[FM23] The First Women's Football Career in the History of FMCU

[Rikulec]

The First Women's Football Career in the History of FMCU

Yup, here we go. Unfortunately the picture above isn't going to represent the save as women's football hasn't yet been incorporated into the game and thus I'm not able to manage the team I actually took over in July (that's my ugly and overexcited face on the left ). For this year's FM I'm planning a very simple journeyman with no particular aims or challenges, just trying to move up and up right to the very top. This could go a number of ways, I only hope that I'll have enough time to keep this going semi-consistently and not lose interest in the meantime. However, the thread title isn't only clickbait (although it mostly is) as I'm also going to be updating you on how we're going with my real life team, because why the hell not? Enough introduction, let's see what we have.

The Aim

To achieve as much success as possible while also playing as realistically as possible, starting unemployed and looking for a job in the Latvian league.

The Manager

This time I'll be playing as myself exactly as I am (okay, I may have made my in-game avatar a bit more fit ), so with a UEFA B licence and absolutely no playing experience whatsoever. Unfortunately the game has no way of factoring in any experience with youth coaching, but hey, let's just go with what we have - I've bumped my WWY just to factor that in. In this alternate universe I haven't taken the women's football path, but instead I chose to seek glory abroad. Let's see how that goes.

The Save

A good mix of European leagues. I'll be holidaying until 1st July before jumping in.

[Rikulec]

Here's the girls' league table as it stands right now. We're sat in 6th, although Zły are going to receive three more points for their game last week since their visitors didn't turn up. Tomorrow we travel to Zawisza Rzgów in hopes of bouncing back from an unexpected and, to be honest, also undeserved home defeat to MUKS Tomaszów Mazowiecki. Only the top team gets promoted to the 3rd tier, but I still believe we might still have a shot if we stop dropping points and conceding as many silly goals as we have so far. Four games remain until the winter break, let's go!

[Rikulec]

I got my first interview on 19th August after exactly two thirds of the league season in Latvia and the table isn't looking bright for Super Nova, who find themselves five points off the relegation playoff spot. Couldn't really expect much more than that, could I?

[ManUtd1]

After that title...Super Nova?  That's clearly going to end well.

[Rikulec]

6 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

After that title...Super Nova?  That's clearly going to end well.

Sorry, I couldn't resist the temptation. Glad to have you on board.

[DomD]

The clickbait worked on me, so I'll follow Good Luck.

[Rikulec]

8 hours ago, DomD said:

The clickbait worked on me, so I'll follow Good Luck.

Thanks!

[Rikulec]

An easy win against the worst team in the league allows us to reduce the gap between us and the leaders to seven points, us having a game in hand. We host Forty Piątnica next weekend, big, big game for us. A win is necessary if we want to keep the promotion dream alive.

[Jimbokav1971]

Let's be completely honest. I'm here for the girls and any FM you play is a complete bonus. 

[Rikulec]

12 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Let's be completely honest. I'm here for the girls and any FM you play is a complete bonus. 

Haha, let's hope we can do well on both fronts.

[Rikulec]

As expected, I got the offer and signed the contract after a bit of negotiation to get my wage up to £400 p/w.

Jakub Słota's Management Career - New Club - SK Super Nova Salaspils

Can't really blame the media for not trusting me too much, can I?

Club Name: SK Super Nova Salaspils
Nickname: -
Year Founded: 2000
Status: Semi-professional
Stadium: Salaspils stadions (648 all-seater)

What a ****ing mess. We have almost no wide players, our only left back is injured for a month and has already agreed a contract to leave us at the end of the year, and we have no less than five out-and-out strikers in the squad. Oh, and the transfer window is closed and we can't even register anyone from the B team (not that anyone would be worth it). We're also one of the only two semi-pro clubs in the league with all the others being professional. Our best players are Rihards Ozoliņš, Eduards Višņakovs (who I remember playing in the Polish Ekstraklasa for a few years) and Eugene Terzi. They're all decent, but the rest of the squad is severely lagging behind in terms of quality. I'm starting to wonder whether keeping this lot up is going to even be possible.

Apart from expecting us to reach the latter stages of the cup that we're already out of, nothing unreasonable here really. As for the situation in the league, one game has been played between the interview and my appointment and the lads managed to draw against BFC Daugavpils, reducing the gap between us and Tukums to four points. With eleven games to go realistically the best we can hope for is to overhaul our closest opponent and then hope for the best in the relegation play-off. We're kicking off with quite a challenge then, it seems!

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - August 2022 - SK Super Nova Salaspils

Virslīga

Well, that's less than ideal. We managed to hold them off for over an hour, creating - and wasting - a fantastic chance go get in front in the first half, but once the floodgates opened, there was no stopping them. At least Tukums lost their game too.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Rikulec

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - September 2022 - SK Super Nova Salaspils

Virslīga

We're so bad, I probably shouldn't have walked into this. The Metta win was a bit lucky, we just don't have the quality we need. Our next game is Tukums away, anything less than a win and we're effectively down.

Youth Intake

I suppose a few of them could be useful in the future.

Markuss Ostrovskis

Edijs Litvinskis

Vladimirs Bečers

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - October 2022 - SK Super Nova Salaspils

Virslīga

Alright, things have officially gone crazy! We started the month by losing the game that we absolutely needed to win and after that I saw us pretty much already relegated. Even beating Spartaks seemed like mere consolation. However, something really seems to have clicked after that win. RFS was a good performance from us and we came close to escaping with an invaluable draw. The Daugavpils result is far better than our actual performance, but what really matters is that we got the points on board and it helped our goal difference a lot. With two games left we've reduced the gap from seven to just one point. It seemed unthinkable after losing to Tukums, but... can we actually pull of this great escape?!

[Rikulec]

Those are our remaining two games. Valmiera will be a big ask, they're a strong side and the only team we failed to score against since the start of my reign. I'll be chuffed to bits if we can get a draw there. Then it's Metta on the final day and we've already beaten them once, albeit a bit lucky.

A similar run-in for Tukums. Riga should be out of reach for them, but their final game is Spartaks, who are on a woeful run of form and I can see our rivals grabbing three points there. It's gonna be really, really tense!

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - November 2022 - SK Super Nova Salaspils

Virslīga

It's the hope that kills you.

[Rikulec]

Well, I knew what I was walking into.

[Rikulec]

A couple of jobs opened up after the season ended, so of course I went for them. Spartaks didn't offer me an interview...

...but Metta did. Let's face it, any job would be a step up compared to the one I've just lost.

[Rikulec]

Nope, no luck. This could turn into a long wait.

[Rikulec]

I had to wait as long as 17th September for another interview. It's another club buried in a late relegation battle, but this one looks a bit more hopeful and also with a more balanced squad, at least from what I can see.

[Rikulec]

Quite a decent wage compared to what I was earning at Super Nova, apparently this is a bigger club as well.

Jakub Słota's Management Career - New Club - FS Jelgava

Yay, we're professional!

Club Name: FS Jelgava
Nickname: -
Year Founded: 2004
Status: Professional
Stadium: Jaunmārupes stadions (500 all-seater)

Yes, we actually have a well balanced squad with plenty of cover for every position we're going to need. The quality is another thing, most of these guys are good players for the level below ours. I'm going to have to bring the absolute best out of them and do it quick. Jadson, Viktors Ziemelis and Ralfs Maslovs should be the best of the bunch.

We find ourselves one point behind Tukums with nine games left. Let's bring them down this time!

[Rikulec]

****'s sake.

Alright, let me explain. From my two short adventures I've already learned that the Latvian league is a lot of things, but it certainly isn't balanced. There's a massive gap in quality between the best and the worst teams. That in itself wouldn't be that much of a problem, after all I wasn't supposed to challenge for the title at either club, just avoid relegation. What I seem to be really struggling with is taking over those troubled sides at a point where a lot of damage has been done and I can't do a lot about that. At Jelgava it turned out that the squad is absolutely knackered and the morale was pretty much as low as it gets. Riga battering us was to be expected. But when bloody Tukums dominated us at our home and ran off deserved winners, I realised just how much **** the team was in and that I couldn't realistically do anything about it.

The only way I can get this whole thing going is by taking over a club before the season starts, building the squad and preparing everything my own way. That's what I'll be looking to do for my final attempt to rescue this save. Fail for a third time and it's over.

[Rikulec]

Hey, at least Tukums lost the play-off and got relegated this time.

[Rikulec]

For the second time in a row Metta have parted ways with their manager at the end of the season. Will I get the chance this time?

[Rikulec]

Yes! Of course FM randomly decided to offer me an absurd and nonsensical wage that's £400 above the next highest earner in the league. For the sake of realism I got it down to £500 p/w before signing.

Jakub Słota's Management Career - New Club - FK Metta

If this isn't the perfect place for me right now, then I don't know what is.

Club Name: FK Metta/Latvijas Universitate Riga
Nickname: -
Year Founded: 2006
Status: Professional
Stadium: Daugavas stadions (10,461 all-seater)

Finally a squad of Virslīga quality. Granted, a few of these guys have already agreed to leave the club at the end of the year, including Uldriķis, but even the remaining ones are so much better than the dross I had to work with before. Dmitrijs Litvinskis, Kristupas Keršys and Christian Awlesu should all play important roles for us next season.

The objective remains the same, although this time I'm going to be given time and resources to do it.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - Season Preview - 2024 - FK Metta

Board Expectations:

Virslīga: Avoid relegation
Latvijas kauss: Reach the latter stages

My Expectations:

Virslīga: I want to steer well clear of the relegation zone.
Latvijas kauss: Not important.

Budgets:

Transfer: £44,354
Wage: £3,374 (currently spending £2,730)
Balance: £276,620

[Rikulec]

We managed to get a couple of updates in before the start of the season.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2024 - FK Metta

Friendlies

Look at all the green!

Transfers

Not as much activity as I would have liked, but we did manage to bring in some quality reinforcements.

Peter Ademo - brought in on a free before the season reset date. Should get his chance.

Rodrigo Gaučis - another young player with plenty of promise.

Michał Rutkowski - originally brought in as a starting CB, but then a better option popped up.

Rūdis Rozītis - not great, but we needed cover.

Pape Fall - probably the best player at the club at the moment. I'm very happy to have brought him in, that's the boost of quality we need.

Vinny Mayele - I took a bit of a gamble here and I hope it pays off.

In addition, Vitālijs Fjodorovs and Timurs Volosovs have been promoted to the senior squad.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Rikulec

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - March 2024 - FK Metta

Virslīga

Not the start we were after, not at all. The draw against Riga was a good result, if a bit lucky. Then we got punched in the gut by conceding twice after going up in the 80th minute against Liepāja before playing our worst game of the three against Spartaks. Remember we only need to outperform two teams to be safe in the league, but I feel we have to do better than that.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - April 2024 - FK Metta

Virslīga

Frustratingly inconsistent so far. I was hoping for at least six points from the last three games and we picked up only two, spiralling down after a red card in the 9th minute of the Noah (J) game. Shame about that, I was hoping to use those games to build up some momentum, especially after a surprise win over Valmiera.

[Rikulec]

What a game and what a result for the girls today! We hosted league leaders Forty Piątnica and absolutely smashed them. 3:0 was the final scoreline and that was the absolute least that we should have scored. Wasted some good chances after some beautiful passing moves as well. Two games left until the winter break and with two wins we can still dream of promotion.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - May 2024 - FK Metta

Virslīga

First off, what the **** is this schedule? 9 games in 22 days is just flat out ridiculous. Secondly, things seem to be taking a turn for the worse. The win at Riga was a great performance and I thought we might be getting somewhere, but no. Even more frustratingly, we gave away stoppage time penalties that were converted against both Ventspils and Valmiera. In most games it was also us who scored the first goal only to have our defence fall apart. Noah was your typical FMing to wrap up the month. We have a month-long break in June before action resumes, we need a turnaround and we need it now.

[Rikulec]

I'll take anything as long as they're good enough to go straight into the first team.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - June 2024 - FK Metta

Transfers

Two in, two out.

Markuss Alpēns - a fairly decent rotation option for our midfield.

Cédric Coovi - hopefully a small upgrade on our starting right back.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - July 2024 - FK Metta

Virslīga

We haven't improved. In fact, it's getting worse and now we've lost six games in a row.

Latvijas kauss

A glimmer of hope as we get through in the cup thanks to a late winner.

[Rikulec]

Here's the table after all the weekend's games. Królewscy Płock overtake Forty Piątnica at the top and the top half is getting even tighter. Kolejarz Łódź away up next for us on Saturday. In the absolute best case scenario we can finish the first half of the season in 2nd on equal points with Królewscy with a worse head-to-head record (we lost 4:2 at their place). Other games next weekend include Zamłynie Radom - Królewscy Płock, MUKS Tomaszów Mazowiecki - Polonia Warszawa and Forty Piątnica - Zły Warszawa.

[Rikulec]

Horrible. Abysmal. Hopeless.

I had more or less come to terms with losing to most teams in the league, that's why I was really looking forward to the games against Noah and Daugavpils. We were the better team in both of those. We won neither, conceding a 93th minute equaliser in the former and just failing to take our chances in the latter with our defence proving itself as leaky as ever. This was only going one way since those results, so I made the call. Three clubs, three failures.

Latvia turns out to be a damn tough nut to crack if you don't play as one of the top teams. To make things worse, apparently our reputation was so bad that literally every player that was recommended to me wasn't even Virslīga level. No one half decent would even negotiate a contract. There was no way we could compete with most of the teams in the league.

Is my Latvian adventure over then? Yes, it is.

Is the save over? **** no.

[Rikulec]

When in doubt, go Nordic. In fact, another idea I had in my mind besides the one I eventually decided on was a lower league save in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden. Seeing how my Latvian adventure failed miserably, I think it's time to refer to plan B. I've decided to choose Norway because of how much talent they've recently had emerged, certainly a nation on the rise. Denmark would have a very similar quality, but I wanted to stick to the spring-autumn schedule that Latvia also has. Sweden for some reason just doesn't appeal to me at the moment. I'll be holidaying until 13th January 2025 and jumping in once the leagues become active. I'm also keeping the Latvian league active mostly to keep track of its development as teams like Riga, RFS and Valmiera seem to be making significant progress on the European stage. This should be quite interesting to follow. Who knows, maybe I can build up my reputation and join one of the big sides at some point in the future?

For now, the young manager is in exile. Can he prove himself and redeem his failures in the cold North?

[Rikulec]

If anyone was wondering about the lack of updates, it turns out that it's damn hard to find a job in the 4th tier of Norwegian football despite the league having as many as six groups. I don't know if it might be a bug or not, but in 18 months not only didn't a single job become available, but there wasn't even an insecure one. The newly promoted clubs also all had managers. That's why I finally resorted to applying to 3rd tier clubs in relegation battles...

That's not good.

[Rikulec]

An offer out of the blue from the Polish 2nd tier in December 2026. I was tempted, but I think it wouldn't be a realistic move at this point, the level is a bit too high. Declined.

[Rikulec]

A team who has just gained promotion to the 3rd tier in Norway won't even offer me an interview. Maybe I have to come up with another plan?

[Rikulec]

Ugh. Apparently I've been trying to get a job in an unplayable league for the last two years.

[Rikulec]

Plan C then. I've checked and the Danish 4th tier is actually playable, so this is my next destination. I'll be removing the Norwegian lower leagues, leaving only the top tier.

[Rikulec]

Yes, finally! After three and a half years unemployed, on 17th March 2028 I finally got an interview at the brilliantly named Middelfart. With just three games until the end of the preliminary phase they're 9th in the league, still in with a chance of making the promotion stage. Come on, don't mess this up!

[Rikulec]

Nope.

[Rikulec]

Fast forward three months and Slagelse have been promoted to the 3. Division with a managerial vacancy. This news item doesn't sound too promising, what the hell do I do if even they don't hire me?

[Rikulec]

At long, long last! It took almost four years for me to find a job after my triple failure in Latvia. I had to go so low down that I ended up at an amateur club in the 4th tier of Danish football. And you know what? I quite like this redemption arc that seems to have been set up here. The only way is up.

Jakub Słota's Management Career - New Club - Slagelse Boldklub & Idrætsforening

Apparently this is the 5th oldest club in Denmark, which makes things even more interesting.

Club Name: Slagelse Boldklub & Idrætsforening
Nickname: SBI
Year Founded: 1887
Status: Amateur
Stadium: Harboe Arena Slagelse (10,000 capacity, 3,300 seated)

It seems like a decent balanced squad at first glance, but actually these players are suited for the level below. The disparity between the best and the worst teams in the league seems to be nowhere near what it is in Latvia, so I might be able to make up for it. Torben Alsøe (who's more than likely to leave us very soon), Mads Holst and Martin Ahlgren are our best players at the moment.

The only thing we need to do is stay up, which means finishing above at least three other teams.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2028/29 - Slagelse Boldklub & Idrætsforening

Friendlies

A mixed bag, but look, we beat Hellas!

Transfers

A few decent players join the ranks. We were also able to hold onto Alsøe, which I'm very happy about.

Nicolai Madsen - he was brought in before I joined, not really sure what for.

Christopher Møller - we needed a new goalkeeper quite badly, so we got one.

Sebastian Rygaard - a backup player for the left back position.

Lukas Svensson - well, he can run pretty fast and the better player for this position I had my eyes on turned us down.

Leo Kyvik - another backup defender.

Simon Madsen - the new starting left back.

We also promoted Tommy Dam and Oliver Møller from the youth ranks.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - August 2028 - Slagelse Boldklub & Idrætsforening

3. Division Preliminary Phase

Okay, I didn't see that coming. We're making full use of our defensive quality by shithousing our way through games with a low block, counter-attacking 4-4-2. I wonder how sustainable it can be in the long run, especially when other teams catch wind and stop going so attacking on us. It's certainly a nice change for me though after the antics in Latvia!

DBU Pokalen

No luck in the cup draw as we came up against a team playing two tiers above us. We still kept the scoreline respectable though despite fielding a weaker team ahead of the league opener.

Transfers

Ole Østergaard - an improvement on our previous backup right back, who decided to leave on a free.

We also promoted Jacob Andresen from the U-19s after losing Tommy Dam to another free transfer.

 

[Rikulec]

Another thing I had to wait for longer than I'd like to.