[FM13] Second crack at travelling around the world in 80 days. (Near enough)

[deltablue]

Poel's brilliant.

[TalkSport]

£170K for a player in the BSP?? Not bad!

I know Was completely out of the blue as no clubs were interested in him either.

Poel's brilliant.

He's just got injured and likely to be out for rest of season Only has 11 in 28 which I'm rather disappointed with.

[TalkSport]

Board have decided to inject another further 400k into the club so projected to have end of season balance of only 500k in the red now.

The pitch condition has deteriorated so much now that my home games are being postponed regularly towards end of season which could lead to a fixture congestion. 7 games left of the season so a update will be up here by later this evening

[TalkSport]

Accrington can **** OFF for all i care.

[TalkSport]

Play Off Time!

Right lets be honest we do not deserve to be in the play offs one bit. Quite simply a terrible 2nd half of the season that got more and more worse as it got nearer the end resulting in shameful defeats to relegated sides.

From looking at the fixtures you would think we got there comfortably in the end but the Fleetwood game away from home does not show it all neither does the Aldershot game before that. The Aldershot game say us take on a side that could overtake in the play offs and they wanted it more. They raced into a 2-0 lead inside 20mins before we got a dubious penalty and crawled it back level by half time. In the 2nd half they again upped the tempo and regained the lead before we undeservedly snatched a point with a fluke finish from Boden. Than in the Fleetwood game the scorline latters us. Inside the opening 10mins they were having shot after shot which eventually led to them taking the lead, however things dramatically changed straight after with them going down to 10 men with a straight red, than from there on we got a break where we were back in the game after where we could have been killed off in the opening minutes. We than came out in the 2nd half and delivered quick fire punches that killed Fleetwood before the game cruised to the end. This win meant we secured a play off place with one game to go which involved a lackluster win over lowly Sailsbury.

We now go into the play offs against Fleetwood who have the biggest wage bill and pits the two sides that came down from League 2 last season. We are firmly underdogs for this tie and if our recent form is to go anything by we'll be out after the 1st leg.

Table

Chester worthy champions, been among the top two all season before eventually breaking away with 15 games to go and never looked back. Alfreton sneaked into the final play off place on the final day of the season and carry with them the less losses all season out of all the sides in the league. It's because of this i feel they will go up through the play offs.

Players

Unlike other teams in the play offs we lack a out and out goalscorer. Poel, Hogg and Mitrovic look like playing no part in the play offs so the pressure firmly is on Akinfenwa to lead the line considering he is the only fit striker left at the club. Ceballos return from injury in the final two games and the re-inclusion of the North Korean Young-Jun in CM has seen them make a positive impact on the side, something i which they have in the play offs if we are to stand any chance of winning.

[cerud]

Making the playoffs any way possible Hope your underdog status makes Fleetwood complacent!

[TalkSport]

Making the playoffs any way possible Hope your underdog status makes Fleetwood complacent!

Thankfully no away goals in play offs. First leg is at our place so i hope we can produce a performance that gives us something to fight for in the 2nd leg, a draw/loss than it's all over i feel.

[TalkSport]

1st Leg.... Tie Over

Tie over in my eyes. Had to win to stand any chance of going through but a loss is killed the tie off as can't see us winning at Fleetwood unless we get a major decision our way again such as a sending off. Game involved very few chances with Fleetwood being the more clinical. Akinfenwa hit the crossbar and had a goal controversially ruled out in the last 5 minutes. McLaughlin once again turned in a **** performance at RB and he'll be dropped for the 2nd leg in place of the youngster Hill.

[TalkSport]

2nd Leg... Close but no cigar.

Well we got our wish of a early sending off but we were just unable to take advantage They eventually sucker punched us on the break to go 3-1 up but responded magnificently after the introduction of the subs and got back in the game from a corner. Than a few minutes later Hogg was played through one and one to only fire his shot at the keeper before the game eventually petered out

It's also the 3rd time this season the club has been fined for failing to control their players.

Where or what I'll do now i do not know. I've proven myself at this level and I hope it's good enough to get a chance at a club higher up the league ranking or a club that has ambition to win the 2nd division in another country. Last resort will be to stay at Accrington for another season but given the financial straits the club finds themselves in could be very difficult but if Poel lives up to his potential he could fire us to glory.

[Nobby_McDonald]

At least you didn't get Accrington relegated!

[Animosama]

What did you expect the finances to be like since you will be spending another year in the BSP ?

[TalkSport]

At least you didn't get Accrington relegated!

Ahaa Need to get a club promoted on my CV, but not getting a Accrington relegated is good considering my track record

What did you expect the finances to be like since you will be spending another year in the BSP ?

Was hoping more fans would turn up and generate more revenue, average attendance of just over 1k is terrible, needs to be more around the 3k mark for the finances to get good which will hopefully happen this season coming up.

[TalkSport]

Just gave Luke Joyce a new one year contract and in training just before we go on holiday he sustains damaged cruciate ligaments and is out for 9-11 months

That's 1k of the wage bill wasted for next season

[TalkSport]

Sacked

Was hoping they would renew my contract but they've decided not to and have sacked/let me go at the end of my contract Was already in process of making signings for next season so it's a big blow to be let go even more so when my best record as a manager has come at Accrington. Now it's time to try and find a new job elsewhere... again.

[TalkSport]

Garmenet

Founded: 1923

Stadium: 5000

Value: £1.6M

Division: Second Division B3

I have returned to Spain to take charge of newly promoted side Atletica Garmenet, where they play there football in the suburbs of Barcelona. Their expectations are to avoid relegation with the media tipping them to finish 19th out of 20th so yet again I have another challenge on my hands.

At the moment in my career I'm moving sideways and not upwards but surely it's only a matter of time till i can get a break in football.

(More indepth updates will come later today or tomorrow)

[cerud]

Sideways movement is what I'm feeling too. The Spain Segunda Division is difficult, a least I'm finding it difficult. Better luck for you!

[deltablue]

Not sure you'll have much luck there.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Back to normal service... and what's with the black pitch?

[TalkSport]

2nd spell in Spain far more enjoyable

Transfers

Upon arrival i was greeted with a tidy transfer kitty for this level. As a result I set about bringing in proven older Spanish players along with experienced players from abroad. Two of the main money signings include CB Moreno from Maltese side Birkirkara and ST Tanko from Lanzarote who I signed for them whilst there. In terms of free transfers the 2 main coups were the signing of attacking midfielder Cruz and Defensive Midfielder Inoussa Hassane.

The formation that will be played this season to accommodate these players will be the one used at Accrington with one minor change, no ball winning midfielder instead a Deep Lying playmaker.

Early Results

From the start we've made so far it very much reminds me of my spell at Hereford. The first game of the season we were dealt a lesson in taking your chances. Despite having 3 times more shots on goal we still came away with a 4-2 loss, but there were strong positives to be had. If we can tighten up we can pick up many points due to our ability to create a number of chances and in Tanko we have a goalscorer for this level.

The following 3 games saw us tighten up at the back but again failing to take our chances with our CB Vaquero scoring two of the goals and at that moment in time i was starting to get worried we wouldn't be able to find the perfect balance.

The 3 games that followed we finally clicked and everything is falling into place. The games against Mallorca B and Hospitalet saw us cruise to what should have been 3-0 wins only to let a slip in concentration in both games to concede a late consolation goal The game against Valencia Mestalla though really showed our character. So far in my managerial career we have always let leads slip late on in games but this time round we done the opposite and won the game late. We were very much in control throughout the game but fell behind after the hour mark through a well worked goal, but we kept on playing to our game and didn't let the fact we was behind derail us. In the end our constant pressure finally told as Valencia Mestalla crumbled and self imploded by firstly scoring an outrageous own goal from a nothing cross before than fouling Tanko in the penalty when he was going no where. Upstepped the veteran Busto to calmly slot home the pen to give ourselves a fantastic victory and continues our surprising great start to the season.

Table

Currently sit 1 point outside the play offs but most importantly at this early stage in the season 6 points above the drop zone.

[TalkSport]

Sideways movement is what I'm feeling too. The Spain Segunda Division is difficult, a least I'm finding it difficult. Better luck for you!

Hopefully a club higher up will take a gamble on me. They always say they're either interested/flattered I applied but never give me the job One thing i despise of the Segunda division is the registartion quota. So hard to pick up good young Spainish playes on cheap wages as if they're decent they always want high wages :/

Not sure you'll have much luck there.

Me neither but had to find a job and they were the only club willing to take me

Back to normal service... and what's with the black pitch?

Only back to normal service when i get sacked... again Not to sure :/ It says on there menu that they play on a grass pitch and when I google mapped the area the stadium was suppose to be located that was the one in the near vicinity. So can only assume Spanish grass is dark?

[Animosama]

Great start

[deltablue]

Much better start than I expected.

[TalkSport]

Winter Break

After the last update we resumed in terrible fashion going on a horrendous run. It all started off with 3 straight defeats were we conceded 3 goals in each game. Despite scoring enough we let in far to many which resulted in needless points dropped. As a result i got the team to focus on very high defensive training to correct this. As a result the 4 games that followed resulted in 2 draws 2 defeats and just TWO goals scored. (Just cant find that balance). Most disappointing run during this period was the defeat away to bottom side Palamos along with a lackluster draw in the derby vs Barcelona B.

After this run i tweaked with the training again and switched back to training very high on our tactics to try and get the balance right and instead of going attacking adopted a counter attacking style. From these changes immediate results started to show with a very convincing against Alcoyano thanks to a hat trick from the tank Tanko. This was followed up with a win against lowly Alzira before we played our fircest rivals and league leaders Sabadell SAD. In the derby we could not have started any brighter with the team talk getting the players fired right up for the battle and took the lead early on through Tanko yet again. The resulting game that followed was a very scrappy affair that looked like us sneaking a 1-0 win until in the 89th minute Sabadell sucker punched with a goal from a corner. With me switching the tactics to contain and hoping to just take a valuable point we won a free kick deep in their half in stoppage time. A seamless non threatening knock into the box saw Eyegue bundled over and to my amazement a penalty given to the fury of the Sabadell players. Eyegue picked himself up and dusted himself down before coolly rolling the penalty home to give ourselves a magnificent win away from home to not only the league leaders but our fiercest rivals In the last game against Levante B Tanko once again rattled in a hat trick to continue his decent season.

TANKO

He has started every game for us this season and he has justified why i spent £55k (BIG amount at this level) on securing his services from Lanzarote. Whilst i was there he was the only glimmer of light in a dreadful side and I always wanted to take him to a team once i could afford him and did just that. He has all round decent stats needed to play upfront on his own and his return of 14 goals and 2 assists in 19 games proves this. Top player and hope he can reach the 30 goal barrier. No doubt has the ability to play at a higher level and bids at end of the season will no doubt come in for him.

Table

We currently sit proudly in 7th place. Quite some distance of the play offs and will most likely not make them due to our inconsistency but it feels great to be this high up. We can easily drop down to 15th given a few bad results which has happened before but we have a good gap over the relegation sides and a good head to head meeting with some of the sides down there which accounts for an extra point in Spain.

[TalkSport]

Great start

Thanks. Been a tad inconsistent but for a side to tipped to go down we have done ourselves proud so far.

Much better start than I expected.

Thanks But knowing from my career so far it can go horribly wrong oh so quickly

[cerud]

A tough run in October and November, but it looks as though you've found your stride again.

[TalkSport]

Fifa Corrupt?!

World Golden Ball for 2016 just been presented and guess who won...

Yes that's right Messi. But how? Hazard played less games, scored more, assisted more and had a higher average rating. On top of this Chelsea met Barcelona in final of UCL, so you would assume this would have decided who would win the award? Nope. Chelsea won 3-1 with Hazard scoring twice and he didn't win award I know Messi is possibly the greatest footballer ever but FM bum him too much for my liking.

[TalkSport]

A tough run in October and November, but it looks as though you've found your stride again.

Just hoping we don't lose our momentum because of the winter break

[TalkSport]

Unbelievable Jeff

What an end to the season. As usual after last update we resumed in shocking fashion and suffered four horrendous defeats including a heavy loss to one of our rivals Sant Andreu. The turning point in our season came against Valencia where after with standing a barrage of attacks we stole the win right at the death. From here we kicked on winning 6 of the next 7 games to shoot ourselves up the table. Victory against Denia and Barcelona were the main highlights of this run showing that we are capable of dismantling top sides home or away with Tanko in top form as usual in both games. Our run ended abruptly with a disappointing defeat away to At. Baleares with a 4 nil loss. We picked up our momentum once again with a late goal to get a point away to Alcoyano before winning 3 games without conceding which to my amazement meant we went into the final game of the season with a chance of finishing in the play offs!

All we had to do was hope Castellon and Ontinyent lost and we win but unfortunately this didn't happen Castellon lost there game to Denia and Ontinyent were losing at half time whilst we were drawing with the champions and fiercest rivals Sabadell SAD, 2nd half it went horribly wrong with the game stumbling to a 0-0 draw and Ontinyent going on to win.

It has been a great effort from the players in the second half of the season but unfortunately our constant blips have cost us in the end. If i stay can we make the play offs? But still once we make them it's extremely hard to get promoted so i may look elsewhere where success is more easier to achieve. Hopefully my reputation has improved to get a job higher up in the English ladder or in one of the second tiers of the other countries leagues.

Table

From a side tipped to finish 19th to finish 7th and just 5 points of the play offs is a real achievement from the players and staff To finish higher than the 'B' teams of Barcelona and Valencia gives me great satisfication.

Team Stats

As you can see the stand out player in terms of goals has been the record signing Tanko. CB Vaquero is our highest rating player and his performances at CB have been nothing short of solid all season. The people he has played alongside have also done very well too. In Jan we signed 5 youngsters and 3 of them have been a revelation. Grange the GK, Winter the CB and Zouhir the AMC have really made the positions there own despite being of a very young age. If i stay its these 3 players I'm extremely excited to work with longer.

[cerud]

Great finish for a relegation projected club

[Animosama]

tanko is a beast:D

[deltablue]

Good to see things finally go very right for you. Looks like the 'round the world in 80 clubs' joke is on hold.

[TalkSport]

My BIG Break?

SV Wehen Wiesbaden

Founded: 1926

Stadium: 12566 (Seated 6766)

Value: £2.9m (Loan Debt £2.5m)

League: 3. Fußball-Liga

So i have decided to move on from Garmenet and after applying for this job not expecting to get it to my amazement i was offered the job. There was no doubt about it i was going to take it as i feel this is the big break I've been looking for. The club is recently relegated from Bundesliga 2 but they are in a position to bounce straight back. They boost good youth and training facilities along with a good sized stadium. The wage budget is far greater than I've ever had at any other club with it at £60k a week and even my own wage has trebled from £1k a week to £3k a week.

This is the club where i will be staying for a few years as i want to be the manager that brings Bundesliga football to Wehen for the first time in their history. The chance to do this with decent young German players brings nothing but excitement

[TalkSport]

Great finish for a relegation projected club

Thanks mate Really did over achieve with them which was one of the reasons that led me to leave. Couldn't see myself bettering and getting promotion.

tanko is a beast:D

Indeed Tempted to bring him to my new club but scout has given him 2* so not sure if he would cut it out here. Tempted though as he's never let me down

Good to see things finally go very right for you. Looks like the 'round the world in 80 clubs' joke is on hold.

Well I've moved on despite doing well so the joke is back on track Wehen though can see myself staying for a while as never managed in Germany on FM and always wanted to so this is a good time to give it a crack

[TalkSport]

Pre Season Finished

Transfers

Squad

My rebuilding of Wehen has involved bringing in a load of youth players that have been recently released from Bundesliga sides after not making the grade. Only brought in one player on loan due my instance on giving youth more games in their development. Only player that I spent money on was a gamble and involved bringing in Mbengue from former club Garmenet. Reason behind this is he's a striker that's 17 and stands at 6ft 9 and has reasonable stats. If he can improve and develop he'll be a very decent striker as a focal point in my team.

[TalkSport]

Nightmare First Game

Well this game went horribly wrong. Own goals, defensive errors the lot. Hoping it'll just be a first game blip like I've suffered in the past.

[TalkSport]

Cash Windfall

Was not expecting this cash windfall :O Had £1m in the bank with a projected end of season balance of £700k in debt so this money will go along way to breaking even at end of the season. Hopefully we can cause a cup upset and get another lucrative TV tie in the 2nd round.

[cerud]

Looks like you've been given a chance to succeed with a bigger club! Nice job!

[Nobby_McDonald]

A nice green pitch this time.

That's a lot of money for one TV game!

[deltablue]

Good thing you have a summary of clubs in the OP because I was just about to count them. Auf Wehen Pet!

[TalkSport]

Will I get sacked?

Very mixed start to the season which at this present moment in time of updating is a real low point

After we lost our first game of season we travelled to Spain for a friendly as part of Mbengues transfer deal and upon arriving back we started to gather points of the board starting off with a hard fought win against Bielefeld. We followed this with a point away to Munster before a fantastic home win against FSV Frankfurt, being the first side to take points of them. We than played the German cup game against Bundesliga side Duisburg and very much made a game of it forcing it to extra time thanks to a Tuting hat trick. Eventually there superior fitness levels showed by scoring twice in the second half of extra time to dash our hopes of a giant killing. We had a positive reaction in the league following the cup defeat by winning 6 out of our next 8 games which involved a cracking game at Saarbrucken where NINE goals were shared between two promotion contenders. It was this sort of game that frustrated me. We once again showed we can score goals for fun but yet again we conceded another shed load and just reiterated my fear of if the goals dry up than we may struggle as we can't keep clean sheets for toffee. Going into the game against Oberhausen we found ourselves joint top and on course for promotion back to the 2 Bundesliga but everything has collapsed around us. With Tuting picking up an injury Gallus has stepped up with the goals in ACM in his replacement but fears are coming true. We have suddenly stopped scoring and are still letting them in. Only 3 clean sheets this season in the league has left my job potentially in the balance. Fear if we continue this poor run any longer than I could well be sacked. Some serious tactic changes need to be made as we couldn't even beat bottom side Stuttgart II.

Real testing month coming up. November is make or break for us.

Table

[TalkSport]

Looks like you've been given a chance to succeed with a bigger club! Nice job!

Thanks lad. Just hoping I don't mess it up

A nice green pitch this time.

That's a lot of money for one TV game!

Surprised our game was chosen for TV The TV company made the right choice picking us though!

Good thing you have a summary of clubs in the OP because I was just about to count them. Auf Wehen Pet!

Thought it would come in handy knowing my journey so far Think the board may be saying auf wiedersehen to me soon if i can't stop this rot

[TalkSport]

Winter Break

Our form is still poor going into the winter break with just one clean sheet kept with the game being 0-0. Changing of tactics saw us score 6 goals in 2 games and get back on the scoring path but our defence still conceded goals for fun. We than suffered a blip in goals with just once scored in 3 games and just 2 points accumulated dropping us further off the promotion places. Victory though against Munster before the winter break keeps me in a job and leaves us 7 points of 3rd place FSV Frankfurt who we play after the winter break. BIG BIG game.

On a positive note Vojtus has finally ended his goal drought

[cerud]

Looks like you may have turned the tide. A better record going into the new year.

[TalkSport]

Winter break perfection

The winter break couldn't have came at a better time for us. After a terrible slump before only being halted by a win against Munster we re grouped ourselves over the winter break bringing in two experienced players to help us with a final push for promotion, Manucho and Kai Bulow.

We hosted 3 friendlies during the winter break to keep our match sharpness up and in doing so we rediscovered our goal scoring touch rattling in 14 goals in 3 games.

The first game back in competitive action was the crucial big one away to FSV Frankfurt and was a real humdinger of a clash with blows being traded at each end. In the end the game finished a draw and on reflection it was a fair result and more crucially we didn't lose any ground on the top 3. We followed this impressive performance with 3 wins accumulating with a VERY impressive win against promotion rivals Saarbrucken and again showed we deserve to be within the mix after doing the double over them. Oumar Diop scored for 2nd game running to further highlight his return to form after withdrawing his transfer request over the winter break after finally settling into the German lifestyle. The defeat away to Kiel was a real blow after such a impressive result but the team showed their character by bouncing back and winning 3 straight games with goals flowing in. Manucho once again contributed showing what a crucial buy he could turn out to be, whilst Dirk Gallus continued his great season form which has seen him been capped at German U19 level. He no doubt has the ability to go far in the game and I'm hoping i can tie him down to a long term contract as he symbolises what i want to build at the club. A young German core.

Yet again we let ourselves down with a poor performance away from home to Lotte where we were simply not at the races and just never threatened their goal however we bounced back with an emphatic victory against Oberhausen to set up what will be a thrilling end to the season.

Table

Right in the hunt for automatic promotion even to win the league altogether. We face Karlsruhe and RW Essen in 2 of our next 3 games away from home and will play a significant effect on where we finish. If we are to go up I feel we'll have to win both of them.

Stuttgart II are the first club to go down and our draw against them could well end up being 2 vital points dropped

Youth Graduates 2013

Manfred Schmeer is the best one to have come through this year and will be intersting to see where i can develop him into due to ACM having Gallus there and already having strong young RW and STs.

[TalkSport]

Looks like you may have turned the tide. A better record going into the new year.

We have indeed. Winter break couldn't have come at a better time. Down to the squeaky bum time now

[TalkSport]

Leicester have just suffered their 3rd consecutive relegation and will drop down into the conference after going into administration. £70m+ debts and a stadium rental of £1.5m a year. If a club ever goes bust on FM it's got to be them.

[deltablue]

Sounds painful for Leicester.

[TalkSport]

Squeaky Bum Time

Results and Remaining fixtures

Table

Well we are well and truly down to crunch time. I said we had to beat Karlsruhe and RW Essen if we were to stand any chance of going up and we did just that turning in empthatic performances either side of a GD boosting win over bottom side Stuttgart II.

The key to the two big victories comes down to the resurgence in form of star striker Vojtus. The Victory against Karlsruhe continued their poor run at just the wrong point. They never looked like threatening our goal and couldn't contain our attacking instincts on the counter. Usually adopt a attacking strategy but instead adopted a contain to frustrate them as they don't score many goal and it worked a treat. In the game against Stuttgart it was just like a training match of attack v defence. They mustard one shot all game compared to our 18, and with 14 of those on target I'm slightly gutted we didn't get close to double figures Game against RW Essen was a much tighter affair. With the score at 1-1 about to go into half time we snatched the lead on the stroke of half time which must have totally took the wind out of their sails. As once the 2nd half started they were simply not at the races and we grabbed a early second half goal to go 3-1 up and in total control of the match. Vojtus than completed a memorable hat trick after the hour mark before they pulled a consolation goal back.

Going into the last 3 games there is everything to play for. We could end up winning the league or we could end up finishing 5th! FSV Frankfurt are on a late charge, with everyone in the top 4 taking points off each other they have sneaked in through the back door and are real dark horses to seal one of the automatic promotion places .

[TalkSport]

Where's your bottle lads!

Wehen 1 - 2 GroBaspach

Defeat at home to relegated side in 19th is a shocker of a result! All but surely dents our hopes of winning the league. After such a great run to lose at home to such a poor side is a killer. Can we bounce back away to Sandhausen?....

Sandhausen 1 - 1 Wehen

The answer is an emphatic NO. The team really has lost their bottle right at the end here. Our chances of automatic promotion are all over and we have a fight on our hands to finish in the one play off place.

Table

As you can see from the table we go into our last game at home to midtable side Lubeck knowing a win could end up not being enough if Karlsruhe out score us.

Last Game

VICTORY!

In the most nervous and scrappyness of games we have won thanks to Manucho, who has proven what a crucial short team signing he has been but is the victory enough for promotion?....

Final Table

JUST! We have squeezed into the play off place by the skin off our teeth. So close in the end. If we had got all 3 points against Sandhausen it would have just been enough for an automatic place. If we had beaten GroBaspach than we would have been going up as champions

We now play 1.FC Union Berlin in the play offs. A club that for the past 5 years has been pushing for promotion to the Bundesliga but a season of financial difficulties has seen them plummet down the table and on the brink of relegation. This is a real big big test for my young stars. Really hope we can do it for Wehens future!

[TalkSport]

Sounds painful for Leicester.

Be interesting to see how they cope next season. Could well be a good club to join if they sort their finances out as they have produced some good kids in recent seasons.