_JHTB_

New tactic is trying to swamp the midfield, this season I am maybe moving away from double mezzala and think I'll potentially change my overlaps to underlaps as I should have players more likely in position for those

Usti nad Labem - Season 8 Transfers/Season Preview This season saw quite a big turnover of players, with quite a few first team regulars moving to pastures new. Jovanovic was the first outgoing, I had missed that he only had 12 months on his contract and he wouldn’t sign a new one so we cashed in, a healthy £10m for 1 year on his contract was a good return. Hesso was the next to leave, I didn’t really need to sell him, but for £56m I would have been foolish not to. The 3rd major outgoing in the off season window was Lagos, he was one I did not want to sell, unfortunately, PSG hit his £35m minimum fee release clause and off he went. Later in the season we also lost one of our striker contingent in Hadebe for £10m and a player who was a regular in midfield just last season in Perrone for £4m. Incomings Csobanki was a pre-agreed transfer from midway through last season who was coming in to bolster our stikers ranks, has some strong attributes so was looking forward to how he would contribute. Saeed came in to be our back up right back but I do like the look of him and hope he can develop to challenge to be first choice there. Rowe was another who came in to be a squad option, this time for left back. With us losing a few attacking midfielders, Norheim was a signing who I hoped would at the very least, be a short term solution in that position. Other than Csobanki, we hadn’t really spent all too much, so I started to spend a bit on young more speculative signings which secured us Furukawa, Stjernberg, Nava and Martinez a few of whom did end up into our team. Season Due to our outgoings, coupled with a slow start to the league season this season ultimately saw a formation change, we went from using 2 attacking midfielders to none as we switched to incorporate wingers and dropped to just one striker too. In the league this season we were fantastic, the aforementioned slow start saw us lose 2 draw 1 of our opening 6 games which was as bad as it got, as the remainder of the season saw us win 28 draw 1, pretty dominating season for us all told, though I was a little disappointed with our low number of clean sheets, 9 in a season where we only failed to win 4 times is less than I would have hoped for. Europe Our Champions League campaign got off to a reasonable start with us beating Benfica away 1-0 however, we didn’t have as much luck in our next 3, although they were all pretty tough opponents. Monaco, Real Madrid and Barcelona all comfortably beat us, but I do think we were a little unlucky in the Madrid match. Wolfsburg and Frankfurt were our next too fixtures with both games ending 3-2, once in our favour in the tighter game and the other in Frankfurt’s favour in a game we were the better team in. We finished the league campaign off with two 1-0 home victories against Legia Warszawa and RB Salzburg to qualify for the next round for the first time. The draw was not super kind to us with us getting Manchester United but they haven’t been the strongest team in England so I did think maybe we could give them a good game. In the home leg we rode our luck pretty heavily as we managed to hold on to a 4-4 draw despite not playing well for much of the game and to be honest I didn’t think we’d win at Old Trafford. We got off to a great start in England going 2-0 up on the night after just 25 minutes, unfortunately that was as good as it got as by the 28th minute it was 2-2 and by half time we were behind. A few more goals in the second half with a late consolation goal by us saw it finish 6-3 on the night and out we went. Cup I’ve not really covered the cup that much as it isn’t super significant in my mind, but this season we won it for the first time, though the final was against a second tier team. Squad GK – Nicolas Herrera Herrera kept his spot as our first choice goalkeeper this season, but he was a little underwhelming. 12 clean sheets in all competitions isn’t fantastic so I wouldn’t be too averse to finding someone else for this position. DL – Xolani Hlatshwayo Hlatshwayo again maintained his spot as our starting left back, and whilst had a worse season this year in terms of average rating, perhaps contributed more with 5 goals and 5 assists in the league. DCL – Dimo Ivanov Following Hesso’s departure we had a gap in central defense and Ivanov was the player I trusted to play here. He’s a decent player although his technical attributes are a little lacking. He had an ok season even if nothing spectacular. DCR – Juan Jose Florez Florez didn’t pull up any trees for us, but on paper he looks be a fantastic defender and still only 19, so I’m willing to give him time to develop and hopefully he will translate that into performances. DR – Gaston Roi Roi kept his position, and whilst he was no where near as prolific as last season I attribute that more to the formation change and his specific role change as we spread out the assists across the team as a whole. He still was a consistently good performer for us just not quite as spectacularly as last season. DMC – Bongani Sithole Sithole has been at the club for a couple seasons as a back up midfielder but this season I finally decided to promote him to a regular starter for us. He had an ok season, but possibly a little less influential than he might have otherwise been. MCR – Michal Stana Stana was again subject to interest this season, but we kept him and he formed part of our new look midfield shape moving slightly forward from defensive midfield, 9 goals and 8 assists is a reasonable return, although his goal scoring tailed off towards the end of the season. MCL – Runar Norheim Norheim was originally signed to be an attacking midfield, but after we stopped using one, he instead found himself one of our midfield players, although, towards the end of the season he did start to lose his spot a little to Stjernberg who put in some good performances. AMR – Roland Csobanki Csobanki was brought in to be one of our starting strikers, but after reverting to just one striker he found himself as an inside forward on the right, 10 goals and 9 assists is a good return, but I think he could be a pretty prolific striker should he play there. AML– Andrew Rowe Rowe was only ever meant to be a fringe left back for us to give us better depth, but he ended up playing a few games at the start of the season on the left wing and his performances meant that he ultimately became our first choice here. 9 goals and 12 assists another strong performer. STC – Davian Entrena Entrena just scores goals, we have, on paper, better strikers than him, but he scores goals which is what he’s in the team to do, so they have to sit out and wait for their chance if he ever goes on a dry spell. 30+ league goals for the second consecutive season Overview/Looking ahead Again I’m pretty happy with my squad, but due to our formation shift this season we probably still need some signings to bolster the positions that we weren’t really using previously. I’m pretty excited about one of our youth players who’s been out on loan this season too. Kolar is only 17 and was one of the best players in the league last season, the main concern will be trying to tie him down to a long term contract once he turns 18. We will be expanding our stadium again next season, but outside of European fixtures, we don't really sell out all too much so don't know that it will be a significant help. Our youth facilities got downgraded this season also, though with the amount of money that we have in the bank I feel fairly confident that the board will accept the request to upgrade them again.

This is the tactic I'm using, have been playing about with player roles and some instructions this season i.e wing backs or full backs, sweeper keeper or not

Usti nad Labem - Season 7 Transfers For incomings this season we did add a decent number of players to our first team squad both increasing our strength in depth. I’ll cover from back to front. Goalkeeper Herrera I had been tracking for a while and whilst I wasn’t too disappointed with my current goalkeeper, I felt Herrera represented good value. Defenders Ivanov was our biggest outlay in the summer, whilst his heading isn’t the strongest he still looks a decent defender. Florez joined mid-season and I’m very happy with this purchase still only 18, but looks to be a fantastic defender with some good potential. Rafael is maybe not someone who should be considered as a defender, but it is as a right back I signed him just an attacking right back. Midfielders Sithole joined as a back up in the midfield, but for £450k he represents fantastic value as he looks to be a solid midfielder. Perrone is the first real player I’ve signed for a few years but I thought he was a good cheap option that would actually improve our midfield. Rezek was probably a bit of a panic buy as in the mid season our players were complaining about lack of depth in midfield so I splashed the cash on Rezek, I think he is a decent player, but I probably overpaid at £3.5m. Strikers Striker was the position that we we made the most signings with us improving the quality of our front line significantly. Lanko was the first arrival, he’d been in Monaco’s reserves, but looks a good striker option for us. Hadebe also arrived in the same window for a similar price and really, looks to be a pretty similar player to Lanko just with the detriment of being a non-eu player. Zivojinovic did nearly join in the summer but we didn’t agree contract, but I went back for him in the mid-season. He looks a very good striker, but is lacking mostly in his pace Outgoings Mihali was a major outgoing in the summer, someone who had been our starting centre back in seasons prior, I thought he had maybe hit his limit and £6m was a not terrible fee to receive. Jordan was a player I was preparing to lose for the last season and a half as he had a small release fee of just £4m, so when it was triggered mid-season I offered him out for a bit less but with some percentage of profit and so he left for £3.5m but we should be able to get more in the future. Season Europe We automatically were in the Champions League Phase this season and we did get off to a reasonable start with a draw and a win, though it was against some of the weaker teams, and realistically we should probably have won both on the balance of play. We then suffered 3 losses on the bounce against PSG, Dortmund and Newcastle respectively who were just better than us. We did manage to get a very creditable draw against Bayern Munich before a victory against Casa Pia meant going into the last game we did actually have some chance at progressing past the league phase. Unfortunately, despite a valiant performance, we fell short with a 2-1 loss to Lyon to finish 25th just outside the progression places. League Another fantastic start to the season with no losses in our opening 15 games, unfortunately, the 16th game saw us lose against the team who would be relegated after only 3 wins in the entire season. We did actually despite our fantastic start to the season, find ourselves in 2nd place in the league at this point. However, we demonstrated fantastic form with the final 14 games in the regular season, dropping points in just 2 of them putting us in a fantastic position going into the championship stage. It actually started poorly in the championship group as despite us dominating the game, we lost our opening game 1-0 to Sparta Prague, which did actually mean winning the league was still not a given. Thankfully, we put the disappointment of that loss behind us and blew the competition away in the next 4 matches including an 8-3 demolition of our main title rivals to ultimately win the league by 10 points. Squad GK – Nicolas Herrera New signing Herrera was our first choice goalkeeper this season and did a good job keeping 13 clean sheets in the league. I’m not sold on him being a super long term goalkeeper for us, however, he has had a good season for us. DL – Xolani Hlatshwayo Hlatshwayo didn’t start the season first choice, and in truth may not have gotten his chance as Capin has stronger attacking attributes and had a good season last time out but the former complained about game time with the latter already grumbling about wanting to leave I decided to push him to the first team. Overall he performed really well with 8 assists in the league where he only started half the matches. DCL – Mohammed Hesso Hesso attracted some interest this season, but I managed to tie him down to a new contract and he had another great season for us in defense. He’s just a good solid defender who can be a mainstay for years to come. DCR – Juan Jose Florez Florez became Hesso’s main defensive partner the second half of the season, though, as with previous seasons, this position was rotated a decent amount. Florez, however, is a player I want to give a lot of game time to as I think he can turn into a very good centre back in the coming years, hopefully with us. DR – Gaston Roi Roi continued from where he finished last season, he’s been fantastic for us and comfortably our best player. 18 assists for the season is great and an average rating of 7.84 is just really good. DMCL – Maximo Perrone This midfield spot is the least tied down of any position in the team all told, but Perrone did feature pretty heavily here once he joined, taking the rotation from Van Fessem and Koffi (both of whom I may move on), to him and Rezek. DMCR – Michal Stana Stanha again kept his spot in the starting XI, another reasonably solid season, though I did hope he would maybe contribute a few more goals and assists from midfield. He has also maybe hit his ceiling so if a better alternative is available this summer I may move him on as we had offers of up to £20m for him in the mid-season, which I probably should have taken for him. AMCL – Allen Lagos Lagos had been Ruben Jordan’s understudy for a couple of years so with the latter’s sale half way through the season, Lagos finally got to show his quality, and that he did 15 assists and 6 goals. AMCR – Nikola Jovanovic Jovanovic got promoted to first choice in the attacking midfield position this season after a great start to the season. He did falter a little towards the end of the campaign but still was a good solid player for us. STCL– Davian Entrena Entrena started the season incredibly, I think he had 23 league goals after just 15 matches or so, however he couldn’t maintain that prolific streak for the full season, but still had a fantastic contribution with 33 goals in the league. STCR – Eveginy Lanko Yet again, the second spot of the strikers was not really set in stone, but Lanko put himself a very strong claim for it over the course of the season managing 21 goals in the league from only 19 starts. Overview/Looking ahead Next season in the Champions League my main aim is to progress from the league phase as that will represent progress from this season. In the league, anything short of retaining the title again will be a failure in my mind. I am starting to ramp up signings again both in terms of outlay and wages where necessary, so I think I may start to sign a fair few more players again, though mostly I am looking at players for the future, as generally I am pretty content with my first team, I am looking to move some of the previous depth options on this summer also.

Usti nad Labem - Season 6 Transfers Again this season we didn’t make a large number of signings that we have done in previous years and largely, our signings this season were actually more coming in as back up players opposed to first team players. The exception was Gaston Roi who joined mid season to immediately improve the right fullback position in the team – he has partial European nationality as well which means he doesn’t impact registration rules. Stefan Muller is the only other player who we signed this season who has since become a first team regular, however, his promotion to the first team was a by-product of a big sale. Joan Mena was that sale. I didn’t particularly want to sell Mena, but he had come to me requesting to leave and in the end the £23m that we were paid for him was simply way too much for us to be able to turn down. Romario Acosta was the other big money departure as he left £10m, this sale I wasn’t too unhappy with as whilst Acosta was a decent player, he hadn’t really made himself indispensable at left back. Season Europe The qualification stages for the Europa Conference league was pretty straight forward, although we did lose one leg on our way. As it transpired, our qualification campaign was went more trickily than the league phase as after an opening 9-0 win we went on and completed a flawless campaign, 6 wins from 6. In fact, we continued our winning steak into the knockouts, dispatching APOEL and CFR Cluj to set up an all Czech semi-final with us pitted against Victoria Plzen. We were both going well in the league so I didn’t know how this one would go, but alas, we comfortably dispatched them in both legs to advance to our first European Final. Unfortunately, we did not really turn up in the final as Lens fairly comfortably ran our 3-1 winners in the final, but it was a fantastic showing from us in the competition as a whole. League Our league campaign got off to a fantastic start with 6 consecutive wins to have us as the early pace setters. Whilst in the 7th match we did slump to a very disappointing 3-0 loss we did generally keep up our good form even if there were a few more draws than perhaps I would have liked – though still preferable to losses of course. In fact, our loss in the 7th game was only one of 3 we suffered in the entire campaign, but despite our general good form the latter 2 of these losses actually saw our lead of the table by that stage drop to within 3 points which showed the strength of the chasing two teams, Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague. Into the championship group we were in the best position to win the league, but still had to make sure we got over the line. We navigated the entire stage without losing which was a positive and with other teams facing each other and winning we ultimately won the league by 6 points. This season also saw us reach our first domestic cup final, however, like our European final it ended in defeat. Squad GK – Stefan Muller After the departure of Mena, Muller was promoted to our first choice goalkeeper. He was solid enough in goal, but nothing too spectacular. I’m hopeful he can continue to develop as I do think he has a good spread of attributes for a goalkeeper. DL – Jugo Capin Even prior to us selling last seasons first choice Acosta, I was already fairly set on Capin being our first choice this season. He had a fantastic season in productivity with 19 assists in all competitions which is a big step up for this position. DCL – Mohammed Hesso Hesso was named in the NxGn list this year and maintained his position in our central defense. He’s just generally been a solid performer for us though, due to his pace I am worried about his ultimate potential – for now I’m happy with him though. DCR – Raul Mihali The central defensive partnership remained in tact this season as Mihali remained alongside Hesso, although there was a more rotation this season with Mihali being the more likely of the two to drop out. DR – Gaston Roi A January signing, Roi immediately came in and usurped club stalwart Hosek. But, he justified this position by contributing 3 goals and 8 assists in just 16 games which is a phenomenal return. If he can maintain that form into the new season we are sure to be on for a good season. DMCL – Ringo van Fessem Like last season, this position in the team was actually moreso split between van Fessem and Koffi both getting similar number of starts. Van Fessem just about played more and contributed a little more in output, 4 goals and 6 assists vs 4 of each for Koffi. DMCR – Michal Stana Stana maintained his position in the team this season and had a strong season, though in actual output was a little lower than last season. He maybe would have had fewer minutes to allow his deputy to develop a little here but for limitations for foreign players playing, but I’m not disappointed with his overall contributions. AMCL – Ruben Jordan Jordan had a great season for us, moreso in the Conference League than the league, but still contributed effectively in both. 13 goals and 15 assists in all competitions was his overall output. I am anticipating that he will be leaving the club this summer as whilst he has 2 years left on his deal he has a release fee of just £4m and no interest in renewing his contract. AMCR – David Mach Mach like Jordan performed better in Europe than the league but he still was reasonable enough in both – 11 goals, 12 assists. He is probably a player I aught to replace as his inclusion is at least somewhat influenced by his homegrown status. With us more than likely losing Jordan in the summer however, I think he may keep his spot for next season. STCL– Davian Entrena Entrena finally proved his prowess this season, 37 goals in all competitions and generally performed well even when not scoring. In the next year, Entrena will be eligible to become a Czech national which I hope he will take up to give us greater flexibility for foreign players. STCR – Yanillo Pinas Honestly, the second striker spot was never really cemented by any players, Petersen started out here and did reasonably well before just falling off a cliff form wise so it was split between Pinas, Petersen and Aguillar. Pinas had the most success in terms of goal output hence mentioned here, but realistically it could have been any of them. Overview/Looking ahead We’ll be in the Champions League next season and really, the only hope is to not be outclassed, I don’t think we’re really close to competing at that level, but hopefully the reputation boost and financial boost from playing in the competition will open new possibilities in terms of player signings. As for the league, we’ve got to aim to retain it and cement ourselves as the strongest team in Czechia.

Usti nad Labem - Season 5 Transfers I changed up my scouting approach this season basically going bringing through a lot more scout reports, but this also meant we made much fewer transfers overall, only one arriving before the season tickover – Pojezny. Defense was an area we needed some depth in and £6.75k seemed a very good deal. Ruben Jordan was the next significant arrival for a then club record of £600k rising to 900k, but we would spend more in mid season. Hesso and then Mihali both pushed the record outgoing up with the latter arriving for a fee up to £1.8m. Both Hesso and Mihali presented good options to bolster our defense but both having capabilities to support in midfield if needed. Whilst we did near enough break even, only one of our sales was of a first team player and it was one I didn’t really want to lose as Pavic left for Celta Vigo as I had forgotten about his £1.3m release clause. It still represents a healthy profit on him as we signed him for £60k. Season Europe This was our first outing into Europe with us joining the initial knockouts of the Conference league. We managed to get to the league phase ultimately, though did lose a couple of ties in our journey through – one big victory in my mind was knocking out Red Bull Salzburg who I’d have thought may have been stronger than us. In the league phase we didn’t really embarrass ourselves picking up a few wins and only losing to Celta Vigo and Tottenham, which I would expect us to lose to anyway. This meant we qualified for the knockouts. We comfortably dispatched an Israeli team in the first knockout before, despite us being the better team in both legs, only managed to progress via penalties after 3-1 victories to the home team in our tie against Warta Poznan. Our penalty victory rewarded us with the toughest tie of the remaining teams as we faced off against Tottenham again who smashed us 4-0 in the first leg and then won 3-2 in the second. I was a bit disappointed to lose the second leg as I felt we played well enough to deserve the victory on the night but Quarter finals is a good showing. League We got off to a strong start in the league despite losing on our second match and were challenging towards the top of the league. Unfortunately, we then stopped performing. I think it may have been partially due to fatigue from European fixtures, but we just didn’t look the same side that started the year. As from October we won just 2 of our next 11 games as we dropped off the title fight. I had hoped the winter break would allow us to refresh, but the first game back was our worst performance yet so I changed up our formation. The formation we were using was utilising one winger but we didn’t really have much wide attacking options so I opted to go for a 4-2-2-2 formation to try and get the best out of our players. The formation change worked wonders as between then and the end of the regular season we played 9 won 8 drew 1 scoring 27 and conceding just 3 – emphatic form. This meant coming into the Championship group we were all but guaranteed top 4 with an outside chance at the top 3. The championship Group started really well another couple of comprehensive victories before we drew against top of the league Sparta Prague in a game we perhaps edged, but effectively ended our charge towards taking an unlikely title. We did still have a chance at the top 3, but despite winning our penultimate game, we were unlucky in defeat on the final day to end up finishing 4th. When we played the team that finished 3rd in the Championship group they didn’t have a shot until the 60th minute so I’m a bit disappointed we ended up behind them. Squad GK – Joan Mena Mena had a great season for us keeping numerous clean sheets. 17 in the league is impressive. He was subject to interest in the mid-season window with offers towards the £10m mark coming in, but I don’t want to lose him. DL – Romario Acosta Acosta joined the team last season and acted as our back up left back, but this season he found himself playing regularly for the team. His outputs in terms of goals and assists wasn’t spectacular, but he did perform well. DCL – Mohammed Hesso Whilst only joining in January, Hesso cemented his spot in the defense for us by the end of the season. He put in solid performances and was fairly consistent for us though arguably he needs to develop a bit technically to take his game to the next level. DCR – Raul Mihali Another January addition who ended the season as our first choice defender. Mihali is maybe more suited to being a defensive midfielder, but I think he offers us a lot in the back line. I’m looking forward to see how he and Hesso develop in the coming seasons. DR – Jan Hosek Right back was an area I was targeting to bring in someone new in, but as we had some strength at left back I decided in the end to play Hosek on the right instead of the left where he has played every other season. His goal output is much lower this season but Hosek, as he has every season, had a very good season overall for us. DMCL – Ringo van Fessem Van Fessem probably just about edged out this position though he did have some strong competition in Koffi. Overall it’s arguable that Koffi aught to be the first choice here, but as he has already reached his ceiling and has interest in him I instead opted for van Fessem who all in all didn’t do terrible. DMCR – Michal Stana With Pavic departing we had a spot for a deep creator opening up and Stana was the man I chose to fill that void. Whilst he had a slow start to the campaign by the end of the season he had certainly grown into the role contributing 8 assists in the league. AMCL – Ruben Jordan A new signing this season Jordan ended up having a fantastic season for the club. 10 assists and 4 goals was a great return. Although he doesn’t have interest in him now, I am a little worried about keeping him as when he signed he negotiated a £4m release fee which I have been trying to get out of his contract. AMCR – David Mach Mach is actually an academy product having come through the first season intake so he maybe got the nod to play ahead of other players who on paper are better. But, he validated that selection by performing really well for us over the course of the season and especially since the formation change. STCL– Davian Entrena There was a point in the season where I would have been surprised for Entrena to still be in the side come the end of the season. In the league after 20 games he had just 3 goals and I actually put him on the transfer list. Thankfully, he turned it around eventually making it to 15 league goals for the season and 24 goals in all competitions. I am expecting more from him next season though as I still feel he should have a better output. STCR – Bastian Petersen Petersen benefited from moving from the Right wing to playing up front, like Entrena he wasn’t having a fantastic season, but positional change definitely got more out of him. He managed 12 goals for us, but I fear he may be limited due to his lower pace. We do have a couple of other strikers raring for their chance next season should either of our current front 2 not look the part. Overview/Looking ahead Next season I am aiming to win the league. Whilst we haven’t finished above 4th yet, the very end of the season showed that we can be a dominant force, and we really weren’t too far off the title this year despite a woeful run of form midseason. I’m actually pretty happy with the overall state of my team so can’t envision much turnover in the summer unless we get offers too good to turn down for some of our players, although, we are struggling a little with non-EU players so it would be good to bring in some more quality players who won't impact on match day rules.

On our day we're up their with the top few teams they just tend to have overall better consistency over the season, last season Slavia Prague won the league fairly comfortably, their 3rd on the bounce, but they only managed a single point from us over 3 games, so we can compete we are just perhaps not quite there with overall quality in depth within the squad to maintain it completely across the season.

Usti nad Labem - Season 4 Transfers/Season Preview Transfers 1 -- Transfers 2 This was our first transfer window where we lost first team players that we didn’t really have plans to sell. Firstly Nwosu asked to leave so we accepted a £8.5m offer for him only for him to turn down the contract. I had thought we’d end up keeping him after that as there was no bids flowing before Montpellier coughed up £12m for him which would be idiotic to turn down. Caculovic also requested to leave this summer as he was unhappy I had triggered the contract extension he had. The board actually accepted the offer for him under me, but I can’t really complain as I agree with their assessment of it being too good to turn down as we received another £7.25m – finally comfortably in the black. This season also saw our biggest outlay so far. With Nwosu’s departure, I was on the market for a new goalkeeper – although I was content to go with my existing back up should there not be a decent option. Mena stood out as good value replacement for Nwosu in the end. He is on a little higher wages than I wanted but that was due to giving him a new contract mid-season to remove a £3m release fee. I don’t think he looks a million miles away from Nwosu in ability, so I was very happy with this transfer. As has been the case every season so far, we also signed a lot of players for future prospects this season though there were a few players who came into first team contention on arrival. Lungu looks actually a really promising playmaker and was our only other paid signing this year setting us back just £33k though. Acosta joined at the end of his contract in Peru and looks to be a very good option at both left back and potentially in defensive midfield also. Season I’d describe our start to the season as inconsistent, we were looking largely ok, but we were prone to not seeing out games or just not turning up. This made me reconsider our tactic so we did change up around October, opting for an Asymmetric effort. Whilst we were initially inconsistent, the tactic change worked wonders with us going on an unbeaten run from November all the way to the end of the regular season. Before our tactic change we were looking likely to finish mid-table which would have been a regression from previous seasons, but we ended the regular season up in 5th with a good chance of qualifying for Europe for the first time. The Championship Group started very well for us actually, not conceding in our opening 2 fixtures and winning the important tie against the team we were chasing for 4th before we utterly capitulated in our next game losing 5-2, the first time since the start of the save we had conceded 5, Sigma Olomouc are a bit of a bogey team for us, we haven’t beaten them in the league since our first in the top flight. Thankfully, the team bounce back smashing the Champions-Elect Slavia Prague 3-0 to not only secure 4th place for us, but to give us a small chance at 3rd. The final game saw us down to 10 after 8 minutes, but we rallied through to win the match 1-0 but Sparta Prague in 3rd won their match so we had to settle for 4th. European football next season though. In the Cup we have reached the Quarter Final every season before being knocked out, this season was no different. Our under 19s won their league for consecutive years which is a nice bonus. Squad GK – Joan Mena Mena had a solid first season at the club, conceding on average a goal a game which isn’t too bad. He performed well enough to be considered for National Team caps so has now played a couple times for Colombia. At 675k I feel it was good value for money and look forward to seeing how he develops in future seasons. DL – Jan Hosek Hosek had yet another strong season for us, this time in a slightly different position as we reverted to a flat back 4. He really improved on his goal output this season managing 7 in the league whilst still contributing pretty well on assists with 8. DCL – Fran Roko Caculovic Whilst we did sell Caculovic to Napoli in the summer, they offered him to us on loan for the season which I accepted and Caculovic played most the season for us at centre back. He did perform a bit better than he had last season, but towards the end of the season he was actually pushed to defensive midfield swapping with van Fessem in that role. As Caculovic will be leaving at the end of the season, I will probably be on the lookout for a central defender to bolster our options here. DCR – Valentin Fascendini After not really featuring too much last season after converting his loan into a permanent stay at the club Fascendini this season staked his claim for regular football and acted as a solid defender for us, no goal contributions but as it is not his main job, I’m not too unhappy. DR – Libor Holik Holik is the definition of a solid performer. He doesn’t often wow, but he does his job pretty well. Not the craziest of output, but I have set us up in a way where the left sided fullback is the more attacking one so it’s not that surprising Holik hasn’t been as prolific. I am probably on the market for at least a back up right back though as we don’t have a lot of depth in this area. DMC – Ringo van Fessem Van Fessem moved up from defense to play regularly as a holding midfield player this season. He had a reasonable season of it, but I feel maybe his lack of development in his technical attributes is beginning to hold him back a little. I’m happy to persist with him for now, but he may be a player that I consider selling on before too long. DMR – Branko Pavic Pavic had a very strong season this year and was the only player to feature in every single league game this season. 2 goals and 10 assists improves on his output from last season so I’m hopeful now we’re settled with our new formation he can go from strength to strength next term. MCL – Sebastian Koffi Koffi has been an important player for all of our seasons at the club and this season he moved to a central midfield position. In truth he was perhaps a little underwhelming although it could potentially be that I need to update the role for this position to get the best out of him. He is wanted by some Saudi teams, and whilst I’m happy with him, I wouldn’t be completely opposed to selling him on and bringing through some of our midfield prospects. AMC – Valter Perusko Perusko kept his spot in the attacking midfield position, although he didn’t quite live up to his own standards set last season contributing less goals and less assists than he did in our previous season. I’m hoping it was just an off season and he can push on next season, but he may find himself move down the pecking order if he doesn’t have a strong start next season. AMR – Bastian Petersen Petersen was one of our summer signings who went out on loan as Shai another summer signing, started the season in fine form. Due to our back up right winger picking up an ACL injury Petersen was recalled, and due to poor performances from Shai got his chance in the team and seized it with both hands. 9 goals and 5 assists from right attacking midfield is a good output and he’s also developed well this season. STC – Davian Entrena Entrena is an odd one, he looks the part in general, good attribute spread, good height, but he often seems to have poor games. His redeeming quality though, is his knack of scoring goals, even if he isn’t contributing at all to the game, he often finds himself turning home a cross evidenced by his 18 league goals this season. Whilst I am happy with his goal output, I do wonder if his lack of overall performance is something that may see me ultimately preferring someone else in this position, but goals are always good. Overview/Looking ahead Next season will be our first in Europe albeit the early rounds of the Conference League. In truth, I have no idea how we actually stack up against the teams we will come up against, but I’m hoping we can at least give a good account of ourselves. In the league I think we’ve got to aim for the top 3 next season as we’ve established ourselves as one of the stronger teams in the league the past 3 seasons.

Usti nad Labem - Season 3 Transfers/Season Preview Transfers 1 -- Transfers 2 -- Transfers 3 Whilst there was areas I had highlighted at the end of last season for us to improve, I decided instead to focus on young players for the future instead of first team players. This decision was in part due to dire financial position we are in with the hope that the young players, whilst also having much lower wage demands, do have the potential of us to sell them on for good values. Of the signings, Canculovic was the one who came in as a first team player with pretty much everyone else future prospects except the couple of loanees for depth. We did make one paid signing which considering financial woes is maybe a little risky, but Stana I felt was a player worth the outlay. In terms of outgoings, the majority of the players leaving were largely on loans but we did manage to raise some money through outgoings which ultimately left us with a slight overall profit on the year. Spoljaric left for pastures new after Charlton met his £425k release fee, though I was happy for him to leave as despite being first choice last season was only a squad player this time around. One of our young prospects signed last season justified the transfer strategy as Sparta Prague gave us £1.3m for Cinotti, a player I was not convinced would ever be good enough for us. Season Our season whilst immediately started well with back to back 2-0 wins before we struggled in the next 5 without a win. We did ultimately stabilise to put on similar sort of form to last season, decent enough, but this season I felt we were maybe not quite as effective, though I do put that partially down to bedding in some younger players this season. We ultimately reached the Championship Group albeit with a lower points tally and lower league position. We did have an outside chance of getting top 4 and qualifying for Europe but the first game of the group saw us concede a 90th minute equaliser against the team we were chasing for that spot which all but killed all hope we could catch them. In truth, like the main league, the Championship group went in a similar way to last season where we were mostly outclassed and ultimately finished 6th this season compared to last seasons 5th Squad GK – Nathaniel Nwosu Nwosu remained as our first choice goalkeeper this year and does look like a solid goalkeeper who still has room to improve. In terms of goals conceded he did do worse this year which really is more indicative of us not being quite as strong defensively this season. Whilst I do intend to keep him, I wouldn’t be completely opposed to selling him if we can get a good price for him as we do have at least one young player who I think could do a decent job. WBL – Jan Hosek Hosek had a fantastic season this year, last season he was dependable enough but this season he really increased his productivity for the team. 16 assists in the league is a very good output as well as adding 3 goals for good measure. I’m super happy with his contribution and hopefully he can replicate it next season. DCL – Ringo van Fessem Van Fessem did not start the season as a regular starter for us initially providing depth in both midfield and defence, but following the mid-season break and converted loanee Fascendini not having a good start to his permanent career at the club he got his chance. To be honest, he didn’t wow and really is lacking a little bit technically especially for my liking. He may find himself back as a back up next season. DC – Fran Roko Caculovic A player I highlighted in the transfer overview, Caculovic came into the team as a regular starter at centre back. He does lack a bit aerially and physically in general, but at only 18 he looks to have some great attributes to develop into a very strong defender or maybe in the future defensive midfielder for us. He did not really play well at all this season though in reflection (only in this write up did I realise just how poor he's been), perhaps a contributor to our porous defense. DCR – Valente Pierani His 3rd season on loan and, unfortunately, probably his last. Pierani has been a very solid player for us in his 3 seasons at the club, this year chipping in with 6 goals, though 3 were penalties. He will leave a gap in our defense next season, so this will be an area I will prioritise if we have the funds to bring someone new in. WBR – Libor Holik Whilst not as prolific as his counterpart on the left of the defense, Holik had a strong season for us with 12 goal contributions in the league. He was a player I’d mentioned I’d maybe replace in last season’s overview, but I’m glad I didn’t as he has been solid for us. DMR – Sebastien Koffi Koffi kept his place in the starting eleven this season, although he moved from the left central position, to the right central. Whilst the role here perhaps gave him a lower average rating compared to last season, he contributed to more goals this season with 6 assists to his name, an increase to 4 last season. DML – Branko Pavic I had already earmarked Pavic as a starter for this season after spending last season as a back up and I feel he rewarded my faith nicely enough. 2 goals and 7 assists for the young Croat is a good return. He is our highest earner so he could be looked to be moved on this off season as we try to improve our financials. AMC – Valter Perusko With Vydra’s retirement we had a completely empty spot in the squad, but it was a spot filled with one of the young prospects signed last season and loaned out. Perusko not only developed really well this season he also contributed well for the team even if I would like maybe a bit better assist output in the future. He’s on a long term contract and improving all the while so I feel he can hold this position for quite a while. STC – Lukas Matejka Matejka was the striker who had shown the most last season, and such – especially with lack of signings – he got the nod as one of our starting strikers. He managed 15 goals this season which improved on his return last term. Unfortunately, he ended the season with a major injury so his spot in the team will depend on how he recovers. STC – Davian Entrena It took a while for the second striking spot to be claimed, although I did think Entrena would ultimately take it. He started the season with a few niggly injuries which prevented him from getting a consistent run in the side, but once his injuries were behind him he claimed the second striking spot as his own. His attributes look to be very good for his position and I’m hopeful he can keep developing them to tie down this spot in the team for years to come. Overview/Looking ahead Last season I had written I wanted about the same performance or better from this season which is roughly what we achieved. Next season I’d probably be content with the same again, hopefully with a few increased individual performances from our younger players who have found themselves in first team contention. Despite recouping nearly £2m in transfer fees we barely broke even for the season as we continue to lose money at a rapid rate.

Yeah, agreed, tough to better it other that selling players due to low attendances and very limited competition prize money. The board have been putting money in this season, but it's not really making much of a dent.

Usti nad Labem Transfers/Season Preview Transfers 1 -- Transfers 2 Going into our first season in the top flight I had settled on changing up my formation from a 4-2-3-1 to a 5-2-1-2 formation. This , as well as us releasing what were only bit part players last season, meant that we again made a ton of new signings this season, however, the latter signings were actually future prospects opposed to for the first team. The most notable of our signings was perhaps Matej Vydra who in his career has amassed over £20m worth of transfer fees, though he is not quite what he once was. Our biggest outlay was £60k which was spent on bringing a player we had on loan last season back to the club permanently in Branko Pavic. We did sign too many players to keep everyone happy and such some of the arrivals this season have already been moved on. Season We started the season quite well although, in our opener we were the beneficiaries as Sparta Prague had two straight red card within the opening 9 minutes before giving away a penalty 2 minutes later. Otherwise though, our season start was pretty much, strong at home and poor away which did have us in a decent enough position. Once we did start improving our away form we did start to climb the table, but really the table on the whole was a fairly close thing. We were hovering between 4th and 8th for most of the season before we put on a very strong last month of the regular season to secure a top 6 finish and into the championship group. Our championship group didn’t start fantastically with us losing back to back games 1-0 before we hit 4 past Teplice to put us in an unlikely position to be in a shot with European qualification. Unfortunately, we through that away with a second half capitulation in the next game to make qualification a dependency on other results. We did win our final game, but alas it wasn’t enough as we missed out on league sorting rules. (I think I should have finished 4th as the sorting rules firstly is points in regular season which we accumulated more than Sparta unless I’m misinterpreting) We again reached the quarter final of the cup which I’m happy enough with. Squad GK – Nathaniel Nwosu Nwosu we signed last season as a back up but ultimately he ended last season as our starting goalkeeper and that continued this season. He’s developing well and is on a long term contract so I’m really happy for him to continue as our starting goalkeeper for years to come. WBL – Jan Hosek Another of last seasons signings, Hosek was playing left full back last season, but the push forward to left wing back was a really positive one for him. He was a very consistent performer for us this season and although there is some transfer interest in him, I am happy for him to be our starter next season as well. DCL – Abdelmounaim Boutouil Again a signing from last season, although he was one who didn’t feature quite so much due to us only operating with 2 central defenders last term. This season he was a mainstay at the back with solid enough performances. I am looking to sign him to a new contract as his expires this summer, but we are yet to agree on squad status and wage so he could find himself leaving if we cannot come to an agreement. DC – Valentin Fascendini Another of our players we signed last season, this time a loan player who we managed to extend to this season. He has some really good attributes for a ball playing defender as such that is where he played. Again, solid performer for us this season and I have managed to get him on loan for the start of next season until his contract runs out with Boca. DCR – Valente Pierani Another loanee from an Argentinian side and another player who was already with us last season. Pierani is a very good defender and was picking up Argentinian youth caps through this season and last. Our best performing centre back and someone we have also agreed to loan for another season. WBR – Libor Holik The first new signing in the starting eleven for this season. Holik wasn’t a super expensive signing but he certainly has decent quality which saw him tie down the right wing back spot. 7 assists this season is a good return and whilst this is an area I would maybe like to strengthen it is not any priority. DMCL – Sebastien Koffi The final player in the starting eleven who was already with the club last season. Koffi had a solid season last year, but this season he went from strength to strength, developing all the while. I secured him on a new long term contract towards the end of the season so I’m looking forward to a few more years yet from Koffi. DMCR – Danilo Spoljaric We signed Spoljaric in the summer for £21k to be a starting midfielder for and that’s exactly what he was. His output was maybe little underwhelming but he was a steady player for us in the middle of the park. He might find himself moved to a back up next season as Pavic looks to be at a similar level whilst also being younger with more potential. AMC – Matej Vydra In truth we didn’t have much strength in attacking midfield but Vydra did a respectable job for us although he didn’t quite contribute enough assists for my liking. He has announced he will retire this off-season so this is an area of the squad we do need to improve in. STC – Muller,Matejka,Pesek,Moussaki Striker was the only area of the pitch where no player was consistent enough to claim a regular starting spot. In truth all 4 strikers were of very similar performance just no consistency. Matejka could be considered the best of the bunch as he was the only one to hit double figures but it is certainly an area I am looking to strengthen. Overview/Looking ahead I was not expecting us to finish so high up the league this season, but I think we’ve got to aim for a similar performance if not better next season, especially as we should have less squad turnover. The biggest issue we have currently is that we are in an awful financial state £3.2 million in the red, so our wage budget is getting slashed and if offers come in for some of our better players I think the board will accept from under me.

Usti nad Labem I started this one again a little while ago so have already played a season and half so figured I'd do my postings now. Starting Manager Profile Club History The team I inherited was projected for the season to be just above relegation however, we made a lot of transfers as is often the case in the first window. In future seasons I will probably do a more detailed overview of our transfers but really we made a lot this season. An initial batch to get players in, and then the secondary batch including loan signings to improve the playing eleven. Largely I did only sign players on one year deals with options of extra as many of those signed were short term gains type of players. Transfers Following our transfers, the media now had us as the league favourites, but in the first part of the season we were, whilst picking up decent points, a little underwhelming, or at least it felt that way. We were either winning or losing so that probably played it’s part so despite having a 60% win rate, we also had a 40% loss rate. This meant going into the mid-season break we were 5th which, really isn’t terrible if reflecting on it. The second half of the season felt much better for us after I’d made some tactical tweaks in the 3 month break with us looking a bit more convincing in our games, though I’m not convinced by our tactical set up as of yet. Our upturn in form also corresponded with a slight downturn for the teams above us which ultimately transpired that with two games to go we were in the automatic promotion spots with the two teams directly below us to play in the last two. The first of which we put in a very impressive performance to win 3-0 taking us to a winner (well we just had to not lose) takes all promotion decider in the last game. It was a fairly cagey start before they took the lead in the first half, but on the stroke of half time we scored from 25 yards to make it level at the break. In the second half most of the chances went our way but it was still in the balance whilst we were drawing with a goal for either team almost guaranteed to be decisive. In the end, no goal arrived and we gained automatic promotion on results between teams (WD) however, we didn’t win the league with that honour going to Sparta Prague B. We had a good cup run this season making it to the quarter final before being knocked out by Sparta Prague, but we did take a top league scalp in the previous round stunning Banik Ostrava with a 1-0 victory. Looking ahead A promotion in the first season was not really my general expectation from this season but it is what we achieved, so next season the task is to avoid relegation. We will be losing some of our loans and many players we have I’m not fully convinced they’re good enough for the step up so it may well be a busy transfer window again. I am also toying with changing our formation as whilst we were successful with our current one, I’m not sure we were playing to the best of our abilities with it.

C.F. Monterrey Liga MX – 2029/30 It did a while to find a new job and we had started the season with Palmeiras pretty strongly and were challenging towards the top of the league and had actually progressed decently well in the Club World Cup. However, I felt a chance to join Monterrey was too good an opportunity to pass up, they were qualified for the next CONCACAF Champions League and were one of the favourites in the Mexican league. In fact they had lost the last two Champions League finals so were one of the strongest teams I could have gotten. Actually, I thought our squad wasn’t fantastic, at least for the league due to the league restrictions on players in the squad that weren’t born in Mexico and I had taken charge quite late into the transfer window so was hard to scout around to bring in Mexican reinforcements. I guess the rest of the league was in a similar position to us however as we still put on a strong showing in the Apertura despite me not being too happy with our overall squad balance. In the Apertura we were challenging along with Club America for the league stage win but ultimately missed out on goal difference, but the important thing was that we were in the chance of a league title. Our Apertura knockouts didn’t start fantastically as we were uninspiring over both legs in the Quarter final drawing both fixtures 1-1, progressing by virtue of being the higher seed. Following this we actually lost the first leg of the next tie away from home before we started to look like a team capable of winning the league. We overturned the 2-1 deficit in emphatic fashion winning 3-0 at home to qualify for the final. Thankfully, we played more like the last game than the first 3 in the final as we won both legs to claim the Apertura title. By the time the Champions League started we had already strengthened our squad so I was pretty confident that we would be able to put on a good showing, and so we did. In the first 3 rounds we scored 7, 7 and 9 goals respectively over the two legs conceding 6 across all ties to comprehensively set up an all Mexican affair in the Semi-Final. We started the semi-final as we had played the other rounds racing into a 3 goal lead in the first leg at home, the second leg however, was much closer with us conceding early on to make it a bit less comfortable. Thankfully we scored twice quickly after the break and despite conceding to only draw on the night it was still a fairly comfortable passage to the Final. The final was probably our most comprehensive performance of the competition as we didn’t allow our opponents a single shot on target. We took the lead early before doubling it before half-time and then saw the game out just allowing for us to get a 3rd to seal the victory and the Champions League. The two goalscorers in the final for us were both actually academy products which was a nice bonus. In the Clausura we were much stronger than the Apertura which was in part due to us signing some of the better Mexican born players from our league rivals. This saw us top the league phase with just one loss to our name although we made tough work of the league playoff. The quarter final we went 3-0 down in the first leg before battling back to 4-4 on the night before winning the home tie. The Semi-Final we were poor in a 2-0 loss against the team we’d just beaten in the Champions league and were 0-0 at half time in the second leg before we demolished them 6-0 in the second half. The final, again we were poor in the first leg succumbing to a 3-1 loss which flattered us before comfortably winning 3-0 in the home leg to secure the Apertura and Clausura league double win. Key Player: Oscar Escamilla – When I first joined the team I managed to tie him down to a new contract amid interest from European teams and I’m glad I did as he was a huge part of our good form, 21 goals and 15 assists from the attacking midfield position – someone who I might look to sign at another club. Progress Again we’re at a stage where there isn’t any benefit from me staying. I have applied to the Fiorentina job who had a poor season, but recently had a tycoon takeover so it could be a good club to get a foothold in the European leagues. Other than that, there isn’t really that many club jobs available this summer, though that could change after the World Cup. I am hoping I can land a national job after the World Cup to start working towards that side a little more.

Palmeiras Brazilian Serie A - 2028 After my success in the Asian Champions League I turned my head to the Brazilian league as one of the pre-season league favourites in Palmeiras were struggling, but, were still involved in continental competition. I did think that we had a strong enough team that we would be able to compete for the Copa Libertadores, but did think that we should be able to make good headway in the league and challenge the upper echelons. The league portion of my hope didn’t particularly go to plan. We were generally performing well enough there but we weren’t converting it to victories even succumbing to a 3 match losing streak part way through the season. Generally, it seemed that in the league if it was ever a tight game we would tend to come out on the losing side even if the stats suggested we perhaps edged the tie. Ultimately, we were improving on the 12th place that the team were in when I took over, but we ended up further away from the top of the league to when I took over which was a disappointment. The Copa Libertadores on the other hand was going quite well. By the time I took over it was already the knockouts so I did not have to worry about the league phase and had a tie against Atletico Brown of Argentina in what was a pretty straightforward tie. Next up we would face Santos which was another of the teams I had applied to after winning the Asian Champions League so there was some internal bragging rights as well as them being actual Rivals to Palmeiras. We were comfortably better over the two legs and I would say our 3-1 aggregate victory probably flattered them more than us. The Semi-Final saw us up against River Plate and in terms of chances the two legs were direct opposites of one another. We were much the stronger team in our home leg and they were much the stronger team in the away leg. However, we, against the run of play, in the away leg managed to win on the night 4-1 which alongside our home leg victory set up a Final tie against another fierce rival in Corinthians. The final saw us score two early goals which really eased any nerves that we may have had, that was until early in the second half our midfielder played an inch perfect through ball for their attacker to beat the keeper and slot home. Thankfully we quickly responded before adding another late on to secure my second continental trophy in 6 months. Key Player: Progress I do think we can probably win the league next season with the correct additions, but I’m a little loathed to stay a season just for a league title, especially in a league with as many games as Brazil. I will stay should their not be any jobs that are particularly appealing, but I suspect I will be leaving before too long.

Urawa Red Diamonds J1 League – 2027 & 2028 Following my week holiday in Colombia I was back on the job hunt and I didn’t take too long to decide to return to where I started – Japan. Urawa Red Diamonds were struggling in the league, down in 18th, but had a strong squad and importantly, were due to start in the Asian Champions League which I thought would be a good chance to try and get this checked off. The 2027 season went very well for us, the first couple of games were in the Cup where we won one and lost one, but from their we didn’t look back. We flew up the league as we were really in a false position. Ultimately, I managed to salvage us all the way back to 4th spot and a Champions League spot for a year and a halfs time. Speaking of the Champions League, in the group stage we dominated our group winning all 6 games scoring 27 in the process whilst conceding just 5. I actually think we had a relatively tough group draw to what we could have had with both an Australian team, a South Korean team drawn alongside us. In the knockout stages for the Champions League we had no real trouble navigating the first few rounds before the Semi-Final drew us against familiar opposition in an Ulsan Hyundai team that we beat with an aggregate scoreline of 14-4 in the group stage. With that, I was fairly confident that we would be able to get passed them and into the final but they were a much tougher prospect in this tie with us scraping an undeserved draw in the first leg. Thankfully, we showed a little bit more of the dominant side we had been in the group stage in the second eventually securing a victory on the night to see us into the final. So far in the save Saudi clubs had won all but last seasons Champions League so we knew it was going to be a tough affair, but the first leg should have given us an opportunity to put some breathing room between us and them as two of their key players in Bruno Fernandes and Leon Goretzka were both suspended. Unfortunately we couldn’t really assert ourselves and the tie ended in a 2-2 draw. The second leg, I had decided to tweak our regular formation by dropping a striker into midfield, this was partially to try and crowd the middle, but also because 2 of our 4 registered strikers were injured so we wouldn’t have any back up for them. An early goal for us settled the nerves and whilst it was still a close game mostly after we went 2 goals up on the night there was only one winner. We did manage a couple extra goals later in the game to make it look more comprehensive than it was, but we don’t mind as we won the Asian Champions League. In the league this season we are again doing well and are currently in a 3 horse race at the top for the title which we’re probably in with a good chance at winning however, following our continental success I did apply for a few jobs in Brazil a couple of whom have offered me their job which I will be taking once I have chosen between the two. Progress Whilst we did have a good chance at another league win here in Japan I’m looking forward to taking over at a Brazilian club and get some chance at the Copa Libertores. The Euros and Copa America are currently taking place so I will try to see if there are any National Jobs that will be available soon as well.

Ivory Coast 2027 African Cup Of Nations Group Stages Second Round Quarter Final Semi Final Final After the competition

Junior FC Liga Dimayor - 2027 That was quick I managed to secure myself the Junior FC job, but not really much to write about here as I joined the club 2 days before the second leg of the Apertura League Final with the team already 1-0 up on aggregate. We managed to avoid defeat and such we have claimed the league title with me being here less than a week. I will be resigning and on the lookout for another new job. I guess this could impact on the next job at least, but it doesn’t really serve me to stay. Certainly my shortest ever stay at a club. Progress

FCSB Romanian SuperLeague 2026/27 We are unbeatable The team as a whole did have some shortfalls that I needed to cover as we were very much lacking in some areas, especially in central defence. I did try to pick up young Romanian players with both good potential and already first team quality which we did fairly successfully, but release clauses in contracts meant that some players I would have otherwise wanted to keep left for pastures new. The season as a whole we were always up towards the top of the league, though generally we were drawing more games that I would have liked, but drawing also meant we were not losing any games. In fact domestically we did not lose any games all season though despite this we only entered the championship phase 5 points clear (50% points carryover). Ultimately, we managed to continue our unbeaten run and extended on the 5 points to win the league with 3 games to spare. As mentioned, we were unbeaten domestically which included the cup to add another cup to our tally. The final did actually start poorly for us as we found ourselves 2-0 down within 25 minutes. Thankfully we fought back to 2-2 by the time the original 90 minutes were up before we scored 3 in extra time to complete the double. We got to the quarter finals of the Conference League before narrowly losing out to Genk of Belgium, but success in that competition wasn’t really anything that I was aiming for in any case. Technically we do have one league game left so we may not even end the season fully unbeaten, but I’m already applying for new jobs as I achieved my objectives in Romania. Key Player: One of my summer additions was my key player this season as Jonathan Clauss a French right back had a sensational season for us as his last as a professional footballer. He amassed 37 assists in all competitions for us which, quite frankly is ridiculous. Progress I have already applied for a couple jobs in Colombia, but in honesty I’m not completely convinced by the opportunity although it is one of the leagues where there are two titles per year, so could be a decent quick stop. Regardless, I am changing teams this summer whether Colombia is my next destination or not.

2026 Ivory Coast I've started in my first National team job as I have taken over the existing AFCON champions Ivory Coast. We are the second highest African team by World Reputation so I'm hopeful that next year when the next AFCON takes place we have a good shot at winning it

Congrats! Been a long time coming

FCSB Romanian SuperLeague 2025/26 I did have some aspirations of winning the league this season as we only had to make up 4 points over 10 games. After 3 games I was thinking that we had a good shot as we had won 2 and drawn 1 of our games and found ourselves atop the table. Unfortunately, due to injuries and the previous manager deciding to only register two centre backs and 3 fullbacks meant defensively we were much weaker and ultimately the first 3 games was as good as it got, only 1 win in the remaining 7 games with 4 losses too as we found ourselves slump back to the 4th place we started the Champions Playoff in. We did manage to win in the European Playoff Final so we will at least have some sort of continental competition next season. Progress The squad does need quite a bit of overhaul, especially in the defensive ranks so I will have a busy off season trying to make this team into one that can challenge for the title next season. I am hoping to win the league and cup double next season.

Both SuperSport and Kaizer Chiefs are very appealing jobs from the top flight in South Africa so I think it was a no brainer for you to apply for them both. Quite unlucky not to be promoted this season, though would suggest if you don't get either of the aforementioned jobs you should be in a good place to win the league next season. Oh I've forgotten the horror of International Management, good you managed to reach the expectations at least. How are you finding international management in FM24 where compared to FM23? I know there was some changes, but unsure how much of a difference it will make overall

FCSB Romanian SuperLeague In January I was forced to resign from Kataller Toyoma as I was not signing a new contract and was on a month to month only so I set out looking for a new job. Actually, it took quite some time to actually get any offers with numerous teams interviewing and not offering. So it took 2 months for my next job offer to come (technically I got offered a job in January, but it was with another Japanese team which didn’t seem worth it. FCSB is actually a very interesting job for me to get, not least because we are still in with a shout of the league title this season. Even if we fail this season, I feel for the league the team is in good shape to attempt to go for the league and cup double next season as well as being financially sound enough to allow me to get my final coaching badge once I’ve finished my current one.

Kataller Toyoma J2 League – 2025 Season We started the season with another trophy as we managed to beat the winners of the top league in the super cup as we looked to pick up where we left off from last season. In the league we continued as we were from last season with just some fewer goals – which is to be expected. I am a little surprised we still were as dominant in the level above but I was fairly happy with my off season acquisitions so was confident enough for a fairly successful season. We managed to put in another good showing in the cups, though we were knocked out at an earlier stage than last season in the league cup, the last 16. The Emperors cup we knocked out quite a few J1 League sides as we looked towards a second cup title. Alas, it wasn’t to be this time as we were knocked out in the Semi-Final. We also got our first taste of continental competition in the Asian Champions League. Our group was probably as tough as it could be alongside one club each from South Korea, China and Australia. Our opener against Suwon Bluewings was a good indicator that we were not going to have chance overall at winning the competition though we did make a game of it in a 5-3 loss. We did then proceed to win the next 3 games in the competition which actually gave us a shot at qualifying for the 2nd round. Alas, Suwon again outclassed us in the next game before we faced of against Melbourne Victory knowing a victory could get us through as one of the 3 best second placed teams. Unfortunately, it was a poor performance and a 1-0 loss and out of the competition. Progress I have managed to leverage a few more coaching badges from this season and currently am working towards Continental A licence now which is a good step. I have decided not to extend my contract here so will be looking for a new job now though I’m not sure if I will be looking in Asia or further afield.

I think it will largely depend on what jobs are there for moving countries, I'd not be against say getting a Japanese top flight jobs as whilst leagues may be easier to tick off, I feel I'm still too early into the save to be worrying too much about that, more focused on coaching badges and general reputation raising. According to my profile, two J League sides without managers currently are interested in hiring me so, while I don't know that I'll be actively applying to them, I may still be tempted should they come knocking.. The issue I don't think is whether Japanese sides can with the ACL though, more that Japan is on a Calendar year schedule where the ACL is Sep-Jun so staying where I'm at whilst I'd be in the ACL it would take another year near enough to see if the team is in any way good enough to compete there. There is a job opening at one of the Chinese Super League teams with one of the teams still in the Champions League, so that could be an interesting option to try and luck my way into ticking off one continent already on the club side, but based on squad registration rules in the respective divisions, I think Japan might be the easiest to win the ACL with. Whilst you can only name 5 foreign players in a match squad, you are allowed any number in the squad as a whole including free range on goalkeepers which would make a bit of a difference.