[FM18] Chasing Sir Alex - Season 4: FC Orsha (Belarus) - Domestic Season Draws to a Close

[yatesiboi37]

Hello everyone! My name is James and I am fairly new to this forum but have written a few stories before on other sites using older versions of Football Manager.

I am intending this save to be a rather lengthy one that will take a while (or an eternity) to complete successfully. I have always enjoyed managing lower league sides and guiding them through to the top levels so, for that reason, I will be starting this save unemployed and, to make things even more challenging, I plan on starting with no coaching badges and with the lowest possible setting for previous experience. 

The main aim for my story is centered around the Managerial Hall of Fame. The current leader is Sir Alex Ferguson, the enigmatic Scotsman racked up an amazing score of 4947 points, having won 49 trophies, before eventually retiring. It is my aim, starting unemployed, to chase down and eventually surpass Sir Alex in the Football Manager Hall of Fame. 

I will be allowed to manage anywhere in the world and hopefully my challenge will incorporate a number of different leagues, countries and continents. Can a new, young manager from London establish himself as one of the greatest in the history of the game? Or, like so many before him, will be struggle to stay atop in a profession so ruthless and cutthroat? 

Join me as James Yates chases down Sir Alex!

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THE AIMS:

1. Reach the Worldwide Managerial Hall of Fame:

Current Leader: Sir Alex Ferguson (Score: 4947)

Currently 20th: Helenio Herrera (Score: 1890)

Current Belarus Leader: Viktor Goncharenko (Score: 467)

Current James Yates Score: 200

 

2. Surpass Sir Alex's total of 49 trophies won:

Domestic Division Titles:

• 2018: Persha Liga (FC Orsha) 
• 2020: Vysshaya Liga (FC Orsa)

Domestic Cup Titles:

• 2021: Superkubak Belarusi (FC Orsha)
• 2021: Kubak Belarusi (FC Orsha)

Other Club Trophies:

International Team Trophies:

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THE STORY SO FAR:

2017/18 - The People's Republic of China Under 23s (AFC U23 Championship)

• July 2017. AFC U23 Championship Qualification Round
• January 2018. AFC U23 Championship

2018 - FC Orsha (Persha Liga)

• Preseason 2018. 
• April & May 2018. Current League Position: 2nd 
• June & July 2018. Current League Position: 2nd 
• August & September 2018. Current League Position: 1st 
• October & November 2018. Final League Position: 1st
• End of Season Review.

2019 - FC Orsha (Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga)

• Preseason 2019.
• April & May 2019. Current League Position: 3rd 
• June & July 2019. Current League Position: 3rd
• August & September 2019. Current League Position: 5th
• October & November 2019. Final League Position: 4th
• End of Season Review.

2020 - FC Orsha (Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga) & Martinique (CFU Caribbean Cup)

• Preseason 2020.
• February & March 2020. International - CFU Caribbean Cup 1st Round
• April & May 2020. Domestic - Current League Position: 2nd
• May & June 2020. International - CFU Caribbean Cup 2nd Round
• June & July 2020. Domestic - Current League Position: 1st
• August & September 2020. Domestic - Current League Position: 1st
• September & October 2020. International - CFU Caribbean Cup 3rd Round
• October & November 2020. Domestic - Final League Position: 1st
• End of Season Review.

2021 - FC Orsha (Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga) & Martinique (CFU Caribbean Cup)

• Preseason 2021.
• January 2021. International - CFU Caribbean Cup Fifth Placed Playoff
• March 2021. International - CONCACAF Gold Cup Playoff
• March & April 2021. Domestic - Current League Position: 3rd
• May & June 2021. Domestic - Current League Position: 2nd
• June & July 2021. International - CONCACAF Gold Cup
• July 2021. Domestic - Current League Position: 3rd
• August 2021. Domestic - Current League Position: 3rd
• September & October 2021. Domestic - Current League Position: 2nd 

 

[yatesiboi37]

I started out this managerial career with zero coaching badges and the lowest level of previous experience which meant the number of teams interested in my services was very limited. As an unemployed manager, not overly fussed about where I started my first job, I decided to apply for all the managerial vacancies that were available. 

Unfortunately, my lack of managerial skills and low reputation meant that most teams were unwilling to even offer me an interview. Of those that did most chose to go "in a different direction", resulting in me struggling to find anywhere to work. 

That all changed though when I was offered an interesting, slightly unconventional, first job in football management...

 

 

Welcome everyone to James Yates' first managerial job, The People's Republic of China National Team... Under 23s.

Probably my strangest ever start to a Football Manager career but I figured any job is better than no job. Having not really played last years edition of FM I thought taking on this team would at least give me an opportunity to experiment with tactics and get to grips with the new features of FM18, whilst hopefully improving my in-game reputation simultaneously. 

Team Background & Competitions:

The People's Republic of China national sides consist of three teams; the Seniors, the Under 23s and the Under 19s. Much like in other nations the Under 23s is seen as a stepping stone for younger prospects who wish to eventually go on to compete at senior level for their country. 

The Under 23s compete in a single competition, the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship. This tournament takes place every two years but is a relatively new tournament, with the upcoming 2018 competition being only the third ever edition. In the first two championships, China U23s qualified for the main group stages both times but then they failed to progress any further. The inaugural competition was won by Iraq and the second edition was won by Japan, making them the current holders. 

The competition qualification round follows a fairly easy format:

• 46 teams are placed into 10 groups (of four/five teams)
• Each team plays everyone in their group once (at a neutral venue) with the top placed side in the group qualifies for the tournament itself.
• the 5 best second place teams also qualify for the final tournament. 

The draw for the qualification groups had already been completed before I arrived:

I do not know too much about Asian football but I am assuming we should be firm favourites to win our group quite comfortably. Brunei and Chinese Taipei are have pretty terrible senior sides and are both ranked lower than 180th in the world rankings. Malaysia and Vietnam are slightly better but I am still expecting us to qualify with ease.

Chinese Football:

Domestically, football in China has really boomed in the past few years. I'm sure you will have heard of the huge amounts of money being spent to lure talented, worldwide names to Chinese football and this has led to the formulation of a fairly impressive domestic league. The strongest sides currently are Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai SIPG (who currently lead the domestic division with a squad that consists of both Hulk and Oscar, the later having recently joined from Chelsea for £53 million). 

The international scene has not been as kind to China in recent years. The senior side currently rank 80th in the world and qualification for the upcoming World Cup is out of the question having picked up just 8 points from their 8 qualification games. They last qualified for the World Cup back in 2002 and they lost in the Asian Cup final to Japan in 2004 but since then they have not achieved anything of note on the international scene. They are managed by the reputable Marcelo Lippi, the Italian manager who won the World Cup with Italy back in 2006 and who led Juventus to multiple Serie A titles and the Champions League trophy. 

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That concludes my introduction to James Yates' first managerial job. I have not managed many international sides during my Football Manger days so it will be interesting to see how we get on. With the qualifiers for the AFC U23 Championship fast approaching I will be back soon with an introduction to the squad that I select and hopefully some favourable results. 

 

 

[GermanTerrier89]

Best of luck!

[yatesiboi37]

2 hours ago, GermanTerrier89 said:

Best of luck!

Thanks! Not quite sure how this start is going to play out but I have not managed a national side for a long time so should be a bit of fun!

[yatesiboi37]

Update 1: July 2017 (Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship Qualifying)

Hello all, this will be my first main update as manager of the China U23s national side. I want to include a fair amount of detail in each update if - unfortunately this is likely to be one of those stories where you'll end up knowing the players I am using by name by the end of it! I will likely write updates every three months or so and this update will detail the first professional management fixtures of James Yates career. 

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SQUAD SELECTION:

I had only been in the job two weeks before I was asked to select a squad for the upcoming qualifying round of the AFC U23 Championship. Knowing very little about Chinese football I relied heavily on my scouts national pool to help me select my very first side. 

I imagine none of the above names will mean anything to any of you - bonus points if you actually know of any of these players in real life! 

The three goalkeepers are all pretty terrible and this is definitely the weakest area of the squad by miles. Zhou Yunchen is the best of a bad bunch; the 22 year old is contracted to Shandong in the Chinese top flight but currently is out on loan in Hong Kong. 

The defenders are all pretty solid. The best two players here are central defenders Gao Zhunyi and Liu Yiming. Both these guys play in the Chinese top flights and are constant regulars for their domestic sides. Dang Henwen is an attacking right back who is the next strongest defender in the squad but left fullback is the position where we are weakest. 

The midfielders again are all pretty good. The two starlets here are wingers Lin Liangming and Wang Jinxian. Liangming is one of the very few foreign based players in this squad and is actually contracted to Real Madrid believe it or not! He is currently out on loan and playing for Almeria reserves. The most talented central midfielder is Zhang Xiuwei, who actually started out his career with Lyon before returning to his homeland. 

I only selected two forwards in the squad, mainly because most of the wingers are equally adept at playing upfront and because I plan on only using a single striker in my formation. Still, Zhang Yuning is hands down the best player in this side. He's arguably one of the best players in China, having already played 10 games for the senior side (scoring four goals) despite being just 20 years old. He is contracted to West Brom but recently moved on loan to Werder Bremen. Valued at £4 million he is worth over 10 times more than our next best player!

RESULTS:

W = 4, D = 0, L = 0

So, it turns out I am the greatest manager alive. My first four games of professional management result in four victories, 17 goals scored and four clean sheets kept. Granted, the opposition we were playing were very average but this is still a bright start to my career. 

In all fairness we destroyed all four of these sides, despite the games all taking place at neutral venues. We did find things slightly tough in the first half against Chinese Taipei but once we scored that first goal we never looked back throughout the entire qualifying round. 

The star performer for us was of course, Zhang Yuning. He only played in three of the games (I rested him against Brunei) but he managed to be awarded Player of the Match in every one and ended up scoring 6 goals; two in each appearance. He finished with a ridiculously high average rating of 9.17, proving he is far too talented for this level of competition. Wingers Lin Liangming and Wang Jinxian also performed brilliantly as they combined for three goals scored and for six assists. 

TABLE:

As you may have already guessed, our results meant we finished atop our qualifying group and progressed to the AFC U23 Championship, which is due to be held in January 2018. Amazingly, Malaysia managed to also qualify as one of the best runners-up and they join us in the draw which takes place in November. 

There are some very good sides that also made it through including South Korea, Japan, North Korea, Iraq and a very talented Australia team. It will be interesting to see who we get in the proper draw but it will also be interesting to see if star forward Zhang Yuning is available for the tournament. As soon as our qualifying campaign was finished he was recalled into the senior national side and he therefore might not be around for the U23 competition come January, which would obviously be a massive blow.

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I hope you have enjoyed this story so far. It is, at the moment, a little different from the usual unemployed/lower league club save. I am keeping an eye out for club sides that need a manager but at the moment none seem interested in hiring me. 

Having helped China qualify for the AFC U23 Championship I would really like to at least have a crack at the main tournament before becoming too heavily focused on club management. What do you guys think is the best career move for James Yates though?

[yatesiboi37]

Update 2: January 2018 (Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship)

Hi everyone! I am back with another update in the career of James Yates as he chases down the leader of the Managerial Hall of Fame, Sir Alex Ferguson. As you may remember from last time I was strangely offered the job of China U23s manager, a fairly unconventional way to start my career, but this post dropped me right into the qualification stages of a major championship. 

We easily reached the finals of the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship, winning all four of our qualification games and this update will cover what happened in the championship itself!  

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SQUAD SELECTION:

The big news is that star striker Zhang Yuning is available for these championships having been relived of senior national team duties. He should hopefully be a huge asset in this tournament and will likely be one of the most talented players on show. 

The other two most influential players will likely be wingers Wang Jinxian and Lin Liangming. I am hoping that, along with Yuning, this trio will form a potent attacking threat. That is not to say that we are weak in defence, with our two main central defenders Gao Zhunyi and Liu Yiming being both very competent. The main issue at the back is that we lack any quality between the sticks, with all three goalkeepers being weak and that we lack any semblance of depth, with both starting fullbacks and the back-up centre backs being considerable less skilled that the first choice central pairing. 

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP DRAW:

So we avoid some of the bigger names in this competition, including South Korea, Japan and Australia. In reality, this group is not overly daunting but all three of these sides have the potential to cause us problems. Uzbekistan's senior side are ranked 45th in world, with Saudi Arabia (64th), Jordan (68th) and ourselves (79th) a little further behind. 

The format for this competition is fairly simple. Everyone plays everyone in their group once, with the top two sides progressing to the knockout quarter final stages. This tournament is only in its third iteration; in the previous two AFC U-23 Championships China have failed to progress from the group stages. That will be my aim, get out of the group and then, as everyone knows at tournaments such as this one, anything can happen in the knockout stages. 

RESULTS & TABLES:

W = 1, D = 1, L = 1

We kicked off the tournament in fine fashion, easily overcoming a fairly average Jordan side with two first half goals from superstar forward Zhang Yuning. Jordan did miss a penalty in the early stages of the second period which, had it been converted, would have made this an interesting fixture. Unfortunately, disaster struck in the 70th minute when Yuning went down with an injury and had to be substituted. Post-match analysis determined  that Yuning had suffered a concussion and would be out for two weeks, essentially missing the remainder of the tournament - a huge blow for our star performer!

We dearly missed him in the second fixture against Saudi Arabia, where we created a host of chances but could not finish any of them, ending the game with a fairly disappointing 0-0 draw. 

The final game saw us change to a more attacking formation and made for a pretty exciting match. Twice we came from behind as we put in a spirited performance but in the end an 80th minute winner gave Uzbekistan the win (and meant they progressed as group winners). 

Luckily for us Saudi Arabia drew their final game against Jordan meaning that, for the first time in this tournaments history, we would be taking part in the quarter finals. We played fairly well throughout and although it would have been nice to win the group, it is fun to be in the mix at the quarter final stage either way. 

The draw for the quarters was made and we got one of the most difficult ties, matching up against current holders, Japan... Amazingly, Australia and North Korea both failed to progress beyond the group stages with underdogs Kyrgyzstan and Thailand making it through instead.

We had been presented with a very difficult route to the final. If we were actually able to get past Japan we would then have to play Iraq or South Korea, two of the other strongest sides left in the tournament. Speaking of that game against Japan though:

Oh well, no need to look further down the line... 

The medias summation of our performance was a tad harsh in my opinion. Granted we were outclassed in terms of possession and number of shots but that was partially down to our counter attacking philosophy. Unfortunately, this philosophy was hindered by conceding a 5th minute goal, putting us on the back foot early on and forcing a change in approach. 

Japan scored a 60th minute penalty and, to be honest, it looked at this stage that it was done and dusted. We clawed a goal back following a nice breakaway and finish from substitute Tang Shi though. We created a number of late chances but unfortunately could not find the finish needed to send the game into extra time. In the end, I was fairly happy with our overall tournament performance and losing to Japan is by no means an embarrassing end.

Despite not being involved, I kept track of the final stages and this is what happened:

Japan managed to overcome Iraq in the semifinals and then dispatch a very spirited Thailand team in the final - meaning technically we lost to the tournament champions, which is not a bad result. Thailand had an amazing tournament and were easily the biggest overachievers. I was surprised to see South Korea lose in the quarterfinals, and that capped a disappointing tournament for some of the pre-championship favourites including Australia, North Korea, Iran and South Korea. 

One highlight for us was the performances of winger Lin Liangming. The Real Madrid midfielder was excellent throughout the competition, creating three goals in just four appearances and was subsequently awarded the Under-23 Asian Championship MVP. 

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Despite a rather enjoyable start to my managerial career, the ending of the AFC Under-23 Championship seemed like a good time to resign as manager of China U23s. 

I finish my time in China having presided over eight competitive fixtures, winning five, drawing one and losing two. Not a terrible record and it has helped me get to grips with the tactical overlay on FM18. In addition, my time in Asia has helped boost my reputation (albeit very, very minimally) and meant that I have been offered a first job in club management...

Bonus points for whoever can guess what country/club this badge belongs to? I'll be back very soon with my first club based update and hopefully the first steps towards James Yates catching Sir Alex Ferguson atop the Managerial Hall of Fame. 

 

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I am going to guess and say Poland.

[yatesiboi37]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I am going to guess and say Poland.

Maybe... 

But also maybe not.

[tajj7]

FC Orsha, based in Belarus

Spoiler

Google image search for the win

 

[yatesiboi37]

On 16 November 2017 at 09:49, tajj7 said:

FC Orsha, based in Belarus

  Reveal hidden contents

Google image search for the win

 

Haha. I was going to be very impressed had you known that purely from football knowledge alone...

[yatesiboi37]

So having resigned from the Chinese U23 national team post, James Yates was in search of a club side willing to take on a manager with very little in terms of skill level. I really was not looking for any league/club in particular so applied for all available jobs and eventually ended up with three interviews. I have never really worked out the success criteria for interviews in Football Manager but one of my meetings obviously went pretty well as I was offered a first opportunity in club management. 

I would like to welcome you all to James Yates' first club team, FC Orsha.

Club Background:

FC Orsha are a small, professional club located in the northeastern corner of Belarus, on the border with Russia. The club have a fairly long history, having been formed in 1951. In 2007 they were relegated to the amateur divisions of Belarus, only recently returning to the second tier in 2015. They have never ever played in the top tier of domestic Belarusian football and, as of yet, have won a grand total of zero trophies. 

Within Belarus itself, FC Orsha hold a regional reputation, with just a single star rating. 

Facilities:

As you can see, the facilities here are fairly limited but they are pretty much in line with the rest of the teams in our division. 

FC Orsha play their home games at the 2,652 capacity Gorodskoy stadium, where the cost of an average ticket is just £2.The ground itself is owned by the council, which maybe explains the condition of the pitch which is rated as very poor - so I am sure away teams will love visiting!

In terms of training and youth facilities, there is not much to get excited about. Our training facilities are rated as basic, with the youth version being only slightly better at below average. Despite this, our junior coaching is average and our youth recruitment rated at fairly basic, meaning we might potentially be able to attract some decent candidates in the annual youth intake. 

Competitions:

FC Orsha will participate in two domestic competitions this season. 

The first of these is the Persha Liga, which is essentially the second tier of domestic football in Belarus. It is a league made up of 16 teams with everyone playing each other twice over the course of the season. The promotion and relegation formats are simple with the bottom two teams going down and the top two sides gaining promotion. 

In terms of player rules there are a few which will likely make life here a little more challenging. Firstly, the league does not allow any foreign players at all, with teams only being permitted to use players from Belarus. In addition, the match day squad must contain two U21 players, with at least one of these being named in the starting eleven. 

The domestic season itself runs from April through to November and so joining in December meant I had a full preseason to preside over the squad. The previous season saw FC Orsha narrowly avoid relegation, finishing in 13th. 

The second competition that we will participate in is the Kubak Belarusi. This is the only Belarusian domestic cup that I am aware of and follows a very simple knockout format. It looks as though we will enter this competition in the very first round, with all ties before the quarter final stages being played over just one leg. 

Belarusian Football:

Domestically the best sides in Belarus are BATE Borisov, Shakhter Soligorsk and Dinamo Minsk. BATE are the most successful side in the country, having won the top division title a record 13 times, including 11 in a row between 2006 and 2016. Last season that streak ended as they lost the title to Shakhter Soligorsk. 

The international scene has not been fruitful for Belarus for some time. In 1992 Belarus played their first international game, following the spilt of the Soviet Union, but since then they have not qualified for a World Cup or a European Championship. The senior national side are currently ranked 101st in the world, which places them below the likes of Philippines, Botswana and Kosovo. They recently finished 5th (out of six) in their World Cup qualification group, ending with just seven points from their 10 games. 

The most famous current national team players are Nikita Korzun (Dynamo Kyiv), Alexandr Martynovich (Krasnodar) and Mikhail Gordeychuk (BATE). The most recognisable name of all time is likely that of Alexander Hleb, the former Arsenal and Barcelona winger, who is still playing international football aged 36. 

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That concludes the introduction to FC Orsha and to Belarus in general, having never managed in this country before I am looking forward to the challenge. Sir Alex Ferguson started out his managerial career at East Stirlingshire in Scotland where he remained for just a single season before moving on. Will James Yates' first job in club management last for a single season or will Yates stay in Belarus and turn FC Orsha into a national powerhouse?

Come back soon for a preseason update and a look at transfers, squad and tactics.

 

 

[yatesiboi37]

Update 3: Preseason 2018

Hi all, having finally landed a job in club management at the end of 2017, this update will introduce the players, transfers and tactics that I'll be overseeing whilst in charge of FC Orsha of Belarus. I'll likely be posting updates to cover every three months of in-game play but this one will be an overview of everything that happened in my first preseason of club management. 

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BOARD ROOM:

There is no president or owner of FC Orsha , in their stead is a general manager, a man named Alexandr Demidovich. He was the guy willing to take a punt on a little-known manager from England to take charge of his football club. In terms of finances we are doing alright and this is reflected somewhat in our budgets:

• Transfer Budget: £30,000
• Wage Budget: £3,050 per week

On paper I'd agree that these figures are not amazing but they should be more than sufficient to satisfy my needs for this coming season. I was hoping for a slightly higher wage budget but it should be enough to keep me interested and bring in some fresh bodies. 

Board Objectives (2018)

Persha Liga - Top half finish
Kubak Belarusi - Reach the 2nd Round

CLUB STAFF:

The staff that I inherited were absolutely appalling. From the previous regime I kept reserve team manager Alexandr Lodyanoy and scout Anton Danilov. Danilov is a terrible scout but I could not find anyone better who wanted to replace him unfortunately. This might become an issue considering I am only allowed to bring in Belarusian players - of whom I have no personal knowledge of at all. 

I struggled to find an assistant manager but eventually settled on Roman Kirenkin. The 37 year old brings a wealth of experience having just left Shakhter Soligorsk, in the Belarus top division, following a four year stint as their reserves manager. 

We hired three coaches, Dmitriy Babichev (Fitness), Pavel Yaroslavskiy (Defending) and Sergey Chevidaev (Attacking). All three are fairly young and, in reality, they are not the strongest coaches but they are pretty good for this standard of competition. 

We picked up a fairly talented physio, Sergey Kulchiy, who, at just 27 years of age is the youngest member of my backroom team. Finally, we selected Evgeniy Bylina as our Head of Youth Development who, with a 15 rating for working with youngsters, will be charged with bringing in some talented youth players. 

TRANSFERS:

I will not show the 'out' transfers as these were just players I released or those who left the club at the end of their current contracts - players I had no affiliation to. In terms of bringing in players though, I was fairly busy...

A league high 14 players joined the club this offseason so I have a lot of work to do with regards to developing team cohesion! 

I inherited a fairly small squad and it needed a complete overhaul in order to be competitive. I started by adding a number of players who will operate as rotation or backup options. Sergey Rusak (24) is a young winger, Dmitriy Novik (27) can operate at left back or as a central defender and Ilya Nesterov (23) is a backup keeper. Since we must have an under-21 player in the starting eleven I decided to add some youth in the form of Kirill Osipenko (20), a young central midfielder and Arseniy Kontsedaylov (20), a young forward who holds dual Russian/Belarusian nationality. 

We signed a number of players who held expiring contracts with other clubs. We picked up Iliya Branovets (28), a starting calibre goalkeeper who previously played in the Belarusian top tier. We also signed right fullback Stanislav Kaminsky (25), who has played 114 career games in this division and then experienced central midfielder Denis Medvedev (30), who is currently sat on 199 career league matches. 

We focused on strengthening the middle of the park when it came to free agent signings, picking up another two central midfielders in Anton Bubnov (29), who played 15 times in the top tier last season and Pavel Bordukov (25). We also grabbed a very talented winger in the form of Yuri Kozlov (26), who comes from the same club as Kaminsky, and a starting left fullback in Kirill Aleksiyan (27), who has been a bit of a career journeyman appearing for eight clubs.

Finally, my favourite two signings of the winter came in the form of two central defenders. We picked up Dmitriy Zinovich (23) on a free transfer, the young central defender has only played in the Belarusian top division during his short career. We then spent almost all of our transfer budget on a player who easily becomes the most talented at the club. Alexey Ivanov (21) is only young but he is already good enough to be one of the best players in the Persha Liga having joined from top division side Dinamo Brest.

THE SQUAD:

Goalkeepers:

Three fairly decent keepers should suffice for this season. Newly acquired Iliya Branovets (28) will likely be first choice, with last years top keeper Evgeniy Gudzenko (25) being relegated to backup. Ilya Nesterov (23) is a pretty solid choice for a third string shot stopper. 

Defenders:

The team conceded absolutely loads of goals last season so I focused on improving the back four. Our fullbacks are all similarly matched with left back Kirill Aleksiyan (27) being the standout. I like Stanislav Kaminsky (25) at right fullback because of his attacking tendencies. Iliya Sorochinskiy (22) and Dmitriy Novik (27) are both capable backups. 

Alexey Ivanov (21) is the best player at the club in terms of ability. Dmitriy Zinovich (23) is also very talented and these two youngsters should make a formidable pairing at the back. Backups Oleg Koryakin (23) and Alexey Efremenko (22) are both okay but I am hoping to not use them too much this year. 

Central Midfielders:

We have a lot of players who can play in the centre of the park but none are overly talented. The best player here is the newly acquired Anton Bubnov (29). He will most likely be partnered in our midfield three by fellow new signings Denis Medvedev (30) and Pavel Bordukov (25). Konstantin Kuimov (20) and Kirill Osipenko (20) give us options who would fulfil the Under-21 criteria needed. 

Alexey Plyasunov (27) and Andrey Kukharenok (29) were both here when I joined the club. They are both fairly talented but more suited to playing in an attacking midfield role. Sulim and Kozlov are both wingers who can rotate in central midfield if needed. 

Wingers:

Ivan Sulim (28) is a pretty talented winger who should cope well with this level. Newly signed Yuri Kozlov (26) will likely partner Sulim on the opposite wing. Andrey Kukharenok (29) will likely be played out wide more than he will be in the centre. Sergey Rusak (24) is a younger option, who plays exclusively on the left but should be a decent rotation option. 

Forwards:

Only three forwards in the main squad but I am happy with that considering the tactic I am planning on using. Alexandr Gavryushko (32) scored 10 goals last season in this division and will lead the line this year. Mikhail Scherbakov (27) is a decent rotation option and Arseniy Kontsedaylov (20) fulfils the criteria of an under-21 player. 

TACTICS:

I have used this formation before on previous iterations of FM so we will see how it goes this season. Our lack of forward depth meant that I wanted to use a formation with just one striker. 

I have selected a counter mentality and a structured team shape. I also selected the following team instructions: Shorter Passing, Pass into Space, Hit Early Crosses and Play Wider. 

RESULTS:

W = 6, D = 1, L = 1

We put in a number of good performances during our friendly fixtures. We comfortably beat a number of lower league Belarusian sides. We also held Minsk, who are in the league above us to a goalless draw and then beat Naftan, who are in our division, 1-0. 

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The final piece of news from this preseason is that the board granted me permission to start studying for my first ever coaching badge. It is important during a save such as this to acquire as many badges as possible as quickly as possible, purely because it then opens up more potential options for jobs. 

I will hopefully be back soon with an update that covers James Yates' first few months in football management as the head of FC Orsha in Belarus! Hope you guys are enjoying things so far! 

 

 

[kidthekid]

very good results. That tactic seems to be performing wonders

[yatesiboi37]

16 hours ago, kidthekid said:

very good results. That tactic seems to be performing wonders

Thanks. I have used this tactic before on previous FM games and it was pretty successful - nice to know that it is still working well on this game! 

[yatesiboi37]

Update 4: April & May 2018

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Persha Liga

The preseason was a very busy period for James Yates. The 31 year old English manager started his career in charge of the China U23s before securing a first club job with FC Orsha, in the second tier of Belarus. With grand ambitions of topping Sir Alex Ferguson atop the managerial Hall of Fame, this Eastern European starting destination is a far cry from where James Yates wants to end up. 

This update will cover the results, statistics, league standings and any other important business from James Yates’ first two months in management. Will Yates be able to begin his climb up the Managerial Hall of Fame with Orsha or will he be in for a relegation battle during his first career club job?

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Persha Liga RESULTS:

W = 4, D = 3, L = 1

This was a very pleasing start to life in Belarus and for James Yates' club career. 

We flew out of the starting gates and begun the season in fantastic form with the first three games seeing us battle to a trio of brilliant victories. We opened the season with a brilliant 3-1 away victory against a talented Volna side. We then continued our good scoring form with a pair of home victories against Granit and Kobrin. This was followed by a thrilling 2-2 draw with Bereza; a late Yuri Kozlov goal securing us a point. Despite a spirited performance we slipped to our first defeat of the season during an away game versus Belshina. We then smashed a hapless Slonim side with three first half goals before ending this run with a pair of scoring draws. 

The highlight throughout this run was our attacking performances. We only failed to score once and managed to notch 15 goals in just eight games, for an average of close to two per game. What was slightly more worrying though was the fact we only kept a single clean sheet, despite playing most games on a counter mentality. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

Our decent league form was a result of some very good individual performances to start the year. We currently have eight players in the squad who hold a rating of at least 7.0 which is very pleasing.

The top rated player thus far is Anton Bubnov (7.38). The experienced central midfielder has been in fine form; scoring three goals and winning two Player of the Match Awards. He also leads the team with 15 key passes played and has a midfield-high 16 interceptions. 

Our defensive unit has not performed excellently overall but the most pleasing play has been from our fullbacks Kirill Aleksiyan (7.30) and Stanislav Kaminsky (7.07). Aleksiyan was injured for the first few weeks of the season but has returned from his absence in fine form. Kaminsky leads all players with a team-high 4.35 tackles/game. Iliya Branovets (7.03) has played pretty well in goal but our central defenders have been fairly poor, with Dmitriy Zinovich (6.85), Alexey Ivanov (6.71) and Dmitriy Novik (6.68) all performing below par. 

Our midfielders have been pretty solid, especially in the middle of the park. Alongside Bubnov, the newly signed Pavel Bordukov (7.27) has been excellent and leads the team with a passing accuracy of 85%. Youngsters Konstantin Kuimov (6.87) and Kirill Osipenko (6.82) have been fairly solid and both have been outperforming the disappointing Denis Medvedev (6.55).

Our wingers have not been as good as expected. Both Yuri Kozlov (6.75) and Ivan Sulim (6.64) have lacked consistency and only have one assist each this season. Reserve winger Andrey Kukharenok (6.62) has been no better which led to me playing Valeriy Marlov (7.65) in the past two games. Marov responded with five key passes, a goal and a willingness to dribble at defenders. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his good start.

I have rotated our forwards a fair amount but currently Mikhail Scherbakov (7.07) leads the way with four goals scored in seven games. Alexandr Gavryushko (7.00) has also played well, scoring twice in his five appearances. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

I am very happy with this! We currently sit second in the table behind Belshina, the only side to have defeated us this season. The table is fairly close at these stage, with just 10 points separating the top spot and the relegation zone. 

Our early goal scoring form means we are currently ranked as the second best attacking side in the division. Our defence has not been quite as formidable, with our nine goals conceded seeing us ranked as the 8th best defensive side. Our next run of games sees us play some challenging opposition, with matches against Krumkachy (3rd), Smolevichi (6th) and Lida (7th). 

OTHER NEWS:

We suffered a couple of small injuries during this run of games but nothing too major. Ivan Sulim and Alexandr Gavryushko were the biggest casualties, both missing a few weeks of action. 

In addition the draw for the first round of the countries domestic cup, the Kubak Belarusi, was made and we were awarded a pretty favourable tie:

Not only are we playing against a non-league side, we also got drawn as the home side. I fully expect us to see off this semi-professional side from the city of Minsk. This game will be covered in our next update!

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So that concludes our first update. I am very happy with how we have started off life in Belarus although there have been some worrying performances from our central defenders and wingers. If our early season form is anything to go by then we have a chance to push for one of the two promotion spots. Sir Alex Ferguson failed to win any silverware in his first year of football management, so if i could (and it is a big ask) steer us towards the top of the division and win the league, I would be ahead of my aim already!

I hope you guys are enjoying the story, the layout and the formatting. I apologise for the length of time between updates but I don't have super loads of free time for FM. 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0

[noikeee]

Looking good! Some interesting exotic managerial jobs here and excellent results! 

I'm somewhat surprised that a tactic with no attack roles on the mildly cautious counter mentality works, but it clearly does!

[yatesiboi37]

33 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Looking good! Some interesting exotic managerial jobs here and excellent results! 

I'm somewhat surprised that a tactic with no attack roles on the mildly cautious counter mentality works, but it clearly does!

I knew our defence look a bit weak so wanted something that would hopefully solidify that. Unfortunately that has not happened but on the other hand we have been scoring goals with relative ease! Weird but I cannot really complain.  

[yatesiboi37]

Update 5: June & July 2018

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Persha Liga

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the second update from James Yates' managerial career in Belarus with FC Orsha. The first two months of league football had gone much better than I had imagined they would and we amazingly found ourselves sat 2nd in the league table. Our chosen tactic seemed to be fairly effective but we encountered problems with regards to defending, specifically we seemingly developed an inability to keep a clean sheet. . 

The Belarusian domestic league runs from April through to November, so although most countries are currently settling down for their summer break, James Yates is hard at work approaching the midseason point with FC Orsha. This update will cover the results, statistics, league standings and any other important business from this two month span.

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Persha Liga RESULTS:

W = 4, D = 1, L = 2

Just seven games over this two month period but we again proved that we are developing into one of the more promising teams in this division. 

We started off June with a brilliant 1-0 away victory against fellow promotion rivals Krumkachy thanks to a goal from the in-form Valeriy Marov. We then suffered a very disappointing defeat against an equally high-flying Lida side, losing to an 85th minute penalty. We bounced back with a pair of solid victories before turning in our worst performance of the season and getting adequately beaten by a strong Smolevichi side. We finished July with a very efficient performance and victory against Osipovichi before failing to beat a rather lacklustre, relegation threatened, Baranovichi. 

The most positive aspect of this run was our improved defensive performances. We managed to keep three clean sheets and only conceded seven goals in these seven fixtures. We again looked fairly efficient in front of goal, scoring 10 goals. 

Kubak Belarusi RESULTS:

Round 1: vs Zhdanovichi Minsk (Non-league)

As previously mentioned we received a fairly favourable draw in the first round of the Kubak Belarusi where we faced off against Zhdanovichi Minsk, a semi-professional non-league side. 

We started the game off excellently and took the lead with our first attack. The ball was sprayed out wide to Andrey Kukharenok and his excellent cross was met at the far post by Mikhail Scherbakov who easily tucked the ball home. Despite a number of attacks the score remained 1-0 at the end of the first period as the non-league side proved fairly difficult to break down. 

It took us just three minutes to score in the first half but we managed to better that in the second half. Just two minutes in and a push on Scherbakov resulted in a penalty which Alexey Plyasunov duly dispatched into the bottom lefthand corner. The game was all over just before the hour mark when Plyasunov turned provider for 18 year old Vyacheslav Sakovich, the youngster firing home his first career competitive goal. A poor backpass allowed Zhdanovichi to net a late consolation but we restored our three goal advantage with another late penalty from Plysaunov - the central midfielder was rightly awarded Man of the Match for his showing. 

Round 2: vs FC Gomel (Vysshaya Liga)

The second round saw us awarded one of the toughest draws in the competition as we played hosts to FC Gomel, who were sitting 10th in the Belarus top division and were led by former Arsenal starlet Alexandr Hleb. 

This match snapshot really does not do justice to the first half of this game, which was honestly one of the maddest I have ever seen on FM.

With just 50 seconds gone, and with us having barely touched the ball, Gomel rattled the post and I instantly thought I was going to be in for a long old slug of a game. Then, on the four minute mark, we were awarded a penalty. The best spot taker at the club, Alexandr Gavryushko, stepped up and... managed to smash his strike against the crossbar. We then endured another patch of Gomel pressure before being awarded a free kick, about 30 yards from goal. Left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan smashed an outrageous shot over the defensive wall and into the top corner of the net, passed a stranded keeper. 

Things then could have gotten even better when we were awarded ANOTHER penalty in the 43rd minute. Gavryushko, the clubs captain, stepped up once more but then amazingly managed to strike his shot straight at an unmoved Gomel keeper in the middle of the goal. Surprisingly, this second miss did not go unpunished either, as just one minute later young midfielder Konstantin Kuimov tucked away a neat placed finished from the edge of the area.

The second half was remarkably uneventful, which was probably just as well! We did have an appeal for a third penalty turned down though but thankfully it was not given - watching Gavryushko miss a hattrick of spot kicks would have been very depressing. 

The third round saw us drawn against...

Torpedo Zhodino. These guys are another side from the Belarusian top division, where they currently sit in 8th place. We are one of only three Persha Liga sides left in the competition and having reached this round we have already exceeded expectations. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

Our overall level of individual performances have dropped slightly over the past two months but we still have six players who hold an overall rating of at least 7.0. 

The key man has continued to be Anton Bubnov (7.36), the experienced central midfield has scored three goals, leads the team with 3 assists and 19 key passes whilst also collecting the highest number of interceptions amongst all midfielders. Also putting in some excellent performances lately has been 24 year old winger Valeriy Marov (7.38). The youngster leads the entire squad with three Player of the Match Awards in just eight appearances whilst also scoring three goals and averaging a team-high 2.97 dribbles/game. 

Our defence has improved over the past few months, led by left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan (7.11) who has made an effective return from injury. The 27 year old leads all players with a very impressive 4.13 tackles/game whilst also having the most key passes of all defenders, with 13. Iliya Branovets (7.02) has been very efficient in goal, conceding just 16 goals in his 16 appearances this season. The main improvement in this unit though has been the play of Alexey Ivanov (6.82), the young central defender has an astonishing 59 interceptions this season whilst also averaging 4.00 tackles/game. Right fullback Stanislav Kaminsky (6.86), central defenders Dmitriy Zinovich (6.79) and Dmitriy Novik (6.61) have all seen their performance level drop unfortunately.  

Pavel Bordukov (6.96) has continued to play fairly well in the centre of midfield and still leads the squad with a pass completion rate of 83%. Right winger Ivan Sulim (6.86) has seen a slight improvement in his personal play whilst youngsters Konstantin Kuimov (6.79) and Kirill Osipenko (6.74) have been solid if not spectacular. Left winger Yuri Kozlov (6.77) has chipped in with three goals whilst also averaging the most distance covered every 90 minutes. 

Up front, Mikhail Scherbakov (6.84) leads the squad with four goals scored in his 12 appearances this season. Alexandr Gavryushko (6.94) has played better overall but has just three goals scored in nine games played. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

We finished our first two months 2 points behind leaders Belshina and we managed to close that gap ever so slightly through June and July. At the halfway point of this league season we still sit 2nd, just one point off the top spot but things have become far more crowded at the summit of the division. Krumkachy and Smolevichi are just a further point behind us whilst Lida, Torpedo Minsk and Khimik Svetlogorsk are all still in the running for the two promotion spots.

Bereza are quickly becoming adrift at the bottom of the division, having lost 11 of their 15 games. Also in the relegation zone are Baranovichi, a side we failed to beat during our last league game!

We have scored 25 goals this year, which gives us the 4th best rated attack in the division. Our defence play has been much improved over recent weeks and our 16 goals conceded is the 2nd best in the division, just one worse than Krumkachy. 

OTHER NEWS:

This was a huge blow for us. Anton Bubnov had been excellent this season so far but he picked up a pretty severe injury in the loss against Lida. This hip injury will likely rule him out until the later portion of the season, that is if he makes any return at all. I'll have to rely on young midfielders Konstantin Kuimov and Kirill Osipenko more than I would have liked for the remainder of the year. 

These past few months saw James Yates secure his first ever coaching badge. Although these badges do not mean a great deal, they are extremely important in a journeyman save such as this one - I do not want to be managing in the Belarusian second division for my entire career. That being said, the Orsha board decided to offer me a new one year contract which I duly accepted. 

In addition to life in Belarus, I have been keeping track of the international scene. The past month saw the 2018 World Cup take place and their was a (slight) shock as Belgium were crowned champions. The European side have been developing on the international scene recently but I did not expect them to win this tournament. 

in all fairness to them they throughly deserved their title, beating Mexico, Germany, Chile and then Argentina in the final. England did beat France to make it to the quarter finals before doing the most England thing ever, and losing on penalties. Brazil were knocked out in the second round by Croatia, whilst both Colombia and Holland failed to get out of the group stages. 

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That concludes my second league update from FC Orsha and at the halfway stage of the season we are very much in with a shot at one of the two Persha Liga promotion spots. I have been fairly happy with how we have played but, at the same time, there is still massive room for improvement. It would be great to start this challenge off with a trophy, especially since Sir Alex Ferguson failed to win any silverware in his first season. 

Again, I hope you guys are hoping this story and the way I am laying it all out. I'll hopefully be back soon with another update taking us through August and September. 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0

[yatesiboi37]

Update 6: August & September 2018

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Persha Liga

Hi all! I hope you are all enjoying my story so far, as I am very much enjoying reading all the great careers in this forum. This is the third update from James Yates' managerial career in Belarus with FC Orsha. We are halfway through the season before the writing of this update and thus far life in Eastern Europe has been very kind. FC Orsha find themselves second in the Persha Liga and genuinely battling for one of the two promotion spots.

This update will cover the results, statistics, league standings and any other important business as we enter into the second half of this domestic season.

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Persha Liga RESULTS:

W = 6, D = 3, L = 0

Nine games through August and September and we played amazingly well, ended this stretch of games unbeaten. 

We kicked off August with 4 clean sheets, albeit against four teams currently in the lower half of the Persha Liga. We then played brilliantly away to Slonim before recording a pair of back to back draws which helped maintain our unbeaten run. The second of these were against Belshina, the side who have led the league pretty much since the opening day. We finished September with a home victory against a mid-table Khimik Svetlogorsk team before a battling 1-1 draw against a Krumkachy team who are battling for the promotion spots. 

Our defensive performances have once again been an excellent aspect of our play through these two months. We kept five clean sheets and only conceded five goals in just nine fixtures. We also remained fairly prolific in front of goal, netting 14 times. 

Kubak Belarusi RESULTS:

Round 3: vs Torpedo Zhodino (Vysshaya Liga)

We had already exceeded expectations by reaching the third round of the domestic cup competition, the Kubak Belarusi. We were one of only three Persha Liga sides left in the competition at this stage and draw a Torpedo Zhodino team currently sitting 7th in the Belarusian top tier. 

Amazingly, we took an early lead against our stronger opponents. Winger Ivan Sulim popped up at the far post to side foot home a neat finish following a swinging cross from fellow wide man Valeriy Marov. We matched our opponents for much of the first half, ending the game with 49% possession and 10 shots in comparison to Torpedo's 15. 

Unfortunately we started the second half poorly and conceded two quick goals inside the first eight minutes of the second period. We tried everything in the final 35 minutes to get back into the tie but just could not find another way through an organised Torpedo Zhodino defence. We ended up conceding a late third as we pressed forward and got caught on the counter. Still, not a terrible performance overall and I think we did ourselves justice in this competition this season. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

Our excellent league form has been backed by a exceptional collection of individual performances. We currently have 8 players who hold a rating of 7.0 or higher. 

Valeriy Marov (7.28) continues to prove a complete surprise package in terms of individual performances. The left winger was third choice at the beginning of the season but he has proven to be a real find and thus far has contributed 5 goals, 3 assists and a team leading 29 key passes in just 17 appearances. Anton Bubnov (7.28) returned from a very long-term injury during the last few games in September and his play in the centre of the park has continued to impress.

Our defensive performances have been exceptional throughout the past two months and this improvement has been led by left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan (7.07). The 27 year old leads all defenders with 21 key passes in his 21 appearances this season. In goal, Iliya Branovets (7.04) has been excellent; conceding, on average, less than one goal per game. I have also been really impressed with the play of youngster Alexey Ivanov (6.98). The central defender is probably the most talented player in the squad in terms of skills but those attributes had not really correlated into good performances until now. The 21 year old has a team high 107 interceptions and averages 3.91 tackles/game. Stanislav Kaminsky (6.94) has played very well at right fullback and Dmitriy Zinovich (6.85) has been solid in the centre. Our back-up defenders have been fairly average, with second-string left fullback Dmitriy Novik (6.61) being the best of a poor bunch. 

In midfield, new signing Evgeniy Kalinin (7.15) has looked very impressive in his first four appearances for the club, scoring twice and notching one assist in his time at the club. Young midfielder Konstantin Kuimov (6.91) has been exceptional in the middle of the park, completing the second most key passes in the squad with 24. Fellow central midfielder Pavel Bordukov (6.85) has been fairly solid, leading all outfield players with a pass completion rate of 81%. Wingers Ivan Sulim (6.85) and Yuri Kozlov (6.82) have been solid if not spectacular. 

Up front Alexandr Gavryushko (7.04) is the teams leading goal scorer, netting 6 times in 16 games whilst also providing 4 assists. Mikhail Scherbakov (6.84) has seen his early season goalscoring form drop off somewhat but he has still managed 5 goals in 17 games. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

Our unbeaten stretch has seen us overtake a seriously struggling Belshina side atop the Persha Liga. Our main promotion rivals have fallen nine points behind and into 6th position. We now find ourselves seven points clear atop the division with just six games left to play this year. Our nearest rivals are a seriously in-form Smolevichi team and a Krumkachy side who have been solid throughout the entire league campaign. Just three points separate the teams in 2nd and 7th places meaning there really is everything to play for in the final few games. 

Our improved defensive performances now mean that we have the best record in the division with regards to goals conceded, with 21 in 24 games. In terms of goals scored we have the 3rd best attacking record in the division, behind Smolevichi and 4th-placed Lida. 

We have a few tricky fixtures to end the season, including away games against both Lida and Naftan. We genuinely have a shot at promotion at this stage of the season and we are even in with a chance to win a league title. 

OTHER NEWS:

We have avoided big injuries throughout this season for the most part but we suffered a few setbacks during August. Firstly we lost central midfielder Alexey Plyasunov, who had been playing very well, to a hamstring strain. We then lost experienced winger Ivan Sulim in the cup game against Torpedo Zhodino. Luckily, these injuries have not been too impactful and we have coped well without both of these players. 

We have some of the worst facilities in the division so it is nice to see the board willing to invest some money in our youth set-up. Now all we need is some good prospects in this seasons upcoming youth intake. 

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So, that concludes our third season update from Belarus. We are performing way above expectations at this stage and have a genuine chance to win a piece of silverware - a trophy that would become James Yates' first in his attempt to surpass Sir Alex atop the managerial Hall of Fame. 

Again, I hope you guys are all enjoying this write up! Is anyone else managing in Belarus? 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0

[noikeee]

Getting closer to that precious Belarrusian 2nd tier title. Sir Alex must be jealous - that's something he never won.  

[yatesiboi37]

On 30 November 2017 at 12:07, noikeee said:

Getting closer to that precious Belarrusian 2nd tier title. Sir Alex must be jealous - that's something he never won.  

Haha. Not quite sure how many Hall of Fame points you win but it would be a start at least!

[yatesiboi37]

Update 7: October & November 2018

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Persha Liga

Hi all! Welcome back to my time in Belarus with FC Orsha. Last time I posted we were flying high atop the Persha Liga, facing the real possibility of achieving promotion or even winning a trophy during my first year in domestic football management! With just seven games left in the season calendar, this update will cover our final few fixtures and bring to an end what has been a very exciting first year. 

Can James Yates guide his side to a trophy at the first time of asking?

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Persha Liga RESULTS:

W = 3, D = 1, L = 2

Not the best end to a season as we managed to pick up just a single point from our last three fixtures. We did continue our September form though at the start of this block of games, notching a trio of straight victories. The defeat to Osipovichi actually ended a 14 match unbeaten in the league that stretched back to mid-July. 

We started off October with a superb battling defeat against a high-flying Lida side before putting together our best performance of the year during an absolute dismantling of Naftan, a game which sure us have five different goal scorers. We then put in a decent performance at home to Lokomotiv Gomel before the wheels came off, ending with back to back away defeats and scrapping a home draw against fellow promotion rivals Smolevichi. 

We were unable to maintain our solid defensive performances, failing to keep a clean sheet through our final seven games. We were very prolific in front of goal though, scoring an impressive 12 times, albeit most of those were from one fixture. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

We have had a very successful season and we end the year with a total of six players holding an average rating of at least 7.0.

Anton Bubnov (7.38) returned from injury during the last update and the experienced central midfielder, now at full fitness, is back to being superb. During his 19 appearances he has managed 7 goals, 5 assists and won a team-high 4 Player of the Match Awards. 

In defence, left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan (7.15) has been superb, especially going forward. The 27 year old managed 30 key passes in his 27 appearances, a number double as many of the next best defender. Our keeper, Iliya Branovets (7.06), has been superb between the sticks, conceding an average of one goal every game. Central defender Alexey Ivanov (6.95) and right fullback Stanislav Kaminskiy (6.92) have both had very good seasons. Elsewhere, Alexey Efremenko (6.92), Dmitriy Zinovich (6.79) and Iliya Sorochinskiy (6.66) have been the best of the rest in terms of defenders but we have not had much depth at this position all year. 

In midfield, Evgeniy Kalinin (7.34) has been excellent in his nine appearances. The winger joined the club during August and has been exceptional, scoring 5 goals, creating another 3 and compiling 19 key passes. Fellow winger Valeriy Marov (7.19) saw his overall performance drop off slightly but he still had an excellent season. The left midfielder scored 5 goals and completed a team-high 33 key passes. Elsewhere, our midfield performances were a slight disappointment with central players Pavel Bordukov (6.87) and Konstantin Kuimov (6.86) both having solid if not spectacular campaigns. Our two talented wingers, Yuri Kozlov (6.83) and Ivan Sulim (6.81) did not play as well as I had hoped, compiling only 6 assists between them. The rest of our central midfield options all played fairly average, with Alexey Plyasunov (6.71), Kirill Osipenko (6.70) and Denis Medvedev (6.68) all being fairly unspectacular. 

Up front, Alexandr Gavryushko (7.02) finished the season as the clubs' top scorer, netting 8 times in his 21 appearances. Mikhail Scherbakov (6.81) was the only other forward to put in any performances of note, finishing with 5 goals in his 19 appearances. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

CHAMPIONS! CHAMPIONS! CHAMPIONS!

A superb season comes to a close and James Yates has amazingly managed to win his first piece of silverware! Although we struggled during our final three games, in reality we had already sewn up the title with our victory against Lokomotiv Gomel. In the end we finished the year four points clear of our nearest rivals Smolevichi, who will join us in the Belarusian top division next year. Krumkachy and Belshina both fell away amazingly during the back part of the season and finished 6th and 7th respectively. Kobrin and Bereza were the two teams relegated and, in all truth, they thoroughly deserved it as they were very poor. 

We ended the season with 51 goals scored, the second most in the division, but conceded just 30 times leaving us with the leagues best defensive record. Our goal difference of +21 was easily the best in the Persha Liga. 

OTHER NEWS:

The end of October in Belarus sees the annual intake of youth players. Since we are still currently in the second tier and that our facilities are not anything to shout about I was not holding out any hope of getting much talent in.

Despite not expecting much, I was very happy with how this turned out. All these players are local lads, having been found in the city of Orsha. 

The best player in this group is likely Andrey Savitskiy. 

The defensive midfielder has superb natural fitness, teamwork and work rate, all of which are desirable traits for a holding midfielder. His technical skills need a lot of work but I am hoping we can hold him into something serviceable in the future. He also has a balanced personality which should not prove too problematic. 

The other exciting prospect is Oleg Bolotov. 

The young left winger has some very exceptional physical traits, with a high rating for pace, acceleration and natural fitness, all of which should be very beneficial at this level of football. He also has a balanced personality. 

The end of the league season seemed like a good moment to embark on my second ever coaching course. I know that later down the line I will likely need coaching badges, as they help boost managerial skills, if I am to get offered better jobs in the future.

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So that brings to an end a very successful first season in Belarus with FC Orsha. We performed way above expectations and ended up being crowned league champions in what was a superb year. James Yates has also managed to secure his very first piece of silverware at the first time of asking. We now will be rebuilding the squad as we have the unenviable task of preparing for life in a very competitive, talented Belarusian top division. 

I really hope you guys are enjoying this story thus far. It has been a very enjoyable save to play through, whilst also getting to manage in a country that I have never experienced on FM before. 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Update 8: End of Season Review (2018)

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Persha Liga

James Yates' first season in football management turned out to be a rather successful one. The young Englishman managed to begin his career with a victory in the second tier of Belarusian domestic football. Yates was able to attract a number of excellent free agents to FC Orsha and his small Belarusian side were able to secure the first piece of silverware in their footballing history. 

This update will look back at the clubs performances in all relevant competitions, the individual player statistics for the season and act as a presentation for the clubs yearly awards. Join me as we take a look back at James Yates' title winning season at FC Orsha.

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COMPETITIONS:

Persha Liga. Final Position: 1st

Played: 30 (W = 17, D = 8, L = 5)
Goals Scored: 51, Goals Conceded: 30, Goal Difference: +21
Points Total: 59

An unbelievably first season saw us end the year as league champions. We were tipped for a top half finish by the media before the season kicked off but we defied those expectations and rocketed to the top of the table. The media's favourite Krumkachy had a good year and they looked to be our biggest rivals in the early stages but they fell away as the year progressed and ended up missing out on promotion. In their place Smolevichi had a tremendous year, pushing us all the way in the end and finishing just four points behind.

Our superb league performance meant we were well represented in the Team of the Year:

We dominated with five players making the leagues best side. Keeper Iliya Branovets, fullbacks Stanislav Kaminskiy and Kirill Aleksiyan, central defender Alexey Ivanov and left winger Valeriy Marov all found a place in the team of the season. The only other teams to have multiple players in this team were Lida and Smolevichi, who both had two. 

Kubak Belarusi. Final Position: Third Round

Played: 3 (W = 2, D = 0, L = 1)
Goals Scored: 7, Goals Conceded: 4, Goal Difference: +3
Knocked Out: 3rd Round vs Torpedo Zhodino (1-3)

A relatively good season for us in the only domestic cup in Belarus. The board had wanted us to reach the third round and we managed to achieve that aim. In the first round we overcame a non-league side with relatively ease and then we followed this up with a superb victory against Gomel, from the Belarusian top division. We were knocked out in the third round by a strong Torpedo Zhodino side despite a good performance. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

We finished the season with six players holding an average rating of 7.0 or higher. Below are some key stats from our title winning season in Belarus:

• Alexandr Gavryushko finished as the clubs top scorer, netting eight times in his 21 appearances. Four other players; Evgeniy Kalinin, Valeriy Marov, Yuri Kozlov and Mikhail Scherbakov finished the year with five goals.
• The leading assist provider this season was central midfielder Anton Bubnov, who created five goals in his 19 games. The next best was forward Alexandr Gavryushko who collected four assists. 
• Anton Bubnov also finished with the most Player of the Match Awards, collecting four in total. Valeriy Marov finished second with three award wins. 
• Right fullback Stanislav Kaminskiy led the team with 4.37 tackles/game whilst central defender Alexey Ivanov collected 127 interceptions in his 26 appearances. 

PLAYER AWARDS:

1) Player of the Year: Anton Bubnov (CM) - 19 matches, 7 goals, 5 assists, 31 key passes, 1.21 tackles/game, 32 interceptions, 4 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.38

Despite suffering a fairly substantial injury during the middle of the season, the Player of the Year Award goes to central midfielder Anton Bubnov. The 30 year old Belarusian was a new signing at the start of the year but adapted to life at the club superbly. He has a brilliant season going forward, scoring seven goals and creating an additional five. He was exceptional with the ball at his feet, playing 31 key passes in just 19 appearances. 

He is under contract for another season and will likely be retained next year as we embark into the top flight. His overall skill set is reasonable, with fairly good technical skills for this level but his mental and physical traits could be better. 

2) Defensive Player of the Year: Kirill Aleksiyan (LB) - 27 matches, 3 assists, 30 key passes, 3.46 tackles/game, 40 interceptions, 2 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.15

Another new signing at FC Orsha for this season was Kirill Aleksiyan. The left fullback is awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award following at exceptional year with his new club. Aleksiyan was not only good on the defensive end, finishing with 3.46 tackles/game and 40 interceptions, but he was exceptional going forward as well, notching a brilliant 30 key passes and creating three goals.

His physical attributes for this level are solid and his overall technical skills are fairly good. His mental traits are in desperate need of improvements but overall he is a fairly solid player for this level. He again will be returning next year but it will be interesting to see if he can cope with the step up in competition. 

3) Midfield Player of the Year: Valeriy Marov (LM) - 21 matches, 5 goals, 3 assists, 33 key passes, 3.11 tackles/game, 3 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.19

25 year old Valeriy Marov started the season as a mere back-up option but he quickly played himself into the starting lineup and became one of the most important players at the club. The winger scored five times and completed a team high 33 key passes as he proved to be a constant threat going forwards. His performances were a real surprise given that his attributes really are not anything special. 

His physical traits are pretty poor overall but his pace and acceleration are both solid, which allowed him to dominate opposition fullbacks in this league. He also has a superb level of crossing skill for someone playing in this division. 

4) Attacking Player of the Year: Alexandr Gavryushko (ST) - 21 matches, 8 goals, 4 assists, 21 key passes, 3 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.02

Our forwards were not overly amazing this season but club captain Alexandr Gavryushko takes home the Attacking Player of the Year award. The 32 year old played excellently despite his advancing years, netting eight times and creating an additional five goals in his 21 matches. He is one of the oldest players in the squad but he has some excellent physical traits. I played him pretty much exclusively as defensive forward, due to his lack of finishing ability, but he proved very effective as the lone forward in our tactic. 

Along with Marov, I really question whether Gavryushko has the ability to perform in the top division next season. He is currently out of contract at the end of this season and at the moment is reluctant to sign a new deal. 

5) U21 Player of the Year Award: Alexey Ivanov (CD) - 26 matches, 3 goals, 3.73 tackles/game, 127 interceptions, 1 PoM Award, Ave Rating: 6.95

Alexey Ivanov was the clubs record signing, joining at the start of the year for £24k. The young central defender is very talented and with his age he definitely has some room to grow. Ivanov led the entire squad with 127 defensive interceptions, whilst also averaging almost four tackles per game. 

He has some very solid physical traits and is one of the players who I think will be able to cope with the step up to the top division next season. I am hoping his technical attributes can continue to improve as Ivanov has the potential to become a real star for many years to come. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Overall, I was very very happy with my first season in football management. To grab a league title and a promotion at the first time of asking was a superb achievement. The individual performances of most of my players was also extremely impressive; with a number of them finding life in the Persha Liga fairly straightforward. 

I have most of the squad under contract for at least another year but I have a feeling it is going to be quite a big step-up next year competing in the top tier of Belarus. I will have all the news from the preseason (including new signings and re-signings) out very soon hopefully. 

As previously mentioned, a title winning season means James Yates has gained his first Hall of Fame points. Obviously the Persha Liga is not the most reputable league in the world but Yates gains a whopping 33 points as he looks to hunt down Sir Alex Ferguson's outrageous Hall of Fame total.

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It has been a very successful first season at FC Orsha and I am now very much looking forward to competing in the top tier of Belarus next year, especially as I'll now be able to sign players from abroad. 

Hope you guys are all enjoying this story. Obviously my updates are not as regular as some of the other stories on this forum but I am trying to keep things going as quickly as possible. Join us again shortly for a preseason update.

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

[tyler16]

Loving this, keep it up. The longer breaks between updates work well and allow you progress quicker in the save. 

How long do you see yourself in Belarus?

[yatesiboi37]

23 hours ago, tyler16 said:

Loving this, keep it up. The longer breaks between updates work well and allow you progress quicker in the save. 

How long do you see yourself in Belarus?

Thanks Tyler. Pleased you are enjoying the format of my posts!

I'm really not sure how long I want to spend in Belarus. The gap in quality between the Persha Liga and the top division is genuinely massive, so I think I'll see how I get on next season and then decide. Knocking off some of the top sides, such as BATE, is likely to be very very challenging and, given that I want to be winning trophies as often as possible, I don't want to get stuck for too long in one situation. 

[yatesiboi37]

Hi all, 

I hope you all have enjoyed this story so far! I have had a very eventful first domestic season in Belarus having started out managing the Chinese U23 squad. We were crowned champions of the Persha Liga and FC Orsha were promoted to the highest domestic tier in the country for the first time in their history. This also set me on my way with regards to collecting Hall of Fame points as I hunt down Sir Alex Ferguson. 

I would like to welcome everyone back to FC Orsha.

Club Background:

Despite our promotion, not much has changed with regards to the clubs' status within Belarus. We are one of the smallest teams in terms of reputation in the domestic top division and are based in the northeastern corner of Belarus, on the border with Russia. FC Orsha were originally founded in 1951 but have never competed in their countries top division, making this coming season a historic one already. In fact, the Persha Liga title last season was the clubs first ever trophy win and their highest ever domestic league finish. 

Our promotion did not help to raise our reputation, as we still hold a regional rating with a single star. 

Facilities:

Our facilities have not changed much since last season, meaning we easily have one of the worst set-ups in the top division. 

We play our home games at the 2,440 seater Gorodskoy Stadium, which weirdly has lost 210 seats since last season. Not really sure why as I had no news item stating we were due a reduction. The ground itself is still owned by the council and an average ticket price is still just £2. We did install some undersoil heating (which was a league requirement) but it did little to improve the quality of our pitch which still remains at poor. 

All the other facilities remain the same as last year except our junior coaching which has been improved from average to adequate. 

Competitions:

Similarly to last season, we will be participating in just two domestic competitions this season.

Our new league, and the top tier of Belarus, is named the Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga. It is the highest domestic league found in Belarus, running from March to November, and consists of 16 teams who play each other twice (once home, once away) leading to a total of 30 games per club. The bottom two sides are automatically relegated to the Persha Liga whilst the top team qualify for the Champions League and the teams placing 2nd and 3rd qualify for the Europa League. 

Unlike the Persha Liga, the Vysshaya Liga does allow foreign players to compete but these are limited to a maximum of five within the starting XI. In addition, there are now no rules with regards to the age of players, with no requirement to play any U21s. 

The past 8 seasons have been dominated by two clubs, BATE Borisov and Shakhter Soligorsk. BATE have won the Vysshaya league title a record 13 times but recently there has been a changing of the guard, with Shakhter Soligorsk proving to be the alpha team in Belarus. Both of these clubs are massive in comparison to ourselves, with Shakhter currently having seven of the current national team players in their squad. 

The second competition that we will participate in is the Kubak Belarusi. This, again, is the only Belarusian domestic cup that I am aware of and follows a very simple knockout format. Last season we reached the third round of this competition and I imagine we will have similar expectations this year.

Despite two teams dominating the league standings, the Kubak Belarusi has seen a wider range of victors. In the past eight seasons, six different sides have lifted the trophy and it is maybe something that I should concentrate on more given that we are unlikely to be challenging for a league title this season. 

Belarusian Football:

As previously mentioned, the best domestic teams in Belarus are easily BATE and Shakhter Soligorsk. Behind them, Dinamo Minsk have seven top division titles to their name and have finished in the top five in every season since 2008. Dinamo Brest are also fairly reputable, finishing 4th in the past two seasons, but they have never won the countries top division title. 

Igor Kriushenko is still in charge of the international team. The 55 year old has been in office since early 2017 but has done little to improve the standings of the senior national side, who are currently ranked 99th in the world, below the likes of Thailand, Palestine and Kosovo.

The side failed miserable in their World Cup qualifying campaign but have recently been involved in the draw for the next European Championships. Albeit this is not the toughest of groups, I do not think there is much chance of qualifying and I am predicting them to finish 4th or 5th, above Gibraltar (and maybe Lithuania). 

The best national team player is easily Nikita Korzun, who just recently signed for CSKA Moscow, with he Russian side paying a £10.5million fee. 

World Football:

As previously mentioned, Belgium won the 2018 World Cup, defeating Argentina in the finals. 

In terms of domestic competitions here is a run down of the league winners from the most reputable European divisions:

• Barclays Premier League: Chelsea
• Liga Santander: Barcelona
• Bundesliga: FC Bayern Munich
• Serie A TIM: Inter Milan
• Ligue 1 Conforma: PSG
   
• UEFA Champions League: Manchester United (defeated Manchester City 1-0)
• UEFA Europa League: AC Milan (defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-2 on penalties)

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That concludes my re-introduction to life in Belarus. I will be back soon with a preseason update as we begin our journey in the Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga. Will James Yates be able to keep his small, local side in the division? Or will they be relegated at the first time of asking? 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:

Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Update 9: Preseason 2019

I have finally managed to work my way through the preseason, which itself seems to take far longer over winter than it usually does in the traditional summer period. Given that we won the league title and that we will now be playing in the Belarusian top tier, this offseason has proved to be a very hectic one as I tried my best to prepare a squad that would be capable of staying afloat in a very talented division. This update will cover all the transfers, squad structure, tactics and results from James Yates' second preseason with FC Orsha. 

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BOARD ROOM:

FC Orsha are still fronted by a general manager named Alexandr Demidovich. Despite the relatively average financial situation of our club, the board decided to up the budgets for this season by a considerable amount, which was much needed given our sudden promotion. 

• Transfer Budget: £61,400
• Wage Budget: £7,140 per week

These numbers should be more than enough for this coming season. The transfer budget is essentially double what I was given last year and the wage budget is around £4k more than last time, meaning I should have sufficient financial power to bring new players into the club. 

Board Objectives (2019)

Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga - Mid-table finish
Kubak Belarusi - Reach the 3rd Round

CLUB STAFF:

Now that we are competing in a higher division I was able to attract some better skilled staff to join my backroom set-up. From last season; assistant manager Roman Kirenkin, reserves manager Alexandr Lodyanoy and chief scout Anton Danilov return. Everyone is newly appointed. 

We signed a new Head of Youth Development, Georgiy Babichev, following last seasons relatively average youth intake. We also signed another scout, Igor Gorbatchev, in an attempt to uncover some prospects within Belarus that we could add to our squad. We also hired a new physio since our previous one was very poorly skilled. 

We also completely revamped the coaching team following last seasons poor training results. Firstly we hired a specialist goalkeeping coach, Vadim Osipov, who was previously working with semi-professional side Torpedo Mogilev. We also signed a trio of coaches, all of whom have recently retired from playing and chose to enter the world of coaching. Alexey Martynets (Attacking), Konstantin Vashko (Defending) and Vitaliy Bulyga (Fitness) all have specialisms and should mean that we have a nicely balanced training set-up this season. 

TRANSFERS:

(Out)

We released a lot of players. All of these players had expiring contracts and I really did not believe that they had the quality needed to compete in the top division this season. The most notable names here are forward Mikhail Scherbakov, who scored five league goals for us last season, and midfielder Andrey Kukharenok, who appeared in 14 league games. Both of these guys are currently on the hunt for a new club. Midfielder Alexey Plyasunov and right fullback Iliya Sorochinskiy, two of the other better players in this group, have both found a new club and will be playing in the Persha Liga again for FC Smorgon, who were relegated from the Vysshaya Liga at the end of last season. 

We did not make much money from sales, with only three players leaving the club on a permanent basis. We sold midfielder Denis Medvedev and young forward Arseniy Kontsedaylov for minimal fees to two Persha Liga sides. The biggest fee we received was for young midfield prosper Konstantin Kuimov. Kuimov developed fairly nicely last season, appearing in 26 of our 30 league games whilst averaging a rating of 6.86. I had not planned on selling the 22 year old but Slavia Mozyr came in with an offer way above his valuation so I decided to let him leave. 

We also let fellow youngster Kirill Osipenko join Naftan in the Persha Liga on a seasons long loan. The 22 year old has some decent potential but was not going to get much, if any, game time in the top tier this year so hopefully he can become a useful member of Naftan's first team squad. 

(In)

I was very busy as I attempted to put together a squad capable of competing in the top division of Belarus. Since I was now allowed to sign foreign players, I think I went a little bit crazy and finished up bringing in 18 new faces - which has not done wonders for my team cohesion!

Firstly, we picked up four players who will likely feature mainly in the U19 squad this season. Collen Phiri (18) is a Zimbabwean left fullback, Moussa Coulibaly (19) is an Ivorian goalkeeper, Alex Ajayi (18) is a forward from Nigeria and finally, Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (18) is a left winger from Haiti. All four have excellent potential and I will be looking to develop them as best I can. 

We also signed a pair of young Belarusian players who will likely act as back-up or rotation options this season. Firstly we signed central midfielder Maxim Pavlovets (22) after his Slavia Mozyr contract expired. We also penned back-up goalkeeper Alexey Charnykh (20) who came through the youth ranks at BATE Borisov. 

Two more Belarusian nationals were penned to contracts, both of whom should feature heavily in the starting XI this year. We first signed winger Alexey Teslyuk (25), who had made 37 appearances over the past two seasons in the Vysshaya Liga for Gomel before then signing left fullback Vladislav Krivitskiy (23), who was previously with our former Persha Liga rivals Krumkachy. 

We did spend some money during this window. We signed two players from Dinamo Brest, both of whom we got for absolute bargains. Central defender Igor Shumilov (25) was signed for just £1.5k and will likely get a fair amount of playing time in the first eleven. We also signed Oleg Patotskiy (27), a central midfielder, for just £1k and who becomes one of the most talented players in the middle of the park. We then spent another £10k on Alexandr Kugan (27) who will likely join Patotskiy as part of our midfield three. 

We then signed a further seven players, all of who will be classed as foreign for this coming domestic season. We picked up Colombian poacher Juan Carlos Zambrano  (28) and talented Argentinian forward Ignacio Lobo (22) to bolster our attacking prowess. We then signed right-fullback Terence Kethevoama (29), a Central African Republic international who has 21 senior caps, and Brazilian central defender Igor Brondani (23) who most recently was signed for Atletico Miner in his home nation.

We then added a trio of amazing African prospects who I am really excited about. Ousmane Niang (18) from Senegal and Amadou Diallo (18) from Guinea are two young central midfielders who have the potential to become league superstars. Both have represented their countries at the U20 level and, despite their age, are expected to become key starters in the first eleven. Finally we added Nigerian goalkeeper Kelvin Uzochukwu (18) who is extremely talented and instantly becomes our teams number one shot-stopper.  

THE SQUAD:

Goalkeepers:

Our three new keepers join last seasons number one Iliya Branovets (28). It is likely that young Nigerian Kelvin Uzochukwu (18) will get the start between the sticks with Branovets and the newly signed Alexey Charnykh (20) playing back-up. Youngster Moussa Coulibaly (19) will likely be restricted to the U19 and reserve squads this season but I have hopes for him in the future. 

Defenders:

There are quite a few players in this group who are returning from last season. At fullback, new signings Terence Kethevoama (29) and Vladislav Krivitskiy (23) are in line to start with last seasons main fullbacks Stanislav Kaminskiy (26) and Kirill Aleksiyan (28) being released to back-up or rotational roles. I do not imagine that left fullback Collen Phiri (18) will get much playing time in the first eleven but he again is another one for the future. 

At centre back we retained Alexey Ivanov (22) despite some real interest from the big Belarusian clubs, at one point we declined an offer in excess of £80k. New signings Igor Brondani (24) and Igor Shumilov (25) will compete with each other and last seasons starter Dmitriy Zinovich (24) for playing time alongside Ivanov. 

Central Midfielders:

This was a position of weakness last season but we have managed to turn it into a strength following some exciting signings. Ousmane Niang (18) has the potential to be one of the best players to ever represent the club whilst Oleg Patotskiy (27) and Alexandr Kugan (27) give us some experienced Belarusian talent in the centre of the park.

Youngster Maxim Pavlovets (22) will then compete with last seasons starters Anton Bubnov (30) and Pavel Bordukov (26) for the main rotational roles. Amadou Diallo (18) is more suited to playing as a defensive midfielder but will likely see some playing time in the first eleven this year. 

Wingers:

This is the position that I am most concerned about as we enter the new season. Evgeniy Kalinin (25) played excellent for us last season after joining halfway through the year and should be able to cope with the step-up in divisions. On the opposite flank, newly signed Alexey Teslyuk (25) is set to get the start. 

Our back-up wingers don't inspire much confidence. Ivan Sulim (29) and Yuri Kozlov (27) both were daily underwhelming last season but Valeriy Marov (25) was a nice surprise despite his low skill attributes. We do have a number of young left wingers who I am excited about, including Vyacheslav Sakovich (19), Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (18) and youth academy product Oleg Bolotov (17).

Forwards:

Only four forwards in the main squad at the moment but that is okay considering we will likely only be using one in our main tactic. Newly signed Argentinian forward Ignacio Lobo (22) will likely be given the first chance to lead the line. Juan Carlos Zambrano (28) and club captain Alexandr Gavryushko (33), who was the squads top scorer last year, will compete for the back-up role. Youngster Alex Ajayi (18) is one for the future. 

TACTICS:

We will mainly be running with the same tactic as last season, a 4-3-2-1 on a counter mentality. The main aim with this tactic is for the midfield three to work in cohesion and find gaps between the oppositions defensive lines. 

We will be playing on a counter mentality mainly, which I think will be beneficial given our underdog status within this new league. I have given every player individual instructions, an arduous task that I always do and believe makes a genuine difference. I also selected a number of team instructions which I think will help us play the way I intend:

• Pass into Space
• Hit Early Crosses
• Clear Ball to Flanks
• Play Wider

RESULTS:

W = 7, D = 2, L = 0

We ended up playing a huge number of friendly fixtures, probably a couple too many in all honesty as we ended the preseason with a number of small niggles and injuries. Everything seemed to run smoothly with the tactic though as we managed a draw against fellow Vysshaya Liga side Energetic-BGU and recorded victories against Persha Liga sides Krumkachy, Osipovichi and Naftan. 

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I started my managerial career with no badges or prior experience level. Since then, I have won my first league title and completed two coaching courses. Whilst my managerial attributes are still fairly average, they are improving slightly which is always positive considering I do not want to manage in Belarus forever. 

I will hopefully be back soon with my first league update from the Vysshaya Liga, where we open the campaign with an away trip to current champions Shakhter Soligorsk... not the easiest of starts. 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:

Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Update 10: April & May 2019

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Vysshaya Liga

I yet again had an extremely busy offseason, bringing in a nation leading 18 players. The step-up in quality between the Persha Liga and the Belarusian top tier looked substantial, meaning I decided a full rebuild was definitely required. Some of the players I have brought in look reasonable in terms of quality but we still have a squad that is below par in comparison with the rest of the league. 

This update will cover the first two months of play in the Belarusian top tier, the Vysshaya Liga, following James Yates' exceptional title victory last season. 

Amazingly the media seem to think we should easily avoid relegation but do not hold similar aspirations for our former Persha Liga rivals, Smolevichi. An 11th placed finish this season would be more than welcome but I'd love to sneak into he top 10. Last seasons big three, Shakhter Soligorsk, BATE Borisov and Dinamo Minsk are again projected to be the ones to beat. 

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Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga RESULTS:

W = 6, D = 2, L = 4

We had an extremely busy first two months in the Vysshaya Liga with 12 fixtures in the first eight weeks of the season. Overall, I am extremely pleased with how things have gone, wining 50% of our opening fixtures but we have also slipped to some humbling defeats. 

We opened the season with an away game against the reigning champions, Shakhter Soligorsk, in what has to be the hardest opening day fixture for a newly promoted club. Amazingly, despite having just one shot on target we came away with an unlikely victory courtesy of a debut goal for Ignacio Lobo. We followed this win with a ridiculous 4-0 away win against Minsk, which momentarily put us top of the league. We were then comprehensively beaten by a strong Dinamo Minsk side before losing a thriller to Neman Grodno. We got back to winning ways we a 1-0 home win against a weak Energetik-BGU side before getting humbled on TV at home to local rivals Vitebsk. 

We then smashed BATE Borisov in a game that surely is my best ever in charge of FC Orsha. We followed up this game with a pair of victories to start the month of May with a three game winning streak. We ended the month picking up just two points from our final three fixtures, losing another thrilling game to a struggling Slutsk team. 

Despite playing on a counter mentality we have not exactly struggled in front of goal, failing to score in only two of our 12 fixtures and netting a total of 22 goals. Defensively we have struggled to find any consistency, keeping five clean sheets but then conceding 17 goals in the other seven games. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

I have been very impressed with out form in the Vysshaya Liga this season so far and it has led to some exceptional individual performances, meaning we have 9 players who hold a rating of at least 7.0.

The top rated player thus far is newly acquired midfielder Alexandr Kugan (7.70). The central midfielder has made seven appearances and completed a team high 21 key passes, whilst also averaging 4.14 tackles/game. Kugan has formed a lethal partnership in the middle of the park with running partner Oleg Patotskiy (7.55). The other new signing is tied for the team lead with 6 goals scored in his 11 appearances. He also has 19 key passes to go alongside his team-high 3 Player of the Match Awards. 

In defence the star performer has been central defender Igor Shumilov (7.21). The new signing has been excellent in his nine games, collecting 55 interceptions whilst also chipping in with 3 goals. Our teenage goalkeeper Kelvin Uzochukwu (7.09) has been exceptional between the sticks but he missed the final four games due to international playing commitments. Kirill Aleksiyan (7.20) has been excellent at left fullback and seems very comfortable playing at a higher level. Opposite him Stanislav Kaminskiy (6.92) has played fairly well at right fullback but everyone else has been fairly average with nothing much separating Igor Brondani (6.82), Dmitriy Zinovich (6.80), Alexey Ivanov (6.79) or Vladislav Krivitskiy (6.73). 

I have been very impressed with our midfield play mainly due to the play of Kugan and Patotskiy. Alongside them though, teenage defensive midfielder Amadou Diallo (7.10) has been brilliant in his eight games, registering 21 interceptions and 4.78 tackles/game. Maxim Pavlovets (7.00) has been very impressive in limited action and Ousmane Niang (6.79) has played reasonably well overall. Our wingers have all been fairly awful, starters Evgeniy Kalinin (6.69) and Alexey Teslyuk (6.58) being particularly disappointing. 

Ignacio Lobo (7.02) has played excellently upfront, with the Argentinian forward scoring 6 goals in 10 appearances. Young Nigerian striker Alex Ajayi (6.72) has scored twice during five substitute appearances. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

3rd place! This league is extremely close and our dizzying league position is not a very true reflection of our results. In fact, just five points separate us in third and Slutsk in 12th. Dinamo Minsk and Shakhter Soligorsk are seemingly in a two horse race for the title at this stage, with fellow competitors BATE lingering in 5th. At the opposite end of the table, newly promoted Smolevichi and Gorodeya are both yet to win a game, which does not bode well for their respective seasons. 

In terms of goals scored, we currently have the 4th best attacking record in the division with 22 goals scored. Defensively we have not been as efficient, conceding 17 times to give us the 9th best record in the league. 

OTHER NEWS:

We have not had a huge amount of injuries, just a few small knocks here and there. The end of May saw us pick up our first long-term injury of the season though and it was suffered by winger Valeriy Marov. Last seasons Midfield Player of the Year had not been playing brilliantly this year but he will now miss the majority of the remaining games with torn knee ligaments. 

During my promotion title winning escapades of last season I was named Manger of the Month on three different occasions. I imagine it will be much harder to get amongst the top honours this year in the Vysshaya Liga, what with the strength of opposition and managerial talent on display, but that did not stop me from being named amongst the top three during the month of May. 

A number of our players have recently become involved with their respective international teams, all predominately with the youth teams. Kelvin Uzochukwu (Nigeria), Amadou Diallo (Guinea) and Ousmane Niang (Senegal) have all been heavily involved with their U20 national sides in recent weeks. Our first domestic call-up came in the form of Alexey Ivanov, the young central defender selected in the squad which will play at the UEFA U-21 Championship. 

Despite playing a full season in Belarus I have only just come to realise that the countries only domestic cup, the Kubak Belarusi, does not actually finish within a single league season. The semi-finals and final from the previous year are played at the beginning of the following season - no idea why? This does mean that the final was recently played and underdogs Neman Grodno defeated favourites Shakhter Soligorsk to give their club their first cup win since 1992!

The ending of one Kubak Belarusi means that the next edition is due to get started next month. In the first round we drew Neman-Agro Stolbtsy, a semi-professional side from the Belarusian third tier. Considering we were drawn at home, I am hoping we can come away with an easy victory. 

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So that brings to a conclusion my first update from life in the top tier of Belarus. I do not imagine we will maintain our 3rd place position in the league table for much longer but it is nice to be competing amongst the big boys for a bit.

I really have not got used to using wingers on this game thus far. Last season my wide players disappointed and again this year they have been underperforming. Has anyone got any tips that I might benefit from? 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

 

 

[yatesiboi37]

Update 11: June & July 2019

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Vysshaya Liga

FC Orsha had never previously competed in the Vysshaya Liga and so this season was already set up to be a historic one. The previous update covered the first couple of months of life in the Belarusian top tier and, despite struggling to find any consistent form, we ended the first 12 games sat in 3rd position. The league itself proved to be a tightly contested affair, with just five points separating ourselves and 12th placed Slutsk. 

This update will cover the next few months of Vysshaya Liga action but will also see us embark on our Kubak Belarusi campaign, where we drew a third division side in the first round. 

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TRANSFERS:

The months of June and July in Belarus see the midseason transfer window open. Last year I barely dabbled but this season I have been a little more active. 

(Out)

I let three players leave the club. 

Pavel Bordukov had been a key member of our Persha Liga winning squad but he had struggled to break into the first team this season, making just two substitute appearances. His contract was due to expire at the end of the season but I let him leave for a small fee instead.

Ivan Sulim struggled to find consistent form throughout his FC Orsha career, as he became a victim of the winer-curse that seems to have enveloped the club since I joined. He grew disillusioned with his playing time, making just two league appearances this year, and kicked up a bit of a fuss about it. I decided to let him go now rather than keep him around, moaning, until the end of his contract. He joins Baranovichi in the Persha Liga. 

Finally, on deadline day, I decided to sell Alexey Ivanov. There is no doubting that the young defender was one of the most talented players at the club but he never really translated his skills into consistent performances. He was a regular in the first eleven throughout his time at FC Orsha but he failed to exceed an average rating of 7.0. He was a club record signing back in 2018, costing £24k. I eventually sold him to Slutsk, in our division, for another club record fee, £56k with add-ons that should hopefully boost that total a little. 

(In)

Just the two players joined the club. 

Firstly we signed anther youngster in the form of right fullback Shaki Smith (18). The young Bermudan defender has superb potential and he adds to the list of young foreigner players that I will be trying to develop at the club. 

Secondly, we paid a small fee for transfer listed attacking midfielder Filipp Ivanov (29). The experienced attacker joins from Vysshaya Liga rivals Minsk, where he had ailed to play a first team game this season. That will likely change upon joining us, as he becomes one of the most technically gifted players in our squad. 

Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga RESULTS:

W = 2, D = 1, L = 2

Lots of breaks between games over these two months, with just five total league fixtures. Overall though, I was fairly happy with our performances, especially with regards to our defensive improvements. 

We kicked off June with a fine come-from-behind win against Isloch, courtesy of two Alexandr Gavryushko goals in the last 20 minutes. We then really struggled at home to Dinamo Brest, a game shown on TV and, despite a stunning long-range goal from fullback Terence Kethevoama, we slipped to a defeat. We then bounced back with a brilliant away victory against a very strong Dnepr Mogilev side. We finished the month with a good away point against Dinamo Minsk before slipping to a disappointing defeat against struggling Energetic-BGU in a match where we dominated and had 19 total shots. 

I was very disappointed when we failed to score in the final two games, meaning we only netted six times in these five fixtures. Defensively we showed some improvements but still only managed one clean sheet. We ended up conceding five goals in these five games, a pretty good return and a massive improvement from the last update. 

Kubak Belarusi RESULTS:

Round 1: vs Neman Stolbtsy (Non-league)

Alongside the league campaign we started up our domestic cup journey. In the first round we were drawn against semi-professional side Neman Stolbtsy and ended up handing them a comprehensive victory. 

Young Nigerian forward Alex Ajayi netted early on and we never looked back. We scored there consecutive goals from set pieces with central defensive partners Igor Shumilov and Dino Zinovich both getting their names on the scoresheet.The second half did see us concede but a late Alexandr Gavryushko goal handed me my biggest domestic victory with FC Orsha and saw us easily advance to the second round.

Round 2: vs Slutsk (Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga)

We were handed a fairly tough draw in the second round, with a home game against fellow Vysshaya Liga side Slutsk. 

Despite having lost to Slutsk in the league earlier in the year we absolutely dominated them in this cup fixture. We were excellent in the first half, probably the best half of football I have seen since joining FC Orsha. Again, young forward Alex Ajayi played brilliantly and is genuinely working his way into contention for a regular starting place nowadays. 

The third round saw us drawn against ...

The exact same team that we played against at this stage of the competition last season... Last year they beat us convincingly but I am hoping we can provide more of a challenge this time around. Torpedo Zhodino currently sit 7th in Vysshaya Liga. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

Our strong league performances have resulted in us having 8 players who currently hold an average rating of at least 7.0. 

The key man has continued to be central midfielder Alexandr Kugan (7.43). The new signing has been excellent in the middle of the park, racking up a team-high 32 key passes in his 12 appearances this season whilst also leading the way with 3 assists. The 28 year old is looking like a relative bargain after we signed him for just £10k back in January. 

In defence, our performances have improved somewhat and this has been led by the increasing form of goalkeeper Kelvin Uzochukwu (7.10). The 18 year old Nigerian shot stopper is so talented already and has the potential to improve dramatically in the future. Fullbacks Kirill Aleksiyan (7.10) and Stanislav Kaminskiy (6.97) are the only two defenders in the squad to have collected double-digit key passes this season. Igor Shumilov (7.02) has proven the best central defender in terms of performances and he leads the team with 81 defensive interceptions. Dmitriy Zinovich (6.80) has played well in limited action but I continue to be disappointed with the play of Alexey Ivanov (6.76), Igor Brondani (6.73) and Terence Kethevoama (6.77). 

Our midfielders have been excellent this season, with the other key contributor alongside Kugan being Oleg Patotskiy (7.34). Another new signing at the beginning of the season, Patotskiy ranks second on the team with 7 goals scored. The £1k signing has played 26 key passes whilst collecting a team-high 3 Player of the Match Awards. Young defensive midfielder Amadou Diallo (7.01) continues to impress, averaging 4.74 tackles/game and making a midfielder-high 26 defensive interceptions. Fellow youngster Ousmane Niang (6.79) has been fairly solid without ever proving spectacular whilst the newly acquired Filipp Ivanov (7.00) looks like a steal already, playing 9 key passes in his first three appearances. 

Our wingers have yet again failed to contribute significantly but our forwards have played well. Ignacio Lobo (6.98) still leads the way in terms of goals scored, netting 8 times in his 15 games this season. Young forward Alex Ajayi (6.67) has scored 5 times in his nine appearances this season. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

Despite a couple of tough losses we remain in 3rd position, with just 13 games left to play in the league season. The table itself is still outrageously close, with just five points separating ourselves and 12th placed Slutsk, meaning a run of poor results will see us quickly tumble down the league positions. 

Shakhter soligorsk and Dinamo Minsk continue to compete in a two-way battle at the top, with 5th placed BATE Borisov finding some form but still being some way off a title challenge. At the opposite end, it would appear that the side promoted with us last season, Smolevichi, are in line to go straight back down having won just one fixture all year.

In terms of goals scored, we currently sit 7th, with 28 in our 17 fixtures. Defensively we have showed remarkably improvements since our opening few months and our total of 22 goals conceded gives us the 3rd best defensive record in the league. 

OTHER NEWS:

No huge injuries to report except this one suffered by Dmitriy Zinovich. The young central defender had been playing solidly, although his first team opportunities had been fairly limited, but now he will likely miss the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see whether he can return to any sort of form following this injury; a broken foot can be pretty devastating for a footballer. 

Having been agreed last season, our youth facilities have now been improved. Given that we have a fair number of talented youngsters at the club currently, this should hopefully prove useful in aiding their development. 

I have since tried to upgrade other facilities but the board are having none of it, stating a lack of monetary funds. 

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So that concludes another update to life in Belarus. Whilst we again failed to create any daylight between ourselves and the rest of the league we have managed to maintain our 3rd place positioning. I am extremely wary that a run of poor form will quickly see us slide down the league table given how close everything is in this division. 

Despite this I have been very pleased with how the majority of the new signings have been performing and there is still a strong belief I can hold out for a top-half finish. We are also still alive in the Kubak Belarusi, a win against Torpedo Zhondani in the 3rd round would see us progress to the quarter finals for the first time.

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[noikeee]

Wow, doing brilliantly in the league. No business to be up there near the top.

[yatesiboi37]

On 15 December 2017 at 09:54, noikeee said:

Wow, doing brilliantly in the league. No business to be up there near the top.

Thanks noikee! Definitely no business being where we are in the league. I cannot imagine it is where we will finish the season but at the very least we look like we should avoid relegation.

[yatesiboi37]

Update 12: August & September 2019

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga

The first half of the Vysshaya Liga had proved fairly successful and we found ourselves lingering around the top contenders in the division. Despite this our form had proved extremely mixed, with a number of impressive victories coupled with some really disappointing losses. Although we currently sit in third position, you may remember the league table is extremely congested and a few consecutive defeats could easily see us tumble down the standings. 

The update covers the summer months as we enter the second half of the league season. There were a few long breaks in this part of the season to accommodate international fixtures but we will cover league results, our cup performances, statistics and have a look at the updated league standings.

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Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga RESULTS:

W = 3, D = 1, L = 3

We continued our entirely mixed bag of performances from the previous two months; winning three, losing three and drawing one game. 10 points from a possible 21 is not a terrible return for a club such as ourselves but some of these defeats were very disappointing. 

We started August in superb fashion, easily dispatching league leaders Shakhter Soligorsk at home. However, as we have done for much of this year, we followed up this amazing performance with a torrid showing against a fairly average Minsk side. We bounced back with an empathic away victory against our fierce local rivals Vitebsk before playing fairly well against a strong BATE Borisov side but slipping to a loss. 

The most embarrassing performance of this run then materialised during our home encounter against Neman Grodno. We again bounced back with an impressive victory against a relegation-threatened Gorodeya side before ending the month with a fortunate draw against Torpedo Zhodino. 

We certainly were not boring to watch during this run, holding the unenvious record of scoring AND conceding in all seven fixtures. Going forward we have been fairly impressive all year an this continued during August and September as we netted 15 times. Defensively though we were again poor, failing to keep a clean sheet and conceding 12 times. 

Kubak Belarusi RESULTS:

Round 3: vs Torpedo Zhodino (Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga)

A thrilling cup tie but one that we were unfortunately on the wrong side of. Torpedo Zhodino are quickly becoming my Belarusian bogey side having knocked us out twice, in consecutive seasons, at this stage of the Kubak Belarusi. 

I genuinely thought we had a brilliant chance to win this fixture, especially given that Torpedo lost a player to a red card after just 15 minutes. Despite our man advantage we could not find a break through but were eventually gifted an opportunity in the 60th minute when we were awarded a soft penalty. Attacking midfielder Oleg Patotskiy easily dispatched the spot kick and gave us a lead I felt we could hang onto. 

Unfortunately not... With just 14 minutes left Torpedo equalised courtesy of a header from a corner. That was how things remained at full-time and, with no replays, we headed to extra time.

Moments before the first half of extra time came to a close I thought we had bagged the winner. Substitute winger Evgeniy Kalinin smashed home a close range effort and surely that had to be game over right? Wrong. Just four minutes into the second period and the referee awarded the second soft penalty of the contest, this time in favour of the opposition. They duly scored it and, despite Filipp Ivanov smashing the crossbar with what turned out to be the last kick of the game, we headed to a shootout. 

Ignacio Lobo missed our second spot kick but then we found a bit of rhythm. Unfortunately, central defender Igor Shumilov missed our sixth attempt and, with it, handed the victory to Torpedo. For the second year we exit the Kubak Belarusi in the third round, again courtesy of Torpedo Zhodino. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

 

Our mixed performances have led to some rather intriguing player ratings but we still have been fairly efficient as a squad, with 11 players currently holding a rating of at least 7.0. 

Alexandr Kugan (7.43) continues to be the star man. The experienced central midfielder leads the team with 5 assists and 43 key passes this season, while also holding the best passer rating, with 83% of passes completed. 

In defence, teenage goalkeeper Kelvin Uzochukwu (7.07) continues to impress. he has developed very nicely as the season has progressed and is quickly becoming a player that is far too talented for our division. He has been supported by central defender Igor Shumilov (7.07) who has had a good first season with us, leading the team with 131 defensive interceptions. Elsewhere in defence, fullbacks Kirill Aleksiyan (7.01) and Terence Kethevoama (7.00) have both had solid seasons, with Central African Republic international Kethevoama contributing three goals scored. Young Zimbabwean fullback Collen Phiri (6.97) has impressed in limited action but Igor Brondani (6.78) continues to struggle in central defence. 

Our second best player this season has easily been Kugan's running mate in midfield, Oleg Patotskiy (7.26). The attack-minded player has created the most chances of anyone in the FC Orsha squad this season and has contributed an equalling team-high 10 goals. Not bad for a player predominantly used in a central midfield role! Youngsters Ousmane Niang (6.92), Amadou Diallo (6.88) and Maxim Pavlovets (6.88) have all played reasonably well without ever being too spectacular. 

Up front, Ignacio Lobo (6.87) remains the clubs joint top scorer, with 10 goals in his 23 appearances. he is being challenged for playing time nowadays though by Nigerian teenager Alex Ajayi (6.90) who has scored 8 times in his 15 games, which is a pretty good record considering he has started just four games. Attacking midfield Filipp Ivanov (7.02), who was signed midway through the season, has been impressive, scoring twice, collecting three assists and playing 25 key passes in just 12 appearances. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

With just six games left to play in the season it looks as though we definitely should nit get relegated and I would be disappointed to finish any lower than 9th from this position. We do drop a few places though, with a resurgent BATE side climbing the division swiftly and my new personal rival Torpedo Zhodino jumping ahead of us by a single point. 

Dinamo Minsk, who have only lost two games this whole season, jump above last years champions Shakhter Soligorsk atop the division whilst Smolevichi looked destined to return to the Persha Liga. Gorodeya have put together some good results and climb out of the relegation zone for the first time in a long while, being replaced by a struggling Energetik-BGU side. 

In terms of records, we have a fairly decent attacking prowess when compared to the rest of the division, scoring 43 times in our 24 games to give us the 4th best ranked record. Defensively we have been a bit poorer and, after failing to keep a clean sheet for the past two months, we slip to the 7th best record, conceding 34 times in total. 

OTHER NEWS:

I totally understand that our defensive performances have not been up to scratch but I guess this explains our poor performances a little. We lost star central defender Igor Shumilov for the remainder of the season as he sprained some knee ligaments during training. This turned out to be a huge blow, especially given that we sold Alexey Ivanov halfway through the year and because first-choice back-up Dmitriy Zinovich is still out with an injury of his own. 

Things were made even worse at the back when we lost back-up fullback and fill-in central defender Vladislav Krivitskiy for the remainder of the year also, this time courtesy of brown ribs. This left us very thin in the centre of defence, with Igor Brondani, who has not been playing well, the only healthy central defender option. In the final game of September, against Torpedo Zhodino, I ended up employing star midfielder Alexandr Kugan as an emergency defender! Zinovich is slated to return soon and his recovery cannot come any quicker!

To top things off, we lost left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan for a few weeks at the end of September. This meant we had to rely on 18 year old Zimbabwean Collen Phiri at left back who, fortunately, played quite well. 

Our selling of Alexey Ivanov meant we no longer had any ties to the Belarusian national side but that does not mean we have not developed some international players. 

Young African stars Kelvin Uzochukwu (Nigeria), Amadou Diallo (Guinea), Moussa Coulibaly (Ivory Coast), Ousmane Niang (Senegal) and Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (Haiti) have all become regulars in their national U20 sides. We also saw our first full international player, with 18 year old right fullback Shaki Smith (Bermuda) getting his first senior caps. 

I have thus far enjoyed my time in Belarus but I know I have to keep in mind my future plans. FC Orsha do not have a great deal of money and without qualifying for European football, which I don't think is going to happen, I cannot see their finances improving anytime soon. This lack of money is making it extremely difficult to develop current facilities whilst also making it difficult to compete for the top Belarusian players, of which we need six in the starting XI. 

In order to continually improve my attributes I have been studying for coaching badges as often as possible. Hopefully by the end of this coming season I will be able to collect my National A Licence, and possibly look for some other jobs. What do you guys think?

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So with just six games left in the league season we are currently on course to achieve a top-half finish, which before this season began, I never thought would have been possible. I mean, there still is an outside chance that we could push for European qualification (a top 3 finish) but I have a feeling that is very unlikely. I think my personal aim is to finish above Vitebsk, our fierce local rivals, something that would likely make our fans very happy!

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Update 13: October & November 2019

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga

This update will cover the final six games of the domestic season in Belarus. Having been promoted last year we were exceeding all expectations in the top tier and were looking likely to achieve a top-half finish. There was still a very outside chance of us securing a European spot (top 3) but we would have to play exceedingly well to achieve that. 

In addition, pretty much our entire central defensive depth had decided to pick up long-term injuries, leaving us struggling to put together a competent back four!

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Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga RESULTS:

W = 4, D = 1, L = 1

That is much more like it. A brilliant end to the season as we finally put together a bit of consistent form, albeit during a run of fixtures against a host of struggling teams.

We kicked off October with back-to-back victories over bottom placed Smolevichi and Slutsk. We then had a little hiccup, using away to a poor Isloch team before bouncing back with one of our best away wins of the season, a 5-2 triumph over Dinamo Brest, in a game that saw Alex Ajayi score his first professional hattrick. We then ended the season with a pair of one games, including a fairly drab 1-0 win over Gomel before hosting Dnepr Mogilev in what turned out to be a thrilling end to the season. 

Despite our defensive injuries, our makeshift back four played excellently during this stretch, conceding just 8 times and keeping two clean sheets in our six games. Offensively we were superb, scoring 13 times and consistently looking threatening going forward. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

We ended the year in fine fashion and this resulted in 11 players holding a final average rating of 7.0 or higher. 

Alexandr Kugan (7.42) maintained his excellent overall form despite having to fill in at centreback for a few games. In his debut season with FC Orsha, the experienced Belarusian collected a team-high 7 assists and played 51 key passes, whilst also completing 81% of all passes. 

Our defensive improvements were largely unexpected but were also very welcome. Our first choice goalkeeper, Kelvin Uzochukwu (7.08) continued his excellent season whilst Igor Shumilov (7.07) finished as the pick of the central defenders, collecting 131 defensive interceptions. Our fullbacks were again impressive, with Kirill Aleksiyan (7.01) being the pick on the left-side. Terence Kethevoama (6.94) struggled to settle in at the start of the season but he finished the year strongly, ending with an average of 4.01 tackles/game at right fullback. Igor Brondani (6.85) was the only remaining healthy central defender at the end of the year and he really stepped up, playing some of his best football when we needed him most. 

Oleg Patotskiy (7.26) ended a brilliant year in the centre of midfield with 11 individual goals. In addition, he created the most chances of any player in the squad, with 19, and also averaged an insane 4.47 tackles/game. We started giving some of our youngsters more playing time as the season wound down and it turned out to be a brilliant plan. Young wingers Vyacheslav Sakovich (7.51) and Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (7.18) ended the year magnificently. Sakovich, our young Belarusian, collected 2 Player of the Match Awards in just 9 first team appearances, whilst Arcelin provided 4 assists and played 23 key passes in his 15 games. Maxim Pavlovets (6.96) provided a superb depth option in midfield whist young Africans Amadou Diallo (6.90) and Ousmane Niang (6.89) had good first years at the club. 

Up front we have a new star in Alex Ajayi (7.23). The young Nigerian forward was superb through the final six games and ended the year with a team-high 14 goals in just 21 appearances. Ignacio Lobo (6.83) tailed off as the year wore on but he still reached double digit figures for goals scored, ending with 10 in his 26 games. Filipp Ivanov (7.01) proved to be an excellent mid-year addition as he scored 4 goals, collected 4 assists and played 33 key passes in his 18 games. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

Our excellent run of form to end the year meant we almost snuck into European qualification, just missing out to BATE by two points! We did climb a spot in the league table to 4th though, staying ahead of local rivals Vitebsk and my personal least-favourite side Torpedo Zhodino. 

Amazingly, Dinamo Minsk and Shakhter Soligorsk finished with the same amount of points! Despite Shakhter having a better goal difference and winning more games overall, the league sorting rules state that team head-to-heads decide positions. With Dinamo winning one and drawing the return fixture against Shakhter, they were crowned champions!

Smolevichi, who came up with us at the start of the season, failed to adapt to life in Vysshaya Liga as well as we did and will be going straight back down to the Persha Liga. They will be joined by Energetik-BGU who finished four points adrift at the end of the season. 

We finished the season with the 2nd best attacking record in the division, scoring 56 goals in our 30 games. Our defensive performances were not quite as efficient, as we conceded 42 goals, good for the 6th best defensive record.

OTHER NEWS:

Youth Intake Day:

The end of October sees the annual youth intake for all Belarusian teams take place. I think I should be fairly pleased with this bunch as we pick up a few prospects who should be able to be developed into something usable. All of these lads are from the town of Orsha and I feel as though we really need to improve our junior coaching and youth recruitment if we are going to be able to attract the best Belarusian talents in the country.

Firstly, and probably the best player in this group, we have right winger Alexandr Kovalev:

Despite being a small, fairly weak teenager, Kovalev has some interesting physical traits, mainly natural pace, which I like. He has good determination but has a realist personality, one that I have not come across much so will have to do some research into whether it is super detrimental or not. Like most players in this intake, his technical skills are severely lacking. 

The other player rated as 5* potential is forward Roman Tolkachev.

Tolkachev has decent determination (12) and has an ambitious personality, which is not ideal but not also terrible. Like Kovalev, he has some physical ability but he also holds high ratings for finishing (13) and heading (10), so I think I could develop him into a decent poacher. Then again, his other technical attributes are dire, with ratings of 1 for long shots and passing. 

Of this intake I actually like the right fullback Valeriy Sorochinskiy best but he has an awful personality (low determination) and given that I have very few good tutors, I am guessing it is likely he will not progress much. I signed the above three along with a bunch of others - given that I have to play 6 Belarusians in the first eleven, it would be helpful if I could actually turn some of these youth products into starting calibre players. 

Manager Profile:

Despite missing out on European football I decided to rejoin FC Orsha, for one more season at least. Some of my youngsters progressed hugely last season and I want to see what I can do with them as elite stars from the beginning of a season. I still think a title challenge or European football is beyond my reach, mainly because our clubs financial constraints stop me from being in the running for the best Belarusian players. 

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So that brings to an end my second season in charge of FC Orsha. Whilst we achieved a very respectable league position we failed to win any silverware, or collect any Hall of Fame points, so for now Sir Alex remains a long way ahead of us. I cannot imagine I'll ever be able to challenge for a league title with Orsha but I would like to at least get past the 3rd round of the domestic cup, see if I could compete for some silverware that way maybe...

Anyways, I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. I cannot say I have always enjoyed life in Belarus, but I will be returning next year for maybe one final season with FC Orsha!

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

 

[yatesiboi37]

Update 14: End of Season Review (2019)

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga

Our historic first season in the top tier of Belarus has finally come to a close and, overall, I would have to say I am very pleased with what we have been able to achieve. We narrowly missed out on European football in the end, which before this season begun was never thought to be in the realms of possibility. Unfortunately, we were unable to collect any silverware (or additional Hall of Fame points) and, given the strength of the 3 top teams in Belarus, this is looking unlikely to change in the near future.

This update will take a quick look back at our second season in Belarus and act as the platform for our clubs' postseason awards ceremony. 

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COMPETITIONS:

Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga. Final Position: 4th 

Played: 30 (W = 15, D = 5, L = 10)
Goals Scored: 56, Goals Conceded: 42, Goal Difference: +14
Points Total: 50

A fairly good first season in the Belarusian top tier saw us finish 4th. Despite only being promoted last year, the board and the media both expected us to achieve a mid-table finish, an aim we ultimately managed to surpass. We actually scored more goals this year, in the top tier, then we did during our promotion winning Persha Liga campaign. The main difference was the number of goals conceded and our defensive frailty is definitely something that I will be looking to address during the offseason. In addition, we decided we did not like drawing games (our 5 draws were equal lowest in the league) opting instead for a win or lose approach!

As previously mentioned, Dinamo Minsk claimed the league title couresty of a better head-to-head record against Shakhter Soligorsk. BATE Borisov had a second half of the season surge which meant they climbed back to a respectable 3rd position. Smolevichi, who came up with us last year and Energetik-BGU were both relegated to the Persha Liga. 

Despite our decent team performance, none of our players made the Vysshaya Liga Team of the Year. The only award that we are mentioned in was the Vysshaya Liga Best Midfielder, where Oleg Patotskiy came a respectable 2nd:

In addition, our 4th placed league finish became a club record high for the Belarusian domestic structure. 

Given that we were formed in 1951 and have played the majority of football in the lower realms of Belarus, a first ever season in the top flight was always going to be a historical, fairytale occasion anyways. To then top it off with a 4th placed finish was fantastic and, understandably, the board and fans were ecstatic. 

Kubabk Belarusi. Final Position: Third Round

Played: 3 (W = 2, D = 1, L = 0)
Goals Scored: 10, Goals Conceded: 3, Goal Difference: +7
Knocked Out: 3rd Round vs Torpedo Zhodino (2-2p)

I may as well have copy and pasted the image used for last season for this one... Yet again we get knocked out of the Kubak Belarusi, the only domestic cup competition, in the third round and yet again, against Torpedo Zhodino. I was extremely disappointed with this loss, given that our opponents played the majority of the game with 10 men and that we were at home. Ultimately we lost during a penalty shootout and, given that the board had wanted us to reach the quarter finals, this was where I performed slightly below expectations. 

Our defeat was even more difficult to stomach given that we had flown through the first two rounds. We kicked things off with a 5-1 home victory against a third-tier Neman Stolbtsy team before following this up with an emphatic 3-0 win over fellow Vysshaya Liga side Slutsk. 

I honestly cannot see us winning a league title anytime soon in Belarus but one competition that I would like to think we have some chance of winning is the Kubak Belarusi. I will be concentrating on this tournament hard next season and trying my best to avoid Torpedo Zhodino in the third round...

PLAYER STATISTICS:

We finished the season with a whopping 11 players holding an average rating of 7.0 or higher. Below are some key stats from our first season in the top tier of Belarus:

• Alex Ajayi finished as the clubs top scorer, netting 14 times in his 21 appearances. Two other players; Oleg Patotskiy (11) and Ignacio Lobo (10) reached double digit goal tallies.
• The leading assist provider this season was central midfielder Alexandr Kugan, who created seven goals in his 26 games. Three other players; Jean-Baptiste Arcelin, Filipp Ivanov and Ousmane Niang, created four goals apiece. 
• Midfield duo, Alexandr Kugan and Oleg Patotoskiy finished joint leaders in terms of Player of the Match Awards, both collecting four.
• Defensive midfielder Amadou Diallo led the team with an impressive average of 4.68 tackles/game in his 24 appearances. Central defenders Igor Shumilov and Igor Brondani both collected 131 defensive interceptions. 

All-time Best XI:

A number of newly signed players enter the best overall team, with Igor Shumilov, Oleg Patotskiy, Alexandr Kugan and Alex Ajayi making the first eleven. Goalkeeper Kelvin Uzochukwu and central defender Igor Brondani were named amongst the substitutes. 

PLAYER AWARDS:

1) Player of the Year: Alexandr Kugan (CM) - 26 matches, 2 goals, 7 assists, 51 key passes, 3.77 tackles/game, 59 interceptions, 4 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.42

I paid £10k at the start of the season for Alexandr Kugan and that turned out to be a steal for the solid 28 year old midfielder. He completely run the show from his central spot and had a superb first season in terms of distributing the ball. He completed 81% of his passes, a team high, whilst also collecting 7 assists and playing a whopping 51 key passes, leading to 14 created chances. 

For this standard of competition he has a brilliantly well rounded set of attributes. His physicals are solid if not outstanding and his passing for this level is very pleasing, whilst his player trait 'plays short simple passes' fits in with the tactical philosophy that I like to run. He is under contract for next year and will definitely be retained. 

2) Defensive Player of the Year: Kelvin Uzochukwu (GK) - 25 matches, 32 goals conceded, 8 clean sheets, 96 shots saved, Ave Rating: 7.08

Signed at the start of the year on a free transfer, Kelvin Uzochukwu easily became the first name on the team sheet. The 19 year old Nigerian played exceptionally in goal and, despite our defensive weaknesses, single-handedly kept us in a number of fixtures. He was recently dropped from the Nigeria U20 squad (no idea why) but I was not too bothered as it meant he was fully available for club football. I do not usually like to use a foreign slot on a goalkeeper but with Uzochukwu I would be silly not to. 

The youngster developed exceptionally during the course of the season and his high ratings for agility and reflexes make him a superb shot-stopper. Unsurprisingly, he garnered a lot of interest from other clubs as the season progressed but I was able to sign him to a new contract, meaning he will hopefully be the Orsha number one for a few more years at least.

3) Midfield Player of the Year: Oleg Patotskiy (CM) - 28 matches, 11 goals, 3 assists, 44 key passes, 4.47 tackles/game, 4 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.26

Oleg Patotskiy was also signed at the beginning of the season and if I thought Kugan was a bargain buy at £10k, I am not sure what that makes Patotskiy considering he cot me a measly £1k from league rivals Dinamo Brest. The 28 year old had a ridiculously good season, playing in a centre midfield role with attacking instructions. he ended up scoring 11 goals, despite relatively poor ratings for finishing and long shots. He is not quite as physically gifted as Kugan but his technical skills, namely his passing, marking, tackling, dribbling and first touch are very solid for this level of competition. 

He will also be returning next year, partnering Kugan in the centre of midfield to create a two-man combo that was extremely effective throughout the duration of the season. 

4) Attacking Player of the Year: Alex Ajayi (ST) - 21 matches, 14 goals, 2 assists, 20 key passes, 2 PoM Awards, Ave Rating: 7.23

What can I say about Alex Ajayi? This youngster burst onto the scene during the second half of the season and he is the main reason that I want to return for another season, to see what he can do in a full year of first-team football. He finished as the clubs leading scorer, with 14 goals in just 21 appearances, surprising given that his finishing and long shot ratings are very average. 

For a short forward he has a very high rating for heading but it is mental development that has been remarkable. Given his age, his high ratings for teamwork, work rate, off the ball and composure are all remarkable. If he can develop his technical skills a bit he has the potential to become a real star. 

5) U21 Player of the Year Award: Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (LM) - 15 matches, 4 assists, 23 key passes, 2.31 dribbles/game, Ave Rating: 7.18

We had a few youngsters who played more games than Jean-Baptiste Arcelin but I was so impressed with this teenager during the later stages of the season. The 18 year old winger from Haiti has some insane physical attributes, namely a rating of 16 for both pace and acceleration; both of which give defenders at this level sleepless nights. He collected four assists in limited action but I am very excited about his potential. 

He has some average technical traits but a solid rating for crossing and dribbling. In reality, that is all I need from him; pace to sprint sown the wing and crossing to stick it on the head of Alex Ajayi. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

All in all, I was very happy with our first season in the Vysshaya Liga. We never seemed to find any solid form throughout the year, winning one game comfortably and then being humbled in the next. This is something I think I can change that if I can bring some defensive stability to the back four, a fact I will be looking to address in the coming offseason. 

I am also excited to see how some of our young players develop. The three teenagers mentioned above, along with Ousmane Niang and Amadou Diallo have bags of potential and if any of them can get anywhere near their max I truly believe they can become superstars in this division!

We may not have won any silverware this year but I did recently complete another coaching badge:

I do eventually want to leave Belarus but that is only likely to happen if I build up a skill set and reputation that allows me to become a respectable candidate. My personal skills are still somewhat lacking but we are getting there, somehow reached a rating of 10 for defensive coaching... despite my club side struggling to show any defensive prowess.

I was rumoer to be a candidate for a few jobs in the Vysshaya Liga but they all came to nothing. I was however offered a job, but one I am certain no-one here would have predicted:

I think this post was free when I first started the game. As I do with most unemployed saves, I applied for all available jobs, including this one. They have been without a manager since the start of the save from what I can tell but now that the Caribbean Cup is approaching they decided they need someone to lead them. Who better than a young Englishman who has managed the Chinese U23 squad and won the Belarusian second division with FC Orsha. 

Although this job seems utterly ludicrous I feel like accepting, just to experience the Caribbean Cup and because of the ridiculously high wage they want to pay me! What do you guys think? 

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Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[noikeee]

Sensational season, congratulations.

I'd take the Martinique job just for how bonkers and random it is. How many connection flights do you have to take from Belarus to Martinique? 

[yatesiboi37]

38 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Sensational season, congratulations.

I'd take the Martinique job just for how bonkers and random it is. How many connection flights do you have to take from Belarus to Martinique? 

The quickest route is to:

1. Drive from Orsha to Minsk (Belarus capital) - 2.5hrs
2. Flight from Minsk to Paris, France - 3hrs
3. Flight from Paris to Fort-de-France, Martinique - 9hrs

14.5hr round trip. Worth it for the Caribbean Cup!

 

[yatesiboi37]

Hi everyone!

Having signed a new contract at the end of last season I shall yet again be returning to Belarus with the aim of pushing for a European spot (top 3 finish) and/or attempting to mount a decent challenge in the Kubak Belarusi, the countries only domestic cup. I failed to win any silverware last season in my pursuit of Sir Alex so fell I should concentrate more on the cup competition this coming season. 

This update will serve as an introduction to the main team (hint hint) that I will be managing this coming season. Firstly, I would like to welcome you back to FC Orsha.

Club Background:

Our excellent league performance last season led to the first rise in reputation under my management, as we now hold a 1.5* rating and a national level of recognition. The 4th placed league finish last season in the Vysshaya Liga is the highest ever in the club's history and the Persha Liga trophy won in my first season remains the club's only piece of silverware. 

Myself, and a couple of players, have been inducted into the clubs' favoured personnel list. Left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan is one of the few remaining first teasers who helped us win promotion a few years ago!

Facilities:

Not much has changed with regards to our facilities over the past few seasons mainly due to a lack of funds for improvements and a rather reluctant chairman. We dd managed to push through a youth facilities upgrade last year, boosting them from below average to adequate. 

Our stadium, the Gorodskoy, is still on the small side for this standard of league, with a capacity of 2,440. Despite the actual stadium still being in a good condition, the pitch (which has been awful since I arrived) is still in a poor condition. The addition of under soil heating was added last year, as a requirement for playing in the top division. 

Competitions:

The same as last season, we will be competing in just two domestic competitions this year, meaning the chances of winning more silverware in Belarus are, unfortunately, somewhat limited. 

The first, and main competition, that we will be taking part in is the Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga. It is the highest domestic league found in Belarus, running from March to November, and consists of 16 teams who play each other twice (once home, once away) leading to a total of 30 games per club. The bottom two sides are automatically relegated to the Persha Liga whilst the top team qualify for the Champions League and the teams placing 2nd and 3rd qualify for the Europa League. 

The only registration rule is a limit of 5 foreign players allowed within the first XI. There are no rules dictating the number of U21 or homegrown players that must be used. 

Last season saw Dinamo Minsk surprise everyone and beat our reigning champions Shakhter Soligorsk and perennial powerhouses BATE Borisov for the league title. BATE have won the Vysshaya league title a record 13 times but they had tailed off a bit the last few seasons, finishing in 3rd last year, just two points ahead of us. 

The second competition that we will participate in is the Kubak Belarusi. This, again, is the only Belarusian domestic cup and follows a very simple knockout format. It is a slightly weird competition in that the quarters, semis and final are all played at the start of the new domestic season, meaning that although we were knocked out in the 3rd round last year, I still do not know who were the overall winners as those fixtures have not yet been played!

Despite three teams dominating the domestic league scene, the Kubak Belarusi has been far more openly contested and that is the main reason I think I should concentrate more on this competition this year. The past eight seasons have seen seven different winners, with the most recent champions, Neman Grodno, finished 13th in the Vysshaya Liga last season. 

Belarusian Football:

As previously mentioned, the best domestic teams in Belarus are easily BATE and Shakhter Soligorsk. Behind them, Dinamo Minsk added to their seven top division titles with a league win last season, and they have also finished in the top five in every season since 2008. 

Igor Kriushenko is still in charge of the international team. The 55 year old has been in office since early 2017 but has done little to improve the standings of the senior national side, who have tumbled down the rankings and now sit 119th in the world, below the likes of India, Libya and the Dominican Republic.

Unsurprisingly, they failed to qualify for the 2020 European Championships, finishing 5th in their group, above only Gibraltar. Their one draw was against Lithuania and their two victories were against the bottom side. Most disappointing was the fact that they failed to score in seven of their 10 games.  

The squad itself is fairly old and with no decent regens seemingly coming through, it looks as those Belarus could continue to decline on the international scene. 

World Football:

In terms of domestic competitions here is a run down of the league winners from the most reputable European divisions:

• Barclays Premier League: Manchester United
• Liga Santander: Real Madrid
• Bundesliga: FC Bayern Munich (7th consecutive league title)
• Serie A TIM: Juventus
• Ligue 1 Conforma: Monaco
   
• UEFA Champions League: Manchester United (defeated Chelsea 1-1 on penalties - 2nd consecutive Champions League title) 
• UEFA Europa League: Arsenal (defeated Valencia 2-2 on penalties)

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So that concludes my re-introduction to life at FC Orsha in Belarus. I will be back shortly with another introduction... as I may have accepted another job... nay guesses? After that I will post my preseason update for Orsha, where I have been very busy and able to finally attract some talented Belarusian players. I hope everyone is still enjoying this story, I know it is not quite as fast paced as some of the others on here but I am enjoying writing and sharing it with you!

Season 1:
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Despite starting out my managerial career with the Chinese U23 squad, I did not think that I would be returning to international management anytime soon. Things were going pretty well at FC Orsha and I was not looking to apply for any other jobs.

I had however, applied for the following job right at the start of my career. Their side had remained without a leader since the start of the save and my application had therefore maintained an 'applied' status since the start! This changed however when they decided to offer me a job, with a fairly hefty weekly wage:

I would like to welcome everyone to my second management role for this season, leader of the Martinique senior national side. 

Team Background:

Martinique is an overseas island territory of France located in the Lesser Antilles, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It is located just above Saint Lucia and Barbados but since it is technically a part of France, Martinique is considered a part of the European Union and therefore the island's main currency is the euro. The senior Martinique national side have been partaking in international fixtures since 1931 but the nations football association was not formed until 1953.  

The national stadium is the Stade Louis-Achille, which has a pretty impressive capacity of 9,300. The nation has a couple of main rivals, including France itself and two of the other French territories; Guadeloupe and French Guiana. 

Competitions:

The national side has not taken part in any proper competitions since the start of this save (which probably explains why they have remained without a manager). My hiring coincides with the next edition of the CFU Caribbean Cup, a competition that we will be entering. 

Excitingly, the Caribbean Cup is a competition that I have literally never experienced before! It is essentially a championship tournament for all the nations of the Caribbean Football Union but also serves as a qualification competition for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. 

The format of the competition is fairly straightforward but might be a little difficult to explain. The first round sees 21 teams separated into 7 different groups of three, with each team playing one another once (for just two total games). The top two sides then progress to the second round, which is contested by just 15 sides in a very similar format (5 groups of 3 teams, each team playing each other once and with the top team from each group and the 4 best 2nd placed sides qualifying for the third round). Keeping up so far?

The third round is where things get interesting. There are now 4 groups of three teams, playing each other once, but the winner of each group qualifies for the semi-final stage of the Caribbean Cup and gains qualification to the next edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The latest edition of the tournament saw Jamaica beat Guadeloupe in the final, with Haiti securing 3rd place. Jamaica are the competitions most recent successful nation, which I guess is understandable, having won the Caribbean Cup 7 times. They are still one tournament victory behind Trinidad & Tobago, who hold the record with 8 championship wins. 

The first round draw for this seasons edition of Caribbean Cup was made recently and we received a fairly straightforward group:

Puerto Rico have a fairly solid squad and might cause us some problems but the British Virgin Islands are very poor at professional football so I should be able to easily finish in one of the top two places, and therefore secure progress to the second round of this competition. Jamaica, as reigning champions, enter the tournament at the second stage but I was still pleased we managed to avoid Trinidad & Tobago in this round.

Martiniquais  Football:

Martinique does not boast a particularly skilful domestic competition with the top league, the Division d'Honneur, consisting solely of semi-professional teams. 

The national side have had some success in the past but recently they have not been up to much. They did actually win the CFU Caribbean Cup once, way back in 1993, but since the year 2001 they have failed to reach the semi-finals. They currently do not hold a world ranking on my game, I am not sure if that is due to a complete lack of skill or because they are classed as an territory of France?

Technically ranked lower than Gibraltar... this could be a fun foray into international management.

The Squad:

I am sure that none of these players will be recognisable but I am genuinely fairly happy with this squad. Given that Martinique is an overseas territory of France, there are plenty of players in the French leagues who hold dual French and Martinique nationality. Unfortunately, most of these are not interested in representing Martinique, either due to our lack of international reputation or because they do not want to undergo the extensive travel required.

I was able to convince a few players to declare for Martinique though, including central defender Christophe Herelle who likely becomes the best player in the national set-up. I also managed to convince forward Jeremie Porsan-Clemente and regen forward Jean-Sylvain Jobello to join us and we now have a fairly well-rounded squad. The majority of these players still play their football in the countries domestic division but I will go through some of the key players in the next update. 

Surprisingly, for a small nation, the three goalkeepers are all pretty talented. Joan Hartock is the current number one, he has 26 international caps and plays in the French second tier. Hartock is 33 years old though, but in Xavier Lenogue (23) we have a decent young protege for the future.

Our defenders are very strong. Christophe Herelle is probably the best player in the entire squad. The experienced central defender currently plays for Fenerbahce in Turkey and has only just declared for Martinique following my requests. Patrick Burner is our best fullback, the youngster currently plays in the third tier of France but is very talented. 

Of all the areas of our squad, our midfielders are probably the weakest in terms of talent but we have a huge amount of experience here. Daniel Herelle (70 caps), Stephane Abaul (63 caps) and Karl Vitulin (55 caps) all play in the centre of midfield and are our three of the most capped players.

In terms of our attackers we have the experienced Kevin Parsemain who, with 34 goals, is the nations all-time leading scorer. Harry Novillo, who plays in the UAE, is our most valuable player in terms of money and he has a very impressive international scoring record, with 21 goals in 25 games. Jeremie Porsan-Clemente is another newly declared player who I am excited about. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I really hope you guys are looking forward to my adventures with Martinique! Has anyone else ever managed a side in the Caribbean Cup? I will be back with an update soon - either an FC Orsha preseason one or the first round of the Caribbean Cup with Martinique. 

Season 1:
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[Timetxu]

Good luck with this! You do know you're not able to participate in the WCQ as Martinique is not an independent country. Biggest aim will be winning the Gold Cup

[Sheriff7]

Good luck mate they aren't FIFA member so they can't play in WC quilifiers..I played and won many times in past FM'S in Caribbean cup with Jamaica who is the biger 'name' and best team there..Also Trinindad and Cuba are good teams,Curacao who have bondes with Netherlands have good players too who play in Holland's second tier..Anyway good luck again!!

[yatesiboi37]

On 22 December 2017 at 19:29, Timetxu said:

Good luck with this! You do know you're not able to participate in the WCQ as Martinique is not an independent country. Biggest aim will be winning the Gold Cup

Yeah, I guessed that might be the case.

Just qualifying for the Gold Cup would be an achievement. I am looking forward to playing in the Caribbean Cup though, not a competition I have any prior experience with. 

On 24 December 2017 at 15:04, Sheriff7 said:

Good luck mate they aren't FIFA member so they can't play in WC quilifiers..I played and won many times in past FM'S in Caribbean cup with Jamaica who is the biger 'name' and best team there..Also Trinindad and Cuba are good teams,Curacao who have bondes with Netherlands have good players too who play in Holland's second tier..Anyway good luck again!!

Thanks Sheriff7! 

Yeah, I really do not think we have a chance at winning the whole cup but I fancy our chances of progressing reasonably far should we avoid some of the bigger names in the group stages. 

[yatesiboi37]

Update 15: Preseason 2020

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Vysshaya Liga

I hope everyone has had a very enjoyable festive period. I have obviously been pretty busy but I have finally managed to get through the full preseason with FC Orsha. We had a superb season last time out, finishing 4th in the top division, and securing a highest ever historical finish for our small club. This season I want to focus a lot more on the Kubak Belarusi, the domestic cup, having been knocked out in the third round in consecutive seasons. 

I would like to say the aim this season is to place in the top three, and subsequently qualify for European football, but I genuinely believe that that is a longshot. This update will cover all the transfers, squad structure, preseason results and tactics from my third season in Belarus. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BOARD ROOM:

FC Orsha are still fronted by a general manager named Alexandr Demidovich. Despite the deteriorating financial situation of our club, the board decided to up the budgets for this season by a considerable amount:

• Transfer Budget: £50,000
• Wage Budget: £10,973 per week

These numbers are a considerable improvement on last year, with an extra £3,000 per week going towards the wage budget. The main reason we struggled last season was because of our lack of Belarusian talent; now with a bit more financial power I am now hoping we can attract some better domestic players and boost our chances of success. 

Board Objectives (2020)

Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga - Top Half finish
Kubak Belarusi - Reach the Quarter Final

CLUB STAFF:

Not too many changes to our staff this season as it turns out that Belarus is not a country stacked with talented backroom workers. 

We lost our reserve team manager as he went off to work for Shakhter Soligorsk as a coach for their first team. We also chose to release one of our senior coaches and replaced him with Sergey Piskunov, a dedicated fitness coach who previously worked with Naftan in he Persha Liga. He is not overly talented but many of my players complained last year about not having someone focused solely on fitness training. 

We also hired a team doctor, that I had no responsibility for, he just turned up at our club one day...

TRANSFERS:

(Out)

Some big names were let go at the end of their contracts, many of these guys were key players in our Persha Liga winning promotion campaign from a few seasons' ago. 

We let youngster Kirill Osipenko and winger Sergey Rusak go, both of whom were out on loan last season. We also let Yuri Kozlov leave, the winger made 34 appearances for us the past two seasons and has recently joined newly promoted Belshina, so will be featuring in the Vysshaya Liga once more. 

The other four players all played key roles in our title winning season and I am genuinely sad to see them depart. Iliya Branovets was our starting keeper for that campaign and was fantastic; he has followed Kozlov to Belshina so we might be seeing him again soon. Winger Valeriy Marov was a pleasant surprise during his one season with me. Overall, he played four years at Orsha, totalling 75 appearances. Anton Bubnov was our most valuable player during our title winning season but the 31 year old really did not have the talented needed to succeed in the Vysshaya Liga. Finally, we also lost Alexandr Gavryushko, the clubs captain. The 34 year old scored 21 goals in his 53 appearances over three seasons. 

We did far more selling this season than we ever have done before. Granted, the majority of these players were let go for minimal fees but it was still good to bring some money in for the club. 

Juan Carlos Zambrano, our Colombian forward, was sent packing to Chilean side Deportes Concepcion. He unfortunately now holds the honour of my worst ever signing, as he failed to make a single first team appearance for the club. We also let young back-up keeper Alexey Charnykh leave to join rivals Shakhter Soligorsk, whilst back-up left fullback Vladislav Krivitskiy stays in the division with Slutsk. Evgeniy Kalinin, who played 20 times for us last season, also stays in the league, joining Gorodeya for a minimal fee.

Fellow winger, Alexey Teslyuk, who was a huge disappointment last season leaves to join Naftan in the Persha Liga as he looks to revive his career. We also allowed Stanislav Kaminskiy, our back-up fullback who played 32 league games over his two seasons with us, to sign for second tier Baranovichi. 

We also allowed two promising youth prospects walk. Firstly, Andrey Savitskiy, one of our youth intake players from my first season leaves to join Dinamo Brest. The teenage defensive midfielder was fairly talented but did not really fit our system and a £20K fee was far more than what he was worth. We also lost Shaki Smith on deadline day. The 18 year old Bermudan international already has 19 senior team caps for his country but had made only 5 appearances for us. This guy has huge potential and I really did not want him to leave but as soon as Dinamo Minsk came in with an offer he was desperate to depart. The £40K fee came very close to the record breaking £56K which we received for Alexey Ivanov last season. 

(In)

Yet again I had an extremely busy offseason, bringing in a total of 12 players but again failing to spend much in the way of money. 

I again decided to continue the tradition of signing young foreign players to strengthen our U19 side and subsequently develop for the first team. We had some good success with this strategy last season, with Alex Ajayi and Jean-Baptiste Arcelin both breaking into the first eleven. 

Firstly, we picked up Cesar Bizama (18), a Chilean left fullback. We also picked up Rolando Rivas (18) who is a current full international for Saint-Martin. The young forward also holds American and French citizenship but has declared for the Caribbean island and has scored 3 goals in his 7 games. We also signed Maxim Bud-Gusaim (19), a young Belarusian goalkeeper who was previously with Shakhter Soligorsk. 

The two most exciting youngsters this year are Ryan Gatti (18) and Carlos Mikue (19). Gatti is a Canadian defensive midfielder who already has represented his nation at the U20 level. Mikue is an attacking midfielder who has recently been named amongst the Equatorial Guinea U20 squad for the first time. 

The rest of our signings are all Belarusian nationals, an area of our squad that we desperately needed to upgrade. We picked up Semen Smunev (24), a central defender who played 28 times for Energetik-BGU in the Vysshaya Liga last term, who will likely act as a back-up. Sergey Schegrikovich (29) and Sergey Kondratjev (30) are both experienced fullbacks who were regulars at Gorodeya last season. They will both compete for starting roles in the first eleven this year. We paid £5K for Alexandr Poznyak (24), a central defender who should see the field plenty this season. 

The most disappointing aspect of our squad last year were our wingers, so I decided to bring in three new faces. We grabbed Mikhail Shibun (24), a left winger who scored 11 goals in 26 appearances on loan at Isloch last season. We also picked up Vladislav Zhuk (25), a right winger who played 15 times for local rivals Vitebsk last year. Finally, and probably my most exciting signing of the year, is Yuriy Kovalev (27) from Minsk. He cost me £16K but is equally adept at playing on both flanks and should be a constant feature in our first team. 

THE SQUAD:

Goalkeepers:

Kelvin Uzochukwu (19) returns as our teams number one shot-stopper. The young Nigerian was exceptional last season and I am so pleased we were able to resign him, considering he is close to getting his first senior international cap. Behind our starter we have two fellow youngsters with huge potential. Moussa Coulibaly (20) has played seven times for the Ivory Coast U20 squad whilst Maxim Bud-Gusaim (19) is our new Belarusian signing. 

Defenders:

I tried to strengthen this area of our squad following some lacklustre performances last year. At right fullback, Central African Republic international, Terence Kethevoama (30) returns but he will have strong competition from the newly signed Sergey Schegrikovich (29). On the left side, Kirill Aleksiyan (29) is not thought of highly by our coaching staff but he has constantly outperformed his attribute-set during his time here. Sergey Kondratjev (30) provides an adequate back-up option. Zimbabwean, Collin Phiri (19) and local youth prospect Valeriy Sorochinskiy (16) are long-term options with big potential. 

In the centre of defence, Brazilian Igor Brondani (25) and Igor Shumilov (26) return having played fairly well last season. Newly signed Alexandr Poznyak (24) should get some playing time at the central defender position whilst Semen Smunev (24) is a decent back-up option. 

Central Midfielders:

Ousmane Niang (19) has developed into a really good player but, as of yet, his talent has not translated into superior performances but I am hoping this season can be his best yet. Yellow African youngster, Amadou Diallo (19) is also developing nicely but he will likely struggle to get loads of playing time given the exceptional play of Alexandr Kugan (28) and Oleg Patotskiy (28) last year. 

Young back-up Maxim Pavlovets (23) was reliable last season when called upon but I am looking forward to seeing how well I can develop young Canadian Ryan Gatti (18) and our own youth academy prospect Artem Skitov (17). 

Wingers:

Some definite upgrades here, with the newly signed Yuriy Kovalev (27) being the strongest and equally adept at playing on the right or left wing. Vladislav Zhuk (25) and Mikhail Shibun (24) should get plenty of playing time but I still want to involve youngsters Vyacheslav Sakovich (20) and Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (19), both of whom developed remarkably last season. 

In addition, we have a couple of youth academy prospects, Oleg Bolotov (18) and Alexandr Kovalev (17) who look like exciting prospects for the future. 

Attackers:

A change of tactic means we might now be utilising attacking midfielders within our formation. Filipp Ivanov (29) joined midway through last season and was very efficient. He will be backed up primarily by the newly signed Carlos Mikue (19).

We only have three forwards in the squad at the moment. Ignacio Lobo (23) started last season as our primary frontman but was replaced midway through the year by Alex Ajayi (19), the young Nigerian who developed remarkably well and finished as the clubs top scorer. We also have the newly signed Rolando Rivas (18) who will act as a back-up. 

TACTICS:

A change of tactic for us this season as we switch to a more standard 4-2-2. 

We played with advanced attacking wingers last season but they were so ineffective I decided to switch to a more subdued line-up. We will now be trying to involve our wingers a bit more this year, rather than playing directly through the middle like we did last season. 

We played much of last season on a counter mentality but given that we have strengthened the entire squad I think I will operate more with a control focus. All players yet again have individual position instructions and we will be rolling with a few specific team instructions:

• Pass into Space
• Clear Ball to Flanks
• Look for Overlap
• Play Wider
• Run at Defence

Our wingers, on the whole, are quick. In fact, Jean-Baptiste Arcelin is blazingly quick, and I want them to really attack the opposition fullbacks, way more than we did last season. I am hoping this new structure and team instruction focus should help. 

RESULTS:

W = 8, D = 1, L = 0

An almost perfect pre-season in terms of results. We won eight of our nine fixtures, scoring goals freely whilst using our new tactic.We did not play many challenging fixtures but we did defeat fellow Vysshaya Liga side Torpedo Zhodino and recently relegated Smolevichi. We also played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Gomel from our division. 

OTHER NEWS:

Not much else in terms of news from this club preseason however, there was some disappointing news from the medical room.

Uhh, three fairly long injuries here. The top two are very disappointing with new signings Vladislav Zhuk and Mikhail Shibun both looking likely to miss significant time. I am hoping that they can make swift recoveries, considering that the wingers are likely to be of key importance within my tactics this coming season. 

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That concludes my preseason escapades with FC Orsha. I will be back shortly with my first update from the league season, which will be with Martinique, in the first round of the Caribbean Cup. We then will get things kick started in the Vysshaya Liga with FC Orsha, where we start the season with an away game versus Isloch. I have three chances at winning silverware this season; in the domestic league, the Kubak Belausi and at international level with Martinique. 

Can I close the gap on Sir Alex further this coming year?

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 3:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Update 16: February & March 2020

Team: Martinique
Competition: CFU Caribbean Cup

Given that I now am managing both a club side and an international team simultaneously, I will still be releasing updates every two months but I will keep things separate to provide some clarity. In line with this approach, the offseason at FC Orsha also spelled the opening round of fixtures for Martinique in the CFU Caribbean Cup. You might remember that we were drawn in the first round group alongside Puerto Rico and British Virgin Islands. 

This update will cover those opening two fixtures whilst also looking at the key performances of some individual players as James Yates begins his journey into senior international management.

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CFU Caribbean Cup RESULTS:

First Round: vs Puerto Rico (World Ranking = 132nd)

My first ever game with Martinique also turned out to be one of the most tricky as we faced off against a fairly strong Puerto Rico side away from home. In front of a strong 12,000 capacity crowd, the hosts got off to the perfect start when one of there forwards bundled home a cross that we failed to adequately clear. We struggled to keep possession throughout but managed to get ourselves back on level terms just before the break when Jeremy Porsan-Clemente, who was making his debut, tucked home following a lovely pass from player of the match, Stephane Abaul. 

We started the second half in similar fashion, with winger Harry Novillo heading home at the far post following a good cross to give us a lead that we would hold onto for the remainder of the game. I was disappointed that we only retained 42% possession in this one but we did have 13 total shots which was encouraging. Overall though, when it comes to these competitions, winning is the only thing that matters and we managed that perfectly!

First Round: vs British Virgin Islands (World Ranking = 205th)

Having defeated Puerto Rico we went into our final group game with the British Virgin Islands knowing that a draw was all that was needed to send us through. Our opponents were one of the least talented teams in the competition and that duly showed as we waltzed to an emphatic 6-0 victory. 

Two goals apiece in the first half from Geoffrey Malfleury and Harry Novillo gifted us a 4-0 half-time lead which we added to in the second period courtesy of experienced midfielder Karl Vitulin and team captain Jean-Sylvain Babin. Overall a superb performance and dominant victory as we had 16 total shots to their measly five. 

Friendly RESULTS:

W = 4, D = 0, L = 0

For some reason the Caribbean friendlies are scheduled for after the Caribbean Cup games, which seems pretty pointless in terms of getting the squad ready for competitive football but eat least it gives me some more time with these players. 

We added to our two cup victories with a pair of friendly wins against a poor Cayman Islands team and then against a much stronger Nicaragua side (ranked 134th in the world). Overall I was pretty happy with how we played in these four fixtures, we scored 13 goals and only conceded twice - turns out international management is easy. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

Just the four international games but I rotated the squad pretty heavily in each so a number of different players saw game action. A ridiculously high 12 players hold an international rating of 7.0 or above through the first four fixtures. 

The star man thus far has been Stephane Abaul (8.35). The 28 year old central midfielder still plays his club football in Martinique but he has racked up 67 international caps through his career. In these four games he scored once, provided two assists and averaged 3.18 tackles/game. 

Jeremie Porsan-Clemente (7.70) made his debut for his new country having been convicted to switch allegiance from France. The 22 year old forward who is currently contracted to Montpellier but playing for Marseille Consolat in the French third division scored three times in his first four international games and also provided three assists. Winger Harry Novillio (7.35) maintains his excellent international scoring record, with a further three goals, bringing his overall totals up to 23 goals in 29 appearances. 

There were international debuts here for Alexandre Durimel (6.60), Rosario Latouchent (7.05), Christophe Herelle (7.30) and Jeremie Porsan-Clemente (7.70) as well as first ever international goals for winger Geoffrey Malfleury (8.15) and forward Porsan-Clemente. 

STANDINGS:

A superb couple of games sees us finish atop the group, ahead of Puerto Rico who easily beat British Virgin Islands by a 4-0 scoreline. I am not really sure if being group winers counts for much but either way we are definitely through to the second round, for which the group draw has just been made:

I would argue that neither of these sides are as strong as Puerto Rico, but both are stronger than the British Virgin Islands. In a slightly different format from before, only the top side is guaranteed qualification to the next round, although the four best (out of five) group runners-up still do make it through. 

We play St. Lucia at home in our first game, which is pleasing because I think an away game against them could have gotten a bit tricky. Turks & Caicos have a poor squad overall so I am expecting us to beat them. If we can get something out of the first fixture I'll be backing us to progress. 

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So that concludes my first few months in charge of Martinique. The next set of fixtures take place in May, so I will be back then for another international update. In the meantime I am currently playing through the first few months of the domestic season with FC Orsha in Belarus, so I should have that initial update ready to go fairly soon. 

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 3:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[noikeee]

Surely Martinique are favourites against both of those sides? It's pretty impressive that you beat Puerto Rico actually. Although I'm not that familiar with Caribbean football!

[Sheriff7]

You will pass easy second round too mate..Turks and Caicos are in the same level as Virgin islands and St Lucia is a decent opponent but in your home you can win them...Score as many goals you can against Turks because you could use it if you draw against St Lucia(i'm sure they will win too Turks and Caicos easy)...

[yatesiboi37]

3 hours ago, noikeee said:

Surely Martinique are favourites against both of those sides? It's pretty impressive that you beat Puerto Rico actually. Although I'm not that familiar with Caribbean football!

Oh yeah, we are surely favourites to win our group. Puerto Rico are a pretty decent side, they have a fair few players who regularly appear in the MLS amongst their squad. 

1 hour ago, Sheriff7 said:

You will pass easy second round too mate..Turks and Caicos are in the same level as Virgin islands and St Lucia is a decent opponent but in your home you can win them...Score as many goals you can against Turks because you could use it if you draw against St Lucia(i'm sure they will win too Turks and Caicos easy)...

Thanks Sheriff, lets hope so! We play St. Lucia first and I am sure that if we can secure any sort of result against them (a draw or a win) then we should easily be able to beat Turks & Caicos in the second fixture.

Jamaica won the competition last year but they still have not joined in yet? Do the reigning champions join at a later stage do you know? If they do not take part at all that will really help my chances of progressing further. 

[Sheriff7]

3 hours ago, yatesiboi37 said:

Oh yeah, we are surely favourites to win our group. Puerto Rico are a pretty decent side, they have a fair few players who regularly appear in the MLS amongst their squad. 

Thanks Sheriff, lets hope so! We play St. Lucia first and I am sure that if we can secure any sort of result against them (a draw or a win) then we should easily be able to beat Turks & Caicos in the second fixture.

Jamaica won the competition last year but they still have not joined in yet? Do the reigning champions join at a later stage do you know? If they do not take part at all that will really help my chances of progressing further. 

I'm sorry mate they will enter later in third round...But i'm sure you can shock them..

[yatesiboi37]

21 minutes ago, Sheriff7 said:

I'm sorry mate they will enter later in third round...But i'm sure you can shock them..

That is far from ideal. They, along with Trinidad, are far more talented then everybody else in this competition!

[yatesiboi37]

Update 17: April & May 2020

Club: FC Orsha
Division: Vysshaya Liga

I apologise in advance for having to switch between club and international updates but I want to ensure both are kept separately. This update will cover our first two months of action in the Vysshaya Liga with FC Orsha. My personal aim for this season is to qualify for Europe but I feel like that might be a bit of a longshot. 

The media exact us to finish in 7th place, which is fairly respectable for just our second season in the Vysshaya Liga. That being said, our odds are way behind those of the top four and I fear breaking into that quartet will be easier said than done this season. 

This update will cover our league results, player form and current league standings for the first two months of the year.

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Belarusbank Vysshaya Liga RESULTS:

W = 10, D = 0, L =1

Wow! A pretty remarkable start to the season as we drop just three points and win 10 out of our first 11 fixtures. 

During this run there were some notable victories including a 3-1 home victory against my arch rivals Torpedo Zhodino, a 2-1 win against Shakhter Soligorsk and a win against our fierce local rivals Vitebsk. The best performance though came during a 5-1 away victory against Neman Grodno, although we also beat newly promoted Belshina 4-2 on national television. The one defeat we had was a 1-0 loss to reigning champions Dinamo Minsk. 

During this run we were absolutely phenomenal in front of goal, scoring in every game bar one and totalling 24 goals scored. Our defence was not as exceptional as we only managed to keep three clean sheets but we only conceded nine times in these 11 fixtures. 

PLAYER STATISTICS: 

Our exceptional league form has been born out of some exceptional individual performances. We currently have a ridiculously high 15 players holding an average rating of 7.0 or above. 

The star man without a doubt thus far has been newly signed winger Yuriy Kovalev (7.83). The Belarusian national has scored four goals, collected four assists and played a team high 28 key passes in his 10 appearances. £16K might have seemed like a steep fee at the time but it is looking like signing Kovalev was an absolute bargain.

In terms of defenders, our central defender pairing has been exceptional and much improved on last year. Brazilian Igor Brondani (7.13) struggled to adapt to life in Belarus last season but he has been brilliant this year, leading the team with 80 defensive interceptions. His partner, Igor Shumilov (7.12) has been equally as good and leads the way with 4.00 tackles/game. The newly signed Alexandr Poznyak (7.16) has had a very good start to his Orsha career as he averages 4.17 tackles/game. Goalkeeper Kelvin Uzochukwu (7.05) continues his impressive form last year with a good start to the campaign here. Left fullback Kirill Aleksiyan (7.12) again proves he is far better than my scouts suggest, whilst right fullback Terence Kethevoama (6.89) has been solid. 

In midfield, young Senegalese star Ousmane Niang (7.44) is having an excellent second year in Belarus, racking up 11 key passes in just five appearances. Alexandr Kugan (7.44) has been equally as impressive in the centre, playing 11 key passes and notching two assists in his six games. Oleg Patotskiy (7.19) leads all central midfielders with 17 key passes played, whilst also notching two goals. Youngster Amadou Diallo (7.00) has played well in eight games, averaging 4.30 tackles/game but unfortunately he is starting to discuss wanting a big time move to Russia. On the wing, young Haitian Jean-Baptiste Arcelin (7.14) has played excellently on the opposite flank to Kovalev and ties the Belarusian with a team-high four assists. 

In attack we have seen a shifting of the guard somewhat. Last seasons star forward Alex Ajayi (6.98) struggled early in the year and has just three goals in his eight appearances. In his place, Argentine forward Ignacio Lobo (7.53) has bounced back after being replaced in the starting eleven at the end of last season. The 24 year old has been excellent and leads the squad with six goals in his eight appearances. Also impressing was Rolando Rivas (7.15), our teenage Saint-Martin forward, who has a remarkable three goals in just five appearances, including four substitute showings. In his shadow striker role, Filipp Ivanov (7.14) has played very well, scoring twice, grabbing two assists and playing 18 key passes. 

LEAGUE TABLE:

Despite only dropping three points through our first 11 fixtures we still find ourselves in second place in the league standings. Although our start has been excellent, Dinamo Minsk have literally been unstoppable, winning their first 11 games whilst only conceding 2 goals! That is he sort of form that wins championships with ease. Elsewhere, we have opened up a nine point lead over third placed Gomel and a place in the European qualification spots is looking ever more realistic. Shakhter Soligorsk (4th) and BATE Borisov (6th) have simply not been able to keep up with the exhilarating performances of Dinamo Minsk. 

Newly promoted Slavia Mozyr have really struggled and find themselves rooted to the bottom of the league. It also pleases me greatly to see Torpedo Zhodino struggling given their love of knocking me out of the domestic cup the past few seasons. 

In terms of scoring goals, we are right up there with the 2nd best record behind Dinamo Minsk (we have scored 24, they have scored 27). Defensively, our nine goals conceded is good enough for the 3rd best record in the division, behind the league leaders and Shakhter Soligorsk.

OTHER NEWS:

 

A few big injures this month unfortunately. Ousmane Niang had played excellently through the first month of the year but then we lost him for the whole of May as he suffered a groin strain. We then lost Alex Ajayi to some fractured ribs which were caused by an awkward training fall. 

We also saw Mikhail Shibun get lost to another injury, albeit a small one. The newly signed winger had only just returned from the big setback suffered during the preseason and, as of yet, he has failed to contribute anything at all in terms of positive play.

As usual, the Kubak Belarusi knockout stages are played during the new season, for some reason that I still do not understand. Dinamo Brest continued the tradition of a random club winning this competition as they easily defeated a struggling Torpedo Zhodino side 2-0. 

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So that concludes the first two months of the year with FC Orsha. Having performed outstandingly in the league we still fail to lead this division as an outrageously strong Dinamo Minsk side dominate proceedings. If we have any hope of winning the title this year we have to hope our rivals slip up at some point along the line. 

I will be back soon with an international update covering our progress in the second round of the Caribbean Cup with Martinique. I hope you guys are still enjoying this save and thanks again for all the kind comments!

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 3:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

[yatesiboi37]

Update 18: May & June 2020

Team: Martinique
Competition: CFU Caribbean Cup

Having gotten off to a superb start to the domestic league season in Belarus with FC Orsha, it was now time to switch my attention to the Caribbean Cup and my international exploits with Martinique. We had cruised through the first round with victories over Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. The second round saw us handed a fairly straightforward draw on paper in St. Lucia and Turks & Caicos. 

This update will cover the second round of the Caribbean Cup as well as the accompanying friendly games played. 

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SQUAD SELECTION:

Really not too many changes here from my previous squad. Given that Martinique's national pool is not exactly overflowing with talent, selecting a 23-man squad is relatively straightforward. 

The biggest story here is the return of Jean-Sylvain Babin from injury. The 33 year old central defender missed the last two friendly games through injury but returns to the squad having recently been announced as the new national team captain. Also making a return is forward Jean-Sylvain Jobello, the only regen player nationalised to Martinique with any sort of talent. I cannot imagine I will be staying with this country for a long time but Jobello is a youngster who should have a very long international career with his newly adopted nation. 

There was also a first call-up from me for Clyde Saint-Omar, a lightning quick winger who plays domestically in Martinique. Also of note is an injury to starting goalkeeper Joan Hartock and a one-match suspension for star winger Harry Novillo, which will see both players miss the first game of the second round against St. Lucia.

CFU Caribbean Cup RESULTS:

Second Round: vs St. Lucia (World Ranking = 158th)

Just the sort of start to this round that I needed at home to St. Lucia. 

The scoreline suggests that we dominated this encounter but that is not entirely true as both sides struggled to create opportunities in front of goal. We were fortunate to covert two of our early opportunities, with firstly an own goal from the St. Lucian keeper and then a fine finish from around 12 yards out by Stephane Abaul.  

We did not dominate possession as much as I would have liked but we closed the game out just after the hour mark as forward Jeremie Porsan-Clemente tucked in a close range effort. Overall, a very good performance and one where we never really looked like conceding. Granted, St. Lucia had five total shots but none of these were on target, gifting Xavier Lenogue a pretty straightforward day in between the sticks. 

Second Round: vs Turks & Caicos (World Ranking = 198th)

A win in our opening fixture meant that we needed just a draw against Turks & Caicos to qualify for the third round. We duly delivered another superb performance though and came through with a 2-0 victory. 

Again, we struggled to maintain possession for long periods in this game but two early gaol, inside the first six minutes of the game, meant we were able to relax somewhat and coast to a win. Central defender Christophe Herelle opened the scoring, tucking both a close-range shot to gift him his first ever international goal. Regen winger Jean-Sylvain Jobello also then opened his international account as he drove home a neat left footed finish. 

We failed to add any more goals despite having 16 total shots but there were a few mishaps here as Jobello suffered an injury that forced him off and we also lost Clyde Saint-Omar to a twisted knee. Given that we are only a small nation, long-term injuries have a real impact on our squad and ability to win games. 

Friendly RESULTS:

W = 3, D = 0, L = 1

We played a couple of friendly games during June, as yet again the Caribbean friendlies are unhelpfully scheduled for after the competitive cup fixtures. 

In the first match we travelled to fellow Caribbean-side Guyana, where we came away with a 1-0 victory courtesy of an early Jeremie Porsan-Clemente goal and extended our clean sheet streak to three consecutive games. 

We then faced off against a very talented Venezuela side as I suffered my first ever defeat as Martinique boss. We actually gave a very good account of ourselves against a much stronger opposition, indeed we held them at 0-0 going into half-time with the best chance of the first half falling to Karl Vitulin, who smashed a close range shot straight at the keeper. The second period saw our opponents wear us down somewhat and they scored twice around the hour mark, including one goal from West Brom forward Salomon Rondon, to give them a fairly straightforward win. 

Despite the defeat, I think it is good to challenge ourselves against better opposition during the friendly schedules, especially given that on paper our squad is fairly talented. 

PLAYER STATISTICS:

Stephane Abaul (8.04) has started all eight fixtures since I joined the Martinique set-up and his performances have been exceptional. The experienced central midfielder has collected four Player of the Match Awards whilst scoring two goals, providing two assists and averaging 3.26 tackles/game. 

The other key performer has been a player that has not got a lot of recognition from me before, Jordy Delem (7.37). The 27 year old plays his club football in the USA for North Carolina and is equally adept at playing right fullback or in a defensive midfield role, the later being where we use him in international games. He has racked up 59 caps over his career and, alongside Abaul, is a mainstay in our midfield. 

Jeremie Porsan-Clemente (7.29) continues his excellent goalscoring record, with 5 goals in his first eight international appearances. 

No debuts through these set of games but, as previously mentioned, there were first ever international goals for Christophe Herelle and Jean-Sylvain Jobello. 

STANDINGS:

As you probably will have guessed, we topped our group and easily qualified for the third round of the Caribbean Cup. Despite a neutral goal difference, St. Lucia actually managed to go through as one of the best runners-up and therefore joined us in the third round pot. 

As with previous rounds, the subsequent draw is made straight after completion of the final group fixture meaning we already know who we will be playing against in the third round:

I genuinely do not think we could have been handed a more difficult draw. Firstly we get French Guiana who, like us, are an overseas French territory and therefore do not have a world ranking. Looking through their squad they seem to have a similar ability to us and will be very tricky opponents. Their best player is a forward, Sloan Privat, who plays in the top division of France and has scored 22 international goals in just 25 appearances. 

If French Guiana were not hard enough, we also draw reigning champions and possibly the best side in the Caribbean, Jamaica. If they turn up with a full squad we are surely in trouble as, led by superstar winger Leon Bailey, they will pose a real threat.

To make matters worse, only the group winner qualifies for the semi-final stage so we will need to get something out of both games to have any chance at qualifying. These matches are not until October, so we have a bit of a wait, but we also play Jamaica first, away, just to make life a little more challenging. 

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So that brings to a close a fairly exciting few months with Martinique. We managed to secure progress to the third round of the Caribbean Cup but now face a daunting task if we are going to be able to qualify for the semi-final stage. That being said, if we could somehow make it through, we would have knocked out two very talented nations and would have very chance at going all the way...

I'll be back again soon as we switch focus back to the Belarusian domestic season. I hope you guys are all okay with this shifting domestic/international update format?

Season 1:
Sir Alex Ferguson - East Stirlingshire (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (1 trophy won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 2:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1

Season 3:
Sir Alex Ferguson - St. Mirren (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 0
James Yates - FC Orsha (0 trophies won). Cumulative total: 1