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(FM21) A (so far) successful Journeyman


marcMCFC1986
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I started my career with Sunday League Reputation, at Rochdale. I chose Rochdale as I had a successful save with them a few years ago, but also because they are the only club in English League Football who have never won a trophy - and I fancied changing that. However, after a couple of seasons, I switched paths to try to win the top league in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Holland - but I am going to try to do it with a team that isn't the favourite i.e. I won't be using PSG, or Liverpool, etc. I will outline below a (very) brief history of my career so far, and then go into a bit more detail of my favourite players, and which jobs I am keeping an eye out for coming available:

 

So, starting at the start, I did 4 years at Rochdale - and the media prediction was for me to finish 22nd in League One and get relegated, but I managed to finish 18th - then the following season I defied all expectations and finished 4th, winning the Play Offs and getting promoted to the Championship. Obviously, I was predicted to finish rock bottom of the Championship, but finished 13th, and then 16th the following season. At this point I decided that it was going to take many many years of fighting relegation and finishing mid-table before I could build a squad to push for promotion - and I don't have the patience for that.

 

I started looking around for a new job, and Hoffenheim came along and offered me a job - predicted to finish 7th in the Bundesliga, so I took it. My first season there I finished 2nd, but was actually quite disappointing as I was well clear with about 8 or 9 games to go, but the wheels fell off completely. The same thing happened the following season, when I finished 4th - and unfortunately at this stage the German League only had 3 Champions League spots, so it was back to the Europa League for me. However, in my third season at Hoffenheim I secured their first ever league title, and their first ever German Cup! My efforts to defend my title failed though and I finished 2nd the following season - which would be my last with Hoffenheim. In my time at Hoffenheim I was very disappointing in Europe, and only made it out of the group stage once, and on that occasion I was drawn against Man City - so you can guess how that ended.

 

It was time to move on again, and the job at Lyon in France came up. Now, I know I said I was aiming to win the title with a non-favourite, however I do believe that winning the French league with anybody except PSG is an achievement, so I'm counting them as a non-favourite! My first season with Lyon I came 2nd, but the title race over by February, with PSG about 20 points clear - and they ultimately ended the season undefeated. However, I was happy with the squad I was putting together, and we put together a fantastic run at the end of the season which put us in good form for the start of the following season - a season in which we turned the tables on PSG and went undefeated ourselves and won the league by 21 points. I managed to defend the title the following season, and also won Lyon's first ever Champions League title, beating Hertha BSC in the final. I am now 9 games into my 4th season with Lyon, and looking to stay here until I fail to defend my title - and currently sitting top of the league with 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.

 

Now you are up to date, let me share a few screen shots - first, my job history which summarises the above:

 

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And my career history. Don't read too much into the 27% manager holiday - I always put it on manager holiday during International Breaks, and I did for the last part of the season when I was miles behind PSG, as my position in 2nd was equally as secure as PSG's position in 1st, so it was just very boring. It also says I have one national managers job - I took the Uruguay job and planned on just doing the Copa America with them, but that was the same summer I joined Lyon and they wanted to me quit Uruguay, so I only got about 3 games into the Copa America before leaving them. 

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Now, the fun part - my regens and favourite players. I have to start with Alessio Rosa, who's isn't actually a Regen, and starts the 2020/21 season at Atalanta. When I joined Hoffenheim I scouted him (he was at Arsenal at the time) and the report was decent, and there was nobody else out there who was available/interested - so I took a punt, and I'm so glad I did. As you'll see from his attributes, he isn't 'amazing' but he just delivers consistently - so much so that I took him with my from Hoffenheim to Lyon, where he has continued to score key goals, and keeping my Portuguese Wonderkid regen at arms length. Here is his profile and history:

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Next up is Thibaud Le Bris, a French Centre-Back, who I also signed for Hoffenheim then re-signed at Lyon. He was difficult to get hold of whilst I was at Hoffenheim, and I failed to agree a contract with him 3 times before he actually signed, aged 18. However, seeing how good he was whilst I was at Hoffenheim, and Lyon wanting me to sign French players, no amount of money would be too much - and I snatched him away from Hoffenheim for £59m. It is money well spent though, as he is just incredible, and also won World U21 Footballer of the Year in 2030 - and he is still only aged 22, so I reckon I'll get another good 10 years out of him:

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My next regen is Micky Harratt-Fearn, who came in with my Rochdale youth intake as a 15 year old in my first season there - and the media description was 'The next Paul Gascoigne'. And just like that, it was love! I grew up with Gazza as one of my favourite players, and having a player in my save in the same mould as Gazza means I'm taking him everywhere with me. I put him straight into my Rochdale First Team, where he wasn't out of his depth at all either in the League One or Championship - then signed him for £9.75m to Hoffenheim. His ability compared with the other midfielders I had at Hoffenheim meant he was probably going to struggle for game time, so I loaned him back to the Championship with Swansea, where he absolutely excelled - and I had no hesitation playing him for Hoffenheim when he returned the following season. It took me a couple of years at Lyon before I could afford to sign him (£45m), but he was a Key Player in defending the League title, and winning the Champions League - and rest assured, I will be signing him wherever I go next:

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Save the best 'till last, as they say - meet Ignacio Fretes, a 23 Year Old Argentinian Left Winger, who is just incredible. As with all the others, I signed him to Hoffenheim for £7.5m from Boca Juniors - but when I moved to Lyon I knew he was already looking for a move to a bigger club, so I spent my first season or so constantly declaring my interest in signing him, which resulted in my securing him on loan with an option to sign for £84m - which I did with zero hesitation. In the Player Search page, he is the most valuable player in the world, and I'm expecting him to be up there amongst the favourites to win the World Player of the Year in January:

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My plans for the future are, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, to win the league in England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal & Holland. With Germany and France ticked off, the following teams are the ones I am keeping an eye out for the managers job to come up before I consider leaving Lyon:

 

England - Chelsea (I'm currently in 2031, and they haven't won the league since 2016/17)

Spain - Valencia (Not won the league since 2003/04)

Italy - Roma (Not won the league since 2000/01)

Portugal - Sporting Lisbon (Not won the league since 2022/23, but Porto and Benfica have dominated since then)

Holland - Feyenoord (Not won the league since 2016/17)

 

I am open to other jobs that come up, but these are the jobs that I am keeping an eye out for, and could be tempted to leave Lyon for. However, they are going to need a big enough transfer budget for me to take a couple of the above players with me!

 

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your feedback, and whether you'd like to hear about my progress from here on in!?

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Edited by marcMCFC1986
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