The FM08 Career Thread

[darren1983]

Well me again! My time out of work didnt last long. mid of dec got an offer from itay and jumped at it:

Meet my new team Cassino

Seams like i am drawn to struggling teams

League Table

Thank god i still got half a season to play, played 2 games upto the xmas break and it's gone well, won the first game 3-1 and was very unlucky to only draw 2-2 with the league leaders!

Think this one is gonna be more fun then russia

[Peljam]

Rodrigo De La Vega - DR of Congo - 2018

Where to start? Well 2018 has two competitions in store for the DR of Congo. First we have the African Nations followed a few months later by the World Cup. Plenty of fixtures so this up coming season will be light on the friendlies at least. Bar the two I played before Christmas (3-1 against Albania, 4-1 against China) there would only be one other friendly against Belize, sandwiched between the end of the African Nations and the start of the World Cup.

For the African Nations we were up against Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique. We didn’t have to qualify this time round I assume because were did so well last time. The group looked doable. I thought we could pick up points against Zambia and Mozambique although they might threaten a little. Nigeria could be a little difficult though. My main difficulty though would be my players. I had 3 key players injured. None of them would be left out of the squad but their match fitness was a concern.

So to the African Nations!

AN- Nigeria

The hardest match first. At least the hardest in theory. Nigeria looked like favourites to go through top of the group and they played like it. For the first half an hour we were pinned back in our own area. They had chance after chance and it was only some last ditch defending that managed to limit them to one goal. Oddly their goal came from one of the more difficult chances. The goal seemed to spur us on though and we took the fight to Nigeria. It wasn’t until substitute Nlundulu came on that we managed to equalise. He seems like he’ll be a good striker for us. I’ve called him up a few times and at the moment he has more goals than appearances. Anyway, we kept Nigeria under pressure and were rewards in injury time. Mbele popped up and headed the ball in from a corner and we got the 3 points!

Final Score: 2-1

AN- Zambia

A team I was little unsure about. They looked like they had some decent players but they had only managed a 1 all draw with Mozambique. They were feisty. Went went a goal up within 5 minutes but they kept at us. They looked like a team with talent but they completely lacked discipline. They almost gave a way a penalty, injuring Mbele in the process. Mwali, the Zambia defender in question, then struggled to deal with Nlundulu when I put him on a fouled him over and over again. One such event caused a scuffle and they had a player sent off for shoving. Mwali escaped a yellow card until later on in the match. LuaLua rifled a shot in from way outside the box and we were coasting. They still kept hacking away though and there was another scuffle. The ref for some reason decided not to send their player off, even though they shoved just like the other player had.

Final Score: 2-0

AN-Mozambique

We had qualified at this point so this match had a lot less riding on it. I wanted to win to keep the streak going, the morale up, and give us a better draw. I also wanted to rest a player or two. Mbele wasn’t going to start so he could have time to get over the knock he suffered in the last match.

AN Quarter Finals- Angola

We had only ever played them in a friendly and that had ended 2 all. In the group stages they had just scraped 2nd place and had only scored 2 goals in the entire group stage. I was reasonably confident that they wouldn’t stop us from making a second Semi-finals monitor. We were three goals up by half time. Not only did Mbele score but so did Nlundulu the up and coming striker. We held strong in the second half and bagged another two goals. It was a tad one sided.

Final Score: 5-0

AN Semi Finals- Cameroon

Yup. Cameroon. Reigning champions and qualifying rivals. In good form and probably holding a grudge against my team for beating them to the World Cup place. It was a battle from the very first minute to the last. The had two by half time and we managed to bag the one just before the half time whistle. It was truly end to end. Nlundulu bagged the equaliser in the 70th minute and we went to extra time. Where out of the blue one of my centre backs headed the ball in and we were through!

Final Score: 3-2

AN Final- Ghana

My first ever final with the DR of Congo! And, if I’ve read wiki correctly the first ever for the DR of Congo (though they have reached and won the AN as Zaire years ago). Unfortunately we were against the hosts Ghana, and when we last played them we lost. They had talent all over the pitch and Mongongu, a lynch pin in my midfield, was banned for the final.

Ghana had us on the ropes for most of the match but we kept fighting back. Just enough to keep us in the match each time. They scored early, and then we equalised through Mbele. Minutes after they got a penalty and put it away. Just before half time we equalised again as Mbele got his brace. It was quiet in the second half until the 86th minute when Ghana scored. I crossed my fingers and was duly rewarded when Ridge Munsy scored in injury time. Extra time was truly nerve wracking as they had us on the back foot for most of it. We cleared it off the line over and over again until the ref brought extra time to a close.

Penalties! This was more even footing. Our keeper saved and then we didn’t miss.

Final Score: 3-3, 6-5 on pens.

We might not have been able to win it in normal time but a win is a win! I’ll take this, the first cup win for the DR of Congo under my reign! Thefans were happy, as were the FA and the players. We shot up the rankings to 13th place, our first time within the top 20. When I begun we had been about 68th place.

We could go into the World Cup brimming with confidence! Even though we a) had a tough group (We were drawn against Spain, Serbia and South Korea. Not only were all three above us in the rankings but they all had decent squads. Spain were looking for their 3rd consecutive World Cup!) b) Samba the captain had stepped down. Just from the Captaincy but it was a bit of shock. Understandable that he wanted to go out on a high but I would have thought the chance to Captain the side through the World Cup would have been tempting!

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

2018 DR of Congo African Nations Champions

[thezogsageordie]

Originally posted by Peljam:

Rodrigo De La Vega - DR of Congo - 2018

Where to start? Well 2018 has two competitions in store for the DR of Congo. First we have the African Nations followed a few months later by the World Cup. Plenty of fixtures so this up coming season will be light on the friendlies at least. Bar the two I played before Christmas (3-1 against Albania, 4-1 against China) there would only be one other friendly against Belize, sandwiched between the end of the African Nations and the start of the World Cup.

For the African Nations we were up against Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique. We didn’t have to qualify this time round I assume because were did so well last time. The group looked doable. I thought we could pick up points against Zambia and Mozambique although they might threaten a little. Nigeria could be a little difficult though. My main difficulty though would be my players. I had 3 key players injured. None of them would be left out of the squad but their match fitness was a concern.

So to the African Nations!

AN- Nigeria

The hardest match first. At least the hardest in theory. Nigeria looked like favourites to go through top of the group and they played like it. For the first half an hour we were pinned back in our own area. They had chance after chance and it was only some last ditch defending that managed to limit them to one goal. Oddly their goal came from one of the more difficult chances. The goal seemed to spur us on though and we took the fight to Nigeria. It wasn’t until substitute Nlundulu came on that we managed to equalise. He seems like he’ll be a good striker for us. I’ve called him up a few times and at the moment he has more goals than appearances. Anyway, we kept Nigeria under pressure and were rewards in injury time. Mbele popped up and headed the ball in from a corner and we got the 3 points!

Final Score: 2-1

AN- Zambia

A team I was little unsure about. They looked like they had some decent players but they had only managed a 1 all draw with Mozambique. They were feisty. Went went a goal up within 5 minutes but they kept at us. They looked like a team with talent but they completely lacked discipline. They almost gave a way a penalty, injuring Mbele in the process. Mwali, the Zambia defender in question, then struggled to deal with Nlundulu when I put him on a fouled him over and over again. One such event caused a scuffle and they had a player sent off for shoving. Mwali escaped a yellow card until later on in the match. LuaLua rifled a shot in from way outside the box and we were coasting. They still kept hacking away though and there was another scuffle. The ref for some reason decided not to send their player off, even though they shoved just like the other player had.

Final Score: 2-0

AN-Mozambique

We had qualified at this point so this match had a lot less riding on it. I wanted to win to keep the streak going, the morale up, and give us a better draw. I also wanted to rest a player or two. Mbele wasn’t going to start so he could have time to get over the knock he suffered in the last match.

AN Quarter Finals- Angola

We had only ever played them in a friendly and that had ended 2 all. In the group stages they had just scraped 2nd place and had only scored 2 goals in the entire group stage. I was reasonably confident that they wouldn’t stop us from making a second Semi-finals monitor. We were three goals up by half time. Not only did Mbele score but so did Nlundulu the up and coming striker. We held strong in the second half and bagged another two goals. It was a tad one sided.

Final Score: 5-0

AN Semi Finals- Cameroon

Yup. Cameroon. Reigning champions and qualifying rivals. In good form and probably holding a grudge against my team for beating them to the World Cup place. It was a battle from the very first minute to the last. The had two by half time and we managed to bag the one just before the half time whistle. It was truly end to end. Nlundulu bagged the equaliser in the 70th minute and we went to extra time. Where out of the blue one of my centre backs headed the ball in and we were through!

Final Score: 3-2

AN Final- Ghana

My first ever final with the DR of Congo! And, if I’ve read wiki correctly the first ever for the DR of Congo (though they have reached and won the AN as Zaire years ago). Unfortunately we were against the hosts Ghana, and when we last played them we lost. They had talent all over the pitch and Mongongu, a lynch pin in my midfield, was banned for the final.

Ghana had us on the ropes for most of the match but we kept fighting back. Just enough to keep us in the match each time. They scored early, and then we equalised through Mbele. Minutes after they got a penalty and put it away. Just before half time we equalised again as Mbele got his brace. It was quiet in the second half until the 86th minute when Ghana scored. I crossed my fingers and was duly rewarded when Ridge Munsy scored in injury time. Extra time was truly nerve wracking as they had us on the back foot for most of it. We cleared it off the line over and over again until the ref brought extra time to a close.

Penalties! This was more even footing. Our keeper saved and then we didn’t miss.

Final Score: 3-3, 6-5 on pens.

We might not have been able to win it in normal time but a win is a win! I’ll take this, the first cup win for the DR of Congo under my reign! Thefans were happy, as were the FA and the players. We shot up the rankings to 13th place, our first time within the top 20. When I begun we had been about 68th place.

We could go into the World Cup brimming with confidence! Even though we a) had a tough group (We were drawn against Spain, Serbia and South Korea. Not only were all three above us in the rankings but they all had decent squads. Spain were looking for their 3rd consecutive World Cup!) b) Samba the captain had stepped down. Just from the Captaincy but it was a bit of shock. Understandable that he wanted to go out on a high but I would have thought the chance to Captain the side through the World Cup would have been tempting!

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

2018 DR of Congo African Nations Champions

Great stuff, I've been silently following your updates and thought you were very unlucky to only finish 4th in '16 as you done the hard bit the first half of the qualifiers!

KUTGW

[thezogsageordie]

Also, what was the Mozambique score?

[Peljam]

AN-Mozambique

We had qualified at this point so this match had a lot less riding on it. I wanted to win to keep the streak going, the morale up, and give us a better draw. I also wanted to rest a player or two. Mbele wasn’t going to start so he could have time to get over the knock he suffered in the last match.

Stupid copy and paste...

We got a penalty to begin with and then we never looked like going behind after that.

Ridge gave us a second goal and Mozambique got one of their own on the 90th minute. It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but we were through anyway.

Final Score: 2-1

[thezogsageordie]

Impressive stuff, do you know your WC group?

[Peljam]

Originally posted by thezogsageordie:

Great stuff, I've been silently following your updates and thought you were very unlucky to only finish 4th in '16 as you done the hard bit the first half of the qualifiers!

KUTGW

Thanks It was a little gutting in '16, especially seeing as we beat the Champions so soon afterwards in the WCQ's. Not expecting the same level of success in the World Cup though!

I'm really enjoying managing the Leopards so it might be some time before I really see what effect they've had on my ability to get a club job. After the World Cup campaign it'll be time to defend the African Nations

[thezogsageordie]

Originally posted by Peljam:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by thezogsageordie:

Great stuff, I've been silently following your updates and thought you were very unlucky to only finish 4th in '16 as you done the hard bit the first half of the qualifiers!

KUTGW

Thanks It was a little gutting in '16, especially seeing as we beat the Champions so soon afterwards in the WCQ's. Not expecting the same level of success in the World Cup though!

I'm really enjoying managing the Leopards so it might be some time before I really see what effect they've had on my ability to get a club job. After the World Cup campaign it'll be time to defend the African Nations </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It sounds quite good being an International manager, might try it in '09.

[Peljam]

Originally posted by thezogsageordie:

Impressive stuff, do you know your WC group?

Yup, we've got Spain, Serbia and South Korea. Spain have won the WC the last two times and are chasing it for the 3rd. They look like they'll have a good chance of getting their hands on it again.

Serbia look fairly strong. South Korea might be the easiest chance for some points in the group.

[starburst91]

Another great update peljam you seem to be working miracles

I hope i can acheive something with montevarchi because its been ridiculously long since i've had any success on fm now xD I had like 2 really good careers not long after i bought the game, then ever since ive been having short careers with normally midtabling sides xD Just gotta hold on to 1st spot somehow for the rest of the season

[Proccy]

Well done Peljam and great update once again! Your reviews really want me to get that African job! I've got the start of December and we lie in 10th place, about 5 points clear of bottom placed Morton. My away record is appaling with 1 win and the rest losses and our OK home record is the only thing keeping us up and me here! I might leave soon and wait for the African Nations casualties to come round. I think this could be the boost that my rep needs!

[dafuge]

2014/15 Season Review

After winning the playoffs last season it was just a case of staying in League One.

League Table

League Positions Graph

Was a bit of a mixed season, I had a good run in the middle which got me close to the playoffs but my goalie got injured for a month whcih affected my form. You can see on the graph when he returned.

Squad

Transfers

I stuck with the same squad yet again, the only signings were the usual loans from Fulham and a couple of backup goalies to cover for the injury to Perry.

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

2014/15 St Albans England League 1 14th

</pre>

[dafuge]

Finally got my first job offers, after applying for loads of jobs Prato and Varese have approached me, both of them are tiny clubs who have just been promoted to Serie C1/A.

St Albans have also offered me a new contract early, with a year left on my current one. This persuaded me that it would be a bad idea to manage at a much lower standard just to move abroad. I think I'll stay a little longer.

[starburst91]

I thought serie C/1A was about the same standard, since its also the 3rd tier of a big country in football, I mean im in C/2 and i've got much more quality than alot of Division 2 sides

[dafuge]

Originally posted by starburst91:

I thought serie C/1A was about the same standard, since its also the 3rd tier of a big country in football, I mean im in C/2 and i've got much more quality than alot of Division 2 sides

The teams near the top of that division are better than St Albans but those two had only just been promoted from an unplayable league so they were pretty poor.

[ToMexico!!]

dafuge do you not feel that your career is turning into your own challenge? i know your progressing nicely up the leagues but have you not thought i would like a new start with your career...i would have certainly jumped ship soon as i had lost the play off final.

[dafuge]

Finally made my move \o/

I'm the new manager of Bassano Virtus who have possibly one of the coolest club logos ever.

[dafuge]

Originally posted by ToMexico!!:

dafuge do you not feel that your career is turning into your own challenge? i know your progressing nicely up the leagues but have you not thought i would like a new start with your career...i would have certainly jumped ship soon as i had lost the play off final.

It wasn't intentional, I have been applying for jobs for years but no one would approach me until now. I have been desperate to move for ages.

[starburst91]

The teams near the top of that division are better than St Albans but those two had only just been promoted from an unplayable league so they were pretty poor.

They can't have been just promoted from unplayable league, unless you mean they've been promoted twice or something. Good look with bassano virtus though, there seems to be alot of us in serie C now =P

[dafuge]

Originally posted by starburst91:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The teams near the top of that division are better than St Albans but those two had only just been promoted from an unplayable league so they were pretty poor.

They can't have been just promoted from unplayable league, unless you mean they've been promoted twice or something. Good look with bassano virtus though, there seems to be alot of us in serie C now =P </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I meant unplayable for me, I've only loaded the Italian leagues down to C1 on my game.

Looking forward to managing in Italy, it's been ages since I've played there on FM.

[Proccy]

Damn! Just realised that there isn't an African Nations Cup in 2009. I could have sworn that they were every year. Are they not? Now I don't know what I'm going to do regarding my career (see posts above).

[follow the blind]

Just took over NK Novalja in the croation second divison. Have no transfer funds and and a wage budget of 9.5 k a week.

NK Novalja

The Squad

Profile

Got nothing today so im gonna try and finish the season

[Proccy]

Right. I think I've decided to stick it out with Inverness CT until the end of the season (when my contract runs out) and then make a decision regarding my future then. The thing is, my board are quite pleased with me, but I don't know if they'll offer me a contract and, if they do, whether I'll take it. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks for reading!

[ToMexico!!]

Originally posted by Proccy:

Right. I think I've decided to stick it out with Inverness CT until the end of the season (when my contract runs out) and then make a decision regarding my future then. The thing is, my board are quite pleased with me, but I don't know if they'll offer me a contract and, if they do, whether I'll take it. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks for reading!

Just keep your options open, if there are no jobs available that tickle your fancy just sign a new 1 year deal with Inverness at least then your still at a club and possibly enhancing your reputation. Unless you want a new challenge and are willing to drop down to a lower standard to manage in a different country.

[ToMexico!!]

oh a good luck f.t.b

croatia a country i've yet to manage in.

[starburst91]

My contract runs out at the end of the season and if i don't get promoted i'll probably leave, coz if I don't get promoted I can see my wage budget dropping and alot of good players having to leave =(

[starburst91]

OMGWTFBBQ! there team just scored a really bad own goal, and it got dissallowed because the assistant said my player was offside? the player who was meant to be offside wasn't involved and was on the wing... grrr

[Peljam]

Ta everyone Glad success for the Leopards is going down well! I should have the World Cup played and update written sometime tomorrow I think.

Originally posted by Proccy:

Damn! Just realised that there isn't an African Nations Cup in 2009. I could have sworn that they were every year. Are they not? Now I don't know what I'm going to do regarding my career (see posts above).

They are every two years according to my game, 08 onwards. The qualifying will be in 09, as well World Cup Qualifying. There might still be job's going with smaller teams who underachieve. I'd keep an eye on them and then if a reasonable sized one comes up take the jump.

Sounds like a make or break season for you Starburst. Good luck with promotion!

[dafuge]

Things aren't going to well at Bassano Virtus, I just set a new record of going 12 games without a win

I was planning on playing one season with the existing squad then having a clearout at the end, but at this rate I might find myself without a job due to relegation.

My finances are also a worry, the club is losing around £1.3m a season which is another reason I could fins myself out of a job.

[happy slappy]

When I first took over as St. Albans my first signing was Boncho Genchev, why you ask?

Well, because I believed that his knowledge of Bulgaria would benefit me, two years later and it has, just looked on my player search screen and this player appeared, so I signed him up and haven't looked back since.

My coaching team believe that he will be a good signing for a Championship side.

Coach report.

[starburst91]

OMG BONCHO GUENCHEV WHAT A LEDGEND!!! xD I signed him at bath city and eventually made him my assistant manager xD he scored in his debut then his condition didnt recover for like 4 months and I gave him the assistant manager job at the end of the season xD

[Peljam]

Rodrigo De La Vega - 2018 - DR of Congo

"We could go into the World Cup brimming with confidence! Even though we a) had a tough group (We were drawn against Spain, Serbia and South Korea. Not only were all three above us in the rankings but they all had decent squads. Spain were looking for their 3rd consecutive World Cup!) b) Samba the captain had stepped down. Just from the Captaincy but it was a bit of shock. Understandable that he wanted to go out on a high but I would have thought the chance to Captain the side through the World Cup would have been tempting!"

Before the World Cup started we had a single friendly against Bolivia. With hindsight it would have been more useful to play a better team but I didn’t know when I arrange the friendly that we would be AN champions before the World Cup. Our stock had risen and the media felt the match was little more than a chance for caps to be added. They were right, for once. We beat them

Not much else happened in the interim expect a lot of job speculation, this time with some English clubs too. Leicester were apparently interested if they didn’t keep their manager, the same with Hull if they didn’t extent Holloway’s contact (They had just been relegated to league 1!). Hull was a very tempting job, I lived here a while and count myself as an honorary Tigers fan. So I started stirring things up and announced I was interested. The Hull Chairmen responded favourably and things looked good. I wouldn’t know until after the excitement of the world cup though.

There weren’t many injuries so I was able to select a 23 man squad that didn’t differ much from the one which lifted the African Nations. That didn’t help our odds though. Very unflattering indeed. I was hoping to get a least 4 points in the group stage, and that we would somehow scrape through. The FA and fans weren’t expecting as much as that though. They seemed to share the bookies opinion’s and felt we should just enjoy the experience.

In Group A we had Serbia first, followed by S.Korea and then Spain. I was quite pleased with the arrangement as hopefully I’d have the points I needed before the frankly terrifying Spain game. However if I didn’t play well enough in the first too matches it could leave everything hanging on the toughest match.

The other groups were:

B – Norway, Japan, Senegal, Italy

C- Nigeria, Brazil, Croatia, USA

D- Ivory Coast, Poland, Mexico, Argentina

E- Egypt, Turkey, France, Australia

F- Saudi Arabia, Germany, Columbia, Holland

G- Czech Republic, Peru, Greece, Iran

H- Portugal, England, Uruguay, Costa Rica

I predicted that Senegal, Italy, Croatia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Turkey, France, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal and of course England, would make it through the groups along with Spain and my team (of course!).

WC- Group A – Serbia

Their team looked like it had potential to cause us a lot of problems and they did. They really went at our defence and forced us to make a lot of last ditch clearances and tackles. It was a tense match from the start. We however caused just as many, if not more problems, for their defence. The fact we were 3 goals up by 20 minutes attested to that. LuaLua opened things up with a trademark rocket from well outside the area. Serbia dropped back to stop him passing but just gave him the space he need to blast a powerful curving shot into the back of the net. Ndlundulu then went and got himself a deserved brace. One from a corner, mere seconds after hitting the post, and then one where he coolly slotted a perfect pace from Mongongu past the keeper. Serbia pulled a goal back just before half time and then managed another five minutes after the restart. Alarms went off then. A comfortable lead had suddenly disappeared and they were back in it. Ndlundulu kept causing them problems though. To point where he got us a penalty. Malonga tapped it home and we had a cushion again.

Final Score: 4-2

WC- Group A – S.Korea

Again a team that looked like they could put up a hell of a fight but we needed some points from them. 1 at least to have a chance of getting through, 3 ideally to send us through for certain. I stuck with the same team and hoped that new star Ndlundulu would be firing on all cylinders.

S.Korea passed it round really well. It was both impressive and scary to see. They reminded me a bit of my team when we were on top form. The way some of the balls were cutting through what laughably passed as our defence was embarrassing. By half time they were two goals up and clearly deserved to be. In the dressing room I switched the hair dryer treatment on for them all. When we came out not only did we play a bit better but S.Korea seemed to have switched off a little bit. A good move saw S.Korea put the ball in their own net. In all fairness though if their defender hadn’t then goal hungry Mbele who was hanging off his shoulder would have done. Then Ndlundulu came alive and bagged himself a goal too. With the score all level S.Korea came back at us again and started out passing us again. With five minutes to go not only did they score a fine goal but my defender Banda lost his rag and complained one too many times. Going down to 10 men then was horrific timing so I threw caution to the wind and replaced my two wingers with strikers, stretched the three remaining defenders across the back to cover the gap and went for all out attack. We got a corner in injury time that even our keeper came up for. I like to think it was the confusion he caused that allowed Mongongu to poke a cheeky equaliser in!

Final Score: 3-3

So it came down to the last match. Spain were already through with 6 points, we were second with 4, S.Korea were 3rd with 1 and Serbia were dead last. A point or more, however unlikely, against Spain would put us through no matter what. If we lost and S.Korea won then it was down to goal difference.

WC- Group A- Spain

We played well for the first 15 minutes. While we weren’t overly threatening we were creating chances and stopping them. Foolishly I started to think we might be able to perform a spot of giant killing. It wasn’t to be though and despite the fact we had the better of the possession and chances the Spanish talent shone through. Bojan bagged a spectacular brace in the first half and Bueno finished it off in the second. To our credit we didn’t stop fighting though.

Towards the end of the match I had an eye on the latest scores….Serbia scored on the 90th minute, putting us through to face….Italy!

So we were through which was an achievement in itself I think. We had played better than expected but the Spain match had put us in our place. Success in Africa didn’t matter here. Here we were minnows. I didn’t much fancy my chances against the Italy side but now I felt the pressure was off. To get to the knockout stage was what I’d aimed for, everything else now was a bonus. We had proven that we weren’t just there to make up the numbers. I had to be realistic though, with the pool of players at our disposal we were never going to really challenge for the World Cup. Some African Nations could but our pool was too small, and often poached by the likes of France.

WC- Second Round – Italy

They were one of the co-favourites and had a jaw dropping amount of depth in their squad. All that aside though we went all out and really went at them. We had most of the possession and our defence really stepped up and stopped almost every attacking move they had in it’s tracks. Just before half time we whipped in a low cross and Ndlundulu managed to turn it in. We were a goal up at half time and deserved it. They put us under a lot of pressure though and equalised on the 62 minute. We were back on top after that but on the 87th minute the ref let a clearly offside goal stand and we were out. No amount of tactical tweaking could save us here and our World Cup came to an end.

Final Scoure 1-2

I was livid and let the press know about it. I wasn’t punished in any way for my outburst. The authorities were very quiet as I clearly was in the right. I don’t mind being knocked out when I’ve been fairly beaten but this just didn’t feel right. All in all though we had played a good tournament for a small team and had done ourselves proud. The fans and FA were happy.

I did need to reassess the squad though, and more importantly the pool. There weren’t many players at our disposal. Just enough to make a decent 23 man squad really. There was no decent depth beyond that, and more worryingly a lot of the youth players were either quite poor and not in a good place to develop or they were half decent but devoted to their adopted nation of France. I had 3 key defenders well over the age of 30 and none of the rest were younger than 28. In midfield I had 3 over 30 players, a couple between 28 and 30 and then a couple of fringe players at 26. Upfront I had 3 over 30, 2 at 28 and then 2 younger players. It was an aging squad so I think I may just stick around to defend the African Nations and then call it a day with them.

That decision is made a little easier by the fact that I was offered the Hull job, and I took it. I had turned down a job with Taranto just before hand and I hope I don’t regret it. They were going to offer me a transfer budget of just over 5 million! Whereas Hull only offered me 150k, which oddly dropped to nothing when I actually accepted the job. Hull are a financial mess at this moment. A lot of players have already jumped ship, or are in the process which means I have 14 first team players to work with and not much money to improve matters.

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

2018 DR of Congo African Nations Champions

2018 DR of Congo World Cup 2nd Round

[Peljam]

That didn’t help our odds though

There's always something. I really need to read my updates more closely before posting.

The eventual World Cup winners were Argentina in a 3-2 win over Holland. Lots of international jobs have now come up. I'm sort of tempted but I think I'll stay loyal to the Leopards for one more competition.

[Proccy]

Well done Peljam and thanks the advice from everyone.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but how do you get keepers up for corners in the dying moments? My keepers have never come up and I don't know how to do so.

[Peljam]

I set my team mentality to all out attack, on the slider, if I want it to happen. Like I did in the S.Korea match. However I think another way would be to look at attacking corner instructions and set your keepers instructions to Forward or indeed any of the instructions that are in the box.

[happy slappy]

Happy Slappy's Career. St. Albans. 2008/2009

Well, in my last update I said I'd get promotion and I did, here is the final table.

Final Squad - There are one or two loan players but this is the bulk of the team, what really stood out was the amount of goals that were scored by my three ST's, 47 goals between them, if neither of my front two (Ryan and White) were scoring then Clarke would pop up off the bench and whack in a few.

My POTY - This boy was just immense, and at just 17 I am already hoping that he can continue with his current form and take in into next season, and if I can sign a more experienced striker t play alongside him then hopefully he can pick up a few moves.

Transfers - Pretty much a whole squad was signed this season and no wonder, after last season I needed a new squad, quantity and quality was on the agenda, and the players that were signed stood up to the task.

Finances - Actually improved considerably this season, though it may have been because of the FA Cup game against Crystal Palace where we made £200k+. Solid foundations for next season.

Aims for next season:

Consolidation, don't want to end back in the BSS so I will need to sign a few players who can make the step up.

Make more money, if I do, then hopefully the board will allow me to spend it.

[dafuge]

2015/16 Season Review

After finally securing a move last season to Italy with Bassano Virtus I was faced with the prospect of a relegation battle.

League Table

League Positions Graph

The media predicted I would finish 16th and that was exactly what happened, shame really as I had a good run of form at the start of the season. This put me in the unusual situation of playing a relegation playoff.

1st Leg

2nd Leg

Things had gone pretty well and I was all set for extra time when the game ended, then came a bit of a shock when I got this message. Gutted, what a way to finish the season.

Squad

Transfers

Finances

I thought the squad would be good enough to keep me in the league, but it obviously wasn't. The finances were a real worry so I was already planning to transfer list the entire squad to raise cash and sign a new team on free transfers.

Star Player

Scored loads of goals early in the season but went through a bad patch which seemed to affect the form of the whole team.

Job News

Since I've only loaded the Italian leagues down to C1 I will be facing the sack so I've resign and I'm currently at the job centre again.

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

2014/15 St Albans England League 1 14th

2015/16 Bassano Virtus Italy C1/A 16th Relegated, resigned

</pre>

[dafuge]

I've just got my new job - Notts County in League 2. Things look good, the squad looks reasonable and not too big, the finances look excellent and the board's expectations seem reasonable. Hopefully I can get them promoted within a few seasons and perhaps take them a bit further before looking abroad again.

[starburst91]

Unlucky dafuge Hopefully you'll find another job in that tier of football I just got a message about how the montevarchi cheifs are worried they might lose me at the end of the season when my contract runs out Maybe thats hinting that I might get a really good job offer xD if not i'll stick with montevarchi

[Proccy]

Originally posted by Peljam:

I set my team mentality to all out attack, on the slider, if I want it to happen. Like I did in the S.Korea match. However I think another way would be to look at attacking corner instructions and set your keepers instructions to Forward or indeed any of the instructions that are in the box.

Alright cheers. Do you set the mentality at the start of the game or just in the last few minutes?

A mini update on my career. In the middle of February, managed to hold Rangers 1-1 at home in the league but then they got their revenge, winning 6-0 at my place in the Scottish Cup. Then, I held Aberdeen at home 1-1. For some unknown reason, my job status on the Job Security screen is 'Very Secure'. Maybe I will be getting that new contract offer then

[ToMexico!!]

Good luck Dafuge!

What is your reputation like now? has the relegation/resignation affected it?

nearing the end of my second season with Vibonese. Should have an update ready tonight for you all!

[starburst91]

:O I've just been linked with my dream job at grimsby town xD

[dafuge]

Originally posted by ToMexico!!:

Good luck Dafuge!

What is your reputation like now? has the relegation/resignation affected it?

nearing the end of my second season with Vibonese. Should have an update ready tonight for you all!

Still regional, so hopefully I can build it up in a season or two at Notts County and get a bigger job.

[Peljam]

Originally posted by Proccy:

Alright cheers. Do you set the mentality at the start of the game or just in the last few minutes?

A mini update on my career. In the middle of February, managed to hold Rangers 1-1 at home in the league but then they got their revenge, winning 6-0 at my place in the Scottish Cup. Then, I held Aberdeen at home 1-1. For some unknown reason, my job status on the Job Security screen is 'Very Secure'. Maybe I will be getting that new contract offer then

I do it in the final five minutes or so if I'm going all out for the win and I don't mind about the goal difference.

Here's hoping for the new contract!

Unlucky with the relegation play offs Dafuge, good luck with Notts County though.

Grimsby Starburst? I just beat em 4-0 with Hull Apparently they are our arch rivals.

[starburst91]

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS xD (update coming soon)

[ToMexico!!]

08/09 - Vibonese - Serie C2C

After the recovery operation of last season, the board wanted me to establish the club as a Serie C2 side. I set my goals a little higher of at least the playoffs. I had the players and the tactic to do such a thing.

With a few squad players on reasonable wages leaving it freed up some money to pay some better players to come in. Full backs were a problem as previously they were both loanees. Close season saw us bring in Zigor Aranalde and George Abbey come in for free's. I managed to bag Serie A side Reggina as my parent club. Raiding them for a GK, DC and a AML/ST helped my side no end.

The Coppa Italia was up first, drawn in a tight group, we managed to progress as group winners but got beat 4-3 on aggregate by Spezia in the first round proper.

We started the league well winning 4 of the first 6 games, another defeat left us 5th before an amazing 17 game unbeaten run shot us up to the top spot, 6pts clear of Martina in 2nd.

January came round and player contracts were up, this seasons star striker Valente rejected my contract offer and decided he would leave in July. Argentinean side Colon came in with an offer for Villa my star DM, knowing my finances were depleted and he was a player i could get some cash out of; I restructured the deal to 100k upfront, 100k over 24months with 25%/friendly on top. Good business. Transfers

We continued our great league form into the second half of the season only losing one more game. We managed to secure Promotion and the title with 2 games in hand. Table

We have a small squad but with the higher rep for next season and some money i can add some quality to the squad. Squad

Finances were helped greatly with the sale of Villa. May even get a transfer budget next season. Finances

We punched above our weight all season to be quite fair. The media predicting us a mid table 10th. Promotion was more than what i expected before the season started and am pleased with the outcome. We will need to strengthen vastly in the pre season and get rid of the old timers. Although my contract is up and no hint of a new one yet. Although i will sign a new contract i will keep my options open for the future on whether i decide to move to a different country if the right job comes up.

Aims for next season

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Sign new contract

<LI>Replace aging players with quality youth

<LI>Avoid Relegation

<LI>Progress in the Coppa Italia cup

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

Season Team League Finished Achiements

07/08 Vibonese Serie C2C 8th -

08/09 Vibonese Serie C2C 1st Promotion

</pre>

[starburst91]

Season 2009/10 - Montevarchi

Media Prediction 12th - Finished 1st

After coming 11th last season I aimed for a top half finish, but the media only thought I could acheive 12th, I brought many players in replacing much of the squad (due to the fact that montevarchi were previously a non league team so after they got promoted they had replaced all the grays with whatever free's they could get cheaply presumably)

But I acheived much more than I expected :O

League Table

I was near the top for most of the season after an average start, My signings all settled in and they all turned out to be great signings! My defence was solid and I only conceded 17 all season

Transfers

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/3109/montevarchisquadeh2.jpg

Overall it was a great season, one of my best ever, and the best player has to be Marchi, Not only was he my top scorer, but he had the most assists and the most man of the matches! What a great contribution from my signing =)

To top the season off we won the C2 Super Cup which was a nice little addition to my CV I also decided to sign a new contract with montevarchi. I think we will actually cope quite well in the serie C1 league, because I have a young team and its improving through the season, I'll mainly be replacing weaker links (got a great right midfielder coming in) and bringing in a few exciting young players (got a pretty good looking regen striker who signed for us too) So wish me luck for my adventure into a higher league =O

Career so far

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Season Team Country League League Finish Achievements

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

2007/08 Burhhausen Germany Regional Division South 4th None

2008 Burghausen Germany German 3rd division 8th when left Nothing again

2009 Montevarchi Italy Serie C2/C 11th Still nothing xD

2009/10 Montevarchi Italy Serie C2/C 1st Promoted Won serie C2/C and Serie C Super Cup </pre>

[starburst91]

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/3109/montevarchisquadeh2.jpg

God damnit

Squad

xD

[happy slappy]

Make or break time now, 16 games left and we are currently 3rd in the table, no way in hell are we going to catch up with Rushden who are 15 points clear, but the best we can do is finish in the play-offs, which isn't bad considering that we were only predicted to finish 19th.

[Proccy]

Originally posted by Peljam:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Proccy:

Alright cheers. Do you set the mentality at the start of the game or just in the last few minutes?

A mini update on my career. In the middle of February, managed to hold Rangers 1-1 at home in the league but then they got their revenge, winning 6-0 at my place in the Scottish Cup. Then, I held Aberdeen at home 1-1. For some unknown reason, my job status on the Job Security screen is 'Very Secure'. Maybe I will be getting that new contract offer then

I do it in the final five minutes or so if I'm going all out for the win and I don't mind about the goal difference.

Here's hoping for the new contract!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

OK then, cheers mate. I relly want this international job though. It is World Cup qualifying now, and the ANQ starts in September , so I need to hope a biggish African international team loses patience with his manager and then hires me!