[FM19] I asked my Uncle Bulgaria about hunting Nessie. Bar any mishaps this could see a Black Sea Rising on a Sunny Beach

[Pompeyboyz]

So a little background to the reasoning for this career. 

For those of you that watched the FM Documentary created a few years ago, I was the guy that took his wife on our Honeymoon to Bulgaria all because I had been testing the Bulgarian League.  While out there I managed to sneak in a match watching Nesebar, which was the team I played with and very close to where we were staying. 

 

 

History

The club was established in 1946 under the name Chernomorets Nesebar.  After 1949 team is divided to Dynamo and Cherveno Zname. In 1957 the company for physical culture and sport Chernomorets is refounded with the team. From 1979 to 2001 the team is called Slanchev Bryag. Еxception are the years from 1993 to 1996 when the team is called PFC Nesebar.  From 2001 team is called Nesebar, as from 2012 team is OFC (Municipal football club).

Nesebar won promotion to the A Group during the 2003–04 season—the only time the club has played in the top level of Bulgarian football—with a third-place finish. In their first season in the top flight they were relegated after only five wins.

In 2009–10 season, Nesebar finished second in the B Group and qualified for the promotion play-off, but were defeated by Akademik Sofia 2–1. Two years later, they slipped into third division.

The Club

 

It is an OK place to start.  Although the ground is decent sized, I doubt I will see anywhere near half the capacity for a long while.

The Manager

 

I am starting off as a low level know nothing with lots to prove.

My plan is to try and take Nesebar to the Top League and into Europe for the first time ever.  If I can bring through some quality youth players that make it big in the national side and beyond, that will be a further boost. 

[nastymiller]

+1,000 for taking the mrs to FMland for honeymoon

+10,000 for having the balls to then sneak a match in

You now take over as my hero, Bryan Robson you have nothing on this man!!!

[Pompeyboyz]

The Squad(s)

There were certain areas lacking when I took over with the defence being the worst aspect with very little in the way of Full Backs or Centre Backs. 

The U19 team had only 4 players which I moved to the 1st team for Pre-Season for evaluation.

The first 5 entrants there were already agreed and put through when I joined, but everything below is my work, with the vast majority being youth players that I got scouted out to help bolster that side.  Although I am not going all in with a youth only save, I can see youth playing a big role for me. 

I have played a few games before deciding to upload this, hence the matches played details, but here is how my first team squad is currently.  My best players are all slightly ageing so I don't expect to get too much out of them for years to come. 

 

This is my U19 team, which does include a few senior players to get match experience.  There is a lot of potential there, but will it come to fruition is another matter. 

The Staff

Again, there was quite a shortfall in the numbers and there was a lot of wiggle room from the board for what I could do. 

A few of those names you will recognise and I was really shocked to get them in.  Whether they will remain with me for the long term is anyone's guess.

With those additions, I now have a pretty decent setup, with my scouting being the best in the league.

[Pompeyboyz]

Pre-season/August(ish)

My board expect me to avoid relegation, but I hope to be pushing for much more. 

For some reason, the higher ranked team, were seeded lower than me and got the home tie in the Cup First Round 

Pretty standard fair for Pre-Season with the bigger side beating us and we won against the smaller sides.

Started the league off with a decent set of results, with only that defeat to Arda being the low point.

Unsurprisingly, Arda are the leaders with us sat in second all due to our goal scoring ability.

September Fixtures

[Deisler26]

F*ckin’ hell, it *IS* you! 😱

Best of luck

[Pompeyboyz]

9 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

F*ckin’ hell, it *IS* you! 😱

Best of luck

Yup, it is I 

Thanks

[Pompeyboyz]

September Results

Yes, I know I have included that result I put in August(ish) but sue me 

As expected, knocked out of the cup by the Top League(but lower seeded) Cherno more.  I did swap players around though as I was not really interested in taking part. 

Only blip in the league was the away draw with Tsarsko selo

We are still second to Arda, but only due to them beating us. 

October Fixtures

Short month ahead with only 3 matches to play

[Pompeyboyz]

October Results

Solid month with the draw Away to Kariana the only blemish and a great close win against second placed Pomorie in the local derby.

That leave us in a nice healthy 4 point lead as the other teams around us faltered.

November/December Fixtures

Due to the small amount of fixtures and the upcoming winters break, I am combining November and December.

[Pompeyboyz]

November/December

We managed to remain unbeaten throughout the period, which was quite a surprise as I lost a few players after the November international break to injuries.  The draw away to Litex was a nice result as they are currently 2nd. 

This leaves us going into the winter break with a nice 5 point lead over Litex and Tsarsko selo.

March Fixtures

We don't have another league game till March now so I will be having a major mid-season friendly run to keep the players in match freshness. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Mid-Pre-Season Thingy

Went a bit mad with the fixtures to keep my players fit and ready for the return of the league, but not a bad set of results really 

Transfers

Small bit of business in the mid-season break.  Brought in a backup GK who will most likely be first choice next year as the current first choice is on loan to us. 

Also brought in a new Portuguese Coach who has scouting knowledge of Brazil and alerted me to a couple of half decent lads who I brought in.

  

  

Might have to loan out the Brazilian kids to get experience, but hopefully they will come good.

However, all my wheeling and dealing to bolster the youth team has had a bit of a nasty effect. 

 

[DazRTaylor]

If I had tried this with my wife, I would now be divorced.  

[Pompeyboyz]

1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:

If I had tried this with my wife, I would now be divorced.  

She only found out when I went to film the documentary 

About 7 years later 

[DazRTaylor]

11 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

She only found out when I went to film the documentary 

About 7 years later 

[Pompeyboyz]

March

Unstoppable in the League at the moment, but those 1-0 results are getting a bit tense.  Just wish I could get the type of crowds Arda do.

This is giving us a very healthy 12 points lead which is hopefully going to lead to Promotion in my first season......Pending any massive turnaround.

 

April Fixtures

Just the 4 games, with that home game to Tsarsko selo a massive one that could turn out to be the one that puts the League to bed, bar the singing and dancing. 

[Pompeyboyz]

April

Only the one goal conceded all month with 4 wins out of 4.  This of course means.....

 

Promotion in the first season is a nice surprise as I expected to only be chasing the playoffs, but I shall not complain 

May Fixtures

With the title and promotion wrapped up, I will probably rotate a little for these last 4 matches. Maybe give some youth a chance.

Speaking of Youth

Youth Candidates

I can't be too disappointed with this as I have made no improvements to the facilities.  And as I have brought in a lot of youth players myself, I am not going to keep any of these.

I am hoping that next season though there will be a marked improvement.  After the title was one, I was given a significant wage budget increase and went looking for a few staff to replace outgoing ones.

My new HOYD

My new AssMan

And new U19 Coach

 

[Pompeyboyz]

May and Season Review

As I was rotating players and trying things out, I was not surprised the final month was lacklustre compared to the previous ones.  Just the one win and our first defeat in the league since August. 

We still finished a very comfortable 18 points clear of second placed Tsarsko selo.  And due to the very convoluted play offs in Bulgaria, no one else from the Second League got promoted and it was 4th from bottom Vitosha Bistritsa that got relegated. 

At the start of this I said I would be surprised if I saw anywhere near a half full stadium and as you can see with an average of 214, I saw much less with 678 in the local Derby with Pomorie the highest.  Hopefully more will come see us play next year.

I am surprised not to see Ivan Tsachev in the top 3 players of the year with his 13 goals. 

Quite a few of those will be leaving as I have not renewed their contracts, but the core of the team will remain.

Really pleased to see my investment into the youths paid off as they will now play in the Elite U19 League.

 

At the end of season team get together, I told the squad that I was confident with the right additional players, we would easily stay up.  The defeatists all said they will be going straight back down 

[Pompeyboyz]

This could put a spanner in my pre-season plans

 

 

******

Nevermind, it was completed in 2 days 

[john1]

Haha only 9K?!  

[Pompeyboyz]

2 minutes ago, john1 said:

Haha only 9K?!  

Last of the big spenders 

[Pompeyboyz]

Preseason and July 2019/20

Did a bit of transfer business for both players and staff in the summer to replace a few of the leaving players and improve areas that might be a little weaker.

A few Croatian and Brazilian lads coming in, with a couple for the every expanding youth team 

Added a couple of new staff to areas the board allowed and replaced a couple of older ones too. 

This is how I am going into the season now.  But might still add to it yet before the transfer window shuts.

Youth team looking very strong and ready to take on the big boys little men 

Press really don't fancy our chances this season with us being odds on to go right back down.....

And they really don't think any of my players will do anything this season either. 

Results and Table

Preseason was pretty OK with no defeats against fairly strong Romanian, Greek and Turkish opposition. 

We were not outplayed in the defeat to Slavia Sofia and Etar were lucky to get away with a draw, so I am quite happy with those first 2 games.

And that attendance at home against Etar was higher than the last 6 combined from last season.

We are not bottom so that's good for me.  Anything above 9th is my aim as that keeps me out of the relegation playoffs.

And he might be a loan player, but he still was the best young player last month, so hopefully we might prove the press wrong 

[Pompeyboyz]

August 

Bit of a sporadic month, but we are winning games and not being overpowered.  The defeat to Dunav was down to 3 goals conceded in 10 minutes, so cannot be too downhearted with it.

This leaves us in a tight pack from 5th to 13th with only 4 point between us all. 

 

September Fixtures

I'll take the cup a little more seriously this year, but will still rotate players with those 2 games so tightly packed together

[Pompeyboyz]

September Results

This was a real wake up call to the true nature of what I face this first season in the Purva Liga.  Of course CSKA and Levski are two of the top Bulgarian teams and there squads eclipse mine significantly. I think I need to temper my expectations to just being good enough to survive.  Glad to progress in the Cup although made hard work of it when going down to 10 men.

We are holding on, but it is very tight all around us.

 

October fixtures

This could be a tough month with arguably the best Bulgarian team coming to Nesebar and another cup game shortly thereafter. 

Made one more transfer and quite sweet on this guy

[Pompeyboyz]

October Results

This far exceeded any expectations I had for the month. Remaining undefeated with only one goal conceded, plus a massive win again Ludogorets who were top when they played me, although that was helped with them being down to 9 men

Sneaked through the cup once more and will be away once more but facing down Ludogorets who will most likely destroy me and my cup hopes 

Despite the good month, I didn't make much headway in the league, but there is a bit of a gap now between me in 10th and 12th placed Etar.

 

November Fixtures

Slightly busier month ahead with 5 League matches, all the the teams are around me though so this could be quite a pivotal month.

 

One more purchase (I really need to stop my scouts )

[Pompeyboyz]

November Results

That was a nice months results with just that one defeat to Slavia Sofia as a blight.  Was also nice to score more than 1 goal in a few matches. 

This all means we have been rising up the league and currently in the mix for potential Europa League Play Offs.  But Levski do have a game in hand on us and a better head to head 

December Fixtures

Going to be a short month with only 2 league and 1 cup game. But the league games are team below us, so hopefully we can pick up the points there. 

 

And as a nice surprise, it seems my work is not going unnoticed as I got my first connection to a vacant job

But that also helped me to get a new contract for an extended stint 

[Pompeyboyz]

December Results

I am really disappointed with the heavy defeat to Lokomotiv Plovdiv as they were managerless and down in 12th at the time.  But a nice win against Dunav helped and the cup defeat to Lodogorets was not a surprise and I was glad to keep it down to a single goal.

6th is a nice place to be at this stage and with a fighting chance to making even 3rd if things go well. 

January and February Fixtures

During the break, I have set up a good amount of friendlies to keep match sharpness, but going back into the league will be tough with the 2 teams that destroyed me earlier in the season. 

I also appointed a new AssMan

[Pompeyboyz]

January and February Results

A very nice mid-season with strong performances and the one game played in the league( Levski is bumped to March for TV) was a surprising win over CSKA Sofia with my GK scoring his first goal of the season, to inflict their first defeat of the season. 

That win has lifted us up to 5th, with CSKA and Ludogorets far too far away to consider but 3rd and 4th definitely in my reach.

March Fixtures

These are the final fixtures before the very confusing play offs come into play.

 

Transfers

Technically those two coming in are not new as they have been on trial for a long time while awaiting the transfers to complete.  Marinaldo has been tearing up the U19 league so hope he will do well for me.

Nice to ship out some players on loan now too. 

[scarp]

Enjoyed the read so far. Very interesting club to manage and I will be rooting for you to show them who's the boss! =)

[Pompeyboyz]

1 minute ago, scarp said:

Enjoyed the read so far. Very interesting club to manage and I will be rooting for you to show them who's the boss! =)

Thanks.  Glad you are enjoying it 

[Pompeyboyz]

March Results

Another shocking heavy defeat ruined an otherwise great month with that win over Levski being rather sweet. 

Levski got FM'd 

Naturally that led to us finishing 5th and qualifying for the Championship Play Off phase.  3rd or 4th will be good enough for Europe.  I think we are the weakest team out of the 6 but I have hope.

April Fixtures

This is my first round of Play off fixtures

[Pompeyboyz]

April Results

Bit of a mixed bag really, but I am still content to accept that.

CSKA Sofia already made it to Europe with Ludogorets most likely to join them too.  I can only hope for a little luck to make it in.

May Fixtures

And this is how my "final" matches run out.  I say final as I still don't know what happens in this play off. 

[Pompeyboyz]

End of Season

We really went out on a low key with only 1 point picked up out of the last 5 matches. To be fair, I think we are still a little green for this league and so just making it to the championship play offs was an achievement in itself.

We finished up in 6th place in the end due to the poor end of season form. 

 

[Pompeyboyz]

Pre-Season 2020/21

Well least we are not expected to be relegated. All three promoted sides are favourite to to go down. I am hoping to get to the championship play off once more. 

Marinaldo seems to be my teams best bet for any award this year. 

Transfers

Actually had some money to spend this season and I managed to get some back in from a sale too.  Most of those players are defensive as I felt thats where I need to build mostly on to improve. 

Results

Nearly forgot to arrange friendlies as the end of the season turnover and start of the Bulgarian Season is so short.  Happy with the results though to get some match fitness

July/August Fixtures

Bumping these together as I only have two matches in July.  Fairly tough start as most of those teams will be fighting for the championship play offs. 

[Pompeyboyz]

July/August Results

Bit of a mixed period with wins at the start and end but nothing much between. Although the fact that the wins were against Levski and CSKA Sofia is most annoying and gratifying. 

Although we are in 12th place, there is only 1 point between 6th and 12th.

September Fixtures

3 home games in a row might be a good thing to build up some confidence and hope for another cup run.

Transfers

Few more go out on loan with a nice income from one sale. 

[Pompeyboyz]

September Results

Perfect Month and nice to see the goals flying in.  Up to this point I had been playing with instant results but switched to watching highlights but on fast.  Will have to see if this continues.

This puts us nicely in 5th with a nice possibility of striking the top teams down.

October Fixtures 

Another 3 home ties in a row including a double header versus Lokomotiv Sofia in League and Cup. 

Transfers

two more out as I try and trim down my squad a little

 

[Pompeyboyz]

October Results

Not a perfect month but no loses.  I was happy to get the draw against Ludogorets who are probably the strongest team in the league and the draw against Beroe was another instant result 

This is keeping us nicely in 4th place although that draw against Beroe could have put us in a better spot.  Looking possible that a gap between the Championship groups and Relegation groups is already forming. 

November/December Fixtures

Combining these together for the run into the winter break. Fancy my chances of making the Cup Semi Final with that tie. 

Botev Plovdiv made an approach for me but I was not even interested. 

Finances

This is a worrying thing.  Despite being £10k under wage budget and doing well, we are losing money hand over fist.  It is mainly down to lack of matchday income with tickets just £1 and the record gate receipts being £1,750 

It looks like European Football will be the only way to really make money here. 

[Pompeyboyz]

November/December Results

Far too hit and miss with some good wins but also some crushing defeats.  The 5-0 defeat to Levski was mainly due to makig wholesale changes due to the cup game from the previous month being so close, but the defeat to Cherno more was hard to take as we outplayed them and they FM'd us. 

We are still in 6th with a 5 point cushion and I think we will make it to the championship playoffs but I am worried our sporadic form will cost us there again.

Upcoming fixtures

Big combination due to matches being dotted about.  The cup Semi Final against CSKA could be vital for European football chances.