerud · November 23, 2012

I'm beginning to feel the strain of the Italian lower leagues on finances as well. You're close to moving up to Serie B. There is progress being made.

DodgeeD · November 23, 2012

I think you had a good season of consolidaiton (although the finances are obviously as issue). One or two well-made signings could see a title push next year :thup:

B.W.G · November 23, 2012

Gutting on just missing out.Will you be stay or will you go?

deltablue · November 23, 2012

Again, not far off.

AK22 · November 23, 2012

Thanks everyone, perhaps I was a bit hasty righting the season off as a disaster, although it's clear that we should have finished the year a lot better than we did.

Going forward, I haven't really made my mind up yet. I've got one more season left on my contract, but have just turned down an extension for an additional season; I suppose, for now, I'm just going to suck it and see before committing any further. Obviously, this does make my job status slightly more vulnerable if we start next year poorly, as the club won't have to fork out as much compensation if they want to sack me, but at least I can see the an exit route if we have yet another frustrating season.

With regards to the finances, they are starting to spiral out of control. But at the end of the day, this is the chairman's lookout, not mine; he decides the budgets, and as long as I'm within the amount set by him, I feel happy to absolve myself of any responsibility for the financial peril we find ourselves in. However, if he decides to start selling players over my head, that may be catalyst that forces me out of the club.

AK22 · November 23, 2012

Taranto FC 1927 - Pre-Season 2017/18

After going close last season, the board have raised the bar this time around by insisting that the team wins promotion. Now that's tough, especially when considering there's only the one automatic place, and even more so when we've got a pretty tight wage budget to work with. That said, the media predict us to finish 3rd, with title odd of 12-1, so all the so-called experts expect us to be right in the mix again; we just need to perform all the way through, this time.

I'm so pleased to say that the poor run we ended last season on hasn't damaged morale for the long term, as we've had an extremely positive pre-season on the pitch. For the first time since I've been at the club, we've actually progressed past the 1st Qualifying Round of the TIM Cup; we've still disappointed the board, mind, who expected a 3rd Qualifying Round appearance, but it's certainly another step in the right direction. And we did alright in the friendlies too!

With only £2k per week slack in the wage budget, my hands were quite loosely tied when it came to what business I could do over the course of the summer. Thankfully, I was able to reduce the outgoings somewhat by offloading a few reserve team players, although I've suffered a severe backlash from the fans after the selling of club icons, Daniel Bello and Daniel Ciofani; sorry, but they're old and had to go!

Philippe Huet - May not be a first team regular straight away, but due to his blistering pace, he could be a good impact player from the bench.

Attilio Zanini - Joining us on loan from Napoli, this chap will fight with Di Federico for the sole striker role in our line-up.

Ivan Di Federico - He's joins us with glowing references from our scouts, and will have equally high expectations from me to do the business in front of goal.

DazRTaylor · November 25, 2012

Enjoying your thread AK, just as I expected to. :thup:

deltablue · November 25, 2012

Fergie probably still not worried yet.

AK22 · November 25, 2012

Enjoying your thread AK, just as I expected to.

Thanks Daz, much appreciated

Fergie probably still not worried yet.

Unfortunately not! Give me another twenty seasons though...

AK22 · November 25, 2012

Taranto FC 1927 - September 2017

The new season's under way, and it's hardly the start I was after. Unfortunately, asides from the victory over Sorrento, we've carried our poor form from last season into the new term, and very much look a team low in confidence. As well as that, we're looking incredibly fragile in defence, and extremely susceptible to any kind of aerial attack; perhaps it's time to switch focus in our match preparation, as if we continue in this vein, I'll be out of a job by Christmas.

It may have only been the opening few games, but I suppose we can count ourselves unlucky to have faced both Barletta and Poggibonsi already. They've started extremely well, and although it's far too early to say, they've got to be hopeful of a successful season ahead.

Next Time...

* We've got a busy month ahead, as we'll play the five league fixtures, as well as kicking off our Serie C Cup campaign against Livorno.

AK22 · November 26, 2012

Taranto FC 1927 - October 2017

After a slow start, it's finally starting to feel as if we're now clicking into gear, mainly thanks to huge contributions from striker, Attilio Zanini. It's eight goals in four games from him, a terrific spell of marksmanship, although I now feel a complete fool for not starting him regularly from the off. We're still looking quite shaky at the back, mind, and despite the improving results, we really need to somehow shore up the defence. The 'we'll score one more' approach is fun for a while, but I like my teams to have a mean defence, and being honest, we're miles off where I'd want us to be right now.

The top two are already starting to get a way a bit, but them aside, the rest of the league is once again very close. Luckily, this has been to our advantage, as despite our average start, we find ourselves right on the cusp of playoff spot; knit a few results together now, and I'd expect us to take our expected position within the top five.

Next Time...

* As we're now out of both cups, it's just the league for us to focus on for the rest of the season; we'll play four fixtures next month.

deltablue · November 26, 2012

Good luck trying to go up this time.

JackJCFC · November 27, 2012

Good to see you've managed to turn around your bad start. Hopefully you can get promoted this season.

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Cheers all! I hope this is the season we do it!

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Taranto FC 1927 - November 2017

Four wins in a row, and we were starting to build some momentum, but then the inconsistency returned, and we couldn't beat second-bottom, Ascoli, at home. And Zanini now injured, too. So after discovering the winning formula, the future looks more uncertain, once again; he'll be back next month, so I hope someone else takes on the goal scoring duties during the interim period as we can't really afford another slide down the table.

It looks like we've got a right battle on our hands this season, if we're to finish in the top five; it's all very tight still, but the five teams above us are all of a decent calibre, so I don't expect them to drop too many points. The table also proves how detrimental the defeat to Lecce was too, as if we had beaten them we would have been just the two points behind instead of the eight we are now.

Next Time...

* A fixture away to Foggia should prove the most difficult of the four league games we'll play.

DazRTaylor · November 27, 2012

Good grief, I have just realised how tough that league is.

Lecce, Foggia, Livorno, Salernitana & Ascoli have all been in Serie A in the last 20 years or so.

B.W.G · November 27, 2012

Still very tight in the league,I hope somehow you can take advantage of any slip ups.

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Good grief, I have just realised how tough that league is.
Lecce, Foggia, Livorno, Salernitana & Ascoli have all been in Serie A in the last 20 years or so.

Yeah, it's pretty mental when you analyse it like that! You could argue that the third tier in England is no different, with teams such as Coventry, Portsmouth and Sheffield United all competing, but with there being only 16 teams in this division, we're almost always playing a fellow promotion rival every single week. There's no easy games in Serie C1 (unless you're playing Melfi )!

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Still very tight in the league,I hope somehow you can take advantage of any slip ups.

Thanks B.W.G! Bit of an announcement coming up...

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Taranto FC 1927 - Decemeber 2017

The month has started well, with a solid win against Grosseto, although we should have done better away to Virtus Lanciano; thankfully, Zanini only missed three games with his injury, marking his return with a handy brace.

After these results, we're still a distance behind Lecce, but now find ourselves up to 4th and in the playoff places.

Then, I received the following job offer. This really made me stop and notice; although they're currently in League One, Peterborough are a much bigger team than Taranto and have the potential to really make headway in the English leagues. Fair enough, they're over wage budget, but that shouldn't be too difficult a task to bring back under control.

However, as I've already eluded to, I'm not really interested in returning to the UK yet, and would like to continue my career abroad for the immediate future, so politely declined Peterborough's offer. This did, however, open my eyes to what other jobs were available, so I applied for a job in Argentina.

They may be currently in the second tier, but this is a Primera Division club at heart, and would be looking to return to the top tier as soon as possible. I know Taranto are in a good position, and perhaps I should stay and see the job out, but it's unlikely that we'd clinch the single automatic promotion place, meaning that another trudge through the playoff is the most likely option. To be honest, I don't really fancy the prospects of going through that again; I'd also quite like a change of scenery now too, having spent four years in Italy, so this is a good as exit strategy as any. Ciao!

JackJCFC · November 27, 2012

Think Tigre is a good move, almost a fallen giant sort of situation so you should have the resources to get back to the top.

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Club Atlético Tigre

I can't say Taranto were happy with me applying for this position; in fact, they gave me an ultimatum, asking me to apologise or resign. At the time, I was still finalising terms with Tigre, so issued a meek 'sorry' before stabbing them in the back and signing on the dotted line with my new club. So, I'm off to (just outside) Buenos Aires, to take control of my third club team in this career so far; the board expect me to stabilise and consolidate for the rest of this season, but I can't see any reason why we shouldn't be challenging for promotion next time around.

Since the turn of the Millennium, the club has spent the majority of seasons competing in the top tier (Primera Divisíon), having finished runners-up three times within that period. Unfortunately, they've yo-yo'ed somewhat over recent years, so my task will involve getting promoted and re-establishing the team amongst the elite sides of Argentine football.

If you remember from my FM12 career, I had a really enjoyable spell in Argentina, taking Estudiantes to three Primera Divisíon titles in my time there; I hope to have just as much fun this time around! The style of football here is extremely entertaining, often flowing from end-to-end, and boy, do they like a tackle here! Watch out for a red card or three!

I may takeover with the club being down in 15th position, but with over half the season left to play, we still have a really good opportunity to close the 12 point gap to the promotion places. I'm not guaranteeing we'll do it this year, but I'd like to think we'll finish nearer the top of the table than the bottom; the media predicted us to finish 4th, and that's the kind of ballpark I'm aiming for. I've also got the luxury of the approaching January transfer window, and with a small transfer budget, and some leeway in wages, I'm expecting to bring in some new faces to revitalise the first team squad.

AK22 · November 27, 2012

Think Tigre is a good move, almost a fallen giant sort of situation so you should have the resources to get back to the top.

Thanks Jack, that's my thoughts too. The finances aren't fantastic, but still significantly better than Taranto's, and if I can achieve promotion sharpish, they should sort themselves out eventually.

B.W.G · November 27, 2012

Very good move,like your ambition.Best of luck in Argentina :thup:

JackJCFC · November 27, 2012

Certainly room for improvement in the league, as you said, finances aren't great but they could be alot worse. Promotion would probably sort that out.

iSmiff · November 28, 2012

Good luck in Argentina. I've been in a situation where i've managed to take over a club supposedly in a bad way and taken them to a decent finish that season. Half way point of the season is very misleading. Often a new manager spurs people on so good luck pushing for the playoff spots. I imagine you'd be offered (or could, and should, demand) a new contract were you to achieve promotion!

AK22 · November 29, 2012

Club Atlético Tigre - January 2018

With us playing just the one competitive game before the winter break, it's been quite difficult to pinpoint where things have been going wrong over the past few months; even more so by the fact that we beat Aldosivi with a decent enough performance in my opening match with the club. We've followed this with strong showings in the mid-season friendlies, winning all but one of the five games arranged. And there's no shame in losing to Independiente, either, a team doing well in the top tier. I just hope we can keep this going when the league fixtures resume in February, as we should easily move up the league then.

What I had realised, though, is that the squad is majorly full of players either coming to the end of the career, or hot prospects coming through the ranks. As good as these players are, they're more likely to suffer from inconsistency than a player in the prime age, so the addition of a few twenty-somethings wouldn't go amiss.

We also have no natural central-midfielders! God knows what formation my predecessor was playing! Unfortunately, all the scouts left the club when the previous manager was sacked, so I've had to establish my own scouting team. Long term this is probably a good thing, as I prefer to have 'my own men' around me, but for now, this is proving to be a nightmare as they are unable to suggest any players for me to sign that are both in my price range and happy to join a team in the Argentine second tier. The transfer window has now closed, and all I've been able to sign is a 'keeper. Nothing else! This means, for the rest of the season at least, I'll be shoehorning several players into my standard 4-4-2 formation.

After my initial assessment, here's some of the best players at the club:

Federico Andrada - Should be prolific at this level, although I'm concerned that he's only netted the eight times so far.

Norberto Paparatto - The old, wise head in our back four.

José Maria López - He may be only 19, but should be one of the first names on the team-sheet.

Mario Sarcos - Even at the tender age of 20, he still very highly rated, and probably our best defender.

Jorge Amaya - The highlight of the youth team. Quite a few prospects here!

AK22 · November 29, 2012

Very good move,like your ambition.Best of luck in Argentina

Certainly room for improvement in the league, as you said, finances aren't great but they could be alot worse. Promotion would probably sort that out.

Well done on turning down The P*sh, as they shall forever be referred to in my household. Good luck in South America!

Good luck in Argentina. I've been in a situation where i've managed to take over a club supposedly in a bad way and taken them to a decent finish that season. Half way point of the season is very misleading. Often a new manager spurs people on so good luck pushing for the playoff spots. I imagine you'd be offered (or could, and should, demand) a new contract were you to achieve promotion!

Cheers guys! I'm definitely aiming as high as possible. Even if this doesn't mean promotion this year, it should set us up nicely for next season.

And yes, I will be asking for a new contract if we manage it!

$P O\'D$ · November 29, 2012

Great start at Tigre. Heading back where they belong.

DodgeeD · November 29, 2012

Good luck at Tigre. Managing in Argentina is always fun!

DazRTaylor · November 29, 2012

All the best in Argentina mate. José Maria López looks like he could become an absolute beast! :thup:

AK22 · November 29, 2012

Great start at Tigre. Heading back where they belong.

Hopefully so' date=' although it's only three points so far!

Good luck at Tigre. Managing in Argentina is always fun!

All the best in Argentina mate. José Maria López looks like he could become an absolute beast!

Thanks! Really enjoyed Argentina in the past, so hope to do so again this time

If he knuckles down, and improves his mental skills, López should turn out to be one of the great Argentine number 10s. He's definitely got the potential, anyway.

AK22 · November 29, 2012

Club Atlético Tigre 1927 - February 2018

After several seasons of only playing three or four times a month, it's quite a shock to the system to be playing twice a week once again! My first full month of competitive football hasn't been a disaster, but it's obvious there's areas where we need to improve upon. Most apparent is the fact that we're a bit scratchy on the road, having won only one of our four away games; I know home advantage has a big influence on team performance, but as one of the favourites for promotion, we shouldn't be dropping as many points on our travels as we currently are.

We may have made some progress up the table, but with 16 games left to play, we'll need to win quite a high percentage of the remaining matches if we're to catch the leaders.

Next Time...

* Surprisingly, we're still in the Copa Argentina, and we'll play a 6th Round tie against Estudiantes.

* It's a big month in terms of the league, as we'll contest seven fixtures, with the majority against teams beneath us in the table.

B.W.G · November 29, 2012

Made a good start so far.

Nobby_McDonald · November 29, 2012

Interesting move to Tigre.

deltablue · November 30, 2012

Interesting move.

roganp · November 30, 2012

Interesting career so far, good luck in Argentina :thup: .

AK22 · December 1, 2012

Cheers all

AK22 · December 1, 2012

Club Atlético Tigre 1927 - March 2018

Not a very good month at all, with only the two victories. In all of the league fixtures we went into the games as favourites, so it's apparent that the squad is riddled with complacency issues; the squad obviously think they're a lot better than they are, and don't seem all that inclined to pull their fingers out anytime soon.

After such a poor month, there's already discontent amongst the camp, with several players showing concern and the board starting to become displeased already; I've only been here three months!!! That said, I can see why they are unhappy, we've been pretty abysmal, and aside from Kevin Genaro's knack of finding the net, there's been very little to shout about in my tenure so far.

Next Time...

* I think it's safe to say that automatic promotion is now out of the question, so it will be a case of winning as many games as possible and finishing as high as we can.

AK22 · December 1, 2012

I think this is a good thing, just...

B.W.G · December 1, 2012

Things look tough for you but I have confidence that you can turn it around if you are given the time!

AK22 · December 1, 2012

Club Atlético Tigre 1927 - April 2018

There's still been very little to shout about, with us struggling to pick up the victories we should be recording. In all honesty, I had expected a lot more from the squad here, especially Andrada and Lopez, who I'd anticipated scoring a lot more goals between them than they have so far. Due to these results, everyone's even more twitchy than they were four weeks ago, and the pressure's severely on to turn things around.

Thankfully, we won our final game of the month, ending a six match baron spell. This still leaves us mid-table although we have moved up a couple of places since my arrival. Realistically, with four games remaining, a top half finish is the best we can ask for, as we're are now too far adrift from the top ten to do any better.

Next Time...

* The season comes to an end, and I'll be expecting to finish it on a high with some improved results and performances.

AK22 · December 1, 2012

Things look tough for you but I have confidence that you can turn it around if you are given the time!

I hope so! Time is running out, though, as they don't seem to have an abundance of patience here in Argentina

AK22 · December 1, 2012

Club Atlético Tigre 1927 - May 2018

Overall, it's been a better month, but I've still got major concerns about how we capitulated in our final game of the season at home to Gimnasia. Prior to that, we've played well, created a lot more chances, and the players confidence was, at last, starting to build. Obviously, there's still lots of work to do, but I'm encouraged that we might have turned the corner now.

I've no idea how relegation works in this division! How on earth can Huracán and Rosario Central be relegated?! Rosario were only six points off being promoted! Anyway, we've snuck into the top half and secured an end of season finish of 11th place.

When I took over, the board were looking for a mid-table finish, and that is what I have delivered. So, imagine my disgust to find the following message in my inbox shortly after the final game of the season...

I suppose results haven't been amazing, but I've matched their initial expectations. What more could they want?! This means my time in Argentina has come to a premature ending (just six months!), and I will on the job hunt pronto. Of course, just to rub salt into the wounds, Taranto only went and got themselves promoted...

DazRTaylor · December 1, 2012

Unfortunate.

The game is definitely harder than last year. I got promoted with Luton, but the board were "disappointed" with my performance!!!

AK22 · December 1, 2012

All in all, it's been a pretty dire few months, with my move to Argentina turning out to be a unmitigated disaster. No doubt this will have a knock-on effect on my reputation, and I may need to drop down to a lower level if I'm to return to club football as quickly as possible.

I'm really disappointed that things didn't go to plan, as I had envisaged getting Tigre promoted back to the Primera Divisíon next season, and then challenging for silverware within three or four seasons of that; I really do think this would have been a possibility too, especially after a full off-season to sort the team out and get some fresh faces in.

Never mind, though, I'll learn from my mistakes here. It just means that I'll have to tolerate a few more seasons of Fergie's smugness.

Season     Team              League                     Finish    Cups                             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013       FK Vidar          Oddsenligaen Avdeling 3    4th       Cupen 1st Round
2014       FK Vidar          Oddsenligaen Avdeling 3    2nd       Cupen 2nd Round
2014/15    Taranto FC 1927   2nd Divisione Girone A     4th       N/A
2015/16    Taranto FC 1927   1st Divisione Girone B     6th       TIM Cup 1st QR, Coppa Italia Lega Pro SF
2016/17    Taranto FC 1927   1st Divisione Girone B     4th       TIM Cup 1st QR, Coppa Italia Lega Pro 2nd Round
2017/18    Taranto FC 1927   1st Divisione Girone B     N/A*      * Resigned 14/12/17
          Tigre             Primera B Nacional         11th      Sacked 26/05/18

AK22 · December 1, 2012

Unfortunate.
The game is definitely harder than last year. I got promoted with Luton, but the board were "disappointed" with my performance!!!

Indeed it is Seems a bit 'buggy' to me though, considering the expectations when I took over.

roganp · December 1, 2012

A shame to see you sacked so soon, hopefully you can get your career back on track.

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My Greatest Challenge: Knocking Fergie Right Off His ****ing Perch. And You Can Print That

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