[FM17] Something...Something...Something...Journeyman!

[andychar]

20 hours ago, Akkarin said:

Just read through your ups and restarts; brilliant career so far and really enjoyable read. Good luck in France!

Thanks a lot. Where were going we don't need luck! (Is it too late for Back to the Future references).

Chapter 8.2 "I'm an Englishmen (half Scottish) in Les Herbiers"

Ok admittedly Sting sung it better but you gotta admit that's pretty catchy as well.

So before the new season started I needed to rebuild a bit of confidence after losing the chance for Promotion at the end of last season.

My Assistant Manager had other ideas.

A Bundesliga team, a Serie A team and two French teams in the division above. Your fired!

Also I think we need to discuss my Ass Man's fear of flying.

Being the responsible threader I am I've only gone and forgot to take screenshots of the actual results...again...luckily it was only last night and my brain hasn't been completely fried yet. Although Peppa Pig is doing its very best to do just that!

Without going into too much detail with the friendlies. I won 2 and lost 2. 

Obviously I beat Freiburg 2-1 and Caglari 1-0 but lost against both the French Ligue 2 sides 2-0 and 2-1 respectively. 

In amongst these friendlies I took up my favourite past time...you wouldn't believe the quality of these French villages compared to those in Argentina and the Cayman Islands!

Please say hello to my new victims. I mean players...players.

One of them even has a face!

I play a very narrow formation hence the abundance of CB, CM and ST. I was generally happy with my transfer activity if not blown out of the water. 

Nobody was expecting me to set the league alight this season. We were predicted to finish 8th out of 18 and to be honest I'd take that. This season was about me getting my foot in the door in France and hoping finding a job where I actually stand a chance of winning something. Obviously I didn't say that in my interview.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years.

As far away from this place as possible!

The board didn't really have much expectation of the season either.

Round 9 seems quite hard but the truth is we start in Round 5. If you didn't know about the French Cup literally every single French owned Territory around the World is entered. Hence the massive amount of Rounds.

Buckle up everybody your in a season where nobody really gives a monkeys as long as we aren't in the bottom half!

Summary!

Number of new signings - 8

Number of villages raided - 6 

Level of ambition at the club - They can't even spell Promotion

Still to come!

The exciting start to the new French Season

The start of the French Cup

Random French Fact

The Statue of Liberty in New York City was actually a gift from France

[nextqprmanager]

va va voom

we`re off ! GL

[andychar]

5 hours ago, nextqprmanager said:

va va voom

we`re off ! GL

Cheers. I will just be happy with a top 8 finish really. I just wanna increase my stock in France to climb the leagues!

Chapter 8.3 "Comme si comme ca"

I'm nailing the French chapter titles so far!

So we were off and as I mentioned before I may have not taken a screenshot of the results but I could tell you what each one was.

This was the fixture list for the first month.

Calais RUFC 2-1 Vendee Herbiers - It was a tricky start to the season. An away game against a side who were challenging for a playoff place last season. It was an uneventful first half with both sides not really creating anything, 0-0 at the break. They struck first just after half time with my "work hard and we can win this" speech still ringing in their ears. We equalised 10 minutes later against the run of play and I was starting to believe we could nick a point. That was put to the sword with 16 minutes to go. I couldn't really argue they were the better side. I was still looking for my first win as Vendee Herbiers manager!

Vendee Herbiers 2-1 US Concarneau - We were heavy favourites for this game but took 70 minutes to start playing. They took the lead mid way through the first half. We were dominating but just weren't looking dangerous. They scored with their first shot on goal. The second half was much more of the same until the 70th minute when we finally came alive and equalised. It was one way traffic from then on as we pushed and pushed for the winner. Finally with 3 minutes to go we grabbed it and the whole stadium erupted. You could almost say this French team surrendered* the lead. Misses wasn't happy with what she deemed "over the top" celebrations when its "only a game"...the divorce papers are in the mail. 

*The first and last time I will use the term "Surrendered" as a joke to the French's chequered historical battle reputation.

EFC Frejus Saint-Raphael 0-1 Vendee Herbiers - Can you imagine how small the font would have to be on the scarfs for them! This was a huge win as they were one of the favourites for promotion. Not going to lie we snatched this one. They were the better side but we held them at bay. It was 0-0 at HT and I was more than happy to hold on for a point then low and behold we actually grabbed a goal! The home fans were stunned into silence, although I'm not sure how many songs you can belt out when your team is called EFC Frejus Saint-Raphael. We were better after we scored than before it and we never really looked like losing it. Good response from a disappointing start.

Vendee Herbiers 0-1 SO Romorantin - Of course how silly of me to expect a little bit of consistency. If we snatched the 3 points in the last game this was Karma working very very quickly.

That's how much we dominated. (Yeah if everybody could avoid telling me I didn't take a screenshot of the game I snatched the win...that would be great).

So 2 wins and 2 defeats. Easy come easy go! Table time!

Pretty much what you'd expect from an inconsistent month. I had shown signs of encouragement. Obviously there is still a very long way to go. 30 games to be precise. 

Summary!

Number of times told off for celebrating - 1

Number of times told off for complaining - 1

Still to come!

The continuation of the National League

The 5th Round of the French Cup

Random France Fact

France is the most visited Country in the World.

[ManUtd1]

It's never too late for the references.  That's what the Delorian is for.

[andychar]

Chapter 8.4 "Even the inconsistency of my form is inconsistent."

We went into the month with a bit of inconsistency. At this point the word inconsistent has lost all meaning.

Paris FC 1-2 Vendee Herbiers - It seems fate worked out well for me as Paris FC have had a terrible start at the season. Of course if I was there it would have been a different story! We took an early lead with Thonnel heading home, he would turn into our go to striker. Paris hit back before half time against the run of play. We peppered the goal in the second half and thankfully got our reward with 9 minutes to go. Good bounce back from a disappointing defeat in the last game.

Vendee Herbiers 2-1 CS Sedan Ardennes - Man the French don't half have some long names! We fell behind early on in this game against a team who were near the top. We started slow and were lucky really only to be 1-0 down at HT. We came out fighting in the second half and deserved our leveller with 25 minutes still to play. It was an even game after that with both teams spurning chances to win. We got a massive stroke of luck with just 2 minutes to play when we were awarded what was labelled "a soft penalty", although according to the Vendee manager after the full time whistle "It was a clear penalty the officials were spot on". Thonnel was the coolest man in the ground and we had secured a huge 3 points.

Trelissac FC 0-0 Vendee Herbiers - So how do you build on a huge last minute win against a potential title rival? You draw 0-0 away against the team rock bottom who had lost their previous 6. Obviously! Its good job I was worried I was going to start finding a bit of form! Nothing really to say about this game other than it was 2 points dropped rather than 1 earned. We need to learn to bury teams like this if we want to make a real go at the promotion places.

Vendee Herbiers 3-0 La Berrichorne - That's more like it! We got off to a flying start, something this team hadn't really done before. We survived a few scared but bagged all 3 points thanks to 2 goals in 4 minutes. A dominant win against a team who were fighting for a top spot. Dare I say we are finding a bit of home form. I'm not used to the 500 strong fans cheering my name. 

So a nice unbeaten month left the table looking like this.

Still very early days yet but its nice to be up there. 

Summary!

Number of late winners - 2

Number of points separating the top 9 - 5

Position expecting to finish - 8th I still refuse to aim higher! I've been bitten by FM's seductive charm before

Still to come

A jam packed October

Including the start of the French Cup

An International Interlude

Random France Fact

Louis XIX was the king of France for just 20 minutes, the shortest ever reign.

[andychar]

International Interlude

The 3rd round of the Caribbean Cup came around and I needed a result against Aruba to begin with to have any chance of qualifying.

But before then I had a few friendlies to warm us up.

 

Dominican Republic 1-2 Moldova - I've touched on this game before. It still gives me sleepless nights. I mean who loses to Moldova! They were suppose to be a side I could beat to give me some confidence instead it did the complete opposite! We went behind quite early on but responded within 10 minutes. i thought it was doing to be plain sailing from there on. WRONG! The destroyed me and we were very lucky to keep them out. Our luck ran out with 15 minutes to go and I didn't have a leg to stand on in saying they didn't deserve it. 

Dominican Republic 3-0 Myanmar - See, this is what I wanted! A team I could spank to get a bit of confidence. It was one way traffic for 90 minutes and we probably could and should have scored more than 3. In the end I was happy just to get the win and control the game. Something to build on perhaps.

Dominican Republic 2-0 Guam - Guam made us wait for that second goal. It was another game we controlled helped by such an early goal. We had hit a good stride ahead of the Caribbean Cup and I was confident we could perhaps unset the apple cart a wee bit.

So with the friendlies out the way I was ready!

Hold on do over. I wasn't ready.

Aruba 2-1 (AET) Dominican Republic - Such a frustrating game to watch. We took the lead in a first half we dominated and we probably should have had more goals. That being said the second half we weren't really troubled. I made some changes already thinking of a make or break game against Jamaica. The equaliser was like a punch to the gut and honestly we never looked like scoring again after that. 1-1 at full time and on into Extra Time. It took them all of 3 minutes to take the lead and by then we just didn't have the legs to respond. A game we should have won easily but came away losing.

Jamaica beat Aruba 3-0 meaning not only did we need to win but we needed to win well in order to stand a chance of coming top and qualifying for the Semi Final.

Dominican Republic 2-3 Jamaica - Sometimes you get the feeling that FM really doesn't want you to win a game. Don't get me wrong we were second best throughout the contest. They scored just before half time with a controversial penalty. With nothing to lose I threw caution to the wind and low and behold we were level 3 minutes after the restart. If we could just nick a win we would finish 2nd on GD and still have a chance of qualifying for the North American Gold Cup. But FM had other ideas. Jamaica win their second penalty of the game, only this time there was nothing controversial about it. Once again we pegged them back against the run of play. With extra time once again on the horizon Dominican Republic hearts were broken with an 88th minute winner. We were out and I can't help feeling if we showed the same level of fight in both games we could have at least finished 2nd.

Only the worst runner up team didn't qualify for the Playoff to find the last automatic Gold Cup qualifier. Aruba was that worst runner up.

Two narrow defeats was enough to seal our fate. The board only expected to reach the 3rd round so they were happy enough. 

The plan was to stay with Dominica Republic up until the next set of World Cup Qualifiers and have another go at the Caribbean Cup...that was the plan anyway.

An opportunity arrived in my lap. One I felt I couldn't turn down.

Honduras had made it into the "Hex" stage of World Cup Qualifying so God knows why it was available. I wasn't going to start complaining!

If your unfamiliar. The "Hex" is the final stage for North America. A group of 6 teams face each other twice and after 10 games the top 3 automatically qualify for the World Cup while the 4th place team will take part in a playoff against more than likely New Zealand to see who will qualify for the World Cup.

It means I still had a great chance of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and I also had chance of Silverware with the Central America Cup.

A door was closed but then a window was opened!

 

 

[nextqprmanager]

Good Luck with Honduras - they have a few good players

[andychar]

1 hour ago, nextqprmanager said:

Good Luck with Honduras - they have a few good players

Thanks. I've not really at the players to be honest. Vendee Herbiers are very strict and demanded I returned straight away after the International Break.

Chapter 8.5 "What do you mean this was only one month, I've played less games in a season!"

Ok so this month was jam packed with fixtures...compared to what I'm normally used to anyway.

Look at the size of that screenshot! I'm used to 2 games a month...maximum!

Vendee Herbiers 3-0 US Avranches - A lovely straight forward win here and the perfect way to start a busy month. We were winning within 15 seconds and we never really looked back. 2 goals in the second half made the result as comfortable as our performance looked. I've not double checked but I have a feeling Goal Difference doesn't come into play. Still its nice to get a nice morale boosting big win.

CA Bastia 1-1 Vendee Herbiers - And what better way to follow up a morale boosting big win...than a 1-1 draw against a team in the bottom 2. Second time this season we have dropped points against teams we really should be beating. I don't want to have to look at these results at the end of the season and think what if. Anyway the game was pretty straight forward, we had chances and didn't take then. They had a handful of chances and took one. 1-1 your final score one disgruntled manager. My Sister-In-Law was visiting last night so it took all of my will power not to shout at the computer. I deserve a medal just for that.

ASI Murs-Erigne 0-3 Vendee Herbiers - This team are 3 divisions below us in the Pyramid so I think 3-0 was the minimum expectation here. We got 2 early goals which put the game beyond any doubt and from then it felt more like a Pre Season game rather than a cup game. Comfortably through to the next round.

Vendee Herbiers 2-0 GF 38 - I like GF 38 as a team, mainly because its so short and easy to type. They were one of the favourites for promotion who weren't quite living up to it. I was still cautious and I will treat this result as a big win. 0-0 at HT wither neither side looking like doing anything. We forced the breakthrough not long into the second half and controlled the game from there. We did what my teams in the past have struggled to do and killed off the opposition. They didn't really have much to say after it was 2-0. Good 3 points. 

Quevilly Rouen Metropole 1-2 Vendee Herbiers - When I'm looking for my next job remind me to make sure it isn't with a club with a stupidly long name. This game was mental. First half much like the previous game was boring as...the second half however was a different matter. It was truly end to end stuff, attack after attack after attack. We got the breakthrough on 57 minutes but were never comfortable as both sides went hell for leather for the next goal. When the home team scored on the 88th minute it looked like it was enough to secure a point apiece, but we had other ideas. Up steps Ongenda off the bench to grab a beautiful winner and cue scenes of mass hysteria...in my living room.

Vendee Herbiers 0-1 FC Fleury 91 - Oh my word what a terrible terrible performance. We crashed out of the cup losing against a team two divisions below us and we really can have no excuses. We went behind really early but didn't worry as there was still plenty of time to go. Half time came around and it was still 1-0 luckily we had a full half and we were showing ourselves as a second half term. 49th minute we have a man sent off, it was downhill from there. The underdogs looked more likely to score than we did. Final whistle went and I hurried ran down the tunnel, sent my assistant to all press conferences and hid in my panic room for 3 days. Ironically I watched that film...with Jodie Foster in...Silence of the Lambs...good film.

Vendee Herbiers 3-1 FC Martigues - Perfect response to a massive set back. 2-0 up at half time after a very one sided half. They halved the gap early on and I thought the worse but we railled and took control of the game again, putting some daylight between the two teams and holding on for a nice 3 points. Good end to a good month with the only drawback being a disappointing cup exit.

Long month left the table looking like this.

An unbeaten month in the league had propelled us to top of the table. More importantly we had a 4 point cushion over 3rd and a 5 point cushion over 4th.

Still a long way to go and I'd still be happy with a top 8 finish but another few months like this and we can start to maybe dream...

Summary!

Number of last minute celebrations - 1

Number of times I watched Silence of the Lambs while holed up in my Panic Room - 4

Still to come!

The league...and nothing more!

Random France Fact

In France you can marry a dead person. You are welcome for that one.

[nextqprmanager]

Well done

Do you inherit if dead?

[andychar]

8 hours ago, nextqprmanager said:

Well done

Do you inherit if dead?

I haven't a clue and that's not something I want to be caught googling!

[Makoto Nakamura]

11 minutes ago, andychar said:

I haven't a clue and that's not something I want to be caught googling!

You could say you wouldn't be caught....dead *ba dum tss*

[andychar]

6 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

You could say you wouldn't be caught....dead *ba dum tss*

Whey! That's what this thread is about!

Chapter 8.6 "Fauteuil"

Yeah fancy French chapter titles! God bless Google Translate.

A little International update before I start. I played 2 games with Honduras before deciding to resign. When the games came around I saw them as a burden rather than an opportunity therefore decided to end my 2 month reign. It has nothing to do with the fact we lost both games against teams I should be beating and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. I was asked not to return to Honduras for at least 3 years.

It was a month I was more familiar with after the monster month I had to suffer through last time.

Well I've had worse months.

US Creteil-Lusitanos 2-6 Vendee Herbiers - A mad game of football. We got off to the best possible start with a 9th minute penalty, 4 minutes later it was 2. I nipped to the loo and when I came back down it was 2-1 at HT. Little did I know the home players had a cheeky bet on this game. Back to back own goals saw us take control and go 4-1 up. They threatened a comeback making it 4-2 before 2 goals in 2 minutes put some gloss on the game. 1 penalty and 2 own goals, cheers you dodgy buggers!

Vendee Herbiers 3-1 USL Dunkerque - A good win against a team near the lower reaches of the table. Once again it was looking like I was going to drop points against a team I really should be beating but for the second time in as many games we scored 2 goals in 2 minutes to not only take the lead but take control. They didn't really have an answer and we strolled to a comfortable win in the end. Things were starting to look good.

Groupe Sportif Consolat 0-2 Vendee Herbiers - I'm glad I beat these I mean lets face it they sound more like a business organisation than a football team! We started off quick, as per usual with my teams, then decided we didn't need to do anything until the 92nd minute when we made the points safe. It wasn't an exciting game, it seemed neither side wanted to be there. We got the 3 and ran away before the Consolat tried to brainwash us.

Great 100% month (not many times I've got to say that over the years) left the table looking like this.

A nice bit of daylight between myself and 2nd. For the first time I'm going to say screw it. I think we can win this league!

Summary!

Number of losses since August - 0

Number of goals scored - 11

Number of goals actually scored by us - 9

Still to come!

The gripping continuation of the French National League

The gripping Transfer Window *Spoiler alert* We sign nobody  

Random France Fact

A French woman is the world’s oldest ever human. She was 122 years and 164 days when she died. How much you betting they were queuing up to marry her the day after.

[nextqprmanager]

Why marry her - famous yes, but rich?

pity about Honduras - you need to keep up your rep!, or has that long gone?

[andychar]

18 minutes ago, nextqprmanager said:

Why marry her - famous yes, but rich?

pity about Honduras - you need to keep up your rep!, or has that long gone?

122 year old pension...I would!

My rep is 2 and a bit stars which is pretty much how it was before the Iskra job. I've not gained or lost. I can't imagine winning the French National League will increase it too much but with the other leagues currently loaded being Dominican Republic and Bangladesh I don't think I'll struggle walking into a job.

I will probably give Internationals another bash later in the save when perhaps the two jobs won't clash. French National league doesn't stop for the International Break so I found myself playing 4 games in the space of 6 days. That's what was bothering me.

[andychar]

Chapter 8.7 "Let's make things interesting"

For the first time in recent memory I was not only top but top with a nice lead. I wanted to increase it!

December was a month I'm more used too. 2 games before a month long Winter Break.

Glass half full, a nice unbeaten month.

Glass half empty, a month without a win!

Vendee Heribers 1-1 ASM Belfort  - Just when I thought we had turned a corner and we would start beating the teams near the bottom of the table we do this. We were 1-0 down at HT and I made it clear that we needed to perform better in the second half. I'm obviously an amazing manager because it took 2 minutes for us to equalise. We huffed and puffed for the remainder of the half but we were unable to find the winner. 2 points dropped rather than 1 point earned.

US Concarneau 0-0 Vendee Herbiers - You know a result is bad when it replaces the defeat against the team who is two division below you in the cup as the Negative board feedback! This was an uninspired game and one neither side really deserved anything from. It was like both teams were already on their Winter Break, I wasn't happy...as I watched from my beach resort in the Dominican Republic because I had taken my Winter Break early. It was just an unprofessional job from start to finish.

So two bad results against teams I really should be beating. But how did it affect the table at the half way point.

Amazingly the lead has increased. We weren't the only team to have a bad month and the lead jumped from 5 to 6. 

I could look at it one of two ways.

1) Thankful those 2 draws didn't do too much damage

2) Annoyed at the wasted opportunities to really pull away.

After mulling it over I decided to get another beer from the beach bar and enjoy my Winter Break.

Summary!

Number of wins in December - 0

Number of losses in December - 0 

Number of drinks consumed at the beach bar - 14 (a night)

Still to come!

Nothing but the league I'm afraid

Random France Fact

The world’s first artificial heart transplant and face transplant both took place in France. Fingers crossed not to the same person at the same time.

[nextqprmanager]

Best not to mix up the last 2 random facts!

[andychar]

Chapter 8.8 "You can't lose if you keep drawing"

I'm guessing you have already guess what this month consists of...

It was actually a big month as we faced a few of the teams chasing promotion...and Paris FC.

Vendee Herbiers 1-1 EFC Frejus Saint-Raphael - Kolo! Kolo Kolo! You know the chant. This game was fizzling out into our second 0-0 in a row until the long named team pounced in the 88th minute with their first shot on target. I was not happy and looking at the first defeat since August. Randal Kolo had other ideas. He equalised with the last kick of the game making sure we remained unbeaten. It was a big point as EFC are challenging for promotion themselves.

SO Romorantin 2-2 Vendee Herbiers - The top two produced a good game. On the face of it its not a bad draw but we actually took the lead twice so it was quite disappointing. It was the first game back for my front two who both got injured in the same game with exactly the same thing meaning they were out for the same amount of time. Safe to say we missed Thonnel in the games he was missing and he popped up here to put us 2-1 up. The lead only lasted 5 minutes. Both sides had chances but despite throwing the lead away twice I think we were the happier of the two sides at the full time whistle.

Vendee Herbiers 2-1 Paris FC - Another own goal and another late goal. Remind me of this season if I start complaining about luck going against me. We had destroyed Paris for 87 minutes to be honest. They took the lead after 3 minutes and then tried to park the bus. A freak goal brought us back on level terms after I was aggressive at half time for the first time in a long time. It looked like it was going to be the 5th draw in a row but Thonnel (oh how we missed him) stepped up and secured a huge win for us. 

So we finally bagged a win and we still remain unbeaten since August. But were the chasing pack able to capitalise on a few dropped points?

Amazingly the lead grew again. It seems that nobody wants to be promoted as the top teams continue to drop points. 

We dropped 4 points and still managed to increase the lead from 6 to 7. With 13 games to go one big month could mean we really take control.

Summary!

Number of games unbeaten in the league - 17

Number of times Thonnel has saved us - Too many to count

Number of draws - 4 out of the last 5

Still to come!

...The league continues

Random France Fact!

The French eat around 30,000 tonnes of snails a year

[nextqprmanager]

I wonder if eating all those snails are depriving other insects?

[andychar]

3 hours ago, nextqprmanager said:

I wonder if eating all those snails are depriving other insects?

I tell you what there are a lot more interesting facts about France than there was about any other country so far! The next one makes up for the fact they get eaten a lot!

Chapter 8.9 "More of the same"

So the gap keeps gradually increasing can I pull even more ahead?

Say what you want I'm hard to beat!

CS Sedan Ardennes 0-0 Vendee Herbiers - Once again it was 1st vs 2nd and once again we refused to be beaten. This one was a cagey affair. It seemed both teams were more bothered about not making a mistake rather than going forward to try and win it. We were more than happy to sit back and take a point. The only 0-0 you'll see me happy to get!

Vendee Herbiers 1-1 Terlissac FC - As happy I was with the previous draw I was very disappointed with this one. Once again we dropped points against a team near the bottom of the table. We had Thonnel to thank for firing us into an early 2nd half lead. The lead lasted all of 2 minutes as we were pegged back immediately. We had the better of the rest of the second half but really didn't trouble our visitors. 2 points dropped to make up for the 1 point earned last game. 

La Berrichonne 0-2 Vendee Herbiers - All the work was finished in 12 minutes. Once it went 2-0 up it felt like a training session. It was nice to go 2-0 up and just ride out the victory without any fuss or drama. A decent result as well as these still had a chance of finishing in the playoff places.

US Avranches 1-1 Vendee Herbiers - Another point I can say was decent, this team are still battling near the top so to come away with anything was decent. Adding in the fact we were 1-0 down as well makes it a hard earned point. They dominated the first half and was deservedly 1-0 up at half time. We dominated the second half and deservedly equalised. Nobody could argue this wasn't the fair result. It meant we had amazingly drawn 7 out of the previous 9 games.

The gap was 6 points, were we finally going to be punished for all these draws?

Amazingly the lead increased from 6 to 9 points! We still had only been beaten twice all season and they both came in the first 4 games.

Its been a brilliant unbeaten run which has seen us inch closer and closer to promotion and more importantly the title.

9 point lead, 9 games to go, 3 months left.

I really couldn't let it slip now! (Yes that was a Steven Gerrard reference)

Summary!

Number of draws in previous 9 games - 7

Number of games unbeaten in the league - 21

Number of wins needed for the title - 6

Still to come!

The gripping final months of the season.

Random France Fact!

Carrying on the snail theme. It is against the law to carry live snails on a high-speed train in France without their own tickets.

[nextqprmanager]

Hmmm, money grabbing frogs

[andychar]

Sorry for lack of activity. The reasons are as follows. 

1) Its half term and I'm somehow more busy than if I was at work!?

2) I am stuck on a certain date. It keeps getting to the date and just crashing. I have a few tricks up my sleeve but it looks like I might have to go back to a previous point in the save which means losing about 5 months. 

All that being said I'm still hopeful of getting it but up and running soon!

[mjaferrie]

Hopefully you can get it sorted!

[Keano16]

2 hours ago, mjaferrie said:

Hopefully you can get it sorted!

[andychar]

4 hours ago, mjaferrie said:

Hopefully you can get it sorted!

It reminds me of that film about Groundhog Day where the man has to keep living the same Groundhog Day time period forever no matter what he does! I think it was called *gestures with hands* "The man who couldn't find tomorrow". 

Either way I'm going to have time tonight to solve so hopefully I'll be able to get past it otherwise it will be "here we go again....again".

Hahaha movie references!

[ManUtd1]

Honduras?!

[Akkarin]

Here's to hoping you got this fixed one way or another - really enjoying the progress

[andychar]

23 minutes ago, Akkarin said:

Here's to hoping you got this fixed one way or another - really enjoying the progress

Funny you should say that because I've pinpointed the reason why it's crashing and if I'm right I'm screwed!

For some bizarre reason the USA National Team is involved in a club competition. Every time I'm a few days from playing them the game crashes. The game has auto saved to the point where I can't avoid playing them. Is there anything in the in game editor that could help?

[andychar]

Ok I've managed to save it just before they play somebody. If I can fix that game somehow so USA lose and I don't have to face them, that might get me past this stupid bug. 

[andychar]

Only after spending £3.99 on the in game editor did it occur to me to actually just take over USA and throw the game that way. 

Oh well lesson learned! I have quite a lot to update you lot on and will do it Monday! Just glad to have figured out just what I needed to do! 

Thanks to everybody for being patient. Hopefully the worse is over now and we can concentrate on conquering the world. 

[Akkarin]

Oh dear, that does not sound right....

[nextqprmanager]

Good on ya - you sound patient - I wouldn`t be

[ManUtd1]

Fingers are crossed @andychar...granted, after Klinsmann, perhaps we should be facing off against club sides...

[andychar]

Right thanks everybody for your patience! There has been that much time travel in this save Matt Ryan and the Falcons have just been at my door asking if there is anything I could do.

I just laughed and slammed the door in their faces.

Anyway without further ado I present to you actual progress!

Chapter 8.10 "I can't remember who I am, where I am or what I'm doing. Must have been a good night!"

If I remember correctly I was 9 points clear and just needed to stay strong and I would be out of France a lot quicker than I expected.

*Disclaimer* I would be very very shocked if between here and the point I'm actually at in the game I've recorded all necessary screenshots so forgive me if there are some missing.

So apparently I was in March, and here are the results...

Remember ages ago when I said in a disclaimer that there might be missing screenshots. It appears I've missed a full days worth, which just so happens to be the entire end of the French season...

A brief history of the French National 2020/21 season!

I was drawing too many games although the lead just kept on increasing. March and April come and where I was picking up wins and draws before I was now losing games and the 9 point lead kept dropping and dropping until it was down to 3 points. All I remember were the last 3 games of the season (this was more than a week ago. Have you tried living with a baby for a week!? I have to wear a name tag just to remember who I am).

I was 3 points ahead with 3 games to go, at this stage Promotion was already in the bag but if I was going to be able to leave France I needed to win the league.

I won my next game with 2nd place only drawing meaning the gap was 5 points with 2 games to go surely it was in the bag.

I lost the next game 2-0 in a shocking display but imagine my surprise when I find out so did 2nd place. We were champions in the most disappointing way possible. My final game we won 1-0 thanks to an 89th minute own goal. Beggars can't be chooses and I was delighted with quite an unexpected title. 

France was over a lot quicker than I anticipated.

I of course won manager of the year and resigned quickly after the final game of the season. 

It meant France was gone and a new country would be unveiled.

What followed next was more wilderness month...but more on that later.

Summary!

Number of screenshots taken of my triumph - 0

Number of times banged head on the desk - Constantly

Number of League titles won in France - 1

Number of humiliating cup exits - 1

Still to come!

A new country joins the game

Wildnerness years with a potential return to International Management (Ok a definite return to International Management)

Screenshots (I promise, I've looked through them)

A rip in the space time continuum  

 Random France Fact

The French Army was the first to use camouflage in 1915. They then went to a nice white surrendery type of uniform.

*Come on this is my last chance to use a French surrender joke*.

[andychar]

International Interlude

First of all I would like to introduce the new country onto the save.

Latvia!

It means the current 3 countries are Dominican Republic, Bangladesh and Latvia. Truly heavy weights of the football world.

Ok so I quit Honduras to focus on winning the league with Vendee Herbiers. The fact I did win the league shows me I made the right choice. 

With me leaving Vendee Herbiers I decided to keep my options open and that included International Teams. 

I was unemployed for months and months but for a change it was by choice. Without sounding big headed I knew I could walk into a new job in the 3 countries loaded. I was happy to bide my time waiting for just the right job to come along. 

The right job did come along...but not domestically. There was an Asian country who had failed to qualify for the Final Stage of World Cup Qualifying.

I apply for the job not really expecting to get it but within a few days they were more than happy to take me in. 

I was now the manager of...

Iran!

I was delighted with the opportunity. Iran are one of the powerhouses of Asian football but remarkably have found themselves 91st in the World and struggling. 

It was now my job to turn them around while I was in the market for the right Domestic job.

I had back to back away friendlies against South Korea and Uzbekistan to kick start my time in Iran. Not the easiest start to my tenure.

South Korea 2-5 Iran - Well well well that's a turn up for the books. South Korea had qualified for the Final Stage in the World Cup Qualifying so to be perfectly honest I was expecting a hiding. I decided 9 times out of 10 in Asia I will probably be the favourite so I went for an attacking formation. I was 3-0 up at Half Time after completely dominating. They threatened a comeback early on making it 3-1 before normal service resumed and I continued to pepper the Korean goal. 4-1, 5-1 and truth be told it could have been more. They got a consolation goal but had taken a hiding in their own back garden. Brilliant start to life with Iran.

Uzbekistan 3-4 Iran - If every game is going to be like this then I'm going to enjoy Iran! We picked up where we left off and were completely rampant, scoring for fun and found ourselves 3-0 up at half time for the second game in a row. I'm not one for changing a winning tactic so when they made it 3-1 I was confident we would take control again much like we did against South Korea. At 3-2 I was less confident and by 3-3 I had lost all confidence. We were still in control but it just seemed like every time they went forward they would score. Luckily we cropped up with 10 minutes to go to retake the lead and hold on for the win. Football is truly a game of two halves and I'd just seen it!

Due to the Nations poor showing in the World Cup Qualifiers. It was up to me to actually qualify for the Asian Cup.

The top 2 qualified out of 4 and in my Group were The Maldives, Malaysia and Kuwait.

I wasn't worried in the slightest. 

I didn't take any screenshots of the qualification because it was smack bang in the middle of the problems I was having with USA deciding enough was enough and taking matter into their own hands!

Safe to say I qualified easily. I beat Malaysia and Maldives home and away. I beat Kuwait away but drew at home in a dead rubber match. Kuwait joined me qualifying for the Asian Cup.

It was in the middle of qualifying for the Asian Cup that I would have to split my time evenly Internationally and Domestically...

Summary!

Number of new International Jobs - 1

Number of games I lasted last time before resigning - 2

Number of times resigned this time - 0

Number of new countries - 1

Number of new Domestic Jobs - 1...

Still to come!

What poor deluded Domestic team has decided to entrust me with there future happiness

And which country will it be in?

The Asian Cup with Iran

 

[nextqprmanager]

Good to see you back - GL !

[andychar]

Chapter 9 "Well at least its not 2016 again"

I was enjoying my time with Iran but it was time to settle down with a Domestic team and try and tick another country off the list. After biding my time a job came up I was more than happy with. I applied and had no problem with the interview. 

I had landed on my feet with...

Moca FC!

I look so delighted to be there.

Taking over Moca FC saw me make a return to the Dominican Republic after my not so successful stint as National Team manager. 

I tell you the view from the Plane was amazing. So many sights to see.

Not going to lie. I've managed in worse dumps. Can't remember seeing many sunny days in Kosovo and Montenegro. 

Wikipedia defines Moca FC as...

The Moca FC is a Professional football club of Dominican Republic located in the city of Moca, province, Espaillat. Moca FC was the team with most championships in the defunct Major League (Amateur League that was predecessor of the Dominican Professional League), founded in 1971 and currently participates in the LDF, which has been the club with the longest soccer Current clubs of the LDF and this in turn has had the prowess of being the best cataloged Club so much so that it is denominated that its province is the "House of the Dominican Football".

Their classic rivals are Atlético San Cristóbal.

Sounds like I have some big shoes to fill.

The only reason the job was free was because the previous manager retired from football. He retired on a high leading Moca to a surprise title. The main team in the Dominican Republic are Cibao having won 3 out of the previous 4 titles as well as the previous 4 domestic cups.

The way the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol works is...

Teams play each other twice, home and away. The top 4 after 18 games enter a 2 legged playoff. 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd.

The winner is decided by a winner take all game at a Neutral environment. Winner wins the league and qualifies for the Caribbean Club Cup while runner up has to go through the Caribbean Club Cup qualifying. Winning the Caribbean Club Cup ensures qualification for the North American Champions League.

The Caribbean Club Cup will be the competition which USA will later hijack. More on that later.

The Dominican Republic Cup takes place at the end of the season and involves 16 teams.

The squad looked like it needed some serious improvements if we are to match what the team did last season.

That means only one thing...

Dominican Republic lock up your sons...and probably your fathers. I'm going hunting!

Summary!

Number of signings I'm looking to make - As many as my sack can handle

Level of Expectation - High

Still to come!

The results of my village raid

Expectations and Odds

The Start of the Dominican Republic Domestic Season

Random Dominican Republic Fact

The Life Expectancy in the Dominican Republic is 69...hehehe 69.

[andychar]

Chapter 9.1 "USA Not A'OK"

The Caribbean Cup is where it all started to go pear shaped!

But first. My findings/new players.

Just the 8. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age.

New recruits in. Only thing left to do was start the league and the Caribbean Cup. 

All hell ensued!!!

Originally I saw the USA in the qualifying rounds of the Caribbean Cup and thought it was a funny little bug...oh how I laughed.

I laughed even harder when they beat my Dominican Republic rivals Cibao in the final round of qualifying. 

Then I drew them in my group. Oh well at least I get to play them. 

I continued the save like normal until I realised that the game kept crashing. It would stop loading then shut itself down saying there has been an error.

No matter what I did I couldn't get past a certain date. I tried holidaying past it and that didn't work either. In the end I opened up an old save and went back a few months. 

I'm not even 100% sure all those players above actually ended up in my team, I tried to recreate it as close as possible.

The 2nd time around I didn't draw USA in my Caribbean Cup group and I made it past the date I was crashing at before. I just put it down to a corrupt save file and happily moved on...

When I took over we were 3-1 behind Cibao but my transfer "activity" meant we were bang on Evens. The same as Cibao. Basically they predicted us two to battle it out in the Final of the Playoffs.

At the second time of asking this was our Caribbean Cup Group Stage Draw. Truth be told I couldn't even tell you what Nationality they all were never mind if we had a chance of qualifying or not. I was going to take each game as they came and hope for the best.

So group's drawn, transfers finished, odds published, the only thing left now was to get the show on the road...

Summary!

Number of new signings - 8

Number of families torn apart - 3

Number of families not bothered - 5

Number of times the game crashed - 6

Still to come!

The show gets on the road

The Start of the league 

The Caribbean Cup

Random Dominican Republic Fact

The Dominican Republic is the oldest country of the Americas, the first place reached by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

[nextqprmanager]

andychar, Do you have to sign only Dom Repub players`?

[andychar]

8 minutes ago, nextqprmanager said:

andychar, Do you have to sign only Dom Repub players`?

Haha no. But the scouting range isn't very high. I basically raided the Dominican Republic National Team for the best players then the lower leagues for the squad players.

There is a rule which your only allowed 5 foreigners in your 11 though. A rule I am terrified of.

[nextqprmanager]

You might need `foreign` back-up [ for escape purposes obvs ]

[andychar]

Chapter 9.2 "Finally some football!"

Enough talk its time for some results!

Anybody fancy more talk? So it was a mixed bag start to the season.

I never really take friendlies too seriously but it hurt failing too win any of them. We didn't really impress in attack or defence although all 3 were against sides better than us. Not really a good yard stick to compare us against. Maybe I'll start arranging my own friendlies instead of assuming the Ass Man can do a simple job!

Atletico Vegal Real 1-3 Moca - A good start to the season as we picked up an away win. It was 1-1 at half time even though they had scored with there only shot on goal. I knew if the second half was anything like the first half we would have nothing to worry about and I wasn't wrong. It will take a bit of time for the players to get used to a new system but as long as we keep picking up wins they can take all the time they need.

Central (TRI) 1-0 Moca - Ok they need to learn this new system. Fast! Central were the favourites for the group and are from Trinidad and Tobago. It was a weird game because I would say we were the better side but when you finish the game with 14 shots and only 2 on target you have to look at the strikers and ask if they were aiming for somebody specific in the crowd. Tough start to the Caribbean Club Cup, it meant we had zero room for error now.

CSC de Cayenne 0-1 Moca - That's more like it. We huffed and puffed for 56 minutes until finally getting the breakthrough here. We pushed for a second but the full time whistle came. We were never really under threat but I was hoping to get more goals just in case goal difference would play a part. We headed into the final group game with fate in our own hands. Win and we were through to the Semi Final, anything else and it was game over for another year. 

I won't bore you with the league table at this stage. 

Instead I'll bore you with April.

Moca 2-0 Delfines del Este - We picked up a 2-0 win against the team predicted to finish dead last by a country mile. A win is a win and as the league is sorted by results against teams rather than Goal Difference it doesn't matter if its 2-0 or 20-0. Although 20-0 would be pretty impressive. A goal in each half secured the points. I rotated a bit ahead of the Caribbean Club Cup game so maybe that's why it was only 2. Oh well 3 points is 3 points.

Portmore Utd 0-0 Moca - What could have been here. It was a very even game that realistically could have gone either way. We had a glorious chance in the last minute with Espinal going clean through only to balloon it over the bar. It was a valiant tournament but it was over. 

This shows just how close and just how boring the group was. A whopping 6 goals in 6 games across the group. Are you not entertained!!

Moca 2-0 Pantoja - Another win to keep up the 100% record and another game where a goal in each half was enough to secure the points. Because of the Caribbean Cup Club we were playing catch up meaning we had games in hand over teams. It was important to keep up the wins and not fall too far behind. I would always prefer having the points than the games in hand.

Moca 2-1 Beuger - First time I can say we have been troubled in the league this season. We were actually 1-0 down at half time. I had to rotate due to fatigue but 3 subs at the half changed the game completely. 2 goals in the space of 5 second half minutes did the damage. We were equally as good in the second half as we were bad in the first half. In the end no harm no foul as we came away with the 3 points. 

Atlantico 0-6 Moca - Yeah that's what I'm talking about! I've mentioned previously in this thread how good my team play when I nip to make a cup of tea or nip to the loo. I missed the first half of this game because I was sat on the toilet. We were 1-0 up after 1 minutes. 2-0 after 4 minutes. 3-0 up after 10 minutes. 4-0 up after 14 minutes. Then we were crap for 10 minutes. 5-0 up after 24 minuets before adding a 6th in first half stoppage time. I missed every single goal. My wife now thinks I have a problem because I pee about 10 times in the space of two hours when playing FM.

Moca 2-0 Universidad O&M - Never going to complain with a nice simple 2-0 victory and that's exactly what they was. We were never threatened, we had plenty of chances. Sure we probably should have scored more and you can guarantee if I was taking a dump it would have finished 10-0. 2-0 will do though.

Lets takes a peek at the table for the first time.

6 wins from 6 but that game in hand keeping us off top spot. Obviously the important thing is finishing in the top 4, anything else is just a bonus. The big game comes against Cibao which comes as the last game in each half of the season. 

I'm also just going to leave this here.

At one point the United States of America National Team were taking part in...

Caribbean Club Championship

North American Champions League 

Club World Cup

North American Gold Cup

Confederations Cup

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers

As well as those poor players with domestic duties with their individual clubs. 

Gotta love a good bug! (Until it threatens to destroy your save...but more on that later).

Summary!

Number of Domestic losses - 0 

Number of Continental wins - 1

Number of times Luis Espinal wrote "I will not miss sitters in the last minute of important games" on a blackboard - 100

Still to come

The league...and nothing else!

Random Dominican Republic Fact

The Dominican Republic is known for producing excellent rum. The fact I've managed both a domestic club and the National Side is purely coincidental!

[andychar]

Chapter 9.3 "Short season? Smash it out!"

Despite it being only an 18 game season the people of the Dominican Republic don't want to wait around.

Barcelona Athletico 0-1 Moca - The home side were always going to be a threat. They could be seen as best of the rest behind us and Cibao so I was delighted to come away with a win. Even if it was only 1-0. We were the better side, maybe not as dominant as we had been before but we didn't need to be. We got our goal early on and were just happy to soak up a bit of pressure. There were a few nervy moments but nothing major. Next!

San Cristobal FC 1-3 Moca - We played back to back away games against teams who were going to be pushing for a playoff place and had beaten them both. This one was more convincing. It was 3-0 with the home grabbing a consolation in stoppage time and stopping me needing to pay players a clean sheet bonus. Everybody was happy...except the disgruntled defenders and goalkeepers who missed out on a fat clean sheet bonus!

Moca 3-0 Cibao - This was a huge win, not just for the 3 points or to give us an advantage in the head to head but because of how much confidence this game was going to give us. We had gone toe to toe with the best team in the Dominican Republic and we had smashed them. They were never in it. We had full control of the game for 90 minutes. We were looking unstoppable. At this point we held a 5 point lead over Cibao and I was left wishing the league didn't finish with a playoff! At this point we had played everybody once and beaten everybody. 

Moca 5-0 Atletico Vegal Real - Not much can be said about this game really. We were riding high and full of confidence and it showed here. We have only conceded one goal in 6 games and scored a bucket load at this point I was realistically thinking of going through the full season 100%. 3 goals in the first half 2 in the second and we racked up a total of 34 shots. Maybe I should be worried it was only 5.

Delfines del Este 0-4 Moca - Only 4-0 against the worst team in the league on paper! A truly terrible result! It was nice to have a gap in between the games before this one because my players were starting to look fatigued. It meant we didn't need to rotate for the second time against this team, although we only got 4 once again it was plain sailing. Dominican Republic was starting to remind me of Kosovo. A nice walk in the park with very little anger.

Moca 1-0 San Cristobal FC - Ok we were lucky here. Not so much that we snatched it, we were easily the better team. It seemed that teams were just happy parking the bus against us. San Cristobal parked the bus well for 88 minutes until we finally grabbed the breakthrough and maintained our 100%. This game secured a playoff place officially although its been a foregone conclusion since about game 7. 

So a 100% month to go along with a 100% domestic season so far.

6 games to go before perfection. I'm weary of how easy it was with Prishtina a few 2016's ago and yet I still dropped some points there. 

Summary!

Number of wins out of 12 - 12

Number of goals conceded so far this season - 3

Number of wins needed for 100% - 6

Still to come!

The end of the domestic season

The Dominican Republic Playoffs

The start of the Dominican Republic Cup

Random Dominican Republic Fact

Dominican Republic has an average temperature of 78 °F (26 °C), ranging from 73 °F (23 °C) in winter to 82 °F (28 °C) during the summer. I still packed my electric blanket just in case.

[Akkarin]

What a run! Echoes of Kosovo for sure, and not wanting to jinx it, but you look too strong to falter in the play-off even. Here's to hoping for a 100% season!

[Keano16]

20 hours ago, andychar said:

 

I tell you the view from the Plane was amazing. So many sights to see.

 

Hey look! There's water....and more water!......and more! Unbelievable.

[andychar]

51 minutes ago, Keano16 said:

Hey look! There's water....and more water!......and more! Unbelievable.

It was so weird flying directly over the "N" in the middle of the "North Atlantic Ocean" sign. Memorising. 

[andychar]

Chapter 9.4 "You just made an enemy for life!"

What thread isn't complete without at least one Groundskeeper Willie quote. Honestly.

Pantoja 0-4 Moca - Another easy victory. It seemed that the league was just too easy and Dominican Republic would be remembered fondly at the end of this quest. If by then I remember anything. 3-0 at half time. We took our foot off the gas in the second half but still managed to grab a goal. Plain sailing.

Bauger 0-0 Moca - 

15 hours ago, Akkarin said:

What a run! Echoes of Kosovo for sure, and not wanting to jinx it, but you look too strong to falter in the play-off even. Here's to hoping for a 100% season!

I'm just gonna leave that there :P. We peppered the goal but encountered what can only be described as "one of those days". Now Bauger and Moca fans are natural born enemies. Like Englishmen and Scots, or Welshmen and Scots, or Japanese and Scots, or Scots and other Scots! Damn Bauger they ruined my season!

Moca 3-1 Atlantico - Finally! I was forgetting what it felt like to win a game. I was looking for a massive result here and was a little bit disappointed it was only 3-1. At least I avoided another clean sheet bonus. It was just a case now of flopping to the finish line and hope I can keep up this unbeaten season. BECAUSE BAUGER STOPPED IT BEING 100%!

Universidad O&M 0-1 Moca - 1-0 sounds like we were lucky but we grabbed the goal in the 8th minute then destroyed them for the remaining 82 minutes. How we didn't grab a 2nd is completely beyond me but they never looked like equalising. 3 points and just 2 more games to go before I can boast another unbeaten league season. 

Moca 3-0 Barcelona Athletico - It was important to put in a good display here because the visitors were one of the teams I could potentially play in the semis of the play offs. It was another straight forward victory with 2 goals coming before the break and one coming straight after it. I took off some key players for the rest of the game in preparation for the big away game to Cibao.

Cibao 1-1 Moca - A point was all we needed to guarantee we finished the season top and to complete the unbeaten season. Not going to lie here we were straight up lucky! Cibao took the lead in a first half they dominated. They came out stronger in the second half as well. Luckily we clawed our way back into the game but had to wait until the 85th minute to grab the equaliser. It was a good result to take into the play offs. 

Just for confirmation.

4 points dropped all season. Can't really grumble all things considered. 

We will face Barcelona Athletico in a two legged semi before probably facing Cibao in the Final.

We have beaten Barcelona Atheltico 3-0 and 1-0 this season already so I wasn't really worried. 

Summary!

Number of unbeaten seasons - 2

Number of losses all season - 1

Still to come!

The playoffs

The start of the Dominican Republic Cup

International Interlude

Random Dominican Republic Fact

Baseball is the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. Bugger I'm in the wrong game! Go redbirds!

[Akkarin]

Had to be... I will keep my big mouth shut in the future!

[andychar]

29 minutes ago, Akkarin said:

Had to be... I will keep my big mouth shut in the future!

Haha your alright. I would have bet good money nobody was going to stop me! I will curse the name Bauger until my dying breath!

[andychar]

Chapter 9.5 "Playoff to decide the league title? Not sure if Football or American Sports!"

No building suspense with this one. 

We faced Barcelona Athletico in the Semi Final of the playoff.

Moca 6-2 Barcelona Athletico - The first leg we were actually 4-0 up before Barcelona (yeah I'm just going to call them that, it makes it sound more impressive I beat them) decided to make a game of it. First grabbing a consolation then having the cheek to score a 2nd against me. It was the first time all season I've conceded 2 goals in the same game. But with 4 away goals I wasn't worried in the slightest. The 2nd leg was more straight forward 2 goals before the half meant they needed 4 just to force extra time. They didn't get 4, they didn't get anyway. The final awaiting. In a completely shocking twist we would face...Cibao. They spanked Bauger 7-1 on aggregate. Oh how I wanted revenge.

So this was it. One game away from a completely unbeaten season.

One game away from waving goodbye to the Dominican Republic and loading up a new country. 

Wait. What?

Cibao 1-0 Moca - Boy oh boy. In all the games to play the worst game of the season my boys picked the final! We were terrible from start to finish. Much like the league game Cibao came out much the better team and were deservedly 1-0 up at half time. Much like the league game I expected a response. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting then the final whistle came and we had lost. We showed nothing. Basically we bottled it. Big time. They were the better team and turned up just when they needed too. I was left broken.

But I still had the cup competition to go. 

In my hot murderous rage after losing the Liga Mayor Final I actually forgotten to take any screenshots of the Cup Competition. 

I'll let this screenshot do the talking though.

Cibao beat us 2-0 in the Semi Final. We were at home and I remember thinking its better than meeting them in the final because that would be neutral. At least in the semi final we have a home tie. 

Oh how wrong I was. They battered us from start to finish and although we showed more signs of life than in the play off final we still slumped to a defeat.

The Dominican Republic has kept me for another season. Villages everywhere trembled in fear as this time I was going hunting with a chip on my shoulder!

Awards which mean very little to me but its always worth a screen shot!

I had an idea in the off season. Something that would help me get that extra edge over Cibao and maybe make sure history doesn't repeat itself...

Summary!

Number of final losses - 1

Number of semi final losses - 1

Number of tears - It was like watching Gazza!

Still to come!

My wonderful off season idea

International Interlude 

Transfers

Expectations and Odds

 

[andychar]

Chapter 9.6 "Can I go back to 2016?"

So against all odds I had managed to lose both in the league and cup and will have to spend at least one more season in the Dominican Republic.

I had an idea. Something that would give me the edge over Cibao and maybe grab some of their best players.

Didn't realise it would take a sodding year though!

A few short weeks later I get this message...

Not so much a year more like 23 days. Not that I was complaining!

It meant our scouting pool had increased and the number of "realistic transfers" on my scouting list had greatly improved. Although I couldn't afford to scout everybody.

Truth be told I went a bit mental with my transfers. I took a lot of gambles but also managed to attract players based purely on the fact I could now offer them a full time contract.

Here are some brilliant signings and quite a few swings and misses!

Yeah so like I said I went a bit mental. The squad registration only allowed 25 players so you can guarantee not everybody would make that list!

Because Moca won the league the season before I started we qualified straight for the Caribbean Club Cup group stage. This time because we were runners up it meant we had to go through 5 rounds of qualifying. 

It also meant we eventually had part 2 of the USA space time continuum problems!

Summary!

Number of new signings - 11

Number of decent new signings - 7

Still to come!

International Interlude

Expectations and Odds

The start of the Domestic season

The start of the Caribbean Cup

Random Dominican Republic Fact

The Dominican Republic’s Murder Rate Was 22.1 per 100,000 Population in 2012. Although the kidnapping rate has exploded since 2022. Nobody know's why.