Robsy1990 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Inspired by SRL88's career threads (here and here), I have decided to give a journeyman save of my own ago. Having on previous saves tended to stay at one club, or at best move just the once, this journeyman malarky is a new thing for me. Some aspects of the layout of my thread are borrowed from SRL88, as I think think his posts are presented brilliantly. Leagues & Players Argentina - Nacional B Brazil - Serie C Belgium - Derde Klasse England - Blue Square N/S France - Championnat National Germany - 3. Liga Ireland - First Division Italy - Serie C2 Holland - Jupiler League Portugal - 2 Divisao Russia - FNL Scotland - Third Division Spain - Segunda B Turkey - 2. Lig USA - MLS Wales - Welsh Premier Custom large database with all players with National Rep in Scandinavia, Croatia, and Ukraine loaded. Approximate player count: 92,000. Manager Profile - Robert Ferguson Age: 25 Started game in England (July 2012) And we're ready to go... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 So I started unemployed, looking for a job. I was quickly offered work by Ken Ferguson at Brechin City, but I would rather start abroad than in the UK again. Still, beggars can't be choosers, so I opted to delay my decision whilst I applied for almost every job going including: Athlone Town (Ireland) Blied-Molenbeek (Belgium) Cankirispor (Turkey) Defensa y Justicia (Argentina) Santa Clara (Portugal) Virton (Belgium) I had my eye on the Santa Clara job as Portugal seemed quite appealing with the warm weather and chance to build my reputation with a medium-sized club, but alas they opted for another bloke. It was looking like Argentina, Belgium, or Turkey then as Ireland was still too close to home, and in the end only one club actually offered me a job... No transfer funds, no wage bill, no payment, bit of ambition. Sounded good to me! R Excelsior Virton Here is where I will call home for the foreseeable future... the Stade Yvan Georges: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 The Squad Inherited an average squad, some areas in particular are a bit worrying, namely central midfield. Not a lot of personnel nor inspiration going on there. Standout players in each area (GK, DF, MF, FW): Julien Hurbain Petar Bojovic Rudy Santini Renaud Emond I've decided to abandon my self-imposed ban of using wingers in FM, partly to expand my tactical horizons and also due to Santini probably being my best player. Midfield is looking very light though, and to make matters worse the transfer rules over here are nothing short of bizarre - you cannot sign players who play in the same division or the division below you until next year! I've tried to bring in a few freebies to help the squad in terms of quality and backup for injuries, but quality is few and far between... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Good luck dude. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Good luck dude. Thanks pal. If it's even half as epic as your FM12 one I'll be chuffed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 R Excelsior Virton August - December 2012 Progress Update Derde Klasse B: And so, I am well into my first season at Virton, just into 2013 in fact! Above is the list of my results up until now, and despite a lot of them being good, we are still far too inconsistent for my liking. I have struggled with formation fluidity, as well as scoring goals - only on two occasions this season have we scored more than two goals in a match, despite dominating for long periods. I have changed formation three times already due to lack of cohesion, first from a 4-3-3, then to a 4-2-4, and finally settling on my tried and trusted narrow 4-3-1-2. I abandoned wingers again in favour of two strikers and a more crowded midfield to try and solve our lack of goals problem, and although I have't yet seen much of an increase in that department the team fluidity has shot up. I've also had to start retraining my best player, Rudy Santini, into a striker as he is naturally a winger, and his pace is much needed up front. Despite all this, up until the end of October we were still grinding out the results and battling at the top of the table, but then a cup game at KV Mechelen seemed to cause a wobble in confidence... Cofidis Cup Thought we had a good run here, although the fact we had to go to extra time against Heist caused some fitness problems early on in the season which in turn caused a few costly injuries. I was initially pleased to draw a home tie against top division Mechelen, but they actually approached us and offered to pay £17k to buy home advantage. The ticket sales from an away game would also boost our coffers by about £70k, so I agreed as I didn't think there was really a chance of an upset - home or away. I was right, and in the end we put up a good showing against a team who were 5th in the top division at the time, as well as having a nice boost to our bank balance. League Table - (31st December 2012) At the turn of the year, we find ourselves sat pretty at the top of the table. Thankfully our rough patch doesn't seem to be restricted to us - Ciney, Kelmis and Bocholt have all been faltering in recent weeks despite all being at the top at some point. Woluwe-Zaventem have already made the playoffs due to a storming Fist Period where they didn't lose a game, but since then have gone off the boil. Hopefully I can regain a bit of consistency and secure a playoff position this Period. It's obvious that our problem is killing games off though - I plan on having a clear out of most of my attacking players at the end of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Good start Robsy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Excellent position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Good start Robsy. Excellent position. Cheers guys, just hope we can keep it up for the rest of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 R Excelsior Virton 2012-2013 End of Season report Derde Klasse B: A reasonable second half to the season, remaining unbeaten at home, but again having too many draws. We were dominated for a lot of matches though, thankfully my defenders and goalkeeper have been pretty inspired and saved my bacon a few times. Anyway, this was how the table finished: League Table (May 2013) Finished in second, which didn't sadly put us in contention to qualify for the playoffs... until I realised that as La Louviere Centre had gone up as Champions as well as winning the third period, we were in fact granted a passage to the playoffs! Not sure how the selection process works, but I think it's because we finished second in the overall league - I finished second in the first period, then was languishing in upper mid-table to the final two periods. Anyway, here's how the playoffs went: Belgacom League Relegation Playoff 2012/2013 The QF brought us our best performances of the season, as we absolutely pummelled Second Period winners Tienen. Even more impressive is we were without Key Man Saintini, who had been injured for three weeks in the final game of the regular season. I felt confident going into the games against Aalst then, who had finished third from bottom in the Belgacom League, but my decision to use counter-attacking tactics backfired, and other than a dodgy penalty we failed to score against them over two legs. They deservedly went though, but I couldn't blame my players as they actually played quite well, especially to get a draw away from home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 R Excelsior Virton 2012-2013 Season Review Derde Klasse B - Final Position: 2nd (Qualified for Belgacom League Relegation Playoffs) Surprised we finished second as I felt we were terribly inconsistent throughout the season, not scoring enough goals and conceding too many draws. But we qualified for the playoffs nonetheless and put in a good showing, which was pleasing. It probably would have been too soon to be promoted to be honest, so another season in this league isn't the end of the world. Cofidis Cup - Exited at the 4th Round Very pleased with our progress in this cup, as it brought in some much needed money thanks to the game against top-division Mechelen, where we eventually went out. Will hope to progress as far, if not one better next year. Finances I forgot to look at our finances when I joined the club, the the profit from the past year has been great for a club of our size, and I hope soon we can turn semi-professional. This is how we're looking at the moment (July 2nd 2013): Best players: (Again, forgot to screenshot at the end of last season - league statistics are next to link) Rudy Saintini - (Apps 35, Goals 15, Assists 9, PoM 3) My best player, played out of position for half the season as I stopped using wingers but he still shone. Currently being tracked by Grenoble and Strasbourg in France so I fear I might not have him for much longer. Julien Hurbain - (Apps 38, Conceded 22, Clean Sheets 18, PoM 0) Single-handedly kept us in many games, I can't imagine how points he's won us. Coaches don't particularly rate him but unless I find an outrageously talent 'keeper he'll remain my number one next year. Renan Felipe - (Apps 33, Goals 1, Assists 1, PoM 4) Had a difficult start and was then injured, but after he came back he shored up our defence and was an integral part of the team. Currently being tracked by Aachen in Germany so might be powerless to keep hold of. Future Plans I'm staying with Virton for at least another season unless a club in a higher division approaches me. With a transfer window to work with I'm aiming to see us go up as Champions next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
avstwentyone Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Good stuff. Also I had no idea teams could approach you with an offer to buy home advantage in cup comps. Btw, what skin is that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsy1990 Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Good stuff. Also I had no idea teams could approach you with an offer to buy home advantage in cup comps. Btw, what skin is that? Thanks. It's the Steklo X3 skin by TomDixon77. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
avstwentyone Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Cheers mate. Shall be following, Belgium looks like an interesting place to manage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Very good first season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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