[FM 15] Around the World

[Makalakalane1]

Intro

At the age of 31, with next to no experience, my career sets off in 2014 with only a National C License in the bag with a background as a sunday league footballer. My goals are clear: To achieve global fame and fortune, winning trophies on every continent on the earth.

(At this moment I've been playing 1,5 seasons but didn't decide to write about it until now, so there will be missing a few pictures but I will try and make up for it by going over the first, more or less undocumented, time a little quicker)

First Job

After making myself available at a number of clubs I finally landed my first professional job! I tried to evaluate every possiblity thoroughly in an attempt to get myself hired at the club with the best economy and best youth and/or training facilities possible. I quickly realized that I just needed to accept whatever would come my way and I ended up in - South Korea! GOYANG HI FC! Poor training facilities and basic youth facilites, but a positive bank account!

A relatively young club, founded in 1980, with a couple of trophies in the cabinet already having won the national championship 1983 and the 'Korean President Cup' i 1988. A couple of runner-up spots in various cups but nothing big since their positive start in the early 80's. A runner-up spot in the Korean National League in 2006 allowed Goyang to qualify for the second best South Korean league; Huyndai Oilbank K League Challenge, where they have been since. When the World Cup hit Japan & South Korea in 2002, Goyang was one of the lucky clubs to receive a huge stadium - one that, for obvious reasons, haven't been filled out since the big tournament

The Task Ahead

As of July 2014, the K League Challenge league had already been going on for 4 months and ending in late November the campaign was already half way through. On the 14th of July 2014, Goyang was in the bottom fighting against relegation. A horrendous goal difference and not many points but still not at the one relegation spot the league offers. (In fact there is no relegation spot in FM, but I thought it'd be weird for the story).

Something really changed in this Goyang squad after they got themselves a new manager and to my satisfaction the teams luck changed over night. Already 2 days after I was hired a knock out game was to be played on home-ground. After 1-1 in regular time the team was fortunate to win the game 3-1 in extra time and maybe it was that victory that turned everything around. 12 out of the following 18 remaining league fixtures was won, 2 teams from the K League Classic - the best league in the country - was beaten on our way to the South Korean FA Cup Final where we were finally beaten by mighty Suwon Samsung who have won almost all Asian trophies there are to win.

Second Season

I felt lucky. With only 4 signings on free transfer - one was a 39 year old Sibusiso Zuma, former South African international, who disappointed dearly - and a few background staff changes, I thought I had been in for a good piece of overachievement. I released a few players on free transfer as I needed some room in the wage budget and the economy was going in the wrong direction. It made room for a few more signings so my wage budget was still on the verge of breaking. But half way through the campaign I had won 11 out of 17 games, drawn 3 and lost only 3, which had taken me to the top of the table, the board decided to offer me a big increase in the wage budget. I knew the economy was on it's way down but I figured they must have a plan for that! I accepted, of course, with the demands increasing from 'Battle for Relegation' to 'Top-Half Finish'.

My new signings proved very effective and we kept our top spot to the very end!

PROMOTION

Happy days is once again restored in Goyang Hi FC! Even with the red numbers nearing 1m £ the board is sitll optimistic about the future. They can't afford any trasfer funds, they can't afford upgrading facilities - they will not even allow me to go on a course and better myself as coach or manager. Of course this is all understandable and the future of this club depends obviously on one thing: Getting results in the best league of the nation, the K League Classic! With a nice winning prize from finishing 1st in the K League Challenge in 2015, resulting also in getting a few new sponsorships, the clubs finances now look a little less terrible. Still it's very negative and it's only going one way... This club can only be saved by an oil-rich investor or very big results in the near future.

Third Season

The goal for the third season is clear: Stay clear of relegation! I have tried to cut down on expenses by getting rid of a string of players, but during 2015 I signed 5-6 foreign players. In South Korea you are only allowed to select 3 Foreign players + 1 Asian Foreign player and in the K League Classic you are not even allowed to register anymore than that. Which forces me to get rid of some of these foreign players, who unfortunately are some of my best ones. This means I've been forced to sign free South Korean players again to keep up the abilities of my squad.

In late 2015 I stumbled upon this young Brazilian talent who I had big plans for in the coming season. He was supposed to be back-up player for my regular striker, getting a lot of first team experience starting against weaker sides and getting a lot of playing time as a sub.

But since I can only register 3 non Asian foreigners I am forced to see if I can loan him out for the season. So far no luck. I fear that he will become disenchanted at the club quickly when he realizes I am not gonna register him for first team football. Offering him to clubs on a loan deal will only make him available to South Korean clubs, who all deal with the same problem so it doesn't look good.

My first four friendlies entering the 2016 season has been uplifting on the other hand:

An incredibe victory against one of the biggest - Seoul, last years runners up - a big win against a lower league team, along with a 0-3 defeat and a fantastic 2 goal comeback against other K League Classic teams, one of them being the champions of 2013. This have made the whole team dream of another big surprise season for the media to reflect on. Let's see what the new season brings!

I hope you enjoyed reading this and that you will want to follow my progress. I that case I will keep the thread updated. Thanks

[Masonheats]

Nice career so far! I enjoyed reading up on it!

[Makalakalane1]

Thanks. Nice to hear!

[Makalakalane1]

SEASON 2016

Strengthening the Squad and Domestic Players

With a string of good friendly results I approached the new season with much positivity. The board surprised me with an actual transfer budget of £70.000 and raised the wage budget a little to £1.34M p/a. I really hope they know what they are doing. I suppose there will be some TV-revenues coming in this season but I still feel that they act a little hazardous. I decided not to spend any of the transfer budget and just look for free subjects to strengthen my squad.

Having been surprised by the foreign player rules in the K League Classic, I needed a couple of decent domestic players. Yang Dong-Won, Park Min, Park Sang-Jin, Im Seon-Young and Shim Je-Hyeok became the new-comers I needed - a goalie, 2 defenders, a midfielder and an attacking midfielder/winger/striker, three of which I feel will make a difference right away:

Yang Dong-Won

- a Goalkeeper with 9 previous seasons in the K League Classic, never earning a steady first team spot in Daejeon or Suwon Samsung. One season in the K League Challenge as a first choice for Gangwon, which I would think made him the goalie his is today, followed by a season in the same club with only 11 starters and no new contract. Big mistake if you ask me and I was happy to pick him up as his skills exceeds our current goalkeeper by a bit.

Park Sang-Jin

- our left back from the past successful season of 2015 was aging and his contract was up. Park Sang-Jin is a left back with 6 years in Gangwon, 4 of which was spend in the K League Classic. His contract was ran out and to my surprise he was released on a free transfer. He will go right in as first choice on 2016s survival team of Goyang!

Then I needed som young, domestic blood as well and then this guy popped up on the radar..:

Shim Je-Hyeok

- After 2 seasons in mighty Seoul with a total of 6 starters, I reckon he must have been among the youngsters that didn't make the cut for the new season. In the eyes of my scouts he is clearly a big talent - with the potential to exceed the abilities of our current argentinian star on the AMC spot Sergio Agüero (found him on free transfer, 21 years of age, just happens to have the same name as the one we all know ) - and I was very excited to make this guy a part of our setup. With no other real contenders to the role as cover in that position and with Sergio having quite a few injury problems, it looks as if the 21 year old South Korean will be getting a lot of playing time this season!

((Just for the record, here's a picture of the Sergio Agüero that was offered to me by some agent in the first season))

Low Morale, High Hopes

Winning promotion have earned me a great deal of popularity in the club of Goyang Hi FC both wth the board and the fans. The players morale, on the other hand, has started to lower. As 4-5 key players of the squad requested to leave because they felt they had outgrown the club, I promised them that I would sell them if the right offer came along. But as the transfer window came closer to shutting I realised that no clubs in South Korea really have money to spend, let alone on profiles from the second best league. The window shut and no one was sold. The whole squad arranged a meeting with me and voiced their concern that I hadn't kept my promises. I chose to stand my ground and tell them that I couldn't just give in to players demands all the time and to my luck and comfort most of the team agreed. A few players reacted negatively and morale is still low. I even have a player who doesn't even want to talk to me at the moment. On the upside season ticket sales have risen to 699 from last seasons 176 - a stunning 397% rise which will surely please the board! On top of that we have done alright the first 5 games of the season so far well above expectations which gives me high hopes that morale will once again rise and talks about leaving the club will be forgotten..:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that I will have reason for posting more in the future. Thank you