AndrewFM Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Well after a few failed attempts at some journeymen careers, I have decided to start a game which I haven't tried before, it is a journeyman, but with leagues that are all new to me for Football Manager 2011. They are all fairly low quality nations, league-wise, so any job I get will be a huge task to achieve much outside of the country itself. I'm hoping this career will really show how off the DLR. I am starting off unemployed at the start and see what team I end up with. I will be starting in January 2010, Irish League season, so hopefully I can get an Irish team to start off with. Countries Selected: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Finland Hungary Iceland Republic of Ireland Switzerland Ukraine Database Size: Medium Player Count Approx: 34000 Attribute masking is on YouTube Channel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Season Overviews: 2010 - Athlone Town - Sacked mid-season 2011 - Waterford United - 4th in Irish First Division 2012 - Waterford United - 7th in Irish First Division 2013/14 - KSK Hasselt - 5th in Belgian Third Division B 2014/15 - KSK Hasselt - 6th in Belgian Third Division B 2015/16 - KSK Hasselt - 2nd in Belgian Third Division B (Promoted) 2016/17 - KSK Hasselt - 18th in Belgian Second Division (Relegated) 2017/18 - KSK Hasselt - 2nd in Belgian Third Division A 2018/19 - KSK Hasselt - 3rd in Belgian Third Division A (Promoted) 2019/20 - KSK Hasselt - 14th in Belgian Second Division 2020/21 - KSK Hasselt - 13th in Belgian Second Division 2021 - Drogheda United - 10th in Irish Premier Division (Relegated) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenwhitearmy Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Nice Title mate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamers Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 ICELAND, come join me in the worst nation ever Plus side: no foreign rules Flamers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Well after just a few days I was offered the managerial position at Athlone Town. Wiki page So they are in the First Division, wasn't expecting anything higher anyway, and the squad is semi-decent to say the best. I will need a couple key signings and I will also need new staff, but after a quick look at them just there, they're all on contracts until 2013-15 so it will cost way to much even for mutual terminations. This will be a tough first season I imagine, my prediction is to finish 9th out of 12, so there isn't too much expected of my team, hopefully I can change that though and get a top half finish in the first season then try push for promotion. I have organised 4 friendlies before the season starts, all at home to Wigan, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland. I had to pay each 3k, but I have been told I will get an estimated 20k for each game, this would really boost the clubs finances seeing as I started off with a balance of just 15k. Wish me luck, this will hopefully be interesting as it's the first time I've done any of these leagues in FM 2011 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioGio85 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Man of few words I see Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSYoungEsq Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Heh, not even the LLaMas have thread titles this short! Kudos! And good luck with the save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Thanks guys, nice to see everyone is paying more attention to the title than the potential of the save Ah well, at least it might attract people in to read the thing. My 5 friendlies against the might of the Premiership and Championship went ok, lost all of them but made myself a nice bit of dosh which will hopefully keep me afloat for the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
433tom Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I had a lot of fun managing St. Patricks in previous FM's. I'll be watching....... and BTW.. nice thread title. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 One word titles FTW! Oh and good luck too in your managerial career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the comments guys Unfortunately I forgot how **** Irish football really is haha. It's such a pain getting through it, but I will battle on, halfway through season 1 at the moment and doing................ crap It's gonna be a long auld slog Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Nooooooooooo, I have failed!! Sacked after 26 games in charge. To be fair I have been sitting at the foot of the table for the last 2 or 3 games and have been poor. I have a few injuries to key players but the team has been playing poorly. I can't even begin to express how annoyed I am at being fired so early on, vicous Athlone Town FC Well time to go and search for a new job, sorry to you guys who have been reading already and maybe expected me to do something decent with Athlone Town but sure here's a little twist for the start of my career, I will bounce back from this and become stronger, make my tactics better I suppose and just try and get a team I can win something with. Wish me luck on getting a new club with a kinder board Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambos Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Best of luck I have never managed in Ireland and im Irish. Says alot really........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Shame. Just keep at it, and something that goes well will come along eventually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Well a new job has come around for me almost a year after I was fired. Currently in July 2011 and I have been approached by Waterford United, which I duly accepted as I really wanted to keep on with an Irish team for the moment so I am delighted I have been presented with this oppurtunity. The team are currently lying 8th in the table and seem to be doing well enough, hopefully I will be able to be the right man to try and guide them to the promotion play-off places, being just 4 points off the cut-off for the play-offs and still with 20 games to go. The club is spending all of the available wages so I may try and get rid of one or two players and try spice things up a bit but overall the squad isn't too bad, and the club is in a fairly safe financial position with 75k in the bank. I think I may also organise some friendlies against some of the English/Scottish teams to garner some extra income. Hopefully I can use my year off studying new tactics positively and I'm sure Waterford United hope I can bring some success to them Should be fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSYoungEsq Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Well, at least a soft landing with a decent team. Best of luck with the new job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Yeah was a handy enough job to be offered, better than my first one with Athlone Town anyway. I just want to finish the season now so I can go through the team and make it my own. Hopefully with some players good enough for the next division up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I think the thread title is terrible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 I think the thread title is terrible. You can be so hurtful Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Season Review 2011 Well the season has been completed, and it was so close to being a dream half of a season for me. I finished 4th in the league, 1 place outside the promotion play-off places and only outside due to an inferior goal difference of 3 so very close, but it gives me confidence that I can go on and improve on it for next season and hopefully make a real push for promotion. Here's how I got on in the cups: League Cup - Knocked out before I joined the club. Munster Senior Cup - Knocked out before I joined the club. Senior Challenge Cup - Beat my old team Athlone Town then went out in the next round. Key Players Kevin Doherty Solid centre back that stayed injury free and I will need him to do the same this season to keep my defence solid and try keep those goals out. Alan Kirby Used to play for the club from 1998-2001 and I brought him back in the summer, which proved a masterstroke by me as he was ever present in my midfield and key to keep the team ticking over. Willie John Kiely Not much else I can say about this guy but a goal machine. He nearly went on a free but I tied him down to a 2-year contract. Hopefully he can keep up the good work. Facilities and club info: Manager Profile Staff Facilities Competitions History Best Eleven Pre-season 2012 Waterford United 1-5 Sunderland Waterford United 1-4 Fulham Waterford United 0-3 Bohemians Waterford United 0-2 Blackburn Waterford United 0-3 Wigan Waterford United 0-4 Everton Waterford United 0-3 West Brom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GioGio85 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 4 goals in it....close margins! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Very, but to be fair I wasn't really in it until the teams above me went AWOL on the last 2 or 3 games and let me get that close, but I knew there would always be one that would get the point needed to keep me out. All in all not a bad first half a season with them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 The on it's own means nothing at all. That's why the thread title is terrible. It means nothing. You may as well have left it blank. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 The means a lot to me though Nobby, it's just "The" to be honest I had "The" in the title thread and wasn't sure on a name so then I went and posted the thread and forgot to add to the title, I can change it but I am enjoying it at the moment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt123456 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Unlucky on the start with Athlone town and the sacking. They're a load of rubbish in the first season, although not as bad as Salthilll! Wateford United are a much better team. In fact they were a bit of a rival team for my Wexford side in the first few seasons, after inflicting my most humiliating defeat - a 5-2 loss in the cup. You should definitely be able to build upon their team for a promotion bid next season. On a side note, is Mark Farren scoring ridiculous amount of goals on your game for Derry City? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Yeah they weren't great, but I did get quite unlucky with countless matches being lost even though I had more clear cut chances. Farren has 20 in 27 and 19 in 32 for the last two seasons and he has 3 in 9 so far this season. He a monster in your game? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt123456 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Farren has been top scorer every season, 32 in 27 in the first season, with 17 in 30 being his lowest scoring season. He is an absolute monster, and I still can't work out why he's scoring so many. Sure he has good finishing and penalty taking but he isn't that good. I'm not letting the fact that he just scored a brace against me bias my opinion obviously. Oh and he was top scorer with 27 goals this season as well. Saying he is a thorn in my side is an understatement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Season Review 2012 Well, the ups and downs of football management. I have more bad news to bring to you my friends, the kind people of Waterford United have decided it would be best not to renew my contract, which I think is very unfair on me. Ok, the league was a bit of a disaster finishing 12 points from play-off places, which was mainly due to switching tactics throughout the season and finding the right one too late in the season. But my reasons for thinking it was unfair is that I had a squad there capable of challenging for the title and had brought in some youths from the Under 20's into the squad and they were all developing well, all pushing for starting places. Then I had a super performance in the cup which saw me lose 1-0 to Shamrock Rovers in a replay of the final, drew 2-2 in the original final. This great cup run led to me to qualifying for Europe for next season, Euro Cup, and what do they do to me? Don't offer me a new contract, and wouldn't listen to me when I requested a new one saying I still had to prove myself, which was difficult seeing as I had no games left!! I also brought their bank balance up to 750k which is a hell of a lot of money for an Irish team, especially after they only had 75k when I took over. Anyway here's some of the stats: League Table Senior Challenge Cup Munster Senior Cup League Cup Key Players: Vinny Sullivan Seamus Long Kevin Waters Joe Purcell Gary Murphy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 After 6 months contemplating his next move, Irish manager Andrew O'Rourke has decided to take his next step in management at Belgian 3rd Division club, KSK Hasselt. Well I've never managed an amateur club before so this should be an interesting challenge, hopefully I can make a career out of this save because I don't seem to be doing to well and this is a step back for me really. But I'll give it a go anyway and try my hardest as I always do Wish me luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Started the league off with a win, then in the second game I get 4 players injured and a sending off, ended up coming from 2-0 down at half time to 2-2 at full time. Not a terrible result Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSYoungEsq Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Good luck! The key with amateur clubs is to really hunt hard for a single gem you can polish and make shine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Season Review 2013/14 Well it was a successful enough season, finished off quite strongly which allowed me finish so high in the table, just one place off the top, but I still finished 18 points from the place ahead of me so that's going to be a huge gap to try and close for next season. Being an amateur club I find it hard to keep hold of my best players, with many gone out in the close season. But with that I can also bring in some good players for nothing as well. And my scouts have quite good judging potential so they are usually spot on with the quality of players I scout. League Table Belgian Cup Key Players: Claude Mobitang Kevin Oris Vitaly Zherebtsov Club Info & Facilities Manager Overview Staff Information Overview Best Eleven Facilities Competition History Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSYoungEsq Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Charleroi were extremely lucky, with 0 losses during the season! I'd expect that they really should have been within about 3 wins of you, not the gap they had. You should be able to overcome that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Yeah they did well not to lose, will still be a tough auld catch up though seeing as my team isn't the strongest. I'm playing a 4-1-2-3 with a DM 2 CM's and 3 ST's but I may revert to a 4-1-2-2-1 with wingers for the tough away games, might help me keep the defence a bit tighter. Although it does mean I will now have to go out and sign some wingers. Just got knocked out of the cup by a team in the division higher, could have been a different story. But won my first league game 4-0 so hopefully that's a sign of things to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 I keep changing my tactics for the wrong games When I change to the wingers and concede 2 then I change to the 4-3-3 and score 1 but always too late, and vice versa haha. Oh the fun of tactics. Still though, some nice results so far this season and I'm getting closer to the promotion play-off places. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachFlu Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 5th is a good finish with an amateur team. Are you planning to take them to semi-pro status/promotion etc, or moving on to a better club asap? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Good luck in Belgium. Amateur clubs are quite a challeng, at least you've got 300 season ticket holders though, and a decent sized stadium. That's a lot of positives for an amateur side! Not too keen on the green kits tbh. Looks like something a jockey would wear! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 5th is a good finish with an amateur team. Are you planning to take them to semi-pro status/promotion etc, or moving on to a better club asap? yeah the plan is to take them up at least one division anyway, try and get some stability as a semi-pro club and maybe push for professional, but it is a journeyman save so who knows where I may end up . Hopefully I can have some success with Hasselt first anyway, then see where I go. Good luck in Belgium. Amateur clubs are quite a challeng, at least you've got 300 season ticket holders though, and a decent sized stadium. That's a lot of positives for an amateur side! Not too keen on the green kits tbh. Looks like something a jockey would wear! Yeah they have a decent bit of cash, I just keep getting about 25k for my good players, so if I could make it to semi-pro status there is cash there for some contracts and then that would help me keep the better players, which is proving very difficult seeing as I am playing well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Just secured a play-off place due the 3 period system they have. I topped the table in the 2nd period so that's a huge weight off my shoulders for the rest of the season to have that guaranteed, but it won't stop me from pushing for the top spot as I don't like play-offs, nerves can't handle it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Season Review 2014/15 Well, another close call but couldn't push all the way to a play-off place unfortunately. It was always going to be a tough task trying to get into promotion places and I came close on securing a place through the period system but alas nothing come of it and I am left to have another go in the 3rd division. League Table Belgian Cup Club Info and Facilities Best Eleven Competition History Facilities Information Overview Staff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSYoungEsq Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Heh, Charleroi almost screwed the pooch on that one! It's always wiser in the end run to do it slow and steady, so you'll be better off for building up a stronger go at it next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Season Review 2015/16 Well, well, well, would you look at who just got promoted I ended up finishing 2nd in the league, an agonising one point from the top of the table, but I got promoted through the play-offs, which I hate because they are too nerve wrecking for my liking But we made it through anyway and can now look forward to being in the Second Division and also look forward to being able to sign people on part-time contracts due to us becoming semi-professional, which is a huge boost for the club as we can finally tie down our better players. And hopefully these better will bring their friends, sure who wouldn't want to play under the Third Division B Manager of the Season . It will be a tough ask to stay up in the Second Division but hopefully I can give it a good go, it would be massively disappointing if I ended up going straight back down, it will be a very important season for me and for the club itself. League Table Play-off Final Belgian Cup Club Info & Facilities Information Overview Manager Overview Staff Facilities Best Eleven Competition History Euro 2016 Group Stage A-C Group Stage D-F Second Round Quarter-final Semi-final Final So England winning the Euro's, who'd have thunk it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSYoungEsq Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Congrats on the promotion! And yes, going semi-pro is helpful, you will enjoy the continuity. You'll also get to enjoy demands for higher wages from players who aren't worth them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Congrats on the promotion! And yes, going semi-pro is helpful, you will enjoy the continuity. You'll also get to enjoy demands for higher wages from players who aren't worth them. Thanks, yeh I have already enjoyed signing some quality players on proper contracts and have also told a few where the door was when they were looking for ridiculous money, especially a couple of staff looking for €1600 a week haha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattSpurs94 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Thanks, yeh I have already enjoyed signing some quality players on proper contracts and have also told a few where the door was when they were looking for ridiculous money, especially a couple of staff looking for €1600 a week haha the greedy b*****ds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Tell me about it ha. The Second Division is proving very tough for my team, it's gonna be a very tough season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 I think relegation is a serious possibility this season not going well for me at all I've been switching between the 4-3-3 and a 4-5-1 formation and neither seem to be working for me, even though the team is able to play with both. Might switch to a flat 4-4-2 and try that way, difficult decisions to be made because I'm not sure with 14 games to go changing to a new formation is the right thing to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachFlu Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Congrats on promotion! Hope you manage to avoid the drop this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Season Review 2016/17 Bad news guys, relegation happened, it happened hard . I just for the life of me could not get a result, which was shown big time when I lost 10 games in a row, yes 10! Although I finished bottom of the table, I did think I was a little unlucky, while I may not have been able to stay up I could have made more of a challenge to try and stay up in my own opinion anyway. My tactics were't working in the Second Division and I'm down to the Division 3 A, I was in B before I was promoted so hopefully the teams are easier in this league . Here's a look at the league table, it doesn't make for good reading believe me . The Belgian Cup was again a little bit disappointing as I would like to be able to have a decent run in the future, maybe 6th round. Alas, my stay in the Second Division was not to be and hopefully I can go and stay as a semi-pro club because if I don't my whole team will be gone, along with my staff who have proved to be quite useful for me, especially my assistant manager and scouts. Anyway, if I can keep my usual starting 11 from this season I should be able to give promotion another push in the Third Division. Wish me luck, again . Club Info & Facilities: Information Overview Manager Overview Staff Facilities Best Eleven Competition History Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewFM Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Ended up staying semi-pro It is such a huge boost for me and I can see myself possibly going straight back up. I just deleted all the tactics I had made, 5 of them, and have started a fresh, hopefully my pre-season friendlies can sort it out for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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