ITFC_Blue

Thanks, admittedly I did break that to sign a keeper for £2.4m, the opportunity was too good to turn down. He's that unreal, he helped on my way to finally winning the Super League, however it hasn't gone on our records (presume because we are a guest club) and Basel went down as Champions. Also, further to my last messages, we did also make the Champions League, with the finances being unreal for the club.

Yes, I have utilised the free market well, however I was lucky I sold a player who I signed for free - Henrique Perreira - to Sporting Lisbon for £16.5m. The finances have been great so I have been able to invest in the squad really well (my transfer budget for this season was £12m, however I've set myself a limit of £2m for each transfer, as I want the save to be realistic still). I still have £9m in the budget, although I was able to sell another £3m worth of players! Ha, Town fan yourself?!

That's great stuff. I'm currently in season 5 with FC Vaduz, and still haven't got to that point (have won the Cup every year so far). Just finished in 3rd, little bit disappointed as when the League split, I was top but lost 3 games in a row (YB twice and Basel) so that put paid to that.

Bloody love these kind of stories, KUTGW Makoto!

This is my first attempt at writing a story, so I'm trying to get my bearings with posting pictures etc. But having been a long time reader of this section of the forum, I thought it was about time I started my own story. I will try and write this with a 'personal touch' to it as well, detailing certain aspects as I go along. So let's start, for the purpose of the story my name is JC, born in 1992 and this is my journey from professional footballer to manager of FC Vaduz in Lichtenstein. 29 years of age, and here I am the manager of FC Vaduz in Lichtenstein, but how did I get to this point? I started with my hometown team, Ipswich Town and made my debut aged 17. After 3 relatively successful seasons (58 appearances, 8 goals, 9 assists), I made a relatively decent move (£1.2m rising to £2.8m with add ons) to Newcastle United. That move proved somewhat to be a disaster other than 1 relatively decent 18 month loan (across 2 spells) with Hamburger SV in Germany. A permanent move to Hamburg never materialised and beginning to fall out of love with the game, I terminated my contract with Newcastle in 2015 with 2 years remaining on my contract. I then signed a 1 year contract with Hearts in Scotland, and after an unsuccessful season with them in which my season was curtailed due to injury in January of 2016, I was yearning for home. Come the summer of 2016, and I was back home with Ipswich Town on a 3 year contract. At first I was massively excited about the move, I really did feel at home again. After a very good first season where I had a good run of games (38 games, 10 goals and 9 assists) from central midfield, I was excited to go in to season 2. But something had changed, and I literally just do not know what. I began to hate going in to training, my performances when called upon had dipped massively when in February 2017 Mick McCarthy pulled me to one side and said I should take a month away from the place. He could see I wasn't right and he went on to say he'd back me in the media and he'd tell them that I was injured. I returned a month later and had began to feel okay. Mick pulled me out of the firing line again and told me to come back for pre-season in July and hopefully my head would be in a better place. I did that and began the following season like a house on fire, 12 games, 7 goals and 7 assists. But in the back of my mind was always the nagging feeling that I wasn't actually enjoying this anymore and come January 2018, after much consideration my family, friends and partner, I decided to call time on my career at the age of 25. I had always wanted to move in to coaching, and I took a year out of the game to travel the globe and pick the brains at many clubs (I spent a lot of time with the City Group at their clubs across the globe as well as Red Bull). With all the knowledge I had consumed, I returned to Ipswich in May 2019 as assistant manager of the under 18s. Ipswich is well renowned for its Academy, we take massive pride in it and after a hugely successful first season, I was the promoted to assistant manager of the under 23's. However I knew that my pathway to the first team was somewhat blocked and began to look for Manager jobs at the back end of 2020. That then leads me to FC Vaduz. I was made aware there was a vacancy available through an agent friend, and after much deliberation with my family and partner, I decided to apply. What's the worst that could happen, right? Having somehow blagged myself an interview (I'm being a bit harsh on myself there, I sent a detailed CV with plenty of references), I was offered a 2 year contract to begin my work in Lichtenstein. I could not wait, little old me, JC, an actually football manager. Having returned home for a couple of weeks, I set about trying to put together a backroom staff that I wanted to follow out with me, and I hope to name them in due course. The club have almost given me free reign. I have been tasked with building the club, not necessarily copying, but along the lines of Ajax & RB Salzburg. Player trading will be a big part, but not also forgetting that we hope to build the club, and nation as we go. I moved to Vaduz on my own at the first, my partner staying behind. She's doing the homework in terms of finding a property (the club are helping her with that) whilst I'm staying in a hotel. I'm all in on this project, and plan to buy a property, rather than rent. I'm also taking German lessons 4 times a week (sometimes 2 lessons a day) so I can communicate better with my players and the local community. Next up, hopefully a backroom team in place and some pre-season fixtures. Please bear with me whilst I get used to adding photos etc. Thanks, JC