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[FM11] It started with a Droylsden dream [ FM 2011 - Journeyman career ]

GioGio85

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GioGio85

GioGio85

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Do any of you guys know how to resolve the following bug?:

When I left Bristol Rovers and joined Dordrecht, for some reason when I go to the 'Training' menu and look at the assignments that my coaches have been given ALL of my coaches from Bristol Rovers are visible.

This is good for my trainign schedules butit really bugs me!

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GioGio85

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It sounds irritating but you can easily get round it by not giving the Bristol Rovers coaches any assignments.

Yeah that's what I am going to start doing, it's just annoying. Litters up my coaching screen

Very bizarre bug! Not something I've come across before admittedly. If you click on the coaches do they show up as still at Bristol Rovers, or with you at Dordrecht?

Yeah it's odd, not had it at any other squad. If you click on the coach they show up as coming from their actual squad eg. Jay Boothroyd is Bristol Rovers assistant manager and he shows up as such....just he still has the magical ability of being able to train my squad....in some ways quite good, but I don't like it.

Oh well could be worse.

I've been offered a fair few jobs this season including the Sunderland & Millwall jobs in the Championship, the Granada job in Liga A and Gremio in Brazil. All rejected at the moment as I want too achieve something in Holland.

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2023/24 – FC Dordrecht (Eredivisie)

After promotion in my 1st year at the club I assessed my squad and quickly realised that my team needed a lot of work.

I signed up most my main players from the previous season on extended contracts but a lot of the 2nd rate players whose contracts were up had left the club, including one of last seasons key performers, Fernando Gonzalez (DL). Haris Medunjanin (MC) also retired on a high and joined my backroom staff.

This meant I had no strength in depth at all. I now had to try and put a team together that would be capable of staying in the Eredivisie.

This would initially prove difficult for a few reasons.

Throughout my career I normally rely heavily on strengthening my squad with loan signings.

Now that I was at the top level of Dutch football, teams had less sympathy with me and therefore asked me to pay loan fees and full wages. On my limited budget of 300k this was generally a no go. I did however decide to pay 24k for Torsten Lange, a versatile 20 yr old Belgium midfielder from Aston Villa. Young German striker, Dennis Fuchs also joined on loan for nothing due to my link up with 1860 Munich.

Hans Lindh joined me (again) on a free from Bristol Rovers as at that point I was desperate for versatile cover...and Lindh was exactly that.

I also lacked any real money to get go out and buy the quality players that I required.

I took the decision to sell my main striker from last season to bring in some money to spend on the rest of the squad. Marco Versteeg went off to Burnley for 1.7m (a club record), but sadly we only go 1.1m of that due to a clause with his former club.

I spent this extra dosh on a number of players.

In defence, Guillame Martel was a talented and versatile young French defender who joined on a free after his release from Lyon. 18 year old Joe Kennedy came over from Australia for 95k. Despite much fuss, Joe became my captain.

My midfield was the strongest part of my team and I hoped/prayed that Lasse Sollie would step it up from his ordinary performances last year round. Just in case he didn’t, I brought in 2 players. 1 of these players was 1 I knew already in flamboyant midfielder Jukka Makela who I paid Bristol Rovers 55k for. I also spent 28k to bring Portuguese defensive midfielder from Cyprus.

Upfront, strong by injury prone foward Dann Cooper Mbiyavanga (I renamed him Coops to aid my memory) joined to replace Versteeg up front for 4k.

My main signing was winger/forward Adrian Risso. He cost me 450k from Hadjuk, the most by far that I have ever spent, but his pure ability was enough for me to think that we had a future star who should be able to get me the goals required.

As the season started I was happy with the business I had done, but was still wary that any injuries to my best players would see me struggle due to my lack of squad depth/quality.

Season review

After a fairly successful preseason I went into the campaign feeling confident. I lost my opening game away against VVV and then drew my 2nd game, again away against NAC Breda. I played well in both and hoped that this promise would reap rewards later.

It did and I won my next 2 home games, including a 5-1 smash up of FC Utrect.

After an injury to Coops I then struggled to score goals and win game, although my relatively tight defence saw us became draw specialists. I won to game after this run to pull us up to a comfortable midtable spot.

From the 26 November to the 24 January I failed to win a game and I began to flirt with the idea of relegation again, by falling to 14th. The team was playing well but was susceptible to losing in the last 10 minutes.

However a major shift in form, brought about by Russo finding his feet consistently and Coops returning to the 1st team after injury, saw us go on a extraordinary run where we lost 5 games for the rest of the season and won most of the others. Highpoints include wins against PSV and AZ Alkmaar and a creditable draw away to Ajax.

My form saw me finis the year in 7th spot, meaning I was now due to enter the playoffs for a European place. I drew the team that finish 4th in AZ Alkmaar. After trying to keep it tight in the away leg I failed miserably and ended up losing 4-0, this result was a tad unfair but meant that barring a miracle I wasn’t going to see European football next season at the GN Bouw. This proved to be the case, as I went gung ho and went down to 2 goals within 10minutes. Fortunately my team spared my blushes by rescuing a deserved 2-2 draw.

Season summary

An amazing season from a young and talented team and we achieved a record high position for the club.

We played really good football throughout and barring a wobble from November to January we competed against almost every team. The tough work starts now, as the vultures at the bigger clubs are circling my talented players and a lot of them have clauses which means they could be snapped up fairly cheap...hopefully no one will notice :s

A season that also saw me reach 600 games in management and I amnow starting to get interest from some big(ish) clubs.

Final position – 7th (European playoff)

Player of the year – Adrian Risso (AML/SC)

Best player I have ever managed at club level. Risso could beat a man for fun and despite his finishing attributes not being the best, he banged in 15 goals. Key performer as shown by his club record 9 man of the match awards in the campaign. Won the Eredivisie Golden Boot award but sadly has a 1m release clause though that has attracted a lot of interest.

Other key players include:

- Coops (SC)

Missed a large chunk of the season due to injuries but when he played he offered us a threat that none of my other out and out strikers could offer. Held the ball up well and chipped in with 7 goals in 14 starts.

- Carlos Sampaio (DMC)

Had a slow start to life in Holland. He struggled to adapt despite a good debut and I had to send him home for 2 weeks in order to cue his home sickness. Fortunately this worked and when he returned he became a solid and consistent performer. Wants to move to a bigger club....we shall see although he has a relatively low release clause.

- Lasse Sollie (MC)

Really stepped up this year. Potential here to surpass Joe Kennedy as captain. I only didn’t pick Lasse as captain in the 1st place as I wasn’t sure he would start every game. In the end he became one of the 1st names on the team sheet. Scored important goals, 6 in all.

- Boris Eric (DC)

Bosnian defender surpassed all expectations and was as solid as a rock all season. Barely missed a game and scored 6 goals. Would love to keep him.

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GioGio85

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I have also resigned as manager of Nigeria after getting a tad bored of the international scene in Africa. FC Dordrecht will be the focus of my attentions for the time being.

My career so far:

2010/11 (Unemployed) - N/A

2010/11 (Droylsden) - 13th in Blue Square North.

2011/12 (Droylsden) - 9th in Blue Square North.

2012/13 (Droylsden) - 1st in Blue Square North (Champions)

2013/14 (Droylsden) - 17th in Blue Square Bet Premier and FA Trophy winners.

2014/15 (Droylsden) - 7th in Blue Square Bet Premier.

2015/16 (Grimsby Town) - 1st in Blue Square Bet Premier (Champions)

2016/17 (Grimsby Town) - 10th in npower League 2.

2017/18 (Grimsby Town) - 17th in npower League 2 (upon leaving the club in December 2017)

2018/19 (Rotherham United) - 24th in League 2 (upon leaving the club after 7 games)

2018/19 (Oldham Athletic) - 2nd in Blue Square Bet Premier (Promoted via the playoffs)

2019/20 (Hartlepool United) - 13th in npower League 2.

2020/21 (Bristol Rovers) - 1st in npower League 2 (Champions)

2021/22 (Bristol Rovers) - 2nd in npower League 1 (promoted as runners up)

2022/23 (Bristol Rovers) - 24th in npower Championship (upon leaving the club in October 2022)

2022/23 (FC Dordrecht) - 1st in Eerste Divisie (Champions)

2023/24 (FC Dordrecht) - 7th in Eredivisie

2024/25 - In progress....

International

2023 (Nigeria) - Afican Cup winners

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GioGio85

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Great top-division debut, Gio! I'm definitely with you on dropping the International management, it's something to do later in your career when your club is almost too easy to win with.

Thanks Snake. I quite enjoy the Competitions themselves, but qualifying and meaningless friendlies interrupt my club calendar and it is irritatingme at the moment. I think I will go back into the international arena when/if I am at a big club, as you say.

I see that Senegal won this years Afican Nations Cup.

Congrats on a nice season. Best of luck in 2024/25.

After a good start I seem to have hit the skids. Not long to go, should be able to update today with any luck.

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2024/25 – FC Dordrecht (Eredivisie)

After a very satisfactory 1st season in the Eredivisie, I wanted to ensure that it wasn’t a fluke by establishing the club once again in the division.

My squad last year did well but I was lucky that the players I considered my best all performed well when required and we avoided major injuries to all except my main striker Coops.

Unlike the previous season I didn’t see the need to overhaul my entire squad. I did bring in a few names to help us out though.

In defence I signed a young French right back called Jean-Claude Gordieu. For the left back spot I signed a young Belgium on loan from Aston Villa named Ralf Fluttmann for 35k.

My centre back spots were now taken up by Boris Eric and Joe Kennedy after I had to sell French youngster Guillame Martel to Feyenoord for 2m. The fans did not like this but I needed to raise some cash to strengthen the club after the board only offered me 300k again.

In midfield I signed 2 Italians. Defensive midfielder Domenico Zelletta joined us after his release by David Moyes at Inter Milan (thanks again David!) and Christian Signorielli, a lightning quick right sided winger/striker also signed after his release from Italian club Crotone.

Upfront I spent 90k of my transfer budget on bringing 21 year old Spaniard Raul t the club. He was quick and had an eye for goal and I felt he was a step up on last years out and out strikers.

I was looking to equal or improve upon last years final position and do better in the cup after going out in the 3rd round last season.

However if this couldn’t be done survival again would suffice.

Season review

Despite losing my opening game away to Ajax (I’ll have a tougher start next year please) I actually had a fairly decent start for once. I sat 4th after 6 games having won 4 of them.

Without a main goalscorer, my whole team was chipping in with goals and although Raul and Signorelli started slowly they still both contributed with 5 goals each at the winter break. At this point I sat 7th.

The disappointment for me at this point of the season was the form of both midfielder (and new captain) Lasse Sollie and last season Golden boot winner, Adrian Risso. Both players had underperformed and Risso in particular was missing chances (including penalties) that he reliable buried last season.

We managed to recruit 4 new players to help us push on in the 2nd half of the season. Parent clubs Roma and 1860 Munich helped us out by sending us 2 players on loan, both central midfielders of the names Flippi Casadio and Robert Westerveld. I considered both great additions to the squad.

As part of my desire to integrate some more Dutch players into our squad, I also signed a new striker named Frank Deckers for 7k and a new goalkeeper called Bert Van Plus for 85k.

Despite a bit of respite in December and January with the winter break, my team started very sluggishly and despite an incredible 2-0 away cup quarter finals win against AZ Alkmaar, we undid all the good work we did in the 1st half of the season by going on a run of 8 games without a win in the league.

Fortunately we came out of this nose dive with a great 2-0 win versus Helmond. Our change in form was highlighted by our triumphant 3-0 home win against in-form Feyenoord in the Dutch cup semi final. We had to face Eerste Divisie team FC Den Bosch in the final but sadly Risso’s place was in doubt after breaking his arm in the Feyenoord game.

After the semi final win we didn’t lose in the league for the rest of the season and a revitalised Raul even managed to bang in all the goals of a 4-0 victory versus bottom club Telstar.

Unfortunately we hit a massive injury crisis in the 2 league games before the Cup final. Raul, left winger Mahela and right winger Signorielli picked up injuries and with Risso still returning from injury I was worried about who I would field in attack in the final.

Fortunately for the Den Bosch game I was able to play a heavily injected Raul up front alongside a now fit again Risso. Experienced winger Ozer Topuz had to take the right wing spot from Signorielli.

The 1st half of the final was appalling and we went in at the break deservedly 1-0 down. Fortunately Den Bosch got a man sent off and we took full advantage. The decision to inject Raul’s twisted ankle paid off as he grabbed the equaliser before Italian Casadio came off the bench to blast in a spectacular winner. We went home as Cup winners.

Riding high after the final we won our final league game to equal last seasons finis of 7th place.

The board were delighted but my future at the club was put in doubt after a transfer embargo was placed upon us after talks about a takeover had begun. The future owner had speculated that should he takeover he would reassess the management. Interesting times.

Season summary

The board were delighted with the league position and cup win but with the future of the clubs' ownership yet to be decided it means I have to see if they still think I am the man to take them foward.

I have one yearleft on my contract and I had hoped to see my contract out at least before moving on.

Final position – 7th and Dutch Cup winner

Player of the year – Raul (SC)

Striker started fairly slowly but after the winter break he came on in leaps and bounds and started banging in the goals. His pace threatened all teams and once he got going he proved hard to stop. Worth 90k of anyone’s money.

Other key players included:

- Christian Signorielli (AMR / SC)

Like Raul he started slowly but he became invaluable as his pace and eye for goal helped us out towards the latter part of the season.

- Adrian Risso (AML / SC)

Didnt live up to the heights of last season but his form started to come good just before being hit by a broken arm. Managed to pick up but I would be hoping for more next season.

- Joe Kennedy (DRC)

Relieved of the captaincy in the summer and restored to his favoured centre back spot after Martel’s departure to Feyenoord. He played much better than the previous year and added goals to his game.

- Boris Eric (DC)

Mr consistent for the 3rd season in a row. Linked with bigger clubs.

- Robert Westerveld (MC)

Strong Dutch central midfielder loaned to me from 1860 Munich. He was performed well throughout his loan tenure and his goals helped us out during our injury crisis’s. Hope to sign him next year (if I’m there!)

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Fortunatly the board saw sense and have decided after talking to those at the club that I can keep my job. How lovely of them.

They gave us 5m to spend on players and after generating 5.25m myself by selling centre back Kennedy (2.5m to Leicester) and right winger Signorielli (1.9m to Rapid Wien) I really am in a position to strengthen the club.

Disappointing that the board decided to pull out of their plans to improve the youth set up but they had a change of heart after I asked them again, they also improved my wage budget. Heres hoping for a brighter future at Dordrecht!

Also, my rep has changed to 'Continetal'...probably due to my 1st season of European participation.

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GioGio85

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Nice one, looks like Dordrecht are going places!

Hopefully up!

Fantastic on winning the Dutch Cup your first top flight trophy !!!

What reputation does that cup have ?

Yes very happy to win the cup. Beat the likes of Feyenoord,Ajex and AZ to get there. The final itself was against lowly opposition in Den Bosch who were playing in the Eerste Divisie, but they certainly gave us a game.

Not sure what rep the cup has,how do you find out?

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I've signed quite a few good footballers this transfer window (including 3 strikers) and I have started using the same formation as the previous 3 season in Holland.

I'm trying to work out if I should move away from the fluid 4-5-1 formation that had done me well so far in Holland or move to a formation that allows me to play 2 strikers? I dont think I will be able to win the league in the long run playing just 1 striker :s

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Not a bad shout that Snake, I may have a look and see if any of them can be retrained.

I have a feeling that they wont be though. They all have potential to be really good out and out strikers. I wouldnt want to force them to play a new position just to fit in with my formation and ruin their careers etc.

One of the strikers i signed is one that I had a Bristol Rovers, Cem Yucel. He is currently a striker/attacking mid, so he may be able to change.

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***Winter transfer window update (2025/26)***

2026 new years resolution

As I entered the January transfer window I decided to change my tactical approach and moved back to a 4-4-2 formation. I signed 2 left wingers on loan from Liverpool and Roma to enable me to do this as Risso (AML/SC) just wouldnt perform in this position.

The idea is that this tactical change will allow me to score more goals as at the moment my team has always had a very good defence (3rd best in the league) but has scored about half as many goals as the other big teams in the division.

International job news

Despite leaving the hotseat in Nigeria and saying I was bored of international football, I got itchy feet and I have now accepted the job as Uruguay manager.

I hope this this will help me improve my reputation further by showing my skills on the biggest stage in 6 months time; the World Cup :)

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I found the same when using a narrow 4-3-1-2, the defence is great, but the other teams can shut you out so easily.

That's exactly it. Despite winning more than I lost, games were often very tight. It was highly unusual that I would win by more than 2 goals. My change in tactics seems to have sorted that out in the short term at least :)

My AML Adrian Risso just hasnt performed for 2 years now at the same level as in his first season where he got 15 league goals. He was one of the main reasons I stuck with the 4-5-1 formation.

Since he isnt performing its a good oppurtunity to change the personnel in the squad to fit with the tactics I want to employ long term.

Only started reading this as I'm currently Droylsden, and you've done really well to get this far. KUTGW!

Yes I have been following your career too, keep up the good work.

I had a really good time at Droylsden, just had to leave as I wanted to move up the leagues quicker than I thought it woudl take to do it with Droylsden (don't know if this worked out in the end as I ended up stuck in league 2 for a while!)

It's working out now, doing well in Holland at the moment. 1 year left on my contract so I think I will leave Dordrecht at the end of next season unless I think I have a chance at the title.

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Hopefully up!

Yes very happy to win the cup. Beat the likes of Feyenoord,Ajex and AZ to get there. The final itself was against lowly opposition in Den Bosch who were playing in the Eerste Divisie, but they certainly gave us a game.

Not sure what rep the cup has,how do you find out?

World - Competitions.

On my mine, the dutch cup reputation is the same as the English League Cup, but lower then the Championship, i would check it out because on mine winning the Eredivisie would be compared to winning the Second Divison in England, Germany, Italy or Spain.

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World - Competitions.

On my mine, the dutch cup reputation is the same as the English League Cup, but lower then the Championship, i would check it out because on mine winning the Eredivisie would be compared to winning the Second Divison in England, Germany, Italy or Spain.

I have never had a good look at this screen before, interesting read it is!

The Eresdivisie is higher than the Championship in my save with the former being 3 and half stars and the latter being 3. However the Dutch Cup and England League Cup are both the same rating.

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Pre-season preview 2025 /26 - FC Dordrecht (Eredivise)

I've decided to change the way I update. I will now do a pre-season description of how the squad has changed over the summer and provide a summary of how I think we will do in the forthcoming season. I will then follow this up with a shorter season summary and provide a more descriptive overview of all cups and leagues played in.

By the way, thanks for all the other posters on these message boards whose writing style has have helped shape my current method of posting (don't want to be accused of plagerism :))

Last season was my best in a long time, having achieved both a great league position and my 1st major cup win. I now wanted to push on and improve on my league position.

The club was subject of a takeover early in the summer and the new board, after deciding to keep me on, were more content than the previous regime to give me some cash. For once I had some real dosh to invest, to the tune of 5m.

Transfers

I brought in 2.5m by selling centre back Joe Kennedy , 1.9m for selling Christian Signoriello, 675k for Carlos Sampaio and 40k for Coops. With the coffers now bulging, I decided to invest in the team.

I was happy with both Yenga and van der Plas in goal but everywhere else I felt we needed strengthening. I managed to get Ralf Flottman in on loan again from Villa after a solid season at left back last year. With Joe Kennedy gone, I decided to replace him by signing the strong Ivorian, Francis Toure for 3.3m from San Lorenzo. This was the biggest transfer I have made to date, so the pressure is on for Toure to justify his price tag...and my faith in him.

In midfield, I strengthened by immediately sealing a permanent deal for Robert Westerveld after an immensely successful loan deal for the second part of last season. He joined for the bargain price of 160k from 1860 Munchen. With the right wing position now vacant after Signoriello’s departure to Rapd Wien, I decided to bring in 2 South Americans. 25 year old Brazilian Natal joined for 400k from Hadjuk and Argentine Fernando Bustos also signed to compete for the right wing spot.

The remaining players to come in were all strikers. 2 promising young players joined to compete up front. I paid 300k to bring Brian Larsen from OB and 1.4m to Twente to pinch Dutch under 21star Erwin de Kroot. I also went down memory lane to sign Cem Yucel from former charges Bristol Rovers. I am hoping he can play at this higher level.

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2025/26 - FC Dordrecht (Eredivisie)

After finishing 7th last season and winning my first top level cup competition I wanted to push on in the league and hoped to savour my first taste of European football.

Super Cup - Winners

A great first game of the season saw 2 goals from Raul as we overcome a very strong Ajax team with a 2-1 victory. Gave me confidence for the season ahead.

Eredivisie – 6th place

After a promising start, which started with me beating Feyenoord away, I established myself in the top 7. My form remained good until a blip just before the winter break.

This blip meant that I was 6 points clear of the title chasing pack in 6th place, but equally 6 points clear of Euro playoff chasing competitors. I started after the winter break in excellent form and soon increased the gap between me and 7th place. Sadly the top teams kept winning and despite closing the gap on 5th place PSV it became pretty obvious that I would have to settle for 6th.

I entered the playoffs confident that my only real challenger would be 5th place PSV. I never had to play them thanks to the in form Utecht. I beat Cambur 3-1 over both legs of the first round of the Euro playoffs. Utrecht stood in the way of us and European football next season. We drew 1-1 away in the first leg and then finished them off 5-2 at home in the home leg.

European football would be back at De Bouw next season.

Dutch cup – Out in 3rd round

After an amazing campaign in the cup last season meant that the board expected me to at least hit the quarter finals. Sadly I blew it in my first game by losing 2-1 to Erste Divisie club Sparta. Very disappointing.

Euopa league – Out after finishing 4th in group stage

My first taste of European football :). Sadly it didn’t go exactly to plan.

After successfully getting through to the group stages after a very creditable away win in Austria versus Sturm Gratz (after a 1st leg 1-1 draw) I then won only 1 of my 6 group games in what I considered a tough group. Marseille, Trabzonspor and Braga proved just too much.

I tried to remain positive and look at my European campaign as an experience to learn from.

_________________________________

Player review

Player of the season – Boris Eric (DC)

He has been good every year but this season he truly excelled, banging in an immense 11 goals along the way. He wanted to move to a bigger club but I had no plans to sell him and after appealing to his better nature and signing him up to a new 5 year deal.

Other key players included:

- Robert Westerveld (MC)

Truly inspiring stuff. After successfully learning to blast in freekicks this man became the Gerard/Lampard of my midfield. His goals (15) and assists (15) dragged the team to it’s highest ever league finish.Won Eredivisie Golden boot award.

- Raul (SC)

Started electrifyingly with 2 goals to beat Ajax and then going on a run that saw him get 19 goals in all competitions.

_________________________________

Season summary

Another good solid season,improving on last years league position and moving to a more attacking brand of footie. Both cups proved to be a disappointment but the future still looks bright provided we get some investment.

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My 1st team squad is good but Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar and FC Twente are way ahead of me in terms of player quality, finances and facilities. I would say Dominico Zelletta, Boris Eric, Robert Westerveld and at a push Raul and Francis Toure would be good enough for these teams.

I'm bitterly disappointed by the new owners as after giving me 5m to spend in their 1st summer, increasing the % of transfer money I get to keep from sales and promising to improve the youth facilities they seem to have had a massive U-turn in their ambition. They have reverted back to only giving me 60% of the dosh I earn by selling players, scrapped plans (twice) to redeveop the youth setup and are now only giving me 300k to spend this summer.

Not impressed. Tempted to look for a new job sooner than this summer as initially planned.

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E.Gray

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My 1st team squad is good but Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar and FC Twente are way ahead of me in terms of player quality, finances and facilities. I would say Dominico Zelletta, Boris Eric, Robert Westerveld and at a push Raul and Francis Toure would be good enough for these teams.

I'm bitterly disappointed by the new owners as after giving me 5m to spend in their 1st summer, increasing the % of transfer money I get to keep from sales and promising to improve the youth facilities they seem to have had a massive U-turn in their ambition. They have reverted back to only giving me 60% of the dosh I earn by selling players, scrapped plans (twice) to redeveop the youth setup and are now only giving me 300k to spend this summer.

Not impressed. Tempted to look for a new job sooner than this summer as initially planned.

I would move if i was you, the Dutch league isn't that highly regarded alongside the fact that your board are taking the **** and are not backing you enough in a league that is dominated by a couple of massive clubs.

With the dutch cup on your cv, a well supported 2nd division team should be very possible.

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Funny you should say that as I have half taken your advice :).

The AZ Alkmaar manager decided to leave his position as manager 10 days before the start of the Eresdivisie season and the press immediately linked me with the job. As I was disappointed the actions of the FC Dordrecht board I decided to express interest in the AZ job.

The Dordrecht board didn't like this and but stated in the press that they expected me to continue to act professionally. I then decided to go against this friendly advice by applying for the AZ Alkmaar manager job.

The chairman was not happy and gave me an ultimatum; leave the club of my own accord or face the sack, I opted for the former.

After 2 days of stress where I thought I had made the wrong decision, the AZ Alkmaar board came knocking and offered me the AZ Alkmaar job on a 3 year contract on 17k a year (11k more :)) deal .

My asistant manager Mark Pugh, coach Haris Medunjanin and my fitness coach all left the club along with me..nice to have such a loyal bunch.

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E.Gray

E.Gray

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Personally think you've made a big step in the right direction, As you said AZ are far bigger club and by all accounts in FM 10 they produced some decent dutch youngsters.

The way that your former club treated you was pretty disgusting, considering all that you had done.... oh well just sit back and watch them slide down the table. :)

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GioGio85

GioGio85

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Pre-season preview 2026/27 – AZ Alkmaar (Eredivisie)

After taking over at AZ Alkmaar I can tell straight away that I have stepped up a level in my managerial career.

AZ are a very competitive team with the money, facilities and top quality players already in place. Having looked at the clubs recent successes I realised that they had underperformed given the talent and amenities they had.

In recent years the club won the Dutch cup 3 years ago in 2023 after being beaten finalists in2013 but their last league win was in the 2012/13 season - 14 years ago.

The club hadn’t had any real continental success to talk of either, only reaching the Champions Cup proper on 3 occasions since 2012. The best the team had done in the Euro Cup was hit the quarter finals 2 seasons ago.

The board expected me to rectify the recent dry spell by winning both the Dutch league and cup and reaching the quarter finals of the Euro Cup.

A daunting task but one that I look forward to. It is the first time in my career that I am under any real pressure to produce silverware and I am interested to see how I will do.

Players and transfers

When I took over late this summer the squad was massive. The strength in depth was at excessive amounts and players were sitting in the reserves on tens of thousands of pounds. Not on my watch. I put those I didn’t fancy on the transfer list and managed to rake in about 14m.

The board were happy to give this all to me (take note FC Dordrecht) and this was added to my initial 5m.

The former manager had already decided to blow 17m on players before he left, with about 4 of them being left wingers.

I could really do with a 1st team left back and possibly a right back, but other than that I am happy with my squad. It’s more down to getting a balanced squad and removing those that don’t fit in, rather than adding a load of new players.

Best players, as far as I can see this early, are:

- Rene Schuster (DC)

- Triston Nedelec (MC)

- Anderson (AMR)

- Leandro (SC)

- Maurizio De Gennero (SC)

Football being football, guess who I have to play on my first game as AZ boss J

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