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The FM08 Career Thread

birdy123

By birdy123,
in Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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Getting frustrated too. Not been so lucky with loan signings. My top scorer from the last two seasons, Nicholson, has not returned for a third year as West Brom now deem him to have first team commitments.

Bottom of the table after 4 games, something isnt right. Been linked to a few league 2 clubs over the summer... i might have to see if there are any other opportunities available.

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lolleyj

lolleyj

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Is stafford improving, or any jobs your interested in?

i was asked whether id stay, but i said i will, despite wanting to say, well i love the club but you never what the future brings up :p, shame that isnt one of the selections haa

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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After a 2-1 defeat by Forest Green, Stafford lie 23rd in the table. Something isnt right and i see no way to fix it. The squad is good, but really, it is no better than a lot of teams in this division. It is a very strong league and Stafford just cant attract the top players. The time is right to move on and so on Saturday 18th September 2010, i resigned as manager of Stafford Rangers.

Its a shame as i feel like i have accomplished nothing in my time there. Having said that, until this season, the board were very pleased with my progress. I have established Stafford as a competitive side and guided them to the Setanta Shield, but i could not take them to the football league.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I have been linked to quite a few league 2 sides so hopefully i can make a swift return to management.

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fatski

fatski

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Lads...What can I say? Apart from the initial expectancy from yours truly that 'Arsenal Reserves' were going to, in the famous lolleyj's words, 'walk it', I was hit by a snag. Out of the 9 Arsenal loanees that I wanted, only 5 could play in the match squad. Not hvaing felt the need to buy anyone else, this was a problem, until I realised that 5 was enough. Unfortunately8 of them were on 3 month deals and left recently, in mid October, and I couldn't renew cos I had already used up my 8 short termers. What a waste, you might say. And you would be correct, as I now have a bare, bad squad.

Except for one man, maybe 2 if you count Mannone, who saves a very poor defence from being even worse.

The main man however, is Rhys Murphy, the Welsh sounding Londoner. He currently has this many goals.

Unreal, I think he might beat the hattrick;s in a season record, he has 5 already!

Oh, and I'm third atm, its tight at the top.

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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Cheers loleyj. I could have probably turned things round but i was pretty much out of the playoff chase already, being 12 points behind in September! I just never managed to get a settled squad and relied too much on loans to bring in any quality. That was the only way decent players would come to Stafford.

Anyway, i must have done something right. A day after declaring my interest in the Macclesfield job, they sacked their manager and offered me the job. Still no transfer budget but the wage budget is three times as high as it was at Stafford. They have a bigger ground, better facilities, a bigger fan base and they are a much bigger club. They are currently 6th in the table and i think this is a good opportunity. I could hold out for a better offer but i want to get straight back into management.

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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Regretting it already. Unlike at Stafford where i was making money, Macclesfield have been losing it. Last year they made a loss of £350k and their current balance is -500k. They are over their wage budget and have quite a few average players on high salaries.

First job will be to make them some money!

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lolleyj

lolleyj

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Yeh Fatski, they went up on my game salisbury!

And Yeh Robbo, cut down wages is key, 1 tip i dont know if you try this, offer new deals to people, like add on 5k to singnig on fee, and just try to take £100 pound of their wages..

it all adds up, if you can do it to 10 players!

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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I still think there is potential. They have some good players. They have a great keeper in Chris Keenan and some good wide players. They just need a central defender, a centre mid and a striker. The striker that they have been playing has good mental and physical stats but awful technical including a 5 for shooting.

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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Not bad. Never set the world alight but he was a solid player. I played him slightly out of position as a left winger most of the time and he was just as good there. Very good squad player as he can play anywhere along the left.

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lolleyj

lolleyj

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Okay thanks, im abit miffed, i sold someone who i would of kept as back up last year for 50,000 thinking ill get that for my budget, and yet i only got 9k, so the deal for the player i wanted (mark carrington) didint go through, im after colin daniel, but at the moment dont have enough :(

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dafuge

dafuge

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2024/25 Season Review

What a crazy season!

I started the season taking Wycombe into the Premier League for the first time. I had spent big and after a handful of games I found myself hovering just above the relegation zone, which was a pretty good achievement.

Then came the offer I had been waiting for, the chance to manage a big club. I quickly packed my bags and headed out to Spain to see if I could help Deportivo escape from the second tier of Spanish football. Things were difficult, I had moved after the transfer window had shut so all I could do was make the best of the existing squad. Unfortunately things didn't go to plan, despite improving their league position a run of inconsistent and unlucky results saw me sensationally sacked after just 13 games in charge.

I spent a few months unemployed turning down a few offers from the Championship before Middlesbrough finally came to my rescue. They were predicted to finish 4th but for some reason were languishing towards the bottom of the table. Again, I'd moved after the transfer window had shut so it really was a case of hanging on and trying to make it to the end of the season.

League Table

League Positions Graph

Just about survived, although the last day of the season was a nail biter. Going into the last game I was just one point ahead of my old club Wycombe, I was away at Man City, they were away at Chelsea. After about an hour I was 4-1 down and Wycombe were holding Chelsea 1-1, then things all kicked off. Two goals in ten minutes brought me back to 4-3 but I just couldn't get an equaliser. Then, in the 83rd minute, Chelsea scored. I was safe.

For the first time, I had a taste of European football in the form of the UEFA Cup. Unfortunately I was thrown in at the deep end as my first match in charge was in the 1st knockout round against Turkish side Kayserispor. Morale was rock bottom and there wasn't a lot I could de as they demolished us 5-1 on aggregate. I also had a decent run in the FA Cup, although that also ended in heartbreak with a penalty loss to Bolton in the semi final following a 4-4 draw.

Squad

The squad is full of ageing over paid players so I'm looking to rebuild it over the summer. I've already blown £36m they gave me on three great looking teenagers, hopefully that will just be the start of the new players.

Career so far:

Season     Team                 Country    League                 League Finish    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Started    unemployed
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  
2016/17    Notts County         England    League 2               9th          
2017/18    Notts County         England    League 2               3rd              Promoted  
2018/19    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Championship           19th
2019/20    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Championship           21st
2020/21    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Championship           18th
2021/22    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Championship           3rd              Lost in playoff semi
2022/23    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Championship           4th              Lost in playoff semi
2023/24    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Championship           3rd              Promoted via playoffs
2024/25    Wycombe Wanderers    England    Premier League         n/a              Left to join Deportivo
2024/25    Deportivo La Coruna  Spain      Liga BBVA              n/a              Sacked after 13 games
2024/25    Middlesbrough        England    Premier League         17th             Took over in February

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ToMexico!!

ToMexico!!

Posted
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Colchagua CD - Primera B - Chile

After the trouble of Gainsborough Trinity and not really wanting the job i decided to resign and look again. 5 months of holidaying took me into 2011 and a newly promoted team Colchagua CD were hunting for a new manager. I was promptly offered the job and signed on the 2nd January.

Looking at the squad it was very bare. Just youth players made up the team, well i say made a team, i meant filled 4 positions. I had no staff and were predicted to go down. Finances were fine for me. The club was that poor/rubbish SI didn't even know the size of the stadium and left it as unknown. SORTITOUTSI.

Media Prediction - 12th from 12

Transfer Budget - Zilch

Wage Budget - 1.92k per week

As i said above the squad was poor and needed much improvement. I gave it a total overhaul bringing in plenty of fresh faces. 14 to be precise. I raided the likes of Colo Colo for loan signings and fellow Primera B sides for signings. I picked up some gems which i thought would be able to do a good job and keep us up. Transfers I was unable to find a new second striker to play with Gallardo so had to use the only other striker at the club, 16 year old Godoy.

The league is split into 4 phases of 11 games, therefore 44 games being played over the course of the season. We started poorly, had a poor middle phase and ended poorly but managed to pick up enough points to stay up. We eventually ended the season a impressive 10th and 8 points from relegation. I was very pleased that we managed to stay up and this would give me the opportunity to improve the squad again and improve on that 10th place finish. Primera B

Squad/Stats

Top Scorer Gallardo - 19

Top Assist Godoy - 12

MOM Bravo/Gallardo - 4

Ave Rating Luis Bravo - 7.24

Finances didn't increase much over the course of the season but they also didn't plummet too much either. Although the reasoning behind for the loss is most probably due to me being £533 over my wage budget. Finances

Aims for next season

  • Improve squad
  • Keep within the wage budget
  • Improve on last seasons 10th placed finish

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PaulHartman71

PaulHartman71

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When have you ever seen a sunday league footballer being offerered a managers job at a BSP team ?

Steve Bull is the current Stafford manager IRL .

The aim of the thread is to have a career game, but if you start off with a reputation that high then you could easily get a job in the Championship or perhaps even the Premiership.

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dafuge

dafuge

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When have you ever seen a sunday league footballer being offerered a managers job at a BSP team ?

Steve Bull is the current Stafford manager IRL .

I think you've got to be careful not to take the manager starting reputations too literally, since they get translated once you start the game anyway. My reputation now is 'national' which has taken nearly 20 years to build up to and seems like the right reputation for a new manager to the Premier League.

Ideally, you want to have the reputation that is best suited to the club you wish to start with. There's no point having a reputation at the start that will attract Championship teams when you want to start at the bottom as this will distort your ability to get jobs in the future.

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PaulHartman71

PaulHartman71

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Harrogate Town - Blue Square North - England

Despite only taking charge at the start of March, I still had a challenging task in keeping my new team in the Blue Square North. Despite only having to manage the team for the remaining 9 games of the season, Harrogate were only 5 points above 20th place. The team was pretty rubbish, my assistant said that I needed to heavily strengthen it, but I didn't really have time. During the 9 games, I won 3, drew 1 and lost 5. These 10 points were enough to keep us in the Blue Square North.

Media Prediction - 8 of 22 - Looking at that I soon realised that I had joined a team that had heavily under-performed and if I was to strengthen the squad next season they could easily push for the play-offs.

Transfer Budget - When I arrived it was nothing, however the season budget had been £3.7K which even still isn't that much.

Wage Budget - £6.37K p/w - Our actual wages are £7.3K p/w so this needs sorting out during the summer break for sure.

Our overall finances at the moment is -£184K, which also needs looking at.

The squad I had when I arrived was pretty poor, but we had a few gems, one of which was the on-loan goalkeeper we had Chesterfield, Michael Jordan, he is not on the screen as his deal ran out with 2 games left to go. Up-Front though, Steve Burton and Danny Holland were both superb, and if I could build a team around them then I think we could do well.

Top Scorer - Danny Holland 22

Top Assist - James Bennett and Darren Dunning 8

MOTM - Steve Burton 6

Aims for next season

Improve Squad

Get the wage budget down

Improve on last seasons position

Get the finances into a better situation

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smithers08

smithers08

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I will play the game realsiticly though , for example if a championship club who are well known e.g southampton job becomes availbale , i will not apply fot it l chances are i will stay with stafford for 4-5 seasons , as my aim is to get them into the football league.

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Peljam

Peljam

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Championship Playoff final

Result

What a result \o/

Stats

Dominated them in terms of shots on target, could have easily been a rout.

Player ratings

My substitution made all the difference, coming off the bench to score the winner. Awesome.

Last minute winner! Congrats dafuge, good luck with Boro. Pity it didn't work out with Deportivo, there was certainly a lot more potential for glamour there!

Been away for a bit so it's nice to see how active this thread has got! I should be adding another DR of Congo update later as we enter the African Cup of Nations again.

On the reputation front, I think if you pick higher to begin with then theres a potential problem not just with the job offers you get (more from bigger clubs, less from smaller), but also with the players you can buy. It's my understanding of reputation and transfers that players are less likely to sign for a manager with a poor reputation. Who wants to entrust their career to a nobody? I don't know if it definately works like that.

Personally I think a big bit of this challenge is building up your reputation. It can takes years of languishing in the lower leagues until you finally get a break, and then your sudden increase in fame and rep can soon be set back by a bad season. The moving from club to club and the building up of your rep go hand in hand. Bigger rep to start with potentially means less of a challenge.

There are no restrictions though to begin with. It does just say play as a real manager would. I guess you have to decide whether you want to play as someone with a background in the football limelight before managing (footballer) or someone from the background (staff, newcomers). I do think pro footballer is a little bit too high for the challenge as that suggests the likes of Southgate and Keane. Maybe something a little lower as the upper limit would be more suitable to the general feel of the challenge. But if the level of reputation is declared before hand then thats fine, it's not like you're trying to hide it from us or anything :) I may take success in such a career with a pinch of salt though :p

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robbo3d

robbo3d

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I managed them. They are quite a profitable club as long as you stick to the relatively small wage budget. In two seasons there, i increased their bank balance from 75k to 500k. They still didnt give me any money for transfers though!

I found it frustrating because once i had assembled a decent mid table squad, it was virtually impossible to find better players that would be willing to come to Stafford. I had to rely on loans for any quality. After 2 mid table finishes in the BSP, i left them to join Maccelsfield. Stafford are currently bottom with a manager that is intent on playing players out of position and who has dropped many of my key players.

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smithers08

smithers08

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Last minute winner! Congrats dafuge, good luck with Boro. Pity it didn't work out with Deportivo, there was certainly a lot more potential for glamour there!

Been away for a bit so it's nice to see how active this thread has got! I should be adding another DR of Congo update later as we enter the African Cup of Nations again.

On the reputation front, I think if you pick higher to begin with then theres a potential problem not just with the job offers you get (more from bigger clubs, less from smaller), but also with the players you can buy. It's my understanding of reputation and transfers that players are less likely to sign for a manager with a poor reputation. Who wants to entrust their career to a nobody? I don't know if it definately works like that.

Personally I think a big bit of this challenge is building up your reputation. It can takes years of languishing in the lower leagues until you finally get a break, and then your sudden increase in fame and rep can soon be set back by a bad season. The moving from club to club and the building up of your rep go hand in hand. Bigger rep to start with potentially means less of a challenge.

There are no restrictions though to begin with. It does just say play as a real manager would. I guess you have to decide whether you want to play as someone with a background in the football limelight before managing (footballer) or someone from the background (staff, newcomers). I do think pro footballer is a little bit too high for the challenge as that suggests the likes of Southgate and Keane. Maybe something a little lower as the upper limit would be more suitable to the general feel of the challenge. But if the level of reputation is declared before hand then thats fine, it's not like you're trying to hide it from us or anything :) I may take success in such a career with a pinch of salt though :p

Southgate and Keane would be International footballers as rep , as they played for their countries . There arent many well known managers out their (English)who are managing in the top leagues , and didnt play for thei countries.

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