[FM13] Third time lucky, another attempt at a failed Journeyman career

[deltablue]

You definitely have plenty of room to maneuver at Plzen.

[B.W.G]

Excellent season so far

[EvilDave]

Plzen looks like a decent move, and Georgia to Czech Republic seems more logical than making the jump to the US at this stage. If you're going to move, that's definitely the one I'd go for, you've certainly earned a move with your Dinamo success!

[berty1978]

Thanks guys, the obvious advantage with Plzen also is that it's not the middle of the season so I have pre-season to get a few signings in. I think I'll say that the Plzen job has been accepted.

[cerud]

What place is Philly in in the Eastern Conference? So long as they can make the playoffs, it doesn't matter what your actual league standing is.

[berty1978]

What place is Philly in in the Eastern Conference? So long as they can make the playoffs, it doesn't matter what your actual league standing is.

This was the table when I got offered the job, so 9 points off 5th place, not impossible but it would have been tough to make that up. When I was first offered the job they did expect the finals, the screenie above was the offer after a week delay showing a mid-table position, only just noticed, d'oh.

[berty1978]

FC Dinamo Tbilisi - Season 2019/20 - Season review

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

League table

Last season saw my first venture into Europe, while we did well to get through against Levski I was disappointed in the performances against Mlada Boleslav. We did much better against Anji but was disappointed to get so close but go out like that. Extremely disappointed we didn't win the cup, not just that but we went out at the first hurdle against my former side, amazingly they went on to win the cup thus qualifying for Europe as a second tier side. The league was all I had to play for for much of the season and we won it easily although I was slightly disappointed with the slight end of season blip, I'm never happy.

Squad stats

Seasons best XI

Key Players:

Mikhail Gorelishvili

Nukri Rukhadze

Giorgi Davitadze

Andrey Kiselev

Season  | Team managed           | League (Country)  (Position)       | Cups                                   | Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 | Intersport Aroma       | Divizia "A" (Moldova)  (3rd)       | Cupa Moldovei - 3rd round              | Promoted
2013/14 | Intersport Aroma       | Divizia Nationala (Moldova) (10th) | Cupa Moldovei - Semi-Final             | Avoided relegation
2014/15 | Iskra-Stal             | Divizia Nationala (Moldova) (4th)  | Cupa Moldovei - Quarters               | Took over in October - qualified for Europe then sacked
2015/16 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (4th)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 1st round          | Kept my job 
2016/17 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (4th)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 1st round          | Kept my job 
2017/18 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (1st)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 2nd round          | Promoted
2018/19 | FC Dinamo Tbilisi      | Umaglesi Liga (Georgia) (1st)      | Davit Kipiani Cup - Quarters           | Champions
2019/20 | FC Dinamo Tbilisi      | Umaglesi Liga (Georgia) (1st)      | Davit Kipiani Cup - 2nd round          | Champions

[berty1978]

So as I've mentioned I've taken the Viktoria Plzen job, I will do a squad update when the season starts.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - update

General Information | Facilities

We've let a number of players out on loan, mostly to second tier sides and gained £1.7m in transfer fees for players I no longer wanted which is very handy. As you can see the squad is very young, with the potential to be an excellent team in the near future but I'm not sure how they'll cope straight away.

Frantisek Pacak - Very good young goalkeeper with bags of potential, I've already turned down measly bids of around £250k and bumped his asking price up.

Petr Knakal - Has the potential to become a full international, and I'll be putting him straight into the first team. Signed for £1m and should turn out to be a bargain.

Miroslav Postulka - Probably the best player currently at the club, we're not short of DMs, but the board want us to play defensive football so I should be fine.

David Neumann - Another signing for £1m, with us being short of good strikers I thought I'd get him to go straight into the first team.

[JackJCFC]

Great job in Georgia, looks like a good challenge you've got in Czech Republic, certainly to compete in Europe anyway.

[berty1978]

Great job in Georgia, looks like a good challenge you've got in Czech Republic, certainly to compete in Europe anyway.

Thanks Jack , I've not made the best of starts though, lost the first two league games and got this:

Some good news as well.

[berty1978]

Got to love the manager roller-coaster, Mourinho takes the Spurs job, Sinisa Mihajlovic moves to Real from Bayern and Pep rejoins Bayern.

This is excellent, the weird thing is they have been in that league before but obviously got much higher attendances, no idea why it's gone down. Their next home game was a crowd of.... 1.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - update

It's been a tough start to say the least, the friendlies were awful apart from a respectable draw against Boca. The opening game against Slovan Liberec was bad, we didn't expect to beat them but at least put up a fight which we didn't do. Having not won a game yet I thought a friendly would help and we were much better against Sparta Prague and were unlucky not to win let alone lose it. Things did get better after that, apart from the defeat at Trinec and we got through the cup only to get drawn at Sparta Prague in the next round, but unfortunate considering all the lower teams still in it.

[deltablue]

Attendances of 2 and one

[B.W.G]

As you said,it's been a tough start but I have faith in your abilities to turn it around

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - update

Getting slightly better in the league as we only lost one game during the two months, but we're drawing too many for my liking. I'm not quite sure what happened in the cup against Sparta Prague, the players were excellent as we beat the best team in the league 5-0 away from home. A 2-1 away win at Zizkov in the first leg mens we're favourites to qualify for the quarter finals.

[berty1978]

As you said,it's been a tough start but I have faith in your abilities to turn it around

Thanks, you don't know me too well. Seriously, it's tough but with the win at Sparta in the cup we must be one of the favourites now and it could be a back door to Europe as I'm not too confident in the league. On a positive note the board are pleased, probably more to do with the young talent at the club and the way we play.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - update

Shorter update this time as we go into the winter break. The performances are not too bad but the results aren't going our way, the Slovan Liberec was our first league defeat in 7 games but there's still too many draws going on, we need to turn the performances into more wins. We sneaked into the cup quarter finals so there's always that to fall back on.

[berty1978]

Nigeria - Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2021 - update

I've not been too impressed so far, we've ground out the results we needed to qualify but the defeat to Sudan was awful. We were actually seeded 4th for the tournament and were given a tough group:

Well, that was truly awful, I'm beginning to show that I am really a rubbish manager. To be fair we were all over Egypt and failure to score meant we had to beat South Africa instead of qualifying with a game to spare, but we shouldn't have lost the last game there which turned out to be my last match in charge. Time to mess South Africa up now.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - update

We weren't so good in the friendlies, apart from a decent win against RB Salzburg it was mediocre at best, losing 3-0 at Brno was awful. We took that form into the league, granted it was at Sparta but having won there 5-0 in the cup I thought they'd put up a fight but we lost 2-0 without a shot on goal. I had to change things for the game at Teplice and we were lucky to come away with a win but it was a poor home draw against Pribram after taking the lead. We're still slightly below mid table but it's pretty tight so if we do actually manage a few wins instead of draws. The final match was the first leg of the cup and we have it all to do now after losing the away leg 1-0.

This is after the next match, it's reported like I know what I'm doing when I clearly don't.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - update

It could and should have been a perfect month, but was ruined by the calamitous performance at home in the cup semi-final. To be fair the fact we won four out of four league matches was remarkable and to come from behind to get into the cup semi-finals in the first place. The draw was probably kind to us as we avoided Mlada Boleslav but I have no idea what happened to lose 4-0, not only that but the same player scored all four and he's not that good, the defence just didn't turn up.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Bar the cup game it was an excellent run there, top 3/4 is definitely a possibility now

[berty1978]

Bar the cup game it was an excellent run there, top 3/4 is definitely a possibility now

Thanks Dexter, unfortunately it was a heartbreaking end to the season, but the form at the end gives us something to work on. Updates later, including the absolutely incredible signing of a player I've been after for a while.

[deltablue]

Shocking Bohemians defeat.

[berty1978]

Shocking Bohemians defeat.

I have no idea why that was, we had beaten them away in the league then beat them away in the second leg as well.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2020/21 - Season review

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

League table | Graph

Overall it was a disappointing season, although it could have been a lot worse. I would have taken a 5th place finish at the end of March when we were still in 10th, but after a run of six straight league wins to take us up to 4th we bottled it and got two points from our last three games. Bohemians weren't only the team to knock us out of the cup, they also lost the cup final and then finished 4th on the last day, so they sort of triple denied us European football, if that makes any sense, in conclusion I aim to get revenge somehow.

Squad stats

Seasons best XI

Key Players:

Martin Srom - The defender was excellent and got our player of the season.

Petr Knakal - Solid season from the 18 year old, will continue to improve next season.

Bronislav Nemec - Outstanding winger who is a regular for the national team and has attracted interest from West Brom and Stoke.

Adriano - The Brazilian had a great season and won some award, I think it was foreigner of the year.

Three of the above players made it into the team of the year.

Season  | Team managed           | League (Country)  (Position)       | Cups                           | Continental   | Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 | Intersport Aroma       | Divizia "A" (Moldova)  (3rd)       | Cupa Moldovei - 3rd round      |               | Promoted
2013/14 | Intersport Aroma       | Divizia Nationala (Moldova) (10th) | Cupa Moldovei - Semi-Final     |               | Avoided relegation
2014/15 | Iskra-Stal             | Divizia Nationala (Moldova) (4th)  | Cupa Moldovei - Quarters       |               | Took over in October - qualified for Europe then sacked
2015/16 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (4th)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 1st round  |               | Kept my job 
2016/17 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (4th)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 1st round  |               | Kept my job 
2017/18 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (1st)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 2nd round  |               | Promoted
2018/19 | FC Dinamo Tbilisi      | Umaglesi Liga (Georgia) (1st)      | Davit Kipiani Cup - Quarters   |               | Champions
2019/20 | FC Dinamo Tbilisi      | Umaglesi Liga (Georgia) (1st)      | Davit Kipiani Cup - 2nd round  | EL - Play off | Champions
2020/21 | FC Viktoria Plzeň      | Gambrinus Liga (Czech Rep.) (5th)  | Pohár České pošty - Semis      |               | 

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2021/22 - update

Rok Music - What can I say, finally got my man.

Gocha Kukuladze - Was after him when I was at Tbilisi and finally got him though we've got a lot of defenders now.

Jan Jelinek - Yet another DM but looks like he'll be able to play as well in midfield.

Bahia - Bahia signed from Bahia for £750k looks like he can become first choice striker.

[berty1978]

[berty1978]

Our first two matches were against last seasons top two, two draws isn't too bad but we should have beaten Sparta, return of the super keeper.

[B.W.G]

Not done too bad in the little time you've been at Viktoria Plzen.Good to see you got Rok Music as well

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2021/22 - update

Slightly indifferent start to the season, we started the league campaign with two draws, however they were against the top two from last season so it was something to be satisfied about. We then win the next two games, comfortably against Dukla and a good win against cup winners Mlada Boleslav. Then we lose at one of the promoted teams which was very frustrating, even with the win in the cup and the final league game I think we could have done better so far.

[berty1978]

Not done too bad in the little time you've been at Viktoria Plzen.Good to see you got Rok Music as well

Thanks, though I should have qualified for Europe last season. Rok Music has been one of the best performers so far.

[JackJCFC]

Decent start so far, Bohemians look very good though. Will be tough to keep up with them if they stay in that sort of form.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2021/22 - update

Well, that was frustrating as hell, we really should have won at home against the rubbish Bohemians but got a couple of good away results in the league after that. Between them we had what should have been an easy cup tie at Teplice, who are now second tier but just buckled after going 1-0 up, awful. We should have kicked on in the league after getting two home wins to go top of the league for the first time but have completely bottled it and lost two in a row, it's still extremely close at the top.

[berty1978]

Decent start so far, Bohemians look very good though. Will be tough to keep up with them if they stay in that sort of form.

No they didn't luckily, still their only defeat so far was against us.

[berty1978]

South Africa - World Cup qualifying 2022 - update

We've done well to qualify for the World Cup, got through the group easily enough but the play-off is a different thing altogether. After going into the second leg 1-0 down against Morocco we pretty much dominated the game and should have won in normal time but got the goal we needed in extra time.

We've got a very difficult group and looking at it now I'd be happy if we get a point.

How much did Qatar pay FIFA to get this easy group? ** They'll still finish bottom though.

** I'm not in any way implying that FIFA accepts bribes.

[deltablue]

No, you're saying it outright

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2021/22 - update

After losing our third match in a row at Sigma Olomouc we improved slightly to get a draw at home to Slavia Ptaha though we should be winning those games. We finally got a win to go into the winter break. That's an excellent run of wins but unfortunately most were friendlies but we got good wins in our tour of Austria. Two good away wins in the league to end the month including a massive win at Sparta Prague. The top of the table is extremely tight now and a decent run of results could see any team pull away.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2021/22 - update

The month of March showed our completely inconsistant form again, it started with a ridiculous match against Jihlava which we should have run away with but ended up conceding three in a draw. Next was only slightly better in a 1-0 win then went horribly wrong with two away defeats which left us way down in 7th. We really should have beaten Banik Ostrava after going 2-0 up early on but we couldn't hold on and after that it was excellent as we won the remaining three and I got manager of the month.

Not exactly that prolific but to get the club record in his first season is a good thing, I thought it would be Bahia but this guy got it.

[berty1978]

I couldn't help myself applying for the Norwich job but although they considered my interest they gave the job to this unknown manager instead.

[berty1978]

That's unfortunate.

Going to see how we do next season as I have a year to go.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2021/22 - Season review

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

League table | Graph

Unbelievable season from a neutrals point of view, especially the fact that it was so tight for much of the season and the fact that a relatively unknown team won it. Without doubt the team of the season were České Budějovice, only promoted back to the top division two seasons ago after relegation and their highest finish before was 4th, they won the cup too, at the end of October they were 9th and a run of nine wins in a row saw them go top. As for us, inconsistancy was our downturn again, we had the chance to go top with the home game against České, but we blew it and only managed a draw, even then we were only a point behind going into the last match but unfortunately they won their last game. The Sparta Prague job became available which I applied for but no prizes for guessing that the České Budějovice manager got the job even though Sparta were flattered by my interest, looks like Sparta will be a force to be reckoned with again next season.

Squad stats

Seasons best XI

Key Players:

Rok Music - Not just a great name, full backs don't usually get high average ratings for me so for him to feature in the top players of the season is impressive.

Petr Knakal - Is now a top player, even at 18, however he already wants to move to a bigger club.

Miroslav Postulka - Another player who wants a move, it's going to be difficult to keep our best players at this rate.

Bahia - Was a bit hit and miss, I hope he improves next season, however it was a shame he got injured because a few of his attributes have gone down as a result.

Valentin Babnik - Excallent debut season from Babnik, I had actually brought him initially as a backup but he soon claimed a first team place and broke the club goalscoring record, also won theforeigner of the year.

Season  | Team managed           | League (Country)  (Position)       | Cups                           | Continental   | Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 | Intersport Aroma       | Divizia "A" (Moldova)  (3rd)       | Cupa Moldovei - 3rd round      |               | Promoted
2013/14 | Intersport Aroma       | Divizia Nationala (Moldova) (10th) | Cupa Moldovei - Semi-Final     |               | Avoided relegation
2014/15 | Iskra-Stal             | Divizia Nationala (Moldova) (4th)  | Cupa Moldovei - Quarters       |               | Took over in October - qualified for Europe then sacked
2015/16 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (4th)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 1st round  |               | Kept my job 
2016/17 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (4th)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 1st round  |               | Kept my job 
2017/18 | Mertskhali Ozurgeti    | Pirveli Liga B (Georgia) (1st)     | Davit Kipiani Cup - 2nd round  |               | Promoted
2018/19 | FC Dinamo Tbilisi      | Umaglesi Liga (Georgia) (1st)      | Davit Kipiani Cup - Quarters   |               | Champions
2019/20 | FC Dinamo Tbilisi      | Umaglesi Liga (Georgia) (1st)      | Davit Kipiani Cup - 2nd round  | EL - Play off | Champions
2020/21 | FC Viktoria Plzeň      | Gambrinus Liga (Czech Rep.) (5th)  | Pohár České pošty - Semis      |               | 
2021/22 | FC Viktoria Plzeň      | Gambrinus Liga (Czech Rep.) (2nd)  | Pohár České pošty - 3rd round  |               | Qualified for CL

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2022/23 - update

We bought in fewer players this season and the major out was Nemec going to Burnley, he wasn't that great last season and I think he wanted a move and considering we played better with no wingers last season it was a no brainer.

Santiago Camus - Signed just in time for the European squad registration and an excellent 'keeper we've got there, we could now have a problem with the maximum of 3 non-EU players in the first XI, I'll have to rotate a bit.

Edit: Camus has Spanish 2nd nationality but problem still stands with other players.

Mario Martinez - Can play equally well at right back or in the centre, another non EU player so will be used sparingly I think.

Rogerio - Will provide backup at left back.

Leonardo Pintos - With us being short of central midfielders I thought he would be a good addition.

Marcio Roberto - Could well go straight into the first team but will probaby provide backup for Bahia.

[berty1978]

Bit OTT for a pre-season one off match, however a win is a win.

[berty1978]

Not sure I agree with the post match comment there, but thanks for rubbing it in.

[JackJCFC]

Mourinho at Norwich

Great work last season, nice to get into the Champions League, just a shame you've got Bayern! Hope you can pull off a surprise result, if not at least you've got Euro Cup group stages.

[berty1978]

FC Viktoria Plzeň - Season 2022/23 - update

After only a couple of friendlies this season we got the supercup win over our new rivals. We were having problems with fitness levels at the start of the season, I'll have to remember next time that the close season in Czech Republic isn't long. The second leg against Besiktas was slightly unfairly two days after the tough match against Sparta Prague, luckily we got an excellent 3-1 away win and took it a bit easier and won anyway. I've got a thing about Teplice because we should be rolling them over at home but only drew. We were slightly unlucky away at Bayern to end up with a 2-0 defeat because we had a few chances on the counter. We never win at Mlada Boleslav so no surprise there, next up was the home leg against Bayern and an excellent performance saw us dominate the game and the fact we didn't have an away goal cost us really.

After six league games we have the same record as last season, I'm getting a case of deja vu here.

We were seeded 4th for the draw and I must admit I've been a bit lucky as it's certainly one of the weaker groups including Besiktas who we have already beaten twice.

[berty1978]

Mourinho at Norwich

Great work last season, nice to get into the Champions League, just a shame you've got Bayern! Hope you can pull off a surprise result, if not at least you've got Euro Cup group stages.

Thanks, one thing I didn't mention is that the Czech Republic have lost a CL place for next season so only the league winners qualify. Damn the other teams doing crap in Europe.

[deltablue]

Shame you ended up having to face Bayern.

[noikeee]

Okay I haven't commented since you took over Dinamo:

- not surprised you won 2 national Georgian titles, Dinamo Tbilisi really are a powerhouse in that small pond, but well done nevertheless.

- I wouldn't have taken the African national team jobs, I think FM is too eager to put human managers into international jobs, don't think it's realistic. Tough luck with Nigeria, harsh sacking but African FAs aren't known for their patience. Done much better with SA, well done for qualifying for the World Cup. Don't expect much with that group though, really difficult.

- the move to Plzen is actually quite realistic, I think I would do that same move although maybe it would've been worth to stick to Dinamo for a little longer and see what you could've done in Europe with a few seasons of building the club up. Doing fine with Plzen you will be Czech champion soon, no pressure.