smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Paul Wanless : U's Icon Takes Managerial Career More Seriously As a youngster in the late 1990s and early 2000s I frequented the Abbey Stadium most weekends, the glorious stadium of my beloved Cambridge United. The players from this era will be the ones I remember the most. My first heroes. Two of those are in the photo above and I have decided to take on the player in the forefront as my new manager alias (three points to anyone who can name the other U's player in the background). Paul Wanless spent seven years with the U's from 1996 to 2003 where he became club captain, made over 300 appearances and became a cult hero. He was an excellent spot kick taker, a tough-tackling no nonsense midfielder and despite his less than athletic appearing physique managed to get from box-to-box scoring many important goals, often late winners. He had two spells either side of his time with Cambridge at the 2nd best University City and finished his outright playing career with Forest Green. It was with Forest Green where he first stepped into a coaching role becoming caretaker manager in 2007 where he went undefeated, albeit two draws in two games. He moved into the Welsh League with Llanelli as a player-coach where he coached the team in European fixtures against the likes of Ventspils of Latvia. His most recent known role was player-coach of City in 2010, then in the Southern Premier League. However, fast forward to today 9th August 2016 (which I have holidayed to) and he now want to move into a long managerial career which will take him around Europe. With all English & Scottish Leagues loaded and the top two divisions from all the out-the-box European Nations, who will give Wanless the chance to kick start his managerial career? Armed with a UEFA B Licence and reputation as a former (regional) professional football player, I now take on the alias as Paul Wanless, soon to be manager extraordinaire. I hope. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 These are the jobs that are available / insecure at the moment, going to apply but not expecting much of a response! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Was not expecting a job interview with such a big club Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oriole01 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Well, here we go again. Too bad to see China end, but I'll freely admit that it wasn't exciting and probably would never have reached the heights of the San Marino thread. Good luck to Paul Wanless across Europe, although you probably should have loaded claasen's megapack for the full experience. That way you could have gone back to San Marino . Will be following as always. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Sava Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Good luck with the save! Rangers offering an interview from the start is really nice, will you take the job if they give it to you or do you want something smaller? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Ironhide- Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Good luck will be following! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 16 minutes ago, oriole01 said: Well, here we go again. Too bad to see China end, but I'll freely admit that it wasn't exciting and probably would never have reached the heights of the San Marino thread. Good luck to Paul Wanless across Europe, although you probably should have loaded claasen's megapack for the full experience. That way you could have gone back to San Marino . Will be following as always. Cheers oriole, I just don't think I could seriously get into a save outside of Europe unfortunately...the Champions League is always the big one to aim for. I opted not to add any other leagues as a) I'm not sure my laptop would take it and b) I'd be worried about crash dumps etc. This should give me enough to aim for 15 minutes ago, Andy Sava said: Good luck with the save! Rangers offering an interview from the start is really nice, will you take the job if they give it to you or do you want something smaller? Thanks Andy, I was also offered a job interview for Malmo but since both clubs have gone with other managers as would be expected. I'm just going to see where I end up 11 minutes ago, -Ironhide- said: Good luck will be following! Cheers Ironhide! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Wanless : Using his Swede So my first role start in a reputable top league, but at a price. GIF Sundsvall are rock bottom, in terrible form and have played more games than the teams above them. There are just 8 games to try to save them from relegation. We have some good players, as you will see below, the problem is the quality of our defenders. The team just about survived last year on 27 points and winning the relegation play-off, however since the team have sold off a few good young defenders and forgotten to replace them. I think that the squad we've got should score goals, which has seemed to be a problem, but we have a real gap in defence, particularly centre back. We are outside the transfer window but I will see if we can add a freebie to bolster our back line. Gerson is a brilliant all rounder who is likely to start in DM for us. In a similar mould as Gerson, Robin should be a fantastic roaming playmaker. Stefan Silva is the man I expect to get our goals from, either from a shadow striker position or up top. Signed from the Serbian League for a pittance, Gojkov is already a key starter and an amazing prospect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Sava Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Midfield looks solid but avoiding relegation is going to be tough, good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 5 minutes ago, Andy Sava said: Midfield looks solid but avoiding relegation is going to be tough, good luck! Yes it does look like it is going to be a challenge, got an 11 day break then the first game in charge is versus 1st place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Of course, I had to sign an Englishman to bolster my defence . We also brought in English coach Peter Farrell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Well, what a start Thrashing the team 11 points clear in the league!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 September 2016 A great first month, two wins, three draws, no losses. Three games left and we still have hopes of staying up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 October / November 2016 - Relegation Woes We went all the way to the final game unbeaten and unfortunately a loss meant we ended up out of the automatic spots, but in the play-off. We dominated both games, but lost 2-0 away from home which was really gutting. A 1-0 win at home was not enough Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Wanless Walks Out The club is in debt, our best players are likely to leave for small release clauses, our facilities are downgrading and we have been relegated. Not a good start for Mr. Wanless, but I feel it's time to leave before it gets any worse. We came so close to saving the club and keeping them up, but a very disappointing end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oriole01 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Ouch, not a good start. Hopefully you'll find a more interesting/successful job sometime soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iacovone Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Ah you're a Cambridge United fan? One of my good mates graced the Abbey Stadium in the last few years - Tom Champion. Played with him at university Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Looking forward to this! Is that Dave Kitson?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherwinriga Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Great switching from China to Europe. Unfortunately, it's not almost a good start, but in that way, he might go for another good team around the Swedish neighborhood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 17 hours ago, oriole01 said: Ouch, not a good start. Hopefully you'll find a more interesting/successful job sometime soon. Well you will see soon where I end up somewhere different but more comfortable. 6 hours ago, iacovone said: Ah you're a Cambridge United fan? One of my good mates graced the Abbey Stadium in the last few years - Tom Champion. Played with him at university I certainly am and I remember Tom Champion well, was a good defensive mid for us. I assume he went to Uni whilst playing for Bishop Stortford? 4 hours ago, clarkehwbu said: Looking forward to this! Is that Dave Kitson?! 3 points it is Dave Kitson Cheers 3 hours ago, sherwinriga said: Great switching from China to Europe. Unfortunately, it's not almost a good start, but in that way, he might go for another good team around the Swedish neighborhood. Wanless was getting homesick... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Back Home - Oxford City January 2017 In Sweden our league record was 4W 3D 1L before crashing out in the relegation play-off, not exactly bad but a terrible way to finish. After this short spell, I've decided to return to Oxford, a place Wanless knows well and not far from his birthplace, Banbury. It's another tough challenge. So far i've picked up 4 points from 3 games but we are 11 points from safety with 12 games to go. We need promotion form in order to stay up. This is the highest league Oxford City have ever played in. I am looking to use this as a stepping stone to bigger clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Sava Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Better luck with Oxford Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 5 minutes ago, Andy Sava said: Better luck with Oxford Cheers Andy, we're gonna need it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Spent five or six seasons with Oxford City waaay back in a save. Was never able to get into the football league but they'll always have a place in my heart! Wonder if any of the players I used are still there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iacovone Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 17 hours ago, smp20 said: I certainly am and I remember Tom Champion well, was a good defensive mid for us. I assume he went to Uni whilst playing for Bishop Stortford? Yes, exactly. Think he also played for Dartford in that time too. Quality player at uni and League Two level Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Sundsvall was a brave move but it was still a good effort almost pulling it off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 On 10/08/2016 at 17:22, tyler16 said: Spent five or six seasons with Oxford City waaay back in a save. Was never able to get into the football league but they'll always have a place in my heart! Wonder if any of the players I used are still there. Interesting i will post up the squad soon. Ive added a few freebies as the squad was looking rather bare. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 8 hours ago, iacovone said: Yes, exactly. Think he also played for Dartford in that time too. Quality player at uni and League Two level Yeah hes doing well back at Barnet now i hear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 6 hours ago, deltablue said: Sundsvall was a brave move but it was still a good effort almost pulling it off. I think they were brave to take on an unknown foreign manager, but i suppose at that stage they had nothing to lose we came so close but crumbled when it mattered most. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 February / March 2017 Oh dear! Too depressed to post the squad or anything right now. Not going well at all! Anything less than 5 wins out of 6 will see us surely relegated. I'm not hopeful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 If we had come close, I would have considered staying on and rebuilding for next season, but I was woeful all round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oriole01 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Wow, that's two duds in a row. Let's hope you can find something worth staying for! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Luck of the (Northern) Irish: Portadown F.C. So after a couple of months of being rejected everywhere, finally a club took a chance on the twice-relegated Wanless. Portadown are a relatively big side, for Northern Ireland at least, having won the league three times in the 90s and most recently in 2002. The club also has recent silverware through the Cup in 2016 but they have struggled in mid-table. I think it is possible to turn them into a title contending side and we certainly shouldn't be relegation fodder! I've managed to bring in some big names, all experienced players that wanted to be closer to their roots. Liam Feeney is the highlight of the lot, while Sean O'Connor is a very promising, pacey striker. Our squad is looking good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 17 hours ago, oriole01 said: Wow, that's two duds in a row. Let's hope you can find something worth staying for! Fingers crossed I've found it with Portadown! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Portadown First Month: August 2017 Starts don't get any better than this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 Portadown: New Year Review We are flying high in the league, at one point we were 10 points clear but it's now down to 8 with Linfield breathing down our neck. Let's hope we don't crash and burn in the new year. We've made it all the way to the league cup final, the first chance of silverware in Wanless' career The experienced players I brought in - Mannus, McPake, Feeney and Fordyce - have been class. Meanwhile, youngster Sean O'Connor has grown from 2* CA to 4* CA and he just can't stop scoring! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 Champions with time to spare!! We managed to secure our first ever trophy by winning the league cup in January This was followed a few months later by winning the league before the split! Our early title was helped by Linfield having catastrophic form. We can now relax in our final 5 league games, there's even still chance of a treble as we are in the Semis of the Northern Irish Cup It seems like it doesn't take much to enter the N.Ireland hall of fame . Up to One Star Reputation as well and developing nicely as a manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 Decided to sign a new contract here at Portadown, mostly to see how we get on in Europe and to see if any other N.Ireland internationals fancy moving back closer to their roots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Portadown 2017/18 Review We won the Northern Irish Cup final to secure an impressive domestic treble. After two relegations, it was nice to capture some success and hopefully this will spur on an illustrious career for Paul Wanless. We ended up winning the league by an impressive 26 points, thanks to a 1-0 win in the final game against Linfield. Fantastic average ratings all round, with 7 players in the first 11 average 7.8 or more. These are the pick of the bunch: My favourite player in the save so far, Feeney was a class above scoring and creating goals from right wing. Fordyce was a key creator for the side from attacking midfield and formed a great link with the front man and our two wingers. O'Connor just could not stop scoring, getting an impressive 30 league goals. He developed rapidly and looks set to have a bright future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 This is a fantastic opportunity to take on a big club. But should I take it or do I have unfinished business in Northern Ireland? Decision time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oriole01 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Great job winning not one... not two.. but three pieces of silverware (that's a basketball reference by the way). Those guys on your Portadown team have very similar attributes to my Kidderminster players, would be a cracking match between our two sides if that were possible. Tough decision ahead for you it seems, it's your career so do what's best for you at the moment. Although I think you probably should take Portadown into Europe, if only for one tie or two. Other good clubs will come calling regardless. Keep it up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Nice way to bounce back after a couple of disappointments. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 7 hours ago, oriole01 said: Great job winning not one... not two.. but three pieces of silverware (that's a basketball reference by the way). Those guys on your Portadown team have very similar attributes to my Kidderminster players, would be a cracking match between our two sides if that were possible. Tough decision ahead for you it seems, it's your career so do what's best for you at the moment. Although I think you probably should take Portadown into Europe, if only for one tie or two. Other good clubs will come calling regardless. Keep it up! I'm not so sure on the basketball reference . Yes I imagine it would be a good match up, you must have some good players for the conference. I've decided to stick it out at Portadown, rejecting approaches from Debrecen & Sunderland. I'm looking forward to playing some European matches. Thank you, I hope this season can be as successful as last! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 1 hour ago, deltablue said: Nice way to bounce back after a couple of disappointments. Yes it is, was really worried if Wanless' career was doomed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oriole01 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 There you go SMP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Portadown: 2018/19 Transfers It seems that players involved in the NIR Trials are much more likely to join NIR clubs even if they said they weren't interested before. We bring in several internationals and our first eleven and depth is by far the best in the league now. European Adventure We surpassed the Icelandic champions in comfortable fashion, kick-starting our European campaign in style. A shock result for us as we overcame Celtic! An excellent 1-1 result at home gave us a chance of progressing and this was followed up with a 3-2 win at Celtic Park. Sean O'Connor & Liam Feeney are already legends in my eyes! We lost narrowly 1-0 away, and deservedly so. However, our home performance was just incredible. We were on top the whole game but it took 63 minutes to break the deadlock. Liam Feeney then became Messi like and grabbed two goals to send us, a Semi-Pro team from Northern Ireland, into the Champions League Group Stages!! As far as groups go, this is about as good as it can get considering we were 4th seeds. Zenit were the weakest 1st seed side. Money, Money, Money! We are in an outstanding financial position thanks to all the CL prize money, which means that as of next season Portadown will become the first Northern Irish professional club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 1 hour ago, oriole01 said: There you go SMP. Ahhh I see - lets hope I can deliver even more trophies as well!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheelf Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 That's incredible man...first season in Europe at the club and with a semi-pro side no less and you go and make the group stages of the Champions League....madness It's been quite the upturn in fortunes for you hasn't it....brilliant work so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 15, 2016 Author Share Posted August 15, 2016 19 hours ago, pheelf said: That's incredible man...first season in Europe at the club and with a semi-pro side no less and you go and make the group stages of the Champions League....madness It's been quite the upturn in fortunes for you hasn't it....brilliant work so far Thank you . We did really well to knock out both Celtic and Dinamo who are both CL regulars, our team is nowhere near the same quality but I think my tactic, which is the same one I have used across all my saves for months, really suits an underdog side providing you at least have the right kind of players. Next update to come and it will be on our adventures in Europe. Really enjoy my time in Northern Ireland but I will be leaving at some point, I want a journeyman career not just with one team. We will see when that happens though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted August 15, 2016 Author Share Posted August 15, 2016 Champions League Adventures: Group Stage Underdogs Things started as expected with a deserved defeat away in Russia. I thought Zenit were a weak 1st seed, but they have some very good players including Lacazette who was a £31m signing. I really did not expect this result! We had far fewer chances but took them well and our back line kept Sevilla out with block after block, even after going down to 10 men. A shock victory against the CL regulars and EL regular winners. This was followed up with a very good performance against Marseille where we managed to grab a well earned point in Northern Ireland. We weren't able to replicate the performance in France, where in the end we became more interested in fouling the opposition than getting any shots off. Olivier Giroud gave us the runaround and we picked up 8 (EIGHT!) yellow cards including a second yellow. Oops. A very valiant effort from the side, we came very close to grabbing a point spoiled by a very good striker. Sevilla looked like they had done just enough to secure the victory, however a 90th minute equaliser from goal machine Sean O'Connor earned us a point and our first away from home. Incredibly that point also meant that the European fairytale would continue! We finished ahead of Sevilla, a team who had finished 4th in La Liga three seasons straight, based on our head to head record against them with just five points. We now face Schalke in the Europa League 1st Knockout Round. Good job I signed plenty of players for depth! This is an overview of our journey so far. I can't see it continuing much longer, but it's great that it's still going into the new year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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