BillOddie Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Hi everyone, welcome to my career thread. I'll be doing something a little different in this one, so I'll run through my set of rules first. Having started unemployed with the lowest possible reputation and no coaching badges, my first job must be with a team beginning with the letter A. Once I've won my first trophy with that team, I must start looking for jobs at teams beginning with the letter B, and so on. I may stay until the end of a trophy-winning season if there is a chance of more silverware, otherwise I must resign immediately after winning the trophy. If winning a league title or cup competition puts my team into a Super Cup, I may stay until after that game, but then I must resign immediately. I may only move clubs if I win a piece of silverware or am sacked. Otherwise, I must stick it out at a club until we finally lift a trophy. Ultimately, my goal is to make my way through the alphabet as quickly as possible, and perhaps even more than once. I've loaded up quite an interesting selection of nations with plenty that are completely new to me, so I think I'll have a bit of fun with this save, and hopefully you enjoy following. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Al Khaleej I had around 15 interview offers, of which I attended five, and accepted the offer from Al Khaleej, who are playing in the second tier of football in the United Arab Emirates. They are expected to finish midtable, however the thing that lured me in the most was their impressive wage budget of £22,000 per week, which for my first job is unbelievable! They also have a couple of good players to begin with; Thierno Bah looks a real asset in midfield, while Babatunde Wusu will shoulder most of the goalscoring responsibility. My assistant believes that those two would be good players in the league above, while the rest of the team are pretty good for this level, so I'm hoping we can keep ourselves in with a shout of promotion for most of the season. In terms of tactics, I'll be going with a fairly simple 4-4-2 until I get to grips with the team and the opponents, but I think it best suits our personnel anyway so I'll probably stick with it for a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotChocolate Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Always find it interesting when people give themselves rules and start off in far out countries from the norm. Good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 August 2014 Just a few friendlies this month. The first game against Al-Fujairah could have been a tricky one as they are a top flight side with ex-Premier League players Madjid Bougherra and Hassan Yebda in their ranks, however they looked nothing special on the day, giving me confidence that the gulf in quality between the two tiers is minimal. Next up we made fairly hard work of a non-league side, then travelled to an Omani lower league team whose goal we peppered all game but could only score the one. Finally, Emirates would prove our sternest challenge, another top flight side that are predicted to finish mid-table. The game was extremely close, and I thought we should have come away with the win having scored in the first minute, but I can't be too disappointed with three wins out of four. Bah netted two free-kicks in two games, and he looks a real talent, while Mohammed Saleh Al-Menhali joined on loan, and will partner Wusu up top. We are evens to get promotion according to the bookies, and I think we're capable of doing just that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Always find it interesting when people give themselves rules and start off in far out countries from the norm.Good luck Thanks HotChocolate - I'd never considered management in the Middle East until this save, one thing I'm noticing is that aside from the odd marquee player, none of the teams have too much quality, even in the top flight. Hopefully if we can nullify those individual threats we can have some success! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 September 2014 Not a bad start to the competitive season, with a win and a draw in the Federation Cup group stage. Babatunde Wusu has scored in each of the two games, however he could have had a hat-trick in the first game to seal three points - I couldn't believe some of the chances he missed! The top two teams in each group go through to the semi-finals, and I think we have a realistic chance of winning this trophy as the teams in the top flight don't compete. Only two games again next month, hoping for a couple more wins to put us in a commanding position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 October 2014 Another good couple of results, Wusu is scoring for fun now with 6 goals in 4 competitive games. Neither game was plain sailing, but we got the three points in each and have qualified for the cup semi-finals. I'm also now studying for my National C Licence, which the club is funding. All good so far! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 November 2014 Federation Cup Group Stages League Table Things still going according to plan. I was disappointed to let a 4-2 lead slip in the final group game in the cup, however we still qualified top of our group and will face Dibba Al-Fujairah in the semi final. Wusu continues to score for fun, although Bah picked up an injury while on international duty with Guinea and missed the whole month which is frustrating. Thankfully, his 42 year-old replacement Nabeel Khamis has deputised well! I received a strange news item at the end of the month, telling me that the club's presidency elections would be occurring on the 5th of December. I've never experienced anything like this, but hopefully whoever is in charge doesn't want to change the man at the helm! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 December 2014 Federation Cup Knockout Rounds League Table We've done it! A perfect month saw us cruise through the semi-final and final of the cup to lift our first trophy! That means I will be rejecting any contract offered to me by Al-Khaleej and moving on at the end of the season, but not until our league campaign is over as we are currently cruising at the top. Considering we were predicted to come sixth, this season has been remarkably easy so far - fingers crossed things stay that way! The Sultan was overthrown in the presidential election by some other chap without a fancy title, but he hasn't changed anything since coming in so it's business as usual. Bah is back from injury, and Wusu still can't stop scoring, netting another seven in five games this month! Both have rejected new contracts however, so if we were to get promoted, whoever takes charge has a really tough task on their hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 January 2015 League Table Still unbeaten, but this was a really poor month, and if we continue in this manner we will probably end up throwing the title away. Wusu's goals have dried up and it's become abundantly clear that we were far too reliant on him, plus with Bah away at the AFCON we've been light in midfield. Hopefully his return will signify a change in our fortunes next month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOddie Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 February & March 2015 League Table After losing our unbeaten run and putting in another poor performance, we finally got back to winning ways with Babatunde Wusu finding his shooting boots again. The title is all but wrapped up, with only a point needed from our last three, just need to get over the line now before I start looking for my next role! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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