Franjo: A Journeyman Story

[Franjo]

Thanks mate, I really appreciate that  I've not written anything before so I love getting feedback. i reckon we're slowly but surely getting rid of the idiots. Roger's gone, Aurélio's gone, Oliveira... Doesn't start in today's episode! But yep it's something every FM player has been through isn't it!

[Franjo]

3-Horse Race (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep27)

I stand on a gravel path, wearing my trusty grey coat, a rucksack weighing heavily on my shoulders. Ahead of me lies a long, winding road that wraps itself around a distant mountain, the top of which is obscured by clouds in front of a blood red sky. The clouds turn from blue to red as I watch them, swirling and twisting, breaking apart and reforming.

"Franjo..." a booming voice echoes. "FRANJO!"

I jolt awake to see a familiar face just inches from my own. It's Pedro Botelho, my assistant Manager. He beams as he sees that I am awake. "Ah, apologies for waking you my friend but we are landing soon." He says as he removes himself from my personal space and sits down in the seat next to me, buckling his seatbelt.

We have arrived in Moura to play our first opponents of the new season: The efficiently named "Moura". I don't really know what to expect from them, which worries me slightly. They had a torrid campaign this time last year, finishing 8th out of 10 teams in their group in the first stage and looking like a relatively safe bet for relegation. But then they had an excellent Relegation Stage, finishing 2nd in their group like we did. Now they're predicted 4th so I just don't know how good they're meant to be.

With this in mind, I will opt for the safer of the 2 systems I've created here so far: Heróis Original. Although it will be tweaked slightly as I have mainly picked the team that have most impressed me during pre-season.

Azevedo starts between the sticks, but Serginho will have the chance to impress me in our next match. Our back 4 is almost unrecognisable, with Vitor Miranda the lone survivor alongside Lassina Touré, Olivier and Mauro Aires. I'd rather have Miguel Oliveira as backup than a starter and Santos has recently decided he should be allowed to move for free so he's the latest player to enter my bad books. Rúby partners Jaime Seidi in a withdrawn double pivot, although Rúby will be getting forward to support attacks. Amonike and Kevin start on the flanks, with Hurley trying his hand at the number 10 role between them. Antunes is back in full training but is not quite fit enough to start. Magina starts as the lone striker.

I walk out through the tunnel and take a deep breath. The summer break is such a bloody long time, I say to myself as a broad grin stretches across my face. The players take their positions, the referee blows his whistle, and our new season gets underway.

Almost quarter of an hour in Moura are pushing, but we break forward on the counter: Moura have their defensive line far too high, it's pretty much on the half way line. Magina holds the ball up just into the Moura half before releasing Amonike on the right with a good pass behind the defence. Amonike sprints to the byline, chased by a couple of defenders but he's too quick for them. When he reaches the edge of the pitch he cuts the ball back to Hurley, who sends the keeper the wrong way from 10 yards.

Pedro and I leap to our feet, punching the air. For all the preparation and research that went on this Summer, there was always a voice in the back of my mind saying "You don't know anything about these teams, they could all be better than anyone you faced last season. You could be a few goals down in the first half of the first match". Well we're back and we're refreshed, and right now I'd back us to beat anyone.

The rest of the half flies by without either team creating anything of note, until straight from kick off in the second half when Magina releases Hurley with another good ball through the defence. Hurley tries to double his tally but his shot goes wide of the near post.

I did ponder at half time whether I was comfortable with having 2 defensive midfielders on the pitch, both of whom were on yellow cards. I decided that...yes. Yes I was comfortable with it. Needless to say with almost an hour played Jaime Seidi sees his 2nd yellow for a silly trip and earns himself an early bath. I won't be too harsh on him, that's the first black mark on his record for me. I decide to drop Hurley back slightly and play a 4-1-1-2-1 formation.

And to be fair, it works. The game dies down once more and again, nothing happens until the 83rd minute, when a good Moura passing move ends with N'Goy releasing Lopes, whose shot flies just wide of the near post.

In an attempt to freshen up our attack I bring on a couple of youngsters. Batista replaces Amonike and Silva replaces Magina to make his debut.

With 92 minutes and 30 seconds played I'm perched right on the edge of my seat, glaring at the referee. Blow your bloody whistle, I silently urge him. This match has not been comfortable.

Just as I think that, Kevin lays the ball back for Mauro Aires, who's on the left hand side about 15 yards into our half. He looks up, and in a moment of brilliance, smacks the ball into the left channel, over Moura's defensive line. As he does, Renato Silva makes a diagonal run from the left wing, losing his marker. The ball falls perfectly into his path and he only needs 1 touch of the ball to stroke it into the far bottom corner on the half volley.

I fall backwards into my seat and breathe a massive sigh of relief. The broad grin returns to my face. There's something about this boy. His intelligence, his movement, his finishing, his composure. The sheer arrogance to effortlessly score such a goal on his debut at 16 years old. He's got it all. I know time will tell whether this is just a good pre-season and a good debut or genuine quality, but... I don't know where I'll be in 10 years. The optimist in me says Barcelona, Manchester United or Bayern. Somewhere like that. And call me crazy but I reckon I could take this lad with me.

After another week or wearily declining daily offers for Antunes, Batista and Silva, it's time to welcome Aljustrelense to Estádio Municipal de Angra do Heroismo. Our first home game of the season and a chance to put down a proper marker. I'll let us off for not exactly making this place the isolated island fortress I wanted it to be last season. We were adjusting. If we lose here in any of our first phase matches now though, I'll be furious.

Aljustrelense lost their first match of the season and if someone else in this league can beat them, then so can we. That's a philosophy I feel like I'll be adopting for all of our league matches.

We are at home, we are the favourites, and we are the better side, so here comes my feline formation, Project: Meatloaf. Seidi is suspended after his red card so Hurley drops back into midfield. Antunes takes his place behind Magina. In all fairness that change would've probably happened even if Seidi had been available. Aires will be encouraged to attack down the left and overlap Kevin or Amonike. Serginho starts.

It takes nearly 10 minutes for us to carve out our first chance. The ball is cleared following our corner and Lassina Touré finds himself on the ball with his back to goal on the edge of their area. He lays it back for Antunes, who curls it first time in front of Amonike on the left. Amonike's first touch takes him down the line past a defender and he drills in a low cross that finds Magina 8 yards out, but Runa manages to get a foot in and scramble the ball away to the edge of the area. Our new left full back Mauro Aires controls the ball before smashing it against the left post. The ball bounces away and is cleared.

Less than a minute later Benjamim cuts out a Dias cross and clears the ball to Magina on the left wing, just inside the Aljustrelense half. He makes one of his patented powerful runs with the ball diagonally towards the edge of the penalty area but is thwarted once again by Runa, who clears the ball. Touré picks it up on the half way line though and plays it onto the right for Amonike, who whips a cross into the 6 yard box and Magina's volley somehow crashes off the bar. Runa clears and we've struck the woodwork twice in the first 10 minutes. This had better not be an omen. I bloody hate omens.

The rest of the half is quiet. It feels like we've become nervous after wasting those 2 chances. I tell the lads that they've been unlucky at half time. We've made 2 good chances but we've just not had the rub of the green. I send them back out, hopefully with a bit more self-belief and confidence.

Just over 5 minutes after the restart, Miranda throws the ball to Amonike, who's level with the Aljustrelense penalty area on the right hand side. He passes well to Magina just inside the box, who turns and lays it off to Hurley. Hurley takes a touch, looks up, and fizzes a shot into the far bottom corner.

The relief in the team is clear, for a while it felt like one of those matches where it just doesn't happen. At least we've got the breakthrough, now we just need to protect it. 

With an hour gone I replace Aires, who has been booked and is looking nervous, with debutant Luciano Serpa. Serpa will play on the right and Miranda will come over onto the left. Nerves cost you in situations like this, and they also make people do silly things, like send your team down to 10 men for the second match in a row.

With just over 10 minutes to go, we revert back to Heróis Original and Miguel Oliveira comes on in place of the goalscorer Hurley as he's apparently an adept holding man. It does the trick and we completely kill the match. We come away with a not-so-convincing 1-0 win, but I'll take 3 points and a clean sheet any day.

Only at this stage of the season can you have a 100% record, 0 goals conceded and still drop down the league. The table is pretty meaningless this early on but you can already see a 3-horse race starting to emerge. Pinhalnovense have come out for the new season looking extremely dangerous. They're the only other team that are yet to concede but they've already racked up a +9 goal difference. We'll have to keep an eye on them.

[Franjo]

On the Road Again (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep28)

I'm the first off the plane. We've arrived in Évora for our 3rd match of the season against Juventude Évora, a newly promoted club who we should really be making mincemeat of.

As soon as I step out of the plane and down the staircase to make my way towards the terminal, I switch my phone on and let out a groan. 23 missed calls. Why won't they leave me alone? I've made myself perfectly clear haven't I? No, you can't buy Antunes. No, you can't buy Batista. No, you can't buy Silva. So why am I drowning in missed calls from several Liga Nos, Greek Super League and Ligue 1 sides? I've never known anything like it, some of them have been calling me all Summer and are now calling 2 or 3 times a day. Dinamo Bucharesti's latest bid for Batista could have risen to £75k, which for a club like us is an extraordinary amount of cash, but I am not selling, and I've been so clear about that.

Annoyed, I switch my phone back off. Is it possible to just ghost other football clubs? Do they eventually give up if you keep ignoring them? I don't know but I don't need this today. We've got preparation to do.

I won't fall into the trap that so many fall into. I won't send my team out gung-ho against a poor side who will be sitting right back and trying to play on the counter. We need to be smart. I've looked at how they played in their first 2 games and they'll most likely set up with a narrow 4-3-1-2, focusing everything through the middle. This leaves me with an interesting predicament as against the smaller clubs I generally leave the centre of my midfield fairly open by allowing Hurley and Benjamim to get forward with attacks. So do I play safe and adopt a more disciplined central midfield set up? Maybe even throw a holding man in there? Or do I trust my players to make the right decisions and not leave a massive gap in the midfield that Évora can exploit?

I opt for the former. If it turns out that I'm playing it too safe then we can always change it up. We will stick with Project: Meatloaf but with Antunes dropping out, he's actually lacking fitness anyway so that's fine, and Seidi coming back in after his suspension as the holding man. Hurley will play in the number 10 role again. Serginho stays in net so that I can have another look at him, but to be honest I don't recall either him or Azevedo having to do any actual goalkeeping so far this season, so it's difficult to choose between them.

We'll adapt to their set up too. I instruct the players not to be so patient in working the ball into the box, and instead to attack both flanks quickly, with overlapping full backs. Évora are weakest on the wings so we should be able to double up on them there.

I make my way to the dugout, sit down and open my notebook. I'm very interested to see how my team adapts to the changes we've made.

We win the toss and Magina kicks off, playing the ball to Kevin on the left. He plays it inside to Hurley, who takes a touch before spreading the ball out onto the right for Amonike. Amonike takes on the opposition full back and sprints down the wing, hugging the touchline. When he's level with the penalty box he drills in a low cross and Magina gets in front of his marker to stab the ball home. I almost feel like laughing. 16 seconds in and we're ahead.

10 minute later, Aires plays a one-two with Seidi from a throw in on the left, and then passes the ball inside to Hurley. With one touch, Hurley sends a through ball onto the left wing for Kevin to chase. He keeps it in at the byline and puts in another low cross that reaches Magina at the near post. Magina spins away from his marker and just as the keeper dives to his left, anticipating a shot to the far post, Magina goes near, thumping the ball into the back of the net and putting us 2-0 up.

A few minutes later we're coming forward again. Hurley cuts inside from the left and lays the ball back for Seidi, who pings it first time down the left wing for Aires to run onto. The full back whips a cross in but Magina can't reach it this time, and Carmo clears as far as Hurley, who's waiting on the edge of the area. He keeps his composure, takes a touch and smashes the ball goal-wards, but it takes a massive deflection off of Gouveia and bounces towards the far post where Amonike is arriving. The winger contorts his body impressively in order to reach the awkwardly bouncing ball with a right footed volley and smacks it past poor Mateus in Évora's net.

3-0 up after quarter of an hour. I close the notebook. I may have over-prepared for this match.

And it isn't slowing down. Only a few minutes later Évora have their first chance when João Nabor hoofs a free kick from the right side of the half way line towards the far post. Ricardo Quintino finds himself in space and heads the ball back across goal, but nobody is there to get the final touch. Instead, Mauro Aires clears the ball to the left wing and Amonike races Bicho and beats him to it on the half way line. He nips away down the left, sprinting full pelt and only turning inside once he reaches the penalty area. This gives Bicho a chance to catch up and he slides in recklessly, but Amonike skilfully skips over his challenge before his disappointing placed effort rolls harmlessly into the arms of the keeper Mateus. Don't let that tarnish your opinion of how well Amonike is playing today though, he is making absolutely everything happen so far.

30 seconds later we have a throw in on the right hand side, level with the penalty area. Miranda throws it to Amonike, who gives it straight back. Miranda whips the ball first time towards the near post and Magina executes a superb volley into the far top corner. He's not exactly Robbie Fowler or Sadio Mané but a 19 minute hat trick is still phenomenal in my book.

The game mercifully goes down a gear in the next 10 minutes, allowing me to catch my breath, but just after the half hour mark Amonike swings a corner to the near post and Olivier rises above Bicho, glancing a header across goal, but it goes narrowly wide of the far post.

At half time I try to keep the team's spirits high. That was as one-sided a performance as I've seen in my career. Well, apart from the games at Höllviken but we always seemed to be on the wrong end of those. I decide that we may as well go for as many goals as we can. Seidi comes off, as it turns out playing him was an unnecessary precaution. Antunes replaces him and moves forward, while Hurley drops back. Hurley will play as a defensive deep lying playmaker though. I want him to stay back but use his range of passing to start attacks from a safe position.

The second half is quiet for the first 25 minutes, and then an Amonike corner is headed away by Bicho and cleared down the left by João Nabor. Macedo gets onto the loose ball and brings it inside, then plays it in to Rapha. Rapha plays it into the area first time for Fernandes but he rushes his shot and the ball flies high and wide.

From the resulting goal kick, Serginho plays the ball out long but an Évora defender heads it back as far as Kevin on the right wing. He skips past Hugo's slide tackle and bursts down the right wing. Once he gets to the byline he chips a cross in, but it's headed away by Fonseca as far as Benjamim just outside the area. Benjamim has defenders in front of him, so he fakes the shot and instead squares the ball for the unmarked Antunes, who takes a touch and strokes it into the bottom right corner of the net. The young number 10 is off the mark for us and we now lead Évora by 5 goals to 0.

I instantly bring on Fernando Batista and Renato Sanches for Amonike and Magina, who have both had excellent games.

10 minutes from time, Hurley wins the ball in our half and lays it back to Olivier, who spreads it out to Kevin on the left. He carries the ball over the half way line and puts a great ball over the top for Silva, who's running through the central channel behind the defence. The 16 year old takes it down but his left footed shot is parried behind by Mateus.

Now we're talking. Before the season started, every team in this league would've looked at our squad, looked at how we finished last season, and they would've respected us. They would have probably worried more about us than the other teams. But the time for respect is over. I want every team in the league to fear us. To hate us. And it's results like this that are going to make them do just that.

3 days later and we're on the road again. Today we have a mid-week match in Lourosa, North-Western Portugal, where we take on Lusitânia Lourosa in my very first Taça de Portugal cup match. Lourosa are in the 4th tier so even though we are away, we should keep up our excellent form today.

I decide to send out the fringe players and the ones I've either not tried out yet or not given any game time to this season. Azevedo starts in net by virtue of having made 1 start to Serginho's 2, Serpa and Xéxé make their full debuts at full back, with the old partnership of Miguel Oliveira and Ivan Santos between them. Santos no longer wants to leave and instead wants to fight for his place in the team, but that ship may have already sailed. Our defence has been great so far without him. I'm tweaking Project: Meatloaf, pushing the midfield double pivot backwards because I've had the bright idea of playing captain Valadão as an anchor man next to Rúby, which should give us a nice mix of brains and legs in the middle of the park. Batista and debutant Bruce Ávila will start as orthodox wingers, but will periodically swap sides and play as inside forwards, with Arruda between them as a shadow striker. Renato Silva plays alone up top. The only fringe player I can't accomodate with this system is our now 4th choice striker Wilson Dias, who didn't impress me at all in pre-season, but I'll bring him on at some point.

Just over 10 minutes into the match, Xéxé throws the ball down the left wing to Arruda, who lays it inside for Ávila. He shifts it onto his left and then drills in a great through ball for Silva. Silva hits it left footed on the turn but his shot goes narrowly over.

10 minutes later Valadão loops a free kick into the centre from the left wing. Oliveira gets his head to it on the penalty spot but his sideways header is completely non-threatening and looks to be heading out onto the wing. However in a moment of madness, Vasco makes the decision to head the ball back across his own goal into an incredibly dangerous area. The Lourosa defenders are stunned, they're frozen in place. This makes it very easy for Bruce Ávila to find space at the far post and slot the ball past the keeper, bagging himself a debut goal.

The match from that point on is a scrappy affair. It's very much what you'd expect from a match between a lower league side and a team full of reserves.

In fact, nothing of note actually happens until the 68th minute, when Serpa throws the ball to Valadão just inside our own half and he plays a long pass down the right wing. Silva runs onto it and chips it across to the far post, where Batista is lurking to hit it on the half volley, doubling our lead and opening his professional goalscoring account.

That goal sparks something in us. 5 minutes later Silva lays the ball back for Serpa, who uses his pace to charge down the right wing and then squares the ball to Rúby just outside the area. Rúby takes a touch and hammers a shot against the angle between bar and upright, and the ball is headed clear. Wilson Dias comes on to replace Hélder Arruda in the attacking midfield role. They're about as comfortable there as each other, which is to say sort of.

With 10 minutes to play, Rúby surges forward into the final third and plays a neat one-two with Batista to his left. He then feeds Silva, who's stood on the edge of the area with his back to goal. Silva turns and spots the run of Dias to his right, and he chips the ball through for him, leaving Dias with a sitter. Dias' half volley though is straight at the keeper Emanuel, who parries it behind.

With 2 minutes to go we're still pushing for a 3rd. Emanuel's short goal kick is sloppy and Silva gets to the ball before the daydreaming centre back Ferreira. He dribbles forward to the edge of the area but Ferreira, keen to save face, closes him down fiercely, making Silva panic and skew his shot wide.

A minute later a good give and go between Batista and Xéxé forces Lourosa to give away a corner. Ávila swings it into the centre and Xéxé powers a header towards the top left corner, but Emanuel saves well before Martyr clears.

We still aren't done though, into injury time we go and Valadão brings the ball forward into space, before playing it to Ávila, who's cutting in from the right. He shoots towards the far top corner but Emanuel saves well again to keep the score respectable.

I can't say I was particularly pleased with the first 68 minutes, apart from the goal, but in the end our reserves pulled their fingers out and played some nice football. Some of them have given me a lot to think about. Silva, who initially seemed so composed in front of goal on his debut, needs to work on making the most of his chances. He's easily rattled and I think the last time he shot with his preferred right foot he scored, but he's done nothing since except snatch at chances with his left. I've far from given up on him, but I know now what he can improve on. I might have a word with Magina, to see if he can help him with his game.

Ávila gave a very good account of himself, as did the 2 full backs, and I was also impressed with Rúby and Valadão, although I think those 2 would struggle to hold the midfield against a better opposition that would ask them more questions.

But all in all, I'm happy: we're top of the league, we've won our cup match, and we've still not conceded a bloody goal. And that'll do for me.

[Franjo]

What Does Kevin Do? - Part 2 (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep29)

"Leighton Baines!" I exclaim.

"Luis Figo" comes the deadpan reply.

"Steven Gerrard!" I say incredulously.

"Cristiano Ronaldo" comes the retort.

"David Beckham! Frank Lampard! Alan Shearer! Matt le bleeding Tissier!" I list the names off one by one, growing more infuriated each time. "You haven't got a leg to stand on Nuno, that's 6 incredible English penalty takers."

Nuno leans forward on his mower and scrunches up his leathery face. "Beckham... Lampard... Gerrard... These are no good." He mutters.

"Oh, that one time." I roll my eyes.

"And who is Bayton Lanes?" He asks, smirking slightly. My fists clench involuntarily.

"You'd better be joking", I tell him sternly.

At that moment, I notice Pedro Botelho walking across the pitch towards us, clutching a notepad and a cup of coffee. We're welcoming Sporting Clube de Viana do Alentejo to our place today, and he'll be wanting me to brief him on our tactics. He gives Nuno a stern look as he gets closer to us.

"Don't you have mowing to do?" He asks flatly. Nuno says something back to him in rapid Portuguese and I'm nowhere near fluent enough to keep up, but I'm sure I hear the word "Beckham" in there. Pedro cracks up laughing.

"Cheers Pedro" I say loudly, taking his cup of coffee. He stops laughing and looks quite sheepish. "And you," I say, turning back to Nuno and taking a sip of my newly acquired and scalding hot beverage for emphasis, "Finish this pitch and then go look up Leighton Baines. And then David Unsworth. Educate yourself."

Nuno chuckles as he turns away to continue his mowing. "You fail today Inglês" he calls out, as if it were compulsory.

"**** off" I call back. It's OK, It's all a bit more light hearted between me and Nuno nowadays. Once you accept that he's just a bitter old wind up merchant he's actually alright. And he's a patriot, you've got to respect that. Of course, it's easy to be patriotic if your national side only won the Euros last year isn't it. And I suppose if you've also got the best player in the world on your side then that's just gravy.

I wish that just once it would pay off to be an English Patriot. If just one tournament could end without total humiliation, that'd be nice.

But, laughably improbable pipe dreams aside, we have work to do. Sporting Cl... I'll just refer to them as Viana. Viana come into this game 8th in the league, having drawn 2 and lost 1 of their matches so far. We, in case I haven't mentioned it, are top of the bloody league. We've won 3, scored 8 and conceded 0. Confidence is sky high and we've got the home advantage. Doesn't it just feel like a match we're destined to lose?

The plan is simple, because the simpler the plan, the more the players know what they're doing and the less chance there is of them making a load of awful and needless mistakes. We will stick with our most standard Project: Meatloaf, and the most standard lineup we have, including Azevedo in net. Although I will be telling the players to express themselves and roam from their positions, as Viana will almost certainly sit right back and try to catch us on the break and I need us to be in the mindset that we should crush them.

For the first 10 minutes, I'm off my seat and smiling excitedly, filled to the brim with anticipation. For the next 10 minutes I'm back on my seat, waiting patiently for my excitement to be vindicated. For the 10 minutes after that my hand is over my mouth and my eyes dart nervously after the ball, willing it to fly into the Viana net and give us our breakthrough.In the 30th minute, Benjamim is robbed of the ball by Ostovari just inside the Viana half. He passes to Xande, who walks it forward, and plays in Fernandes on the left, who passes it straight to Pimentel 25 yards out. Lassina Touré comes to close Pimentel down but Ostovari runs into the space he leaves. Ostavari receives the ball and slots it under Azevedo first time. Our 425 minute clean sheet streak is over. At home. Against Viana. I'm fuming.

5 minutes later though the tables turn: Benjamim robs Ostovari on the half way line and plays it to Magina. Magina passes it to Kevin's feet on the right and he chips it straight over to Hurley, 25 yards out. Hurley splits the defence with a magnificent through ball and Antunes goes one on one with the keeper, before placing the ball into the bottom left hand corner.

I instantly decide to make a change: Hurley will be a defensive playmaker. So far we've struggled with the gap between our defence and midfield in 2 ways, Viana are finding too much space there and our defenders are struggling to get the ball into midfield. Hurley playing in a deeper role should solve both problems. Anyway, I had hoped for a quick reaction from my players and I got it. Now let's see what they can do.

It takes until the 53rd minute for either team to create a chance. From a free kick 35 yards out, Amonike passes short to Antunes, who plays it on for Kevin just outside the area, left of centre. Kevin slots a pass into the box and Cristiano Magina's there to slot it into the far bottom corner. Júnior in the Viana goal has absolutely no chance.

2 minutes later it feels like the flood gates are opening: an Amonike corner is headed clear and Antunes picks up the ball on the left wing. He runs inside and plays in Magina, who turns and shoots left footed from the edge of the area into the top left corner. We're 3-1 up.

I bring on Seidi for Hurley, who picked up a minor knock in the first half and has a booking to his name, and tell Seidi to hold position at the base of our midfield.

With 25 minutes to go, Olivier chips the ball out to Kevin 15 yards inside our half. Kevin plays a great ball down the left behind the Viana defence and Magina runs onto it, outmuscling Amoná, but his angle is too narrow and he pokes a shot at Júnior, who parries it away. I tell vice-captain Kevin to let the team know: We want more of that, pass into space as much as possible.

10 minutes later Touré wins the ball from Daniel after some patient Viana build up and plays a long ball forward to start a counter. It's headed back by Amoná and comes to Antunes, who chips a pass over the top again for Magina. The big striker runs through one on one with the goalkeeper but Júnior closes the angle well and parries his shot. I note with mild annoyance that Benjamim is strolling around looking like the game's already won. I hook him and bring on Rúby, who will play as a ball winner next to Seidi.

A few minutes after that, Amonike receives the ball just inside the Viana half, looks up, and plays a diagonal ball over the defence. Magina takes it down on his chest and shoots left footed, but Júnior saves again. Despite his 2 goals, CM9 isn't having much luck today.

10 minutes to go, and the match isn't slowing. Araújo robs Amonike just into the Viana half and starts a patient short passing move. Pimentel spots the run of Fernandes, who's sprinting inside from the left wing. He chips the ball through and Fernandes latches onto it, and squares it to Xande, who's unmarked 6 yards out. He slams it into the top corner and the game's back on. We fall back into the Heróis Original system, still with a withdrawn double pivot and with Antunes also dropping back.

With only 5 minutes to go, Viana have a corner, but it's poor and Azevedo plucks it out of the air. He punts the ball forward and Kevin nods it on for Magina, in acres of space. He runs to the edge of the area and shoots left footed, but it goes just wide.

That's fine. I think to myself as the whistle blows. We were always going to concede at some point but at least that's 4 wins out of 4.

During the next week, before our Taça de Portugal 2nd round match, I make a signing. Diogo Coelho is a left back, and I think he's the left back I've been waiting for.

He's in his prime at 25 years old and he has excellent quality. He's very well rounded, fairly quick, very determined and he'll do a job technically. His decision making is pretty poor, hence the moustache, but I expect that once fit he'll be my first choice left back. We signed him on a free after he was released by Santa Clara, so he should have plenty to talk about with Serginho, and how strange is it that he spent a year on loan in 2015/16, making 33 appearances for our next opponents: LigaPro side Farense.

Farense are flying so far as they won their first 4 league games, which places them 4th out of 20 sides. Nevertheless they're coming to our place off the back of 2 straight league defeats, so I'm confident that they can be got at. Jorginho will be one to watch, as current joint top scorer in the LigaPro with 4 goals in 6.

I'll be taking no chances with my selection: Heróis Original will keep us steady and should give us a good platform to dominate the game after Farense start to tire. Azevedo is replaced by Serginho as he's still not conceded a goal, and Seidi replaces Antunes. Hurley will be our number 10 with Benjamim and Seidi behind him.

It takes 5 minutes for my plans to be shot to bits. A Sousa cross towards danger man Jorginho is volleyed by Olivier and nodded on by Benjamim, but not far away enough. Vieirinha is there 20 yards out to head the ball down for Sócrates, who takes a touch and boots it into the top left corner. This could be a very long day.

After almost half an hour the match is ridiculously one-sided against us. Esgueirão chips in a free kick from the edge of our area, but it's headed away by Miranda. Esgueirão takes it down and passes down the right for Rateira, who's unmarked. Rateira turns inside and squares it brilliantly for Sócrates, who smashes it on the half volley, but Serginho parries it wide. We counter with a decent passing move but it ends with Kevin blazing a shot well wide.

I decide that I've seen enough. "MEATLOAF!", I scream from the touchline, before turning to Antunes and gesturing for him to warm up. I'm getting some funny looks from the opposition bench but I ignore them. Antunes replaces Seidi in the 29th minute. Let's play some bloody football shall we?

We work our way back into the match, slowly but surely over the next half hour. At least it's now a contest. Just before the hour mark, Antunes intercepts a Rateira pass and plays the ball to Magina. CM9 holds it up and lays it off for Kevin. Time seems to stand still for him once more. What does Kevin do?

Kevin is 40 yards from goal. Magina, Antunes and Hurley are all 10 yards in front of him, but for some reason they're all stood together and are practically being marked by 2 Farense midfielders, Livramento and Pinto. Benjamim is stood quite a distance away, 25 yards out but level with the far, right hand post. He's an option but again, he's being closely marked by Vieirinha, so a pass would be risky. Amonike is over on the right wing with space in front to run into, but it would require an excellent pass to set the winger away. There's a gap between where Livramento and Pinto are and where Vieirinha is stood. So what does Kevin do?

Kevin runs.

He darts forwards. Livramento closes him down and sticks in a foot, but Kevin knocks the ball past him and runs around the other way. Kevin keeps running. He shimmies past the challenge of Pinto. He's 20 yards out now. Kevin draws his right foot back and rifles a shot as far into the top left corner as it could have possibly gone. The Keeper doesn't even move.

After a few seconds I realise that I'm laughing. A high pitched, maniacal laugh. Pedro has lifted me up from behind as our fans, our staff and our players all simultaneously erupt into cheers and applause. What a goal! What a bloody goal! We're back in the game!

5 minutes later, Antunes hits a free kick from just outside the area and it smashes off the bar, before Erick clears. I bring on Batista for Amonike, who's been quiet. We're in the ascendancy here and there's no room for quiet in this side.

With just under 20 minutes to go, Miranda throws the ball to Antunes on the right hand side of the Farense penalty area and he dribbles inside, losing his marker Sócrates, dashing past the static pair of Esgueirão and Vieirinha, before smashing a left footed shot towards the near top corner. He's denied by an incredible fingertip save by Hidalgo, but I shout my encouragement anyway. That was excellent from the young man.

A few minutes after, Miranda chips the ball into the centre for Hurley, who plays it on for Magina, 30 yards out. CM9 lays it back for Hurley, who passes straight to Antunes. He looks up and squeezes an excellent ball through for Batista, who gets goal-side of Esgueirão on the right. The tiny winger takes a touch, avoiding Sousa's slide tackle, and plays a low ball in to Magina, who deftly strokes it into the bottom right.

Stick a fork in this match, it's done. I sprint onto the pitch to join the top of the pile of celebrating players. What a match. What a comeback. Take that, Farense. Take that, LigaPro. Take a bow, meus Heróis.

I bring Kevin off with just minutes to go. Farense, the comfortable pre-match favourites, are out of ideas and the game is all but over. Kevin soaks in the adoration of the fans as he slowly makes his way to the sideline, high fiving his replacement, debutant Diogo Coelho, as he goes. I look round and spot Nuno watching from the front row, some way down the touchline. I give him a thumbs up and he gives me a non-committal nod in return. "Rickie Lambert", I mouth exaggeratedly to him. He scrunches up his face again and shrugs. Bloody hell, Nuno.

[Franjo]

The First Real Test (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep30)

Look, I've got nothing against the underdogs. The scrappy "Just happy to be here" teams. I really don't, and I wish them well. We're in Beja to face off against Despertar and their Season hasn't started awfully well. After a surprisingly good 2-0 away win over Aljustrelense on the opening day, they promptly registered 2 back to back 1-1 draws against no-hopers Juventude Évora and Sp Viana Alentejo. They followed this up by getting thrown out of the Taça de Portugal at the first time of asking, courtesy of Olhanense, who are gunning for the promotion stage in Group H of our division, before getting swept aside by Barreirense. Despertar are sitting in 4th place in our group but they've already played most of the weaker sides. Quite honestly, I fear for them this season.

Hey, on a related note actually, did I mention that we're in 1st place in the group? It's been nothing, really. A Midas touch here, a sprinkle of genius there... In all seriousness I will not accept a league finish which puts us through to the relegation stage, which means a top 2 finish is a must. I'm anticipating some tough matches in October, especially against Barreirense and Pinhalnovense, so we can't afford to slip up against teams like this.

We go with Project: Meatloaf, we go with what I believe is our strongest lineup, and we go out to continue our winning streak.

Within the first 10 minutes, Hurley goes down clutching his thigh, which is worrying. He's been an extremely consistent creator for us since he arrived in Hero Creek. Luckily after he limps off the pitch to be assessed by Pedro Dalot, our head physio, we find that it's just a bruised thigh. He'll stay on for now but I'll be keeping an eye on him.

Just over 20 minutes into the match Touré heads the ball to Hurley, who's looking OK. He plays it on first time to Antunes, who brings the ball into the Despertar half with his head raised, looking for the pass. He sees Kevin on the left and plays a one-two with him, before finding Magina on the edge of the area. Magina takes the ball round a defender with 1 touch before squaring it for Hurley, who drives it low and hard into the bottom corner. We're on our way to 7 wins out of 7 in all competitions and we look unstoppable.

10 minutes later, Amonike sends a corner in but Brites heads it away. Antunes picks the loose ball up 35 yards out and brings it forward, before stroking it to Benjamim on edge of area. The centre mid turns and slots the ball through for Hurley, who hits it first time with his left peg. His shot beats the keeper but comes back off the far post. The ball starts to roll back across the line and Magina is the first man on the scene, getting there before the keeper to knock it in and double our lead.

In first half injury time it could be 3 when a good passing move culminates with Benjamim chipping the ball to CM9 on the edge of the box. The big man chests it down and gives it back, before Benjamim slides it into the area for Amonike to run onto. The winger loses his marker and gets to the ball, but blazes it well over from 10 yards with his first time shot.

At half time I replace Amonike with Batista. Not specifically because of the sitter he just missed, but rather because he seems to have gone off the boil a bit lately. He's been quiet so it can't hurt to give young Batista a bit of match time in his place.

Just before the hour mark, Antunes chips in a free kick from the right wing. Olivier nods it on at the near post and Touré arrives to volley the ball goal-wards. Unfortunately he smashes it at Carvalho, the Despertar keeper. He can't hold onto it and can only parry the ball away, before their left back Santos clears.

Shortly afterwards, Benjamim gets caught in possession just into the Despertar half. Freitas wins the ball and gets it to David, starting a slow passing move to get the ball up towards our goal, before eventually David slides the ball through for Rodrigo Borges inside our area. He turns and gives it back, and David places his shot into the top right corner via the bar.

The next 10 minutes are tense, but then Olivier plays the ball to Aires inside our half. The left back takes a touch and smashes it right footed over the Despertar defence and into the central channel. Magina latches onto it, brings it down and places it into bottom left corner to restore our cushion. I bring on Coelho for Aires, as the former needs a bit of match practice. That was a great assist from Aires though and he's played well this season. Coelho will have a job dislodging him from the starting lineup.

Only a couple of minutes later, and after a good passing move from Os Heróis, Antunes stands with the ball 35 yards out. He moves it sideways to Benjamim, who flicks it on superbly with his heel. Hurley receives the ball and plays it straight on to Magina, who finds Kevin, who holds it up and draws in a couple of defenders before releasing Magina in the area. His shot is good, but it's tipped onto the bar and cleared. Excellent move though.

5 minutes later, Antunes turns inside from the right wing and crosses left footed deep into the area, but Kevin's header is straight at Carvalho. We are hammering on the door, trying to kill the game off with a 4th goal.

And with 5 minutes to go, Antunes spreads the ball out to Batista on the right wing. He floats a deep cross to the far post but nobody's there. Samiro heads it away but only as far as Kevin, stood 8 yards out to left. He chests it down, picks his spot and smashes it into the top right corner. Game over.

https://youtu.be/0oxVUSzUfyc

Another potential banana skin and another convincing win. I know I set my standards high for this season but I have to say this team is impressing the hell out of me. The bad news is that Hurley will be out for 3-4 days with his bruised thigh but the good news is that out next match is in 10 days, so it shouldn't matter at all. By the way, we aren't going up against another minnow or another underdog. We're going up against Barreirense.

Yes, Barreirense are coming to town. This is one of the big ones. One of the true tests of who we are and what we're made of. Barreirense are 2nd in the league, 2 points behind us after winning their 1st 4 matches and most recently playing out a goalless draw with Moura. I thought that they and Pilhanovense would be our rivals this season but as it turns out, just the 2 of us are pulling away from the rest of the league. We're both undefeated. For now.

Do you know what I don't need at such a crucial moment in our season? Whining. Bruce Ávila thinks that he should be in the team instead of Kevin and I don't stop laughing until he sheepishly walks out of my office and closes the door behind him. He does have potential as a winger but come on.

We also have a tactical dilemma. Do we go with the more stable, balanced Heróis Original system as we're against such worthy opposition? Or do we stick with formation that's seen us win 7 matches in a row in all competitions?

You probably know the answer. We go unchanged.

We start brightly. Amonike's free kick from just outside the area in the 3rd minute crashes off the bar and Monsecour puts it behind.

That corner leads to nothing, but after a quarter of an hour we win another as we continue to take the game to Barreirense. Amonike swings it out to the far post, Benjamim nods it back across goal and Magina is there, but he connects poorly with his header and puts it well wide.

A few minutes later we're the ones that concede a corner. Félix swings it in and Magina heads it away as far as Brigues, who collects it 35 yards out. He holds the ball up and plays it through to Lagoa on the edge of area. Lagoa squares it to Caraballo, who passes it forwards to Severino on the penalty spot. Severino smashes the ball into the left hand side of the net.

I say nothing. I do nothing. I don't even change my expression. I can physically feel us slip to 2nd in the table. I can feel us shifting downwards and I can hear the sound of stone grinding on stone, like those big stone doors in old films. We all simultaneously drop with a loud clunk.

5 minutes later, Lagoa is pressed on his right wing, deep in the Barreirense half. He tries a clearance, but it doesn't go far and Benjamim gets to the ball, playing it straight to Antunes. The young number 10 comes forward and gives it back to Benjamim, who plays in Kevin on the right. Kevin loses his marker and whips a cross in to the far post. Dujardim misses his header and Magina gets to it, stabbing a volley home and pulling us level.

We're back on top. There is no stone grinding on stone this time, we're floating silently but smugly back up to the top where we belong, waving 2 fingers at our opponents as we go.

Just after the half hour mark, Everino comes forward and puts the ball inside to Silva, who plays it straight on for Caraballo. Caraballo holds it up, plays a one-two with Severino and then lays it off for Lagoa just inside the area, who smashes it to Serginho's right and into the back of the net once again. Bollocks. Back down we go.

Just before half time, Elói catches a weak cross from Kevin and boots the ball forwards towards us. Caraballo beats Touré to the header and nods it on for Severino, who runs forward diagonally to edge of our area and shoots with power, but the ball flies just wide.

At half time we're 2-1 down. The only other time we've been losing so far this season we were back before half time. This is worrying. Our first proper test and we're failing. I tell the lads that I'm not impressed. I expect better from them at home, no matter who we're facing.

Less than 5 minutes after the restart, Amonike steps up to take a corner and crosses it into the centre. Brigues heads the ball away as far as Benjamim, who's stood on the right hand side of the box. The midfielder plays a one-two with Magina and then smashes a shot towards goal from 8 yards. Estádio Municipal de Angra do Heroismo falls silent. His shot bounces back off Judickas. Benjamim gets to the rebound and has another go, but his second shot bounces back off Dujardin. But then up steps our big centre back Olivier. He nips in front of Benjamim and executes a neat volley to open his account. 2-2.

With half an hour to go we need to go for it. I bring on Batista for Amonike, who apart from a couple of decent set pieces has been quiet again. With 28 minutes to go, Miranda takes a throw in on the right and gives the ball to Benjamim. He passes into the centre for Hurley, who steps forward and slides a ball through the defence for Magina to run onto. A collective intake of breath makes the ground fall silent once more. I stand in anticipation. So does Pedro. So do the fans. Magina latches onto Hurley's pass, shoots left footed, and watches as the ball nestles into the bottom left corner.

Pandemonium ensues. I'm jumping and punching the air, Pedro looks like he's about to cry, the fans are bouncing and cheering with glee. We lead Barreirense for the first time and now all we need to do is not **** it up.

Shortly afterwards, Antunes passes the ball to Hurley, who plays another excellent through ball for Magina to run onto, but his right footed effort flies just wide.

With 15 minutes to, Antunes is sacrificed and replaced with Jaime Seidi. We revert to our Heróis Original system with Seidi as the holding man and Hurley behind Magina, where he's pretty much been playing anyway.

With less than 10 minutes to go, a neat passing move results in Benjamim finding himself with the ball at his feet 30 yards out. He dashes forward, taking on a couple of defenders before shooting high and wide from 20 yards.

But that's the last chance that either team creates. Vamos bloody Heróis!

https://youtu.be/QbGzL27vduc

We're still on top, and we've taken possibly the most crucial 3 points we'll take all season. Not only are we now 5 points clear of 2nd place, but we've also put down a marker. We are the only team allowed to remain unbeaten in this league. We won't be stopped by a team like Barreirense, in fact, they'll stop for us. We've got the most quality, the most desire and the most creativity in the Championship for my money. We've got the toughest defenders, the most dependable midfielders and the most clinical striker. We've floated back to the top of the pile and we're smiling smugly down at everyone down below, while they gaze enviously back at us.

God, I love this team.

[Franjo]

Video Highlights - Yes or No? (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Meta-sode 30.5)

Olá meus amigos,

Just a quick one. You'll probably have noticed in episode 30 (If you follow this story on franjo.wordpress.com) that I have uploaded match highlights so that they can be watched on youtube. This is basically a trial. Here's what I'm thinking:

I'm always trying to make this story better and this idea could do just that, but only if the people who follow the story are interested. I like the idea of you having the option of watching the goals, especially if they're as beautiful as certain goals from a certain winger that you'll see in an episode next week, which actually inspired me to do this.

The thing is, if you guys have been following my story so far, I assume that you enjoy reading it. I've had a few people tell me they read while they're at work, where I'm assuming watching videos might not be possible. If enough of you like the idea of having the option to be able to watch the highlights, then let me know and I'll continue uploading them. I may even go back to episode 1 and start uploading them retrospectively because I'm insane.

If nobody is really interested in watching highlights in video form then that's fine, we'll carry on with our text and screenshot format, but just thought I'd throw it out there to see what you think.

Email me at franjofm23@gmail.com to let me know!

Cheers,

Franjo

Ps - Vamos Heróis!

[Franjo]

That's Amora (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep31)

OK, we've won 8 competitive matches in a row since the start of the season. That's a 100% record. The thing about having a 100% record is that you start to become terrified of losing your 100% record. It's nonsensical. I feel like because we're doing so well the pressure on me is mounting up more than it would be if we'd dropped a few points.

It's cup day today. The third round. We've beaten a lower league side and a LigaPro side so far in the Taça de Portugal, and now we face someone on our own level.

Gouveia haven't made the best start in Group D of the Championship. They've picked up 6 points in 6 matches so we should really be turning them over.

I'm staying consistent with our lineup though, I won't be sending out the reserves because I'd quite enjoy a good cup run. We go Project: Meatloaf and we go with a very predictable lineup.

We go 1-0 up quickly when Benjamim stabs the ball home from close range after Magina helps the ball on from an Antunes pass. That's his 1st goal of the season.

Kevin nods down an Amonike corner to tee up Magina after quarter of an hour but his shot is saved brilliantly from rolling into the bottom corner by Bolas.

5 minutes later though, Magina releases Benjamim again and he drills the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

With 22 minutes gone, Lassina Touré picks up a booking and just 5 minutes later he leaps to head the ball and decides to slap it with his hand instead. He sees a 2nd yellow, which makes things tricky. I bring off Antunes, keen to give him a rest anyway, and replace him with Seidi. Our shape changes to more of a 4-1-1-2-1.

We keep pushing anyway through the rest of the first half. Magina goes close when he runs from deep but shoots straight at Bolas, and then a good cross from Vitor Miranda is nodded down for Magina by Amonike, but the usually clinical striker blazes the ball over from just inside the area.

At half time we keep the same shape but change our system to the more reserved Heróis Original. Diogo Coelho comes on for Amonike.

It takes less than 30 seconds of the second half for Coelho to play a great ball through for Kevin at the far post, but his half volley comes back off the post.

After an hour I give Bruce Ávila a run out. Kevin gives the armband to Jaime Seidi as he makes his way off.

10 minutes later, Tiago Silva (Not that one) gets on the end of a great Gnahore through ball and slots the ball away to make things interesting.

From then on we try to kill the game with counter attacks. Mauro Aires goes closest when he takes down a Seidi free kick and puts the ball just over, but when our 3rd goal does come it seems familiar. Magina sets up Benjamim, who boots it into the top corner. For those keeping count, that's 3 assists for Magina and a superb, unexpected and completely deserved hat trick for our number 17.

https://youtu.be/vFnj4ceq2Fk

What can we do to put a cherry on top of that win then? How about a new long term contract for Carlos Antunes? Go on then. To be fair we agreed this contract shortly after he made his debut for the club but he's only just turned 17 so has only just been able to sign. I am very pleased. He's getting better and better, he's proved himself to be mature beyond his years and he's shown that he's absolutely ready for the starting first team spot I've given him since Medeiros left.

Incidentally, with the Belgian Pro League about a third of the way done, Medeiros has sadly only made 2 substitute appearances. He's got work to do if he's to break into the first team by the look of it.

I'd tell you how Marco Silveira's doing at Craiova but I honestly couldn't give less of a ****. In fact looking through our list of outgoing transfers from the Summer, the only one that really interests me apart from Jordanes is Diogo Silva, a young centre back that I doubt I ever mentioned to you. He was 4th choice so I don't think that he ever featured for me last season, and because of the imminent arrivals of Olivier and Touré I allowed his contract to run out in the hopes that he'd go and get first team football somewhere else. And he is. He's getting a fair bit of game time for a little club from Merseyside named Tranmere Rovers.

Anyway, up next is Amora at our place. Amora have the worst goal difference in the league with -9. They sit in 8th place having lost half of their matches and won just the once.

The only changes we make are Batista coming in on the right in place of Amonike, who hasn't been having a massive impact of late, and Seidi coming in for the suspended Touré at the back.

We start well, which is starting to become a very pleasing trait of ours. Batista instantly justifies his inclusion when he swings a cross in to the edge of the area in the 7th minute. Kevin hits the ball on the volley and it bounces off Magina on the way in.

Seidi gets the ball into the back of the net after quarter of an hour after an Antunes free kick is nodded on by Olivier, but the goal doesn't count as Jaime had strayed offside.

Never mind though, 5 minutes later a great passing move ends in Magina getting yet another assist. This time he plays Antunes through and the young number 10 celebrates his new contract by drilling the ball past poor Kiko to double our lead.

I'm quite hopeful of putting 1 or 2 more past Kiko before half time, but as it transpires the rest of the half is cagier. It's not until 10 minutes after half time that we go close again. Benjamim threads a pass through for Batista on the right, but he drags his shot wide of the far post.

2 minutes later we do bag another, and Magina bags another assist. He's had an incredible start to the season. This time he lays the ball off for Hurley, who slams the ball to Kiko's right from the edge of the area.

With half an hour to go Batista again puts the ball wide of the far post when Magina puts him through. Shooting is definitely something to work on for him.

I bring on Renato Silva for the last 20 minutes to give him a chance to shine. Magina makes way and Silva instantly sets up Hurley for a good chance, but Kiko gets his hands to the ball possibly for the first time.

For the last 10 minutes I give Rúby and Ávila a run out, and with 6 minutes to go, Amora decide that they're ready to play some football. Pardal squares the ball for Afonso, who takes a touch and smashes it off the bar. At least the away fan had something to get out of his seat for eh?

https://youtu.be/r9hVqBk0STM

So that's 10 wins in 10. I'm still terrified of losing our 100% record for some daft reason, but Magina has no such concerns. He's in the form of his life, having scored 10 goals and assisted 8, and it's an absolute pleasure to have him in the squad.

After our next 2 matches, we'll have reached the half way point of the first phase. But we've still got to get through Pinhalnovense and Fabril do Barreiro, who are 3rd and 4th respectively. And bloody hell if we can beat both of them, I'd back us to win all 18 matches.

[Franjo]

Stepping It Up (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep32)

Pinhalnovense are a good, but underachieving side. That's a dangerous combination. You must have had this before. If you're reading this, I'm willing to bet you're a fan of a football team. You know that feeling when you see a good side that's been struggling and struggling and then when your team plays them you're sure that they'll turn their poor form around against you? Yeah me too. I've been burned before as a fan and I don't particularly want to be burned as a Manager.

I mentioned when we played Barreirense that I had singled out them and Pinhalnovense as the teams to watch out for at the start of the season, and it hasn't really panned out as I expected. We're top on 21 points and while Pinhalnovense are 3rd, and while they've only lost once, they've drawn 4 out of 7 games. This puts them comfortably behind us on 10 points but they'll still be tough opposition.

We'll go with Project: Meatloaf as it's served us so well so far and it should prevent Pinhalnovense from pulling the shutters down in front of us. Batista gets another start on the right wing.

At half time I walk slowly into the silent dressing room, looking around at all the bowed heads. They know what they did. That was an awful 45 minutes. There was no action at all. No swagger. No chances. Pinhalnovense and the team bus they keep just in front of their net have done this against over half the teams they've played against this season, but they won't do it to us. We're a positive side that play nice football and score goals. The team and I enter into a frank discussion about where they've been keeping their fingers throughout the first half and I send them back out to win us the match. Except for Batista. He's replaced by Amonike, who has been known to take matches like this by the scruff of the neck.

It takes 63 minutes for either side to carve out a noteworthy chance. Our half time substitute Amonike gets a cross into the 6 yard box and Magina bundles the ball into the net. The breakthrough is ours.

With 10 minutes to go I decide to make changes. This has been a remarkably poor match and I could sub most of the team, but I only have 2 subs left. Antunes and Kevin are replaced by the more defensively minded Seidi and Coelho, and we drop to a counter attacking 4-1-4-1.

With 8 minutes to go, Diogo Pirolo gets the ball on the right wing and crosses to the far post, and Anjos gets his head to the ball, guiding it past Serginho.

8 minutes pass without incident.

https://youtu.be/y7I9JWeDS2o

Right, I've had time to collect my thoughts and process my feelings. Here is my carefully worded statement on what just happened:

**** Pinhalnovense. **** them and **** the budget Portuguese Tony Pulis they've got dragging them through exclusively defensive drills every miserable training session. **** them for Sernacheing us*, **** them for ending our winning streak, **** our team for letting them and **** me for ever talking them up as true competition for the league. I predict they'll pick up 18 points from 18 matches and I hope they get relegated, go bust, reform as Pinhalnovense Phoenix and go bust again.

OK, that's better. Sometimes I need to get the emotional reaction out of the way so that I can focus on actually analysing the match. Well, the match itself is pretty straightforward, it was just football. When the rage faded and I took a step back, I realised it was a really bad match that neither team deserved to win. They didn't deserve or really intend to get 3 points and we barely showed up. We couldn't break them down and we fell asleep at the end. Maybe it was because I dropped us back and invited pressure, or maybe it was just one of those things, but we didn't deserve the win either.

And let's not forget that they ended our winning streak, not our unbeaten run. We're still way ahead in the league and we're still very much alive in the Taça de Portugal, so never mind. Let the scoundrels have their point, they need it.

I have a conversation a few days later that makes me very sad. It's with Gonçalo Valadão, Meu Capitão e meu amigo. After 19 years in football and 19 years with Angrense, he's hanging up his boots. I try to convince him to give us 1 more year. I'm not sure why, as I haven't got any intention of playing him, but it's a heart-ruling-head moment. His decision is final.

So, this last week's been a bit of a downer really, hasn't it. Fabril do Barreiro are next and they present an opportunity for us to get back on track. They were predicted 7th at the start of the season but are currently overachieving: they sit 5th on 11 points, the same as Pinhalnovense. But with more wins.

Fabril have been lining up lately with a narrow diamond formation so we'll be using our lesser spotted Project: Meatloaf but attacking quickly down the wings system. I'll think of a better name at some point. I'm taking Mauro Aires out of the lineup and giving Diogo Coelho his full debut as he's pretty good going forward and should overlap well on the left. Amonike comes back in for Batista after his assist from the bench last week.

Less than 20 seconds into the match, João Coelho plays the ball forward into our half from the half way line. It bounces between Lassina Touré and Vitor Miranda and Terry Akpua latches onto it on the left. He gets a cross in to the far post, Diogo Coelho scuffs his clearance and Coutinho places it into the corner from 8 yards. It's all going wrong.

For the next 20 minutes Fabril continue to come forward and control the match, so I tell the team to play on the counter. 2 minutes later we go close when from a cleared corner, the ball is chested down by Magina, but Hurley drills it just wide.

With a minute to go until half time I'm consulting my Portuguese phrase book to find unsavoury words to use in my team talk, but then another Amonike corner is nodded on at the near post by Olivier and headed in at the far post by Lassina Touré. That's his first goal for us, and what a bloody good time to score it.

At half time I don't use any of my new words, but I do commit them to memory for next time. I encourage the lads and tell us to go and control the game again in true Meatloaf style. Fabril will be shaken by our equaliser just before the break and we should be able to take advantage.

5 minutes after the restart, it becomes clear that Touré is really stepping it up. He plays the ball right over the top of the defence for Magina, who takes it down well and lays it off for Kevin to toe poke into the back of the net from the edge of the area.

A further 5 minutes passes before Amonike is set away down the right by Antunes. He gets to the byline and cuts the ball back for Magina, who takes a touch and thumps in our 3rd. We're back.

Seidi and Aires come on for Hurley, who has been playing with a thigh strain since the 1st half, and Coelho, who is lacking match fitness but wasn't too bad after his 20 second howler. We fall back into the safe, comfortable Heróis Original to see out the match.

Renato Silva gets a 15 minute run out and Akpua has a decent chance saved by Serginho, and the match is over. We're back to winning ways.

https://youtu.be/Btkiga3KpkQ

*Sernacheing

Definition: To Sernache a fellow football club is to bore them to death and rob them of 2 points by playing awful, cagey, unentertaining football.

[Franjo]

Burkinabe (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 32.5)

I've stayed late in my office tonight, pouring over stats, thinking about performances. The thing is, and this is a bit cliché really, but you really do learn more from losses than you do from wins, so I'm in quite a ... good? ... predicament at the minute where I can't really change anything because aside from our blip against Pinhalnovense, everything is ... well, it's fine. But it takes either a very brave or a very stupid Manager to just accept that fact and happily put out the same team in the same shape week after week. So now, I'm trying to work out where we can improve. Where are the weakest points? What can we do to turn this good team into a great one?

Just then, my office landline rings. The only people who have this number are Joakim and Pizza Hut. I hope it's Pizza Hut. I tentatively pick up the receiver and hold it to my ear: "H-Hello?"

"Hello is this Mr Franjo?" Says the unfamiliar voice on the other end. It isn't Joakim's voice, nor is it any of the Pizza Hut staff, unless they're a new hire.

"It is", I reply, "Who's speaking please?"

"It's a pleasure Mr Franjo" he continues, in a scripted sort of way. I don't think I'm the first person that he's called. "My name is Jonathan Doumbia. I am the Manager of the Burkinabe national football team."

"You're the Burkina Faso Manager?" I ask, my heartbeat quickening.

"I am." Doumbia replies. "We have a World Cup Qualifying match against Senegal next Friday and I'm making my calls around to the club Managers tonight, before I name the squad."

"Go on." I reply quietly, heart hammering in my chest.

"Well, I just thought I'd let you know that I'd like Lassina to join us for training with a view to playing for the National side", He continues.

"Lassina... Lassina Touré?" I ask, trying to play it cool.

"Yes, I thought as we hadn't met before I'd ask your opinion first, would it be OK for Lassina to join us, Franjo?" He asks.

"Yeah I don't see why not", I reply casually, the smile already stretching across my face.

"Excellent, thank you. I'll speak to you again soon, I'm sure." Says Doumbia, before he hangs up.

As soon as the line goes dead, I leap away from the phone, punching the air with delight.

I'm managing a ****ing international player! A bonafide international player!

I reach back to my desk draw and pull out the bottle that Alexander gave me at the end of my Höllviken tenure. I call it my Failure Whiskey. I've been saving it for a special occasion and this seems as good a time as any to crack it open. I do so and pour myself a glass, sitting back in my chair and grinning from ear to ear.

**** the stats, I decide as I google the Burkina Faso side. I have a look through some of their current internationals: Bertrand Traoré, the forward on loan at FC Metz from Chelsea, Charles Kaboré, the ex-Marseille midfielder currently plying his trade with Krasnodar, Bakary Koné, the AS Nancy Lorraine defender who used to play for Lyon. I've heard of these players! And now Lassina bloody Touré is going to be training, and possibly playing with them!

My first international player, I smile to myself.

[Franjo]

The Beautiful Game (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep33)

I've had a pretty exciting week. Most of it has been spent preparing for our home hame against Moura, but on Friday Miguel Borba paid for the 2 of us to fly out to Senegal, where we watched their World Cup Qualifying loss against Burkina Faso. There were plenty of familiar faces: Sadio Mané, Idrissa 'Gana' Gueye, Khouma Babacar and Bertrand Traoré to name a few. Unfortunately, Burkina Faso's number 14, Lassina Touré, didn't make his international bow, but I'm still very proud and it'll have been an incredibly valuable experience for him. Here's hoping he can keep his form up and make the next squad too.

Moving on to domestic matters then, and our own CM9 is closing in on an SC Angrense assist record. He's picked up 9 so far and we're not even half way through the season, so I'm confident that he can break Jordanes Medeiros' record of 10 assists in a single campaign. But can he break it today when we welcome Moura to our place?

Moura leapfrogged Pinhalnovense a couple of weeks ago and now sit behind Barreirense in 3rd. I'm still wary of them, because they must be doing something right. Thinking back to our first match of the season, you might think that a 2-0 away win with 10 men would mean we'd thrash them with a full team and home advantage. But that match wasn't at all comfortable, and it was only Renato Silva's late debut goal that added gloss to the scoreline. Plus, they only lost that match and the one that followed against Amora, they've not been beaten since. These are not to be underestimated. Meatloaf, anyone?

Well what a mess. Another half where we barely threaten. Half an hour in, Antunes hits the post after Kevin squares it for him from the right, but apart from that it's been 45 minutes that nobody involved will remember fondly. To make matters worse, the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half are just as bad.

**** it. I've never made a triple substitution before but I need to communicate my unhappiness. The youthful trio of Batista, Ávila and Silva replace Amonike, Kevin and Magina.

One of the first things Ávila does is swing a corner to the far side of the area. Conceição comes to head it away but mistimes his jump and doesn't connect. The ball falls just behind him to Fernando Batista, who hits the ball left footed on the volley. I watch on, mouth agape, as the ball flies past the keeper and into the back of the net.

They've done in under 4 minutes what the more established players failed to do in over an hour, and in absolutely fantastic style. Fun fact: The number of minutes played when we opened the scoring was the same as the combined age of our front 4: 69.

With quarter of an hour to go the match has finally come alive. Moura put together a decent move but Ávila breaks away on the counter. He gets it to Hurley, who passes to Silva, and he lays it off for Batista... as I watch Fernando smash the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area, I'm confused more than anything. I'm impressed, don't get me wrong, but I never thought he had this kind of goal in him. I watched him spurn 2 excellent chances against Amora not too long ago and now he's like a young Ryan Giggs. He's scored a ridiculous brace today.

With 10 minutes to go, Dinis latches onto a Bacan through ball and jabs it past Serginho, but we see the game out. I'm becoming worryingly used to this sensation of being very very impressed with certain players and being not at all impressed with others. I'll never get that first hour back but Batista's goals were the kind that justify the entry fee into Estádio Municipal de Angra do Heroismo.

https://youtu.be/7r0nBEX_OMw

Next up is our Taça de Portugal match against Belenenses, a Liga Nos side, but not a good one. They're 15th in the league, having lost 6 of their 11 matches so far, but they'll still be heavy favourites by virtue of being 2 leagues above us.

I'm not worried. I have genuine faith in this side. They let me down from time to time by not playing to their potential, but on our day I'd genuinely back us against any team in Portugal. We beat Sporting before the season started after all! Yes it was a friendly, but still. Having said all of this, I'd be foolish not to try to make us more solid. Our system isn't designed for top tier sides; we leave ourselves open, secure in the fact that the vast majority of players in the opposing teams are awful.

In the end I decide to go for Project: Meatloaf, but with Jaime Seidi replacing Antunes as a holding man in a 4-1-2-3 formation. I'm trying to make us more solid at the back while still leaving us well enough equipped going forward. We've still got Hurley charging forwards, we've still got Kevin and Amonike creating chances in wide areas, and we've still got Magina up top.

Quarter of an hour in, Hurley slips a pass through for Kevin, but João Diogo slides in fantastically to knock the ball away. Unfortunately the loose ball rolls to the far post, where Amonike arrives to knock the ball in. I'm already mid air, celebrating. This could actually happen.

Before the half hour mark, Benjamim slots a pass through for Magina, who stays cool and placed the ball into the bottom corner. I'm not mid-air anymore. I'm stunned. I can see Pedro and my coaches bouncing around in my peripheral vision, I can see the players piling onto Magina in the far corner of the pitch. I consider making changes, but it's surely too early. We can't take our foot of the pedal with an hour still to play.

We don't. A minute later, Hurley continues to make a mockery of the Belenenses defence by playing the ball right through them, but Kevin's effort is well saved by Figueiredo.

With 10 minutes to go before the break we're still piling the pressure on, but Belenenses win the ball and break quickly. Maurides puts in an incredible low cross from deep on the left wing, Valente is all on his own 6 yards out, but he hits a tame shot straight at Serginho. We got let off there.

We try not to let it rattle us but Belenenses take heart from how easily they were able to slice through us. With 3 minutes to play before half time, Maurides sets up Valente, who shoots into the bottom corner to pull a goal back.

2 minutes later Maurides is released on the left by Valente, and he puts in another low cross to the far post. Araujo puts it away to equalise. I feel sick. I missed the warning sign 10 minutes ago when we were 2-0 up. We've been sucker punched and then kicked to the floor.

We hold on until half time but I can tell that something isn't right once we get into the dressing room. We've conceded twice right before the break and now the players have got nothing to do but sit there and think about that for 15 long minutes. Their nerves are shot. My nerves are shot. I put on a brave face, hoping to lead by example. I tell them that they're unlucky not to be in front.

It seems to work. For a while after the second half begins we look calm and composed. And then with 20 minutes to go, Araujo crosses the ball in for Maurides in the centre, who heads it home. 2-3.

I change our system to Heróis Original. It's a less offensive system so we should push a little less, giving Belenenses fewer chances on the counter attack, while pushing Hurley up to a number 10 position in the hopes that he'll be able to create more in the final third.

The calmness has evaporated from my poor Heróis. 5 minutes after Belenenses take the lead, Vitor Gomes plays in Maurides, who smashes the ball into the top corner. We've gone from 2-0 up to 2-4 down.

That's enough now, I think. I throw on Antunes in place of Seidi. There's no point having a holding man now. We need to go for it. Hurley returns to his attacking central midfield spot and Antunes will be the one behind Magina.

The change is nearly rewarded instantly when Hurley plays a through ball for Antunes, but the young playmaker drags his shot wide. Nevertheless it's good to see us threaten again.

With 10 minutes to go, Vitor Gomes gets a chance on the edge of the area but shoots straight at Serginho. We counter, playing the ball quickly back up the pitch and winning a corner. The corner is cleared but then Antunes finds Amonike on the left wing, who drills a cross into the centre for Magina to volley in from close range. 3-4. I'm numb at this point. My facial expression doesn't change. But I know we're not done yet.

We keep pushing. We've got our swagger back. The nerves are a distant memory. Magina brings the ball forward. There's 3 minutes of normal time to be played. He takes on a couple of defenders and passes to Antunes... Then Benjamim... Then through for Hurley... He takes a touch just outside the area...

There are a few moments in my short career that I doubt will ever leave my memory:

The moment that former pub-teamer Lago scored away at Qviding, after The Hammer nodded on a long ball and the defender fluffed his back pass: The first goal of my managerial career. The fleeting vindication of my Hammerhead Formation.

The moment that Burrnie scored the winning penalty against Hammarby IF: My first win, and my first giant killing.

The moment Benjamim rifled in a last minute winner away at Torreense in my second Angrense match: The moment I realised I was managing a team of winners.

The moment that Hurley made it SC Angrense 4, Belenenses 4: The moment that I made a mental note to write the brilliant bastard into my will.

When the past 18 months finishes flashing before my eyes, I realise I'm stood by one of the advertising boards, celebrating with some of the die hard Angrense fans. I turn back to the pitch to check I didn't imagine the goal. I didn't. Hurley took a touch on the edge of the area and smacked the ball to the keeper's right. Maybe the keeper should have done better, it was a good height and not the hardest hit shot he'll have seen, but I'll ignore that for now. Nothing matters but the scoreline.

I send on Batista for Kevin. Kevin's been fairly quiet and Batista impressed after coming off the bench against Moura. Vitor Miranda gets the armband from Kevin as the vice captain heads for the touchline.

We head into extra time. I forgot how much I hate extra time. I genuinely prefer penalty shootouts. I wish we could just do that straight away.

Minutes from half time in extra time, Araujo's cross finds Maurides in the 6 yard box, but he connects badly with his head and the ball bobs over the bar.

5 minutes after the break, Valente releases Araujo on the right. He goes through on goal and my stomach turns, but his shot hits the side netting.

The match dies down. Our players are tired. Their players are tired. With a couple of minutes to play and penalties looming, I turn to Hélder Arruda on the bench.

"You're going on mate." I say, with a smile and as much false confidence as I can muster. Arruda nods solemnly. "You can take a penalty, yeah?" I know full well he's one of our best. He nods again. I bring off Aires, our left back, who does not do well when he takes penalties in training. I tell Arruda to stand in for him, to be aware, and to hoof the ball clear if it comes near him.

30 seconds from the 2 hour mark, and the end of extra time, Belenenses win a corner. Araujo crosses the ball in, but it's too close to goal. Serginho comes to punch it clear - and misses. The ball hangs in the air for what seems like a long, long time. And then Valente gets above Magina at the far post and heads home via the bar.

I've never known this place so silent. I watch Valente as he runs away, arms aloft. I look over to the linesman, but his flag's still down. I look over to the referee, but there was no foul. I know there was no foul. The goal stands. And the final whistle goes straight after kick off.

https://youtu.be/uDYmr5Bd0p0

This has been turbulent. I'm drained. I'm disappointed but I'm unbelievably proud. We gave a Liga Nos side a bloody good run for their money. From the 40th to the 80th minute we capitulated, but either side of that period we fought and we fought well. I have a heavy feeling in my gut that my decision to take off Aires and replace him with a striker has cost us the chance of a penalty shootout and the opportunity of passage into the 5th round, but oddly I think I'm OK with it. Would I do that again if given another chance? Probably. I rolled the dice and brought on a good penalty taker for a bad one.

I tell you what though, I've never known 2 matches that sum up football better than the 2 that I've played in the last 8 days. The tedium, the frustration, the beauty, the underdog story, the heartbreak, the resurgence, the jubilation, the drama, the suspense, and the... heartbreak again. If ever I meet someone who doesn't see the appeal of the beautiful game, I'm going to sit them down and tell them all about it.

[Franjo]

Silva Lining (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep34)

I jolt awake once again. I keep having the same dream over and over. I'm walking up the gravel path towards Monte Brasil, watching the clouds change colour and shape above me. I keep walking, climbing higher and higher up the winding path. For a while a golden retriever appears and trots happily alongside me, before disappearing into thin air. The dream always ends the same way. I reach the pinnacle of Pico das Cruzinhas. I get to the view point overlooking Hero Creek but something's wrong. Somebody's there... or something's there. And then I'm falling, and the ground is rushing forward to meet me... I try to hold onto the memory of my dream but it just keeps slipping out of my grasp.

As my eyes adjust to the light I remember that I'm on the plane, travelling to our next match. Aljustrelense aren't a particularly threatening opponent. They're sitting 7th in our group, level with Évora, Viana and Amora below them on 7 points. So really, they're joint last. They've won 1 match out of 10 so we should be brushing them aside.

Mind you, our first loss of the season has thrown me off slightly. I feel like we need an injection to get us going again, to ensure that we don't start to spiral. In a departure from my usual starting lineup, I bring in Coelho, a potentially very good fullback that I've largely ignored so far since signing him, Rúby, a potentially very good ball winner that hasn't been able to break into our solid midfield, and Batista, a winger that's chock-full of potential and who I just think could do with the playing time.

Ok I'm worried. This is the 4th league match in a row where we've offered absolutely S.F.A in the first half. At least against Belenenses we started well before falling off a cliff. The first thing of note that happens is in the 54th minute, when André Luís takes a dislike to Hurley and so tries to break his leg with a 2 footed lunge, earning himself a straight red. A few minutes later I bring off Batista and replace him with Amonike, in the hopes that fresh legs against 10 men will make something happen.

And something does happen, although I can't really credit the substitution. With 25 minutes to go Rúby receives the ball on the edge of the area after Coelho's chip from the left, and drills a shot into the bottom corner to put us ahead.

10 minutes later I bring on Renato Silva for Magina. That does the trick. Just a couple of minutes later, the young striker's shot is blocked and Amonike gets to the rebound and doubles our lead.

Shortly afterwards, Silva gets a goal for himself, drilling the ball home after a Hurley pass set him up.

And pretty much straight from kick off, Antunes plays a long ball over the top, Silva beats Dias to the ball and slots it home. 4-0.

I bring on Wilson Dias for a rare appearance in place of Antunes, and Liu Yuhao goes close to pulling a goal back with a shot that just flies wide, but it's not until injury time that Aljustrelense start to threaten. Matthew Silva cracks a shot against the post from 25 yards, and then Mota's volley from a corner is blocked on the line by Miranda.

https://youtu.be/S8ur0ZUoZGg

I'm not happy. Yes that's silly. We won 4-0, but should I be happy with that? Can I be? Should I get the team a big card that says "Congrats on eventually beating one of the worst teams in the group after they had a man sent off"? I am impressed however with Renato Silva. After he showed such pre-season promise, culminating with a debut goal, he's dropped off disappointingly, but he came on, scored 2 and inadvertently set up another to add some gloss and spare the rest of the team's blushes.

I receive a pleasantly surprising call later in the week. As it turns out, I've been given the Manager of the Month award for November! And not even out of our group, out of the entire Championship! I'll take that.

I've also been keeping a closer eye than usual on our Under 19 side lately. I'm aware that I picked the 3 most promising youth players when they came through our academy and have given them, and them alone, chances in the first team. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that I hadn't given more youngsters a go so I've been following my youth team's progress to look out for anyone else that's deserving of a chance. Meet Thiago.

Thiago has been on my radar for a little while. He's not quick, he's got some maturing and some technical development to do, but my God he's been putting in the performances for the Under 19's. He'll come in on the bench for the Évora match.

In other news, guess who wants to leave again? Good old CM9.

"I'm growing tired of this, Cristiano." I told him bluntly when he came to see me. I understand why he wants to join Levadeiakos, they're 3rd in the Greek Superleague. But I can't let him go. Maybe at the end of the Season things will be different. Maybe if we win promotion we'll be able to bring in a good enough replacement, but we've got no chance of getting one while we're in the Championship. Selling him might solve the problem of Hélder Arruda though. I've not been able to give him nearly as much game time as I'd like, but I don't think he could step into Magina's shoes. And besides, until a team makes me a decent offer, keeping him is a no-brainer. We've still not had any advance on £30k.

Anyway, to cut a long story short we had a row. He told me he could make my life very difficult if I forced him to stay and I told him that he's dropped for the Juventude Évora match.

Speaking of, 3 cheers for them winning their first match of the season! They just bagged a 2-0 victory at home against Despertar, moving themselves up to 8th in the league.

I'm just about fed up with my "First Team" offering nothing in the first half of games, so I'm making mass changes. Will I use this match as a chance to give first team opportunities to players who haven't featured much this season? Yes. Is it a risk against a team with new found confidence and perhaps even momentum? Try not to think about it.

We'll hit them down the flanks and we'll hit them fast. Serginho starts, but I'm even considering his place. His performance against Belenenses wasn't the best. Serpa, Seidi (Our captain for the day), Olivier and Xéxé start across the back. Benjamim and Hurley keep their places in the centre, with Amonike, Antunes and Ávila behind Renato Silva. Magina watches from the stands.

There is early action, but not the kind that we want. Pereira slams a free kick off the bar after 17 minutes to put us on edge, and with 25 minutes gone, Ruizinho latches onto a Pestana through ball but shoots wide of the near post. The visitors are doing all of the threatening so far.

5 minutes later though, Hurley passes inside for Renato Silva, who rifles the ball in from 20 yards. That's more like it. That's 3 goals in 40 minutes from Renato now, if he keeps up that kind of goalscoring record I'll pay for Magina's flight to Greece myself.

Unfortunately our lead doesn't last long. 10 minutes in fact. Benjamim slides in well to win the ball from Ruizinho, but Pestana picks up the loose ball and puts it in the bottom corner to equalise.

On the stroke of half time, Silva releases Benjamim inside the area, but the keeper closes down the angle well and saves his shot.

As we make our way tentatively into the second half, I bring on Coelho as a more attacking alternative to Xéxé, and Kevin for Ávila, who has had a quiet game.

Only a few minutes later, we break forward. Amonike gets away down the right wing, reaches the byline and drills the ball across goal. It goes through to Kevin at the far post, who shoots - straight at the post. The rebound comes back to him and this time he chips it back across goal. Amonike gets to it - and hits the other post. This isn't going to be our day, is it?

With quarter of an hour to play, it's Évora who have the final chance: Ruizinho plays through Pestana, who gets free in the box, but Coelho charges down his close range shot. I bring on Arruda for Amonike, but the rest of the match just flies by.

https://youtu.be/JfNttj7Cv6s

On one hand, I'm not happy. Of course I'm not. We've drawn our 2nd match of the season and it's against lowly Évora. On the other, I can't really blame anyone but myself. My mass changes didn't pay off apart from Silva's goal. We were unlucky with the Kevin/ Amonike incident, but we still should have won that.

[Franjo]

Sick (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep35)

I reach across to the bedside table for my phone. Finding Pedro's name in my contact list, I dial the number. The phone rings twice before Pedro picks up the phone. "Hello?" He asks.

"Pedro," I croak, before coughing down the line, "I won't be coming in for the match today. I'm very sick." I cough again.

"Oh no," comes Pedro's reply, " What's wrong?" I pause for a moment.

"That's not important," I mumble. "Just keep me updated will you?"

"Of course," says Pedro. I hang up without saying goodbye, like in the films.

I know this is highly unorthodox, but I really can't make it in today. I have a very generic and non-specific illness that will keep me out for exactly 1 match. When you think about it, it's amazing how rare it is that Managers miss a match through illness. It really is. Surely we're allowed to pick up the odd stomach bug or bout of flu. I genuinely can't think of a single time this has happened off the top of my head, but here we are.

One of the symptoms of my illness is that every time I drift off to sleep, I have the same dream: I go to Viana's stadium, I pick the team, I start the match, and then everything freezes and I wake up. It's really odd. I guess it does make a change from the other recurring dream I've been having. The one on top of Pico das Cruzinhas. The one where I'm falling...

That reminds me actually, I haven't picked the team. I scribble a quick text to Pedro:

Pedro, team for today:

MEATLOAF

Azevedo, Miranda, Touré, Olivier, Coelho, Benjamim, Hurley, Batista, Antunes, Kevin, Magina

Cheers,

Franjo

It takes quite a long time to write. I keep deleting Magina, writing Silva, then deleting Silva and writing Magina. This goes on for a while. You probably have questions, so let me answer the easy one first. Serginho started the season strongly but hasn't been particularly impressive of late. I definitely don't blame him for Belenenses knocking us out of the Taça de Portugal but in general he's given me no reason to keep him as our undisputed number 1. Azevedo gets a chance to steal the shirt today.

Magina... Magina is a good striker. He threw his toys out the pram during the summer but we didn't have any matches so I didn't need to drop him. The fact is that I want to keep our good run of league results going. Our performances have been dropping but I don't want to chop my nose off to spite my face. We might end up losing a match if I keep CM9 sidelined, and it would be purely because of my pride. I'll take the knock to my pride and keep plugging away for an unbeaten first phase. Plus, it would be unfair to rush Silva into first team football when he's not ready, and Arruda's making his own noises about wanting to leave for first team football. Magina starts.

Pedro actually does pretty well. He keeps me updated on the key events and I fear for the worst when Pipas opens the scoring for Viana, but Magina bags a goal either side of half time to get us the win. He also gives a rare substitute appearance to Wilson Dias. Well in Pedro.

https://youtu.be/QFdgZ6qVV4U

Luckily, I'm fighting fit for the next match - At home against Despertar. They're doomed to the relegation stage, having lost over half of their matches and sitting in 6th.

We just need to avoid defeat today, and then 4 more times after Christmas to complete our unbeaten phase. We go unchanged. We go Meatloaf.

With less than 4 minutes gone, Batista sends a cross in from the right and Hurley puts us ahead with a simple finish.

It's a cagey half but before half time we get a 2 goal cushion when Antunes sets up Hurley for his 2nd, a significantly more impressive strike from the edge of the area.

The 2nd half is not entirely impressive by either side. Paulo Cézar goes relatively close a couple of times, dragging a shot wide from the edge of the area before bobbling a bizarre 30 yard shot comfortably into the arms of Azevedo. Apart from that, we are not troubled. Hurley picks up a knock but he'll be back for the next match.

https://youtu.be/MbnPHcwC1hc

With that win, we officially qualify for the Promotion stage of the PT Championship. We're 11 points clear of Barreirense and 13 points clear of Moura. This season so far has been absolutely outstanding.

And that's it for December. Christmas is only a week away, and after that's out of the way it's time for January. January is a huge, huge month. We face Barreirense first, the closest team we have to a rival, followed by presumably simple ties agains Fabril and Amora, and we finish the month against those bastards Pinhalnovense. The team who first cost us our winning streak. It's going to be a hell of a month.

[Franjo]

Franjo Vs Borba (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 35.5)

During our last training session before the Barreirense match, Miguel Borba comes walking onto the pitch. This is pretty unusual, he usually keeps his distance from the first team. He gives me a weak smile and a nod before turning back to the training pitch. "Fernando!" He shouts, "Come with me please."

Fernando Batista looks puzzled as he takes off his bib and runs over. Borba gestures for him to follow him inside.

"Miguel," I call after him. He doesn't turn around or stop walking. I jog after him, not knowing whether or not he's heard me. "Miguel," I repeat once I'm practically alongside him. He still doesn't acknowledge me. "Miguel, what's going on?"

Finally the chairman gestures to Fernando to keep going and turns to me, looking sheepish. He waits for Fernando to walk inside and around a corner. "We've accepted an offer, Franjo. Belenenses have made an improved bid for Batista and we're selling." I laugh for a moment. I can't tell whether he's joking or just confused.

"No we haven't", I smile. "I haven't accepted any bids for Fernando." Borba is avoiding eye contact with me.

"No Franjo, I have accepted their bid." He turns to continue walking. I stand there, frozen for a moment. Did I mishear this entire thing? Am I hallucinating again? Is this one of my weirdly relevant dreams?

No, this is definitely real. Miguel steps inside and around a corner. I sprint after him. "YOU'VE DONE ****ING WHAT?" I roar from the doorway. My eyes are wide and I think I feel like I'm turning red. I turn the corner as Borba stops and turns back to me, guilt written all over his stupid face.

"This is my club, Franjo," he says with a hint of sadness. "I'm selling him."

I'm aware that I'm not blinking. I'm just staring straight at Borba. "How much?" I mutter.

"£23.5k, rising to £54k." He makes eye contact with me for a moment, then stares back at the ground.

"£54k?!" I laugh, as a wide, maniacal smile stretches across my face, "That's not even the most we've been offered!" He continues to look at the floor. My smile fades but I'm still staring. Still not blinking. "Pull the plug." I tell him, as calmly as I can.

"I can't." He mumbles.

"You can. Pull the bloody plug, Miguel. Reject the offer. I've not said no 200 times just for you to go over my head like this." He says nothing. "What happened to bringing the youth through?" He still says nothing.

"Miguel, if Fernando walks out the door today I'll be right behind him." The words just sort of fall out. They echo just for a moment, and then the two of us are stood in silence. I think I'm serious. I'm not 100% sure but I think I am. "We could have a good crack at promotion here but I won't work for a Chairman who sells my most promising players behind my back".

Borba looks up at me. I glare back at him. I think he sees on my face how serious I am. He sighs, walks into his office, and reemerges a few seconds later with Batista in tow. Batista looks at me. He seems extremely confused.

"Come on, mate," I say calmly. "Back to training."

Fernando walks past me and back outside. As the sound of his studs clacking on the concrete outside fades away, I look at Borba, who is actually looking right back at me now. He has a quizzical look on his face, like he's trying to solve a riddle. Without another word, I turn and follow Fernando outside towards the training pitch.

[Franjo]

Back To Work (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep36)

Tears have been shed today. I imagine that back in my home country, the land of Big Ben, white cliffs and Spitfires, the national flag is flying at half mast. Sweden, of course, will be in just as mournful a mood. I spare a thought for the good people of Vellinge, where my name is mud and the burning of my likeness has become a local holiday. I know that wherever they are, Darius Vassell and Michael Ricketts are crying big, slow tears. The world of football has lost a strange but intriguing man. Enjoy your retirement, Sven.

Some awards have been dished out since our last match. Not Angrense-related awards, but global ones. And they all seem to follow a theme...

Despite Barcelona finishing 3rd in La Liga, Lionel Messi has had to build an extension to his trophy cabinet in order to store the Footballer of the Year, World Golden Ball and World Player of the Year awards. Mesut Özil will probably be slightly annoyed at finishing runner up 3 times despite guiding the Gunners to their first Premier League win in 12 years, and Luis Suarez completes the trio, placing 3rd in all 3 awards.

Unsurprisingly, they all took a place in the World Team of the Year too, forming the front 4 in a 4-2-3-1 with Neymar, the final component in Barça's MSN. Behind them is an extremely attacking central midfield partnership of Tottenham's Dele Alli and Manchester City's £39Million summer signing James Rodríguez. Bayern dominate the defensive positions, with Manuel Neuer joining defenders Jérôme Boateng and Mats Hummels. Real's Marcelo and Juve's Bonucci make up the XI.

This is it then. Back to work. If we pick up any kind of result from this match we should qualify for the Promotion stage with 3 games to spare. But a result here isn't a given. Barreirense put up a fight in Hero Creek, taking the lead twice before we finally turned the tables, and now we're travelling to Barreiro, a place that we're becoming rather familiar with thanks to the fact that seemingly half of our group is based there.

Hurley, although recovered from the injury sustained in our last match, is suspended for this one, so Rúby comes in alongside Benjamim. Batista, who I heroically rescued from being snapped up by a much bigger club yesterday, starts on the right.

3 minutes in, and after a good Barreirense move that culminates with a Santos through ball and a Caraballo shot that's saved by Azevedo, Olivier swings a foot at the ball to clear our lines, but only succeeds in smashing it against the striker's shins. The ball rolls over the line and they've taken the lead over us again.

Barreirense continue to dominate the first half but without making any sort of chances. On the half hour mark, I tell Os Heróis that we are to play on the counter. That evens the match out again, but it isn't until the stroke of half time that Antunes lays the ball off for Batista, whose whipped cross is accidentally turned in by Dujardin for the equaliser.

With 20 minutes to go, Breimyr picks up what I would describe as a soft 2nd yellow for getting too close to Kevin. Despite playing against 10 men, and despite the introductions of Coelho, Thiago and Silva in an attempt to take control of the match, we aren't able to find the winner.

https://youtu.be/-uuCc4SGm6Y

I'll take that. Not only do we qualify for the Promotion stage because of this point, but now we realistically only have to make it past Pinhalnovense on the final day to achieve an unbeaten phase. Well, Fabril do Barreiro and Amora too, but come on.

[Franjo]

No Fuss (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep37)

Miguel Oliveira is off in the Summer. I thought I'd rip that bandage off as quickly as possible to spare you the heart ache. I lost faith in Miguel's ability about 5 or 6 matches after I arrived and was not planning on offering him a new contract, so Panachaiki have swooped in and arranged to whisk him away to Greece on a free transfer. Good luck to him. If he throws plates half as well as he throws away his marking responsibilities he'll be fine.

Annoyingly, having just played Barreirense in Barreiro last week, we're now playing Fabril do Barreiro in Hero Creek. We could have stayed through and had a nice holiday there if we were playing at their place, but never mind.

Fabril are the team that play with that narrow diamond that prompts us to focus our play down the wings, so that's what we'll do. Diogo Coelho is better at going forward than Mauro Aires, so he comes in at left back, Fernando Batista keeps his place on the wing after helping to rescue a point for us last week, and Renato Silva starts. I want to give him another chance seeing as the benched Cristiano Magina is sulking.

After half an hour, nothing has really happened. I'm getting quite tired of our poor first half performances, so I tell the team to attack. We may as well go for it against these.

5 minutes later, it's clear that our right back, Vitor Miranda, has received the message. He finds himself on the edge of the Fabril box and chips the ball to Hurley. With 2 touches, Hurley brings the ball down brilliantly and skilfully uses the outside of his boot to send the ball fizzing in off the post. That man just oozes class. I take a deep swig from my water bottle. The water tastes sweet. Almost like vindication.

When half time rolls around I tell my Heróis to drop back slightly stop attacking quite as often. We have the lead now and all we need to do is protect it. I don't want us leaving ourselves open at the back.

The 2nd half is a quiet affair. On the hour mark a Coelho corner is headed in by Olivier to double our lead in the simplest way possible. I bring on Rúby and Ávila shortly afterwards but they don't have much of an impact. We happily let the clock tick away and leave with another 3 points.

https://youtu.be/SuxX9LdLuJ8

That was one of those matches that just sort of happens. We got what we wanted with no fuss whatsoever. I'm fine with that at this stage in the season. Let's hope for a carbon copy away at Amora.

What won't be a carbon copy though is our lineup. Aires comes back in for Coelho as we don't want our fullbacks pushing quite as high seeing as we're away. Rúby starts in place of Benjamim, who I think could use a kick up the arse as his performances are dropping. Amonike and Bruce Ávila start as a pair of orthodox wingers in place of Batista and Kevin, and Magina comes back in to lead the line. Watching the last match, I forgot that Silva was playing.

Quarter of an hour in, Magina releases Amonike down the right wing. The winger gets his cross into the 6 yard box where Ávila is arriving, but he gets it all wrong and heads wide from close range. I make a mental note to myself not to drop Kevin in future.

5 minutes later, Zé Miguel swings a deep cross from the right over to the far post. Afonso gets to the ball ahead of Miranda but can only cushion it unthreateningly into Azevedo's arms.

Just as I'm wracking my brains for something constructive to say in my half time team talk, Zé Miguel gets in the thick of it again, but this time he pulls Lassina Touré's shirt in the Amora area, granting us an injury time penalty. Magina steps up and confidently strokes it to the bottom left.

That actually makes my half time team talk incredibly easy. I tell them they look alright and ask them to go and get another to kill the game off.

Not 2 minutes later, Hurleys pass is knocked on first time by Amonike, and Magina places it into the bottom corner. Ask and you shall receive. I surely can't let Magina go.

With just over an hour gone, Zé Miguel lays the ball off and Vaz strikes it very sweetly from the edge of the area, but his shot cannons back off the bar.

That'll do as a warning. We revert to Heróis Original, Jaime Seidi replaces Hurley and joins Rúby in our withdrawn double pivot.

Rúby is jumping for joy now that Seidi is by his side. Unfortunately, you could describe the kind of jumping he's doing as "At Vaz's shins", and "With 2 feet". He's already booked but he picks up a straight red anyway.

I don't look at Rúby as he wanders towards the tunnel. I'm too busy talking Thiago up. He's nervous, and rightfully so, but I have faith that he'll do a job. He and Kevin replace Antunes and Ávila and our shape changes to more of a 4-2-3 with wingers.

We still have chances to further our lead after Rúby's red. About 10 minutes later, Amonike dances past Pardal and runs through on goal, but Ascenso saves well.

Just after that, our resident penalty magnet Lassina Touré gets brought down again, this time by Machade, and Magina has a chance to bag his hat trick. This time though, his penalty is tame and not far enough into the corner, and Ascenso gets to it pretty easily.

https://youtu.be/N_6boRYCw2U

I don't really care, the only difference as a result of CM9 missing that 2nd penalty is that he has to buy his own ball. We picked up another win, kept another clean sheet, and built up another bit of momentum to take with us into the Promotion Stage.

Now the only team that stands in the way of out unbeaten phase is "Boring, Boring Pinhalnovense". If it weren't for them we might be on for a 100% record in the first phase, and I want my revenge.

[Franjo]

Treppenwitz (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep38)

Do you want to know what my favourite German word is?

Of course you do. It's Treppenwitz. It translates literally as Staircase Joke, and it's the word for that moment when you think of the perfect joke, but a few minutes too late. The moment has passed and the conversation has ended, but bloody hell, it would've been good if you'd thought of it at the time. But Treppenwitz also has other applications. It can be the comeback to an insult that comes to you too late, or the showstopper in a huge argument that you lose because you didn't think of it. And today, just between us, Treppenwitz is the word that you use when you think of the perfect way to hammer a snotty little Portuguese football club into the ground, but too late. They've already bored you to death and snatched a point. But today is special. Today we get another chance.

Pinhalnovense have made themselves a special space in my brain, a space usually reserved for Big Brother, the last season of Scrubs, and everybody who plays the drop-in matches in FIFA Pro Clubs. I don't just want to beat them, I need to. I need this. I need Pinhalnovense fans up and down the land to recoil whenever they hear my name. I need their Manager, João Sousa, to leave under a cloud, and to be booed down the street wherever he goes forever more. I need our handful of travelling fans to shower me with confetti and dub me the King of Portugal.

So what's the secret formula? What's old Franjo going to pull from his sleeve and lay on the table?

Nothing.

Bear with me.

For the home tie against Pinhalnovense I should have told us to attack more. We should have been more open and committed more men forward to break through the bus that was parked across the goal line. As the away side, I'm not going to have us attack. I'm going to play our bog standard Meatloaf. Pinhalnovense, being the home side, will do all the adjusting for us. They'll come out at us as home sides generally do and open themselves up, letting us waltz right through.

It's beautiful isn't it? We're adjusting to their playstyle by not adjusting at all. Of course, they could just do exactly what they did in Hero Creek, in which case we will actually have to adjust. Also, Magina is on the verge of another record. This time he's about to get a record number of Player of the Match awards

Within 2 minutes of the match kicking off, Amonike gets away down the right and drills a cross in for Antunes, who smashes us ahead.

10 minutes later Pinhalnovense are actually making a game of it though, and a good passing move is capped with a Grou through ball and a tidy Fidalgo finish.

Half way through the first half we're back ahead, when Benjamim sends Kevin through on the right, and the vie captain runs inside before slotting the ball under the keeper. Back ahead and this is the polar opposite of the last time these teams met.

As the half goes on, we pull away more and more from Pinhalnovense and we start to run rings round them. As we approach the 40 minute mark, Magina chips the ball to Kevin on the right, and he whips a ball from the byline to the far post, where Amonike easily makes it 3-1.

Pinhalnovense, who are actually starting to earn back my respect, soon close the gap though. From a well worked free kick, Pires passes short to Outtara, who dribbles forward to the edge of the area and hammers the ball into the top corner.

At half time I encourage the team. I want more goals. But we don't fashion another chance until there's 15 minutes to go, when Olivier drills the ball forward and Magina runs through on goal, but his low drive is blocked by Melo.

A few minutes later, Kevin is brought down on the right wing, just outside the area. Amonike whips a cross in and Lassina Touré guides a good header back across goal to score our 4th and hopefully put the match to bed.

In the dying minutes, Magina puts Hurley through and the attacking midfielder runs powerfully through on goal, but he skies his left footed shot.

https://youtu.be/XSXBNTAfBs8

When the final whistle goes, I shake Sousa's hand and smile, before applauding our 2 fans that have made the journey, and then the hundreds of Pinhalnovense fans. I'll give them that one. That was a great game with some quality football and I've gained a great deal of respect for our opposition.

We finish the first phase of the Championship undefeated, with 48 points out of a possible 54. Now there's just the small matter of the Promotion Stage to deal with.

[Franjo]

Franjo Vs Borba - Part 2 (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 38.5)

I received a phone call this morning from Carlos Antunes. I'm not sure what it could be about and we've got no training today, but it sounded urgent so I've come into our training facility to meet him. I'm there a few minutes before him so I pour a couple of glasses of water and wait in my office.

"Carlos!" I smile when he enters the room. "What's going on mate?" I cringe slightly at myself. I suddenly feel like the kind of teacher who sits backwards on his chair in order to "relate". Carlos looks uncomfortable as he sits down.

"I would like to ask your permission to join Guimarães." He blurts out.

I'm taken aback. I didn't expect this. "Ok." I say, after a short pause. An awkward silence engulfs the room for a few moments. My mind's gone blank. "Big club!" I say eventually, to break the tension. He nods. "I get it," I tell him. And I do. "All I would say is take your time." I say seriously. "You're our starting number 10, you're at the top of the pecking order here. Why don't you stay until the end of the promotion stage, keep playing and developing, and then we'll have a look at Guimarães in the summer?"

"But I want to win trophies" he replies immediately. He's almost pleading.

"Being a key player in a championship winning side would be a great thing for a young lad like you to have on your CV."

"I want to win real trophies!" he blurts out again. I don't really have a response to that.

"Look, I'll let you go in the summer Carlos."

"But I want to..."

"Carlos!" I cut across him sternly. "I am your Manager and you are an SC Angrense player. You'll go in the Summer." He looks angry. He looks like he's about to cry. "I'll see you at training tomorrow" I tell him, as kindly as I can. Carlos storms out of the room.

The next morning as I walk into training, I look for Antunes. I want to apologise. I think I could have handled our conversation better than I did. But he's not at training. He's the only one missing. Now this really annoys me. It's one thing wanting to move for your career or trophies, but I won't tolerate players being unprofessional. Whether he's late or making some kind of stand, it's not on. I head inside to look for him but Nuno stops me before I get to the door.

"Idiota Inglesa!" He looks genuinely quite annoyed.

"Not now, Nuno. I'll talk to you later." I mutter as I squeeze past him and through the door. I start to walk down the corridor.

"Why do you sell the kid, Inglês?" Nuno calls after me. I stop in my tracks and turn back to him.

"Excuse me? What kid?" I demand.

"The kid, Carlos! You sell our best players Inglês!"

I don't wait for him to finish his sentence, I march to Borba's office door and throw it open. Borba doesn't look up. He's doing some paperwork at his desk. "Where's Antunes?" I ask, trying to stay calm.

"Guimarães." He says lazily, still not looking up. "I told you Franjo, this is my..." His words fade away as I walk back down the corridor. I don't look at the players as I walk past the training pitch. I don't acknowledge Pedro as he tries to stop me at the main entrance of our training ground. I don't look back as I walk through the car park, and out into the world.

[neilhoskins77]

This is quickly becoming one of my favourite stories to read. Very entertaining narrative, it's got a bit of everything in it. Great work Franjo.

[Franjo]

15 hours ago, neilhoskins77 said:

This is quickly becoming one of my favourite stories to read. Very entertaining narrative, it's got a bit of everything in it. Great work Franjo.

Cheers Neil, that's made my day! 

[Franjo]

A Lot To Think About (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep39)

My immediate urge once I left Angrense's training ground was to jump on a plane. I'm livid. After initially backing down in January, The Chairman has followed through in selling one of our brightest young talents behind my back. I very nearly resigned, but I'm going to take our week off as an opportunity to think. I'll make a decision on my future before the Promotion stage starts.

In the meantime, I give Pedro the reigns so that I can sort my head out. He'll take control of training this week, and of the friendly I've set up against Norwegian Premier League side Fredrikstad on Sunday. The only thing that I need to do this week is sign a replacement for Antunes in case I decide to stay. I've also told Hélder Arruda he can leave in search of first team football, but I'm not answering the bloody phone. Borba can sort that for him seeing as he's so keen on shipping my players out.

I spend most of the week before our friendly wandering around Hero Creek, doing nothing in particular. I arrange a few trials for different players, which probably means that I'll need to show up at training at some point to assess them, but that can wait.

I decide to watch our friendly against Fredrikstad. It's a home tie so I may as well. I don't want Pedro or the team to know, so I get Nuno to sneak me into Estádio Municipal de Angra do Heroismo without anybody seeing. I want to watch the team not as a Manager, but as a fan. I want a sign. Something to tell me what I should do.

When the stands are partially filled and the teams come out onto the pitch, I look through them one by one. This is the first time I've given Pedro control over team selection and I'm interested to see how he'll line up.

Serginho in net, fair enough. Miranda, Oliveira, Olivier, Coelho across the back. Bit of a weird choice playing the man who's already agreed a move, but OK, I'm onboard otherwise. I'm then surprised to see that Pedro has opted for a midfield entirely made up of trialists. Starting in the double pivot are the short but ferocious box to box midfielder António Gonçalves, whose parent club Sheffield Wednesday have allowed him to join up with us for a few weeks, and Nicolas Garmendia, a skilful playmaker on trial from Udinese. In front of them from right to left are Al Hassan Lamin, a big powerful winger from Lazio, Domingos Quina, a quick and tricky playmaker from West Ham United, and Asumah Abubakar, a similarly quick and tricky striker or winger from Willem II. Hélder Arruda leads the line. This should be interesting.

It's a good match from an Angrense point of view. We dominate entirely. I expected us to struggle against a side from the top tier in Norway, but we play well, especially the trialists.

Al Hassan Lamin scores an excellent goal to break the deadlock in the 2nd half, dribbling round a couple of defenders before placing the ball into the far corner from outside the box. Abubakar doubles our lead after he runs behind the Fredrikstad defence, latches onto a Garmendia pass and slots the ball home. Armstrong pulls one back with a superb volley, but we hold on for the win.
 

I'm impressed, but more importantly the match excites me. I find myself still jumping up when we score, still pumping my fist and singing Vamos Heróis with the fans. I still love this place. I just don't know whether I can carry on at the helm. This has given me a lot to think about.

For now though, I want to bring in a few of these trialists. They're all at comparatively huge clubs and we've got no chance of signing them permanently, so I make loan bids for Al Hassan Lamin, Domingos Quina and Asumah Abubakar. I consider bidding for António Gonçalves, but to be fair we've already got Rúby in the same mould and his game time is limited as it is. All 3 bids are accepted but in the end, Hassan Lamin and Abubakar reject the opportunity to join us, leaving Domingos as our lone loan signing. He's the important one to be fair. We needed an attacking midfielder most of all.

As we move towards the first match of the Promotion Stage, and with my decision looming, I get a phone call. It's Pedro. He's heard from one of the board members that Borba has sold Fernando Batista. I sigh. I'm not at all surprised, but he may have just made my decision for me.

[Franjo]

Heads up anyone who uses Reddit - I made a subreddit dedicated to Football Manager stories!

Come subscribe and share your FM stories!

https://www.reddit.com/r/FMStories/?st=J48O2VCR&sh=9454ef2c

 

[Franjo]

The Decision (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep40)

I've thought long and hard about where my future lies over the last couple of weeks. Miguel Borba has made it impossible for me to stay in the long term. His interference in the transfer market has cost us 2 fantastic, young, home grown footballers. And for a fraction of their true value. Yes, if Carlos Antunes makes it then Angrense might see some more cash. At least his deal includes several clauses and a big chunk of the next transfer fee. The thing that makes this so much worse is that he accepted a bid for Batista that is not only £20k less than other bids we have received, but also includes no future clauses whatsoever. In his greed he's potentially cheated Angrense and himself out of a lot of money.

Borba has set a precedent. I'm pretty sure that it's a matter of when, not if, he accepts derisory bids for star striker Cristiano Magina, his potential replacement Renato Silva, and all of the other players that are in demand. This makes my long term future absolutely impossible.

Having said that, I have unfinished business with this club. I want to see them through the promotion stage. And I need to be smart. I was so, so close to resigning, but who's going to want me right now? I'm pretty sure the best case scenario is a sideways step to a similar club and I'll have to get to know them and shape them all over again. The worst case scenario is another few months on the dole, and then a move to a worse club.

So here's the plan: I'm going to stay. I'm going to keep well away from Borba and get Os Heróis promoted despite him. After promotion I will be headhunted by a bigger side. And when I accept their offer, I'm going to bid pennies for Magina, Hurley, Silva, Kevin, Benjamim, Olivier and all the other good players at this club. And Borba's going to accept my offers because he's a stupid, useless arse hole.

Of course, this all hinges on my ability to win promotion. I've made my mind up: I will let my contract run down and I will leave at the end of the season. If we go up, I should be fine, but if I fail to win promotion my future may still be bleak. Yes, we've won 15 out of 18 matches in the first phase of the Championship, but as I said way, way back at the start of the season, our group was weak. Astonishingly weak. We're now going up against the best teams the Championship has to offer, and we need to finish in the top 2 in our group of 8.

Am I apprehensive? Yes.

Will I relish the challenge? Yes.

Do I back us to pull it off? ****ing right I do.

[Franjo]

PT Championship - Promotion Stage Group B (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 40.5)

So my decision has been made. I'm staying with Angrense. I'm pretty sure I've made the right decision, but of course if Borba sells Hurley and Magina in the next couple of days I'll feel like a bit of an idiot.

Because I'm staying, we'll need to get to know our new group: The Promotion Stage Group B.

 

Barreirense

From: Barreiro

Ground: Campo da Verderena

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 2nd in Group G, behind us

Last Season: 3rd in Relegation Stage Group G

Predicted: 6th

Rivals in Group B: N/A

 

Caldas

From: Caldas da Rainha

Ground: Campo da Mata

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 1st in Group E

Last Season: 1st in Relegation Stage Group F

Predicted: 8th

Rivals in Group B: Leiria (Fierce, Historic)

 

Camacha

From: Camacha

Ground: Complexo Desportivo da Camacha

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 2nd in Group H

Last Season: 1st in Relegation Stage Group B

Predicted: 7th

Rivals in Group B: N/A

 

Casa Pia

From: Lisboa

Ground: Estádio Pina Manique

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 2nd in Group F

Last Season: 2nd in Promotion Stage Group B, Lost 2-3 on aggregate to Sporting B in Promotion Play off

Predicted: 5th

Rivals in Group B: N/A

 

Leiria

From: Leiria

Ground: Estádio Municipal de Leiria

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 2nd in Group E

Last Season: 5th in Promotion Stage Group B

Predicted: 2nd

Rivals in Group B: N/A

 

Mafra

From: Mafra

Ground: Campo Dr. Mario Silveira

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 1st in Group F

Last Season: 4th in Promotion Stage Group B

Predicted: 3rd

Rivals in Group B: N/A

 

União da Madeira

From: Ribeira Brava

Ground: Centro Desportivo da Madeira

First Phase Position (Out of 10): 1st in Group H

Last Season: Relegated, 20th in Liga Pro

Predicted: 1st

Rivals in Group B: N/A

 

Oh, this is delicious. I have a few months left in Portugal and if I could have had my pick of any side to be put in a group with, do you know who I'd pick?

Of course you do.

I'd pick Caldas.

Caldas are more than an opposition team for me. They're more than a rival even. They're a metaphor. They are my Everest. My predecessor Eduardo Almeida couldn't beat them and they are the milestone that I set myself last year to prove that I was a worthy manager at this level. A win over Caldas would represent how far we've come and how far I've come. Last year they demolished our relegation stage group and they demolished us. But this time, to misquote Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds, We are strong. We have grown.

Caldas are predicted to finish last in the group and we're predicted 4th, which already speaks volumes, but I want to see the official result in black and white when we beat them. I never got to become Franjo, Who Crushed Caldas, but I still can.

Remember when I took this job I made a slapdash overview of how the leagues work? I'll link it here so that you can get a refresher on how the promotion stage is structured.

https://wtfranjo.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/our-new-league-101-franjo-a-journeyman-story-ep12-5/

In short, we need a top 2 finish. Anything below that means we stay in the Championship, which seriously dampens my chances of being snapped up by a bigger side. A 2nd place finish means we'll play off against one of the Liga Pro sides for promotion, and a top place finish means we win promotion and we play off against the winner of group A to determine who wins the Championship.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and listen to Three Lions and Three Lions '98 on a loop for a few hours.

[Franjo]

Project: Burnie (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 40.5.5)

So this it it, I think as I sit on my tiny bed in my studio flat. My last 14 matches in Portugal (Or 15/16 if we do well). So far in my Angrense career, we've mainly gone up against lesser sides, but not anymore. I reckon, despite the media's predictions, that Barreirense are the weakest club in this group. Well, they're there or there abouts, admittedly I don't know enough about most of the other teams. But look at last season: Caldas and Camacha topped their relegation groups, União da Madeira were a Liga Pro side, Casa Pia lost in the Promotion play off, and Mafra and Leiria finished mid table in their Promotion Group. We finished 2nd in our relegation stage group and Barreirense were 3rd in theirs, so we'd probably be considered 2 of the weakest sides here. And our matches against Barreirense this season have been no walk in the park: They went ahead twice in Hero Creek and probably should have beaten us in Barreiro.

My point is that I'm worried. We'll face tougher opposition in the next few months than we have at any point during my Angrense reign and we need to be prepared for that. We start with a home match against Camacha. They're no doubt formidable opposition but I have to admit I've already got one eye on the following match - Away at Caldas. I feel like we'll need to go off-book for that match, and for a few other matches in this league, what with us being against some of the best Championship clubs and all.

I look around my flat to see that Meatloaf and Burnie are scrapping again. They're always scrapping. I've mentioned before what an arse hole Meatloaf is, in fact in a weird way I've built a career on what an arse hole he is. But every now and then, passive, patient Burnie has his day. Every now and then, while Meatloaf has the poor lad pinned down and dominated with his aggression, Burnie strikes back, catching his brother off guard.

Can you see where I'm going with this?

It's time for Project: Burnie.

With Project: Burnie we will play on the counter, luring our opposition into a false sense of security and dominance, and then striking quickly on the break with our claws out.

Our back 4 will be a wall in front of Azevedo's goal, as it has been for much of my time in Hero Creek. Their job will be simple in that I will not be asking them to do anything other than defend. To win the ball and hoof it clear. Miranda, Touré, Olivier and Aires will start as the most solid defenders I have at my disposal.

Our midfield will consist of a second bank of 4, because nothing says solidity like 2 banks of 4. The central midfielders, it won't shock you to know, will be Hurley and Benjamim. Hurley has proven in the past that he can play as more of a deep lying playmaker than an attacking midfielder, staying back to help out the defence, so that's what he'll be doing. Benjamim next to him will be doing what Benjamim does - Running his heart out between our box and theirs, being a nuisance and an option in equal measure.

Either side of our dynamic duo will be Amonike on right wing, taking on defenders and swinging crosses in like he does, and Kevin on the left, building up play less agressively. I want him to look to switch the play to Amonike, or play killer passes to one of our two strikers.

That's correct. Two strikers. I've rarely utilised a striking partnership in my career so far, but I feel like giving it a try. I have 3 good centre forwards at my disposal and it's about time I pair them up. Plus it's no good being solid at the back if we aren't equipped to threaten at the other end.

I pick Magina and Arruda. They're both able to do any job required of a centre forward: They can both link up play, run channels, get behind defences, hold the ball up and bring team mates into play. But I want their jobs to be clear in their mind, so Magina will lead the line and Arruda will be the deeper lying second striker, carving out chances and linking up play.

So there it is: Project: Burnie in all its glory. A more direct, higher tempo 4-4-2. We're going to need to hit some of these teams on the break, and this should do the job purrr-fectly.

OK fine, but if Meatloaf and Burnie were here they'd be laughing their little feline faces off.

[Franjo]

Back Pocket (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep41)

I barely slept last night. I have absolutely no idea how the next few months are going to play out. The thing that I keep reassuring myself with is that we are in incredible form. But the thought that always immediately follows is that we've been playing against bad teams and now we're going to be playing against good ones.

When I did finally sleep, I had that same old dream again. I walk up the gravel road towards Monte Brasil under the dark red clouds, and continue up the winding path towards Pico das Cruzinhas. Half way up, a glum looking golden retriever drags himself along behind me, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. When I reach the top, I get the same sense of foreboding that I always get, and I see the same thing that I always see.

Miguel Borba is standing at the viewpoint, at the top of the hill overlooking Angra do Heroismo, and he's throwing my players off into the darkness one by one. I stand there, eyes wide in horror, but I'm paralysed and unable to help, or speak. When he's thrown the last of my team into the inky abyss, he grabs me by the collar of my trusty grey coat and throws me after them. And then I'm falling. And the ground is rushing up to meet me. And I jolt awake again, sweating through my Angrense branded pyjamas.

But today is not the day to be worrying about that, today is the day of our first match. And at least we'll start off at home. Camacha are coming to town and I decide to keep largely the same team that I used for most of the first phase. We'll keep Project: Burnie in our back pocket for now as we're the home side and I don't want to start on the counter. We'll use Project: Meatloaf as per usual.

Obviously Antunes and Batista are no longer available, so Amonike and new loan signing Domingos Quina start, and the ever reliable Jaime Seidi comes in for our suspended centre back Olivier.

Before 10 minutes have passed, Rúben leaves our crossbar shaking with a well struck free kick from just outside the area. I tell Os Heróis to abandon any ideas about controlling the match and just play our most standard game instead.

25 minutes in, we hit Camacha on the counter attack and Benjamim squares the ball for new boy Quinos, but the West Ham midfielder floats his shot over the bar when he really should've hit the target.

The rest of the half is tight and action-less, and our next opportunity comes when Kevin lumps the ball over the top of the Camacha defence with 10 minutes of the second half gone. Magina runs through on goal, takes aim for the top left corner, but his execution is slightly off and the ball flies just over.

Our 2 chances so far have come on the counter, so for the last half hour we set up to play exclusively on the counter. Rúby and Silva come on replacing Quina and Magina, with Rúby dropping back and allowing Hurley to take up the number 10 role.

Just a couple of minutes later, Rúby runs forward from deep and has a good crack at goal, but Jesus saves it well.

With 10 minutes to play, Renato Silva plays through Benjamim, and the box to box midfielder has a shot from inside the area, but the ball cracks off the bar. The match ends goalless.

In my book, an opening day draw is never a bad thing. A loss in your first match of any league can really put the side in a bad place mentally, but a draw, especially a draw which you were unlucky not to turn into a win, is fine. It inspires hope and optimism for the games ahead.

Caldas are next. I've been looking forward to this ever since we found out who we'd be playing against in the Promotion Stage. I reach into my back pocket, and pull out Project: Burnie.

The first half is tense and quiet, as first halfs often have been this season for us. It's not until the 52nd minute that the first chance is carved out, when Caldas' Cruz completes a patient passing move by passing the ball into the area for Rodrigues. The attacking midfielder slots it in to put the home side ahead.

We fail to fashion any noteworthy chances. We have a few decent shots but with 5 minutes left to play, we're staring down the barrel of our first defeat of the season. I withdraw Arruda and bring on Renato Silva.

In the 90th minute, we win a free kick on the right. My staff, our 2 travelling fans and I watch on with silent anticipation as the Caldas fans whistle and boo. The atmosphere is hostile and I don't know about the players, but I'm extremely nervous. We need to rise above it. We need a goal and we need it now.

Olivier steps up and curls it into the box, and Touré goes for the ball. He doesn't get it though. He doesn't get it because Juvenal charges in and pushes the centre back to the floor. The referee blows his whistle and points to the spot.

The whistles and boos from the home fans grow louder and louder as Cristiano Magina places the ball on the spot. He is focussed and he is confident. Our prolific striker steps up - and smashes the ball into the top left corner.

https://youtu.be/uxqqseInY2s

I don't celebrate the goal. The players celebrate, as do my coaching staff, Pedro and both of the fans. But not me. I've failed today. I thought that a new system would freshen us up and allow us to finally clinch victory over Caldas, but it didn't. We got let off and we keep our unbeaten run going thanks to some bad defending. It doesn't feel good.

It's back to the drawing board as far as Project: Burnie is concerned.

[Franjo]

Instant Impact (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep42)

"Franjo!" Pipes up a short, heavily tanned fellow towards the back of the room. "Diário Insular", he continues once he sees that he has my attention. "Do you see Paulista as a direct replacement for Carlos Antunes?"

I think for a moment, before replying "Things have changed in Hero Cr... I mean, Angra do Heroismo in the last couple of months. Our priorities have changed and I thought that we needed someone who could make an instant impact. I believe Jeferson is that someone."

It saddens me slightly to say it, but it's the truth. The priority for me is no longer playing the long game or giving the youth of Angra a chance, the priority is short term success. We need someone who can slot straight into the team and give us a boost. We've drawn our first 2 matches, which isn't awful, but I'd rather we start picking up enough wins to get promoted.

"And what about Domingos Quina? Did you not bring him in to be a first team player?" Inquires the Diário Insular reporter.

"Domingos is still in my plans," I say firmly, "But it would be unfair of me to ask him to take up the mantle of being our main creator alone. Now we have good competition for the number 10 spot, which is never a bad thing."

Jeferson Paulista, to state the bleeding obvious, is our newest signing. He's yet another player that we've brought in from Santa Clara, after Serginho and Coelho last year, but unlike those 2 he cost us £3k and become my record signing. To be honest though, I think we've bagged ourselves a bargain.

Do you remember Elano at Manchester City? Jeferson reminds me quite a lot of Elano: A skilful and technically brilliant Brazillian who's also capable of the odd screamer. He's a true number 10 at the top of his game and he should be much more comfortable behind Magina than Hurley or Quina have been.

And while we're talking transfers, I've accepted a £2k bid for Hélder Arruda from Penafiel, a Liga Pro side. He's currently negotiating a contract with them.

Anyway, we follow up our last gasp draw away at Caldas with a trip to Leiria, and then a trip to Barreirense. It's hardly ideal to have 3 away matches in a row but I suppose it should at least give me a couple more chances to find the winning counter attacking formula that I've been looking for.

Leiria also present a different sort of challenge today as they play a narrow 4-3-3. I'm not sure off the top of my head how many times I've played against teams in this formation, but all it reminds me of nowadays is Husqvarna. And relegation. And unemployment.

I resist the urge to have a traumatic flashback and go about setting my side up in a tweaked version of our Heróis Original system. We'll focus our play down the wings like we sometimes do with Project: Meatloaf, we'll play on the counter and we'll play slightly narrower in the hopes that we'll deny Leiria space to play in the middle. We'll also have Coelho come into the side, using his attacking prowess to overlap Kevin on the left. Jaime Seidi comes in for Arruda to fill the holding man role and Hurley keeps his place behind Magina. My new number 16 is ready and waiting on the bench though.

Also, we're on the brink of an Angrense record for number of wins in a season. So far we've won 15 matches, the record as it stands is 17.

Azevedo picks up a damaged shoulder early in the match. This isn't ideal, as I never have keepers on the bench, but luckily it's just a knock and he plays on.

It's Leiria who start the game well: Bernardo crosses to the near post after 5 minutes and Allef cracks the ball off the woodwork. A couple of minutes later, our corner is half cleared and Seidi squares it for hurley on the edge of the area, but his shot is straight at Leiria's keeper, Bonet.

A few minutes after that chance though, we break the deadlock. Amonike's cross from the byline deflects through to Benjamim. His shot is saved well by Bonet but Magina is on hand to boot in on the rebound.

We still don't stop coming forward, another minute or so passes before Amonike chips the ball into the near post and Magina rifles in his and our second. We seem content after that to take our foot off the pedal and aside from a booking for Miranda just before half time, we play out 60 extremely quiet minutes.

I bring on Paulista for his debut, replacing Hurley in the Brazilian's favoured number 10 role, but with about 15 minutes to play, Leiria go close twice when Asprilla's shot is charged down by Touré, and from the resulting corner, João Almeida boots the ball just over.

To see out the last 10 minutes I drop us back to a deep 4-2-3-1, with 2 holding men and 3 across midfield. Rúby comes on for Kevin and joins Seidi in front of the defence, and Paulista heads out to the left wing where he's also pretty comfortable.

Before you could say "Don't **** this up" though, Miranda picks up one of his patented meaningless red cards after a second yellow, but Serpa replaces Benjamim and moves to right back and we see the game out with some degree of comfort.

https://youtu.be/HiAo_kLxGFg

The win is a massive relief. We were good value for it and we've now got 5 points from 3 matches, which is probably about as good a start as we could have hoped for.

So, despite the fact that our next match is another away one, it's Barreirense. I think if we want to have any hope of making the top 2 we need to win both matches against Barreirense. Having said that, Azevedo will be out for 2 weeks with his shoulder, despite the fact that he struggled through the Leiria match, keeping a clean sheet in the process. Miranda also misses out having received an automatic 1 match ban for his red card, and Benjamim makes up our missing trio when he picks up the mother of all stubbed toes in training, which will keep him out for an entire week.

In other news, although Magina has been on 9 assists for what seems like the entire season, he's now been joined on that tally by Amonike, so both of them are only 1 away from equalling Medeiros' record.

They'll both get the chance to pull level today as they'll both unsurprisingly start. Serginho and Serpa come in as like-for-like replacements for Azevedo and Miranda, and Hurley drops back into Benjamim's central spot as an attacking central midfielder. This leaves a space behind Magina, so Jeferson Paulista starts for his full debut.

Sometimes the Gods of football are completely and unapologetically ****. You know what I'm talking about. That time that the team you support hit the bar 3 times and lost 1-0. That time that your club's new signing broke his leg in his first training session. That time when your club got knocked out of the Cup Semi Final by a goal that shouldn't have stood.

But sometimes, just sometimes, the Gods of football are on your side. And when they are... It's just the ****ing best.

8 minutes into our mach in Barreiro, we win a free kick in a central position, right outside the penalty area. Jeferson Paulista steps up on his full debut - And strikes it perfectly. It fizzes over the wall and so far into the top corner that I momentarily wondered whether it was possible for the ball to get stuck between the post and crossbar.

I am ecstatic. So ecstatic in fact that I try to awkwardly belly bounce Pedro for the first and probably last time. God I needed that goal. My passion to manage this club certainly didn't disappear after Borba's transfer hijinks but it definitely took a knock. I needed a moment like that to remind me what it's all about. I asked for an instant impact from my new number 10 and an instant impact is what he's had. And in case I wasn't clear, what a bloody goal.

Alas, the feel-good atmosphere is short lived. Almost 5 minutes later, Felix's powerful drive is tipped onto the post by Serginho, and Severino reacts quickly to get to the loose ball, before driving it low into the far corner of the net. Shortly afterwards, Severino plays a pass behind our defence, giving Caraballo a golden opportunity to give the home side the lead, but he shoots straight at Serginho from 8 yards out.

Under a minute later, Magina does the same for Hurley, playing a good pass in front of him in the penalty box, but his shot is saved well by Elói's outstretched hand.

It all goes a bit quiet until shortly after the break. Barreirense's corner is cleared by Paulista and we counter quickly. Amonike gets the ball on the right and plays it inside to Hurley, who squares the ball to Kevin in acres of space. Kevin unselfishly knocks the ball forward a few yards so that Magina can blast the ball into the back of the net, giving us the lead. To be honest though, from where I was sitting he was definitely offside.

Barreirense come back at us with the kitchen sink, forcing me to bring back our nice withdrawn 4-2-3-1. Rúby replaces Kevin to once again form the holding man partnership with Seidi, but the chances keep coming for the home team. Breimyr drives forward and shoots just wide and Altaír Júnior rifles the ball against the post with 15 minutes to play. I try to make us more solid, more narrow and less inclined to close the ball down and open space for Barreirense. Silva comes on for a late cameo, and in the 91st minute, Severino too smashes a low shot against the post.

https://youtu.be/cjo5AFMdOzc

It may not have been pretty, it may not have been convincing, but 3 points is 3 points is 3 points. We've risen up the top of the league with 8 points, but something tells me that staying there is going to be the difficult part.

[Franjo]

Miniature Heróis - Part 2 (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep43)

As I make my way up to a good vantage point in the stands of Estádio Municipal de Angra do Heroismo, I turn and look at the players warming up. My eyes scan their faces, searching for someone I've been told to look out for.

"Where is he then, Vitor?" I ask, as I turn to face Vitor Azevedo, SC Angrense Head of Youth Development and no relation to our goalkeeper.

"There he is", he smiles, pointing out a young lad in the middle of the park.

There's a real buzz amongst the youth staff about Rodrigo Silva. He's a 16 year old local lad and has already been offered a contract with the Under 19's squad. This match is a mere formality for him. He's a holding midfielder with a growing reputation for making the right decisions and being difficult to push off of the ball.

Silva and the other candidates will face up against our Under 19 side. Well I say that, but it's pretty much an Angrense B team. Most of the side is made up of players who've had a run in the first team at some point. In fact, in their defence is 3 quarters of the defence that our started for the first team last season, so it'll be a tough test for the young ones.

The Under 19's take the lead early on in fortunate circumstances when Leão's deflected shot runs through for Thiago, and the centre midfielder pokes the ball past the keeper.

The 25th minute gets my nostalgia tingling when O Capitão and Under 19's Manager Gonçalo Valadão hits the post with a powerful free kick, but then after half an hour, goalscorer Thiago pushes Ribeiro in the box and young Rodrigo Silva confidently wallops the youth candidates' penalty into the net.

Before half time Xéxé's low cross is bundled in by Arruda to put the Under 19's back in front. They hold onto the lead through the 2nd half despite the youth candidates dominating. Andrade hits the woodwork and Serginho is forced into good saves by Amorim and Rodrigo Silva, but they fail to find the equaliser.

https://youtu.be/J0UcSEaArQ0

Promising stuff from the youth candidates. They went down swinging against a much more experienced side and I'll be keeping an eye on them. Rodrigo, the jewell of the side, faired very well in the "Benjamim" role of Project: Meatloaf. He showed a willingness to get forward to support attacks and did well defensively, as well as staying composed for the penalty.

In terms of our first team, it's time for Casa Pia to come to town. Casa Pia are the side that lost in the Promotion play-offs last year after finishing 2nd in Group B. They're one of the favourites to go up along with União da Madeira, who we play in a couple of weeks.

We'll set up with Project: Meatloaf with focus down the wings, as we do when a team sets up in a narrow shape like Casa Pia's narrow diamond. That means we keep Coelho in at left back for his ability to attack. In fact, the only change we make from our victory over Barreirense is that Vitor Miranda comes back in for Luciano Serpa as his suspension has ended.

Oh, and another record is looming for Cristiano Magina! Unsurprisingly, he's on course to break the record for Number of goals in a Portuguese Championship season. And he wanted me to sell him for £30k.

The first half is largely uneventful until Casa Pia's right back João Damil gets free and whips in a cross for Rodrigues, who controls the ball and finishes calmly to put the home side ahead with 5 minutes to play before the break.

The only action in the 2nd half comes about just after the hour mark when Kevin, making his 200th Angrense appearance, releases Diogo Coelho on the left wing. Coelho swings the ball into the area and Magina rises above the centre backs to power the ball home.

We try to play more methodically around Casa Pia's penalty area, we try to attack, we try to pass the ball into space and we try roaming with more freedom from our positions, but nothing I tell us to do breaks the deadlock.

https://youtu.be/mFdf_5uuZis

The game fizzles out, we keep our unbeaten run going with a credible draw, and Magina edges closer to a league record. I think we'll take that. We do slip down to 2nd in the League behind Mafra, but I'm not too concerned. Partially because with each match that passes we're proving more and more that we've got what it takes to go up against anyone in this division, and partially because we play them next.

[Franjo]

Prank Calls (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 43.5)

I'm awoken by the sound of my mobile ringing on my bedside table. In my half asleep state I fling out an arm to reach it, but with the zero coordination I possess in the moment, my poor hand smacks straight into the side of the table. Cursing loudly, I swing my legs out of the bed and sit up, grabbing the phone violently like it'd just personally inflicted my injury. I look at the phone to see that the call is coming from a withheld number. The time is 1:34am.

"Hello?" I snap irritatedly.

"Och Aye", chirps the ambiguously accented voice on the other end of the phone, "It's Sir Alex Fergietime, I just wanted to tell you how much I look up to and admire you as a Manager" the voice says, seemingly through a fit of giggles.

"Who is this?" I bark. The line goes dead.

Annoyed, I settle back down in bed, and after a few minutes I start to doze. Shortly afterwards though, my phone rings again. This time I leap out of bed and grab it instantly. Seeing that the number is blocked again, I answer aggressively.

"What?" I shout.

"DILLY DING DILLY DONG" Squeals the equally unrecognisably accented voice in reply. "It's me, Sir Claudio Ranieri. I want you to take over Chelsea when I leave because I respect you so, so much" The layers of sarcasm coming through the phone are so thick that I'm afraid they'll drip out onto the floor.

"How long has it been since you've followed football?" I ask with a sigh. The giggles on the other end are very clearly audible. "And Ranieri's not even a..."

"Hey it's me, Fat Sam", says the suddenly incredibly gruff attempt at a Northern English accent.

"Fat Sam yeah?" I ask flatly. The voice goes quiet. "It's Big Sam, and you sound like Bollo, you dick."

"Who?" Replies the voice. I'm taken aback. There's a familiarity to the accent now. I don't think this one's put on. It's the kind of voice that makes you want to start kicking water bottles and flipping tables, so that the connect 4 sets that sit on top of them go hurtling towards the ground.

"Roger?"

The line goes dead.

[Franjo]

Interview (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep44)

"Why should we hire you, Franjo?" Asks Gian Carelse. I was expecting this question, of course I was. Who doesn't expect this question in a job interview?

"Well," I begin, "In the past 15 months I've transformed my Angrense side from a Championship Relegation Stage side into a team that are currently 1 point off the automatic promotion spot. I've spent under £10k, I've brought players through from the academy, some of which have been..." I shift uncomfortably in my seat. "...Sold on for club record fees. We're unbeaten in 25 league matches and I think that I can bring similar success to your club" I conclude. My morning rehearsals paid off. I sound very impressive.

Gian's expression doesn't change. He continues to look at me coldly, almost like he's studying me. "You only have 18 months experince..."

"I know! Imagine how good I'll be in a few years!" I joke. I realise almost immediately that I have made the wrong decision.

"...And you have already experienced relegation" As Gian finishes his sentence I feel myself turn red. I begin to flail.

"Uhhhhh... No. Well yes, but..."

"The Black Leopards are currently in danger of relegation. Do you really consider yourself well equipped to save us?"

It's a good question. Do I? Although Angrense were in the Relegation Stage when I arrived the quality in the squad meant that relegation was never a real concern. I've only had one shot at a survival race and I blew it. Höllviken is going to haunt me forever.

The Black Leopards, by the way, are a South African 2nd tier club that are currently 13th out of 16 clubs, and as Gian said they are in real danger of relegation. I applied for the vacant Manager's position for a number of reasons, but mainly because I think they have the best name out of any football club. And to a lesser extent, I'd quite like to try my hand outside Europe.

The interview hasn't gone as I had hoped though. I told Gian that I wouldn't be able to join at the minute due to my hopes of Promotion for Angrense. I said that I'd be available at the end of the season. The Black Leopards' Chairman, for whatever reason, didn't take kindly to that. I suppose he wants a manager that's able to join in time to prevent their relegation, which is probably fair. I don't have high hopes that I'll get the job.

Anyway, let's fast forward a few days and focus on the matter in hand. I still have a top 2 finish to secure and our next 2 matches will be very big ones indeed. We play Mafra today, the League leaders, and then União da Madeira next week, who are almost certainly going to be in the mix for the top 2.

More records are waiting to be broken today too: Magina's now 3 goals away from a Championship record, a win today would be a new Club record, and avoiding defeat would make this a record unbeaten run in the Championship. No pressure though, eh?

I'll be making a few changes for today's game. Délcio Azevedo's shoulder has mended so he'll come back into the first team, along with Maurp Aires and Domingos Quina. I almost forgot about the West Ham man since Jeferson Paulista arrived, but Kevin's been quiet lately so he'll be dropped to the bench, Paulista will play on the left, and Quina can have another crack at the number 10 spot.

Magina bruises his thigh in the opening minutes, which is not at all ideal. This is a big match and we really need to be firing on all cylinders.

Within quarter of an hour, Varão has a close range shot saved by Azevedo and Jimmy rattles the post with a drive from 20 yards, as the pessimism continues to be poured onto the occasion. We disband plans to control the game and retreat to a more standard mentality.

That does the trick, sort of. The next thing I know, an hour has passed and I'm bringing Kevin on for the ineffective Quina.

With 20 minutes to play, Amonike floats in a cross from our corner, Rafael Golano heads the ball away, but it falls perfectly for Jeferson Paulista, who crashes a half volley in at the near post. My jaw drops as I watch it happen. We really are unstoppable.

Not keen to let the lead slip, I swap us to a counter attacking 4-1-2-3 system, bringing Seidi on for Magina and shoving Kevin up front for possibly the first time so that the big man can rest his bruised thigh.

With full time approaching, Rúby comes on for Benjamim and we go to our trusty withdrawn 4-2-3-1. We see the match out, and in doing so, write ourselves into Angrense and Portugues Championship history. We are unbeaten in 26 league games and we've won 18 times in the division this season. Vamos bloody Heróis.

https://youtu.be/qQiJYKKUdvY

Magina misses training for a few days but he's back in plenty of time for our next match.

Miguel Borba calls me during the week and asks if I'd like to open contract talks, but I politely decline before hanging up and insulting the **** out of him. Unfortunately, Gian Carelse calls just minutes later, to give me the bad news. I won't have the enviable title of Black Leopards Manager next season. My search for a new club continues.

I think I'll just leave the job hunt for now. I'll finish the season here and then start applying again. Nobody's going to want to hire me if I can't join instantly anyway. Anyone that might want me at the minute will most likely be stuck in a relegation scrap and will want their manager in pronto.

The rejection of a South African minnow with a really cool name is not the only annoying thing that's happened either. União have climbed above us in the League, despite us sitting in 2nd and beating 1st place Mafra. So now we're still in 2nd behind União. I suppose we just have to do to them exactly what we did to Mafra.

We'll play on our new counter attacking Heróis Original system, which I may or may not rename to something more apt at some point. Hurley is suspended after picking up his 10th yellow against Mafra, but thank **** for Portuguese league rules, it's still only a 1 match ban. Kevin also comes back in for Quina as my experiment last week fell flat on its face.

Our title challenge takes a knock instantly. With under a minute gone in the match, Olivier trips Wangler in the box. It could be the start of a horrific 90 minutes, but Flávio Silva's powerful penalty is well saved by Vitor Azevedo. We breathe a huge sigh of relief.

And within 5 minutes, the tables are completely turned on União. After such a promising first minute, the breakthrough goes to us. Kevin breaks down the right wing and drills it in towards the near post, where Amonike arrives to tuck the ball into the net.

About 15 minutes later it's all square again when Wangler's free kick deflects off Benjamim in the wall and sends Azevedo the wrong way, but within another minute Benjamim's shot deflects through to the far post, and Magina gets there the fastest to put us back into the lead. It's been a breathless opening 25 minutes.

The next 25 minutes are not so breathless. Half time comes and goes without incident, and it's not until the 53rd minute that Magina squares the ball to Benjamim in front of an empty net. It's an opportunity that our midfielder doesn't waste and he puts us 3-1 up.

I take the opportunity to thank our lucky stars, and then retreat to the relative safety that I keep finding in our withdrawn 4-2-3-1. We go all out defence.

Kévin Rodrigues' 2nd yellow for a trip on Amonike makes União's day go from bad to worse, and helps us to secure our precious, precious points.

https://youtu.be/xmvdBRTf5R4

The last 8 days could not have gone better. We've picked up 6 points against 2 teams who were at the top of the Championship Promotion Stage Group B, and we now find ourselves back at the top and 2 points clear. Roll on April.

[Franjo]

Beep Beep (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep45)

It's that time again. I've long since forgotten how my long running one sided feud with former SC Angrense Manager Eduardo Almeida started. All I know is that I've got one more chance to beat him. And the way that I beat him is by beating Caldas.

In other monumentally exciting news, Lassina Touré made his international debut in Burkina Faso's home friendly against Tunisia the other day. He came on at half time when the game was deadlocked at 0-0 but sadly he put in a sub-par performance and Tunisia ran out as 2-1 winners. I'm a bit gutted for him, but the silver lining is that he's a bloody international footballer now!

I've also had to swat away another attempt by Miguel Borba to get me to sign a new contract. I suggested that we instead invest in our youth academy. It was a very subtle dig that I think went over his head. He rejected my counter offer.

Anyway, Caldas. Caldas, Caldas, Caldas. I've laid awake for the last few nights thinking, plotting and a few times even scheming. In my 3 attempts at beating Caldas in the past, I have used Project: Meatloaf, and lost, I have used Heróis Original and drawn, and I've used Project: Burnie and drawn again. This makes things tricky as I'm pretty sure that there's nobody else in the Portuguese Championship that we've played against and not beaten at some point, well apart from a few teams in this promotion stage group, but we've still got another chance against them all. And what concerns me is that against Caldas, none of my systems seem to work.

We'll line up with a tweaked version of Project: Meatloaf today. Tweaked in the sense that our shape will be a 4-1-2-3 instead of 4-2-3-1. We'll show them respect, but we'll still try to control the game and beat them.

We've ran into a spot of bad luck too, as both of our usual full backs are suspended for this match. Vitor Miranda and Mauro Aires both picked up a booking against União, taking them both to 5 for the season.

Nevertheless, I've seen enough of Coelho to convince me that he's a solid option, so he'll jump in on the left. Luciano Serpa is a man who I've not really played since signing him in the Summer, as Vitor Miranda is a difficult man to shift from my starting XI when he isn't hacking down opponents. I don't have a choice though, so he starts too. Hurley actually returns from his suspension and he'll come in replacing Kevin, while Paulista starts on the left wing.

And as is becoming commonplace with this band of excellent bastards, we're still on the verge of some records. Benjamim has entered the race with Amonike and Magina to beat Jordanes Medeiros' assist record, but Magina leads the way having already equalled it. We're also level with our club record unbeaten run in all competitions, and avoiding defeat today would set a new one of 16 matches without a loss. Bloody Belenenses.

"Why today?" I ask nobody in particular in the dressing room at half time. "We need to make something happen against these. We need to." Nobody makes eye contact. That first half was one of our drabbest on record. Absolutely nothing happened. "Go out there, keep the ball, get a foothold in this match, and beat bloody Caldas!" I say assertively, before turning on my heels and marching back to the pitch.

They do seem to take my words to heart. With almost an hour played, Amonike swings a free kick in towards the near post. Benjamim takes it down and has a shot, but Paulo makes the save.

With 15 minutes to go, I throw on Kevin and Renato Silva for Paulista and CM9 in the hopes that their fresh legs will make the difference.

And then it happens - With 5 minutes of normal time to play, Amonike curls a corner to the far post. Renato Silva gets up to nod it back across goal, where Olivier heads it from a tight angle - Off the post. Goal kick.

I stand on the touchline with my hands on the back of my head and my fingers interlocked. I know that in the grand scheme of things, a draw against Caldas is fine. Yes, they're one of the weaker sides in this group, but I'll take every point I can get in our hunt for promotion. But I just wanted to finish this before I left. I just wanted to get the win over them. Just once.

In the 92nd minute, David Brás brings the ball forward threateningly for Caldas, and my heart jumps into my mouth. But Touré tackles him. Surely not. Touré plays the ball to Kevin on the right, who dribbles forwards and lays it back to Serpa. Surely not. The ball goes inside for Seidi, then back out for Benjamim, then down the line for Kevin. Surely not. Kevin slides a low cross towards the penalty spot...

I've done a lot of things wrong in my career so far, but I've also done a lot of things right. The day that sits at the pinnacle of the good decision pyramid in my mind is the 31st of January 2017. It was only a couple of days after I joined Angrense, and it was the day that I parted with £1,500 to secure the signature of Gonçalo Miguel Reyes Dias from Operário Lagoa. My most trusted Lieutenant. The footballer that I swear I will take with me wherever I go next. The man whose nickname was a gentle nod and a wink towards a large lovable character from a TV show that most people look back on with derision.

He only needs one touch. Hurley looks up and strokes the ball into the bottom corner.

As he comes sprinting towards the dugout with his arms held aloft, I feel a familiar wide smile stretch across my face. I hold my hand up for a high 5 as he sprints past, and Hurley does not leave me hanging. He never does.

https://youtu.be/5WeEb8x6Ix8

It gives me great pleasure to draw a line through "Beat Caldas" on my Angrense bucket list. I'm sure that wherever Eduardo is, he couldn't care less, but it would have left a sour taste in the mouth if I'd left without doing it. And now that that's out of the way, everything else seems easy. We can beat Camacha away. We can beat anyone. We can win this ****ing league.

We're going classic Project: Meatloaf. Back comes Kevin, who's now also joined the assist record race, along with Miranda and Aires. Out go Seidi, Serpa and Coelho. Move out of the way Camacha, Os Heróis are coming through. Beep Beep.

Specifically Amonike is coming through when Magina plays the ball into his path 10 minutes in. The winger runs through on goal, but his shot fizzes wide of the far post. Nearly quarter of an hour later, Kevin chips the ball to the far post from the left, and Amonike's there again, but his header is saved by Jesus.

Half an hour in, he's in the thick of it again, swinging a corner out to the far post. Kevin gets there and cushions a header down to Cristiano Magina, who shapes his body brilliantly as he, how can I put this, absolutely twats the ball into the top corner on the volley. Beep Beep.

A few minutes later, Camacha's Camacho drives forward on the ball but shoots just high and wide of our goal, and then just before half time, Paulista breaks from a Camacha corner and plays the ball over the top for Amonike on the left. He gets level with the box and whips a cross in to the far side, where Kevin is waiting to take the ball down and slot it past the keeper. Beep Beep.

I'm a very happy man at half time, and rightly so. Vitor Miranda though is developing an annoying habit of ruining my good time. Within 2 minutes of the restart he pushes Roberto in the box and gives Camacha a penalty.

Luckily, for every Vitor Miranda there's a Délcio Azevedo. He saves the centrally placed penalty and maintains our 2 goal cushion. I don't know the exact number of penalties that he's saved this season but that's certainly not his first.

With 20 minutes left to play, Neto plays a good ball over our defence for Belo, who cracks a half volley against Azevedo's bar. We respond by swapping our system to the new Heróis Counter and throwing Seidi on for Hurley.

In the dying minutes, Paulista tries to set up our third. First he tees up CM9 for a long range shot that Jesus saves, and then he plays Amonike through on the left. The winger chips the ball over to the far post and Magina's close range header clips the bar as it goes over.

It doesn't matter. The 3 points are ours. The 3 points are always ours.

Beep Beep, Camacha. Beep Beep.

https://youtu.be/SBSIDiIB1yU

[Franjo]

Prank Calls - Part 2 (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 45.5)

As I walk home from training, planning my evening around watching our next opponent Leiria's last match and being shunned by my 2 cats, my phone starts to ring. I dig it out of my pocket to see that I'm being called by a withheld number. In light of recent events, I'm suspicious. I answer the call and hold the phone up to my ear. "Hello?" I say tentatively.

"Hello, is this Franjo?" Says a heavily accented voice on the other end.

"Yep" I reply curtly.

"Franjo, it's a pleasure. This is Slaven Bilic. I'm calling to..."

"Oh, go **** yourself" I reply, before hanging up. Roger has been unemployed for a full year now and is obviously struggling to fill the days. But should I feel bad? If you work in football you've got to learn how to deal with being sacked haven't you. It's not my fa... My phone's ringing again. Withheld number. I answer.

"What is it, Roger?"

"This is Slaven Bilic", spits Roger. "You go **** yourself, you insolent little man."

"Find a job and leave me alone" I plead.

"I have a job! I loaned you my player and you have not held up your end of the deal!" A long silence follows. Surely not. "You agreed with my staff that Domingos Quina would be a first team player. That's why we allowed him to join you!" I feel the colour drain from my face. I try to reply but the most I can manage is to repeatedly open and close my mouth like a goldfish. "WELL?" He barks.

"SLAVEN BILIC" I yelp, unhelpfully.

"Yes." He mutters, irritatedly. "Look, please could you stick to our agreement and play Domingos in your team?" He continues, as I whimper down the phone. This isn't Roger. This is a Premier League Manager. This is a former Everton player. I had a ****ing picture of this guy on my wall when I was a kid! My first contact with a big name in football and I've just told him to go **** himself!

"I am hanging up now." Says Bilic wearily. "Please stick to our agreement in future." I continue to whimper as the line goes dead, before the whimper evolves into a high pitched, maniacal laugh. I sink down to a squatting position, still holding the phone to my ear, and pull my Angrense jersey up over my head. I need to be alone and I need to be invisible. I just made a complete arse of myself and I've got nobody to blame but... Roger.

[Franjo]

Bilic Be Damned (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep46)

 

With 5 matches to play, we are well and truly coming up to crunch time. I'm not sure how seriously I took our promotion chances at the start of the season, but there's no doubt that we'll be in the mix now. Today we host Leiria, a side that we beat 2-0 in our last meeting, and a repeat performance would be just great.

With Big Slav's request still ringing in my ears, I decide to bring Domingos Quina back into the fold and give Jeferson Paulista a rest. He's been a revelation since he arrived in Hero Creek, but we've got some huge games coming up that I need him to be fresh for.

Amonike has drawn level now with Medeiros' and Magina's assist record of 10, but Kevin is catching up. There's plenty of players in the mix for this record, which just speaks volumes about this squad.

We start brightly. It takes less than 4 minutes for Magina to put the ball through to release Amonike, but the winger's first time shot, although seemingly destined for the bottom corner, is turned behind well by Bonet.

On the approach to half time I tell Os Heróis to push forwards and attack. We're nearly punished in injury time when Bernardo's corner connects with Santiago, who powers his header against the bar.

It's been another one of those halfs. Another one of those halfs that leave me more underwhelmed than 2008 Robinho when he realised who he'd actually signed for. I give the starters 15 minutes of the 2nd half to impress me, which they don't, before bringing on Silva and Paulista and hauling off Magina and Quina. Bilic be damned, I want to win.

Over the next few minutes, both teams come close. Silva hits a tame shot into Bonet's arms and Pereira's ball over our defence is latched onto by Allef, who goes one-on-one with Azevedo but can't find a way past our pint sized Keeper.

Keen not to keep our defensive line unnecessarily high and invite Leiria to have another go at that, we go back to trying to control the game. It nearly pays off a few minutes from time when we win a corner. Amonike swings the ball in, Olivier nods it on at the near post and Touré gets his head to it at the far post, forcing an incredible reflex save from Bonet.

Ah well. There's no argument here to say that either side should have won. In the end, both teams will gratefully take the point, the clean sheet, and then never speak of this match again.

Hopefully though, we can find our form again away at Casa Pia. We drew 1-1 with them at our place so we're all itching to get the 3 points today. Casa Pia usually line up with a narrow diamond, so we'll focus our play down the wings. Paulista comes in for Quina, and after his recently outstanding form for our Under 19's (After bagging 5 goals in his last match, he's now scored 26 in 26), Wilson Dias gets an actual real life start in place of Magina, who's had a couple of quiet matches.

We start brightly once again when after just 5 minutes, Paulista strides forwards on the ball and cracks a shot against the bar from 20 yards. Just before the half hour mark though, he steps up to take a free kick in a very similar position to the one that he scored on his full debut. Obviously he powers it straight into the top corner again, because that's exactly what Elano would have done. 1-0. Vamos Heróis.

Moments later, Hurley lays the ball off for Amonike, who forces a good save from Paulo in the Casa Pia net.

We head out after the break full of **** and vinegar. Paulista continues to pull the strings from the number 10 spot, playing the ball to Dias, who in turn feeds Benjamim, but Paulo is on form again to turn our midfielder's shot away.

Quina comes on with half an hour to go in place of Kevin, and then Magina replaces Dias with 10 minutes to go. Paulista takes a bit of a knock, but that seems to be all she wrote.

Until the 93rd minute. When Hurley's sloppy pass goes straight to Marques. Marques plays the ball to Ribeiro, who splits our defence with a through ball, and Rodrigues pokes the equaliser past the on-rushing Azevedo.

Bollocks.

https://youtu.be/8Diun1BqTe0

Again, I can't be too critical. I genuinely think that this may be the first time Hurley's messed up in an Angrense shirt, and it's cost us a cheap goal and 2 points. But that's just how it goes sometimes. 2 points in 8 days isn't the worst tally in the world, although it is slightly annoying. It's just been a bit of a "Meh" week.

But the only thing that matters to me now is that we still sit at the top of the league. And with 3 matches to play, we're a nose in front of Mafra in 2nd, but an entire 5 points ahead of Barreirense in 3rd. And somehow we've still not been bloody beaten.

[Franjo]

Five-A-Side (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep47)

"Dele Alli, definitely. Then Gary Cahill, Jordan Pickford, Harry Kane and... Probably Adam Lallana. You?"

Nuno smacks his leathery lips as he trundles his mower across the pitch alongside me. "Cristiano Ronaldo..." He begins, "Rui Patrício... Bernardo Silva... João Moutinho..." He deliberates over the final name. "Pepe." He concludes. I chuckle.

"You'd have Pepe in your Portuguese 5 a side team?" I ask, incredulously. "You need skilful players for 5 a side. Players that are good on the ball and handy in tight spaces. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop isn't he."

"If Pepe plays so rough that your team runs away crying, I win, Inglês."

"Fair point", I concede. And then after a short pause, "I still think my team would win though."

"Os Ingleses", he laughs.

Just then, I notice Pedro striding across the pitch towards us. I give him a nod, which he returns.

"Message for you, Boss" he says sympathetically, "Tuks called. They've hired someone."

I sigh. "Oh well. Cheers Pedro." He nods and starts walking back off the pitch.

I decided that I would apply for one more job. I had an interview with University of Pretoria (Known as "Tuks"), a South African top tier side the other day. I don't know what chance I thought I had when a South African second tier side rejected me not that long ago. It can't be helped though, I don't think South Africa's ready for me yet. I'll have to find another destination. Maybe I'll stick to Europe for another year or 2 and then conquer the World.

Anyway, now that Nuno's got our pitch nice and playable, we're ready to host Barreirense. I have no particularly special plan for this match as I fully expect us to beat Barreirense at this point. We go Meatloaf, and we go full strength.

We start well. It takes Magina only 17 minutes to clip our opening goal into the far corner of the net, after a good pass from Hurley. And less than 10 minutes after the goal, our day gets even better when Barreirense's star striker Caraballo has to be stretchered off with an injury. He's scored 17 in 27 so far this season so it's certainly comforting to watch him be carried from the field. I do feel quite bad, but not bad enough to stop me subtly pumping my fist in celebration.

Before the half hour mark, a brilliant Heróis passing move ends with Magina returning the favour for Hurley, setting the midfielder up so he can slot the ball between the keeper's legs and double our lead. It could be 3-0 shortly afterwards, but Paulista smashes one of his excellent free kicks against the post.

In first half injury time however, Hurley turns brilliantly to lose 2 defenders, and then plays a perfect pass around the corner for Amonike, who does slot in our 3rd. Game over.

The 2nd half starts fairly slowly. Magina and Zé Francisco both have outrageously speculative long range shots just after the restart, but neither troubles either keeper. Lagoa then plays Zé Francisco through on goal, but he shoots straight at Délcio Azevedo.

With about half an hour to go, I bring on Quina, Dias and Renato Silva. They could all do with a run out and I feel like I can afford to give Kevin, Paulista and Magina a rest. The decision does threaten to backfire on me though. First, Félix latches onto a Severino cross and volleys at goal from close range, only to be denied by Azevedo's fingertips, and then Santos finds Lagoa with a well practiced free kick routine, but his shot is charged down by Olivier.

The final whistle goes and we record a 3-0 win over Barreirense. And not only that. We've also gone and secured ourselves a top 2 finish.

https://youtu.be/ah3tSj1D6-I

I receive a call a couple of minutes after full time from Miguel Borba. Not one to take a hint, he asks once again if I'd like to discuss a new contract. Just like I did a few weeks ago, but with more sarcasm, I tell him to invest in our academy instead. He declines. And he still doesn't get it.

I do also find out shortly afterwards that Caraballo tore his hamstring during our match, so I hereby withdraw my celebrations and fist pump. Poor guy.

These next 2 matches are arguably the biggest of our Season. First up is União at home. União have surprised me slightly in the way that they've slid out of reach of the top 2. I expected them to be in the mix for the top spot until the very end but I can't help feel that they've underachieved. In fact, they could condemn themselves to another Season in the Championship if they don't beat us today. We on the other hand, could secure ourselves the top spot and make next week's trip to 2nd place Mafra a dead rubber, which would be very, very helpful.

The yellow card that Hurley picked up against Barreirense was his 15th of the Season, so he's banned for today's match. Jaime Seidi replaces him in our lineup and will be the holding man in a slightly adapted Project: Meatloaf. Otherwise, we're unchanged.

Hey and here's yet another record within our reach: We've scored 62 goals so far this season. The record for a team in this division is 66. I'd definitely back us to break that in our 3 or 4 remaining matches.

The first half is an end to end encounter. Paulista sees a low shot turned behind by Rodrigo Antunes, before Amonike cushions down Kevin's cross and Magina executes a Di Canio esque volley from close range, but sends the ball crashing against the bar.

Flávio Silva gets the ball in the net for União after Marakis nods on Bica's looping free kick, but the linesman's flag is raised. Silva was offside and the game remains deadlocked. 5 minutes before the break though, Martins drills a cross in from the right and Flávio Silva is there again. And he's onside. 1-0 União.

At half time we change to be a little more attacking, but we can't get close to the equaliser. But then, 20 minutes after the break, Sérgio Marakis slides into Magina from behind. It's an ugly, ugly challenge and he's shown a deserved straight red. I see our opportunity and instruct Os Heróis to play the ball quicker and into space. We need to make the most of our extra man.

With 10 minutes to go we change again. This time to a 4-2-4 formation. We're throwing everything forward in search of the equaliser. I absolutely don't want our season-long unbeaten run to end with only 2 or 3 games to go. Aires picks up a gash on his leg, so he comes off along with Seidi. Coelho and Dias come on as more offensive alternatives.

5 minutes before the end, Coelho overlaps on the left wing and swings a cross deep into the box. Kevin nods the ball back across goal and Magina pokes it in. It's an ugly goal, and it's not the first time this Season that our unbeaten run has been saved thanks to a red card for the opposition or a late goal, but I'll take it. Rúby comes on to sure us up in a 4-3-1-2 system, and we see the match out to claim a valuable point.

https://youtu.be/yaeO_jbnOXA

That was far too close. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon to have guaranteed a Play-off spot, but I would be gutted at this point if we didn't achieve automatic promotion. Failure to grab an equaliser in that match would have not only ended our unbeaten run in a "He was only 2 days away from retirement" kind of way, but it also would have put us level on points with Mafra.

I had hoped to get Promotion wrapped up today, but in all fairness, where would be the fun in that? Instead, it'll all go down to the last day, when 1st takes on 2nd in a winner-takes-all encounter. The victor will be elevated instantly to the dizzy heights of the Portuguese 2nd tier, while the loser will have to get through a grueling 2-legged play off against a team from the division above.

Let's find out what we're made of, shall we?

[Franjo]

Vamos Heróis (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep48)

I stare, unblinking, across the pitch. It has all gone horrendously, hideously wrong. Correct me if I'm misremembering but I don't ever recall us being 2 goals down at any point this season. But here we are. 37 minutes in. Mafra 2, Angrense 0. What a great ****ing time for this to happen.

45 Minutes Earlier...

"Now remember", I begin, "A loss today does not mean that we've failed. If Mafra beat us, all that happens is we pick ourselves up and go again in the play offs. But if we win..." I look around the changing room as I let the word sink in. I watch the players' body language. A clenched fist here, a flicker of a smile there.

"If we win", I repeat in a soft tone, "You will be legends in Hero Creek. You will be true Heróis." With that, a wave of calm optimism seems to wash over the players. "I'm not one for massive speeches lads," I continue, "but I'd like to remind you of some advice that a friend once gave me. A piece of advice that I passed on to those of you who played for me and for Angrense when I first arrived in Hero Creek." As my Heróis turn their eyes towards me, a wide smile stretches across my face, and I grasp the handkerchief in my left trouser pocket.

"Don't overthink it", I wink.

We're so ****ing ready for this match. I've never known these players so excited, or so focussed. Mafra Away could arguably be described as the toughest match of our Season and there's a strange poetry to the way that it's come about on the last day to decide who wins Promotion. But to be honest, I wouldn't want it any other way. This match deserves to be an occasion and my players deserve to be the ones who win it.

We will line up today in a counter attacking 4-1-2-3 variant of our Heróis Original system. We will be solid, we will soak up pressure, and we will hit Mafra quickly on the break. Rúby starts as the holding man as Jaime Seidi is suspended and Diogo Coelho starts in place of the injured Mauro Aires. Jeferson Paulista starts on the left wing, leaving Kevin on the bench.

The first goal comes 13 minutes in when Varão lays the ball off for Bruninho, who belts it into the top corner from just outside the area. It's a hell of a strike to be fair. I react rashly, telling the players to abandon our plan of counter attacking and to attempt to control the game instead.

In the 37th minute, Carvalhas swings in a free kick from the right wing and big centre back Rafael Goiano heads the ball past the flailing Azevedo.

Do you remember when I mentioned the Gods of football? When I explained that they can be incredibly cruel and vindictive arse holes? Well how about getting beaten for the first time on the last day of the season? That's them. This is their doing. They're laughing their celestial tits off at me right now.

But suddenly, we come alive. The 2nd goal seems to flick a switch and it's only a couple of minutes before Amonike drills in a cross from the right wing, which Guilherme helpfully deflects into his own net.

My players smell blood. There's a real spring in their step now. In the 44th minute, as I consider what kind of approach I'll use in my team talk, Amonike gets free down the right again and puts another low cross in, but this time Guilherme does not score on our behalf. He doesn't need to. Because Benjamim arrives at the near post to score the equaliser.

If there's one thing that I've really grown to love in away matches, it's the silence. I don't know if we're a special case or if the whole division is the same, but generally you can count the number of away fans that attend these matches on one hand. Whether we're the home or away side, it's always the same: A couple of away fans amongst a sea of hundreds of home fans. And when we're on the road, and you could hear the sound of a pin dropping on the other side of the ground, it's one of the best feelings a Portuguese Championship Manager can have.

At half time, as it turns out, I barely need to say anything. A quick comeback before half time builds an awful lot of momentum and I only ask that the players carry it into the second half. Unfortunately they don't. Aside from a ridiculously optimistic long range shot from Bruninho, the first 25 minutes are quiet and tense.

Mind you, that may not be the worst thing in the world. After all, as it stands, we're going up. I don't want to rock the boat by making big changes, so I just drop our wingers back to form a 2nd bank of 4. We'll play our standard game in a 4-1-4-1 and try to scrape through to the end.

I'm clock watching now, which is never ever a useful thing to do. It only makes time go more slowly. It makes you feel every tick, and experience every tock. I'm watching the pot and expecting it to boil, but I can't help it. Into the final 10 minutes we go, and all we need to do is not **** this up.

In the 83rd minute, Hurley chips a beautiful pass into the Mafra box for Magina, who chests the ball down - And half volleys into the bottom corner. My heart's pounding. This it it. Have we won it? We've surely won it. An equaliser wouldn't be enough for Mafra, they need to beat us. I promised myself I wouldn't, but I try to belly bounce Pedro again.

I needn't have worried about a Mafra equaliser. They may as well raise a white flag from their dugout. They're dejected and they're done. Pretty much straight from kick off, we get forward again. Magina squares the ball for Paulista and the Brazilian puts the cherry on top with a low finish into the bottom corner.

4-2. It's 4-2. The final whistle blows and it's still 4-2. I can hear screaming and cheering from my staff behind me and my players in front of me, and it's still 4-2. We've won. We've done it. We've been ****ing promoted.

https://youtu.be/Fl4weyhM9os

I'm laughing, or crying, or something in between. It's difficult to tell. All I know is that I'm sprinting as fast as my legs will carry me onto the pitch towards the pile of Heróis in the far corner, along with Pedro and my staff. Even Nuno's caught up with us. He's running alonside me, beaming as tears streak down his cheeks. "VAMOS HERÓIS!" I shout, throwing my arm around his shoulder. Nuno looks up at me and just starts wailing with happiness. "VAMOS HERÓIS, INGLÊS!" He sobs. What a game. What a comeback. What a year. What a club.

As I join in the celebrations with the players, a golden retriever that's obviously sneaked through the turnstiles somehow, and the 2 travelling fans, who by the way have staged the smallest pitch invasion in the history of football, I feel a slight pang of regret. I've brought this team up to the LigaPro, but I won't be here to lead them through it. I'm starting to wonder whether the decision I made is the right one.

At that moment I notice Miguel Borba striding across the grass, looking straight at me. I can tell from his face that he can tell from my face exactly what I'm thinking. He keeps walking until he's stood uncomfortably close to me, and then he leans in towards my ear and whispers: "I will ask you one more time, and your answer will be final. Will you stay with Angrense, Franjo, or will you go?"

[Tom Ashley]

VAMOS HERÓIS!!!  

Congratulations on your come-from-behind victory and on your promotion!  And, again, you tell the story with style.

That's quite a cliff-hanger you've left for us, too. Looking forward to learning what comes next...

[Franjo]

4 hours ago, Tom Ashley said:

VAMOS HERÓIS!!!  

Congratulations on your come-from-behind victory and on your promotion!  And, again, you tell the story with style.

That's quite a cliff-hanger you've left for us, too. Looking forward to learning what comes next...

Cheers Tom, that's very kind and I'm really glad you're enjoying it!

[Franjo]

One More Time (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep49)

The last couple of weeks has been a bit surreal. We won promotion from the Portuguese Championship and for a moment I thought that our Season was over, completely forgetting that we've still got to face off against the winner of Group A to determine who wins the Division. So in the end, our celebrations didn't last very long. We've still got 1 more match to play before we can claim to have gone the entire 2017/18 season unbeaten, so there's still work to be done.

We've had 2 friendlies against 2 small sides (The biggest teams that would play us right at the end of the season, frustratingly) to prepare us for our match against Cinfães, the winners of Group A. First, we eased past Guadeloupe at home. In a rotated line up, Seidi opened the scoring, Quina bagged goals either side of half time and Kevin put the cherry on top as we ran out 4-0 winners.

https://youtu.be/wlsYLR7qj5I

For our 2nd friendly I thought it best to play an away match as the play-off will be hosted at a neutral venue. To be specific, we'll be playing at Liga Nos side Nacional da Madeira's stadium, Estádio da Madeira. So we travelled to Vitória do Pico and played the exact same side that I plan to play against Cinfães. It was our dress rehearsal, if you like. Anyway, I hope the real match goes that well. Kevin opened the scoring before Sobral got the equaliser, and then Kevin gave us the lead again. Magina, Aires and Hurley all scored to get us another convincing win.

https://youtu.be/DbOEiun_04A

But it's one thing trouncing teams like Guadeloupe and Vitória do Pico. Trying to take a win against Cinfães will be an entirely different proposition.

The line up that I played in that second friendly, and the line up that I've picked today, is as standard and as predictable as it could possibly be. I don't know what to expect from Cinfães, except for a tough game, but we'll end the season the only way that feels right. We'll set up to dominate. We'll embrace the spirit of my arse hole of a cat one more time. We will of course go Project: Meatloaf.

Goalkeeper - No. 1 - Délcio Borges Azevedo

He has been solid if unspectacular over the last 18 months. Serginho took the gloves for a spell at the start of this season, but eventually Délcio won back his rightful place between the sticks.

Defensive Right Back - No. 13 - Vitor Hugo Alves Miranda

It's never even crossed my mind to replace him while I've been here. Yes, he's been known to have the odd lapse of judgement, but overall he's been solid defensively and decent at supporting attacks.

Centre Back - No. 26 - Lassina Touré

A free signing in the Summer, Lassina blossomed this season, even winning his first cap for Burkina Faso against Tunisia. He's been a solid upgrade on last year's centre backs.

Centre Back - No. 12 - Jean Olivier Sumo Kingue, AKA Olivier

Take everything I just said about Touré and multiply it by 10. Well, apart from the international cap thing. Olivier has been an outrageously good capture for us. A complete centre back, a danger from set pieces, and one of the unsung stars of my Heróis side.

Defensive Left Back - No. 2 - Mauro Aires Brasil Reis

Another man brought in during my defensive overhaul a year ago, Mauro has been a defensively solid option at left back. He's been OK going forward but I've generally left him out in favour of Diogo Coelho when I've wanted us to attack down the wings.

Box to Box Midfielder - No. 17 - Benjamim Pimentel Melo Vicente, AKA Benjamim

When I first saw Benjamim, I described him as a man who 'would have a good shot at winning the "Most Average Player in the World" award.' I was dead wrong. He's one of those players who is far more than the sum of his parts, and he makes the team more than the sum of it's parts too. He's the kind of footballer who is often overlooked, but who is so very crucial in every successful team. And that goal against Torreense, eh?

Attacking Central Midfielder - No. 11 - Gonçalo Miguel Reyes Dias, aka Hurley

I think I've already said everything that needs to be said about Hurley. He's gotten us through so many clutch moments with goals, assists and key passes. He is an excellent footballer and he'll be in my team next year. Also fun fact, his agent's name is Hugo. Make of that what you will.

Right Winger - No. 20 - Hugo Fernando Teixeira Bogas, AKA Amonike

I was dead wrong again. When I arrived, I overlooked Amonike. I overlooked him because he isn't blessed with great pace, or great skill, or even a fantastic end product. He spent most of the first 6 months of my Angrense career warming the bench while Aurélio stunk up the right wing. But just like Benjamim, Amonike as a footballer... Well, he just works. All of his semi-decent qualities just come together to make a fine footballer, and a regular in my side.

Advanced Playmaker - No. 16 - Jeferson Anti Filho, AKA Jeferson Paulista

As I once overheard an enthusiastic Angrense fan say, "Paulista doesn't know how to score tap-ins, does he?"* And they were right. Of the 4 goals Paulista has scored for us in his short time here, 2 have been free kicks, one has been a volley, and one has been a tidy finish. The man once described as "The new Elano" came in and added genuine quality to our front line, and he made an instant impact.

Left Inside Forward - No. 7 - Pedro Daniel Santos Aguiar, aka Kevin

Kevin has been an extremely reliable performer since I came in. He started my first season incredibly well, shining a light on Aurélio's poor form because of his brilliant goal scoring and chance creation. I've said before and I'll say again that if we find ourselves with a genuine goal scoring chance, I'll be shocked if Kevin hasn't played a major part in creating it.

Advanced Forward - No. 9 - Cristiano Toste Magina

My first impression of CM9 was that he reminded me of a 16 year old Wayne Rooney. He came deep to collect the ball, jinked and powered past defenders, before trying to score wonder goals from 30+ yards. But Project: Meatloaf made him an entirely different player. With Medeiros, or Antunes, or Hurley, or Paulista playing just behind him, he no longer needed to collect the ball from deep. Instead he became the focal point up top. He became the man who held the ball up and created chances for players around him, the man who got on the end of crosses, be it with his head, feet or chest, and the man who scored a **** tonne of goals. He's a complete modern centre forward and I'm positive that despite his advancing years, he's still got time to make it at a much, much higher level.

I struggle for a while to think of what to say to my players before the match. What's our motivation to win today? If we lose 10-0 to Cinfães, we're still going up. That makes this match feel on the surface like a meaningless fixture. But we can't lack motivation now. There's still silverware to be won. We're still breaking records. We're still unbeaten. These are the things that are still to play for. In the end I keep my team talk short and sweet. "Go and make history", I tell them, before walking out of the changing room, through the tunnel, and out into the dugout.

I suppose I should have seen this coming. If I have a complaint about this season, and I shouldn't, it's that too often we've failed to make an impact in the first half of games. Too often we don't start playing until after the break. Today is one of those days. Apart from Joel Silva's half volley rippling the side netting 10 minutes before half time, nothing really happens.

"One last push." I say to the team once we've all shuffled silently back into the changing room. "One last push and you'll go down in Angrense History. Vamos Heróis!" The players scream our motto back to me in Unison, and we head back out with our chests puffed out and our heads held high.

It takes less than 2 minutes for Aires to spot Hurley darting onto the left wing and pick him out. Hurley takes the ball and fizzes a cross in towards the near post. And CM9 turns it in. Of course he bloody does.

The goal only spurs Cinfães on though. Less than 5 minutes later Joel Silva gets on the end of an Alves cross and volleys in the equaliser.

The game momentarily seems to have come alive. Before the hour mark, Magina gets in behind the Cinfães defence and shoots from a narrow angle, but Diego Silva saves. The entertainment doesn't last. The final whistle blows with the scores tied, and our season will carry on for at least another 30 minutes.

I withdraw Hurley before extra time begins. Quite frankly, it's been a long season and he looks as if he's scaled Monte Brasil. He's shattered. After thinking hard, I decide to replace him with Bruce Ávila. If I'm bringing on fresh legs they may as well be on the wing where we can stretch the opposition. Paulista will take up Hurley's midfield position and Kevin will play behind Magina.

The rotation of positions very nearly pays off instantly, but when Kevin's excellent through ball is picked up by Magina, the big man uncharacteristically skies his shot.

4 minutes from the break, Bruce Ávila dribbles down the left wing and crosses in for Magina at the near post. CM9 doesn't mess around this time. He blasts the ball on the volley and it flies into the net. As my coaching staff celebrate, I go into full lockdown mode. We'll swap to a 4-1-2-3 shape, Seidi will come on for Amonike, and Kevin will take the right wing. We go all out defence.

Or, we should do. But the thing is, if you're defending a lead in a match like this, the other team should attack. That's just how it is. That's how it works. But Cinfães don't get the memo. They don't have anything left in the tank. They sit back and we come forward again in the 117th minute. It's fitting that Hurley's replacement, Bruce Ávila, is at the heart of it once more, creating chances in his absence. Ávila plays the ball inside for Paulista, whose shot across goal brushes Silva's fingertips as it flies in.

And that's it. That's all of it. Renato Silva has a 2 minute cameo in Kevin's place, but the game is already won. The league is already won.

https://youtu.be/2cW6TL5qSC0

We are euphoric. We are record breakers. We are undefeated. We are Champions.

We are Sport Clube Angrense. Vamos ****ing Heróis.

*The enthusiastic fan is Sammuthegreat on fm-base.co.uk! Cheers for the constant feedback and support mate!

[Franjo]

Final Answer (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 49.5)

13 Days Earlier...

"I will ask you one more time, and your answer will be final. Will you stay with Angrense, Franjo, or will you go?"

I think for a moment as Borba takes a step back. And then I let out a sigh.

"This decision... would be a lot more difficult if we had a project here, Miguel." I explain. "But there's no project. There's no stability for me here. How am I meant to build a LigaPro squad while I'm looking over my shoulder, expecting my players to be sold over my head?"

Miguel studies me silently, his brow furrowed as he slowly nods. Then he holds out a hand. "I wish you luck then." He says coldly.

I take his hand and shake it firmly. "You too." I reply.

As our handshake ends he adds: "Just make sure you beat Cinfães. Your contract runs out at the end of June. You aren't gone yet."

"I've been gone for months Miguel." I chuckle. "We'll be fine."

He turns away and begins to walk back to the stands. I really do wish him the best of luck. Not for his sake, God no, but for the sake of Angrense. I've no idea how it's only been 18 months but I've really come to love this place. The fans, the players, the staff - Well, most of the staff.

But I'd be a fool to overstay my welcome. The time is right for me to move on to pastures new. I wonder whose attention I've caught this Season. I'm not sure Bayern will be hammering on my door, but I reckon I should be able to make a decent step up to a bigger club.

I guess we'll find out in the Summer.

[Franjo]

The Next Chapter (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep50)

I'm very, very pleased with the position that I'm leaving Angrense in. Yes, I still plan to come back and pluck the best Heróis for my new team, but still.

The latest piece of big news is that Angrense have gone professional! This is a massive step forward for the club. It should enable them to keep up with the rest of the LigaPro, get players in on full time contracts, hire more staff, upgrade the facilities, the infrastructure, the quality of prawn sandwiches and all that good stuff. Borba has also decided to add 370 seats to Estádio Municipal de Angra do Heroismo, taking the seated capacity to 1306.

So all in all, the future is bright in Hero Creek and I can leave to start the next chapter of my career with a clear conscience and a spring in my step.

And bloody hell. What a difference a title winning undefeated season makes. 18 months ago, I withstood rejection after rejection after rejection, with the exception of the handful of English clubs that tried to bring me home. This Summer is... Different.

I send my CV far and wide to see who needs a new top dog, and at first the response is lukewarm. I decline LigaPro side Farense's offer for an interview, as well as Vanarama National side Morecambe. Not a good start, I think. Offers from 2 of the only countries that I'm not currently interested in plying my trade in. I want to move on from Portugal and the time still isn't right to go home.

I then turn down interviews with Budapest Honvéd Futball Club, a 2nd tier Hungarian side, and Union Sportive Concarnoise, a French 3rd tier side, as neither club represent a step up from Angrense. I'm willing to be bullish about this, I do want a step up. I'm not moving sideways.

Chester City in the Vanarama North can jog on, too. As can Vác FC, another Hungarian 2nd tier team. But the next email I receive is intriguing. Wojciech Pertkiewicz, Chairman of Lotto Ekstraklasa (Polish top tier) side Arka Gdynia wants me in for an interview. Now we're talking. The Lotto Ekstraklasa would be a significant jump up the managerial ladder for me. We make the arrangements and I interview for the role of Arka Gdynia manager.

I do hope for an even bigger opportunity to present itself, but I'm swiftly disappointed. Freamunde, another LigaPro side and Scottish 3rd tier side Arbroath both get in touch, but neither fit the bill. Get me an interview in Glasgow, Scotland. Then we'll talk.

I do reluctantly attend an interview with Vlastimil Gabriel, Chairman of Czech 2nd tier side Varnsdorf. To be honest though, I attend mostly out of boredom.

Gonçalo Valadão officially retires from football. He's done well with Angrense and I imagine he'll have a job for life there, unless he becomes a good coach, in which case I might pinch him.

After deleting an email from Vanarama South side East Thurrock United, offering me another pissing interview in England, I stumble across another from Vlastimil Gabriel. He wants me to take the Varnsdorf job. I stare at the email for a few minutes, before sending a reply in which I courteously decline. I feel like I lead him on a bit by interviewing, but especially as Gdynia is still a possibility, I want to set my sights higher than the Czech 2nd tier.

I reject interviews from Spanish 3rd tier side Tudelano and Slovenian 2nd tier side NK Komenda over the next few days, but I'm starting to sweat. My contract is up in less than 2 weeks. I do have the brainwave of getting Borba to pay the £600 for my National C license studies though, so that should set me up nicely if the worst should happen and I find myself unemployed in a few months.

I do have to laugh when Torreense throw me a cheeky interview offer. They finished 4th in their PT Championship Relegation stage group this year but you've got to admire their ambition.

I also decline interviews from Serbian 2nd tier side FK Temnic 1924 Varbarin and Slovakian 2nd tier side Slavoj Trebisov, before attending one with Turkish 2nd tier side Adana Demierspor and their President Melik Toprak. If I'm going to move to a 2nd division side, being 1 promotion away from the Süper Lig wouldn't be a bad shout.

In another pretty funny turn of events, after I turned down Farense's offer for an interview at the start of the Summer, they hired the manager of PT Championship Runners up Cinfães, Arlindo Gomes. So naturally, Cinfães send me an invitation. Naturally, I say no.

With about a week to go before my contract expires, and having rejected 2 more offers from Serbian 2nd tier side Buducnost Dobanovci and Spanish 4th tier side Palencia, I receive another email that catches my attention.

It's Wojciech Cygan, Chairman of Another Lotto Ekstraklasa side, GKS (Górniczy Klub Sportowy) Katowice. In 6 weeks time, they start the new season as heavy favourites to be relegated, having only just been promoted and having a weaker squad than the majority of the division, but I think I'm just about ready for another relegation scrap. I accept Wojciech's offer for an interview and fly back to Poland for another crack at a top tier job.

29th June 2016: 2 days before Angrense contract expires

From: Wojciech Cygan, Chairman of GKS Katowice

Subject: Save Us, Franjo

[Franjo]

That Time Again (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Meta-sode 50.5)

Witajcie przyjaciele,

It's that time again I'm afraid. My God I've enjoyed this season and I'm very grateful to my FM save for seemingly going out of its way to create drama for us.

I've been playing this by ear for the past 73 episodes, mini-sodes and meta-sodes and I still am. Even after taking a week off after episode 25, it's been difficult at times to keep up with this story. Not that I'm complaining. It's been a lot of work but it's been entirely worth it.

But with that in mind, I've decided to take a 2 week break from daily episodes ahead of our first season with GKS Katowice. This should give me time to sort out our new squad, get to know our new club, our new league, our opposition, etc. I've got ideas for 3 or 4 mini-sodes throughout the next 2 weeks, so my thinking at the minute is that I'll release them on the next 2 Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then daily episodes will be back on the 24th of July. This might change but I shouldn't think it will. I'll let you know if it does though.

A huge amount of thanks once again to everyone who's been reading and getting involved by leaving feedback, I really do massively appreciate it.

Anyone wanting to leave me feedback, please leave a comment or message on the medium of your choice or email me at franjofm23@gmail.com !

Also, I set up a subreddit a few weeks ago specifically for FM stories. If you use reddit, then come subscribe and read some stories/post your stories/talk about your favourite stories! At the time of posting I think we've only got 4 contributors including myself so anyone wanting to post about their FM experiences is very welcome to.

Anyway, I'd better run. I've got a flight to Katowice to catch. Have a great couple of weeks.

Cheers,

Franjo

Vamos... Katowice?

I'll work on that.

[Franjo]

Year 2 Review (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 50.5.5)

 

Pray silence please for the Portuguese Championship Manager of the bloody Year! I hadn't even been thinking about personal accolades but I'll take that. That's the cherry on top.

So... this season was a biggie, eh? Before I head off to enjoy the glitz and glamour of the top tier of Polish football, let's take a quick look back on year 2.

 

Club: SC Angrense

Final Position: 1st in First Phase, 1st in Promotion Stage, PT Championship Champions

Record: W27 D9 L1

Key Player(s): "Olivier" Kingue, Benjamim, Gonçalo "Hurley" Reyes, Pedro "Kevin" Aguiar, Cristiano Magina

Highlight: Our Unbeaten League Season

Lowlight: Belenenses' 120th minute goal that knocked us out of the Taça de Portugal 4th round

 

This year has gone better than I could have possibly hoped. Our only defeat was in extremely unfortunate circumstances: A 5-4 extra time loss to a Liga Nos side. For the rest of the season we drew a few and won a lot.

There were times that I feared for our unbeaten record. There were times when our oppositions' well timed defensive howlers and red cards kept the run alive, and there were times when our last minute winning goals did the same. All I know is that it has been a hell of a Season.

Let's talk about Cristiano Magina. He needs his own paragraph because quite frankly, he's had a ridiculous season. It's probably going to be easier if I just list his accomplishments, so here they are (And I stress that the following lists are taken from the Portuguese Championship, in which there are 80 clubs and about a quadrillion players):

- 1st in list of "Most Player of the Match Awards" with 11

- 1st in list of "Highest Average Rating" with 7.59

- 1st in list of "Top Goal Scorers" with 27

- 1st in list of "Minutes Per Goal" with 89.74

He was all of those things in terms of our club accolades too, as well as being our top assist provider with 12 and our Fans' Player of the Season. Oh, and of course the Championship Player of the Year.

Olivier deserves a mention too. He made the joint 2nd most key headers in the League with 88, and made the most interceptions by a distance with 571. He was also voted Signing of the Season and Young Player of the Season for Angrense.Kevin scooped the Goal of the Season award for his run and thunderbastard combination against Farense in September, Benjamim was our tidiest player, Hurley picked up 16 yellows, and not one of our players picked up more than 1 red card.

Lastly, if you had to guess the 2 Angrense players that made it into the Portuguese Championship Team of the Year, who would you say?

Hurley and Magina?

Bloody right! Have a toffee.

 

Former Clubs

FC Höllviken

Sadly, the last year has been brutal for FC Höllviken. When I last updated you Stefan Lundqvist had made a right pig's ear of replacing me and had been given his marching orders. Joakim took over for a few weeks before former Russia international Sergey Prigoda took the hot seat. He failed to halt Höllviken's decline and resigned shortly after they plunged into the 5th tier.

Barely anything remains of the squad that fought tooth and nail for me. Ghanaian flop Lawrence is considered their best player after the mass exodus, former pub teamers Stefan Bouvin and Mattias Andersell are still very much involved in the first team, and the striker I signed and pretty much didn't play, Wani Mukoko, is their captain. That's about it really.

 

So what next? Well, we've got a new challenge ahead of us. And something tells me it's going to be another extremely interesting year.

[Franjo]

Year 2 World Roundup (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 50.5.5.5)

After saying my goodbyes and wishing the players well, I leave the Angrense training ground for the last time. I had called everyone together for one last kick about before I left. We didn't train, we didn't run drills or split into groups or practice anything in particular. We just played football. It was fun. I discretely took a few of them to one side and asked if they would be open to joining me in Katowice. It wasn't exactly the most ethical move but I thought I may as well ask. A few of them were open to the idea and a few of them sadly weren't. More on that later.

For now, I've got a plane to catch. I stop at the flat to pick up Meatloaf, Burnie, and my suitcases, we get into a taxi and leave for Lajes Field Airport for the final time.

Goodbye Angra do Heroismo. Goodbye Hero Creek. Goodbye Terceira. Goodbye Volcano Island.

As it turns out, the flight from Terceira to Katowice is not an easy one. It's an overnight journey, and we'll initially travel from Terceira to Lisbon, Portugal. From Lisbon, we'll fly to Warsaw, Poland. And from Warsaw, we'll zip over to Katowice, our final destination. It'll take 18 hours all told, except that it won't, will it, because what are the odds that all 3 of my flights are on time? What are the odds that 1 of them is? I ****ing hate flying.

Anyway, the flight to Lisbon isn't all that bad. We arrive at 40 minutes past midnight, but now we have a 9 hour wait in the airport. Of course we do. I reach into my rucksack and pull out my laptop. We're here for the long haul, so we may as kill some time hadn't we? Let's find out what's been going on in the World of Football.

The Liga Nos title was retained by SL Benfica, but just barely. They won 79 points, which was only 2 more than rivals Sporting. Braga were a further 3 points behind, and Porto weren't even close. 4th place with 64 points. Benfica boss Rui Vitória won the Manager of the Year award, which was quite a surprise given that Arouca were predicted 13th, but crept into the Europa League places thanks to the guiding hand of Jorge Castelo, who was the runner up for the award.

There's been a plethora of great performers in the league this year, starting with Porto's André Silva, who did one better than last season and scored the most goals in the league, ahead of Braga's Hassan. Álex Grimaldo of Benfica was again one of the most consistently excellent performers, along with Thiago Maia of Sporting, and Pedrinho of Ferreira and Fejsa of Benfica bagged the most assists. SLB's Ederson retained the Best Goalkeeper award.

Speaking of retaining titles, Arsene's Arsenal have gone and done it again. They blitzed the Premier League and won 91 points, the exact same tally that they racked up last year. Again, they finished 9 points clear of Mourinho's United side and again good old Arsene took the Manager of the Year award.

Oddly though, the top performers in the league were all from Arsenal's rivals. Sergio Aguero's still got it, as evidenced by his 22 league goals. Chelsea's £69 Million 2017 Summer signing Mauro Icardi bagged 20 - the 2nd highest total. United's Juan Mata, City's James Rodríguez and Spurs' Dele Alli all had fantastic seasons, as did United's De Gea, who won the golden glove again.

Sacking Mick McCarthy and Steve Clarke didn't save Ipswich or Forest, who are going straight back down to the Championship under the stewardship of Neil Harris and Javier Aguirre respectively. They're joined by Crystal Palace, who are managed by Laurent Blanc, because obviously.

The trio will be replaced in the big time by Chris Hughton's Brighton and Hove Albion, Mika Lehkosuo's Fulham, and incredibly, Steve McClaren's Derby County!

In La Liga, Zizou and his Galacticos stomped their Madrid neighbours back down from the thrown, running away with the league on 94 points, which is 15 clear of Simeone's Athletico Madrid and 16 ahead of Enrique's ever-underachieving Barcelona. Quique Sánchez Flores won the Manager of the Year award for heroically guiding Espanyol to 5th and only 1 place off the Champions League spots, despite their predicted finish of 11th.

Luis Suárez of Barça and Simone Zaza of Valencia lead the way in terms of scoring goals with 23 and 21 respectively, but Lionel Messi unsurprisingly turned in some great performances. He was by far the highest performing player in the league, followed from a distance by his team mate Gerard Piqué, and he recorded the joint most assists with Real Sociedad's Recio. Real's Keylor Navas deservedly won his 2nd golden glove in as many seasons.

Moving onto the Bundesliga, and it's very much as you'd expect. Bayern held Dortmund at arms length to retain the title with 91 points. Dortmund were completely isolated in 2nd, 10 points behind Bayern but 19 points clear of 3rd place Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern's Carlo Ancelotti won the Manager of the Year award for demolishing the Bundesliga.

Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the most goals, just ahead of Dimitris Diamantakos, who seems to have single handedly prevented Karlsruhe from dropping straight back down to the 2nd tier. Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng put in consistantly excellent displays for Bayern, while Roberto Lewandowski racked up the most assists, just pipping Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo to that honour. Neuer was unsurprisingly the top goalkeeper in the league. Wolfsburg are coming straight back up too, along with Braunschweig.

My God, I would not want to be Leonardo Jardim right now. The former Monaco manager moved to Juventus in December after Massimiliano Allegri took up the Manager's role of the Italian national side. My intuition tells me that Jardim might not be in his new job for very much longer, because Juventus drew with the already relegated Spal on the final day of the season. That in itself might not have been so bad, but it allowed Roma to leapfrog the reigning Champions into first place. So after winning the Serie A Title for the last 6 years running, Juventus end the season on 75 points with Inter, and they pass the baton on to Roma. Nobody will argue with Roma's Luciano Spalletti being handed the Manager of the Year award, I'm sure.

Paulo Dybala and Leonardo Bonucci both had fantastic seasons for Juve too. Dybala scored 21 and was the Serie A top goalscorer too, 4 goals ahead of Torino's Manuel Pucciarelli, who was signed from Empoli last summer. The top assisters were Milan's Andrea Bertolacci and Roma's Diego Perotti and Inter's Samir Handanovic won the golden glove.

The rest of Europe really wants to embarrass Juve too. As well as Benfica, Bayern and Arsenal, Monaco have also successfully defended their title with 99 points in Ligue 1, having promoted their former coach José Barros to Manager to replace Jardim. PSG weren't that far behind on 93 points, but their reign of dominance seems to be well and truly over. Although they were some way behind the top 2, Bordeaux performed well above expectations and nabbed the last Champions League spot, earning Manager Jocelyn Gourvennec the Manager of the Year award.

PSG's Edinson Cavani scored the most goals, just in front of Monaco's Valère Germain. Bernardo Silva and Ángel di María had excellent seasons, Dijon's Nabil El Zhar nabbed the most assists, PSG's Thiago got the 2nd most, and Monaco's Danijel Subasic won the Golden Glove.

Something I neglected to mention last year was the European Competitions, so here you go. Last year, Monaco beat a heroic Leicester side 2-1 in the final, meaning that the Jamie Vardy movie will probably have a pretty bad ending, and Man City beat Leverkusen, Barça and Juve to get to the final, and then recorded a comfortable 2-0 win over Real Madrid to clinch the Champions League.

This year however, Napoli won the Europa League, ensuring that there would be no chance of a London-based winner by knocking out West Ham and Tottenham on the way. They drew with Inter 0-0 in the final but won 5-4 on penalties.

Athletico Madrid won the Champions League, knocking Juve, Chelsea and Bayern out on the way before beating poor Barcelona 1-1 in the final via a penalty shootout in which Messi and Rafinha missed from the spot.

I should probably mention Poland too, shouldn't I? We do need to start learning about the Polish Leagues. In the Lotto Extraklasa, Legia won the League on 69 points with Lech, Jagiellonia and Lechia qualifying for the Europa League. Bruk-Bet Termalica finished safely outside the   relegation zone on 30 points, which I make a mental note of for later.

Ślask and Arka weren't so lucky. They dropped down to the 2nd tier and will be replaced by Piast and GKS Katowice (Us). We, by the way, were promoted by virtue of having a goal difference of 8 while Wisła Puławy's was 6. It looks like it got pretty tense towards the end there. My predecessor, Krzysztof Debek, who I don't have anything against... For now... was poached by the aforementioned Bruk-Bet Termalica, which seems like a bit of a sideways move if I'm honest.

Anyway, how much time has that killed?

10 minutes.

**** it, I'm taking a nap. Someone watch my cats.

 

 

PS - As the new Fantasy Football season is upon us, I thought I'd create myself a team and a League, which you can come and join! If you don't play Fantasy Premier League but want to join, then follow this link (https://fantasy.premierleague.com), create a club and enter the code below to join my League. If you do already play, then you probably know the drill! My League code's below. 

103559-27627

Cheers!

Franjo

[STFCDP1990]

Just caught up on this story, I saw your post on Reddit the other day (and got myself confused!) and decided to give this story a go, and I've got to say that I'm loving it! I'm looking forward to future updates!

[Franjo]

Brilliant, thanks mate! Glad you're enjoying it

[Franjo]

No. 1, Radzinski's (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 50.5.5.5.5)

Night has fallen by the time my plane touches down. Thick droplets of rain hammer against the window as I attempt to make out the outside world. I can see bright lights of some kind, but they're distorted through a wall of water. I walk out of the arrivals gate at Katowice International Airport to see a line of individuals holding signs that bare names, just like in the films. I scan across them: "Dean" ... "Campbell" ... "Mendes" ... "Franjo". Ah, here we are.

Upon spotting my greeter, my first impression is that he's quite a scrawny man. Short, thin and he looks like a good gust of wind would knock him clean over. His face though heavily resembles some kind of cartoon rodent, maybe a Biker Mouse from Mars. His features are pointed and sharp, except for his ears that are large, round and protruding. One of them has 3 hooped ear rings clinging to his ample lobe. But his most distinguishing feature is a messy black goatee, flecked with strands of pure white.

As he watches me approach, his eyes narrow and his lip curls with disdain, as if I'm strutting all over his new carpet in wellies that I use exclusively to kick around animal faecal matter.

"Cześć!" I announce enthusiastically as I get nearer to the sign man. Cześć, as I understand, is 'Hello' in Polish. Never accuse me of being unadaptable. Although it is currently the only word that I've learned. Without uttering any sort of reply, sign man turns and shuffles away, dropping his sign on the floor. I quicken my step slightly to make up the ground between us, picking up the sign as I go.

We exit the airport and climb into a small black car. I squeeze into the passenger seat while sign man gets behind the wheel. He turns the key in the ignition, and with a cough and a splutter from the engine, we shudder out of the parking bay and out of the airport car park.

A good half an hour of uncomfortable silence later, we pull up outside a cosy looking hotel on a quiet road. This is the hotel in which I've arranged to stay and it looks very nice indeed. The only part of it that I don't like is the sign on the door, that google translate tells me reads "Closed For Refurbishment". Not ideal, is it.

I get back into the car and ask sign man to take me to a bar where I can take out my frustration and fatigue on some Polish beer, while I find another place to stay.

We pull up a short while later outside a small, grubby pub, with a large battered sign over the door that reads "Radzinski's". I step out of sign man's car, and as soon as the door closes, the car's engine starts up and sign man drives away around the corner, leaving me quite alone.

I make my way inside Radzinski's to find that I am still very much alone. There are no rowdy patrons. There is no bartender endlessly rubbing a glass with a cloth for no reason. The place is dark, dingy and deserted. Is every building in this City closed for ****ing refurbishment or something?

But seeing as I am still alone in a new city with nowhere to go, I take a seat on one of the barstools. I then turn around to have a proper look at the rest of the establishment. There's a pool table in the corner that looks like it's had a pint or two spilled on it at some point. Lining the wall are several booths that presumably provided quite comfortable seating at some point, but now the tables are scratched up and the seats are ripped and stained. Against the far wall is a dart board, and I can tell that it's been there for a while. The black sections have faded massively, while the white sections have collected decades worth of dirt and grime, meaning that the once clear alternating pattern is now just a big greyish circular mass. The red and green bits have been similarly affected, and now form solid purpley-brown bands across across the aged board.

I sigh as I turn back around, and nearly leap out of my skin when I notice sign man standing behind the bar, rubbing a glass with a cloth for seemingly no reason, and staring straight at me.

I chuckle at how easily I startled, and exclaim "Christ, you scared me half to death!". Sign man continues to stare at me without a trace of amusement as he rubs the glass. His lip curls with disdain again. "You work here, do you?" I ask airily.

Sign man immediately reaches for one of the pumps and pours out a pint under the bar. He then plonks the glass onto the bar and pushes it towards me, but with my keen perceptive eye I realise that the contents of the pint glass don't really resemble beer at all. The liquid inside is clear and colourless, and smells like it could quite easily strip the paint from a car. I hold out a hand to refuse the drink. "No, no. Could I have a beer please mate?" I ask politely.

Sign man nods and continues to try to force the glass towards me. "Wodka." He utters. I keep my hand out on the bar, pushing back against the glass of 'wodka'.

"No, no. Could you pour me a... Wait do you keep your vodka in kegs?"

"Wodka!" He growls, somewhat more aggresively. His thick eye brows curl down into a frown as he continues to push.

I grasp the glass begrudgingly and hold it up to my mouth. I can feel the hairs in my nostrils burning away from the scent of the stuff.

"No beer?" I plead. Sign man shakes his head adamantly. "Just... Pints of draft... Wodka?" He nods solemnly.

He watches me curiously and silently as I nurse my bizarre and potentially lethal beverage. And you're bloody right I nurse it, I don't drink this stuff with mixers, let alone straight out of a pint glass. And from a keg, no less. Welcome to Poland I suppose.

I have no idea how I'm still upright by time I finish my drink. To be honest I have no idea why I felt obliged to drink it in the first place. As I eventually put the empty glass down on the bar, sign man twists his thin lips into a smile of sorts and holds out a hand. "Radzinski" he mumbles. With a small pang of embarrassment that I hadn't already figured this information out for myself, I take his hand and shake it, which as it turns out requires a surprising amount of effort and concentration.

"You can stay up there". He nods towards a staircase visible through the door behind the bar.

"I can? There's a flat up there?" I ask hopefully. Radzinski nods. I'm taken aback by the sudden offer, and I can't help but feel like I've just been weirdly initiated into something, but I immediately accept. "We do papers tomorrow" he says as he hands me the keys.

"And you speak English?" I enquire cautiously. Radzinski nods once more.

"I am very proud." He mumbles. "But, it isn't rocket surgery." I don't really have a response to that, so I just smile and nod.

I get up and walk through the door that he gestured towards, leaving Radzinski stood behind the bar, still rubbing the same glass with his cloth, and make my way up the creaky staircase. Before I reach the top, I see the room that is to Become my new lodgings. Placed in the middle of the wood is a faded brass number "1". But just as my foot hits the landing, a strange thought comes to mind and I start to walk back down. "Wait, do you not work for GKS Katowice? If you just own this place, why was it you that picked me up from the..."

As I reach the bottom of the stairs and step back through the door to the bar, Radzinski is nowhere to be seen.

[Franjo]

Who To Choose (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 50.5.5.5.5.5)

I let out a sigh as I sit in my new, extremely plush GKS Katowice Manager's office, in my new, extremely comfortable office chair. I need to think, and to think I need to move. I stand and pace across the room, glancing out of the window to see the sun setting behind the training pitch that my new office looks out upon.

After discovering that pacing isn't really helping, I sit back down at my desk, interlocking my fingers in front of my mouth. I stare down at the 6 pieces of paper laid in front of me. Shortly after arriving in Poland, I put the word out that I would be looking for a new Assistant Manager, and 6 eager applicants have thrown their names into the ring. I have no idea which one to choose. And the really interesting thing, the thing that makes me realise what a drastic step up I've made in taking this job, is that I've heard of them. I've heard of all of them. And although I respected most of them as footballers, I remain unconvinced with their non-playing prospects.

Option number 1 is everybody's favourite dreadlocked, goggle wearing Dutch maestro, Edgar Davids. Now, I had a great deal of respect for Edgar when he was playing, and I respected his decision to drop down the English ladder to try to start a Managerial career at Barnet, but... I heard things about Davids' stint down there. Things like he wouldn't attend matches that required him to spend the night in a hotel. Things like when he was Player-Manager, he (As a central midfielder) took the number 1 shirt in order to try and "Start a trend". I need to find someone who's 100% committed to being my second in command, and I need someone who doesn't arse about. Davids is out.

Could that someone be Peter Enckelman instead? A Finnish former reserve goalkeeper who most notably "played" for the likes of Aston Villa and Cardiff City? A solid pair of hands he may be, but I feel slightly uneasy about my right hand man having amassed only 150 appearances over a 20 year playing career. Where's your ambition, Peter? No, I don't think so.

Next up we have Brede Hangeland, of Fulham fame. Now here's a man who I'm fairly sure has the commitment, bravery, and brick-shithouseness required to run through walls for his employers. In another life I might've hired him, but I would like somebody with a little more experience than he currently has. Sorry Brede.

Option number 4 is Emile Heskey.

Number 5 is Paul Konchesky, the journeyman left back who represented some decent teams like Charlton and Leicester, but I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of him either. I have no doubt that he'd try his best and if I was looking for a coach I might've given him a shot, but an assistant manager? I don't see it.

Finally, option number 6 is John Arne Riise. Another left back, and another former Fulham player. If I wanted to hire someone to play on my behalf in some sort of free-kick-off, then absolutely I'd hire him. The man had one of the most vicious left foots that I've ever seen. But an assistant manager? Again, he doesn't really have any experience to speak of and I'd like someone more qualified. It's a no for Riise.

So, I think as I place the final application on the "No" pile, Out of 6 candidates, I... I don't really want any of them. Where does that leave me? It leaves me grabbing the application forms and heading down to Radzinski's for a drink.

As I walk through the door into my new and extremely local watering hole, I see something unexpected. I see another Patron at the bar, nursing a beer. I knew that bastard Radzinski had beer. Beer man turns towards the sound of the creaking door and sees me, and I see him. And I recognise him. I'm not sure why, but I definitely recognise him.

As I sit at the bar, Radzinski appears behind it, and after a bit of an argument he begrudgingly pours me a beer. I start talking to beer man, only to find out that he's Dennis Lawrence, former Swansea player and Wigan and Everton Coach. He most recently had a poor spell as Trinidad and Tobago Manager. He's been in the country for an interview and has wound up drowning his sorrows right below my new flat. That's got to be a sign, right?

"Look", I begin, as I sway slightly on my stool, "I need an assistant. Come work for me. I need someone with your experience." Dennis delightedly accepts and I hire him on the spot. And I wasn't lying, he really does tick all the boxes for me: He's a good coach, he has experience in good quality leagues, albeit under a poor quality manager, and he has international experience as both a player and Manager. In short, he has everything that I'm missing. Plus he doesn't have that unsettling "Wildcard" characteristic that Davids and Riise do.

I ceremoniously burn the 6 application forms right there on the bar, prompting Radzinski's lip to curl with disdain once again, but it's not like this place can get any more beaten up, is it? Mind you, these sudden acts of reckless spontaneity could just be the effect that 2 pints of Polish beer has on normal unsuspecting lightweights like me.

Either way, with my number 2 in position, I think I'm ready to meet my squad.

[Franjo]

A New Challenge (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep51)

It seems like an age since I left the Angrense training ground, and it feels good to tie up the laces on my boots and get my feet back on soft grass. Today, as I watch my new club's first training session alongside my newly appointed assistant Dennis Lawrence, the excitement and optimism that comes with a new challenge is steadily building.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to GKS Katowice.

Górnicky Klub Sportowy (Miners Sporting Club) Katowice are a 54 year old club also known as GieKSa. We're based unsurprisingly in Katowice, a city in the South West of Poland. We've not won a trophy since 2006, a record that would be nice to break, but the more pressing matter this season will be survival. After scraping promotion thanks to a goal difference 2 higher than 3rd place Wisła Puławy, we're now comfortable favourites to drop straight back down.

As I did when I arrived in Hero Creek, I've chosen a preliminary starting XI so that I can see what we have and where we need to improve. Here's our team as it stands:

Goalkeeper - No. 82 - Sebastian Nowak

Sebastian is currently our best option in net, but it remains to be seen how long that perception lasts. He's 36 years old and could decline pretty quickly. He might already be declining, I'm not too sure, but I'll be keeping a close eye on him. Still, he's 6'6", solid, determined, and a good leader. He is predictably quite slow though.

Right Back - No. 2 - Tom Scheffel

Tom is seen by many as one of the best players in my new side. He's German, he's incredibly rounded and determined, difficult to get past at 6'2" and he's got plenty of time to develop at 23 years old. I have high hopes.

Centre Back - No. 5 - Damian Garbacik

Damian is probably our best centre back currently, and that's not so much a compliment on his ability as it is an inditement on our lack of natural centre backs. I intend to play him as he's a very good player, but I'd rather play him as a defensive left full back. Anyway, he's strong, good in the air, another sizeable defender at 6'1", and another with plenty of development to do at just 22 years old.

Centre Back - No. 3 - Dawid Abramowicz

As I said, we're short on natural centre backs. Dawid looks like he will provide very solid cover at both full back positions. He's in his prime at 27, another tall drink of water at 6'1", and he's a long throw specialist which is interesting. Oh yes, and he's well rounded. Have I ever mentioned that I like that in a player?

Left Back - No. 12 - Stjepan Geng

Stjepan is most likely going to play second fiddle to Tom Scheffel at right back, but he's another versatile player and can play at either full back spot or in the centre of midfield. He's Croatian, a good age at 25, by far the shortest player I've mentioned so far at 5'9", but mentally he's pretty good. His decision making and leadership are particularly impressive.

Central Midfield - No. 6 - Bartlomiej Kalinkowski

There is no doubt in my mind that Bartlomiej will be the beating heart of my Katowice side. He has absolutely everything that I look for in a central midfielder. He's a great age at 23, a great height at 6'0", extremely rounded and mentally excellent. In particular he's a determined, hard working team player that reads the game well and positions himself brilliantly. My hopes are very high for this lad and I'm excited to work with him. To be perfectly honest though, I'm not exactly pumped at the prospect of writing the name Bartlomiej Kalinkowski over and over again, so say hello to Bart.

Central Midfield - No. 13 - Mario Gregurina

In Mario, we have another Croatian player and another very well rounded midfielder. He's got experience at 30 years old which will help with our fairly young team, he's 5'11", and another hard working and athletic team player. He's maybe a little bit too similar to Bart though, so he may end up providing backup to him.

Right Wing - No. 16 - Pawel Mandrysz

No offence to Pawel or either of the next 2 players, but this is where we come a bit unstuck. Pawel's certainly versatile and young enough to improve, but I just don't think he's ready for this league. He's shorter than a lot of the lads at 5'9", which is fine for a winger, and what he lacks in technical skill he makes up for in his mental and and athletic prowess. He's pretty aggressive, determined, hard working and quick, so he may still play a part.

Attacking Midfield - No. 8 - Tomasz Foszmanczyk

Tomasz is a decent playmaker, and probably my current first choice for the number 10 position, but we also have a couple of promising young players who might push for his place. The thing that will work in Tomasz's favour is his brilliant versatility. He's able to play off either wing, behind the striker, in central midfield or even in front of the back 4, so I've no doubt he'll get a fair bit of game time. He also has plenty of experience at 31, and is pretty short at 5'7". Similarly to Bart, I don't want to commit myself to writing his name too often, so I've taken the liberty of naming him Fossy.

Left Wing - No. 17 - Andreja Prokic

Prokic is another that I think may be a couple of levels behind the kind of quality we need. He's a 5'10", 29 year old Serbian and he could be a decent option on either wing. At least he's built in the right mould: His determination, speed and stamina might be handy, as well as his flair.

Striker - No. 7 - Grzegorz Goncerz

If we're to make any kind of push for safety this season, Goncerz will be crucial. He's very, very similar to Cristiano Magina. A pretty good age at 31, can take care of himself at 6'1", and he's extremely rounded with great all round mental attributes and good balance and finishing.

So I think we'll all be pretty much on the same page now. We need 2 new centre backs and 2 new wingers. We absolutely need them. A good back up Goalie would be nice too in case Nowak shows signs of being past it. We're well stocked in terms of full backs and battling central midfielders but we could also do with a good backup striker. If I'm still rolling in cash after buying that lot, I may also go in for a better attacking mid, but as I say, we've got a couple of young players that could break through in that position. We have up to £1.1 Million to sort out our team, which compared to the sort of budget I'm used to makes us Multi-Billionaires.

I think I've got some work to do.

[Franjo]

Lotto Ekstraklasa 101 (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 51.5)

You've met my new assistant. You've met our new club. You've met our new squad. Now meet the teams that form our new League, the Polish 1st tier, Lotto Ekstraklasa (LE).

 

Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza

From: Nieciecza

Ground: Nieciecza

Last Season: 14th in LE

Predicted: 11th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: N/A

 

Cracovia

From: Krakow

Ground: Cracovia Stadium

Last Season: 5th in LE

Predicted: 7th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Wisła Kraków (Fierce, Local), Legia (Historic)

 

GKS Katowice (Us):

From: Katowice

Ground: Bukowa

Last Season: 2nd in First Division, Promoted

Predicted: 16th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Wisła Krakow, Legia, Zagłębie Sosnowiec (Local)

 

Górnik Łęczna

From: Lublin

Ground: Arena Lublin

Last Season: 9th in LE

Predicted: 10th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: N/A

 

Górnik Zabrze

From: Zabrze

Ground: Ernesta Pohla

Last Season: 11th in LE

Predicted: 15th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Legia (Fierce), Piast

 

Jagiellonia Białystok

From: Białystok

Ground: Białystok City Stadium

Last Season: 3rd in LE

Predicted: 4th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Legia (Historic)

 

KGHM Zagłębie Lubin

From: Lubin

Ground: Stadion Zagłebia

Last Season: 10th in LE

Predicted: 8th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: N/A

 

Korona Kielce

From: Kielce

Ground: Kolporter Arena

Last Season: 13th in LE

Predicted: 13th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Wisła Kraków (Competitive), Legia (Historic)

 

Lech Poznań

From: Poznań

Ground: Inea

Last Season: 2nd in LE

Predicted: 2nd

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Legia (Fierce, Historic), Pogoń (Historic), Lechia (Historic), Wisła Kraków (Historic)

 

Lechia Gdańsk

From: Gdańsk

Ground: Energa Gdańsk

Last Season: 4th in LE

Predicted: 3rd

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: N/A

 

Legia Warszawa

From: Warszawa

Ground: Józef Piłudski City Stadium

Last Season: 1st in LE

Predicted: 1st

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Lech (Historic), Wisła Kraków (Historic)

 

Piast Gliwice

From: Gliwice

Ground: Stadion Piast

Last Season: 1st in First Division, Promoted

Predicted: 12th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Górnik Zabrze (Local), GKS Katowice (Local)

 

Pogoń Szczecin

From: Szczecin

Ground: Floriana Krygiera

Last Season: 8th in LE

Predicted: 5th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Cracovia, Lech, Zagłębie Sosnowiec

 

Wisła Kraków

From: Krakow

Ground: Henryk Reyman City Stadium

Last Season: 6th in LE

Predicted: 6th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Cracovia (Local), Legia (Competitive)

 

Wisła Płock

From: Płock

Ground: Kazimierza Gorskiego

Last Season: 7th in LE

Predicted: 9th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Legia (Local)

 

Zagłębie Sosnowiec

From: Katowice

Ground: Bukowa

Last Season: 12th in LE

Predicted: 14th

Rivals in Lotto Ekstraklasa: Pogoń (Fierce), GKS Katowice (Fierce, Local), Górnik Zabrze (Fierce, Local), Cracovia (Fierce), Lech (Fierce), Wisła Kraków (Fierce), Piast (Fierce, Local)

The League rules are not all that different to what we've become used to in the PT Championship, although for the first time our squad is restricted to no more than 2 non-EU players in the starting lineup. That shouldn't be a problem though as we don't currently have any players from outside Europe.

Anyway, there are 16 teams in the Lotto Ekstraklasa who play each other twice, which is 30 matches. The top 8 teams qualify for the Championship Group and the bottom 8 go into the Relegation Group. Seem familiar?

In both the Championship and Relegation Groups, all teams start with all of their stats from the first Stage, like goal difference, goals scored, conceded etc. All teams also start with 50% of the points they've accrued. Apart from that it's very simple: The bottom 2 teams in the Relegation Group are relegated, the top side in the Championship Group qualifies for the Champions League and the next 2 sides qualify for the Europa League.

So that's all you need to know about the Lotto Ekstraklasa. It's a big step up and avoiding relegation will be massive ask, but with the right additions anything can happen... Right?

[Franjo]

Pre Season 2018/19 (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Ep52)

Do you remember Stefan Andersson? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. Stefan was a Swedish youth player that I signed for FC Höllviken. He played pretty well at centre back considering his age (16 at the time) and I subsequently moved to make him my first signing at SC Angrense. Sadly, he never managed to break into the first team there, putting in fairly solid performances for the U19's but not really making a case for a call up to the senior squad. He was released by Os Heróis this summer and snapped up by Sporting Ideal, a PT Championship side.

Anyway, I mention Stefan because he was the only player that I managed to bring with me from Sweden to Portugal. He was the only one that wanted to step up with me and take on a fresh challenge. This time I intend to do better. I want to bring the players I know and trust along for the ride. I want to bring in my Heróis.

 

30/6/2018

I get the ball rolling just a couple of days after my arrival, moving quickly to bring in Angrense youth squad's best player, Rodrigo Silva. Considering the money I now have at my disposal, the holding midfielder is a snip at £2.5k and becomes my first Katowice signing.

 

1/7/2018

The next day I'm on the phone to Borba again. Never one to hold out for a good fee for any of his players, he snaps my hand off when I put £18k on the table for Hurley. This deal won't be tied up so quickly though: Hurley will take a few days to decide whether he wants to leave his home nation for the first time.

 

2/7/2018

I'm not really a patient man though, so while my main transfer target has a think, I wrap up a deal for Délcio Azevedo. He'd been released by Angrense and although Nowak will be my first choice Goalkeeper, Azevedo provides a solid and trusted alternative.

 

3/7/2018

My first knockback comes the day after when my £16k bid for my former side's promising striker Renato Silva is accepted, but the man himself tells me that he has no interest in relocating. I'm disappointed as we could do with a good young striker, but I wish him well all the same.

 

4/7/2018

Then comes the big one. I ring Borba once again and offer a whopping £75k for Cristiano Magina. And my old employer rejects it. You bastard, Miguel. You horse's arse. The only explanation I can think of is that for some reason his balls had been in the drawer of the desk in my old office all this time, and whilst rummaging around for spare change and forgotten possessions that day, he'd stumbled across and reattached them. This isn't over.

But it is for now while I focus on our first pre season friendly against Frydek-Mistek, a Czech second division side. My inherited star striker Grzegorz Goncerz goes all out to prove that we don't need CM9 and has an insane match, scoring 4 goals including a penalty, missing another penalty and getting injured. Food for thought there at least.

https://youtu.be/_VIiALzYiqw

 

6/7/2018

But anyway, if I'm gutting my beloved Angrense's squad I may as well do it properly. An £18k bid for Kevin is lodged and accepted as we desperately need quality on the wings. Like Hurley, he'll think about it. This isn't going very well, is it.

 

7/7/2018

On the 7th comes our second pre-season friendly against Hungarian Division III side BKV Elöre. Goncerz sits the game out after his knock against Frydek-Mistek but we still come out with the win with goals from battling midfielder Mario Gregurina and 17 year old 6'4" striker Mariusz Stryjek. Left winger Andreja Prokic shows some promise by providing the assists for both goals, before promptly getting injured for 2 months with shin splints.

https://youtu.be/i0vKEfsZ6Gc

Oh, but who's this waiting at our training facility when we return from Hungary? It's free agent Olivier, recently released by Angrense and here to run lovingly back into my arms. We desperately need central defenders and I can't think of anyone that I'd rather bring in to fill one of those roles.

 

8/7/2017

The day after the first friendly is a big day. 2 big blows land with the news that firstly, Cristiano Magina does not want to join Katowice following my improved £90k offer, but then Renato Silva gets his wish of staying in Portugal by joining Nacional da Madeira for a fee rising to just under £17k.

I also get knocked back after a monumental £425k bid for Everton's versatile and transfer listed forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin is accepted. I'm willing to offer a lot in an attempt to convince him to join us, but in the end he takes the biscuit. As glad as I would've been to bring in someone of his quality, versatility and potential, I'm not paying him 3 or 4 times as much as anyone else in the squad.

So you might be thinking that the 7th of July 2018 has been a bad day for us... But has it?

Gonçalo Reyes is in the building, ladies and gentlemen.

#WitamyHurley

 

9/7/2018

Another blow today. My £22k bid for the new Elano, Jeferson Paulista, is accepted but the Brazilian knocks me back, saying that he's only been with Angrense for a few months and doesn't want to move straight on.

 

10/7/2018

Another friendly arrives and we take on another Czech second division side, Olomouc - Holice. Worryingly, it's quite an even game, but Goncerz is back in the side to grab us a draw.

https://youtu.be/NXzkynWwITY

 

13/7/2018

DCL has moved, but not to us. Barnsley have picked up a fine player there, but in the end it's probably a good thing I didn't blow the whole budget on him isn't it.

Our fourth friendly pits us against Odra Opole, a Polish second division side, in our 4th consecutive away friendly match. This time, young secondary striker Michael Tarnowski gets the only goal and secures the win.

https://youtu.be/N0bCcXE0g-4

 

14/7/2018

The good news is that Kevin has arrived! Perhaps swayed by Hurley, Olivier, Rodrigo and Délcio, perhaps not, but my God it's good to have him. Our front line suddenly looks a lot, lot better.

The bad news is that Kevin's arrival has prompted an uncomfortable line of questioning from our Chairman Wojciech Cygan, who hired me under a couple of assumptions: That I would save GieKSa from relegation, that I would keep our Director of Football, Dariusz Motala, in place, and that I would sign high profile players. So far I've only signed 5 players from a former Portuguese Championship side, so he's not best pleased.

We need a ringer. We need a big name. A superstar that'll sell shirts and set Polish tongues wagging. It's safe to assume that we don't have the pulling power or financial backing to attract a World Class name like Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar, so who's on the next level down? The just-about-World-Class players like Aguero and Kane are out of reach too. So are the incredibly good players. And the really good players. And the fairly good players. And the pretty decent players.

Oh ****, who can we actually attract?

 

16/7/2018

If there's one thing that I've always said about Alan Hutton, it's that he's a real class act. A hard working, no nonsense, old fashioned defender. And that's what we really need isn't it. In many ways, I think I'd turn down the opportunity to sign one of these up-their-own-arse mercenaries like Sissoko or Lukaku. I'd say: "No way Romelu, I need someone who's willing to rip out his own heart and throw it in front of the ball to save us a goal if he needs to. I need a professional. A solid, dependable Glaswegian who'll lead by example and kick seven bells out of far more skilful players in order to scrape us a point."

So yes, I've brought in the man known in some circles as "The Scottish Tony Hibbert". And the good news is that the signing of a former Tottenham and Aston Villa stalwart has appeased Wojciech's thirst for star power.

The bad news is that at 33 years old and at a price of £43k, Wojciech doesn't seem to see value for money in the Hutton deal. There's no pleasing some people is there?

Our final friendly is the only one that I actually arranged and it's going to be great. My first time overseeing a match in our home stadium, Bukowa, and we're taking on David Moyes' Premier League Sunderland side. Overall, I come away extremely pleased. In what turns out to be a very even match, Victor Anichebe opens the scoring on the hour, but Goncerz gets the decisive equaliser 7 minutes from time.

https://youtu.be/QQxqVaiGHPw

 

17/7/2018

Fresh from what I am adamant is a massive success for the club, I lodge a loan bid with Bournemouth for Ben Whitfield, a skilful, nippy and versatile young winger that's spent pre-season on trial with us and impressed.

 

19/7/2018

While we wait for Ben to decide whether he wants to join us, I go out and bring in another familiar face to our U18's backroom staff. Maybe my decision is partly driven by sentiment, but a lifelong hero of mine, Leon Osman, has a great deal of potential as a youth coach so I bring him in.

 

21/7/2018

Ben Whitfield is flying to Poland! To join Zagłebie Sosnowiec, our local rivals with whom we share a stadium. He'll regret that when we come up against Zagłebie and Alan Hutton starts breaking ankles.

Behind the scenes, I've also completely revamped Katowice's backroom team, bringing in about double the staff we had and more importantly, bringing in more quality.

I'm not done on the transfer front, although we're almost out of funds. We've got our trusty backup Goalie, we've got both of our centre backs (If Hutton can hold his own there against Sunderland he should be fine in the Lotto Ekstraklasa), we've got Hurley, who can provide the passes while Bart does the midfield dirty work, and we've got Kevin in on the left wing. So we only really need another winger and a backup striker. I'm lining up a couple of loan signings to provide the finishing touches, but they'll have to wait. It's time to start our League Campaign, and we begin our Season against Jagiellonia, who qualified for the Europa League last Season.

Here we go, GieKSa.

[Franjo]

2018 World Cup - Russia (Franjo: A Journeyman Story - Mini-sode 52.5)

Let's take a second to talk about the 2018 World Cup. I'd completely forgotten about it this Summer, what with everything else that's been going on, but it seems like it's been a pretty interesting tournament.

Italy were the biggest side not to even qualify after finishing 2nd in Group 7 of the European Qualifiers and getting knocked out of their play-off match by the Netherlands. The tie finished 4-3 on aggregate after the Netherlands turned it around with an impressive 3-0 win in the second leg.

England were the only side to qualify from the UK & Ireland, and promptly finished bottom of Group A below the Ivory Coast, Australia and host nation Russia, whose home advantage didn't save them when Australia, who had an identical record to them in the group, were automatically chosen to proceed to the knockout stages at Russia's expense.

There were some surprise faces in the Group Stage too. Uzbekistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Qatar all made it to Russia, but were all sent packing before the knockout stages began.

Without any other major surprises in the Group stage, the second round got underway. The USA, Spain, France (After extra time) and Portugal all progressed at the expense of Australia, Austria, Switzerland and our new resident nation Poland, while the 2 biggest South American nations, Brazil and Argentina, both went out against the Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Uruguay went one better than their neighbours, beating the Ivory Coast to progress to the quarter finals, but Belgium knocked them out too. Elsewhere in the quarters, Germany beat the Dutch, Spain knocked out the USA and France took a second extra time win in as many games against Portugal.

Germany got themselves past Belgium and France beat Spain to set up a tense final in Moscow, which France won on penalties despite Dimitri Payet's 92nd minute red card.

So yeah, France are World Champions for the first time in 20 years. Man United's Paul Pogba, who scored the champions' only goal in the final, also won the competition's Best Player award. Real Madrid's 2017 £87M signing Eden Hazard and Chelsea's N'Golo Kanté came 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The Best Young Player award went to Portugal's and PSG's Gonçalo Guedes, an extremely talented young man who scored 3 goals and set up another 3 in only 4 matches.

Thibaut Courtois won the Best Goalkeeper award despite his Belgium side conceding 11 goals in 7 games in a style that's being described globally as "Classic Martinez".

And Edinson Cavani won the Golden Boot with 4 goals, but ahead of Paul Pogba by virtue of playing fewer matches. Guedes was in 3rd place.

The Dream Team doesn't hold many surprises given everything that I've just told you, apart from the fact that Guedes is only named on the bench. But then, he had some serious competition. 6 of the 8 defence and midfield spots are made up of French players: Djibril Sidibé, Samuel Umtiti, Laurent Koscielny, Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kanté and Antoine Griezmann. Raphaël Guerreiro of Portugal and Dortmund takes the other spot in defence, while Eden Hazard is the other man named in midfield. Courtois is in net of course, and Cavani is picked up front with his chompy compatriot Luis Suárez.

So that's the 2018 World Cup then. Vive la France. I very, very nearly forgot to tell you about it but that's just what happens when you spend half your Summer on the phone to your bastard of an ex-Chairman, and the other half getting peer-pressured into drinking pints of draft Wodka in the pub below your flat.