smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 (edited) Super Nic or Le Sulk? A Mercenary Tale Nicolas Anelka had a brilliant playing career, yet it was embroiled with controversy. If you're not familar, check this out. This save will follow the journeyman managerial career of Anelka as he looks to earn as much money as he can, whilst trying to prove his managerial credentials in the process. One thing that will be put above all else when building a team is pure talent. We're talking technical and creative ability here, not athletic talent or work prowess. You can run through a brick wall for hours on end? Great. But can you bring it down with a beautiful touch and make something out of nothing? Nope....well there's the door. Armed with a continental C licence gained whilst working as a striker coach with Lille, Anelka will enter the managerial fray. Where to? Your guess is as good as mine, but it'll likely be for whoever offers him the most lucrative contract. Edited October 11, 2021 by smp20 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 First few job offers. Qatar SC and Newcastle Jets will be rejected. Al Nassr delayed in case a better offer comes along. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Come off it, wouldn't get out of bed for that a day, let alone a week! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 These are the best two options off the bat. A relegation scrap in Italy, or a chance of silverware on a tax-free contract in Saudi? No brainer! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 A few well known names in there - Ever Banega, Odhion Ighalo and Alfred N'Diaye - all who bring real quality to the side as well as a few other technical attacking players. The defence is woeful on the ball though, which will need to change pronto. The issue? We can only have 7 foreigners in the squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 A good first game for Anelka's side, a tasty 4-2 away win with an Ighalo hattrick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Lichnovsky falls foul to the wrath of Anelka. He's deemed a waste of a foreign slot as he doesn't bring enough technical quality to the squad. He's only just joined the club, so nobody wants him... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 The man to take Lichnovsky's place is marquee signing Alex Teixeira who joins on a mega bucks deal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Turns out we may be able to get rid of him after all! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Despite a win to kick it off, results haven't been going well since... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 September - December 2020 Transfers In Teixeira, Willems and Jones come in as quality foreign imports, while the rest are players boosting our Saudi-quota. Al-Muwallad is the only Saudi with real quality, he's decent on the ball and with 19 pace he'll be lethal. Transfers Out Guanca was a decent player but we had to shift him on to make funds for Al-Muwallad and a space for Curtis Jones. Seba is also leaving but not until March. Results An opening win was followed up by a shocking run of form. Thankfully we've now kicked on. League Table Hopefully we can continue our form and push for a late title challenge, otherwise expectations will not have been met! Player Stats As expected banega has been key. Teixeira on the other hand has been disappointing in the CAM role. We're still lacking technical quality at the back which is hopefully something we can resolve in the next transfer window. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 This is exactly the kind of player Anelka is after . Unfortunately this means Fabio Martins is out the door, loan terminated! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Owing to a complete collapse by Al-Hilal, there's a tight title race going into the final 5 games! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Anelka's first run in with the board... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 (edited) The season ends with success, lifting the trophy Edited October 11, 2021 by smp20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Al-Shabab 2020/21 Season Review ZPL Table Results Part 1 --- Results Part 2 Despite poor early league form (season opener loss before Anelka's time too!), the side clicked into action and went on an impressive winning streak putting us right in the title race. It came down to the final game whereby we won and Al-Hilal lost to Al-Taawoun! King's Cup A narrow loss to Riyadh rivals stopped us from reaching any further than the round of 16 in the cup. Player Stats Banega only missed one game all season due to suspension and he was key to our success, laying on 15 goals and even grabbing 5 himself thus living up to the 'Midfield Entertainer' descriptor. Ighalo was in fine scoring form and would have scored more if it wasn't for a couple of niggling injuries. The amount of goals Curtis Jones picked up was surprising,while the January addition of Juan Mata was the most fruitful of all the signings, contributing to 20 goals in just 17 appearances. Tactic / Preferred 11 With everyone fit, this is how the team would look. However, Jones is likely to return to Liverpool so he will need to be replaced and Alex Teixeira may be offloaded as his performances haven't matched his ability. Ighalo Teixeira --- Mata --- Al-Muwallad Jones --- Banega Willems --- N'Diaye --- Al-Fatil --- Al-GhanamAl-Mayouf Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Further run ins with the board - they are blocking transfer offers on any player over 23! Anelka already looking elsewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) And that was that. Super Nic's time in Riyadh has come to an end. Edited October 12, 2021 by smp20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 £6k?????? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 A potential move back to France has been turned down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Good money, for less work than club level. Ideal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Arabian Night-mare At the outlook that doesn't look too bad, right? Anelka joined 2 days before the WAFF tournament started inheriting Herve Renard's squad as he left for the France job. Not exactly the squad that would have been preferred, just two centre backs and both technically woeful. 3 wins out of 4, but that loss vs Syria meant a 2nd place finish and all hell broke loose! On the brink of the sack just a couple of weeks into the job. Thankfully still got the job and Anelka will get the chance to pick his own squad for the upcoming games. Qualifying for the Qatar World Cup Two very important games to play, both at home. South Korea have already got through so may be the best time to face them, while we should beat Kuwait on paper. We need Iran to drop points vs either Bahrain or South Korea if we stand any chance of automatically qualifying. Otherwise, a hard play-off is likely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 A new look squad with a more technical outlook. There is only one good technical centre back so centre mids / full backs have been called up to play there if they've got a little bit of experience there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 We followed up a 4-0 friendly victory over Australia with a 3-2 last seconds win vs South Korea! We now need them to do us a favour vs Iran in the next international break. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 We did our bit, but unfortunately Iran won in South Korea meaning we just missed out. We now face Australia in the play-off which I believe gets us into another playoff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Get in! I think this now means we're into a cross-continent play-off, fingers crossed for a good draw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Another Shabab, this time in the Emirates. £13k a week alongside the £29k a week for the Saudi job will do nicely! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 A good league start with three wins and we're in a title race from the off! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanhsingh Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 I like how you are staying true to character Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 15 minutes ago, karanhsingh said: I like how you are staying true to character Oh yes, I'm 100% trying to channel my inner Super Nic / Le Sulk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Shabab Al-Ahli - End of 2021-22 Season It's been an dream start domestically in Dubai, winning every league game to go on and lift the little with very little input needed, just the same attacking 4-2-3-1. Asian Champions League Bang average in the Champions League and out in the group stage which is disappointing, but hopefully next season we'll be ready with an Anelka-built side. Key Players Omar is a cult hero of Middle Eastern football, what a superb player. A recent addition, Igor is a decent all rounder. A good creative player, though perhaps he could be replaced by a star? Yet another Brazilian, Eduardo is an exciting player coming towards the end of his career. Wahay another Emirati. Khalil is as good as it gets striker wise for a domestic player. Another Brazilian, this time a youngster with a bit of potential. Brazilian....oh wait he's a naturalised Emirati. He's technically decent and will be a key figure. There are only 4 foreign slots available which we will need to use wisely - luckily Fabio isn't one anymore! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Qualifed for the Qatar World Cup Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Transfers are sorted ahead of the new season. We bring in a completely new back line that brings both defensive quality and quality on the ball which was exceptionally lacking. There's an abundance of talented attack-minded Emirati's so we'll be looking to give them a solid defensive base. Unfortunately this meant the sale of all our Brazilians who we will have to cope without. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 So out of the blue all of my reserve, u18 and contract expiring first team players have retired Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 It seems as though somehow the UAE has disappeared from the playable leagues, rather than the 2nd tier being added as what I had hoped. We'll put this down to another Anelka miss-hap! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 A very tough draw for the upcoming World Cup, but it was always going to be. We'll be attempted some attacking, creative football regardless! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Just over two months without a club team, Anelka finds his feet in China. Beijing won the league last season, but this season with just six games to play they find themselves off the pace in 6th position. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADZ_ Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 Really cool concept for a save, enjoying it so far! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 1 hour ago, ADZ_ said: Really cool concept for a save, enjoying it so far! Thanks very much! Unfortunately this particular save is going to have to be curtailed as I had a crash and gone back a couple of months - I think I'm using old add on files from previous patches and from different sources which doesn't help. I will however be recreating a new thread as Nicolas Anelka with no editor files attached and I won't be adding/removing leagues throughout the save. Apologies to those that have been reading! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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