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[FM12]My Journey into Wilderness - A Tetradecagon Career


Guest Darius Basu

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Guest Darius Basu

The Republic of Ireland lost yet again. Ugly scenes outside the Aviva Stadium erupted with a number of fans wanting the current manager out. 49,700 had been in there and had witnessed one of their most dismal performances yet. Connor O'Halloran stood some distance away in the car park with a group of friends as they watched the scene. Banners reading "Trappattoni out, Irishman in" were being hung everywhere from cars to the top of buildings. Some of it was written on Irish flags and these were hoisted aloft. Andy Keane, one of O'Halloran's friends asked him if Republic of Ireland would ever produce a manager capable of winning the World Cup. Astonishingly he replied, "Sure, why not? I am Irish and I for one believe I can win it". His friends asked in a chorus, "The Sunday League World Cup?". He was not happy with this and he headed straight home from the stadium. They did not know what was to come yet though. O'Halloran packed some of his clothes and by 22:00 GMT the following day, he was at Dublin Airport. Where was he going? A job at a third-tier Scandinavian club or just to visit someone in London? Well, he did not come back. So, it was understood that he had taken up a challenge to win the World Cup, being an Irishman and to become the most successful manager of all time.

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The team has potential, if you compare the facilities, wages, etc with the other teams in your division. It was a team I almost managed in FM2013 in one of my saves.

You are 8 points from promotion. You probably just need some adjustment to your tactics to score a bit more.

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[FM12] My journey into wilderness

The previous save failed, my reputation dropped, and no club was willing to take me. So, Connor O'Halloran returns to try and win the world cup and becomes manager at Algard in the Norwegian Second Division Group 3. Unfortunately, I started the game in 2012 and not 2011 so 1 season is lost.

Transfers.

A long pre-season from January all the way till April. Went as expected and I am pleased with how the team played. The draw against Brann also was more than deserved and we could easily have won there.

Board expectations- Top-half

Media expectations - 4th.

So, not a bad club by any means. My expectations would be to challenge for promotion and get out of this division as soon as we can

Squad

Goalkeepers and defenders

Midfield and forward line

Not the greatest of squads but I still have hopes to challenge for promotion.

Here's some info about the club and the facilities.

April & May Update

League table | Finances | Fixtures

A very good start indeed in the league. We went top but the draw in our only fixture in June saw us drop to 2nd on GD. +13 to +9.

Norwegian Cup - Board expectations matched. A good win against Asane but the defeat to Brann was always expected. It did break our record attendance. It wasn't really a bad performance. Hope you can make that out from the screenshot.

The finances are a big concern as we are rapidly losing money. I shall do all I can to try and reduce the wage bill. The rest is for the board to look into.

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End of Season update

Norwegian Second Division Group 3 | Fixtures (June to Oct) | Fixtures (Remaining) | Position Graph

New contract signed and I would like to see it out (unless sacked of course). My original plan indeed was to stay for 3 yrs.

Norwegian Cup - Second round. Lost 1-0 at home to Brann.

Finances

A miserable season finance-wise but as per other performances, I am happy. Promotion would have been too much of an ask for the team and the board were very happy.

Board confidence



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| Season | Team | League | Country | League Position | Notes |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012 | Algard | Second Division Group 3 | Norway | 6th | Respectable league position |

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Guest Darius Basu

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2013 season

Mid-season update - League table

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Fixtures | Pre-season

Well, the league performance speaks for itself. 5 out of 5 and then only 2 more wins in the next 9. Losing crucial games to Vindbjart and Lov-ham and stupid defeats to Nest-Sotra and Os and we have work to do if we're to get anywhere near promotion. A big blow is key left-back Daniel Gronning deciding to leave along with Vindbjert, our right-back as they are two of the best players and also the most consistent at the club along with centreback Rogvi Baldvinsson, the Faroese international. Now for the reason I returned to this thread - FM14 crashed in normal mode on 30 September and the Classic mode was no fun really. The low full-back ratings for no reason and refusal of players to renew contracts annoyed me to the extent of returning to FM12.

Norwegian Cup

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Now this was something. A brilliant run as we knocked out a few sides from higher leagues before falling to Brann and I think there was some foul play as the media gave us no chance of a win but we had 51% possession but as if to ensure the prediction was right, we were allowed to have only 4 shots and none on target. Nevertheless, it was a good experience for the players in front of 14,327 at the stadium. Soon, I got these 2 messages -

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Big news indeed as the bank balance had been as low as £762,000, quite a large sum for a third tier team.

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2013 season

Final league table

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Fixtures(Remaining) | Finances

Season review

The league season can overall be described as good. We could've won the league easily but those defeats early in the season and the failure to beat Nest-Sotra(twice), the loss to Vard and the draw with Randaberg when we conceded twice in the 85th and 86th after being 3-1 up would be looked upon as turning points of the season. A final day win over Notodden did secure 2nd place for us courtesy of superior GD. Finance-wise, we are back to the normal ways with £260,000+ in debt. Odd Grenland were relegated from the Tippeligaen, hence the relegation of their 2nd team and Forde luckily survive. 11 players released on the 31st of December, with Paul Oyuga retiring. Hopefully, there will be enough in the budget to help us win the league next time out.

Aims for next season

Win the league and if possible, see out the contract.

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Avenge the games against Nest-Sotra.

Dispatch Vard in the same way that they dispatched us.

Go for another good money-spinning cup run.


| Season | Team | League | Country | League Position | Notes |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 2nd | A good cup run and a good league season |
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2014 season

Mid-season update - League table

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Fixtures | Pre-season | Transfers | Finances

So, lets start with pre-season and transfers. Nothing much to speak of about the off-season as we had only 5 friendlies, all in March and April with January and February given to the squad for training. Results were really as expected although the draw with Skarphedin might count as an exception. Some important transfers did happen though. Tom Erik Maldal, Jonas Volstad Fjeldsbo and Rune Hagen all left along with the expected departures of Daniel Gronning and Kenneth Bjergsted. Jonas Hoidahl is a quality keeper who joins from near neighbours Bryne and so is Johnny Kristiansen. That was a position we were weak in so to have two great players there certainly helps. Lasse Holm is a backup attacking midfielder who joins on a free. Simon Larsen and the on-loan Henrik Orpetveit strengthen the CM position. Thomas Mork, player-manager at a lower division club Rival joins and can play left or centre in midfield and attacking midfield. Fernando de Ornelas was a good player for the right wing but soon after joining, he retired in February!!!. Per Rudi comes in as 3rd choice goalie with Emil Randulff being a 19 yr old defender with plenty of potential.

Now for the competitive fixtures. The league season started well for, well, the third season in a row with 3 straight wins but the loss to Adeccoligaen club Sandefjord seemed to knock the stuffing out of the club as we started an inconsistent run. The five game unbeaten run was good but we should be able to beat newly promoted clubs and so to draw against Stryn was really poor indeed. Vard then ended our run with a somewhat incredible 4-0 victory. Financially we are 500,000+ pounds in debt and the cup run failure might make us pay if promotion does not come this season.

Squad

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Yes, you read it right. England out in the group stage and in another group, Uruguay lost all their matches.

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I don't really think there was too much of a surprise in the final stages but honestly, I never thought Belgium would hit 3 past the Dutch.

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Youth Candidates 2014

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These were the best of the bunch. However, I signed all just to make up the numbers in U-19 and reserve teams

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2014 season

League table

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Fixtures

The squad was a little weak, yes, but I do think we could have done better than that. Whenever we got close to the top, we lost a crucial match with Vindbjart and Fana taking full advantage. As if the loss to Vindbjart wasn't bad enough, we lost our very next match to the newly promoted boys by 5. A four game unbeaten run at the end of the season almost saw us sneak into 3rd but it would have been unfair on Vard. 18 yr old Stale Horpestad won our fans' player of the year after replacing de Ornelas on the right wing, which was not even his natural position. No complaints over his display and in 24 games, he had a rating of 7.07 with 5 league goals too. The title fight meanwhile went down to the wire. Vindbjart had a poor run and Fana took over top spot on GD with 2 to play having 54 points each. They, however, lost the last 2 as Vindbjart won both to secure promotion to the Adeccoligaen. All this whie, I also got a bit involved with internationals.

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Well, the U-19s job at China was available and with Asian U-19 Ch'ship coming up in November, I applied and Jose Antonio Camacho decided I was good enough for the post.

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The group we were put into was a tough one and Qatar and Iran would have been technically better than us but we stuck to our task very well. A loss to Iran was nothing to be ashamed about and we did our best and thankfully, Iran went on to hammer Qatar U-19s 5-0 as we did our job drawing against Qatar and comfortably beating Brunei. In the quarter-finals, we got a tough draw against South Korea but again fought well to take it to penalties and Korea showed us whose heads were cooler and who was mentally better. After this, the China U-21s post was vacated and my application was accepted by Camacho who allowed me a promotion.

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It means that my stay as U-19s manager was just three months, i.e, November to February. First game as U-21 manager was against Indonesia and we really could have done better than drawing 1-1.

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And here's my assistant's team report.

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An optimistic team report that, compiled by Jose Carcelen.

A few things I'd like to show is what on earth is going on at Crystal Palace.

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Successive relegations before a promotion and then this happens. Have a look at the relegation zone of the League 1 table.

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That's their present state this season. They have been changing quite a few managers and currently have none. Dougie Freedman sacked upon relegation from the Championship. Gareth Southgate took them to the League 1 relegation zone and was sacked in February only to be replaced by......... who else but Freedman again!!! Relegation to League 2 and he gets a 2-year contract and after another relegation follows promotion, they decided to sack him again.


| Season | Team | League | Country | League Position | Notes |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 2nd | A good cup run and a good league season |
| 2014 | Algard/China U-19s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 4th | Asian U-19 Ch'ship quarter-finalists |

*Joined China U-19s in Nov. 2013 and left for China U-21s in Feb. 2014.
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This is a quite long update as I got carried away with playing and wasn't really bothered to post.

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2015 season

League table

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Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

I haven't bothered to put anything about transfers because there was hardly any and those who came in were poor. First half of the season, the team was great. Right upto August and then it all blew off. One of the worst run of form I've seen as we lost to weak teams, strong teams, etc. I could hold you in suspense as to what happened but I'll rather put the messages straight up.

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China U-21s

This was a good job and I enjoyed it but then I saw that there were no international tournaments to see, I had to look for alternative employment. One standout result did arrive from my spell in China.

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I say standout as Estonia at the time were 63rd with China ranked 100th. So, it was a bit of an upset. And then came the job I wanted.

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Again though, the manager had been sacked and with the EUROS coming up, we had no fixtures until a friendly with Iceland in March which I had arranged. The defence was ruthlessly dismantled by Kolbeinn Sigthorsson as we lost 3-1 despite equalising once. Then came an offer which I did not want to refuse.

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Tipped to win the Danish 2nd division west, they were sitting in 13th place with 20 points from 16. 11 points off top spot. The squad was good but 2,500 pounds over the wage budget of 3,000 leaving no room for improvement.

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The team improved though as was expected although it wasn't enough in the end. It started with 3 good wins before lacklustre performances in the next 4 games, especially in the defeat to Varde and the draw with Middelfart. Then, we won 5 of 6 to get close to the top 3 before somehow contriving to lose to Marienlyst on the final day allowing them to jump over us. LFA lost their last game to gift the title to Blokhus while Hobro, who were top when I joined slipped dangerously close to the relegation zone before survivng.

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Fixtures

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| Season | Team | League | Country | League Position | Notes |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 2nd | A good cup run and a good league season |
| 2014 | Algard/China U-19s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 4th | Asian U-19 Ch'ship quarter-finalists |
| 2015 | Algard/China U-21s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 8th | Resigned from both for Albania |
| 2015/16 | Thisted/Albania | 2.division vest | Denmark | 6th | Improved league position |

*Joined China U-19s in Nov. 2013 and left for China U-21s in Feb. 2014.
** Joined Thisted with 16 played and 14 more to play.
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Good luck with this, FM12 is definitely my favourite FM and I like the aim! I was the Irish manager in the mid 2030s on FM12 when I was with Shamrock Rovers, but they were terrible at producing players.

Same with me, FM12 is my favourite and and it sure seems a lot better than FM14 to me. You must have got a bit unlucky with Shamrock as normally, producing players seems easier than other versions on FM12.

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First came the Olympics 2016. I had applied for U23 manager roles at Belarus, Cameroon and st the Coast even before joining Albania and now, all three returned with offers. Belarus I rejected but it was a tough choice between Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Finally, I chose Ivory Coast and we were placed in a group containing Argentina, Australia and Switzerland. To speed it up, I shall not not post screenshots, just the results. Over-23 selected were Seydou Doumbia, Cheick Tiote and Lacina Traore.

Australia 1-2 Ivory Coast

This was a tough one although Australia were behind us in world rankings. We took the lead but they came back at us and equalised in the 2nd half before Seydou Doumbia sealed it for us in front of over 75,000 at Sao Luis.

Ivory Coast 0-2 Argentina

This was the big one against a strong Argentine team boasting a few great regens and Sergio Romero and Lionel Messi. They scored a 3rd minute goal through Victor Santos and we couldn't really do enough as Romero and the Argentine backline thwarted us while Messi added a late goal to ensure we lost. Australia beat the Swiss 2-0 to move above us on GD.

Ivory Coast 2-1 Switzerland

This was a tense one, mind you. We scored twice to make it 2-0 but Argentina went 2-1 down to the Aussies. Switzerland put us into 3rd on GD with a goal from the spot but in the 81st minute, Lionel Messi equalised for Argentina to ensure that we went through in 2nd place.

Second round

Ghana 5-1 Ivory Coast

Don't ask me about this. I simply don't know what went wrong as we crumbled under the precise passing of Andre Ayew and the finishing of his younger brother Jordan with at least one of them having a hand in each of the 5 goals. Cheick Tiote scored what wasn't even a consolation although, in truth, it was a close game.

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2016/17 season

Transfers

Most first teamers left so they had to be replaced. Some came in while others got a promotion. Media prediction was 2nd but we finished 3rd although, 13 adrift of the champions.

League table

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Fixtures part 1

For the first part of the season, the team was poor although I must take some blame. I did not give my assistant the duties of friendlies and I was a bit busy with the Olympics. And then came the winter break.

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It does get cold in Denmark and that 5 month break rejuvenated the team to a large extent and we might well have run Holstebro close had the first part been better.

Fixtures part 2

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During November, Haiti offered me the chance of competitive international football when I applied for the job in the form of the Carribean Cup.

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However, our national pool was horrible with only 1 real player who turned out to be the captain.

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The Carribean Cup was even worse considering we were holders. Third Stage was the last before the quarters and would you believe our results? I doubt it.

Surinam 1-0 Haiti

Haiti 0-4 Curacao

Grenada 1-1 Haiti

Granted, we were unlucky but still.... I resigned after just 26 days in the job.

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First to the crap part of the update. Connor O'Halloran wasn't enjoying his time in Scandinavia any more. He made up his mind to return to his homeland after Thisted's current season but then the opportunity opened up in spectacular fashion. His new signings at Thisted FC worked miserably and the team was sitting 12th after these fixtures:-

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A terrible run of form and O'Halloran's gone.

His friends thought it was the end of his management career when they were stunned to see him at their local pub ahead of Denmark's scheduled winter break. But he knew that his career was not over yet. He landed the Bolivia job just days later but after a few friendlies, he found the post vacant at two African nations - Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso. The Burkinabe team had the better players and also an easy qualification group for the African Cup of Nations 2019 in Tunisia. In the end, it was a no-brainer really and the world's 47th ranked team gladly accepted his application and appointed him national team manager. The qualification group was easy enough with the only blot of ink coming in a 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone. No goals conceded though and Connor O'Halloran knew that he was finally going to a major tournament with some chance although probably not as good as the Olympics chance with Ivory Coast.

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All this while, O'Halloran got the chance to stay at home with recently relegated Finn Harps taking a chance on him. Again, signings failed and the results just never came in a marathon season of 48 games + cups. Although the board did not judge him, as per his own judgement, he was not doing a great job and Finn Harps fans were probably not very surprised when they saw their manager resign at the end of the season.

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Fixtures part 1 | Fixtures part 2 Fixtures part 3 | Transfers in and out


| Season | Team | League | Country | League Position | Notes |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 2nd | A good cup run and a good league season |
| 2014 | Algard/China U-19s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 4th | Asian U-19 Ch'ship quarter-finalists |
| 2015 | Algard/China U-21s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 8th | Resigned from both for Albania |
| 2015/16 | Thisted/Albania | 2.division vest | Denmark | 6th | Improved league position |
| 2016/17 | Thisted | 2.division vest | 3rd | Olympics qtrs with Ivory Coast |
| 2017/18 | Thisted | 2.division vest | 12th#| #Resigned after a few games |
| 2018 | Finn Harps/Burkina Faso | Airtrictity First Division | Total failure after coming in. Resigned |

*Joined China U-19s in Nov. 2013 and left for China U-21s in Feb. 2014.
** Joined Thisted with 16 played and 14 more to play.
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Burkina Faso

African Cup of Nations 2019 - Tunisia

Ivory Coast 0-1 Burkina Faso

What a start! The Ivorians were in the top 15 in the world rankings and what did they do? A no. of shots but just one shot on target probably just to test whether Burkinabe back-up keeper 19yr old Harouna Fofana was awake or not.

Burkina Faso 1-0 Morocco

Easy work of another tough opponent as we went top of the group.

South Africa 2-0 Burkina Faso

We ran out of luck in this but Ivory Coast's draw with South Africa had already sealed qualification for us. It was 0-0 till the 2nd half and we had more possession but their quality shone through.

Burkina Faso 3-1 Guinea(a.e.t.)

This game was one that was like watching champions in the making. Guinea kept on putting us off but we kept peppering their goal with shots and finally, scored twice in extra time to seal a semi-final birth.

South Africa 1-2 Burkina Faso

We might have lost to them in the groups but this time we played much better scoring twice before half-time with our lone striker also missing a couple of great chances. However, South Africa fought back to their credit and it was one-way traffic in the 2nd half but we conceded just 1 and hung for a final place against who else but Ghana.

Ghana 1-1(2-4 pens.) Burkina Faso

The team defended really well to take it into extra time and Sidiki Sawadogo scored in the 94th but Ghana equalized 4 mins later to make it 1-1 with penalties inevitable. We scored all 4 but Ghana missed the 3rd penalty. Emmanuel Karikari stepped up and sent the ball over the bar to send the Burkinabe fans into raptures and spark wild celebrations. O'Halloran also being told in the post-match conference that he was being coveted by a number of clubs.

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Best players

3. Ibrahima Diallo - The 20 yr old from Universidad de Chile was a rock at the back and formed a defensive partnership with Bakary Kone which was key to our success.

2. Bakary Kone - Lyon's Bakary Kone was an immense presence and often put his body in the way of shots. We nearly crumbled against South Africa in the semis in the 2nd half as his presence was sorely missed through suspension.

1. =690/4582/1111473729/azfd.jpg/y"]Harouna Fofana - The young goalie wasn't first choice and was not in the best of countries for plying his trade anyway(Burkina Faso). He made a slight error of judgement in the group game against S.A. when he let a cross slip through into the net but in the knockout stages he was outstanding. No surprise he's since been linked with a move to Cyprus(APOEL)/Frankfurt.


| Season | Team | League | Country | League Position | Notes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 6th | Respectable league position
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 2nd | A good cup run and a good league season
| 2014 | Algard/China U-19s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 4th | Asian U-19 Ch'ship quarter-finalists |
| 2015 | Algard/China U-21s | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | 8th | Resigned from both for Albania |
| 2015/16 | Thisted/Albania | 2.division vest | Denmark | 6th | Improved league position |
| 2016/17 | Thisted | 2.division vest | 3rd | Olympics qtrs with Ivory Coast |
| 2017/18 | Thisted | 2.division vest | 12th#| #Resigned after a few games |
| 2018 | Finn Harps/Burkina Faso | Airtrictity First Division | Total failure after coming in. Resigned |
| 2019 | Burkina Faso | N/A | Africa(Continent) | N/A | Cup of Nations Winner |

*Joined China U-19s in Nov. 2013 and left for China U-21s in Feb. 2014.
** Joined Thisted with 16 played and 14 more to play.

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First signs of club interest:-

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And then an offer came which I couldn't refuse.

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So, I can exchange African heat for the lovely coastal region of southern Italy in the town of Reggio di Calabria.

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Stadio Oreste Granillo

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After winning the African Cup of Nations, I must say that I shall attempt a tetradecagon career save with this very one if I can. Well, why not?

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A look at what's going on in Europe

Barclays Premier League


|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Champions | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2011/12 | Man City | Man Utd | Chelsea |
| 2012/13 | Man Utd | Chelsea | Liverpool |
| 2013/14 | Chelsea | Man Utd | Tottenham |
| 2014/15 | Man City | Liverpool | Chelsea |
| 2015/16 | Man City | Chelsea | Liverpool |
| 2016/17 | Man City | Chelsea | Man Utd |
| 2017/18 | Man City | Man Utd | Chelsea |
| 2018/19 | Man City | Man Utd | Chelsea |
| 2019/20 | Man City | Man Utd | Chelsea |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Spanish Liga BBVA

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|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Champions | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2011/12 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | Athletic Bilbao |
| 2012/13 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Atletico Madrid |
| 2013/14 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Villareal |
| 2014/15 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | Valencia |
| 2015/16 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Atletico Madrid |
| 2016/17 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Villareal |
| 2017/18 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Villareal |
| 2018/19 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Villareal |
| 2019/20 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | Valencia |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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German Budesliga

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|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Champions | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2011/12 | Bayern Munich | Borussia Dortmund | VfL Wolfsburg |
| 2012/13 | Bayern Munich | Schalke | Bayer Leverkusen |
| 2013/14 | Bayer Leverkusen | Bayern Munich | 1.FC Kaiserslautern |
| 2014/15 | Hannover 96 | Bayern Munich | Bayer Leverkusen |
| 2015/16 | Bayern Munich | Bayer Leverkusen | Borussia Dortmund |
| 2016/17 | Bayern Munich | Bayer Leverkusen | Borussia Dortmund |
| 2017/18 | Bayern Munich | Bayer Leverkusen | Borussia Dortmund |
| 2018/19 | Bayer Leverkusen | Bayern Munich | Hertha Berlin |
| 2019/20 | Bayer Leverkusen | Eintracht Frankfurt | Bayern Munich |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
[/Code]

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Guest Darius Basu
Great acheivement with Burkina Faso. Tasty budget at Reggina!

Thanks. Yes, the budget was a great one and I utilized it to bring a few good ones. Unfortunately, the finances were "INSECURE" so I had to limit my spending despite the budget.

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Seems to me that my career code has been getting a bit dirty. So, here's a revamped one :-


|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| CLUB CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Club | League | Country | Continent | Position | Achievements/Notes |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 2nd | A good cup run |
| 2014 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 4th | None |
| 2015 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 8th | Resigned with 4 to go |
| 2015/16 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 6th | Took over mid season |
| 2016/17 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 3rd | None |
| 2017/18 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 12th | Resigned after 8 games |
| 2018 | Finn Harps | Airtricity Premier Division | Ireland | Europe | 9th | Took over after few played. Resigned. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| INTERNATIONAL CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Year | Country | Continent | Achievements |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014 | China U-19 | Asia | Asian U19 Ch'ship quarter-finals |
| 2015 | China U-21 | Asia | None |
| 2015 | Albania | Europe | None |
| 2016 | Ivory Coast U-23 | Africa | Olympics 2016 quarter-finals |
| 2016 | Haiti | North America | Failed to qualify from final group |
| 2017 | Bolivia | South America | None |
| 2018 | Burkina Faso | Africa | Qualified for Cup of Nations 2019 |
| 2019 | Burkina Faso | Africa | African Cup of Nations winners |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
[/Code]

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Reggina

Mid-season report

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3 relegations and three promotions in the last 6 years obviously means that the club must be stabilized. And the first team report was not really impressive.

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Transfers

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Some good transfers there although I had to stop myself from spending the entire amount with the club about £2,000,000 in debt. Juan Cano looks a bargain at £1,100,000 and so does David Marsura.

League table

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Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

An absolutely spectacular first half of the season. Winning most of the games and losing just 3 is no mean feat for a team tipped for 11th. The squad performed when required although there were a few disappointments such as in the defeats to Padova who were top of the table then and also to promotion contenders Brescia. Pescara was a once in a while thing and so was the defeat to Juve Stabia. Other than those blips, the team has been absolutely fine with Juan Cano and striker Yiadom Boakye being particularly impressive.

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520px-Reggina_Calcio.svg.png

Reggina

League table

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Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

I don't know exactly what went wrong there. After 4 consecutive wins after the winter break, we were all of 12 points clear and it did go up to 13 points over the 2nd placed team. Somehow though, the team contrived to go on one of the worst runs of form that I have ever experienced since FM11. There's nothing much left to say that this was disappointing enough to force me to resign from the club and look for opportunities elsewhere.

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A couple of good records broken by the club.

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|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| CLUB CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Club | League | Country | Continent | Position | Achievements/Notes |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 2nd | A good cup run |
| 2014 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 4th | None |
| 2015 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 8th | Resigned with 4 to go |
| 2015/16 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 6th | Took over mid season |
| 2016/17 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 3rd | None |
| 2017/18 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 12th | Resigned after 8 games |
| 2018 | Finn Harps | Airtricity Premier Division | Ireland | Europe | 9th | Took over after few played. Resigned. |
| 2019/20 | Reggina | Serie B Eurobet | Italy | Europe | 4th | Lost in play-offs |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| INTERNATIONAL CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Year | Country | Continent | Achievements |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014 | China U-19 | Asia | Asian U19 Ch'ship quarter-finals |
| 2015 | China U-21 | Asia | None |
| 2015 | Albania | Europe | None |
| 2016 | Ivory Coast U-23 | Africa | Olympics 2016 quarter-finals |
| 2016 | Haiti | North America | Failed to qualify from final group |
| 2017 | Bolivia | South America | None |
| 2018 | Burkina Faso | Africa | Qualified for Cup of Nations 2019 |
| 2019 | Burkina Faso | Africa | African Cup of Nations winners |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
[/Code]

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Guest Darius Basu

All this while, some drama was going on on the international stage. A merry-go-round of sorts.

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Nothing much to say about this really. Canada had a poor Gold Cup campaign with the country being knocked out in the quarters by fierce rivals USA. Th regen manager David Gazzola was under huge pressure and after I declared my interest, they simply resorted to appoint me. 2019 didn't go too well after that though.

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2020 finally saw some competitive matches as we played in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers.

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Thankfully, the Guatemala defeat happened in the qualifiers and not in the world cup quals.

A big job opportunity did open up at a club in the form of Norway's Lillestrom.

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And that's quite a budget too. But with jobs also becoming available in Mexico and Australia, I delayed for a week to see if anyone else was interested in me. Unfortunately, no one was. So, more continental glory will have to wait but hopefully there will be something domestically.

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Well, that's how the table looked at the time when I joined. The team were closer than anyone could think to the relegation zone and with a poor run of results. I steadied the ship there and there were quite a few good wins - Against Genk, Bodo-Glimt and Olympiakos especially. The final table meant we couldn't have another shot at the Europa League which we exited at the group stage.

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Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

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They certainly look good. And so does this:-

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Guest Darius Basu

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Lillestrøm/Canada

2020 was not really the most productive year for the club and when losses were announced, I was not really surprised. At least, the budget is there to make a better fist of it this season with 7.75M to spend. A title challenge would be expected with it although the board are content with continental football in the form of the Europa League. I feel these are low expectations and at the very least, we should qualify for the Champions League as runners-up. I did not tell the board about this just to keep the pressure down on myself and also as added protection from another Reggina-esque collapse.

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Improvements meanwhile, are being made and we are probably expected to end up with a worse balance next time. The stadium was expanded by about 2800-odd seats just to bring it a bit closer to the likes of Valerenga, Brann and Rosenborg. Improvement work has been done on youth facilities while the training facilities will be upgraded by April 2022. We will however, have to anything possible to increase the revenue and I shall try to persuade the board to build a new stadium. Rosenborg have a stadium that regularly gets an average of 26,000 and they generate revenues of upto £40,000,000 a year compared to us getting about 1/3 of it or £12,000,000 a year.

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Transfers

Transfers in | Transfers out

A busy summer indeed but really, we have to match Rosenborg some day. Silkeborg, Follo and Mjallby AIF are all feeder clubs and had players sent to them who were mainly rotting in the 2nd team or those who needed first-team experience. For transfers in, there are not too many high quality players in reality. Trond Gjerde, a young left back came from Aalesund but fans were furious when he announced his intention to use Lillestrøm as a 'stepping stone' towards becoming a great footballer. Fans were furious and to calm them down, I had to send the lad away on loan. Stian Merde probably comes in for more than what he's worth but he has great potential and so is Jesper Jensen who joins after a pre-contract agreement. Both are CMs but Merde can also play in central defense. Sakir Bas provides much needed solidity to that DC area and is a great spot by Turkish coach Gokhan Keskin. Robin Kunene played Adeccoligaen football for Bryne and joins us for just over a million. He's already really good and can actually develop further. Robert Ottoson comes in as 2nd choice striker to New Zealand's Nick Wild.

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lillestrom-sk_t.png150px-Canadian_Soccer_Association_logo.svg.png

Lillestrøm/Canada

Mid-Season update - League table

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League fixtures | Cup fixtures

It's been really comfortable in the cup with a rather favourable draw so far but next we face Brann who haven't lost in the league yet this season. We might be top of the league but there's no way one can write of Rosenborg or Brann. We for one, have not lost since the defeat by Rosenborg and as the fixtures progress, the team has gone from strength to strength. Jonas Solheim who has often played as striker due to Wild's injuries has now broken a record. Robin Kunene and Sakir Bas have come good amongst the new signings and I have high hopes for the duo.

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Fixtures before Gold Cup.

Nothing really of note there other than a well-earned draw against Mexico in World Cup qualifiers. FC Edmonton was just a warm-up gae for the Gold Cup, nothing else.

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We breezed through an easy group containing Panama, T&T and Costa Rica. Gold Cup rules meant each group has a consecutive three days period so it must have been exhausting for players to play 3 in a row. Honduras were a different challenge and gave it a good fight before losing out. On to the semis against........Mexico! Tough one this.

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We did it!! What a game! We went 2 in front and hung on before Mexico gave us a nervous 2nd half but the SI caption really says it all.

So, it all comes down to this.

CONCACAF Gold Cup Final 2019

Canada vs USA

Attendance: 20,000 at the Gilette Stadium, Foxboro(MA)

Half-time: Canada 0-0 USA

Full-time: Canada 0-0 USA

92nd minute: Ricardo de la Torre scores! Canada 0-1 USA

101st minute: Marcus Haber equalizes for Canada. Canada 1-1 USA. Penalties looming?

End of extra time: Canada 1-1 USA

Canada USA

Russell Teibert scores Tim Ammann scores

Matt Stinson scores Luis Mercado misses!

Nick Lewis scores Jozy Altidore misses!

Robert Leggett..................scores! And Canada have won the Gold Cup in USA! What an achievement.

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That's 2 out of 14 done for the tetradecagon!!! Hope there's more to come yet.

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A time for another international merry-go-round. Its World Cup year in 2022 and teams were always going to fire managers after any poor performances. I had made up my mind to leave Canada only if an Asian nation came calling. So, these two offers came and I knew well enough where I was going:-

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For some reason, Canada wanted me back even after resigning so they came back with another offer which I politely declined.

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One more offer did come though and it was Asian Nations Cup holders Iran and I decided it was my best chance to win the Asian Nations Cup as Iran had a better squad than Australia and was more likely to compete with the likes of S. Korea and Japan.

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Meanwhile, Lillestrom exited the Norwegian Cup in the quarters and had to wait for their turn in the league. All covered in the later update.

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lillestrom-sk_t.png

Lillestrøm/Iran

Season 2021 - Final league table

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Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

What a season. When I took over, the club were rightly down in the dumps and quite close to the relegation zone. The team has since improved to 7th by the end of the previous season and this time around, we are 7 clear at the top. To say it was that easy would be an exaggeration as Rosenborg were quite close but got just 1 point from their final three games. Some of the new signings, especially Sakir Bas and Robin Kunene have been outstanding this season while players like Alexander Groven(LB) and Getachew Hassan Langano(M/AM - L/C] have been extraordinarily successful in the entire season.

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Not really sure why comments from David Williams keep appearing as he has been sent only on loan and seems to send some valuable advice from his 2.divisjon club.

Our RB Uche Temile has however spoiled the fun and so has Nick Wild as both have been making noises about moving to bigger clubs. I know for certain that they shall be rotting on someone's bench but I'll let them have their way. Connor O'Halloran, meanwhile, has risen to No.3 in the Irish nationality rankings although I am no where near in Norway. One final goal I'd like to achieve before leaving Norway would be to reach the CL/EL last 16 with Lillestrom.

A few awards, meanwhile, can be put up for display.

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No doubt the first two awards are understandable but I don't know what Profile of the Year means. Would somebody care to explain?


|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| CLUB CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Club | League | Country | Continent | Position | Achievements/Notes |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 2nd | A good cup run |
| 2014 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 4th | None |
| 2015 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 8th | Resigned with 4 to go |
| 2015/16 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 6th | Took over mid season |
| 2016/17 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 3rd | None |
| 2017/18 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 12th | Resigned after 8 games |
| 2018 | Finn Harps | Airtricity Premier Division | Ireland | Europe | 9th | Took over after few played. Resigned. |
| 2019/20 | Reggina | Serie B Eurobet | Italy | Europe | 4th | Lost in play-offs |
| 2020 | Lillestrom | Norwegian Tippeligaen | Norway | Europe | 7th | Joined mid-season |
| 2021 | Lillestrom | Norwegian Tippeligaen | Norway | Europe | 1st | Tippeligaen winners! |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| INTERNATIONAL CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Year | Country | Continent | Achievements |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014 | China U-19 | Asia | Asian U19 Ch'ship quarter-finals |
| 2015 | China U-21 | Asia | None |
| 2015 | Albania | Europe | None |
| 2016 | Ivory Coast U-23 | Africa | Olympics 2016 quarter-finals |
| 2016 | Haiti | North America | Failed to qualify from final group |
| 2017 | Bolivia | South America | None |
| 2018 | Burkina Faso | Africa | Qualified for Cup of Nations 2019 |
| 2019 | Burkina Faso | Africa | African Cup of Nations winners |
| 2020 | Canada | North America | None |
| 2021 | Canada | North America | Gold Cup winners! |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Guest Darius Basu

Just a quick update here - Sorry to disappoint you but there's unlikely to be any updates before the end of march when my annual exams finish. Thanks for bearing with this delay.

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Lillestrom

2022

Pre-season in Norway is long but for us, it was limited to just 4 friendlies as I had to pay more attention to build the team properly. Relatively easy matches saw 3 wins and a surprising draw with FC Hjorring. Nothing really to speak of there.

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Transfers in

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Some youngsters coming in there (Maldal, Holmen Johansen and Larsen). The trio are for the future and not really up to the mark for the present. Russian centre-back Maxim Demenko is young but has got enough to be a first-team regular with potential for improvement. Gokhan Bozkurt comes in as first choice right-back after the departure of Uche Temile to Heerenveen.

Transfers out

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Lots of activity going on with players wanting first team football while those like Nick Wild and Uche Temile decided that Lillestrom wasn't the best club they'd ever play for. Wild departs for Stuttgart and Temile for Heerenveen. Sebastian Remme Berge was only the 4th or 5th choice for DM/CM position and he had to be let go. Tarjei Omenas and Milos Crnogorac weren't able to become the no.1 and were shelled out to give them more playing time. 3 players leave on loan for Follo, 1 for Silkeborg and another for Mjallby AIF. The troublesome Trond Gjerde goes on loan to Viking this time.

Lillestrom manager headed for Estadio Azteca!

Lillestrom manager Connor O'Halloran has declared his interest in taking over America after manager Ignacio Ambriz left to manage Mexico. O'Halloran is a heavy favourite to take over following this public show of interest although he is considered a real favourite with the Kanarifugla fans. The board had given him an ultimatum but he apologised to stay. However, America were interestingly allowed to approach him. Compensation has been agreed and he shall be taking over in Mexico City immediately.

He has spoken about how he fell out with the Lillestrom board where he had requests rejected for a new stadium, improved training facilities, more transfer revenue and another for a parent club to not get the extra income but to have some good players available on loan. On his arrival in Mexico for talks, he also spoke of his reasons to leave Norway. According to him, the board were the main reason behind it but he would have stayed as fans' favourite. However America's interest and the chance to achieve continental glory turned his head. He went to the extent of saying that he was sad the fans ditched him and that he would probably return to Lillestrom some day just to get his preferred target of reaching the UEFA Champions League last 16 with them.

O'Halloran has already had a change of job this year after moving from Iran to Argentina on the international stage at the end of the World Cup. He is thought to have applied for posts with Germany, England and Argentina but it was the Argentine FA who showed any interest in taking him.

Unorthodox way of doing so but I had failed to take a screenshot.

Table after 15 games (at time of resigning)

1. Rosenborg - 30 points

2. Lillestrom - 30 points

3. Brann - 28 points

4. Valerenga - 27 points

5. Stromsgodset - 27 points

6. Tromso - 26 points

7. Aalesund - 24 points.

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Guest Darius Basu

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Club America

2022/23 season

Just to get everyone updated, I must do a summary of this season without screenshots. As mentioned, I joined America in July with just days to go for the season to start. The league always looked pretty comfortable but we completely lost our way after getting 25 of the first 27 available. Universidad de Guadalajara, bottom on the avg. points table at that time defeated us 2-0 at their ground and from their it just seemed to go downhill. There were further defeats to Monterrey(0-1) and fierce rivals Chivas(1-2) before the end of the group stage. Going into the final two games of the league stage, we still had the chance to finish 1st and get the best draw. We nearly blew it by only drawing with city rivals Pumas(2-2 away) but travelled to Tigres for the final game being just a point behind them. Again we seemed to bottle it as we only managed another 1-1 draw.

Pachuca finished 7th but were always going to be no mugs. A 1-1 home draw would have sent us through being the higher seed (higher finishing position) but the team contrived to blow it in the away leg as we lost 4-3.

So, a poor first half-season in Mexico but we would surely win our Champions League group, wouldn't we? After all we had drawn Chicago Fire, Diriangen and Arabe Unido - The last two being completely unknown to me. We beat Diriangen 4-0 away and 2-1 at home, Chicago 5-1 at home and 1-0 away. Surely we must top the group even after a 0-0 draw at Arabe Unido. But no, in front of over 80,000 people at the 105,000 capacity Azteca, we lost 3-1 to only manage a woeful 2nd behind Unido.

This, then, was our first half of the season.

The second half of the season was an opportunity for many to show their true class alonwith a few new signings such as Alejandro Ramirez and Jesus Fransisco Monroy. Again with won 6 and drew 1 but lost our momentum by losing for a 2nd time at Universidad de Guadalajara(2-3). There was a dissapointing home loss to Cruz Azul(0-1) and at Pumas(2-3). To make it worse, the loss to Pumas meant that we again finished 2nd in the league, this time to Pumas themselves. To make it worse, we drew CD Guadalajara or Chivas. A 1-1 away draw and a 4-2 home win sealed our passage to the play-off semis instead of our great rivals. Pachuca turned up again, this time in the semis but we won 3-2 away and 4-2 at home to march into the final without great difficulty. Cruz Azul stood tall in our way, beating us 2-0 at their ground. Although we won 2-1 at home, it just wasn't enough and we finished the season without winning either stage.

The North American Champions League also gave us a hard draw for finishing 2nd in the league as we got city rivals Pumas de la UNAM. After a 1-0 home win, we went there hoping to keep it tight but we were just ripped to shreds there as we lost 5-0 (YES, 5-0!!!). That was the season for us - trophy-less, poor performances and everything that was done seemed to be riddled with mistakes from tactics to performances.

Connor O'Halloran sacked as America manager

The Mexican Football Chronicle

The America board have released a statement stating that manager Connor O'Halloran has been released from his contract and thus been relieved of his first-team duties. The news will be a shock both to the fans and their popular manager for whom they continually showed support, including bringing Irish flags into the stadium. The board's statement made no mention of the work he has done and instead seemed to directly criticize him for choking up the team on the big occasions by saying "performances on the big occasions were unacceptable such as Pumas and Cruz Azul". O'Halloran will continue to manage Argentina for the upcoming Copa America although it is understood that he is more or less likely to step down after the tournament whether they win it or not.

Well, be honest and say you expected nothing else than that sacking after that season.

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Guest Darius Basu

Need to do a few quick reviews here. Internet's been unavailable for nearly a month and there's around 2 and a half seasons of updates to get everything back on track here.

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Copa America 2023

I mentioned in one of the earlier posts that I had joined Argentina and this was the reason for it. The team I inherited was good containing a no. of good regens including Bayern Munich striker Hernan Garcia. Some of them like Javier Pastore and Erik Lamela were also in their prime. After friendlies against Belgium(H), Morocco(A), Venezuela(H) and Bolivia(H) came the big tournament in Uruguay.

The group stage was a real scrap as we beat Peru and Colombia by 1-0 scorelines before drawing the final game against Mexico(1-1). We went through as group leaders alongwith Mexico(5 points) and Colombia(4). Much of this hinged on misfiring strkiers with Garcia scoring none and Real Madrid's Pablo Gomez scoring just the single goal.

Next up in the quarters were Bolivia and it was an easy 3-0 win thanks to goals from both our star strikers and defender Jorge Mendoza. Uruguay were a stern test in the semi-finals. We went ahead in the 35th only for Uruguay to equalise 5 mins after HT. Hernan Garcia's 88th minute winner sparked celebrations amongst Argentines in what was a stadium with a capacity of 2,500 PEOPLE.

Mexico stunned Brazil on penalties(0-0 after ET) in the other semi-final and Brazil would suffer more woe as they lost the third-place play-off to Uruguay on penalties after a 1-1 draw. They were however never in the final as we had 27 shots to 5 with goals from Gomez in the 12th minute and Paolo Miranda in the 77th secured the Copa America for Argentina and this, thus, becomes my 3rd title of the tetradecagon challenge.

Cue wild celebrations!

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This triumph meant clubs were aware of my talents again and those in Mexico were more than happy to start chasing me. Monterrey and America's arch-rivals rivals Mexico made offers for my services and I committed myself to Pumas de la UNAM for the next two seasons.

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Pumas de la UNAM

The stadium here is smaller than that of America but it's 72,000 capacity would be enough to make most football clubs go green with envy.

Estadio Olimpico Universitario

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Liga Bancomer MX

2023/24

Opening stage

The season opened with an unlucky 4-1 defeat at Tigresbut then we went unbeaten for 12 games, winning 11 and drawing 1 including a 2-1 home win against America, 5-1 at Santos Laguna, 6-2 against Queretaro at home and 6-3 at Xolos Tijuana. A defeat at Cruz Azul stopped the run but we won 2 and drew 1 to finish the opening stage in 2nd position. 41 points, +24 GD, only worse than America's GD of +40. The top 8 went into the play-offs and we got Cruz Azul(7th) again. We drew 0-0 st home after failing to break them down and were ripped apart in a 3-0 away defeat.

No North American Champions League games though as we soon got to know about participation in the Libertadores in the 2nd half of the season.

Closing Stage

In the closing stage we lost 3-2 at Santos Laguna but went on a run of 13 unbeaten games with 12 wins and a draw to secure top spot before losing in the final game of the season. This run included 6-1 at home to Queretaro, 4-0 at home to Pachuca, 5-0 a home to Atlas, 2-1 derby win at Cruz Azul and a 2-0 win over big rivals America. In the play-offs, we faced Pachuca and beat them 3-0 home and away. We then beat Monterrey who ended our unbeaten league run and secured a final spot as the higher seed after beating them 3-1 at home and losing 2-0 away in games that had no gap in between due to our Libertadores participation. We lost 0-2 at Chivas in the first leg on our counter strategy for away matches but won 3-0 at home thanks to a Jose Manuel Bravo hat-trick that included 2 penalties.

In the Copa Libertadores, we went straight into Group B against Colo-Colo, Deportivo Quito and Junior. It was plain-sailing in the group stage as we beat Colo-Colo 6-0 away, Junior 3-0 at home and Deportivo Quito 7-1 away and 7-0 at home.This was followed by a 1-1 draw at Junior and a 1-0 home win over Colo-Colo. In the 2nd round, we faced Cristal of Paraguay whom we beat with ease - 2-0 away and 3-0 at home.The quarter-finals gave us a tough draw against Brazilian giants Corinthians who had the likes of Willian and Dudu in their ranks. We set up to frustrate them away and a goal from star striker Felix Cuevas gave us a 1-0 away win and enough to protect back home. However, they soon cancelled out the away leg goal in Mexico City. Although we equalised, they scored again and got a pretty much undeserved 2-1 win to go through as we had 21 shots to 8 and 13 on target to their 5.

All in all though, a good season and I'm sure we could have won the Liberadores had we not lost a no. of central midfield players.

And finally, there was a touch of Alan Hansen in Mexico as I was asked in the press conference about his words "You can't win anything with kids" as my title winning team had an average age of 24.

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Guest Darius Basu

I have to post only screenshots here, I am nearly 3 seasons ahead. So, let's get it back on!

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Pumas de la UNAM

2024/25

Liga Bancomer MX

Opening stage (Apertura)

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Closing Stage (Clausura)

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100th game for Pumas

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CONCACAF Champions League

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Oh yeah.:cool:

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Guest Darius Basu

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| CLUB CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Season | Club | League | Country | Continent | Position | Achievements/Notes |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2012 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 6th | Respectable league position |
| 2013 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 2nd | A good cup run |
| 2014 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 4th | None |
| 2015 | Algard | 2.divisjon avdeling 3 | Norway | Europe | 8th | Resigned with 4 to go |
| 2015/16 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 6th | Took over mid season |
| 2016/17 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 3rd | None |
| 2017/18 | Thisted | 2.division vest | Denmark | Europe | 12th | Resigned after 8 games |
| 2018 | Finn Harps | Airtricity Premier Division | Ireland | Europe | 9th | Took over after few played. Resigned. |
| 2019/20 | Reggina | Serie B Eurobet | Italy | Europe | 4th | Lost in play-offs |
| 2020 | Lillestrom | Norwegian Tippeligaen | Norway | Europe | 7th | Joined mid-season |
| 2021 | Lillestrom | Norwegian Tippeligaen | Norway | Europe | 1st | Tippeligaen winners! |
| 2022 | Lillestrom | Norwegian Tippeligaen | Norway | Europe | 2nd* | *Resigned mid-season |
| 2022/23 | America CF | Liga Bancomer MX | Mexico | Europe | 2nd | Lost in play-offs(Apertura) |
| 2022/23 | America CF | Liga Bancomer MX | Mexico | Europe | 2nd | Lost in play-offs(Clausura) |
| 2023/24 | Pumas | Liga Bancomer MX | Mexico | Europe | 2nd | Play-off QFs(Apertura) |
| 2023/24 | Pumas | Liga Bancomer MX | Mexico | Europe | 1st | Play-off win; Lib qtrs |
| 2024/25 | Pumas | Liga Bancomer MX | Mexico | Europe | 2nd | Play-off QFs(Apertura) |
| 2024/25 | Pumas | Liga Bancomer MX | Mexico | Europe | 2nd | Play-off Semis; CL winners(Apertura) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| INTERNATIONAL CAREER |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Year | Country | Continent | Achievements |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014 | China U-19 | Asia | Asian U19 Ch'ship quarter-finals |
| 2015 | China U-21 | Asia | None |
| 2015 | Albania | Europe | None |
| 2016 | Ivory Coast U-23 | Africa | Olympics 2016 quarter-finals |
| 2016 | Haiti | North America | Failed to qualify from final group |
| 2017 | Bolivia | South America | None |
| 2018 | Burkina Faso | Africa | Qualified for Cup of Nations 2019 |
| 2019 | Burkina Faso | Africa | African Cup of Nations winners |
| 2020 | Canada | North America | None |
| 2021 | Canada | North America | Gold Cup winners! |
| 2022 | Australia | Asia | None |
| 2022 | Iran | Asia | None |
| 2023 | Argentina | South America | Copa America winners! |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Guest Darius Basu

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Pumas de la UNAM

2025/26

Liga Bancomer MX

Apertura

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Clausura

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CONCACAF Champions League

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:mad:

Club World Championships

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You just have to believe it. This was not a fluke. A win in Nigeria was followed by the game against Ricardo Moniz's Barcelona. We attacked them for the off and left them shaken. 18 year old academy product Alejandro Armenta scored both and although they were slightly better in the 2nd half, they never came close except when they once struck the post. Captain Francisco Javier Toledo was sent off late on for a professional foul. We easily beat Velez (don't know why they turned into Clausura in the save) at the Yokohama Stadium.

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Personal accolades

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Job interest from clubs

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My favourite club but not the right time to go to Europe.

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In the Libertadores and two-time winners continuously but no thanks.

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Again, I'm not going to Europe.

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