[FM19] Barcelona'ing through the lower leagues III: Making love to footballs

[noikeee]

 

 

 

 

Welcome to my first FM19 save. This was meant to be held off until the proper release but I seemingly can't wait so...

 

Kicking off with '19 I'm going to revive a series of journeyman saves which was "Barcelona'ing through the lower leagues", that was my very first career here back then in the FM11(!) days, then I used that title again for the sequel in FM15. This seems to come and go in 4 years intervals so probably it's about time to try it again in '19.

 

What's the challenge? Well quite simply it's to start from the bottom and end at the top, whilst always committed to playing some sort of good football. The original career came at the peak of Pep's Barça which I was a huge fan of, and that's a big inspiration as you probably can tell from the banner (uh, and LVG's horny football... I guess), but this is not meant to be a strict recreation of that playing style. For example in '19 we now have templates such as "tikitaka" but it doesn't have to be tikitaka, my first tactic that I'm going to use here didn't even begin from that template, it just has to be something that's generally entertaining, positive, hopefully with some sort of occasional nice passing triangles. Seems fair to go down the path of entertainment, after finishing FM18 "ruining football".  

 

 

I'm starting unemployed akin to unemployed, with the full ladder of the following leagues:

 

Portugal (my manager's nationality, as I will again be playing under my alter-ego Henrique dos Santos which is meant to represent myself)

Spain

Holland

Belgium

Belarus

Colombia

Brazil

Turkey

 

+ the top tier in

England

Italy

Germany

France

Argentina

 

+ (something new inspired by @Makoto Nakamura's recent dealings): all other top tiers as view only!

 

+ all international players (all continents) + player in continental competitions of Europe and South America

 

This seems like a ton so I hope it's not too slow.

 

 

Goals for this save:

 

- always try to play good football. Preferentially with my own tactics though I don't promise I won't try other people's tactics, I often do this when I get desperate (read, at some point in almost every career)

 

- progress realistically until I reach the top level

 

- manage in both the Americas and Europe, hopefully maybe this is the time I even venture back outside of these continents, been a hell of a long time. But not now at the beginning.

 

- manage in Brazil for the first time

 

- manage one of my favourite top clubs Barcelona, Ajax and obviously FC Porto. Hopefully all 3!

 

- win back-to-back Champions Leagues (been missing this achievement ever since the very first FM11 career which was the only time I did it!)

 

- have a newgen that I manage win the Ballon d'Or

 

- win an international competition, hopefully with some sort of club+nation combo to develop a nation (Hungary/MTK was tons of fun in FM18)

[noikeee]

Previous careers
 
 It's a hell of a long list now (which thankfully I can copy-paste almost all from before), but here's a link to all my previous careers. I've been here for a while playing a lot of FM!

 
1. [FM11] Barcelona’ing the way through the lower leagues – is it even possible? (May 2011 - March 2012)
Praiense, Kettering, Venezia, Dresden, Belenenses, Portugal U19s, Krylya Sovetov, Celta, Roma, Portugal
 
My original FMCU career and probably still my favourite, this was also the longest (22 seasons). A successful start in the Azores turned into a nightmare in England, and after about a decade of more ups and downs throughout Europe, success finally came in Spain with an Europa League trophy with Celta. But the end was the most satisfying, as I built an all-conquering Roma side on top of the incredible partnership of Bagayoko and Duval, winning back-to-back Champions Leagues, whilst also winning the World Cup with Portugal, held in Portugal.
 

 
2. [FM12] The complete world encyclopedia of insults shouted at virtual football players (March 2012 - December 2012)
Delémont, Westerlo, Torino, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Turkey, Ajax, Porto
 
Another 18-season saga. A short start in Switzerland led to an entertaining few seasons in Belgium, where I survived rumours of getting sacked to eventually taking Westerlo to the title. A brief stint with Torino led to a big job in Real Madrid, where I spent 463 million euros in a single season to revamp an aging squad. We became European champions but the pressure was too much and it remained the same in a tycoon-owned Spurs. I rediscovered some fun after going to Ajax, witnessing 4 seasons of relentless goalscoring by super-striker Volker Rahlfs, and my previous Spurs side knocking us out in a memorable Champions League semi-finals. A send-off season with favourite club Porto finished this with an Europa League trophy before crash dumps ruined this save.

 
 
3. [FM13] The Third Journey, by noikeee (November 2012 - December 2012)
Touggourt, Johor FC
 
An overly ambitious plan to start in the Algerian third tier led to only frustration for a long 4 seasons. Moving to Malaysia didn't help neither - horrendous football and finishing in the bottom half of the table somehow led to promotion under weird rules that I never figured out. I decided I didn't enjoy FM13 and went back to '12.
 

 
4. [FM12] One more time - moonwalking my way through 'mo clubs (January 2013 - June 2013)
Torns IF, Independiente Rivadavia, Bastia
 
My FM12 return started on the Swedish 4th tier but soon we were all the way up to the top division. Regardless I abandonded Sweden after 6 years, and embarked on one of my most entertaining FM stints ever in Argentina. For another 6 years I constantly rebuilt the team with new youngsters as I kept on selling players under strict rules, taking Independiente Rivadavia from the 2nd tier to winning all possible competitions including the Club World Cup. A move to France wasn't as fun and I dropped it after 1 season.

 

 
5. [FM13] Please bring me my coat - it's Chile in here (June 2013 - August 2013)
Curicó Unido
 
I decided to give another chance to FM13 and started in Chile's 2nd division. This was starting to prove quite entertaining with a promotion on the 1st season and another good year next, but then computer problems and a fading interest in FM led me to stop playing for a while.

 
 
6. [FM14] Back once again for the renegade master (December 2013 - February 2014)
São João de Ver
 
Another short-lived adventure. I started in Portugal at the bottom again and whilst I managed to get promoted after 2 years, a difficult season in the 2nd tier and other interests beyond FM at the time led me to stop playing again.

 
 
7. [FM12] Trip to Nostalgia Lane (November 2014 - March 2015)
FC Eindhoven, Nacional da Madeira
 
I returned to FM and my most trusted version of the game again, but again didn't commit to it for long. I did play 8 seasons with FC Eindhoven under extremely strict rules for transfers and homegrown players, but having reached a ceiling in the Eredivisie, I turned back to Portugal only to decide to ditch this and move to FM15 after a single season.

 
 
8. Barcelona'ing the way through the lower leagues part II - FM15 edition (April 2015 - November 2015)
Compostela, Kayserispor, Lyon
 
A slightly longer career lasting 13 seasons. The first 9 years were spent building up Compostela from the 3rd tier to La Liga, eventually breaking past what seemed like an impossible ceiling in Liga Adelante. But this suddenly exploded into success when I moved to Turkey, winning back-to-back titles with Kayserispor in 2 seasons packed full of goalscoring madness. Another 2 years with Lyon were much the same under Ballon d'Or winner striker Igor, but despite domestic domination we struggled to register as a force in Europe.

 
 
9. noikeee's FM16 Euro/LatinAmerican Journeyman (November 2015 - July 2016)
Berwick Rangers, Loughgall, Municipal Turrialba, Dolny Kubin, Austria Wien, Dundee Utd, Sampdoria, Sevilla
 
One of my longest as I fell just short of 20 seasons, but not as good a journeyman as the old FM11/FM12 days. This started wrong with disasters in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but I relaunched my career with an enjoyable few years in Costa Rica. My reputation was then made in Slovakia and Austria, but whilst I won the Austrian title, the peak of this career was a return to Scotland with a fun Dundee Utd side that eventually won the title as well. I finally moved to the top leagues but couldn't make things work in neither Italy or Spain, and decided I overall just didn't like FM16.

 
 
10. [FM15] noikeee goes East - A CSKA Sofia career(s?) (July 2016 - October 2016)
CSKA Sofia
 
Returning to FM15, this was my first career dedicated by design to a single club. Committed to a policy of only signing Eastern European players, the first few seasons proved remarkably difficult and I got sacked after 4 years. Regardless, I re-added myself as a new manager, and after another poor season, we bounced back with 5 consecutive Bulgarian titles, a Europa League semi-final, and a Champions League quarter-final. I moved on before acheiving the ultimate challenge of winning the Champions League, as FM17 came out.

 

11. [FM17] noikeee does the Dafuge Challenge: The Glassboys (October 2016 - March 2017)
Stourbridge

For FM17's release, I started off with my first attempt at the Dafuge Challenge. The beginning proved extraordinarly difficult, as by season 7 I was still in the National North, after a very fleeting early 1-year promotion to National League... only to be relegated back again. Finally after tactical failure after tactical failure something clicked and we even got back-to-back promotions from the National League to League 2 to League 1, which I'll consider to be the first time ever I got some success in the lower levels in UK & Ireland. This success led to a lack of interest though, as I abandoned the save after 12.5 seasons.

 

12. [FM17] A Journeyman Story: Knocking José Mourinho Off His Perch (March 2017 - September 2017)
Central Español, Nacional, Twente, Ivory Coast U23s, HSV, Portugal U23s, Costa Rica, Iran, Monaco

This would become my most entertaining journeyman career since the FM12 days, spanning 20 years of gametime. Very quick early success in Uruguay granted me a shock Libertadores title with Nacional, only for a bug to prevent us playing in the CWC. A move to Holland proved difficult at first but I turned it around with Twente winning back-to-back titles. The bulk of the career would be spent with HSV, which was initially successful with a Bundesliga and a Champions League title, only to then languish for 5 essentially barren years, haunted by a poor move to sell world class Mexican striker Tinajero to Bayern. Then in Monaco I'd achieve final redemption with my 2nd Champions League. In the mean time, there was also an Olympics title with Portugal.

 

13. [FM17] How to cheat at a youth challenge (September 2017 - October 2017)
Novigrad

A quick lived career that looked initially promising, built on the unusual premise/voluntary limitation of buying 1 single player per year, to focus on youth development without completely abandoning the transfer market. Our beginning was really rather spectacular - promotion in the 1st season, then a shock Croatian title in the 2nd season as we leapt past Dinamo in the final day, and quality youngsters developing everywhere. However a few minor steps back led to me losing interest and abandon this midway through the 4th season.

 

14. [FM18] The Dynamics of telling you to shove your transfer request up y- a journeyman career (November 2017 - June 2018)
Panserraikos, Naestved, Amkar, Derby County, Valencia, Portugal

Another long journeyman, spanning 19 seasons. A first season sacking in Greece didn't bode well, but the career got some traction in Denmark with back-to-back promotions to the top level. A quick cameo in Russia led to the bulk of this career spent with Derby County, a 9-year stint that took Derby from the Championship to winning the CL, and the Premier League 3 times. Valencia at the end was cut short but had the notoriety of a bizarre season in which we were bound for relegation midseason yet ended up champions.

 

15. The Circle of Fitness Activists (June 2018 - September 2018)
MTK Budapest, Hungary

Surely one of the most fun careers, this was all dedicated to Hungarian club MTK Budapest under a transfer policy of only signing Eastern European players aged 21 or lower. I took them for 10 seasons as we reached CL semi-finals and the EL final, but came short of winning the big prize, whilst entertaining myself fabricating talent after talent for the Hungarian national team that I also took on the side.

 

16. [FM18] Ruining football - avoiding goals (September 2018 - October 2018)
Santamarina

This was very brief as I didn't even complete 2 seasons, but it was good as it lasted, the goal here was to "ruin football" by playing as defensive as possible, concede as little as possible. I got a pretty fun counter strikerless system going that got us promoted to the top tier and surprisingly actually ended up in a few goals - though the odd 1-0 win with a single shot on target was very amusing. We were struggling to stay up in season 2 when I lost interest.

[noikeee]

Starting tactical setup

Prior to this save in the last couple of days, I've already been tweaking what I believe to be a pretty neat starting point tactically speaking - it's very very early days, but I've already got a good feeling about this one as we were starting to unlock packed defenses pretty consistently:

I used a big club to build this, can provide a few hints as to what that is:

hint 1) it's a club very well known to focus on playing the kind of attractive football I want to build here
hint 2) it's one of the clubs I eventually want to manage
hint 3) @MarcxD likes them a lot

What a difficult riddle.  Anyway, the idea here is almost more like gegenpressing than tikitaka, though it's kinda in the middle. A diamond is not quite what you associate with Barça, tiki-taka and total football, which are more associated to 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 formations, but it's a formation that naturally leads itself to passing triangles and this version is no exception, although we're trying to play fairly quick football with the odd direct element.
 

• Starting from the front we have a pretty classic AF/A-DLF/S-AM/A trio combo, which I've seen plenty of times over the years, both forwards move into channels and the AF/A is specifically instructed to stay wider, this naturally opens up space for the AM to rush forward and attack the space they created (and the AF going wider helps with our formation's lack of width).
   
• At the beginning I had it the other way around with a playmaker at AMC and a runner at MCL (CM/A), but I find this works so much better like this, the playmaker was way too advanced and had no space to progress or pass into, whereas now on MCL position he can see a lot of the pitch ahead of him. I usually don't like telling central players to dribble, but here I told the AP/S to dribble more which works great as the 3 men ahead occupy the defence and open up space for dribbles.
   
• The other side midfielder is a mezzala, I told him to run wide with ball to act as a faux-winger, I find this obviously works so much better if he's right-footed. Along this career if I have a great left-footed player fit for mezzala I might mirror my tactics and switch everything left-to-right. With so many dribblers on the pitch (the wingbacks, both side midfielders, AF/A), I decided to tell my DLF to dribble less, someone needs to hog the ball less and keep it simple for the others.
   
• The DLP is told to take more risks and pass more direct. Having 2 playmakers at base of midfield slows things down enough for "pretty football" but with 2 strikers upfront we can do with the odd long ball for them to run into, this adds variance.
   
• All 10 outfield players are instructed to "shoot less often", I could've used work ball into box, but I believe this still tells players not to cross the ball (?), I want crosses, we have 2 targets in the box plus sometimes the AM and even the mezzala.
   
• So far this all sounds good and somewhat translate-able to lower level, but what I'm concerned I might struggle to apply, is the defenders. We have a complete wingback, a ball-playing defender, a sweeper keeper, play out from defence, and the keeper instructed to pass it to the defenders (CBs and FBs). AND we're playing a very high line that demands quick players. This might very well be far too much for the team I'm about to start with, we'll see, I'm expecting to have to tone down things.
   
• Another thing that we might struggle with is the high pressing game I've instructed. It's almost identical to gegenpressing bar "get stuck in" (I think that's unnecessary and might add cards and injuries). It'll be interesting to see if this has to be toned down, too.

[BoxToBox]

It'll be very interesting to see how you get on with that database setup.

[lvzifer]

So Ajax?  

[john1]

Alot of leagues loaded up  Good to see this type of back  Remember your careers on previous FM editions was top class  

Good luck and will be following this closely.

[noikeee]

Tokat, Turkey, 25th of June 2018
 

As I said above, I'm starting akin to unemployed. I don't like doing unemployed because

a) it can sometimes lead to everyone starting with the same clubs in their careers since there's only a handful of clubs available at the start (tho this hasn't happened often in recent years)
b) I prefer picking and choosing a club that better fits whatever particularities I'm up to. Right now my criteria was picking a squad that could fit a diamond, and a club that was on a bottom tier and predicted to finish on the bottom half, and doesn't have too many starting resources.
c) FM almost certainly would push me to a job at home in Portugal. Been a while since I managed there but I'd still prefer to start abroad.
 

The club

All that considered, my choice is Tokatspor of the TFF 2. Lig Kirmizi Grup (Turkish 3rd tier, "red group")

 

 
 

There's not much info around about Tokatspor. All I know is they're from a relatively large city called Tokat (pictured above, population of 132K people), they're nicknamed "Anatolian Golden Boys" or "Slapsport" (??), they play in a fairly decent stadium with capacity for 7500 according to Wikipedia (5762 all-seater in the game), the club was founded in 1969 and has spent most of its existance in the third tier. The logo is pretty neat and so are the kits, which remind me of my local side:
 

 

Manager stats

Here's my manager stats, I took a high adaptability so that I can get more likely offered jobs abroad throughout my journeyman career.

 

The squad

I hand-picked this club for the squad that fits a diamond, as you can see there's no player that is exclusively a winger without being able to play somewhere else. I had to immediately promote a lot of players from the U21s though, we lacked depth.

The stars

 

Best striker, this guy looks great for the AF role. Could be our attacking star.

 

An either-footed fullback, how fancy for this level. He's more left-footed than right-footed, but I might need him more on the right.

 

The game says his role is a BWM but I'm happy enough with him for the DLP role at the base of midfield, in my opinion. On loan from Samsunspor.
 

The finances

 

Typical small club, skint. No debt at least... for now.

The goals for this season

The board only wants us to avoid relegation, which suits me, I like low expectations. We need to beat 3 teams, bottom 3 go down. I'm hoping for better than a relegation fight honestly, but am entering very unknown waters, I never managed in this division and this version of the game is very new, who knows what will happen.

For now one massive aspect of the game that I'm planning to ignore is training, bit overwhelming so far, should leave it to the assman. On the long-term I want to finetune it to my needs, to build ball-playing players and to fine-tune the intensity required to maintain the planned high pressing game without burning out the players.

[noikeee]

37 minutos atrás, john1 disse:

Alot of leagues loaded up  Good to see this type of back  Remember your careers on previous FM editions was top class  

 Good luck and will be following this closely.

 

1 hora atrás, BoxToBox disse:

It'll be very interesting to see how you get on with that database setup.

 

The leagues/DB setup aren't really all that heavy, view-only is very light, supposedly adds almost no processing. In reality it's as if I'm playing with about 10 leagues, honestly.

The idea of adding everything on view-only is that a) it adds a lot of nice info and background if I want to turn a league on, or play against someone in continental competitions; and b) supposedly it adds quite a lot of randomness and variety!

 

41 minutos atrás, lvzifer disse:

So Ajax?  

Could it have been? 

Yeah, it's always a lot of fun to play Ajax and I used them as a sandbox to develop the tactic.

[BoxToBox]

Turkey, yes!

[noikeee]

Meanwhile, after finding out about @rodesire's chairman/leftback a few days ago, I've now run into a similar situation:

uh, bit of a conflict of interest here? Shouldn't be a problem on the long term, the guy is ancient, will probably retire tomorrow.  

[BoxToBox]

Director of Football: Decisions - 5....

[withnail316]

Nice to be in early on this save, rather than having to catch up on page after page! How are the player restrictions in Turkey now? I remember they lifted a load in the top flight, has that drifted down the pyramid? 

Best of luck, man.

[noikeee]

First match against the U21s went great.

That's best striker out for 8 weeks, by the way. Though pre-season is so stupid long he might be back for the first match of the season.

[noikeee]

3 minutos atrás, withnail316 disse:

Nice to be in early on this save, rather than having to catch up on page after page! How are the player restrictions in Turkey now? I remember they lifted a load in the top flight, has that drifted down the pyramid? 

Best of luck, man.

Restrictions are lovely.

Doubled up, both at the league rules level and at the club itself!

At least it's a pretty simple restriction to remember, never hire any foreigner, that's it. I had nightmares of juggling my 5 or 6 foreigners who could play at most at the same time, at Kayserispor in FM15.

[withnail316]

2 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Restrictions are lovely.

Doubled up, both at the league rules level and at the club itself!

At least it's a pretty simple restriction to remember, never hire any foreigner, that's it. I had nightmares of juggling my 5 or 6 foreigners who could play at most at the same time, at Kayserispor in FM15.

Ah, so you're the Chivas of Turkey. That means giving your players preposterous squad numbers, but as you say, easy to remember.

And agreed, I had a similar issue in Ukraine. Too much thinking!

[noikeee]

And now great, I can't hire a scout because everyone wants 170€/month and I can only offer 150€.

[BoxToBox]

23 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Restrictions are lovely.

Doubled up, both at the league rules level and at the club itself!

At least it's a pretty simple restriction to remember, never hire any foreigner, that's it. I had nightmares of juggling my 5 or 6 foreigners who could play at most at the same time, at Kayserispor in FM15.

 I think they put that in the transfer policies panel when its a league wide deal, you might find you're able to sign foreign players once you reach a league that allows it.

I believe Altinordu(sp?) are a club that have a full on no foreign players rule no matter what level they're at.

[DefenseLover]

hace 23 minutos, noikeee dijo:

Restrictions are lovely.

Doubled up, both at the league rules level and at the club itself!

 At least it's a pretty simple restriction to remember, never hire any foreigner, that's it. I had nightmares of juggling my 5 or 6 foreigners who could play at most at the same time, at Kayserispor in FM15.

Are we sure we aren't in North Korea? 

[ManUtd1]

Somewhere in the Algarve, there's an erect, elderly Dutchman.

[noikeee]

There goes my mezzala.

[noikeee]

17 minutos atrás, ManUtd1 disse:

Somewhere in the Algarve, there's an erect, elderly Dutchman.

He's just really happy.

[ManUtd1]

6 minutes ago, noikeee said:

He's just really happy.

[ManUtd1]

Kidding aside, you're making me miss managing in Turkey.

[MarcxD]

Following, of course. Always interesting to read a thought out tactical approach, will be interesting to see how it works at the lower levels after you tried it at Ajax.. 

Good luck in Turkey!

[rodesire]

Siiiiiii!

Best of luck in Turkey, love a difficult start to a journeyman.

Regarding that director of football, we have a few of those playing ones in Gibraltar. I really wanted to nick one but he won't move

[Rikulec]

Following, good luck.

[noikeee]

Tokatspor - Pre-season 2018/2019

 

 

With no transfer budget, about-the-same-as-none wage budget, and no scouts, we dabbled into the transfer market and sensationally picked up a grand total of 2 players on frees, earning about the same as nothing.
 

 
New mezzala since the old one broke his foot. 2* of CA seems slightly harsh for his skills - he's pretty much a winger that got lost in the pitch and somehow found himself in the middle, and that's exactly what I want from the position.
 

 
This kid's skill set is awful but I didn't have a backup LB.

We did decently in the extremely long and drawn out pre-season. The only 2 defeats were against teams from a division above, pretty excusable especially against Geçlerbirligi who are a huge side and tipped to win their division. We scored in every match which was great, I think we're conceding a little too many though.

Tactics-wise I've already done a tiny bit of tweaking to the starting thing and this is how we'll be approaching the start of the season now in September:

 

The most obvious tweak was the SK/A turned into a SK/D, and the BPD/D turned into a CB/D, this had to be done due to the level of football in my opinion and I did this before match 1. We're still playing from the back and this hasn't cost us conceded goals just yet.

The other tweak was slightly dropping the defensive line which is now just "higher" instead of "much higher", this was in reaction to a lot of conceded goals due to opposition strikers often finding themselves through on goal.

I've already mirrored the whole tactic left-to-right to accomodate the left-footed mezzala, only to turn it back all over again once Baris Bakir got injured, he's the only left-footed player in the whole team bar my LBs, so I guess we won't use the mirrored version any time soon - even when he comes back, he's a 34 year old man who just broke his foot, in FM terms this means he'll now jog at a maximum speed that resembles a turtle.
 

We also have an alternative more cautious plan, aimed mostly at securing a lead late in a match:

 

[Minuy600]

That's a looong pre-season. Hope you get promoted soon so you don't have to do that again, haha.

[noikeee]

3 horas atrás, MarcxD disse:

Following, of course. Always interesting to read a thought out tactical approach, will be interesting to see how it works at the lower levels after you tried it at Ajax.. 

Good luck in Turkey!

"Thought out" makes it look like I know anything about this, usually my "thought out" approaches ends up in massive overcomplication, and swear words shouted at the laptop followed by crying in the fetal position.
 

2 horas atrás, rodesire disse:

Siiiiiii!

Best of luck in Turkey, love a difficult start to a journeyman.

Regarding that director of football, we have a few of those playing ones in Gibraltar. I really wanted to nick one but he won't move

Damnit, I thought my DOF/ST was unique.
 

35 minutos atrás, Rikulec disse:

Following, good luck.

Cheers Rik!

[noikeee]

2 minutos atrás, Minuy600 disse:

That's a looong pre-season. Hope you get promoted soon so you don't have to do that again, haha.

Well yeah, but this went by surprisingly quickly, the game is processing quicker than I expected, maybe I can even afford to add an extra league or two (playable).

Winter breaks in Croatia a few FMs back... now that was torture. Essentially two pre-seasons per season and it was slow as hell.  

[noikeee]

Just in case you guys ever want to buy a Tokatspor season ticket, this is what it includes.

Just thought this was a very important detail to clarify.

[noikeee]

Tokatspor - September 2018

Um, wow. This is clearly not Ajax and we're really struggling to get our game working a LOT more than I expected. We're winless and even got knocked out of the cup on penalties by a lower league side.

I've been tweaking a lot, I think we've been looking better the last couple of matches, but we've got a lot to do to turn the situation around - we're on the relegation zone now.
 

 

[noikeee]

Maybe this explains why things are being a little tough... or I'm searching for excuses...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than the keeper, compared to the opposition, we're a bit ****.  

[noikeee]

I knew moving abroad would not be easy. I'd be experiencing new cultures, new ways of seeing life. Struggles to communicate as we try to find a common language in common broken English. Different standards of living in different parts of the globe.

Still, some things you can never be prepared for. I couldn't have foreseen that horrifying Wednesday. It seemed like a day as any other. Training session. Morale a bit down after a winless run. I stayed up late in the pitch debating possible changes with my assistant Murat.

When I came back to the dressing room I thought everyone was gone. It did seem a bit weird the lights were turned on - just one of the lights at the end of the showers end. Maybe the lads were distracted and didn't notice it when they left. They can barely notice anything that happens on the pitch, so it'd be hardly out of character.

I was going to turn it off and leave, when I noticed something further strange. There was still a hint of noise. Almost like some kind of repetitive motion, coming from the corner of the showers. I went to check it out.

Then I saw it. It's... hard to put in words as my mind wants to forget. But there he was. Erkan. With his pants down. And the bag of training footballs in front of him.

- Erkan?! What is this?! Why are you still here?! What the hell are you doing?!

- Sir! I'm doing what you said sir! Train hard! Be better player! Like you asked sir!

- What? How?! I don't understand!

- Erkan making love to footballs sir! I want to be better player sir! As you say every training sir. Make love to footballs!

I entered a state of further shock and disbelief.

- Erkan! That's just an euphemism! Not ACTUALLY making love to footballs.

- Yes sir! Euphetism yes! Like dress as nun! Like wear funny hat, do love upside down. At first I think.. this very strange.. I not sure to do this... but then I like. More and more. I get it now sir. I feel better now! Better player.

- Goddamnit Erkan! You freaking idiot! EUPHEMISM, not FETISH! It's just a phrase, a saying. Make love to footballs as in, treat the ball well. Play good football on the pitch. Not... THIS.

Erkan was utterly stunned. He suddenly realised he had done an horrible mistake, I'm not sure which of us 2 was the most shocked. The bag of those poor, mistreated Adidas dropped to the floor.

The rest of that day was a blur. I'm pretty sure we didn't exchange any other word but I don't remember coming back home. The next day, Erkan was nowhere to be seen in training. We had to fine him and invent a ******** excuse that he missed training because he's "worried about the poor dressing room atmosphere". The squad seemed to buy it... which seems like a bad sign.

But I don't think we can stop the truth from leaking out. Alpay the kitman had the most devious smirk on his face when I ordered him to wash every single one of the footballs. He KNOWS. I'm concerned the lads will make fun of poor Erkan when the story comes out. As if we need even more trouble this season.

How did that little post-training exercise work for him, anyway?! Wouldn't it hurt his..... nevermind.

 

[BoxToBox]

[noikeee]

 

A win! Finally, a win! We're no longer losers! We partied all night long in the city, we really needed this. I didn't even care that the goal was just a bad cross from Karaca that went straight in off the post, the commentator said "but he didn't mean it" (no ****, sherlock). I might be instructing my players to play good football, but in the state we're in, we'll take any goals, even if it's a triple rebound owngoal that goes in off the keeper's arse. Such is the curse of the football manager - we might all have philosophies, but in the end, what matters are the results.

However, not everything is good news. I've largely been leaving all training to my assistant Murat, to focus on the tactics side. That is all good, until he told me Erkan insisted to be the leading player in charge of the following training session:

 

The lads were acting very strange after that. Murat wanted to tell me about the activities Erkan had put them through. Apparently it had been something very... extra-curricular indeed. I don't know what happened, and don't want to. I begged him not to tell me any specifics. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

[noikeee]

Murat wanted to do the "community outreach" session next week. I ordered him not to. Whichever more dirty secrets are now running through this dressing room, they'll stay in this dressing room. The community cannot - must not - know about it. Enough.

Besides, elections are coming. We want to stay out of it. It is not our place to influence them. A bad story that comes out at the wrong moment... it could swing the election in unwanted ways. Or put extra pressure in the next chairman to replace me. My position is fragile enough as it is.

[noikeee]

Erkan?! Erkan?!

The crazy ****er has gone and done it! Scored the winning goal in injury time off the bench! And the lads are all happy! They've... bonded.

I take it back all the bad things I've said about him. Whatever... strange methods he's using, are working.

[noikeee]

I'm lost for words. What an absolutely insane match. 

They had what would've been the 5-5 disallowed for offside in the 94th minute, too.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Things certainly aren't going very well . Best of luck in turning things around! 

[noikeee]

Tokatspor - October 2018

 

Out of nowhere, it's a pretty crazy turnaround! 3 wins in a row! I'm under no illusions, these have all been very tight, even matches, in which we had the share of fortune, any other result could've happened. The perfect example is the crazy match against Tuzlaspor, we were winning 4-0 at half-time yet I felt... we had NOT been the best side on the pitch, just happened to have scored every time we went upfront. And that was proven when Tuzlaspor had drawn 4-4 by minute 90... only for luck to smile back at us again with a 91st minute winner.

This is not sustainable, but yet, I feel it's vindication for insisting with my playing style, after all we'd been just as equally unlucky the previous month. With morale restored, the team having gained cohesion and learnt the tactics better, I think we have a chance of surviving the drop. We're now up to a nicer 11th position, still far from very comfortable but things definitely look much more optimistic now.

 

 

[noikeee]

7 minutos atrás, DefinitelyTaylor disse:

Things certainly aren't going very well . Best of luck in turning things around! 

Going better now.  Thanks!

[noikeee]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[rodesire]

It's coming home now, you got the form!

[noikeee]

Tokatspor - November 2018

Uh-oh, it's a return to the earlier pattern. We've gone backwards and down to the relegation zone again.

I'm starting to think the premise I'm trying to play under is simply not viable. It's not so much the level of football (though that can't help), but in my brief fiddling with Ajax we were facing opposition that pretty much refrained to attack us, and as such I built a specialist tactic for that situation. Now, in a situation that EVERYONE attacks us, and we don't have the ability to take hold of a match since we're poor in every aspect for the division we're in, we struggle.

I think I have to adapt more radically but I'm not entirely sure what path to go down. We don't have the players to play a wider formation. I could and probably should play deeper and try to hit the opposition at pace, which is our only vague strength really, but I'm concerned playing a narrow formation, playing too deep, we'll get murdered down the flanks. I think I'm gonna try to do that but I'm not super convinced by the idea.

This is starting to remind me A LOT of the first season in my FM18 journeyman thread, right next to Turkey in Greece, in which I got relegated and sacked...

 

[noikeee]

4 horas atrás, rodesire disse:

It's coming home now, you got the form!

I think it's more likely that *I'm* coming home, when I get sacked. 

[noikeee]

So it begins.

I told them I'll improve the club's position in one month's time. Meanwhile, I can hear them sharpening the guillotine in the background.

[noikeee]

Tokatspor - December 2018

I tried a switch to a 4-1-3-2 (1 DM and 3 MCs). Deeper formation, so more men at the back to keep us solid. Wider defensive width with the sidemost midfielders told to press more so they can cover the wings, fullbacks told to press less so they get baited out of position less often.

To no avail. We're still conceding from the 1 or 2 crosses the opposition gets to aim at the area correctly, or even from hoofed direct balls, despite the fact we now have a "lower defensive line". And we're now worse at creating anything in attack.

I feel like a dead man walking - the sack is surely around the corner now.

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Shame after what seemed to be the start of a positive run . Hopefully you and the team can find your feet again and get a consistent run of results together.

[Constantine]

That first club always seems to be tough for you. Just like in Greece. But you'll pick yourself up...