kkfootball

February 25, 2021

Well. We absolutely dominated United away from home. I feel like the league is ours already

February 25, 2021

Another one

February 24, 2021

Season 3 (second full season):

Heading into this season I was worried about the strengthening of Man City and Man U, teams that both gave me a challenge last season. Man U was a non factor and started off like a midtable team. Liverpool, who were poor the season prior, started off invincible and remained so until about 2/3s of the way through the season. After taking their first loss they fell off the cliff and left us only to worry about City. We ended up winning the league pretty easily after Liverpool fell off though. Camavinga showed a lot of promise in this first season but played average in the middle of the season. Our other new arrivals, Badiashile, Fofana, Ndidi, and Tielemans were all brilliant with Tielemans being our best player this season. Alena came in on a free and thrived towards the end of the season, displaying his creative ability. Vlahovic came in to replace Iheanacho who City came in for and has been a serviceable replacement when there was a dearth of left footed striker options. We ended up signing Jizz Sarpong, the man with the funny name who we scouted on account of that and who looked really good. He was really poor in the matches we did give him, but I'm confident he has some more growing to do as he just turned 19 and has been training really well. The question is whether I loan him out to QPR in the Championship or incorporate him into the rotation next season. This hinges on whether our third center back gets sufficient offers for him.

In addition to those signings we had 4 players who were fully promoted into the first team. Kenneh is the most exciting of the bunch. He was a surprise a season ago as he surpassed Cresswell who was clearly his superior but who was stopped growing so rapidly. Kenneh now has the wonderkid tag and has been performing at a high level in the appearances I have given him. He's a valuable left footed center back and will be there to pick up games where Badiashile needs a rest. Cresswell continues to perform well in the opportunities he is given, but this season he wasn't given many as his growth has largely stopped at 20. The appearances he was given were a result of being an emergency center back. He is worth a healthy amount right now and has had a handful of suitors in the past. I will look to move him on next season. The other two youth players to come through this season were Rico Richards and Joe Gelhardt. Richards had been absolutely demolishing the opposition as a youth player and demanded a loan in his contract renewal. I loaned him out to a championship club and after a few weeks saw that they weren't giving him any time so I was able to recall him just in time to incorporate him in the first team. Gelhardt did not tear up the youth level to the same degree as Richards but looked like a more well-rounded striker and performed fabulously for Rotherham in the Championship last season. They were both given chances this year and while neither impressed enough to carve out a place for themselves on the merit of their play alone, they both look like they can hang at this level. Gelhardt just missed the cutoff to become a homegrown player for us so I don't think I will hold onto him, but Richards will and will hang around. Richards must've been given a lower PA in this save than my last save as in that last save he was tearing up the Championship for the AI at 19 and the Ligue 1 for me at 20. I brought him with me to Bayern for about 50 million too. In this save he's looking like he will peak at being a good attacking player for scappy prem teams down the table, but I will continue to give him minutes for the foreseeable future. We have a(nother) center back coming up through the youth system who is looking like he is just about ready to be bled into the team but we have so damn many of them. But at 17, and the speed at which he has been developing, he really deserves a run. Other than the aforementioned I don't think we have any more players on the bubble. In the next few years, however, I think we will have a few.

After hearing the news that Mbappe was being seriously pursued by City, and having been given the budget for the next season I made a deal for the 22 year old Haaland to bring him back to Leeds, his birth city. It is a shame he doesn't qualify as homegrown, but that shouldn't stop him from tearing up the league. With his arrival I will be looking on selling a striker I brought in a couple seasons back who is one match away from hitting his 50 match clause. I didn't even mean not to pay it, but with 1 game remaining in the league I thought it best not to incur that cost and best to move the 28 year old on while he still has value and before having to pay.

We have a great keeper in Meslier, a great right back in Max Aarons, a world class center back pair, but two mediocre left backs. There wasn't much talent available that I could see in my search, at least talent that was below the age of 30, but I found a Brighton player Michal Karbownik who will fit the role perfectly if we can bring him in. Other than that, our midfield with Camavinga, Alena, Baro, Tielemans, Hojbjerg, and Kalvin Phillips, doesn't need to be touched. It is world class. And now with Haaland coming in we will be world class up front. Here's to hoping we can finally push on and win something in Europe!

Kalvin Phillips is now club captain after the sale of Liam Cooper and has help his position against the hungry Camavinga. Phillips is a player who will never be sold, despite Bielsa's Barcelona coming in for him

And here's what we won:

Note Arsenal in 13th. Patrick Viera had them near the bottom so he was sacked and then they hired Thierry Henry lol. Didn't help much.

In the Champions league we were knocked out in the semi-finals by Barcelona 10-4 on aggregate.

In the FA Cup we were knocked out in the quarter finals by Manchester United.

Next season I don't expect to lose a single trophy individually while understanding it is likely we will drop at least one.

This is now the second season in a row where Kalvin Phillips was fan's player of the season. He is currently a club icon but I hope we can push him into legendary status before he regresses. I find that the legend-icon-favorite system in FM seems really dumb. A player who has been at the club for 13 seasons, all of which were quality seasons for, say, a right back and he is just a fan favorite

Challenge Progress:

Domestic Titles

2/13 Premier League Titles: (2021/22) (2022/23)

1/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles: (2021/22)

2/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles: (2021/22) (2022/23)

1/10 English Community Shield: (2022/23)

European Titles

0/2 UEFA Champions League

0/1 UEFA Europa League

0/1 UEFA Super Cup

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

Challenge Milestones

~~Win the FA Cup within 4 seasons~~

~~Win the Premier League within 7 seasons~~

~~Win a Premier League/FA Cup double within 8 seasons~~

Win Three Premier League/FA Cup Doubles within 13 seasons (1)

Win the Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League Treble within 13 seasons

Point total should be 2350

February 23, 2021

I was feeling on top of the world. We are going to win the league (we got knocked out of the FA Cup) and were in great form. We have figured out what our three tactics will be going forward. After a 3-3 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semi I was confident I would be able to go through in the second leg given out strong performance in the first. I was wrong.

I haven't seen this before lmao

Surprised at the budget the board threw our way. The budget minimum that was given earlier in the season was 0! which wasn't terribly surprising given my extremely aggressive use of installment fees in transfers as well as many of the early "we pay you after x league matches" clauses coming into play this season. So I'm happy we were given the largest budget to date.

Season update coming later tonight

February 23, 2021

Well I'm happy we're able to have such a dominating performance against City despite the result. I just hope they don't bring in Mbappe despite being linked with him. In my save in FM20 the front three for City under Guardiola was Sancho-Mbappe-Garbuio (the best striker in the save)

February 23, 2021

And Liverpool have finally lost... here's to hoping their form drops off and they allow us to win the title

February 22, 2021

Scouted this guy just for the name and now I'm having a heart attack

February 22, 2021

Was looking for my Ronaldo and found this odd player from Benfica. A striker with 16 tackling... out of curiosity I asked my board to negotiate for him and they decided he was worth $52 million. Not sure he's worth it, but we're doing well in the finances so as long as it doesn't take from my transfer budget I will take him in and try to develop him into our replacement for Ndidi and Phillips .

February 21, 2021

Just doing a quick update after the Community Shield to discuss the goals for this season.

We managed to beat Man U in the Shield on penalties with Meslier once again showing brilliantly. He saved two of United's first three penalties and put us in a position where we only had to avoid missing two straight penalties to win. We missed both (de Gea was also on fire finishing with an 8.7 rating) but after a few more back and forth, with us making a save and de Gea following it up with a save, we eventually got the decisive one.

In the summer window we managed to bring in a young French center back from Monaco Badiashile to replace Diego Llorente who we sold to Arsenal for $64 million to pair alongside Robin Koch, another of our former center backs. After a few more sales we also managed to bring in Camavinga after not having sufficient finds to do so originally (I thought we only needed $40 million up front but the budget impact turned out to be $100 million). We brought in Carles Alena in on a free after Barcelona released him because he was too good to pass up on even though I'm not sure how he will fit into my team. A good candidate to sell next season at least. Because of Leicester's relegation I am looking at poaching at least one out of Wesley Fofana, Tielemans, or Ndidi, preferably Fofana.

I'm hoping to make it in the top 4 this year as well as winning an FA Cup. I'm not confident about the league as I don't think Meslier will be able to maintain his heroics and it looks like Man City and Man U really revamped their rosters (Man City brought in Dybala to pair with Lautaro Martinez as well as bringing in Alaba on a free and Man U brought in Harry Kane to pair with Rashford (last years top goalscorer with a goal a game) and Greenwood).

Challenge Progress

Domestic Titles

1/13 Premier League Titles

1/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles

1/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles

1/10 English Community Shield

European Titles

0/2 UEFA Champions League

0/1 UEFA Europa League

0/1 UEFA Super Cup

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

Well I guess I was wrong (about everything) about our challengers this season

February 21, 2021

Season Two is now complete. After a solid 5th place finish last season, I was eager to finish top four the following season as well as try our hand in the Europa League. The main focus, however, was the FA Cup.

Before the season we sold our (and the league's) top goal scorer, the 30 year old Rodrigo to Tottenham for $70 million which really gave us money to play with. We also sold Patrick Bamford for an irresistible $30 million along with a few other players who were aging and not realistically a part of our starting 11. To replace them I brought in Rhian Brewster, Kelechi Iheanacho and a couple other players. We also brought in Max Aarons from the Championship for $40 million and he was our highest average rating player as well as the Premier League's second leading assister with 14.

This season I believe our best player was our keeper, Illan Meslier. With an average rating of 7.2, I don't think I've ever had a better goalkeeper in that regard. Early in the season he helped us keep draws against the bigger teams when we were being pummeled. In addition, in both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals he lead us to shootout victories. The Carabao Cup was the most amazing performance as I had an incredibly weakened team (down to ten men due to an injury until extra time) and he managed to hold a strong Liverpool side to 0-0 in addition to winning the shootout.

During the January window we sold Robin Koch to Arsenal for $40 million and brought in the towering Tosin Adarabioyo to replace him. I also saw that Emile Hojbjerg had been transfer listed by Tottenham so we picked him up cheap. It should be said that Tottenham were around 17th for half the season which is a shame because I could've landed them for this challenge. Then picked up the form a bit and finished 13th. It should also be said that Leicester, who I almost managed to land the previous season on November 6th got relegated this season, continuing their struggles.

We have a few players who are just about able to crack into the first team from the youth academy, and we had two who did so for this season. Charlie Cresswell, who had a few games last year, is looking like a center back who will be in the rotation next year, taking over for the aging captain Liam Cooper. My only concern is his upside as my coaches seem to think he is just about done growing. His attributes also seemed to have slowed their growth so he may be a player who is stuck as a strong Championship/decent Prem center back. The other player to come through this season is the Polish youngster Mateusz Bogusz who was first choice until Hojbjerg came in January. We had a few players on loan, particularly at Rotherham in the Championship who look like they could be joining the side next year. We have two strikers there (one who was leading the Championship in scoring for half the season), a midfielder, and a center back (he can also play in the midfield) who looks like a genuine baller with a ton of upside and ability. The academy is looking strong throughout and after a poor first intake and what didn't look like a promising intake based on the preview, I took up the advice of some of the earlier posters in this thread and brought in Kristjaan Speakman from Birmingham. After doing so, we actually had a very promising intake with many of the players having Speakman as a favored personnel as well as his saying he influenced them. Because of this, I don't know whether to attribute this good intake (once again, despite a bad preview) to our previous HOYD or Speakman. In any event, the decision has been made and I'm happy with it.

I should add we have two 18 year old strikers in our u23s who fielded a constant stream of offers from Premier League sides throughout the windows and have been absolutely tearing it up at the level. One of them actually scored 50 goals in the various youth competitions. While they both look a bit raw (and FM totally failing on their scouting of one of them and making him a midget with his weak foot wrong) I will try to incorporate them into the side next year, if only in the cups now that we aren't as pressed for time.

Overall, I am happy to have completed the time sensitive FA Cup win, FA Cup/League double, and League title milestones so now I can crack on with building the club without being too results oriented. I am disappointed that we didn't win Europa League as I don't foresee us being in that competition again, so we will just have to win an additional Champions League. The good news is that I think I'm about to complete a deal for Camavinga which will go a long way towards us completing that goal (Jude Bellingham next, fingers crossed). We also managed to make the loan deal of Romario Baro permanent, so I look forward to his continued appearance at the club.

Challenge Progress

Domestic Titles

1/13 Premier League Titles

1/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles

1/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles

0/10 English Community Shield

European Titles

0/2 UEFA Champions League

0/1 UEFA Europa League

0/1 UEFA Super Cup

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

February 18, 2021

First season done with Leeds. We got off to a flyer, winning our first six games in charge (against weak opponents admittedly). Rodrigo lead the league in goal scoring with 27 and the club looks to have loads of young talent coming through the ranks. I also brought in a few youngsters that I was fond of in a previous save that I could still get cheap. With regard to the youth academy graduate rule, we are looking good. Kalvin Phillips is poised to take on the captaincy in the coming season at the age of 25 and is our best player. I hope to be able to keep him around going forward. In addition, we also have Tyler Roberts who had a strong season. We also have a couple players who were on the u-23-first team bubble, some of whom got some games and some of whom went on loan, but I expect them to come into the first team next season. The future looks bright on that front. Some of the squad is aging so we will have to work things out in those positions. I don't expect next season to be as breezy as this one, but I hope to build a foundation for future success, and a quick cup!

Here's the league table:

February 16, 2021

With that first January transfer window are we limited to 11 including the transfers made in the summer by the previous manager or does the 11 only count if we are the ones who made the transfers? Apologies if this has been asked before, I've yet to read the whole thread.

February 16, 2021

Starting this challenge with Leeds.

Wish Charlie Adam some luck in job.

League table:

upset because we could've landed the Leicester job

February 15, 2021

So I landed the Bayern job that I had applied for and successfully traded two players I desperately wanted over from Monaco, buying the third (he was so attached to my manager that he wouldn't leave until I joined Bayern. This cost me 72 million). In addition to the Bayern job I also landed the USA job after they were knocked out of the Gold Cup semis by Canada. Not only do I think they have a marginally better chance than Nigeria at tackling the World Cup (still ~0), but it will allow me to work on the continental cup for Concacaf.

I also must mention a keeper in the Bundesliga 2, an American, that I discovered through the national team. At 17, he looks like he would be the instant starter at Bayern and certainly for the national team. Reminds me of an American newgen I had in FM20 who became the best player in the world getting about 20 goals and assists a season from cm.

Here he is:

Spoiler

Here are the players I stole from Monaco:

Spoiler

We did get Richards legit.

We're looking to tackle the Bundesliga and the Champions League this season. with the signing of Upamecano from Leipzig late in the transfer window the Bundesliga should be ours easily. Leizig have been the only true rival to Bayern this save so getting him in helps us immensely. Hopefully he doesn't just lead us to the league title!

February 15, 2021

After a successful season with Udinese finishing 7th, I thought we had hit our ceiling and it was time to move on. After being rejected by Braga (again), Napoli, and Juve, I thought we would have to do another season with Udinese with no better options being available and excited to use my new signings. However, the AS Monaco job came up. I applied and was given the job quickly. Before I go into the season with Monaco, I should say how Udinese got on in my absence. They finished 7th again but on three fewer points. I was happy to see this continued success and my signings doing well, but I was also troubled to see them do so well without me there.

Anyway, when I got to Monaco I came into a strong squad with so real weaknesses. The backline was strong, although lacking depth in the outside back positions, particularly the right back and I needed a few strikers. I brought in Lukas Klostermann to back up our star right back Moussa Wague and I brought in Rico Richards, a star loanee from my time at Hull to play striker for us. I also brought in an Argentinian wonderkid I had identified while at Udinese who I knew I could get for cheap. These three signings were the key ones for the season.

While I thought having two outside backs on each side would be enough, we were in a constant injury crisis in both those positions during the second half of the season. Our best player, Moussa Wague, was injured for 4 months and Klostermann picked up a few injuries of his own. I brought in a third right back in the Joker window as an emergency, and after some good performances he, too, got injured. In addition to these right back injuries I also had many left back injuries which often left me with just one left back, and for a time I had to give the final left back injections (a feature I don't utilize often) to get him through games. I brought in a third left back in January.

Despite these injuries we finished 1st after trailing PSG most of the season. Through the first 10 games PSG didn't even concede a goal, but in the final quarter of the season their form had regressed massively and we even beat them 4-0.

Here's Wague:

Spoiler

Here's Klostermann:

Spoiler

Here's Richards:

Spoiler

Here's Flores (Argentinian wonderkid)

Spoiler

After winning the League with Monaco, although I think we have put together a strong side, I'm looking to join a real European powerhouse so we can push on for a new league title as well as make a real attempt at the Champions League. This season we drew Manchester United in the quarter finals and were outclassed in both matches. With the latter stages of the champions league consisting of teams like PSG, Bayern, Liverpool, Man City, Real Madrid etc, I don't think we have much of a chance at winning that competition unless we are one of those teams.

Our performance in the French Cup was good, although it was ultimately really easy to win. We didn't have a single touch draw and PSG were beaten in the quarter finals.

One of our wonderkids (he was here when I took over at the club) won the most promising player award in the league. He's really class and took over the starting position in the midfield early on in the season and blossomed. He is a guy who, if I end up going to a bigger club, I will try to scum over to my team by doing an unfavorable player exchange before I go (I've never done that before, so I'm not sure if it works).

Here he is:

Spoiler

We ended up having a surprise performed take over at left back. It was a guy who I didn't think was good enough to even be a back up at the position, but after giving him a go he became our starter and even made it into the team of the year (the club had seven players in team of the year).

Here he is:

Spoiler

In addition to the league and the cup, I also won the manager of the year award in France.

As it stands currently, it is looking exceedingly likely that I will be with Nigeria for the 2026 World Cup as no interesting jobs are available and I don't suspect there will be any until the World Cup. After the World Cup, I'm sure there will be and I will leap at the opportunity. With Monaco, I am looking at bigger clubs. Currently I am in the running for the job at Bayern, but no other clubs are available. Not even PSG is available after falling in the league to us! With that, it is likely that I will stick with Monaco for another season despite my best efforts. Don't be surprised if I get another job before the next update though!+

Club Career

Hall of Fame Rank: 	N/A
Clubs Managed: 		4
Nations Managed: 	2 
Trophies Won: 		3
Runner Up Medals: 	1
Manager of the Year: 	2
Number of Sackings: 	0

Career Earnings: $4.9 million
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note					
2020/21	Eng	Dartford	Vanarama South  1st	N/A	N/A	-	-	Won League
2021/22 Eng     Dartford        Vanarama Nat.   2nd     Second  Fourth  -       -       Promoted through playoffs, Won Manager of the Year
2022/23 Eng     Hull            Championship    17th    N/A     N/A     -       -       Survived Relegation
2023/24 Ita     Udinese         Serie A         7th     Qtr-finl N/A    -       -       Qualified for Europa league
2024/25 Fra     Monaco          Ligue 1         1st     Won     N/A     Qrt-finl -      Won Ligue 1, Won Manager of the Year
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2021	Haiti   	79th	-		-		-
2022    Haiti           82nd    -               -               - 
2023    Nigeria         20th    -               -               -
2024    Nigeria         9th     -               -               Won African Championship of Nations
2025    Nigeria         7th     Won             -               Won African Cup of Nations
-----------------------------------------------------
Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues 		
1/10 Cups		
0/5  Continental	
0/1  Worlds

1/5 Continental 	
0/1 Worlds

February 11, 2021

Got through the AfCon with Nigeria, it was relatively easy except for our game against Guinea. We had lost to Cape Verde in the group stage portion of the tournament and had to face them in the finals, surprisingly. Despite that earlier loss we were able to beat them 8-1 in the final. The strategy for the tournament was simple: rest the players I want for the games we ought to struggle in. So in the group stage my starters were only deployed once and in the knockout stage only against Senegal and Cape Verde.

Ivory Coast got out of the group stage on 3 points. I was hoping they wouldn't make it out as I didn't want to face them in the knockout stage of the tournament. In general though, the larger nations underperformed which really surprised me.

As for my international future, I'm not sure it would be wise to stick it out with Nigeria until the World Cup, but if I don't get a better job before then, I will try my luck.

Here's the tournament tree:

Spoiler

February 8, 2021

My computer broke down in December but I managed to transfer the files onto the new machine, so I'm back.

After being rejected from both Braga and Genoa (Serie B), I was inexplicably offered the Udinese job (Serie A) which I snapped up. In addition, after failing horrendously in the Gold Cup with my Haiti side, I resigned and took up the much stronger Nigerian job in hopes of winning the AfCon.

With Udinese, the squad was pretty much set up for a strong campaign in my system, but I had to bring in a couple quality strikers. The campaign was frustrating because the league felt far more stratified than anything I've experienced before. I stole away only a handful of points from the likes of Lazio, Roma, Juve, Napoli, and Inter, but showed pretty strongly against the rest of the league, particularly in the second half of the season. Most of the results felt way tighter than they needed to be, evidenced by our goal difference being 5 despite finishing 7th. If we got out to an early lead there was an inevitable drop in quality in the second half where we would often concede one or two goals and squander the lead. This feeling got to the point where I was almost happier to go into halftime a goal down when I was confident we would be able to turn up the second half and claw something back. Overall, disappointed with the strikers at the club and they are currently being overpaid.

The good news is we have European football next year and a handful of new lads coming in and hopefully will be able to compete in the league earlier and with more vigour. Hoping for top 4.

I applied for the Braga job again after this season but was rejected again. I also applied for the newly vacated Juve job after they finished 3rd, but I'm not holding my breath.

With Nigeria, we won the African Championship of Nations, which is this odd little tournament that I wasn't aware of. It seems to only allow the inclusion of domestic players, so most of the lineup was Nigerian players who weren't currently employed and therefore based in Nigeria. In the final we faced South Africa, which I was dreading but the win was sweat free. Looking forward to the AfCon.

Here's the table:

Spoiler

Club Career

Hall of Fame Rank: 	N/A
Clubs Managed: 		3
Nations Managed: 	2 
Trophies Won: 		1
Runner Up Medals: 	1
Manager of the Year: 	1
Number of Sackings: 	0

Career Earnings: $2.1 million
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note					
2020/21	Eng	Dartford	Vanarama South  1st	N/A	N/A	-	-	Won League
2021/22 Eng     Dartford        Vanarama Nat.   2nd     Second  Fourth  -       -       Promoted through playoffs, Won Manager of the Year
2022/23 Eng     Hull            Championship    17th    N/A     N/A     -       -       Survived Relegation
2023/24 Ita     Udinese         Serie A         7th     Qtr-finl N/A    -       -       Qualified for Europa league
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2021	Haiti   	79th	-		-		-
2022    Haiti           82nd    -               -               - 
2023    Nigeria         20th    -               -               -
2024    Nigeria         9th     -               -               Won African Championship of Nations
-----------------------------------------------------
Challenge Progress
0/10 Leagues 		
0/10 Cups		
0/5  Continental	
0/1  Worlds

0/5 Continental 	
0/1 Worlds

November 20, 2020

Finished the rest of the 2022/23 season with Hull. Picked up the job with them in 21st and ended up in 17th after a really nice run of form in the second half of the season. Not liking the Hull job. Players are vigorously demanding wages that seem absurd to me, but I imagine the ship will steady for the second season. Here's the table:

Spoiler

I applied for three MLS jobs on 2.5 star reputation and got rejected by all three after attending the interviews. I am now in the running for the Genoa (in the Serie B right now) and the Braga jobs although I don't know how realistic getting either of those will be for me as I see them as more of a long shot than the MLS jobs.

Anyway, I did what I said I would and have brought the big lad Arthur Okonkwo with me to Hull to be our backup keeper, but he got more than his share of games because the first-choice was on a 6.4 rating that season and his performances didn't shape up much. Okonkwo continued his penalty heroics in the league saving a few if memory serves.

Spoiler

Oscar Thorn, our wonder striker, wouldn't sign with us in January but has agreed to come into the club for the next season. Although he doesn't have the attributes to succeed at the level we're asking him to play at, he deserves a chance after having the most impressive campaign I've seen for a striker, winning the golden boot in League Two after only scoring for half a season (he only bagged one goal after I left).

Additionally, this summer, Rhys Bennett, our center back starlet at Dartford, and an elderly goalkeeper I'm making into a coach, are arriving. Bennett will be waiting to pounce on the weaker of the center back pair here at Hull, an aging center back with unexceptional speed, which I'm not comfortable with given the high line we're playing. I have too many bad memories of being beat over the top in the National League.

This is all contingent on us not getting the two aforementioned jobs I've applied for. Could very well be a waste writing this. Anyway, forwards!

Club Career

Hall of Fame Rank: 	N/A
Clubs Managed: 		2
Nations Managed: 	1 (Not including Ireland u-19s)
Trophies Won: 		1
Runner Up Medals: 	1
Manager of the Year: 	1
Number of Sackings: 	0

Career Earnings: $500,000
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note					
2020/21	Eng	Dartford	Vanarama South  1st	N/A	N/A	-	-	Won League
2021/22 Eng     Dartford        Vanarama Nat.   2nd     Second  Fourth  -       -       Promoted through playoffs, Won Manager of the Year
2022/23 Eng     Hull            Championship    17th    N/A     N/A     -       -       Survived Relegation
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2021	Haiti   	79th	-		-		-
2022    Haiti           82nd    -               -               - 
-----------------------------------------------------
Challenge Progress
0/10 Leagues 		
0/10 Cups		
0/5  Continental	
0/1  Worlds

0/5 Continental 	
0/1 Worlds

November 17, 2020

After playing half the League Two season, I have decided to take the Hull job in the Championship.

Spoiler

I think there ought to be some reflection on the time at Dartford as well as what the plans are moving forward with Hull.

With Dartford, this season has been strange so far with our performances in the league being mediocre and our performances in the Carabao Cup being brilliant. In the league, we are usually evenly matched and tend to struggle to hold onto our leads late into games (at least my perception), but in the Carabao Cup we routinely beat clubs in the Championship and even beat Tottenham while giving them a credible game.

Spoiler

While the performance in the league has been strong enough that we are challenging for a playoff position, the team is just a mess. There are some bright spots, but our midfield is not performing well and the goals are all being scored by one striker for the most part. Thankfully he is an absolute menace in front of goal and has 28 goals in 22 league games. I plan on bringing him and Okonkwo (keeper) with us to Hull despite the fact that their stats are so poor that they shouldn't be performing as well as they are in League Two. Okonkwo can take a comfortable backup role for the striker, we will see if he can challenge.

Spoiler

Regarding Hull and my plans there, I should say that they were not my first choice. I had no intention on continuing to manage in England, but, taking inspiration from those of you who found getting good clubs with low reputation, no German or Spanish top-flight clubs would so much as interview us. Additionally, no MLS jobs were on offer even after the season concluded so I decided to start applying to Championship clubs upon getting interest from some. As a couple clubs (Swansea and Middlesbrough) rejected me after interviewing, I figured Championship was a good level for me and went forward with the Hull job.

If I can get a promotion to the Prem in the next couple seasons and have a good campaign in our first season there, I believe it could be a great jumping off point for A-tier clubs. I believe this as my FM 20 save had went by these same start rules and after taking Reading up and keeping them top 10 in the Prem, I landed the Bayern job.

With Haiti, we still haven't had a competitive fixture but this summer Gold Cup comes around. I don't want to leave the job until we have a go at that.

November 16, 2020

Five league matches into our League Two season and things just seem odd with the team. Preseason saw us earn a draw against a Championship side and a Premier League side (newly promoted) and in the Carabao Cup we beat two Championship sides while being competitive. In the league, however, we are finding it difficult, being outplayed and beaten by sides regularly. Because of this, I think it is likely that I will leave the job in winter unless we find our form.

A particular highlight of the save so far has been our keeper (originally signed to back up Ryan Huddart, a legend in a FM 15 LLM save) Arthur Okonkwo. In his time at the club he has found himself in three penalty shootouts (1 Playoff final, 2 in the Carabao Cup) and in all three had three stops giving us easy victories. Further, looking at some of the key performance indicators for his position, he seemed to have been top of the league last year. Wouldn't be surprised if he was a large factor in creating the "luck" we seemed to have. Still too early to look at the defensive analytics for this season, but as the team settles into play I imagine they will look solid.

Spoiler

In other news, I have just completed my Continental C License and have started on the B License. Good to see it coming along nicely.

November 15, 2020

The title was lost on the last day, by one goal... look at the results in the "elsewhere today" tab. We didn't deserve the title and we finished the season in poor form.

Spoiler

Fortunately, we went up through the playoffs despite suffering injuries to my two main left back options, already my most shallow position. Have full faith in my keeper who has been one of our best players this season and he came up big with a couple stops in the shootout in the final. Barham, my main striker, has been shooting 100% from the spot for two seasons now and it's good to see him keep that record. Don't see him being cut out for the next level, but I'll keep him on for the time being to let him prove himself.

Spoiler

Looking towards the future, I don't see myself staying at Dartford long-term despite my growing attachment as my squad already felt weak for the National League and expect it to be even more so in League Two. Can't see myself bringing in the necessary talent either as, despite healthy room in the wage budget, players who would star in our team have rejected talks with us due to the "financial package" or some such thing. A player who would've been my best on paper rejected talks with us to join a team in a lower division on wages that would be moderate at Dartford. Perhaps gaining professional status and promotion will help in that respect, but that remains to be seen. In FM 15 I had a save where I took Stockport up from the Conference North to the Prem in about 9 seasons (albeit I started with badges and reputation) and I've been nostalgic for that. If things go south, I will cash in on my success and move elsewhere.

Club Career

Hall of Fame Rank: 	N/A
Clubs Managed: 		1
Nations Managed: 	1 (Not including Ireland u-19s)
Trophies Won: 		1
Runner Up Medals: 	1
Manager of the Year: 	1
Number of Sackings: 	0

Career Earnings: $140,000
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note					
2020/21	Eng	Dartford	Vanarama South  1st	N/A	N/A	-	-	Won League
2021/22 Eng     Dartford        Vanarama Nat.   2nd     Second  Fourth  -       -       Promoted through playoffs, Won Manager of the Year
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2021	Haiti   	79th	-		-		-
-----------------------------------------------------
Challenge Progress
0/10 Leagues 		
0/10 Cups		
0/5  Continental	
0/1  Worlds

0/5 Continental 	
0/1 Worlds

November 15, 2020

Added my manager profile to my first post in this thread. Know now I can add spoiler tags to keep from slowing down the page.

This update comes in March of the 2021/22 season with Dartford. I took over the Haiti job as I think it is possible to steal a Gold Cup with them in the near future. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was worried about the financial outlook for the club, but was shocked to find that we are making large profits and have third lowest wage spend in the Vanarama National League. Despite this stat, due in part to surprisingly low wage demands for incoming players and vigorous negotiation, we find ourselves top of the league again! This time, however, I am shocked that we are squeaking out so many positive results and think we deserve to be a promotion playoff scrapper at best. For example, Leyton Orient spend 4x the wages we do and in our two meetings we managed hard-fought victories against both the odds and the tides of play. Below are attached the league table, offensive analytics, and finances.

Spoiler

I have stolen @bjwphneb's progress update table as I couldn't figure out how to set my own up. Apologies if this is a breach of conduct. No worries if you wish for me to take it down.

Personal Career

Hall of Fame Rank: 	N/A
Clubs Managed: 		1
Nations Managed: 	1 (Not including Ireland u-19s)
Trophies Won: 		1
Runner Up Medals: 	0
Manager of the Year: 	0
Number of Sackings: 	0

Career Earnings: $110,000
---------------------------------------------------

Club Career
																	
Season	NAT	Club		Division	Pos	Cup 1	Cup 2	Cont	CWC	Things to Note					
2020/21	Eng	Dartford	Vanarama South  1st	N/A	N/A	-	-	Won League
----------------------------------------------------

International Career

Season	Nation		Rank	Continental	World Cup	Things to Note
2021	Haiti   	79th	-		-		-
-----------------------------------------------------
Challenge Progress
0/10 Leagues 		
0/10 Cups		
0/5  Continental	
0/1  Worlds

0/5 Continental 	
0/1 Worlds

November 12, 2020

First season had me with Dartford in the Vanarama National League South. Finished 1st after joining in early December 2020. Season finished with 2 points separating us and 4th in the table. Looking forward to next season with Dartford where, hopefully, I will begin work on my second badge as well as challenge for promotion in the next two seasons. If we fail to get promoted it would be best to jump ship before the finances go to ruin. Signed a handful of quality Premier League released youth players.

Overall, looking forward to trying to replicate a method of scouting that worked wonders in a previous save which allowed me to conquer Finland where I would find the agents of quality African youngsters and sign those available on frees.

December 20, 2019

Season Two

The season began with a strong start, a win against BATE Borisov in both the opener and semi-final in the cup. The cup was subsequently won by us, and following our qualification for the Europa League, we were knocked out in a credible duel against CSKA Moscow. The new arrivals (American) showed well in the season. Ray Ripken was leading the league in scoring, knocking in a goal every 100 minutes. Hickman held down the midfield, and Chan and Reyes strengthened the back line. With nine games remaining in the season, and with Orsha in second place (teetering and struggling in the later fixtures), I found a job with Kuopion Palloseura. They were sitting third with five games remaining and I led them to a second place finish by the end of the season.

The plans for next season are to bring in the American contingent (Americans used to count as "EU" but no longer do in Finland), and implement the 4-3-3 narrow tactic. The finances are poor and the club is in debt. Wingers will be sold, the elderly cut. Order and balance will be brought back.

In all, I'm just pleased to get out of Belarus. I took the first job I could land and will eventually settle in a big five league.

Big things are happening next year. Expect multiple cup wins and the league. If not, I will likely ax myself.

Season 1: Won Pershaya league. Not in cups.

Season 2: Won Belarusian Cup. Lost in qualification rounds of Europa League. Second place in Veikkausliiga.

December 17, 2019

A Snowed in Christmas in Belarus

Introduction

Oneirological encyclopedias can't aid my understanding the meaning of this nightmare I find myself in. Cruel winters and particularly tormenting summers in Belarus.

I am an American poet who lived in the United Kingdom (don't worry, I'll spare you the verse) and, approaching twenty, an anxiety swept over me. I was compelled to embark on my odyssey.

I found myself at the job center, and landed myself with a small club in Belarus: Orsha. All went well during my first year. I, looking to play my standard 4-3-3 narrow system spent a couple hours finding the best full backs to lead the team, as well as bringing in a few to fill in the spine for the time being. After a rocky start leaving us in mid-table, a late season push led by the clinical Fedor Sapon and slip ups by Smolevichi and Volna put us first.

Winning the league (a relatively reputable professional league), I started applying for jobs in the West. Shockingly these teams "don't know who you are." This put a damper on my plans. I take this team to the Vysheshaya league and not even Conference teams will have me. I'm stuck for the winter (at least).

It is in this light that I begin the account of my journey.

Season One

Since I will be stuck in this metaphorical snowed in cabin (or Ogygia if you'll entertain the continuance of my hook), I ought to give more detail of the happenings of season one.

When I arrived at Orsha I had a partial team. Of course, I had an abundance of wingers; just my luck. I sent the wingers to the reserves for a proper appraisal of the team. One solid full back: Sijaka; one solid center back: Kozorez; two strikers: Sapon and Zatenko. The rest of the team would have to brought in. I brought in the one adequate left back available, a speedster with a defensive posture, but lacking in technical ability. Such is life in these parts. In addition a solid center back, playmaker (and a couple rotation options), and striker was brought in. The rest of the positions were filled in with youth and mediocre talent.

With this jolly band, the Pershaya league would be put to the sword. Sapon scored 31 in 30, Sijaka and the left back (Sergey) performed to the standard expected, and the defense (not my strong suit), was one of the best in the league.

The team had five spots in the team of the year (st: Zatenko, Sapon. mf: Kukharchik. def: Sijaka, Sergey) and I won manager of the year.

For the coming year, given the rejections of all teams this summer, I plan to further prove my ability by exceeding the expectation (that we'll be relegated). I'm confident we will finish mid-table. Expect the Americans to raise this team to the next level. Their careful integration is vital. I only have room for five non Belarusians.

Season 1: Won Pershaya league. Not in cups.

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