ranks39 Posted March 29, 2020 Share Posted March 29, 2020 (edited) Hello, all! It's been a good, long while since I've decided to post career updates and having read quite a few of them, I'm itching to get back at it. I've created a young manager with no experience or qualifications to speak of: I'm playing with almost every European League and have added a number more(Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino, etc.). I don't really have an endgame or set of defined principles that I'm playing by - I will just see where this save takes me. Enjoy! Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 (edited) Still unemployed but some interesting developments may be on the way.... EDIT: Just had a power surge here at home so not sure when my last save was - definitely before interviewing for Alaves B...... Edited March 29, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 (edited) Some movement may be afoot! Nope.... Edited March 29, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 I'm just finding no luck with the interview process, it seems that no one from the lowest tiers of England to the Welsh second division to the Maltese third division wants to take a flier on a young american..... One day I'll get there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 Rank has spent months and months traversing all of Europe, personally handing his CV to anybody wearing a kit on the streets. Finally, the luck seems to be ticking my way! Hey, it's a Welsh second-tier side but who am I to turn anything down at this point??? Oh, I've got some interviews in Malta, Andorra, and Albania - sorry, Rhyl - you'll have to look elsewhere for now....best of luck. *Feigns bad cell reception* My second offer comes from the Maltese second-tier(first division)....tempting. Along comes an Andorran second-tier side as well.... And in come a Maltese top-tier side......very tempting: Bala Town from the Welsh Premiership have approached too. Unfortunately, my heart is set on the South of Europe... Another Second-tier Andorran side... Now, an Albanian second-tier side... So sorry to tease you all but I'll reveal my choice tomorrow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 (edited) EDIT: I had an error with my Albanian DB(Selection rules wouldn't allow me to continue - they have been updated) so I've had to restart this whole thing. Same manager/qualifications/etc. Will update in the next post! Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oche balboa Posted March 31, 2020 Share Posted March 31, 2020 Nice start. What leagues are you running? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 @oche balboa Medium Database: 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) Rank has taken charge at Shenkolli of the Albanian First Category - Group B, the second-tier of Albanian football. We may be a bit short-staffed..... At least our finances are in solid shape! I thought that I had set it up to fill teams with actual players but I guess not - I'll be scrambling to fill a team as well as my backroom! This will be an adventure..... Here are our facilities: Let's roll! Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 Walking into the team, Rank has realized that the entire Squad, including Reserves and U-19's need a re-tool. He has spent all night on the phone searching for a staff to help fill up each squad within the two months before the season begins!!! First signing is a chief scout - not the best in the world but certainly passable to help me quickly build a side! We have also signed up a new Head of Youth Development.... Not great on judging players but he'll do for a year! We've also rushed to sign up an assistant coach - really there were not very many options out there so we had to settle for Gega.... at least he's Albanian! And a new scout! Still waiting on the final piece of the recruitment team, the General Manager...... We'll see how that goes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 After another few sleepless nights and phone calls with agents, Shenkolli have signed their first actual player! He may not look like much but at this point we will take almost any warm body. And a second! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 Good to see that our commercial team has also been active! We have unveiled a shirt sponsor! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) After about a week of pursuit, we have finally confirmed the anchor for the middle of our defense! The side is beginning to take shape a little bit! We've also completed our first bit of business with another club, we have signed our cog in the middle of the park for $2,000. Pretty decent technical and physical skills for the level - mental skills are average-to-below-average. Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) We've found out our fate for the first round of the Albanian Cup..... Away to a third-division side. Here's hoping that we can start strong! Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) So we are fast-approaching the season and the team is still not fully put-together. We have also struggled mightily in pre-season and in our first cup match. This season will be a rocky one but hoping that the board will have some patience with me. Unfortunately, in our cup match we had three sending-offs in extra time.... Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) SEPTEMBER 2019 Well, it's safe to say that we haven't enjoyed the best of starts to club life in the Albanian second-tier. We are still ironing out the side and figuring things out along the way . This years goal is to simply not get relegated and allow us a bit of time to strengthen the current side. This is how the squad looks at the moment..... again, I did have to offer many contracts to players that I usually wouldn't just to fill up the squad so please be gentle.... Also, please note that the evaluation skills of my staff is not their strongest attribute so many of the abilities and potential abilities will be wayyyyy wrong. Through September we've actually picked up a couple of results but we are still looking for our first 3 points. First off, the good news - we have played four of the top six sides through our first five matches and have picked up a couple of draws. We are also seemingly competitive with the other two teams in the bottom three so we should be able to find our way clear of the drop by the end of the season. The bad news is that we split points with the bottom side in the league(although we did dominate the match). There is also this bit of juicy gossip.... Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 October 2019 October truly was a month to forget for Shenkolli as we slipped further off the pace to get out of the bottom(and we had opportunity). We thoroughly outplayed Pogradeci only to waste our numerous chances and concede twice after the 80th minute.... The final two matches of the month saw us dominated by better sides, to be honest. As November dawns, we have put pen to paper with an attacking midfielder and a goalkeeper that will improve our side but they will not arrive until January. I only hope that I can hold onto my job until that time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) November 2020 We have our first international call-ups of Rank's managerial career! Muci is a loan player and Zefi was a free transfer who has locked down our right back role. Congrats to both! It's been another terrible month(we've faced the 1st, 2nd, and 4th teams in the league) - we need to pick up some points against the lower teams in the league.... Edited April 1, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 I don't know what to expect, to be completely honest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 December 2019 As the Counting Crows said, it's been a long December but there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last! We finished out the year pitifully, dropping two matches in December..... but I won't let that get me down(even though our odds of surviving the drop are very remote now). We still have 14 matches to play! Better news, as the year turned over, we were able to sign some players to hopefully get us back in the race for survival! Again - let's hope for the best! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 January 2020 Boy, oh boy! What a difference a quality striker and goalkeeper make for a club! It has been all great news this month for Shenkolli! First and foremost, upon reading the promotion/relegation rules for the First Division(second-tier), I have learned that only the bottom team is directly relegated. The second-bottom team is sent to a relegation playoff. That's great news considering we are seemingly head-and-shoulders above Devolli, especially since our talent infusion at the open of the January window. Now, onto the results - it was a great month on the pitch, as well! It also turns out that the league splits after 18 matches into two groups of five who will then play each other twice(for a total of 26 matches). We were pretty impressive over our last two matches, by the way! We just need to be a bit more incisive. I won't complain too much though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 February 2020 February was another dismal month - all positive momentum has been stomped out and we are now limping into the split portion of the season. Conceding 8 goals and scoring none over our final three matches does not inspire much hope - we will see if we can right this ship. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 March preview - things not going well.......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 You jokers! I NEARLY fell for it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 March 2020 Well, March went just the way that February did. Try as I might to change tactics, we just cannot get points. Thankfully, we have our next two matches against Devolli and Pogradeci(who we generally play well against). Maybe we can salvage something! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Here's our Youth Intake - not great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Pre-Final Match Day So, much has happened since April began: So, first off, we have avoided direct relegation. Even moreso, Oriku is really struggling and with one match left, we are in a great position to leap out of the relegation playoff spot. We just need to draw or win and need Oriku to lose or draw only if we win. Our final match is against Pogradeci on the road so we will see but this has certainly been a trying season. Over the last two months, the build up to every single match has focused around my being sacked if we lose but I have so far held on. Let's see how this last match goes! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) Although it wasn't pretty, we found a way to win - on top of that, Oriku have lost which put us outside of the relegation playoff! From the start of the season to now, we have come so far but I'm very proud of the squad for not giving up and happy that the board didn't lose patience with me(although they nearly did). We were roughly level, statistically, at halftime but once we went up 2-0, we dropped into a cautious approach and they went all out, peppering our goal but we held them off! I will post a full post-season recap shortly. Edited April 2, 2020 by ranks39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Around the World In La Liga, Atletico Madrid have won the title by a comfortable margin of six points. In the Premier League, Liverpool have won the title with Norwich, Brighton and Villa hitting the drop. Not too many surprises in Serie A. Bundesliga - Bayern Munich have run away with the league. And Ligue 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 End of Season Wrap-up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 2019-2020 Continental Club Competitions Champions League Europa League - Top half Europa League - bottom half Europa League - Later Rounds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 Off-season Update Hey all, there hasn't been much movement in terms of first team transfers, we are pretty much relying on development. We did add a couple of full backs to help us out, though: And we've been draw at home to a third-tier side in the first round of the Albanian Cup: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 Friendlies/Albanian Cup So, our preseason is over and we have played our first cup match. Overall, I'm not thrilled about the atmosphere around the squad going into the season. Our friendly results weren't great(although we did give a lot of looks to fringe and youth players. We also got bounced from the cup on penalties at home. 0-0 through the entire match and we fell in the shootout. As I stated earlier, the mood in the team is not great and I'm hoping that we can get off to a great start in season to quell some of those negative vibes. Here is how my squad currently lines up. I do have one injury to my starting right attacking winger. I'll be kicking the season off shortly and will get an update out after the first month! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 September 2020 Welcome to the second season of Rank's tenure at Shenkolli! The season started as well as we possibly could have asked for, playing against Oriku and Burelli but slowed down from there a bit. The first two matches went to plan, with us dominating statistically, but only collecting one goal victories. We were dominated in the third match against Erzeni. At this point, I asked my wingers to cut in more and take more shots to try to generate more chances and it worked against Korabi(honestly, we should have won this match) but not so much against Kamza. It has been a mixed bag this season but definitely more comfortable a start than last season. I have a few eyes and ears out for potential signings so I will keep everyone updated on that front. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 Euro 2020 Sorry for my lateness on this, I thought I had done a small write-up earlier but I guess I missed out. Group Stage(sorry about the dull message in the bottom corner of my screen): Biggest surprise for me was the Dutch not evening gaining a point. Aside from that, Hungary edging Germany in Group F and Wales taking a Second Round spot in Group F as well. Knockout Rounds: Hungary were the darlings of the entire event, winning their group and then knocking off Switzerland before falling to runners-up Spain in the quarterfinal round. Aside from that, not too many shocking performances. Award Winners: 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 October 2020 October was a good month, overall, but disappointing in a sense. in our first match, we drew Iliria away in a match that we were lucky to get anything from, with a goal completely against the run of play. Secondly, we beat Terbuni and Shkumbini in highly entertaining away matches before closing the month with a very disappointing home draw to bottom of the table Burreli. A decent series of results see us rise to fourth in our division at the halfway point of the pre-split season. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 November 2020 Another month, another unbeaten run! We started off the month by travelling to bottom table Oriku, where we managed a wild 5-3 victory to continue our great run in league play. We then played host to second-placed Beselidhja and honestly had the better of the day and deserved the points, but they managed to hold us to a 0-0 draw to end the month. We are still unbeaten in six and in the thick of the competition for the upper half of the league split. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 December 2020 December has seen our unbeaten 6 match streak come to an end at the hands of Erzeni, an unfair result. On the second fixture of the month, we got a result that we didn't necessarily deserve, either - a fair month I'd say. We are still well within the top half and in great position to move into the promotion playoff! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 January 2020 January was quite a quiet month for us with just the two matches, but both against sides that are in the hunt for promotion, so obviously they were key matches. First off, we hosted Korabi, who at the time were the top side in the table. We put on a scoring clinic while being outclassed for large swaths of the game(I'll take the result!). Secondly, we were away to Kamza, who has quietly gone about their business since being promoted after last season. We played well but were not nearly clinical enough to secure all three points so we just have to be happy with the draw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 General up-date/housekeeping/February 2021 This squad is progressing much faster than I've thought it would and it this has been one of the more fun saves I've done in awhile(honestly, probably owing to sharing the experience as I had lurked here for awhile before finally deciding to post - it adds so much for me and I feel more engaged with the whole gameworld - enough of that now). Since I've staffed up(hired Head of Youth Development/General Manager), I've stepped back from the scouting/signing/negotiating duties, as I imagine that the club wouldn't allow an unlicensed manager to control all aspects of the operation anyways, and I've been using the instant result button for almost all matches. I've thus far been unable to get the board to agree to let me go on a coaching course, so I'm still unlicensed and the board are being absolute pricks about any upgrades(hopefully this title challenge will change all of that)..... Anyways, onto the February recap. I've really been enjoying the two week breaks between matches because our quality in the squad is not deep, so I pretty much have settled on a regular 11 and a regular 3-5 subs. We played three matches in February against teams in the bottom half, so I expected to close the gap on the top sides - that pretty much worked out except for the fact that we lost our first match to Terbuni at home.... yikes! We really didn't create much but they were efficient - hats off to them! We managed to salvage the month by winning our final two matches, taking us into the split at the lofty heights of 3rd!!!! Essentially here is the squad that I have been using: A very well-rounded team effort has put us here, not necessarily individual starts(Muca just joined us on loan in January and has been massive, though!). Seljmani has overtaken Qyrani in goal but that's really it. Again, I hope that anyone reading is enjoying this and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 I'll be the judge of that when my head is on the chopping block! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
endlessthunder Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Great post mate, hope to see more of this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 @endlessthunder Thank you, thank you! Given the state of things, I have lots of time for FM... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacchi Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 10 hours ago, ranks39 said: Euro 2020 Sorry for my lateness on this, I thought I had done a small write-up earlier but I guess I missed out. Group Stage(sorry about the dull message in the bottom corner of my screen): Biggest surprise for me was the Dutch not evening gaining a point. Aside from that, Hungary edging Germany in Group F and Wales taking a Second Round spot in Group F as well. Knockout Rounds: Hungary were the darlings of the entire event, winning their group and then knocking off Switzerland before falling to runners-up Spain in the quarterfinal round. Aside from that, not too many shocking performances. Award Winners: Glad to see we (Hungary) could repeat the 2016 EURO real life success again:) One more round this time! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 March 2020 Well, March hasn't exactly gone as I'd hoped - we are still well within striking distance of the top two but our first two matches after the league split have been away to the top side, Korabi, and home to the second-placed side, Erzeni. Against Korabi, we seemed to be in the match, we just didn't have our scoring boots on, falling 1-0. Against Erzeni, it was a very even match that turned out 0-0. The race is still wide open and we still have a say in how things will turn out! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 Youth Intake Not great, but that Striker.... ooh la la! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 Here's a teaser to hold you over until the next update: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 April 2021 Here we are - standing on the doorstep, no, the precipice of everything that we have worked so hard for. Three matches remain, three matches against the bottom three teams in the split. I tell the squad that we just need to press on and play our game and that the rest will take care of itself.... It's a strong face but inside is like a tornado of emotion - hope, pride in the team, nerves, fear, fear of the what if..... Once we step onto that pitch, it will all melt away but this feeling, standing over a beautiful valley, as if commanding the environment but knowing that you really are not in control.....that's the feeling. Anyways, April went about as well as we could have hoped, with 7 points from three matches, including a resounding 4-0 win over league-leaders, Korabi. We have set ourselves up in a great position to at least reach the promotion playoff but it's all there to play for! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranks39 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 We've taken our game in hand and turned it to three points! We now sit three points clear of 3rd(and +10 Goal Differential opposed to them) and six points clear of 4th(also +10 GD over them!). Better yet, Korabi have lost and we have a game in hand on them and are only two points behind! It's all to play for in our final two matches! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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