Crazy Canuck on European Managerial Tour - Hitchiking across the continent!

[rancer890]

After the death of my laptop HD, I lost everything in it (not a lot was irreplacable, well except my FM12 save.. ). Got a new laptop (ASUSN53SV-EH72) and redownloaded FM12 from Steam so I'm back and ready to go again!

FM12 - 12.1.1

Leagues loaded:

- 50 UEFA leagues bar Liechtenstein (which has no national league), Albania, and Macedonia (can't find files for them that don't involve registering for an account)

- majority of these leagues are from Unknown Hacker's file, while I used BurnCM4X's Malta and Andorra files, while using Hershie/Reiver's Cyprus file

- added real agents, real competition names, etc

- MLS is set to View-Only, and is the only non-UEFA league in this save

- Medium database, 123k or 125k players (don't exactly remember but near the limit I know)

Objectives:

- Win and win everywhere. I'm starting as a Sunday League footballer, with Canadian/HK manager Ricky Nakano.

- Going to start at the bottom. with a club from the 4 minnow leagues Andorra, San Marino, Luxembourg, and Malta

- Learn lots of languages!

- Have fun!

I thought of not signing players for this save, but I realize it's too irrestible not to sign anyone and this definitely isn't a one club save. Hopefully all these xml files don't crash when the next patch comes or else this thread will die a fast death.

[rancer890]

Career Summary: The Journey Across Europe

Chapter 1: F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

2011-2012

Chapter 2: Avangard Kursk (Russia)

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Chapter 3: Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)

2014-2015

Languages:

Default: Chinese, Cantonese, English, French

Letzburgesch (F91 Dudelange)

Russian (Avangard Kursk)

Awards:

2013-2014: Pervyj Divizion Manager of the Year Winner

Managerial Salary (Annual):

2011-2012: $0

2012-2013: $115,000

2013-2014: $115,000

2014-2015: $45,000

2014-2015: $50,000

[rancer890]

July 16, 2011

The lucky first club that I will manage in this save is....F91 Dudelange from Luxembourg! This club is the sole representative of the country in the UEFA Champions League and the club has already defeated San Marino club Tre Flori. We're facing Slovenian powerhouse Maribor, and have already lost 4-0 in the away leg, so I'm not expecting any miracles, since the club is technically Amateur...

Will post more info about the squad after the conclusion of the transfer window.

[SRL88]

Interesting place to start. Good luck .

[bjoggi33]

Good luck in Luxembourg! Your computer handling ok?

[rancer890]

Interesting place to start. Good luck .

Cheers SRL88!

Seeing that some people have started in Andorra, San Marino, and Faroe Islands, and no one had a save in Luxembourg, so I'm starting there, albeit with one of the stronger squads in the country.

Good luck in Luxembourg! Your computer handling ok?

It's no problem to handle this amount of leagues. I've done this before on my older one so this new i7 shouldn't be a problem.

My game crashed before the first game I played and I didn't save so I restarted the save and added myself as the manager and will have to replay the 2nd leg of the 1st qualifying round against Tre Fiori again as well as whoever we're facing in the next round if we get there.

[Diesel16]

Feel for the laptop death, went through one myself recently.

Good luck with the new save, quite like the name and badge too .

[Pete89]

Good Luck in Luxumborg

[Barney Butterball]

Looking forward to another long career rancer, good luck in Luxemborg

[Flamers]

Good luck! Thats a fair few players there!

[rancer890]

F91 Dudelange - Luxembourg - BGL Ligue

September 1, 2011

Transfers

Here is the full list of transfers that I've made so far. The list will probably get longer than more of my players get poached and I will have to sign their replacements...it's sad that I even lost a coach (who was being paid) so I got compensation for him unlike my players..I won't bother posting screenshots of all of them because I have no idea how often I'm going to play these players and some of them might leave in half a year anyways..

----

UEFA Champions League

1st Qualifying Phase - vs Tre Fiori (San Marino)

We got a draw in the first away leg 1-1 so we're already in good shape in the second leg..

2nd Leg: Dudelange 5-0 Tre Fiori

Well that was easy! Next up is Maribor from Slovenia.

2nd Qualifying Phase - vs Maribor (Slovenia)

1st Leg: Maribor 2-3 Dudelange

WHATTTTTTT???? This wasn't part of the script!!! The underdog amateurs from Luxembourg, facing the champions of Slovenia, and beating them at their home turf! Could we possibly go back to Luxembourg and beat them at home????

2nd Leg: Dudelange 0-7 Maribor

Never mind. Tournut's own goal came 9 minutes earlier than the away leg and I thought he did that on purpose for good luck but it didn't work out this time...so we lost 9-3 on aggregate.

In my first three competitive fixtures with the club, I have already experienced both ends of a big result, and a giant killing of a professional club, so hope the rest of the season goes well too.

It was still a win-win for us, as we managed to get over $500k in revenue from Champions League games. Hopefully that's enough to go Semi-Pro next season and keep some of our players.

[rancer890]

And cheers guys. Kinda fun being able to sign players for free (even though it is annoying that other teams can poach my players just as easily..)

[B.W.G]

You did brilliantly in the 1st leg against Maribor but I guess their quality showed at the end of the day.Good luck at Dudelange

[SRL88]

Great result away to Maribor. Shame you couldnt repeat the performance in the 2nd leg.

[deltablue]

Could manage to do something soon against someone.

[AK22]

Good to see you back. Best of luck with Dudelange!

[rancer890]

F91 Dudelange - Luxembourg - 2011-12 BGL Ligue

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures - A solid first season with F91 Dudelange. We were predicted to finish 4th and that's where we finished at the end of the season. Of course, I would have wished for a top 2 spot but we had 2 stints of bad form.

Coupe de Luxembourg - I'm happy that I have already won my first trophy in this career, with a 2-0 win over Fola Esch in the final.

UEFA Champions League - we did what we could in this competition. We'll be in Europa League next year though.

Transfers - lots of players in, lots of players out. Hopefully this doesn't happen again. I did sign 37 year old Khalilou Fadiga though!

Squad - here's the squad, well what's left of it at the end of the season. Key players this season who stayed till the end include Anel Pjanic and Paul Bossi.

Overview | Facilities | Finances

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Good

- winning a trophy

Bad

- we stopped playing for a while and that was the season

Ugly

- losing two-thirds of your starting XI to other clubs since they can sign them on a free. In total 23 players were 'sold'.

--

I will leave this club if they aren't semi pro by the end of June/start of July. No way I can handle another year from getting all my good players poached...

Career Summary:

Overview

Year        Team           Country        Position              Notes
2011-2012   F91 Dudelange  Luxembourg          4th        Cup winners

Managerial History

2011-2012 season - F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

[deltablue]

The cup makes for a decent start.

[rancer890]

June 17, 2012 - BREAKING NEWS: Canadian manager Ricky Nakano resigns from F91 Dudelange

DUDELANGE - Reports are coming out of the Luxemburg club F91 Dudelange that manager Ricky Nakano has resigned. Sources have said that Nakano has a chat with the F91 Dudelange chairman about the direction of the club in the future, and the manager was not impressed by what he heard. In a short statement to fans, he stated:

"Thank you all for your support! After a pre-season meeting with the chairman, I realized that our ambitions were not the same, and thus we have decided to go our seperate ways. I thank F91 Dudelange for giving me my first managerial opportunity in football and wish them all the success in the future. I am very interested in entering club management as soon as possible and currently comtemplating several offers from all over Europe. I hope to see you all soon in another managerial position!"

--

In short, the club didn't turn semi-pro so I left.

[rancer890]

June 29, 2012 - Ricky Nakano resurfaces in Russia, to join Russian Pervyj Division club Avangard Kursk.

KURSK, RUSSIA - The newly promoted Russian Pervyj Division club Avangard Kursk have officially announced the introduction of their new manager, Ricky Nakano, who previously managed in Luxembourg. Despite not knowing any Russian, the Canadian will have to steer the club away from the predicted finish of last place in the league. Nakano has said to relishing the prospect of taking over the club and proving doubters wrong.

He has a signed a two year contract worth an annual value of US$115,000. Transfer budget is set to $62,000 while the wage budget is $1.5 million, although $1.44 million are already committed on the current payroll.

More info to follow later.

[Diesel16]

Atleast you are back in a familiar climate .

What level in the pyramid are they?

[Raware]

Luxembourg too warm for you in the end? Back to chilly old Russia

[AK22]

Well done on winning your first piece of silverware. I don't think I'd stay around too long either, if all the first team squad disappeared on free transfers. Very frustrating!

[rancer890]

Atleast you are back in a familiar climate .

What level in the pyramid are they?

2nd tier mate.

Kursk is literally located on the western part of Russia, and not far away from Ukraine, so might be able to entice a couple Ukrainians to cross the border...only 3 foreigners in starting XI though.

Luxembourg too warm for you in the end? Back to chilly old Russia

I never really liked warm climate countries anyways. Nice that I'll be able to use my coats again.

Well done on winning your first piece of silverware. I don't think I'd stay around too long either, if all the first team squad disappeared on free transfers. Very frustrating!

I know, it was very frustrating and while other clubs in Luxembourg were promoted to the BGL Ligue, they turned semi-pro, but we stayed as an amateur club. Europa League wasn't enough for me to stay at the club.

[B.W.G]

Had a good season in Luxembourg.Good luck in Russia with Avangard Kursk

[rancer890]

September 2, 2012 - Avangard Kursk Summer Transfer Dealings

KURSK, RUSSIA - The Russian Pervyj Division window has now closed, and for newly promoted club Avangard Kursk, it's has been a period of strengthening the squad at short notice. Having no backroom staff and enough players for a starting XI and some subs, manager Ricky Nakano quickly took to the task of transforming his squad to compete and stay above relegation.

Summary

Here's a summary of the transfer dealings. Mr. Nakano's transfers have come on August 1 or after, with brief summaries on the players as said by the manager himself:

Dmytro Babenko - a new goalkeeper wasn't at the top of our list, but I think Dmytro is a quality 'keeper who has done well for us so far

Mikhail Kozlov - Mikhail was someone on our shortlist as my scouts found him. I had some discussions with my scouts and other backroom staff and felt he was a good fit here and we offered up a lot of money in transfer fees and salary to get him.

Mikhail Cherkashnev - I found Mikhail while scouting Russian trialists during pre-season. He caught my eye with the skills that he had and I felt he had good enough skills to become a solid player at this level. It might be hard thrusting him in the first team so early but we had a bit of an injury and he has held his own so far.

Pavel Novitskiy - he was found by my scouts unattached and felt he would bring a stable presence to the back four as a depth player but he's starting games and holding his own.

Ivan Knyazev - a solid player from our new parent club Kuban Krasnodar. You can never have enough depth at the centreback position.

Volodymyr Bondarenko - He was released from Torpedo Moscow and performed pretty well so I brought him to the club due to his veteran experience in Ukraine and Russian leagues.

Evgeny Kasjanov - young striker who will be given every opportunity to play in most games and make a contribution. He's done a good job so far.

Evgeny Shpedt - we needed a solid right back who could start games at the position and Evgeny has so far filled that void in the squad.

We have been very creative trying to bring all these signings under budget but I'm confident this squad has what it takes after these additions to avoid relegation.

----

Unfortunately, my creatively has led us to be US$200,000 over the wage budget so no more signings for now.

[B.W.G]

Some good signings made,good luck for the new season.Hope the board don't mind you being that far over budget

[rancer890]

Some good signings made,good luck for the new season.Hope the board don't mind you being that far over budget

Well as long as I keep up the good results the chairman won't have to bring over some not so nice lads to my house to teach me a lesson about budgeting and money management.

I can't even afford the money to sign Cherkashev to a pro deal, which is only doubling his yearly wage.

[SRL88]

Nice signings there Rancer. Good luck .

[City2000]

Did a good gob in Luxembourg, good luck in Russia!

[HotChocolate]

Looks like a great idea! Good luck with it rancer

[deltablue]

Well as long as I keep up the good results the chairman won't have to bring over some not so nice lads to my house to teach me a lesson about budgeting and money management.

I can't even afford the money to sign Cherkashev to a pro deal, which is only doubling his yearly wage.

Hope it pays off.

[rancer890]

Avangard Kursk - Russia - 2012-13 Pervyj Division

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 - A solid campaign saw us never in danger of the relegation zone for more or less all season. Not pleased with how we ended the season at all though.

Kubok Rossil - met expectations in this competiton. No complaints really.

Transfers - The AI's transfers were useless, but my own transfers were alright till the end of the season when we stopped playing altogether.

Squad - Needs a lot of depth to be successful.

Starting XI:

GK - Dmytro Babenko

DR - Evgeny Shpedt

DC - Nariman Gusalov

DC - Ivan Knyazev

DL - Pavel Novitskiy

MR - Mikhail Kozlov

MC - Volodymyr Bondarenko

MC - Igor Borozdin

ML - Dmitry Sannikov

ST - Sergey Zimin

ST - Evgeny Kasjanov

Other players:

ST - Mikhail Cherkashenev - yes I played this 15 year old, now 16, all season!!!

ML/MR - Sergey Lebedkov

DC - Vitaly Marakhovskiy

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

'The Craziest Game I ever managed' - Chernomorets (RUS) 5-5 Avangard Kursk - I'll let the screenshot talk itself...if you want, I'll post up full scoring highlights and a .pkm.

Honourable mention - Khimki 3-3 Avangard Kursk - And I thought this game was crazy enough.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Good

- avoiding relegation.

Bad

- having a game every 3-4 days meant that my squad was tired a lot, and we had a couple injury crisis.

Ugly

- the last 1.5 months of the season. Our defense took an early vacay and we had a little trouble scoring more than our opponents. Sad that you don't win a game when your striker scores a hat-trick...

- Some results to know during that span (club, minute of game-tying goal):

vs Terek: 83rd minute

at Neftekhimik: 91st minute

at Chernomorets: 85th minute

vs Gazovik Orenburg: 87th minute (gave up a penalty a few minutes before...)

Goals:

- more depth

- turns draws into wins

Career Summary:

Overview

Year        Team              Country       League          Position              Notes
2011-2012   F91 Dudelange     Luxembourg    BGL Ligue            4th        Cup winners
2012-2013   Avangard Kursk    Russia        Pervyj Division      9th                N/A

Managerial History

2011-2012 season - F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

2012-2013 season - Avangard Kursk (Russia)

[rancer890]

2012-2013 Old Clubs Watch:

F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) - 2012-13 - they had a shocking 2nd half of the season where they only had 1 loss from November 2012 onwards to the end of the season and they won the league at the last game of the season.

[abulezz]

Cherkashnev did well for such a young player - 7 goals in the league. He looks to be a star waiting to happen!

Congratulations on avoiding relegation, although you are absolutely right about the depth issue in your team, it seems.

[rancer890]

Cherkashnev did well for such a young player - 7 goals in the league. He looks to be a star waiting to happen!

Congratulations on avoiding relegation, although you are absolutely right about the depth issue in your team, it seems.

At times he looked like he lacked confidence because he was having trouble against players twice as old as him, but I thought he did a great job given his age and his ability. He had 2 really good games against Chernomorets (hat-trick) and Gazovik Orenburg (1 goal, 1 assist) which were a glimpse of what he could become. He's a steal considering I found him on the Russian trial days!

We're clearing a lot of salary out for next year, so hopefully we have enough budget to acquire the depth we need to compete (or else, I'll have to loan players with salaries under $10k a year like this season).

[rancer890]

May 31, 2013 - Avangard Kursk Manager Signs New Contract

KURSK, RUSSIA - Manager Ricky Nakano and Avangard Kursk chairman Danill Dambegov are proud to announce that Nakano has signed a 1 year contract extension worth $115,000 a year, at the same salary as his original contract. This new contract will last until the end of 2014-2015 season.

"I'm excited to sign this new contract because I see the potential in this club to win games and become better in the future. Mr. Dambegov and I share this same ambition and I'm happy to commit to the club for another season to compete for trophies and give the football supporters an entertaining brand of football. I think having stability at the top gives the players confidence that they can succeed in doing their jobs as footballers and competing on the pitch."

[rancer890]

June 20, 2013 - Avangard Kursk Season Expectations

KURSK, RUSSIA - The season expectations for the 2013-14 season are as follows:

Media Prediction - 14th

Pervyj Division - Avoid Relegation

Kubok Rossil - reach 6th Round

TV Revenue - $412k

Transfer Budget - $0

Wage Budget - $1.4 million (currently spending $1,266,856 - this number will drop by $150,000 by July 1 after my overpaid, underperforming striker leaves the club)

[B.W.G]

Congrats on avoiding relegation,hope you can find the right players to improve your team.

[AK22]

Pretty strong start there. You've been involved in some very eventful games, proper rollercoasters by the looks of things!!

[rancer890]

Congrats on avoiding relegation,hope you can find the right players to improve your team.

Cheers B.W.G. Unfortunately, I will probably have to be creative again because a lot of free agents are asking for around $100k a year, and with a $1.4 million budget, that only means 14 players...might have to go over my budget by 6 figures again to assemble a decent squad.

Pretty strong start there. You've been involved in some very eventful games, proper rollercoasters by the looks of things!!

Cheers AK22. I'm not very good on rollercoasters in FM and IRL, so I wasn't able to stomach a lot of the results in the latter half of the season. Hopefully less of that next season.

[rancer890]

September 1, 2013 - Avangard Kursk Summer Transfer Dealings

KURSK, RUSSIA - The 2013 summer transfer window has come and gone, and for local club Avangard Kursk, there was yet another summer of turnover. Shrewd manager Ricky Nakano got a bit creative like last season to acquire enough talent to compete on a shoe-string budget. Here are the complete list of transfers:

6 new faces were brought to the squad, and some veteran players were also released due to high wages, the inability to succeed at this level, or to get cap room to acquire new players. "Several players left the club and I thank them for their contributions with Avangard Kursk," Nakano stated on the club website, "we looked at our squad and felt that the players released weren't a good fit with our football club going forward, and we wish the best of luck in the future."

However, there is two players, Alexey Yepifanov and Volodymyr Bondarenko, that were shockingly released before the season started, and the club will be paying compensation for both players. "With the situation regarding Alexey and Volodymyr, we wanted to reorganize the wage structure at the club, and we feel comfortable with the decision we made about these two players."

The following are the new signings at Avangard Kursk:

Michael Tawiah - "Michael played with SKA Khabarovsk in the 3rd tier last season and he impressed us enough in pre-season to give him a 3 year contract. He's a very good young player."

Marat Shogenov - "Marat is a veteran player who has played 2 years at this level, and we feel he can contribute to this squad."

Vladimir Ponomarev - "Vladimir impressed with some good performances with Torpedo Moscow and he was on our radar for a while and we're happy to have him as part of our defensive core."

Anton Volkov - "He really impressed with the Russian trialists after a stint in Latvia and he has the ability to do well with our club, as you can see with the first few games with the club."

Ivan Temnikov - "He's another young player who didn't have much of an opportunity to showcase his skills at this level but he will have every opportunity at Avangard Kursk. He strengthens a position which was our weakness last year."

Murad Tagilov - "Murad is a young player who did very well with Terek last season and we're happy with a player of his caliber to strengthen our defense."

We have done our best to stay within our budgets and I'm pleased to say we're in control of our wage structure and I think this club is good enough to compete like last season.

[rancer890]

May 10, 2014 - Avangard Kursk get shock promotion to the Prem'er Liga after fantastic season.

KURSK, RUSSIA - The 2013-2014 Russian Pervyj Division season has just ended, and Avangard Kursk finished the season in 2nd place, drawing Yenisey Krasoyarsk in the final match of the season to guarantee an automatic promotion into the top tier Prem'er Liga. The club from top to bottom are ecstatic at how this club from the far western part of Russia will be competing against the top Russian clubs like Zenit St. Petersburg, CSKA Moscow, Locomotiv Moscow, Spartak Moscow, and Anji Makhachkala.

Manager Ricky Nakano exclaimed, "We are very excited that we not only held our own in our second season in the Pervyj Division, but have also clinched second place at the end of the season and an automatic promotion spot to the Prem'er Liga. The hard work of everyone, from (Chairman) Mr. Dambegov and the rest of the backroom staff, to the players themselves, have paid off this season. I'm really happy for everyone who supports this club to experience something like this."

[rancer890]

Avangard Kursk - Russia - 2013-14 Pervyj Divizion

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 - A fantastic season which ended up with promotion.

Kubok Rossil - met expectations again but want to be competitive in the 6th round in the near future.

Transfers - Once again relying on frees to improve the squad, unfortunately, I also had to release some players and pay compensation to get new players.

Squad - The extra depth we got paid off this year.

Starting XI:

GK - Dmytro Babenko

DR - Viktor Shabunya | Murad Tagilov

DC - Vladimir Ponomarev | Evgeny Shpedt

DC - Nariman Gusalov | Alexandr Denisov

DL - Pavel Novitskiy

MR - Ivan Temnikov

MC - Michael Tawiah | Marat Shogenov

MC - Igor Borozdin

ML - Dmitry Sannikov

ST - Evgeny Kasjanov | Mikhail Cherkashnev

ST - Anton Volkov

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Good

- our promotion to the Prem'er Liga of course

Bad

- we nearly blew it down the stretch and in the last game.

Ugly

- we're $1.5 million in debt. Can we even compete next season? And realistically..do I want to stay with a club with a small chance of even being competitive if I have enough wages to maneuver? We were 17th in annual salary at $1.59 million in the Pervyj Divizion -- and our budget was $1.5 million.

Career Summary:

Overview

Year        Team              Country       League          Position              Notes
2011-2012   F91 Dudelange     Luxembourg    BGL Ligue            4th        Cup winners
2012-2013   Avangard Kursk    Russia        Pervyj Divizion      9th                N/A
2013-2014   Avangard Kursk    Russia        Pervyj Divizion      2nd          Promotion

Managerial History

2011-2012 season - F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

2012-2013 season - Avangard Kursk (Russia)

2013-2014 season - Avangard Kursk (Russia)

Old Club Watch

F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

- 2012-13: 1st (BGL Ligue - 1st tier)

- 2013-14: 3rd (BGL Ligue - 1st tier)

[deltablue]

You can do it.

[abulezz]

How can you NOT want to stay and give it a go after leading them to the top flight?!

Honestly, if you can find a way to survive the first season, things should get a lot better very quick for you - this is assuming the board is atleast logical in terms of expansion and improving facilities, etc.

[rancer890]

You can do it.

Depends on wage budget. I don't care if we have $0 in transfer budget, I just need enough wage budget.

How can you NOT want to stay and give it a go after leading them to the top flight?!

Honestly, if you can find a way to survive the first season, things should get a lot better very quick for you - this is assuming the board is atleast logical in terms of expansion and improving facilities, etc.

A lot of players have 40% promotion wage rises which might mean I have no wages for new signings. I've been trying to resign some players which get rid of that clause but to sign some of these players as free agents I had to insert that clause in. I don't care about expansion and improving facilities, there's no money to even think about that, it's all down to wage budget for me. If the wage budget can double to about $3 million to $4 million I think I have enough to be creative and survive.

I loosened the wage cap a bit last season to go over $100k annual salary a year and if the max wage I can offer is $300k a year in the top flight it's enough for me to compete. I've been scouting the Prem'er Liga for talent for over half a year but slim pickings there so might have to look abroad. Good news is that we can have 7 foreigners in the starting XI compared to 3 in the Pervyj Divizion.

[AK22]

Well done on the promotion

Lets hope the board shows a bit of ambition, and grants you a budget to give you at least half a chance of survival next season. Otherwise, I wouldn't blame if you did walk away.

[cpfc543]

Congrats on the promotion . Personally I would stick with the club for the coming season to see how well you can do with them, and if success is unlikely then move on.

[SRL88]

Great work on promotion. I would stay for another season maximum.