[FM10] Restored to former glory?

[Northernpilgrim]

Nations Loaded:-

England

Holland

Portugal

Spain

Chosen starting point:-

Ajax Amsterdam FC

Founded in 1900, Ajax Amsterdam are a professional club currently playing in the Eredevisie. The club play their home games at the Amsterdam ArenA and possess top training facilities and an excellent youth setup. The club retains a fierce rivalry with Feyenoord.

Their greatest spell of success was in the 1970s, and they are the most successful club in Holland, having won 29 League titles in a total haul of 64 trophies, which also included 4 European Champions Cups and 3 European Super Cups.

The Current Situation

It has been six years since Ajax were champions of Holland, and for a club that's won the most Championships, that's plainly not good enough.

The aim

I will remain with Ajax until I have achieved the following:-

1. Restored the wealth of Ajax FC

2. Won the Dutch Eredivisie

3. Won the Champions League.

4. Won the European Super Cup.

5. Attracted a job offer from another club in a different nation that is in the category of 'fallen giant'.

[Northernpilgrim]

10 league games played, 7 wins, 2 draws, just 1 defeat, disappointingly away at one of the less fancied clubs, Roda JC. Qualified easily for the group stage of the EURO (UEFA) Cup, beating Belarus' BATE Borisov, before losing 2-0 in the first group game at home to Valencia, then beating Danish side Brondby on their own patch. We have a 3 point lead at the top, over the side who beat us, Roda JC. The other team in our UEFA Cup Group are Ukrainian side Metalist, who we face back to back in our next two European games, away first, thankfully. I can't help but feel that these two games will determine our European future. Valencia, I am sure will top the group, so it's a straight 3 way fight for 1 place in the next round.

[Northernpilgrim]

In terms of signings, none in, 2 out, fringe squad members Jina Lelo and Sergio Padt. 600K in the bank towards achieving the first objective on the list. I believe this team are good enough to secure objective 2, but will require serious strengthening to make a mark on the European stage.

[killakerr]

May I recommend signing Bernardo from Cruziero? Fantastic midfielder.

[Northernpilgrim]

May I recommend signing Bernardo from Cruziero? Fantastic midfielder.

Of course you can! Any recommendations gratefully received regarding signings in (or out), tactics, or even, with the nature of the career I'm attempting to build, teams in each country that fit the bill, or even international teams, as I'm not averse to taking that step once I've got a high enough reputation.

[Northernpilgrim]

Can't sign Bernardo Cruzeiro haven't put him up for transfer, and we can't afford the asking price. I'm probably going to have to wait until there's more money in the kitty from a title triumph, and hope that success in Europe follows.

[Northernpilgrim]

Managed 4 points from the 2 European games v Metalist, plus an unlikely 3-0 win in Valencia. 4 successive victories in the league, preceded sadly by a draw at FC Twente, and we've hit top spot.

Luis Suarez is on fire, 14 goals in 18 games, but the defence is in mean mood, conceding just 9 goals in 17 games. I get the feeling the team is starting to gel, and the season is shaping up nicely.

[parsfanjamie]

A good read so far I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

[Ruderic]

I love Luis Suarez. He showed in the World Cup that he's an incredible player.

[Northernpilgrim]

Disappointingly, we've failed to capitalise on beating Valencia away, and have slumped to a defeat at home to Danish outfit Brondby. This has resulted in us finishing runners-up in the group, and facing a tough game in the next round. At least the league form is still strong, 4 successive wins giving us a 1 point advantage at the head of the table, with Groningen in second. Just away games at NAC Breda and Feyenoord, sandwiching a home game against AZ Alkmaar, before the turn of the year. Time to start looking at which areas need strengthening, and which players haven't performed and need shipping out.

[Northernpilgrim]

We have played 17 games, winning 11, drawing 5, and still just that 1 annoying defeat blotting my copybook.

[Northernpilgrim]

My worst fears over the draw for the next round of the UEFA Cup have been realised, we've been drawn to play Arsenal, with the home game coming first. I'll be forced to go for it against one of the best counter attacking teams in Europe.

[Northernpilgrim]

The Arsenal games have exposed what I thought. We're definitely not good enough. A 0-0 draw at home was followed by a 5-1 drubbing at the Emirates. Our last 12 league games have been solid, if unspectacular, with 6 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats, and an overall record of P29 W17 D8 L4, giving us 59 points, 2 points ahead of PSV at the top. Former leaders Groningen and Roda JC are now 4th and 5th respectively, 4 and 15 points adrift. It's now a 4 horse race, with just 5 games to go.

[Northernpilgrim]

Of more concern is the January transfer window, with no incoming transfers, but the loss of Sulejmani, Castillon, Eriksen, Lodeiro, de Zeeuw and van der Wiel. One consolation is the influx of more than £25million into the club for team strengthening in the summer. Lets hope we can hold on to win the league though.

[Northernpilgrim]

Season now ended. Board only 'satisfied'. We managed to hold on for the Dutch Eredivisie title, just, despite an abysmal end to the season. 2 wins, 3 draws, 3 defeats from the last 8 games. Overall, 19 wins, 9 draws, 6 defeats from 34 games, 66 points. League title clinched by 2 points, but for me the misfortune we suffered in losing as many players in January as we did almost cost us dear. I definitely don't believe the squad we have now is good enough to compete domestically, and in Europe, the threadbare nature of this squad would get exposed by anything better than modest opposition. My priority over the summer is to spend as much of my near £20m transfer kitty as wisely as possible, and pick up as many quality free transfers as I can. If I can pull that off, we might just retain the league title, and progress beyond the group stage of the Champions League. As far as the five objectives go, numbers one and two achieved, but 3, 4 and 5 seem to be a million miles away.

[Northernpilgrim]

Summer signings:- Alexander Madlung, £1.7m, Radek Sirl, £3.3m, Ahmed Albahri, Free, Jose Manuel Pinto, Free. I've also added several promising prospects from the Ajax Reserve squad, most of which were out on loan last season. Overall, hoping that I've done enough to repair the damage of the last transfer window. Time will tell.

[Northernpilgrim]

Towards the end of the summer transfer window, and disaster has struck. Jan Vertonghen and Kenneth Vermeer both requested transfers, which I have had to grant. They have been sold for £4.3m and £2.5m respectively. I have added Kyle Walker from Tottenham on loan. The Champions League draw has been unbelievably unkind to us this time, and put us in a group with Sevilla, Manchester City and Bordeaux. I don't think our squad has enough strength in depth to get through that one. Ah well, there's always next year. The league campaign has seen us make a mixed start, winning the Supercup against SC Heerenveen, then beating Den Haag and NAC Breda in the league, before drawing at NEC Nijmegen and thrashing PSV Eindhoven (3-0) at home. 10 points from 4 games, plus a trophy already in the cabinet, but worryingly, the watertight defence of last season has started shipping goals, putting pressure on the front two of Suarez and Koen Van de Laak to produce the goals. Van de Laak has stepped up to the plate, scoring 4 goals in 5 appearances, whilst Suarez is yet to feature due to an injury, though he is in contention again now.

[SwiftyBlade]

I enjoyed reading this and will keep a regular check on it as I do like Ajax. Although, I do have a couple of suggestions, not saying you have too, because of course its completly your choice but anyway:

1) I would love to see some screen-shots of this, links to imageshack or post them as images on here, whatever you do is fine, I'm just one that loves screen-shots

2) Have patience mate, re-building a team is a tough job and if I was you, set yourself a '5 year target' or something like that, for me it keeps me interested in the save and something to slowly work on. But I have never been able to gain promotions etc with mediocre teams in their leagues, e.g: Coventry in the nPower Championship (hope that doesn't offend anyone )

[Northernpilgrim]

I'm pleased to report that, despite struggling to hold onto my star names, I've managed a good start to the second season (P12 W8 D2 L2 1st in Eredivisie). I'm a novice at this stuff and have tried to post screenshots without success, so will do periodic text versions of league tables, plus my regular team. I'll try to give it more structure too. Regards your situation, I've managed promotions with unlikely teams, even when they've been tipped to struggle, but I then end up leaving because I've taken them as far as I can. This is definitely a multi-year project though!

[SwiftyBlade]

I'm pleased to report that, despite struggling to hold onto my star names, I've managed a good start to the second season (P12 W8 D2 L2 1st in Eredivisie). I'm a novice at this stuff and have tried to post screenshots without success, so will do periodic text versions of league tables, plus my regular team. I'll try to give it more structure too. Regards your situation, I've managed promotions with unlikely teams, even when they've been tipped to struggle, but I then end up leaving because I've taken them as far as I can. This is definitely a multi-year project though!

Do you want a hand with the screenshots? I'm going to start a thread of myself in here soon and will be having as many screenshots as I can, I do have an idea how to do them and I can help you with them if you like... if not then of course thats fine, I don't mind either way mate.

[Northernpilgrim]

I'd love some help. I've got some screenshots saved on my machine, but can't get them from my file to here.

[SwiftyBlade]

I shall help you via pm, to keep this thread devoted to your career updates

[Northernpilgrim]

TRANSFERS 2009/10

IN -

1.1.2010 van de Laak, Koen FC Groningen £4M

Total £4M

OUT-

13.7.2009 Lelo, Jina Haarlem £5K

11.8.2009 Padt, Sergio Vitesse £130K

20.1.2010 Bonevacia, Roly FC Twente £28K

21.1.2010 Sulejmani, Miralem Shakhtar £4.8M

21.1.2010 Rommedahl, Dennis Free

25.1.2010 Osei Kofi, Rene Marítimo £14K

25.1.2010 Sneijder, Rodney Tottenham £800K

26.1.2010 Castillion, Geoffrey Tottenham £1.3M

29.1.2010 Eriksen, Christian Liverpool £1.4M

30.1.2010 Lodeiro, Nicolás Celtic £6.25M

1.2.2010 de Zeeuw, Demy Genoa £7.25M

9.3.2010 van der Wiel, Gregory CSKA Moscow £5.25M

9.4.2010 Pantelic, Marko Free

21.4.2010 Ogararu, George Free

3.5.2010 Verhoeven, Jeroen Free

Total £27M

TRANSFERS 2010/11

IN-

1.6.2010 Madlung, Alexander Wolfsburg £1.7M

1.6.2010 Sirl, Radek Zenit £3.3M

1.7.2010 Pinto, José Manuel Barcelona Free

1.7.2010 Al-Bahri, Ahmed Vitesse Free

20.7.2010 Walker, Kyle Tottenham Ln Fee £925K

Total £6M

OUT-

1.7.2010 Kappelhof, Johan RKAVV Free

1.7.2010 Martina, Javier Heracles Free

1.7.2010 Atouba, Timothée Deportivo £400K

1.7.2010 Supusepa, Christian Free

1.7.2010 Will, Nathaniel Free

1.7.2010 Deniz Aslan Free

1.7.2010 Jongebloet, Renaldo Free

1.7.2010 Lazic, Vlatko Free

1.7.2010 Lewis, Stanton Free

1.7.2010 Sousa Campos, Danilo Free

1.7.2010 Shakison, Randel Free

2.7.2010 Tayfun Candan Free

6.7.2010 Boilesen, Nicolai Sporting CP £775K

8.7.2010 Vermeer, Kenneth R. Sociedad £2.5M

19.7.2010 van Rhijn, Ricardo BV Veendam £35K

14.8.2010 Vertonghen, Jan Sampdoria £4.3M

Total £8M

EREDIVISIE 2009/10

1st C Ajax 34 19 9 6 47 22 +25 66

2nd PSV 34 19 7 8 40 19 +21 64

3rd Feyenoord 34 17 10 7 40 24 +16 61

4th FC Groningen 34 17 7 10 49 27 +22 58

5th AZ 34 14 9 11 51 38 +13 51

6th NEC 34 14 7 13 36 48 -12 49

7th Willem II 34 14 6 14 41 40 +1 48

8th FC Utrecht 34 13 8 13 43 42 +1 47

9th Roda JC 34 11 12 11 32 30 +2 45

10th NAC Breda 34 12 9 13 38 40 -2 45

11th ADO Den Haag 34 11 9 14 28 37 -9 42

12th Vitesse 34 10 11 13 34 38 -4 41

13th Heracles 34 10 9 15 33 42 -9 39

14th sc Heerenveen 34 9 12 13 27 37 -10 39

15th Sparta 34 7 16 11 27 34 -7 37

16th FC Twente 34 7 15 12 32 41 -9 36

17th R RKC 34 7 12 15 28 49 -21 33

18th R VVV 34 7 8 19 19 37 -18 29

EREDIVISIE 2010/11

1st Ajax 13 9 2 2 33 14 +19 29

2nd PSV 12 8 1 3 23 11 +12 25

3rd FC Twente 14 7 3 4 23 14 +9 24

4th sc Heerenveen 11 7 3 1 20 12 +8 24

5th Willem II 14 6 5 3 21 17 +4 23

6th Feyenoord 11 6 2 3 12 10 +2 20

7th Roda JC 13 6 2 5 12 10 +2 20

8th AZ 12 6 1 5 20 14 +6 19

9th Heracles 13 5 4 4 16 16 0 19

10th NAC Breda 13 5 2 6 20 17 +3 17

11th FC Groningen 12 5 2 5 24 23 +1 17

12th FC Utrecht 13 5 1 7 12 18 -6 16

13th Sparta 12 4 3 5 10 12 -2 15

14th ADO Den Haag 12 4 2 6 14 15 -1 14

15th NEC 13 3 4 6 13 21 -8 13

16th Volendam 14 3 3 8 10 26 -16 12

17th Vitesse 14 3 2 9 7 18 -11 11

18th Telstar 14 1 2 11 9 31 -22 5

[Northernpilgrim]

And current finances.....

General Finances

Transfer Budget (Season) £11,716,841

Transfer Budget (Remaining) £15,476,730

% of transfer revenue made available 100%

Sponsors 3 year main kit sponsorship deal at £2.35M per season. Ends 2013.

Loans Outstanding Bank Loan of £42.5M (£633K/per month until 30.6.2012).

Wage Budget

Total Wage Budget £461,285 per week (Including youth grant income: £1,425 per week)

Current Wage Total £326,765 per week

[SwiftyBlade]

Woah, when I saw your transfers my mind said 'he's doooooomed' then I saw your current league table and my mind thought 'huh?' You seem to doing a good job, any chance of putting your first team line up on?

[Northernpilgrim]

Here's my squad with current team selection. Normally it would be 4-4-2, with Luis Suarez partnering Van de Laak, and Daley Blind being the unfortunate man to miss out. As you can see, my squad has a lot lof injuries at the moment, and we are scraping, rather than getting results easily:-

GK Maarten Stekelenburg GK Superb 100% 23 - 7.10

DR Kyle Walker D RC Superb 81% 20 (1) - 7.26

DL Inj Vurnon Anita D/WB L, DM, M C Very Good 82% 13 2 7.20

DC Toby Alderweireld D C Superb 86% 11 - 6.81

DC Alexander Madlung D C Superb 85% 23 - 7.14

DMC Inj Daley Blind D C, DM, M C Superb 63% 3 (2) - 6.72

MC PR Siem de Jong AM C Superb 72% 17 (1) 3 7.04

MC Rasmus Lindgren DM, M LC Superb 84% 7 - 6.96

AMR PR Kennedy AM R Superb 77% 16 (1) 8 7.25

AML PR Ismail Aissati AM LC Superb 82% 9 (1) 1 7.12

ST Koen van de Laak AM R, ST Very Good 79% 19 (1) 10 7.28

S1 Unh José Manuel Pinto GK Okay 95% - - -

S2 PR Rob Wielaert D RC Superb 96% 10 1 7.08

S3 Gabri DM, M RC Superb 95% 11 (2) 2 7.09

S4 PR Jeffrey Sarpong AM LC Superb 95% - - -

S5 Urby Emanuelson D/WB/AM L Superb 86% 13 (2) 2 7.22

- Inj Suk AM/F C Superb 60% 16 7 7.20

- Darío Cvitanich F C Good 95% 21 18 7.04

- Inj Radek Sirl D/WB/M L Superb 73% 20 - 7.08

- Inj Ahmed Al-Bahri D RC Okay 75% 4 - 6.15

- Eyong Enoh DM, M C Good 95% 2 (1) - 6.87

- Inj Luis Suárez AM RL, F C Superb 73% 13 12 7.55

[Northernpilgrim]

Regards your thoughts on my squad, I'm in a position now to bring in a striker to boost the number I have to 4, and have a budget of £15m to achieve that, although I'm reluctant to shell out that much, as I don't want to use all my funds on 1 signing. Getting Suarez fit again is vital, but the pressure on him is massive, though I do feel unlucky to have both Suarez and Suk out at the same time.

[Deisler26]

Nice to see someone else managing in Holland.

May I suggest moving to a 4-1-2-1-2 or a 4-1-3-2? It's been devastating for me in the Eredivisie.

[SwiftyBlade]

Ouch, those injuries look pretty bad I hope they don't stay out for too long. Yes I saw your transfer budget and wondered why you hadn't signed anyone to replace the star names you let go.

[Northernpilgrim]

Yeah, the injury situation is bad, add to that the fact that Cvitanic is away on a 2 year loan, due back at the end of the season, and the threadbare nature of my squad is obvious. I've experimented with different formations, and tbh have been going with what my assistant says, if he suggests changing from 4-4-2 for any games. His advice seems to work pretty well, and I'll be taking him with me whenever I move on. As my original list of objectives stated, my first priority was the finances. Can't show it on here due to screen print issues, but we actually started with a negative bank balance, although bizarrely still a small ammount of money to spend. Hence why I needed to have the firesale, although some of the decisions were because the players asked to go. I had originally intended to soldier through the season without getting another striker, adding Cvitanic to the squad for next season. As you can see from his scoring record, I think he'll provide adequate cover for Suarez and Van de Laak. But the injuries this season have led me to believe we need another.

[SwiftyBlade]

I had originally intended to soldier through the season without getting another striker, adding Cvitanic to the squad for next season. As you can see from his scoring record, I think he'll provide adequate cover for Suarez and Van de Laak. But the injuries this season have led me to believe we need another.

Well if you wernt planning on signing one but now are due to injuries, have you considered paying a little for someone on loan?

[Northernpilgrim]

Transfer activity from January - July 2011:-

IN

1.1.2011 Seleznyov, Eugene Dnipro £10M

16.1.2011 Kucher, Olexandr Shakhtar £5.25M

OUT

17.1.2011 Schouw, Rik Telstar £10K

27.1.2011 Al-Bahri, Ahmed NAC Breda Ln Fee £20K

5.6.2011 Sno, Evander Free

30.6.2011 van Vugt, Sjoerd Free

1.7.2011 Bodul, Darko Westerlo Free

1.7.2011 Donald, Mitchell MVV Free

1.7.2011 Oleguer Free

1.7.2011 van der Meulen, Timothy Free

1.7.2011 Overtoom, Tom Free

1.7.2011 Zeegelaar, Marvin Free

1.7.2011 Aras Özbiliz Free

1.7.2011 Bizot, Marco Free

1.7.2011 Burnet, Lorenzo Free

1.7.2011 Dekker, Jeffrey Free

1.7.2011 Ebecilio, Lorenzo Free

1.7.2011 Jozefzoon, Florian Free

1.7.2011 Ottenhoff, Brian Free

2.7.2011 Manucharyan, Edgar NEC Free

Although there are loads more departures, only Al-Bahri has actually made a first team appearance. The rest are players my assistant rates as never likely to progress beyond the Jupiler League.

[Northernpilgrim]

Here's the 2010-11 league table, which has proven to be a disaster for Ajax.

1st C PSV 34 22 5 7 61 24 +37 71

2nd sc Heerenveen 34 22 5 7 63 33 +30 71

3rd Ajax 34 20 6 8 65 35 +30 66

4th AZ 34 18 8 8 45 25 +20 62

5th Willem II 34 15 9 10 47 44 +3 54

6th Feyenoord 34 14 11 9 41 36 +5 53

7th FC Twente 34 14 10 10 57 40 +17 52

8th FC Utrecht 34 13 10 11 39 34 +5 49

9th ADO Den Haag 34 13 8 13 48 38 +10 47

10th Roda JC 34 12 11 11 36 32 +4 47

11th FC Groningen 34 14 4 16 55 51 +4 46

12th NAC Breda 34 12 10 12 42 43 -1 46

13th Heracles 34 12 8 14 38 53 -15 44

14th Sparta 34 9 11 14 23 35 -12 38

15th Vitesse 34 9 6 19 26 45 -19 33

16th R Volendam 34 7 7 20 24 61 -37 28

17th NEC 34 4 10 20 33 62 -29 22

18th R Telstar 34 4 5 25 23 75 -52 17

[Northernpilgrim]

Basically, two things have cost us a shot at defending our league title. A meagre 9 wins from 17 away games, with 1 draw and a horrific 7 defeats, plus the number of goals we've shipped, which included 4-0 and 5-1 reverses in successive away games. To say I'm shell-shocked is not an understatement. I've gone from being linked with every job going, to being the Forgotten Man. I need to change things drastically, but with no money, it's going to have to be a change of system with the current squad. I sense there could be a bust-up between myself and my chairman though, as he hasn't got the necessary ambition to make Ajax a success.

[Northernpilgrim]

BREAKING NEWS Jamie Sheehan has resigned as manager of Ajax

BREAKING NEWS Jamie Sheehan has been appointed as the new manager of Real Sociedad.

[Northernpilgrim]

Gutted that it didn't go my way at Ajax. I backed away from the dispute with the chairman, but in the end, couldn't bring in the quality of players needed to achieve my long term objectives. I don't see this happening at Sociedad either, but at least with them being a second division side, I've got a couple of seasons worth of improving the team. I'll then look for a side that can fulfill my ambitions. Not really what I wanted for this career, but at least it'll give me the chance to re-establish myself in the football world.

[SwiftyBlade]

Northern, I sent you another message about screen shots. Did you get it? Unlucky on the Ajax front but hey ho, new challenge at Sociedad!

[Northernpilgrim]

I got it, but for whatever reason I can't get it to work. I've settled on reproducing the screen print in text form. My objectives are obviously different now, I'm just looking to achieve the objectives of stabilising the club finances, winning the Segunda Division, and attracting a job offer at a big club. Here goes my next adventure!

[Northernpilgrim]

After just a few months, and well before the end of the season, the big job offer I was hoping for......

[Northernpilgrim]

And the league table as it stands, the day I arrived at the club.

Pos Inf Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts

1st FC Twente 23 16 3 4 52 24 +28 51

2nd Feyenoord 23 14 6 3 46 26 +20 48

3rd Ajax 23 11 9 3 36 19 +17 42

4th FC Utrecht 23 12 3 8 35 33 +2 39

5th sc Heerenveen 23 11 5 7 41 30 +11 38

6th Heracles 23 10 8 5 38 29 +9 38

7th AZ 23 11 5 7 30 26 +4 38

8th PSV 23 10 7 6 36 24 +12 37

9th FC Groningen 23 10 5 8 31 32 -1 35

10th ADO Den Haag 23 9 5 9 38 41 -3 32

11th Roda JC 23 7 8 8 29 29 0 29

12th NAC Breda 23 5 10 8 29 31 -2 25

13th Willem II 23 7 4 12 27 34 -7 25

14th NEC 23 6 7 10 23 38 -15 25

15th Sparta 23 5 4 14 22 39 -17 19

16th Vitesse 23 4 6 13 21 39 -18 18

17th Go Ahead 23 3 7 13 24 39 -15 16

18th FC Eindhoven 23 4 2 17 19 44 -25 14

[Northernpilgrim]

Apologies for the lack of regular updates. Work commitments mean I can only grab a few minutes at a time, not really enough to play and update. However, as for future career possibilities, if things go well at PSV, the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and England's Fabio Capello, have both announced that they will retire at the end of the current season. I would like it to be the England job, as having a shot at being the second Englishman to win the World Cup would be priceless.

[Northernpilgrim]

The final table from 2011-12:-

1st C FC Twente 34 21 5 8 65 34 +31 68

2nd Ajax 34 19 10 5 54 26 +28 67

3rd Feyenoord 34 18 9 7 59 36 +23 63

4th FC Utrecht 34 19 6 9 53 42 +11 63

5th PSV 34 17 9 8 54 29 +25 60

6th FC Groningen 34 16 9 9 43 39 +4 57

7th sc Heerenveen 34 16 7 11 58 44 +14 55

8th Heracles 34 14 10 10 54 46 +8 52

9th AZ 34 14 9 11 41 42 -1 51

10th Roda JC 34 11 10 13 40 42 -2 43

11th ADO Den Haag 34 12 5 17 48 58 -10 41

12th NAC Breda 34 9 13 12 44 44 0 40

13th NEC 34 10 9 15 33 53 -20 39

14th Willem II 34 9 8 17 37 51 -14 35

15th Sparta 34 8 9 17 32 47 -15 33

16th R Vitesse 34 8 9 17 32 50 -18 33

17th FC Eindhoven 34 6 4 24 26 62 -36 22

18th R Go Ahead 34 3 11 20 30 58 -28 20

[Northernpilgrim]

Incidentally, missed out on both of the two jobs mentioned, but have been asked by Bert van Marwijk to take charge of the Holland Under-21s. Needless to say I've accepted, and I've inherited a side that's won all 6 of it's games in qualifying so far.

[Northernpilgrim]

Eredivisie table, 1st January 2013

1st Ajax 18 12 4 2 29 10 +19 40

2nd PSV 17 11 3 3 29 11 +18 36

3rd AZ 18 11 2 5 34 20 +14 35

4th sc Heerenveen 18 10 4 4 21 10 +11 34

5th Roda JC 18 9 6 3 19 12 +7 33

6th FC Groningen 18 10 2 6 23 14 +9 32

7th FC Twente 18 10 1 7 22 14 +8 31

8th Willem II 18 9 2 7 26 26 0 29

9th Feyenoord 17 8 3 6 23 18 +5 27

10th Sparta 18 7 4 7 11 10 +1 25

11th FC Utrecht 18 6 6 6 26 21 +5 24

12th ADO Den Haag 18 5 4 9 24 27 -3 19

13th FC Eindhoven 18 5 4 9 18 28 -10 19

14th Heracles 18 5 3 10 18 31 -13 18

15th NAC Breda 18 4 2 12 21 31 -10 14

16th NEC 18 3 5 10 17 34 -17 14

17th Helmond Sport 18 2 5 11 13 29 -16 11

18th Telstar 18 3 2 13 11 39 -28 11

BREAKING NEWS: Jamie Sheehan resigns as manager of PSV

BREAKING NEWS: Jamie Sheehan has been appointed as the manager of Sunderland.

[Northernpilgrim]

And the Premier League situation I've walked into:

1st Chelsea 21 14 2 5 39 20 +19 44

2nd Man City 20 13 4 3 40 19 +21 43

3rd Man Utd 20 12 3 5 39 25 +14 39

4th Blackburn 21 11 6 4 33 22 +11 39

5th Tottenham 21 12 3 6 36 26 +10 39

6th Arsenal 21 11 4 6 36 25 +11 37

7th Stoke 22 12 1 9 36 31 +5 37

8th Liverpool 20 11 2 7 30 23 +7 35

9th Aston Villa 20 10 4 6 37 26 +11 34

10th Everton 21 9 4 8 29 22 +7 31

11th Burnley 22 8 7 7 35 31 +4 31

12th Wolves 21 7 3 11 34 38 -4 24

13th Fulham 21 6 4 11 25 35 -10 22

14th Bolton 22 5 7 10 29 46 -17 22

15th West Ham 21 5 6 10 22 34 -12 21

16th Birmingham 21 4 8 9 19 28 -9 20

17th Sunderland 21 5 5 11 37 48 -11 20

18th Bristol City 21 5 3 13 23 39 -16 18

19th Middlesbrough 21 4 5 12 23 40 -17 17

20th Nottm Forest 22 4 3 15 24 48 -24 15

[Northernpilgrim]

I have resigned as manager of Sunderland and given up this career. I'm going to try and find a longer term challenge to try and keep my interest. I need something that isn't doomed to failure, but doesn't have the same problem that this career did, ie winning the domestic league happened in season 1, but there was no means to push on and achieve further success due to finance. I'm thinking a big(ish) Conference club that I can get promoted in 1-2 seasons, that will hold it's own in League 2, rather than coming straight down, to enable me to build further. Or perhaps a Championship club that won't demand promotion instantly, but is good enough to build into a team that can compete in the Premiership. Any suggestions for either scenario greatly appreciated. That's where this thread is going now, not what I had in mind but hey, there you go.

[jackripper]

cardiff city is a good shout. although promotion is on the agenda you could have the players like bellamy(if using update0 Chopra bothroyd and Koumas, finances are poor also adding to the challenge.