The FM08 Career Thread

[starburst91]

Yeh, on my aston villa game in 2011 i think inter or ac milan bought cesc frabregas for 67 million

[joshpmilton]

I've been looking for a game to get into for a while, and I'm hoping this could be it. The countries I'm going for are:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI> England - Blue Square North/South

<LI> France - CFA

<LI> Germany - Regional Division

<LI> Holland - First Division

<LI> Italy - C2

<LI> Portugal - Second Division

<LI> Russia - First Division

<LI> Scotland - Third Division

<LI> Spain - Second Division B

Normally I'd try to overload it with countries and then get annoyed when it runs slower than I would like, so I'm going to limit myself to the countries I know I'll be happy to manage in.

Going to be starting with an automatic reputation, but I will wait until September (or when all the starting vacancies are filled) before applying for jobs.

I shall update shortly with my profile as I take my first job in my new career.

[dafuge]

2013/14 Season Review

With a mid table finish last season I was just hoping to improve on that and push towards the playoff spots.

League Table

League Positions Graph

Had a bad start but with a run of good form at around halfway I managed to squeeze into the playoff places. This put me in my favourite position, I always seem to do much better in the playoffs when I've just sneaked in, I've lost count of the number of times I've lost in the playoffs when finishing just outside the automatic promotion places.

Playoff semi leg 1

Playoff semi leg 2

In the end I made pretty easy work of Shrewsbury but my final opponents had already sent out a warning, Northampton went through 8-0 on aggregate!

Playoff final

Despite somehow being favourites for the match this was an unexpected victory, I actually dominated the game and was made to worry late on as Northampton made the most of their chances.

Squad

Transfers

Haven't really changed anything, I got the usual two loans from Fulham but I decided to stick with the same squad as last season.

Star Player

Waide again.

Job News

I'm still desperate to move on so I've been applying for just about every job going, I'm still yet to receive an offer. Perhaps the promotion will give me a boost in reputation meaning clubs might be after me this summer but with the way things have gone I can see myself struggling in League 1 with St Albans next season.

Career so far

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Season Team Country League League Finish Achievements

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

2007/08 St Albans England Blue Square South 15th Took over in March

2008/09 St Albans England Blue Square South 3rd Lost in playoff final

2009/10 St Albans England Blue Square South 2nd Promoted via playoffs

2010/11 St Albans England Blue Square Premier 4th Lost in playoff final

2011/12 St Albans England Blue Square Premier 3rd Promoted via playoffs

2012/13 St Albans England League 2 14th

2013/14 St Albans England League 2 7th Promoted via playoffs

</pre>

[joshpmilton]

To ensure I get a BSN/BSS club to start off my career (thus in my opinion, the most realistic start), I've set the game so that I can only manage in those division using the game status screen you can use. Holidaying now, waiting for the first club to come available.

[joshpmilton]

So, after a slight delay (i.e. I got tired so went to bed) I am pleased to be announced as the new manager of Harrogate Town.

Expected to finish top half in Blue Square North after two seasons, shouldn't be too hard. In my mind we'll be promoted that season.

Here's my profile.

A quick look around suggests the squad has been under performing this season. I can't help wonder if that's contributed to their terrible finances, which it seems I'm going to have to fix. A pre-season friendly with neighbours Leeds United might be in order to save the club I think.

First things first, see out the 2007/08 season with some pride and hopefully a top half finish.

[dafuge]

How easy are people finding it to move jobs?

I've been managing St Albans for 7 years now, gaining 3 promotions. Not one club has made me an offer, I've been applying for just about every job going but no one seems interested in me at all. There are Spanish clubs with no players that have rejected me, is it because my reputation is only regional that the small clubs from abroad are ignoring me?

[GrimKeeper]

So far on my braintree game ive had to turn down darlington and im judt coming to the end of my first season, im already promoted and im in the fa trophy and setanta shield semi finals.

[ToMexico!!]

Forgot to mention that i finally got a job in my new career.

9th December 2007

Italian C2/C side Nuova Vibonese have decided to give their open manager vacancy to the relatively unknown English manager arry carter

Info Screen

Table

Squad

At first glance the squad looked like it deserved its low table position. I immediately went to the transfer market and purposefully snapped up any player that looked good enough for the squad. I had to wait just under a month for the transfers to go through. Players like Pablo Paz, Mustapha Hadji and Salvatore Fresi who are old but can do a job for a season or two.

Using the same tactic as the last career i have managed to win 3, draw 2 and lose 1 in my first few games in charge to haul the team out of the relegation play off zone.

End of season update to come soon.

[smithers08]

im going to start unemployed with rep as proffesional footballer .

[starburst91]

Thats very, very similiar to the situation i found montevarchi in (same league, same position, slightly more points and nearly the same date) not only that but I didnt realise montevarchi had got promoted when I came to them which explains why they had so many crap players and young players (average age was 19). Be good to see how you do (probably alot better =P)

[joshpmilton]

Originally posted by dafuge:

How easy are people finding it to move jobs?

I've been managing St Albans for 7 years now, gaining 3 promotions. Not one club has made me an offer, I've been applying for just about every job going but no one seems interested in me at all. There are Spanish clubs with no players that have rejected me, is it because my reputation is only regional that the small clubs from abroad are ignoring me?

Generally what I've found on this game is that once you get to the Championship other clubs start to sit up and take notice. However, before then it's quite difficult to actually get poached.

Perhaps not renewing your contract might help, as you'd be instantly available?

[Peljam]

Originally posted by dafuge:

How easy are people finding it to move jobs?

I've been managing St Albans for 7 years now, gaining 3 promotions. Not one club has made me an offer, I've been applying for just about every job going but no one seems interested in me at all. There are Spanish clubs with no players that have rejected me, is it because my reputation is only regional that the small clubs from abroad are ignoring me?

I've found it to be very difficult but then I've not done quite as well as you have in your career by the looks of it.

I had a regional rep in Sweden but couldn't get any job I applied for until I left my club. And even then I only got a job offer for a newly promoted team in the Serie C1A. Whilst I was there I got a Regional rep for Italy and won a very minor cup, but again I couldn't get a job anywhere. Even bottom of the League French/Spanish teams, teams well below what I assume was my current rep.

When I left my job though I managed to eventually get the DR of Congo job. Not a massive job but perhaps a slight move up considering the chances it could give me. That said I've tried applying for other club jobs but I'm not even getting offers from bottom of the Serie C1.

I think generally it's very hard until you've either got some decent silverware under your belt or climb high enough in the league structure. You either have to stick with a club and gradually bring success or slowly move from one poor club to another as you increase your rep bit by bit. Realistic to a point I suppose.

[GazTheDoood]

Has anyone seen any bigger AI transfers?

Saw an Italian regen, Antonio Cicarelli, move to Juventus from Arsenal for £66million plus an Angolan defender valued at £14million.

[joshpmilton]

2007/08 End of Season Review

So having taken over mid-table side Harrogate Town in March I saw why they were struggling where they were. Unfortunately, their terrible squad came with financial problems that appear to be (seemingly) irreversible as long as they remain in the Blue Square North.

I guided the team to 12th in the league, beaten to my aim of a top half finish courtesy of goal difference with Barrow pipping me to 11th spot.

I'm intending to ring the changes in pre-season, letting go all the out of contract players and sell on the dead wood that we have. There is a lot of it. Hopefully bring the wages down and by playing lots of local pre-season friendlies (vs both Sheffield clubs for a start) and hopefully save the club from going bust.

I'd have included more screenshots, but seeing as I didn't really do a lot and it wasn't really my team I felt I'd leave that for next time.

Career so far

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Season Team Country League League Finish National Cup European Comp

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

2007/08 Harrogate Town England Blue Square North 15th Not in charge N/A

</pre>

Very much stolen (then slightly adapted) from Dafuge, sorry!

Hoping to avoid going out of business and to finish top half this season, can't see it happening though!

[happy slappy]

Might be a bit of a coincidence dafuge but I just got the job at St. Albans as well.

Declared my interest in the job, they then sacked their manager and gave me the job, it was October 2007 when I got the job with them being 19th in the League, after a prediction of 3rd.

The squad I inherited were **** poor, so the first job was to get a parent club, I had a choice of Luton, Fulham or Chelsea, naturally I took Chelsea and they provided me with a AMR and a ST, and with the acquisition of a decent GK I mananged to haul the poor bastards up to 8th by the end of the season.

Just entered the new season, managed to get Simon Royce in as a freebie, and also s few very good youngsters, I also told the board that I would win promotion this season, so it's a bit of a make or break season for me, but with a club such as Chelsea sending youngsters to me how can I possibly fail?

Screenshots will be done when I get home.

[Proccy]

Things aren't going too great at Inverness CT at the moment. After winning my first game 4-3 away at Morton with a hat-trick from new signing Roman Wallner (what a legend!! He's scored 10 in 9 so far in all competitions.) But then, I lost the next 4 games against Aberdeen, Rangers, Hearts and Motherwell.

My new signings on paper looked very good, but no other players seemed to want to go. They'd rather sit in the reserves than play a season with me on loan.

The signings are:

Jimmy Smith

Roman Wallner

Saulios Mikaliunas (spelling)

Manuel Belleri (from Lazio)

Julian Bennett

Fabian Yantorno

Plus, why didn't I get any youth players in the new season?

But, my UEFA Cup qualification by fair play has softened the blow a bit. We have reached the 1st round after 8-0 and 7-1 aggregate victories over Xazar (Azerbaijan) and Maccabi Netanya (Israel), we have drawn AEK Athens (d'oh!) with a win taking us to the group stages.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads here, because I'm finding that only the UEFA CUP is keeping me here. The league is frustrating and the club itself is frustrating because a couple of other players in on loan might have rescued the club. I would like an African international job to try to boost my reputation, but they won't come up until January after the Cup of Nations. What should I do?

Thanks for reading.

[smithers08]

after starting unemployed with rep as pro footballer . i applied for the southampton and coventry jobs , as i didnt want to start too low down in the leagues . coventry offerd me a job and after looking at their squad and finances i decided to accept , as i feel this will be a good challenge with a low wage budget of 83k pw and £0 transfer budget.

has anyone had any experence with coventry ?

[Peljam]

The first few weeks of unemployment weren’t fun in the slightest. I got knocked back by just about every team you could imagine. I didn’t expect to get any of the jobs in the higher leagues but I thought I’d be a shoe in for some of the newly promoted, and playable teams, in the lower Spanish and Italian leagues. No such luck which puzzled me no end. I had spent reasonably successful time with BK Forward and Pizzighettone and I didn’t think the smaller teams would be a source of much competition when it came to other applicants. Clearly I was wrong so I stuck myself on holiday for a bit.

I was brought off of holiday by a surprise job offer from none other than the Democratic Republic of Congo! Obviously not the biggest of International teams, but it was an International job all the same. Before I accepted I figured it would be a good move. Whilst not very reputable the expectations would be fairly low (so I thought) meaning I could cause a splash with a little overachievement and perhaps build a bit of a rep. I wasn’t going to tell the DR of Congo fans but I’m looking at this position as a stepping stone.

When I took the job I was informed that we were expected to qualify for the African Nations with ease…Hmmm… I looked at the table and saw we were second by 5 points, with 3 games to go, one against the group leaders Egypt. I checked the rules and only the top team qualified automatically, if I didn’t nab it I would have to try and be the best placed 2nd place team. I thought qualifying with ease was a little much here. Maybe before the competition started but not now…

I reshaped the team and went for a sort of 4-2-2-2. Two central midfielders, one a strong DM, two AM’s on the wing (though without any farrows/barrows) and then of course two strikers. I also went for a slightly short but slow passing game. I wanted the team to have a rather attacking presence. I wasn’t disappointed.

*African Nations Qualifier – Cape Verde*

The team was a little stop start but then that was to be expected. I still hadn’t sorted the good from the bad and had had kept the team I had inherited. When they did manage to get into a rythmn my team passed it around beautifully. That said, this was only against Cape Verde. 3 goals up by half time, 4 – 2 by the final whistle. And then technically we scored 5. One of Verde’s was an own goal on out part.

Final Score: 4-2

*ANQ – Guinea-Bissau*

I was able to tweak my team for this match and although it was an important match I felt I could blood a few new players. The team seemed a little more settled and we were able to keep the attacking flow going. We managed to keep a clean sheet this time and keep the goals coming. Mbele also started to look like the star striker I hoped.

Final Score: 3-0

We then had two friendlies that I had arranged. One against Switzerland to test the mettle of the team, and one against the Bahamas to up the morale before the next qualifier. We managed to hold Switzerland to a thrilling 3 all draw. We played well on the attack and bossed the first half against the Swiss but the team got tired and trailed off. The Swiss bounced back and made us pay. The Bahamas ended as a 3-2 win to us. They only got the last two goals as I subbed normal keeper for a French/DR of Congo youngster. He wasn’t quite up to the job but now he’s ours. Forever. ::Cue Evil laugh::

*ANQ – Egypt*

This was the big one. Before the match we were still second, though not the best overall 2nd place. A win though could move us into 1st place and through automatically. A draw could depending on some luck, take us through as best 2nd place. We needed a performance and we got it. We completely ran the show and kept a clean sheet. The final result meant we pipped Egypt to 1st place on goal difference. We were through to the African Nations proper!

Final Score 2-0

The board and fans were pleased, and rightly so. Getting the team to qualify had taken a lot of work, and we were currently unbeaten. It looked promising for the actual AN although I was only expecting qualification for the Quarter Finals like the fans. Before the AN though we had two matches. Two legs of the 1st World Cup (AFR) qualfiers against whipping boys Guinea-Bissau. The team stepped up and we won 5-0 on aggregate. Bring on the Group Qualifiers!

We then had two friendlies to prepare us for the African Nations. One against Angola who we drew 2 all with, and then one with Burkina-Faso who we beat 4-1. Still unbeaten…

*African Nations*

We were drawn in a group with Algeria, Morroco and Tunisia. I had mixed feelings about the group. I though we could have a good stab at it, and maybe scrape a win, and then a couple of draws to get through. Morroco were favourites to win the group.

*Tunisia*

I was only expecting a draw, maybe a sneaky win but we were in control for most of it. The team looked like it was strutting about the field as we put Tunisia under wave of pressure after pressure.

Final Score: 3-1

*Morroco*

This was where I felt our first loss would come from. They looked good and they were favourites. Again though the team played well and by half time we were one goal up. 70 mins in we had a goal disallowed, and then moments later Morroco grabbed an equaliser.

Final Score 1-1

*Algeria*

This match I wasn’t sure about. Before the competition start I would have hoped for a draw but the team was in form and I thought we might just squeak it. I was wrong though, and I’m glad. We punished them. They were outplayed on every inch of the pitch. It was a high scoring match. A match that saw Mbele become the DR of Congo’s highest ever goal scorer.

Final Score 5-2

That was the end of the group stage. We finished a rather commanding 1st place with 7 points. We were drawn against

*Quarter Finals – Senegal*

The media felt we were out of our depth, my Captain Samba wasn’t sure and after looking at their team I agreed. Once again though we played well and by half time were a goal up. Senegal then equalised and the play swung back to them until we snuck a goal in and won the match

Final Score: 2-1

*Semi Finals – Ivory Coast*

At this point I was confident we could give the bigger team a run for their money. And we did. The goals went flying in, for both sides. But gradually the Ivory Coast started to gain the upper hand and my team tired. We were given a lesson in the benefits of depth. The paucity in skilful Congo subs cost us dearly and we lost. The first lost under my management.

Final Score: 2-3

*Third Place Playoff - Nigeria*

I tried to treat this match seriously but I didn’t care too much. The team played reasonably well considering they were a) tired and b) freshly denied a place in the finals. The match ended 1 all and we went to penalties which we lost 2-3.

Post Competition

So overall great success I feel for the DR of Congo. I’m actually really enjoying international management and have a good feeling about the World Cup Qualifiers. I think we might just have a chance of making it.

Apologies for the length of the post by the way!

2007 BK Forward First Division North 6th

2008 BK Forward First Division North 3rd

2009 BK Forward First Division North 3rd

2010 BK Forward First Division North Resigned

2010/11 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 9th

2011/12 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 12th Won Serie C Cup

2012/13 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 9th

2013/14 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 10th

2014/15 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 12th (When I left. Finished 13th)

2015/16 DR of Congo African Nations 4th Place

[starburst91]

^^^^ dont apologise for the length of your update it was a really good read =D we should all take note sounds like an interesting job through maybe you could cause a big stir by qualifying for the world cup

[Peljam]

Originally posted by starburst91:

^^^^ dont apologise for the length of your update it was a really good read =D we should all take note sounds like an interesting job through maybe you could cause a big stir by qualifying for the world cup

Thanks I could do with tidying up the tags. Bold instead of *'s and so on. I think I'll try and get some screenshots in the next one and focus more on some of the players, like star striker Mbele.

Qualifying for the World Cup would be fantastic. Only one in the group goes through but if we can beat the smaller teams () and then grab a result against the bigger teams (Cameroon and S.Africa) then we could do squeak by. Actually I'm being kind to S.Africa in considering them to be in the running. They failed to qualify for the African Nations. Cameroon on the otherhand won the African Nations, beating the Ivory Coast 2-1.

[Peljam]

Originally posted by Peljam:

but if we can beat the smaller teams ( Cape Verde, Namibia, Seychelles )

[Proccy]

Peljam: When were you offered the DR Congo job? Because I thought the African jobs were mainly made available after the African Cup of Nations or World Cup. I ask because because my career is stuttering (see a couple of posts above) and would love an international job to boost my rep.

[ToMexico!!]

Originally posted by ToMexico!!:

Forgot to mention that i finally got a job in my new career.

9th December 2007

Italian C2/C side Nuova Vibonese have decided to give their open manager vacancy to the relatively unknown English manager arry carter

Info Screen

Table

Squad

At first glance the squad looked like it deserved its low table position. I immediately went to the transfer market and purposefully snapped up any player that looked good enough for the squad. I had to wait just under a month for the transfers to go through. Players like Pablo Paz, Mustapha Hadji and Salvatore Fresi who are old but can do a job for a season or two.

Using the same tactic as the last career i have managed to win 3, draw 2 and lose 1 in my first few games in charge to haul the team out of the relegation play off zone.

End of season update to come soon.

Quoted the above for reference to this post.

End of Season Update 07/08 - Vibonese - Serie C2C

From above you can see i joined Vibonese when they were lurking in the relegation zone, 16th precisely. We made very good progress with the help of some experienced/youthful signings creating that good combo. Although we managed to exceed the wage budget fully by 115k per annum. A small price to pay for this season success.

As i also said above i opted to use the same tactic as my previous career save which with out shoddy defence managed to help us create a Kevin Keegan style if you score 3 goals we'll score 4 type of team. We hit on the counter attack plenty of times scoring what would be winning goals/late equalisers in around half of our games. This allowed us to climb the table to 9th before the last game of the season. This left us in a position that could have taken us into the Promotion Play-Off places. We took the lead early on which took us to 6th, one place off, but as soon as other teams who were just below me started to win we dropped to 8th. A final position to be proud of me thinks. Final Table

Like i said i needed to make a handful of signings to strengthen the team in a few places. Players like Hadji who came in and scored 5 goals in 3 games (hattrick on debut) before getting injured for 3 months, Fresi and Paz who added great experience to the defence, chipping in with a few goals each at crucial times. San Marino, right midfielder Domeniconi added some well needed craft to the wing. The star player was Valente who came in January and scored 13 goals in the league, our top scorer. Leonardo Villa was the top creative player sitting deep in MC, he assisted in 14 goals. Transfers Squad

Finances aren't too shabby at the moment, still around 50k in the black. So i could have a transfer budget for the new season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Season Team League Position Final Achievements

When Joined Position

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

07/08 Vibonese Serie C2C 16th 8th -

</pre>

Aims for next season

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>Reduce Wage Bill

<LI>Replace the rubbish players

<LI>Compete in the Coppa Italia

<LI>Finish in the Play-Offs

'mon

[Peljam]

Originally posted by Proccy:

Peljam: When were you offered the DR Congo job? Because I thought the African jobs were mainly made available after the African Cup of Nations or World Cup. I ask because because my career is stuttering (see a couple of posts above) and would love an international job to boost my rep.

I was offered the job on...24.5.2015. It was duing the African Nations Qualifiers. I think the job became free because the DR of Congo FA wanted to qualify for ease and the Leopards looked like they weren't going to make it.

Generally though I found the jobs come up just before or after the competition. When the competition finished Ghana and Egypt were looking for new managers.

It's well worth taking a small internation job if you can. My rep is still apparently regional but after the African Nations I've started being linked with jobs, for the first time in this career. Admittedly they are only poor teams in the French National but it's an improvement on not being considered for anything.

Just re-read your post I think you've got a good shot of getting an African job if you apply but it might help to be unemployed before hand. Maybe stick it out till April/May time and then jump ship?

[Peljam]

Originally posted by Peljam:

because the DR of Congo FA wanted to qualify with ease and the Leopards looked like they weren't going to make it.

Grrr, stupid brain.

[rancer890]

Season 2 - Motala AIF FK

Final Squad

Swedish First Division South Table

I got Orebro as a parent club and quickly loaned 3 players (GK, ST, DC) to start the season. The media picked us 5th but I obviously wanted to do better. I won the Swedish Cup 1st round, only to lose in the 2nd round (like last year). I started the season with 5 consecutive league wins, before losing to FC Trollhattan, who were our main rivals this season to win the league. The July transfer window opened, and I quickly loaned 2 more defenders and 2 strikers from Orebro, and a defender from Mjallby. Before the transfer closed, I sold my leading scorer, Arsim Gashi, for $40k. His skills were probably not good enough for the First Division Elite, so I might as well get whatever value I can. In our rematch against FC Trollhattan, I had a 2-0 lead only to nearly lose in the 2nd half, drawing with them 2-2. The league title was undecided until the last game, where FC Trollhattan won the day before my match to clinch the title.

With Qviding in our rear-view mirror, only 1 point behind us, I had to win against 9th place Visby Gute to clinch the only playoff spot. I sweated out a 2-1 victory.

In the playoff, we were matched up against Brommapojkarna, who were 14th in the First Division Elite. I easily won the first game and just had to make sure I didn't blow it in the 2nd leg.

1st Leg

2nd Leg

PROMOTION!

And in other good news, my feeder club Sleipner also got promoted to the First Division, learned fluent Swedish and I also got a new 3 year contract.

What now?

Well, my main goal is to obviously sign some players capable to surviving the First Division Elite. With a club reputation increase, I will also try to loan some players from my parent club and also other First Division clubs.

My Career

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Season Team League Swedish Cup Final Position Achievements

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

2007 Motala AIF FK Swedish 2D MG Lost 2nd Round 1st Promoted

2008 Motala AIF FK Swedish 1D S Lost 2nd Round 2nd Promoted via Playoff

</pre>

Hope this post isn't too long!

[ToMexico!!]

Good Job rancer

I'm currently mulling through pre-season, Euros are currently being played. Taking its time mind. England doing very well too...will no doubt lose on penalties in the final or summat.

Managed to get a few arrange freebies coming in soon but will release quite a few players too which i will need to replace.

[ToMexico!!]

England lost on Penalties to Holland in the quarters...got it mostly right

[glennuk]

Think i may start this, as a side game to my Euro Challenge.

I have started with the following leagues down to their lowest level

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>Australia

Belguim

England

France

Germany

Holland

Israel

Italy

Portugal

Spain

Turkey

USA

Will let you all know when i get a job.

[glennuk]

LSV Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim

Is my new club, offered me a contract of £210 a week but i negotiated it up to £230.

In the German Regional Division South, predicted to finish bottom.

Im currently 650 over my wage budget and have 7k to spend.

[Peljam]

Rodrigo De La Vega – DR of Congo – 2016

After the relative success of the Leopards African Nations campaign I was looking forward to the World Cup Qualifiers. The teams in the group again are underachieving S.Africa, our favourite whipping boys Cape Verde, unknowns of Seyschelles and Namibia and the current African Nations Champions Cameroon. Some of those teams I was confident we could beat, and others I had a feeling we could sneak some points. I felt we would at least give them a good run for their money.

I thought I’d add some player information here with some screenshots. The below players are the ones I considered particularly key to the squad, especially striker Mbele and midfielder Mongongu. Mbele seems to always be a danger to the defence, and Mongongu can maraud through the midfield at times, pulling all the strings on the way.

Mongongu

Mbele

Malonga

Makengo

LuaLua

<Screenshots>

Before the qualifiers started we had a friendly against Bolivia. We started brightly and took the lead and held onto it for the entire match. Even though Bolivia managed to pull back a couple of goals they never really looked like a threat. The match ended 3-2.

WCQ- S.Africa

This was a match that we needed something from. Even just a point would go a long way to keeping us in contention with Cameroon as well as denting S.Africa’s challenge in the process. From the kick of though it was quite clear that despite some of S.Africa’s talent they weren’t going to be much of a challenge, at least in this match. Our strikers had a field day, Mbele bagging a brace. We were unlucky not to get more. Happily our defence was solid too.

Final Score: 3-0

WCQ- Cape Verde

Even if we hadn’t just beaten S.Africa I would have gone into this match with confidence. Although Cape Verde have scored against us I have never lost to them, and don’t seriously ever expect to. The gulf in class was glaringly obvious. The strikers had an even better game than they did against S.Africa. About as many chances but they put them away. Mbele only got one but his strike partner Ridge Munsy bagged himself a hatrick.

Final Score: 5-1

Here’s the table two games in:

WCQ Afr Table

It looked like it was going to be a good race for the qualifying place. Especially with a couple of unexpected results. Namibia looked like they might be more of a challenge than anticipated.

WCQ- Seychelles

In a way I was expecting an even bigger result than the Cape Verde match. I was disappointed in that respect but not overly so. The team played well and did the job competently. Seychelles never looked like even scoring throughout the entire game.

Final Score: 3-0

At this point I think it needs pointed out that we had scored 11 goals, but conceded only 1 in the 3 games

WCQ- Cameroon

Now here was a challenge. The reigning AN Champions, a team full of at the very least decent players. This was a team who had beaten the team who had dumped us out of the AN. It was a nerve wracking match from start to finish. The balance of play surprisingly seemed about even for the first half. The second half though swung backwards and forwards. Cameroon gained the lead shortly after half time and held the ascendency until the 60th minute when Kazenga LuaLua popped up and smack a beauty of a free kick in. After that it was all Congo but we couldn’t finish them off. A good point, and an even better performance.

Final Score: 1-1

WCQ- Namibia

I must admit I hadn’t paid close enough attention to the rules for the qualifiers and was mistakenly convinced that we only had to play each other once. For the entirety of the match I was keeping an eye on the table to make sure we were in pole position. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised we had another 5 games to go!

Anyway… Namibia were an odd team to play. I think tactically they were a very counter attacking side. We had the lions share of the possession and good play but every time we scored they would come right back at us, equalise and then sit back again. It was baffling. They seemed to have the talent needed to get the 3 points if they went all out, but they didn’t.

Final Score: 2-2

So, halfway through the qualifiers and the table looks like this…

WCQ Afr Table

Providing I can beat Cape Verde, Seychelles and one of the other three then I think I’ve got a good shot at collecting enough points from the remaining two to qualify. And if we don’t then at least we will have given it a good go. The FA after all only expect us to enjoy participating.

One last match before the update ends. A friendly against my manager’s home nation, Mexico. It was a bit of a shambles and a pacey Mexican side tore through our defence. The only positive I can take from it is that the team attempted to rally. We lost, final score 2-5.

So it’ll be awhile until my next update where I’ll write up the last 5 qualifiers and associated friendlies. Fingers crossed!

For your viewing pleasure though I have two links. One is the World Rankings graph and how it’s changed since I’ve arrived The other is the first job I’ve been linked with. Since then I’ve been linked with a few other French National jobs. I think because of the DR of Congo’s links with France my reputation has started to grow there.

Rankings

Speculation

Also, it's worth noting my influence. I called up a French/DR Congo player so I could cap him and afterwards...

What have I created?!

Just goes to show what International playing time can do!

[Proccy]

Well done Peljam .

Thanks for the message too, but I might leave before then. I'm not really enjoynig losing here week in week out.against the Celtics and Rangers of this world. AEK Athens at home next, after losing 5-3 in the away leg (Rivaldo hattrick!)

[smithers08]

started unemployed with reputation as proffesional footballer . applied for coventry and southampton jobs as i didnt want to start too low down the leagues . on the maonday coventry offerd me a 2 year contract on £2.5k pw , i accepted the challenge of trying to establish them as a championship team .

after looking thrugh the entire sqaud inc U18S i ralised this ould b e harder than i thought as the sqaud was low on numbers and with a £0 transfer budge and the board only allowing 83k pw on wages (already spending £81.5k pw) i didnt have much to play around with .

pre season results

v Rotherham A L 0-2

v Tranmere A D 2-2 Mifsud , Ward

v Nuneaton A W 2-0 Almeyda(trialist) Mckenzie

v Kidderminster A W 4-1 Best(2) M.Hughes (2 pen)

v Birmingham H L 1-2 Best

v Gronigon H D 1-1 Best

I was happy with pre-season and found my formation to be 4-5-1.

first game of the season was at home against stoke , i played the follwing line up:

GK - Konstantoplous

DR - Mcnamee

DL - Borrowdale

DC - De zeuww © INJ (Hall 80)

DC - Ward

MR - Tabb

ML - Gilldings

MC - Osbourne

MC - Doyle

MC - m.Hughes

FC - Best (Mckenzie 85)

S1 - Marshall

S2 - Hall

S3 - s.Hughes

S4 - Cairo

S5 - Mckenzie

ended up drawing 0-0 which i was happy with as stoke have a strong sqaud.

players in :

AMRLC - Darren Ambrose - 3 month loan (Charlton)

DC - Darren Moore - 3 month loan (Derby)

DM - Keith Adams - 6 month loan (Kilmarnock)

players out :

ML - Liam Davis - 3 month loan (Dag and Red)

[Peljam]

Originally posted by Proccy:

Well done Peljam .

Thanks for the message too, but I might leave before then. I'm not really enjoynig losing here week in week out.against the Celtics and Rangers of this world. AEK Athens at home next, after losing 5-3 in the away leg (Rivaldo hattrick!)

Thanks

Might be time to give them the heave ho then. When I was Pizzighettone towards the end if we hit a bad patch I'd give the team a limit...so if we didn't pull ourselves up X many places, or manage to get X amount of points in the next 3 - 5 games then I'd resign. The gits kept managing to perform just enough to keep me hanging in.

Sucks about the hatrick! Just think, one bad tackle to him and you might have won it! I kick myself for not setting tackling to hard when a player does that

Have you been linked to any jobs yet? If so when you leave Inverness you might have a decent chance at getting quickly back into managing again.

[Proccy]

Cheers .

No I haven't been linked to any jobs yet, but I have only just started out really. I haven't even got any Scotland scouting knowledge yet! Yeah, Rivaldo was playing well (at 36) and my weakness is my goalkeeper (as you may have guessed!) so it was just one of those things. Infact, if I don't get through against AEK and then lose the next league I may go (depending on how I'm feeling!)

Get them to the World Cup and your rep should soar Peljam!

[Peljam]

Snap with the keeper! I always struggle, with league teams, when it comes to the keeper. I either have the worst luck or I'm just not picking the keepers properly. I usually managed to get a good centre back pairing and a solid enough defence but the keeper seems to let me down. I reckon a good keeper in the game is worth their weight in gold.

Getting closer to knowing either way about the World Cup Got a few more matches left and I'll be writing up the update. I have work vying for attention though.

[starburst91]

Lol on my career, at burghausen I had a goalkeeper who was 19 and very promising, worth about 1 million when I left, Then I've had three good goalkeepers to choose from at montevarchi, and now i've found a really good one who wanted to come xD . No it seems to be strikers that are my problem, its been about 15 seasons through various games since ive had a striker thats scored more than 20 goals in one season, seriously xD

[darren1983]

Been playing the dafgue challenge but my eyes are starting to wonder and am looking to other teams so think im gonna start a career.

Leagues loaded(lowset playable)

England

Italy

Holland

France

Spain

Scotland

Portugal

Starting as semi-pro

[Peljam]

Originally posted by starburst91:

Lol on my career, at burghausen I had a goalkeeper who was 19 and very promising, worth about 1 million when I left, Then I've had three good goalkeepers to choose from at montevarchi, and now i've found a really good one who wanted to come xD . No it seems to be strikers that are my problem, its been about 15 seasons through various games since ive had a striker thats scored more than 20 goals in one season, seriously xD

Lucky you on the keeper front I just don't seem to be able to pick them. I'm fine striker wise though. I can normally get at least one who scores near or above the twenty mark. Speed, pace, shooting and composure are the main things I look for, in that order. Works even better at lower levels, pace is everything there I think.

[starburst91]

Lucky you on the keeper front Smile I just don't seem to be able to pick them. I'm fine striker wise though. I can normally get at least one who scores near or above the twenty mark. Speed, pace, shooting and composure are the main things I look for, in that order. Works even better at lower levels, pace is everything there I think.

I think i've found a couple of great strikers though so that may change =) im also 9 games in and top of the table :O This team only got promoted 2 seasons ago and I was predicted 12th

[Peljam]

Originally posted by Peljam:

So, halfway through the qualifiers and the table looks like this…

WCQ Afr Table

Rodrigo De La Vega - 2016/17 - DR of Congo

And so onto the second part of the Campaign. The table as it stood 5 games is above in the quotes.

The position of the team looked good, although we looked set to lose a few players to retirement. Back up DM Kala retired, Tambwe a striker too and Kalamby AMRC announced his decision to retire at the end of the season. Only Kalamby is what I considered first team material still but the other two were valuable back up. Looking at my national pool revealed a lack of talent in midfield to call up and fill the gaps. Up front however we had plenty of options still.

Before the second half of the qualifiers got into full swing there were two friendlies. The first was against Anguilla. The team played confidently but looked a little shaky at the back. We were unable to keep a clean sheet and the final score finished 3-1 to us. Next up were the Ukraine, a much tougher opposition. We fought them every step of the way but our defence was far too weak for their strikers. The match ended a disappointing 2-4. So a mixed bag for the friendly matches but at least it pointed out an area that needed working on.

WCQ- S.Africa

An important match. Although they weren’t challenging us directly for 1st place a slip up here would not only dent our chances but potentially bring them back into contention. My worries were pretty groundless though as the Leopards played some stunning football. A bit cliché but the passing was silky smooth at times. The defence held up too. A repeat of the last drubbing we gave them…which was nice.

Final Score: 3-0

WCQ- Seychelles

Easy! Easy! Easy! I’m not quite sure what the Seychelles are doing in the competition. We might as well have all been given 6 points and been spared 180 minutes of pointless, if goal filled, football. With the Cameroon match only days after I rested most of my key players.

Final Score: 4-0

WCQ- Cameroon

Now here was an important match. The winner of this match would have 1st place and the momentum. If Cameroon won it would put them just ahead and if we won then we would only need one more win to guarantee 1st place and qualification.

Instead of playing nervously though my team got straight of the starting blocks and showed Cameroon how to play. We didn’t score until the 45th minute though, a great way to enter half time. I was tempted to play more defensively. Smash and grab. But I felt that wouldn’t really be true to the attacking style we had developed. So we pressed on and were rewarded with a second goal. Cameroon, although competent, didn’t look at all dangerous in front of goal.

Final Score: 2-0

WCQ- Cape Verde

We were poised for qualification. Historic qualification even, as the DR of Congo have only ever qualified for the World Cup once in their history. But what’s a qualifying campaign without a little drama? Although we only needed 3 points, against a team we had always beaten, fate conspired against us. With the first 10 minutes we had a goal disallowed. That didn’t stop us scoring three more goals over the course of the match though. 50 minutes in and we were coasting at 3-1. Cape Verde then got a lucky deflection in the 81st minute, and a penalty that never was on the 90th. They never looked like getting a draw through the entire match but they got lucky and we only managed the 1 point. We would have to go to Namibia now and at least get a point. We could tie on points with Cameroon and still go through on results between teams.

Final Score: 3-3

There was a friendly before the next match against Ghana. A good team leading their qualification group. It was only days after the shock result at Cape Verde and it was a bit of a farce. Ghana ran rampant and the match finished 3-1. Again, defence seems to be where we really fall down against better teams. If we did qualify then it’s something I’d have to look at before the World Cup.

WCQ- Namibia

So here it was. The most important, and final, match of the qualifiers. If we won then we were through, if we drew then we were through. We could still go through though if Cameroon didn’t win. A draw wouldn’t be good enough for them. Here’s the table pre-game….

WCQ Table 9 games in

So to the match…We were one goal up within 5 minutes thanks to a toe poke from the underrated Ridge Munsy. He didn’t stop there either. He had a hat trick before the half time whistle! He had really turned it on when we needed it. Mbele turned up in the second half and scored one more and the defence held strong.

Final Score: 4-0

Final Table!

World Cup here we come! Oddly the media didn’t make much of a fuss about our qualification, neither did the FA or fans. I checked the confidence page though and they seemed suitably happy there. On a side note, as you might have noticed from the table, the win against Namibia wasn’t really needed. The pesky Cape Verde held Cameroon to a draw as well!

I’m still only regional reputation but I did get offered a job for the first time. It was only in the Spanish B1 league but it was a start! I didn’t take it as I don’t want anything to distract me from the attempt at the World Cup. Maybe afterwards though…

Plans? Well I need to see if I can shore up the defence somehow. I may give a few fringe players a chance in the upcoming friendlies. We were undefeated in the WCQ’s but against some of the bigger teams we would struggle, as shown by Mexico, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and the Ukraine. All potentially teams I would soon face.

2007 BK Forward First Division North 6th

2008 BK Forward First Division North 3rd

2009 BK Forward First Division North 3rd

2010 BK Forward First Division North Resigned

2010/11 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 9th

2011/12 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 12th Won Serie C Cup

2012/13 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 9th

2013/14 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 10th

2014/15 Pizzighettone Serie C1A 12th (When I left. Finished 13th)

2015/16 DR of Congo African Nations 4th Place

2016/17 DR of Congo WCQ's 1st Place

[starburst91]

WOW you really did it good luck can't wait for the updates in the world cup =) Also here's the goalkeeper which im bringing in at montevarchi btw Bergsema He's a holland under 21 international, found him while just randomly browsing through countries under 21's xD Having to get rid of a couple of players to cope with his wage demands but its worth it because although my defence is solid, when other teams get chances alot of them go in while looking save-able, but once again good updates =D

[darren1983]

Had to reatart due to a crash and have chose some diff leagues this time. All playable to lowest leagues:

Croatia

England

Italy

Romania

Russia

Italy

USA

Went on hol and was only offered 1 job which was at spartak ryazan in russia.

Me!

Though after looking at the table i kinda wish i hadnt rushed straight in to the first job

League Table

Not the best starting place eh? my squad is made up of 3 players and the rest are greys! also the new transfer window dosent start for a month! in that time i play 3 games.

Game 1

Game 2

One last thing, have a look at my pre game odds fir game 2 odds

This is gonna be a challenge, what a way to start a career, either gonna be a hero for keeping them up or a relegation as the first thing on my C.V!

Sorry for the long post but just wanted to fill you guys(and Girls?) in on my russian madness

[Peljam]

Originally posted by starburst91:

WOW you really did it good luck can't wait for the updates in the world cup =) Also here's the goalkeeper which im bringing in at montevarchi btw Bergsema He's a holland under 21 international, found him while just randomly browsing through countries under 21's xD Having to get rid of a couple of players to cope with his wage demands but its worth it because although my defence is solid, when other teams get chances alot of them go in while looking save-able, but once again good updates =D

Thanks Thats a good keeper there, especially for his age. I'd keep hold of him. He looks almost as good as my DR of Congo number 1!

Though after looking at the table i kinda wish i hadnt rushed straight in to the first job

League Table Eek

Good luck with that! Im not sure how many games are played in Russia but is it still mathematically possible for you to stay up?

[darren1983]

There's 42 games played in russia so had a slim chance. Only got 9 left now still bottom but ony 15 points from safety so i might just stay up, doubt it though. Glad i only accepted a contract till the end of the season, whatever happens i'm gone come december

[Proccy]

Well done Peljam! Good luck at the World Cup and getting a really good job from then on!

A small update on my game. I dominated AEK but only managed 3 shots on target out of a possible 15 and to rub salt in the wounds they scored in the last minute . I can't believe that damn 36 year old Brazilian scored again! But, I won against Dundee Utd 2-1 at home so I'm just about still here!

[happy slappy]

Happy Slappy's Career. St. Albans. 2007/2008.

So, just like dafuge's career, I was offered my chance in management by St. Albans in November, who were at the time, 19th in the league.

And no wonder they were in the position that they were in, the squad were awful, but, with a few loan signings we managed to turn this around and finish a respectable 9th.

Squad - As you can see not a lot of quality in terms of names, but striker Lee Clarke did manage to do well and finish the season with 21 goals, other than that, nothing spectacular.

Transfers - Of course, quite a few from Chelsea, which helped a bit, Paz came in, and although he is getting on a bit, managed to do his part for the club, shame he is one of those players that only last one season then fade away.

POTY - Doesn't look like anything special, but did the job.

Finances - Explains itself really, absolutely shocking.

Aims for next season.

Improve finances.

Promotion (done).

[darren1983]

Right well my "fun" in russia is now at an end after relegation I took over with the team 22(and last) in the leahue, with only 4 points from 22 games and only 3 players with atill a month to go till the transfer window.

Well i had an ok run and managed to get some goals and points but in the end it just wasnt enough. we were relegated with 3 games to go with 18 points so i thought it was best to jump before being pushed.

On hol now waiting for my next victim!

[glennuk]

Small Update

Oggersheim - Season 1 - 2007/08

Well 6 games into the season and alreayd we are playing well and are above expectations.

Bringing in some very good players and having a gem of a striker called Arslan to start with was always a bonus.

But Arslan has been overshadowed so far by Prein, who has been a revelation up front.

And the best bit is that he was out of contract so got him for nothing.

Anyway just small update cos now on my way out, but heres the leagu table so far too.

Its been slightly frustrating as i have had alot of draws where i have been winning and they grab a goal at the last moment, or like my last match a 4-4 Draw i change my tactics, but the actual computer doesn't change the tactics til after they score a goal.

[glennuk]

Forgot to put a pic of Arslan the 18yr old who started at the club, and got a hat trick in the opening game (My only win so far)