shaunvamos Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 April 2039 A much better month, and we actually have a chance at getting into the Conference League final. How this is happening is beyond me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 Holy crap, we're in the final! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 May 2039 Well, we got flogged in the Conference League final which I expected, Lyon were far too good for us. But we had no business being there in the first place, and us reaching the final as based on luck more than skill. That being said, the potential of this team is immense, and I think there's more talent here than with Zalgiris. Maybe the home grown nature of the squad makes me think that. One thing is for sure: Ireland's coefficient is going to get a massive boost as a result of ours and Dundalk's performances. In the league we're doing quite well, mathematically around 3rd plkace accounting for Dundalk's many games in hand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 June 2039 June was an eventful month, even though we only had 3 matches. I'll document the rest below. But on the field we were flawless, including an away win over Shamrock Rovers which ended their 28 match unbeaten streak. It's very much looking like a 3 horse race. I suppose this is to be expected, given our Conference League final appearance. Dundalk are still the best ranked Irish team, at 47th. On the back of the ours and Dundalk's performances this season in the Conference League, we now gain a Champions League place, as well as a Europa League place! Ireland now has 5 European spots instead of 4, but we've got to aim for the Champions League spot at this point. It looks like we'll be getting a good CB in, which is always a good thing. Finally, after 9 months, we are able to operate in the transfer market again! The chairman seems to want to help, as he increased our budget by about 800k. It's perfect timing too, as the window has just opened. So on the hunt I go! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 July 2039 It's definitely a 3 horse race now, and it's shaping up to be a close one. We start our Conference League off with a nice win as well. Transfers (In) McLoughlin is a great pickup for us, already a starting CM at 18. Comrie is a depth option at LWB. Transfers (Out) Cork absolutely overpaid for a youth player with an expiring contract, McCartan didn't have a place in the team after making 148 appearances for us, and the board went over my head and sold Schofield to EPL side Norwich. I'm not too mad, as we get a great fee out of him as well as a 20% profit clause. Schofield's departure also allows our 17 year old promising goalkeeper Joe Byrne 7F to step up. Here's a screen of Schofield, who was way too good for us and would likely leave on a free next season anyway: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 August 2039 After an impressive win against Parma, we're in the Conference League again. Going in as 1st seed, I was hopeful we'd get a decent draw. We didn't. We got probably the hardest group from the perspective of a 1st seed, except for maybe group D. Good to see Dundalk again, as well as two Bosnian teams, as well as teams from Northern Ireland, Albania, Lithuania and Georgia. Transfers (Out) Another player leaves who hasn't had a game in a year and a half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 2039 Youth Intake This is our first intake without a 5* potential player, and also our shallowest intake. That being said, Roche and Berry look pretty good, so hopefully something can come from them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 September 2039 The only loss this month was against St Pats, and that was because I rested players before our ECL game against Ried. At this point it has cost us the outright league lead, which is going right down to the wire. I'm really surprised we beat Trabzonspor too, as we had a bunch of players out playing against the youth candidates, but we got the result so I'm not complaining. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 October 2039 We faltered a little bit in the league towards the end as player fatigue began to build up, but we had a full team for our final game against Dundalk and it showed, smashing them and leapfrogging them on the final day to win our first ever league title! We lost the cup, but who cares? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 (edited) Safely through to the knockout rounds of the Conference League, and we add the All Ireland Cup to our cabinet. Best XI Joe Byrne 7F - Mick Monaghan - Dan O'Keeffe 5D* Byrne stepped in after Schofield left, and he did a fantastic job, Monaghan had another great season scoring goals and O'Keeffe bossed the defensive line. It's good to see the youth academy featuring here, with 6 players in the first team. Record Breakers Awards Previously Managed Teams Zalgiris Vilnius: Won the league for the 20th consecutive year, made the Europa League quarter finals for the 2nd year running after beating Celtic and Gladbach and then losing to Atletico Madrid 2-1. They then made the Champions League groups, but came last behind Bayern, Brighton and PSV. Progress Edited June 17, 2021 by shaunvamos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 Preseason 2040 An okay preseason, a decent draw against AaB. Transfers (In) Mackintosh, Ferguson and Carey come in as backups at RWB, CB and DM respectively. Rea instantly becomes our best CB at only 18, he could be destined to go far, and we welcome back OG academy player Chris Purdy 1G* after he left us on a free 7 seasons ago. Transfers (Out) A bunch of youth players that didn't progress enough leave, as well as 76 gamer Dean Devlin. Predicted 3rd, moving on up. I think it'll be a 3 horse race again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 February 2040 Apart from the defeat in the Super Cup, it's been a great start to the season, especially in the Conference League. We face Young Boys in the 2nd knockout round, where we're joined by Dundalk who play Darmstadt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 March 2040 Saw off Young Boys, but the journey will be over in the Quarter Finals, as we face Stoke City. Dundalk beat Darmstadt and now play Albanian side KF Tirana who've had a great run. Surely Dundalk can win that one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 April 2040 As expected, our Conference League run ends at the hands of Stoke. Dundalk made it to the last four before falling 2-1 to Rangers who will play Hibernian in an all Scottish final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 May 2040 Apart from the loss to Dundalk, it was a great month. If we win all our games in hand we'll be top, but we're already in a great spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 June 2040 We won our first ever Leinster Senior Cup, like that means anything. It's looking extremely likely we'll be top by the end of July. We've done it! Ireland now has an automatic Champions League spot, which means the challenge has been completed for the Republic of Ireland! I'm going to see this season out, try and consolidate our position as champions and also see how far we can go in the Champions League itself. I can't take full credit for Ireland's success though, the majority of their progress was achieved by Dundalk. That being said, once a second team came along and started to do well it was inevitable this would happen. I'm excited to see where the Irish league goes from here. It looks like we have at least 4 decent players in this upcoming intake. It's a shame I won't be able to see them develop. Transfers (Out) Keeley had one good season for us, but was eventually pushed out of the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 July 2040 Nearly perfect, and we've opened up a nice gap on top. Shamrock Rovers have completely fallen off, they had a horrible month. It's weird not having a European match yet, but we are facing FK Sarajevo in the 3rd round of the Champions League qualifiers, a tough tie as they've qualified for the groups a couple of times. Transfers (In) We raid Hearts for two very good players that immediately become starters. Norris has been fantastic already, with 7 goals in 6 games. Transfers (Out) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 August 2040 This is the poorest month we've had for a while. Sarajevo were too good for us, but we really should've beaten Tirana. We dominated both legs but couldn't score. At least the Conference League will boost our coefficient. Transfers (Out) I got really excited when a club like Newcastle out in an offer, but they've nosedived and are now in League One. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) This is a pretty good group for us, I think we can get some decent results here. Meanwhile, Dundalk qualified for the Europa League, and have an interesting group with Zalgiris (the first team I managed), Cultural Leonesa (who we played last year) and Dinamo Tbilisi. Bohemian also made it into the Conference League, and share a group with Maccabi Netanya, Hartberg of Austria and PAOK. There can definitely be some good results for both of them and further consolidate Ireland's position. Edited June 16, 2021 by shaunvamos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 2040 Youth Intake ....... Wow! 4 5* PA players, and one is already labelled as promising. I'm actually a little sad that I'm moving on at the end of the season, as these guys are gonna form the backbone of the club in about 5 years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 September 2040 An excellent month. If we win our game in hand we're 16 points clear with 7 games to go. A strong start in the Conference League too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 October 2040 We wrapped up the league really easily, which means Wexford will be in the group stage of the Champions League next year. Shame I won't be there to see it. Meanwhile, we've had a decent run of games in the Conference League, although it's looking a little close at the halfway point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 We end our tenure at Wexford on a high, taking out the league, the All Ireland Cup, and finishing 1st in our Conference League group, a feat matched by Bohemian. The future of Irish domestic football looks great. It really is a shame I can't continue here, but rules are rules. I only hope the team doesn't get scrapped for parts. The automatic group stage place next year should also help things, I think Wexford will be set. The next nation I'll be in will either be Bosnia, Albania or Luxembourg. I think the toughest challenge here will be Luxembourg, but I'll see where the job openings are. Best XI Chris Purdy 1G* - Mick Monaghan - Duncan Norris This is far and away the best team we have assembled. My successor can't mess this up can they? Record Breakers Plenty of good records broken there, in particular Daniel Gray 1H. He benefited from being able to play WB before anyone else could, and did a fine job. Awards I think I need to show Armstrong off here. Not good enough for a first team spot, but every time he came on as a sub he scored. He's scored 60 goals in 95 league games, and he has his pace to thank for that. Previously Managed Teams Zalgiris Vilnius: Won the league, and finished second in their Europa League group. Dundalk finished behind them so there will be three Irish teams in the Conference League knockouts! It's sad to think Wexford will be added to this now Progress Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 Chapter Three: Back to the Mainland After my success at Wexford, there weren't too many top division jobs on the market. There were even less that could afford to pay my compensation. So I resigned, and suddenly I was offered two interviews: one for a club in Bosnia, one in Luxembourg. Both clubs are in the relegation zone, both are in financial trouble. Playing in Bosnia means a stronger league, which means better players to choose from. However, the teams at the top could prove tough to crack. On the other hand, all of Luxembourg's clubs are semi-pro, which means a (somewhat) level playing field, and the club I applied for has a strong emphasis on youth development. In the end I decided to just accept whichever team offered me a job first. So I did. A bit of a yoyo club, I'm looking to end that trend. There's been a few dynasties in Luxembourg, as only 3 teams have won the league since the beginning of the save. We actually have a decent looking team, and hopefully we can get them out of relegation with a few additions. In accordance with the rules, the neighbouring nations of Luxembourg will be made playable. That opens things up massively, with Belgium, Germany and France. Once we become established and pick up some players from there that should make things interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Absolutely loved reading this, just wanted to say congratulations. Lithuania, Ireland and now Luxemburg. Going to be interesting to see how you fare here too! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 January 2041 We got off to a fantastic start, unbelievably, before losing our next 2. We're definitely capable of escaping the relegation zone though. Transfers (In) Didn't go as wild as I thought I would, I'll save that for the preseason I think. Transfers (Out) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 14 hours ago, haier_fm said: Absolutely loved reading this, just wanted to say congratulations. Lithuania, Ireland and now Luxemburg. Going to be interesting to see how you fare here too! Thanks! I'm pretty excited to be in Luxembourg, somewhere I've never managed before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 February 2041 A ridiculously tough month, in which we played 3 teams in the top 5. That win against Kaerjeng probably kept our season alive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 2041 Youth Intake Jamal Mensah 1A* - Bob Bernard 1B - Paweł Bućko 1C Pretty stock standard youth intake for this sort of level. All of our featured players will have to be re-trained. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 March 2041 A good month, and we're out of the automatic relegation zone for now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 April 2041 An excellent draw against Racing Luxembourg before a win over Union Mertert sees us hold our position in the relegation playoff spot. Our last game is against 14th placed URB, so a draw will keep us out of the automatic spots, and a win might guarantee safety. It's certainly an intense start in Luxembourg! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 It took us extra time, but we've survived, and in turn achieving the highest ever finish for the club. It's only going to get better from here I think. Best XI Laurent Bartholomey - Charalabos Mangos - Michel Almeida I haven't really spent enoiugh time at the club to know the players real well, but it appears like we have a very young core, except the keeper. Record Breakers Previously Managed Teams Zalgiris Vilnius (LTU): Currently winning their league, and got knocked out in the first knockout round of the Europa League by Inter. Wexford (IRL): Also winning the league, haven't gutted the team yet, and were knocked out of the Conference League in the 2nd knockout round to Zeljeznicar of Bosnia. It looks like Ireland will jump up to 9th in the coefficient ranking as well, further consolidating their automatic CL spot. Progress Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 Preseason 2041 An excellent preseason, especially against the foreign teams (first and last friendlies). Transfers (In) This was our big splurge, we pretty much have a new look first XI now. Not predicted dead last, which is an improvement from last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 August 2041 We get off to a good start, but we did only play against newly promoted teams. Still, it's good to know we can beat them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 September 2041 Our excellent start continues, including a nightmare early cup tie against Dudelange that we somehow won. We're still yet to face the big dogs though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 October 2041 Somehow, we are still undefeated, including an away draw against the league leaders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 November 2041 Our undefeated start to the league finally ends at the hands of top team Progres Niederkorn, but we're still in a great position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 December 2041 A few more losses, including one in the cup, and we've fallen out of the top 4. Another good preview, but I think that's to be expected given the quality of players we have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 January 2042 An unbeaten month, and it looks like 2nd-5th will be fighting it out for the remaining European places. Transfers (In) We bring in a CB and a striker. Transfers (Out) We lose 2 young WBs which is annoying. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 February 2042 We managed to beat Petange, which helps us stay 4th a little more comfortably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 2042 Youth Intake Tom M'Vila 2A* - Gabriele Innocenti 2B* - Noah Diederich 2C I like the look of this intake a lot. The way the registration rules work means that none of these guys can feature until next season, but there's definitely a few there that can push for the first team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) March 2042 Our next league game against Dudelange will probably decide whether we are in Europe or not. Our first upgrades have been made! Edited June 20, 2021 by shaunvamos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 April 2042 Scheduling friendlies in between league games seems to have worked, as we flogged both Dudelange and Differdange. European qualification is in our hands now, with our final game at home to 15th placed Rodange. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Took care of Rodange, and we're in the Conference League for next season. Best XI Laurent Bartholomey - Ephrem Martial - Jamal Mensah 1A* Bartholemey was an absolute beast up front, and his scoring efforts were enough to top the league charts. The immediate emergence of Mensah has been fun to watch as well, considering at the beginning of this season he couldn't even play LWB. Record Breakers Previously Managed Teams Zalgiris Vilnius (LTU): Won the 2041 league, and finished last in their Champions League group with 4 points, a win and draw over AZ. Unfortunately they were also drawn with Atletico and PSG so no luck there. Wexford (IRL): Also won the 2041 league, but only managed one point in their CL group containing Man Utd, Inter and Rangers. Ireland have also moved up to 9th in the coefficient rankings, so further insurance if there's some poor performances. Progress Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Preseason 2042 We had a dream run in our inaugural Europa Conference League appearance, beating teams from Belarus and Armenia before Austrian side Rheindorf ended our hopes. But it was a great debut, and has me hopeful for the season ahead as we once more have a new look team. Transfers (In) I love the Belgian lower leagues. There's plenty of decent players to choose from (for our level) and they almost always come for free. That being said, we have a limit of 9 foreign players, and the nations treated as non-foreign are France and Portugal. So we may have to look more towards the French players. But this new look team are going to be a force this season, they're already so much better than we were at the same time last year. Predicted 9th, but I'm looking for top 3 again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 August 2042 An excellent start to the league, even if the 7-0 win was against the team predicted last. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) September 2042 We were disappointing against Union Mertert, but we made up for it in our next 2 games. Our next game is the first real test though, against 7 time defending champions Progres. Edited June 20, 2021 by shaunvamos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Ocotber 2042 Well, we did the job against Progres before getting pasted by Titus and then losing again to Kaerjeng. We're still in 3rd, but we've already lost ground o the top 2. We now have the joint best JC and YR in Luxembourg. We'll have the outright best real soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunvamos Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 November 2042 An unbeaten month, but we haven't made any ground on the top 2 as they also go unbeaten. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiftyBeforeThirty Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) Only really started reading through this yesterday, but if I said that I'd read through it all, I still don't think it would emphasise how much I enjoy this career! Luxembourg seems a tough nut to crack right now, but hopefully you'll find the goalscoring form of last month! KUTGW! Edit: You did find the form, nice one! Edited June 20, 2021 by FiftyBeforeThirty Synchronised posts Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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