Journeyman living out his Childhood Dream

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Man Utd transfer listed Dominik at 40 mil (by request). I negotiated the initial payment down while putting in a 7.5mil bonus for winning the CL. He's gonna be a beast for this level and can do a job across all positions in the midfield.

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July '24

The new signing boost picked up the team and we bounced back strongly after the thrashing at the curtain raiser

 

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Aug '24

Patchy league form, but my new striker made amends for the sub par start to the league campaign

His solitary moment of quality helps us overcome a strong Kyiv team in a really drab match. The initial pay off

Looks like a tough ask in the groups

Made the move mostly to head off Genk. They were making a cheeky bid and I saw that he was interested in joining up after the CL qualification. 20 mil player listed for 10 mil by Real and made a quick move. Takes up a huge chunk of our Wage budget, but I am pretty sure I could move him on for a profit at the end of the season.

And he promptly bosses the debut, making it tough to encash on him if the form continues

We are looking comfortable in the table and the team is really strong except for the full backs (got hot prospects at both sides, but they will need couple of seasons to boss the flanks). All decent options identified by scouts are not available (either selling team needs a massive bid or the wage ask way beyond us).

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Sep '24

That's more like it. An unbeaten month that saw us make big strides in the league. The only sorepoint was the inability to score in the CL matchup where we were dominant.

Club Brugge too have made a blistering start to the league, whereas Genk had been comparatively quiet. The reason might have been this:

The fella was their top scorer last season and was predicted to top the GS charts this season too

[vivu]

Oct & Nov '24

Fantastic coupe of months where we confounded critics in the CL, except for a tough defeat against a very good Napoli side,  and was dominant in league except for the no show against Genk.

The Lille win ensured we are through from a tricky group.

Sitting pretty up top

[vivu]

Dec '24

The team is on a roll and we consolidate our league position and close out our CL group well and also opened up a 3 point lead in the league.

As January rolled in, there was an interesting job opportunity that came my way

Gremio asked for the requisite staff changes when this popped up

Gunners are at a disappointing 12th in league and has consistently disappointed over the past few seasons

Not a front runner for the job and nm not sure if I should leave the Liege job for Gremio.. Decisions ..decisions...

Edit

Gremio came with the offer and this popped up

The ask are really nominal

[vivu]

Jan '25 Update

New Year New Adventure

I signed off from Liege on a real high. Gremio was not willing to delay any further. Ideally I would have liked to complete the Cup SF before moving. Gunners gave me an interview but no news afterwards

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This is going to be a challenge. High expectations across the board.

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Standard liege has pulled out an impressive appointment to replace me

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Feb '25

The state championships are going on. Long time since I managed in Brazil (last go was in fm16 or 17 iirc). Still getting to terms with the team when I came up in 2 finals. Won the imposrtant one while lost the state one on pens

Had almost no work to do to pick up my second major trophy.

I do remember the state championship matches being not the greatest of entertainment. Most of the matches are still the same

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March '25

Games are coming thick and fast and I am having to rotate the squad heavily. Unbeaten month, but feels a bit underwhelming

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April '25

Perfection

 

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May '25

A month of absolute perfection as the team is performing as a well oiled machine.

Especially pleasing is the long string of clean sheets (extending to 9 at the end of the month).

Only negative from the month:

The young winger had been a creative force and had the best match ratings for the season so far.

 

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Nuno has hit the road running

That's despite me swooping to poach the young Brazilian strikers (I had brought to Liege.

Initially had brought him in (as he was slightly better rated by my coaching team), but he struggled to put away chances initially.

This fella wasn't interested initially, but became willing to come in couple of months.  He has been immense since he landed up and Mineiro also seems to gain confidence with the arrival of his strike partner.

Kladno also seems to do well post my stint

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It seems I am not the only one raiding Belgian League for Brazilian strikers

He was impressive whenever Genk played against my Liege side.

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Don't know how exactly we are doing it, but I will take it...

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Bloody hell

He is a key component of my team and one of the really consistent performers and leader in the team

He had recently signed the contract and I had set the 60mil thinking that its way too high to be activated

I tried to offer a new contract to no avail

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I am beginning to take a disliking to Lampard

That's my first choice CB.

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Craziest game I had been involved in any version of FM/CM

Thought I had bottled it in the end when they scored the 5th. Needed the 3 goal margin to qualify.

 

Edit

Got my chance against Lampard & co..

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Had a windows crash... Thankfully only lost the Chelsea fixture.. The bad news was that it was a big win

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FMed them in the next attempt

Its us v/s the PL. Not much chance as ****** has been prolific in the tournament so far

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Thankfully we were not completely outclassed (at least in score)

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Victories against 2 of the EPL giants makes the CWC a worthwhile effort from us

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June & July 25

Lost the winning league streak, lost the cup and made the SF of CWC. Corinthians are at the top of the league, but we could have it back by winning the game in hand

Had a hissy fit when board refused training facility improvement and leaked to the press leading to

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Aug & Sep '25

Domestic dominance continued and we are through to the Copa libertadores semis. Santos awaiting there

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We are the champions of the continent

Was expecting a tough fight, especially as they had beaten us recently in the league, but the game was put to rest with an early dismissal.

 

[vivu]

2025 Season Close

Team looked vulnerable at the season close with some tired legs creeping in. I had intentionally trimmed the squad to around 28, but the long Brazilian season is brutal.

Best XI

 

[vivu]

Club Awards

Season Review

Board

New expectations are low as ever

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League Awards

The beast dominated

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More Awards

 

[vivu]

And another season kicks off.

Transfers

Youth players in. Couple of fringe players our (with one more in transfer list).

Its really difficult to improve upon the squad without spending silly money. I am holding off on any transfers this season unless I lose any major players from the squad. The most difficult decision is gonna be on Mineiro with the striker attracting interest from big European teams and is currently not interested in entering into discussion over a new contract. He can move for the clause as far as I am concerned as he is tied to a long contract.

Same scenario with my young back up GK, however the situation is not critical as he is occupying a foreign player slot and no where near my starting GK. The interest level seems to suggest he might grow up to be a star though.

Team

[vivu]

An early wake up call

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Jan '26

Not the most fluent of starts. My front 2 are struggling for goals and the golden boy is looking to have switched over from golden boot to rubber wellies. Thankfully its the state championship, and hopefully they rediscover the magic touch by the time the league is in full swing.

He needed a penalty for the goal

Only positive is that no one has come in with a bid. Hopefully he will clear his head once the transfer window is closed.

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Feb '26

Batista was back to beast mode and we picked up the first couple of trophies for the year.

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Finally he is not unsettled

It would take a near WR transfer for me to even consider selling.

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Mar '26

A month of dominance and we broke some records on the way

The state championships are perfect settings for records to tumble as Internacional is the only legitimate challenger in ther and they have been in crisis mode for last year or so. But I wasnt expecting the dominance in Libertadores

 

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April '26

Serie A started and team went through unbeaed but not perfect during the month

State Championship saw us break more records

Saw myself being linked with an interesting opportunity across the pond and declared my interest. Not much hope as they have not fired their manager yet.

But a definitely interesting position as they have won the title only once since the save started

[vivu]

Bye bye Brazil... For now...

Things were going well in the matches, but teams across the pond was circling for my stars and giving really stupid offers; unsettling 3 of our key players.

Man Utd came in with an interview for which I hadn't applied for, as did RB Leipzig (both had huge war chests). Liverpool job was also available after Klopp left this season on a high as Champions League winners after a decade in charge. Had applied there and at Porto.

Then had another press leakage when the board turned down my request for facility upgrade (with the team sitting on 100mil + reserves ffs) and this time I didn't agree to the points target.

The unapplied jobs didn't work out.

But Porto came through

Asked for a delay as this also in the works

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The Liverpool job would be epic as they have a well balanced side that has been competitive in league, but just missing something against Lampard's boys

They have been competitive in Champions League also

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What the BLOODY  

First time that had ever happened to me. Lost a job that was offered and delayed

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The save is entering the silly ream now

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None of the interviews worked and I decided to take a break and holiday through for 6 months. No decent jobs in Dec to Feb period and all quiet till it hit March. Then I had interviews with Bayern and Leipzig (again) and Bayern asked me about changes in staff when this came about.

Put Bayern offer on hold. Gunners were offering very limited transfer chest and wage budget, but this is my ultimate job. they didn't come back when I had interviewed couple of year's back and the team had actually deteriorated. The other two are offering 120m+ war chests and Leipzig has pretty decent expectations for that level of investment.

All of that faded into irrelevance when this came through. Going to be a challenge as there are 5-6 clubs that are better balanced than the current gunners squad. I carried out a large scale clear out of the staff that the previous manager had brought in. Kept the Director of Football as there was limited compensation to play with.

Expectations are slightly unrealistic in my opinion, considering how the team have been performing off late

Next up is a reunion in the UEFA Europa League

 

 

[vivu]

March '27

Only 1 match since I took over and it was a good start to my Gunners career

CL spots care way too off. Europa spots are within grasp though.

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End of the League Season

Hit the road running. Only Liege caught us off guard with a really smart counter attacking masterclass. However we had too much fire power in the return leg. Finished the season really strong. Got a massive final to look forward to.

Our striker picked up the golden wellies

And how about that for a game. 2 goals made the season highlight reel

Some achievements reached. The comeback one was from the final league game against Stoke who was fighting relegation (and they managed to avoid the drop too)

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Kightly the hero as we came back from the brink twice.

Knocked out a vision item well in advance

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End of season review & dongles

Blast from the past:

Not too impressed with the wage budget as in the interviews with Manure, sh!tty and Pool, the wage budget on offer was comfortably over 6 mill

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Wasn't expecting the required Premier League winner expectation

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Silly Season Round Up

Well that's one way of trying to meet the new expectations. I had pretty much brought a new set of players on whom the team can be built around for the next decade. Some of the moves where forced as there was almost a team mutiny when I brought in Bellingham. First Sako became concerned and complained (weird as he is playing on the wings and I had even said in Bellingham unveiling that I plan to use him as MC) and was not willing to listen to reason. He also managed to get most of the team mates pissed off too as he was a leader. Also made an effort to shift the aging high earners off the books and to bring in any of the quality British players my scouts have identified (the downside is they come at a premium).

These are the ones that goes straight into the First Team:

Team's biggest problem position became its most solid one. I was surprised that no one else was making a move on him. Had to give him 50% from next sale and a huge signing bonus to keep the wages low. It helped that he was unhappy at his previous manager who had broken promises.

No joy in finding any British defensive players. But these are massive upgrades on my current stock.

Raided Everton for this gem. My scouts where raving about him and 5* potential when compared to my side just indicates how strong a player he is going to be (We are well stocked in quality wingers)

He was a youngster I brought to Liege, but never played a game under me. He has come around nicely, only downside was a long injury list. The relatively small Min fee release clause his agent insisted on while I brought in him to Liege came handy.

The homegrown battalion. The Korean came through the Leeds academy.

Now I have really good options across the board and cover the two major formations I plan to use.

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Aug '27

UEFA Super cup in the bag and an unbeaten start. Only blemish was the draw against West Ham where we were shooting all over the place. The new striker has hit the ground running with 3 goals in 4 starts.

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Sep '27

An unbeaten month with a very satisfying North London Derby day. However we are in for a fight in the CL with Monaco looking really tough. We were lucky to escape with a draw and next up in there is a double header against Barca.