RaySunshine

July 2029 Having settled in after the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the mid-season, it was time for the action to begin. The second stage of the league threw up Aguilas Doradas (Correa 25, 53) as our first game and the Arsenal-bound Correa got us all three points! He scored the first cutting from Vega's through-ball and firing home and the second was a close-range header. After that, they got one back and then, much to our concern, Correa limped off... ... and it is going to be a concern! Correa twisted his ankle and got ruled out for nearly two months! The games keep coming though and, mid-week, we were playing Expreso Rojo (Valencia 18, Saraz 43, Vidal 61). Valencia got the first after Suarez made a mazy run from the centre of the park and then squared for him. Saraz got the second heading home a bullet from a corner before Vidal got our third heading home at the far post when Forero crossed to him. However... ... once the scoring had been done, Valencia limped off the pitch with a torn hamstring and limped out the action for the next three months!!! In the week, we found out who our opponents would be in the Copa Sudamericana. Just like the way top teams can be found in the Europa League, they can be found in South America's second-tier tournament too. And we have one of the biggest in Newell's Old Boys - the team of Bielsa, after who the stadium is named, and Poch to name but just two legends from the club! It's my dream to manage them but to even play them is a serious start! The injury news kept coming - one of our potential replacments for Correa then suffered a training ground blow that ruled him out and gave us the highest number of players injured in the league. All the players that I could find took on Llaneros FC (Vega 19). Vega cut into the box from the left-hand side and fired the ball in at the near post to give us the lead. Llaneros came back into the game in the second half though and put away a last-minute goal to leave the points shared. My options were also reduced further when Forero limped off. Thankfully, his injury is as long as some of the others but it's still a blow that I could well do without! This was the month's first piece of good news - young Victor Hugo Cobo, 21 and from second-tier Cortulua, has agreed to join us on a free transfer at the end of the season. He's a player with real potential and fits the moneyball profile perfectly. Then came the even better news - we splashed £1.5mil of the Correa money on Ecuadorian Allen Obando from Orense. He's reputed to be one of the best young talents in the world and to have the opportunity to get him was simply too good to miss. I'm seriously excited about what he can produce here and what his sell-on potential might be one day. Surely, Europe will come knocking for this lad before too long! Obando made his debut in the game against Once Caldas (Obando 28, 90+3, Gonzalez 29, Belacazar 90). Once Caldas dominated the game throughout and took an early lead. We turned it round with two goals in two minutes courtesy of newboy Obando and young Gonzalez. In the second half, they turned it round again and took a 3-2 lead but, at the death, Obando set up Belacazar for the equaliser before scoring the winner himself - what a debut! There's always a cost though and this time it's Rodas - our starting DM. The month's final game saw us play Indipendiente Medellin (Obando 60, Belacazar 77) and after a flat first-half, two familiar names popped up with goals in the second. I've made a slight tactial tweak and am playing Obando as a complete forward - hence my post in the tactics section and it seems to be suiting him perfectly! We're top of the tree! What a different experience managing this side is to poor La Equidad who languish at the bottom of the table with just a single point so far! August is a monster of a month - there are nine games to get through with the Copa Sudamericana games against Newell's Old Boys and the Copa BetPlay ties against Independiente Santa Fe filling up the month. When my squad is so full of injuries, it's a real worry as to how we'll get through all the games on a skeleton side. I just hope that some of my injured players come back into action soon!

What would you look for in a complete forward? In my head, the role sounds like peak Harry Kane which, as spurs have proved over the last season, not many strikers can do!

My question is pretty much what it says on the tin really! I've just signed a new striker and pressing forward doesn't look like his best role. I wondered about changing his role to complete forward or advanced forward but, before I do that, I wondered how much effect it will have on his pressing effort at the spearhead of the team!

Mid-Season Break The first thing that took place was a bidding war for youngster Jorge Correa. Man City opened the bidding at £2.6mil, Newcastle then came in at £8mil but Arsenal got their man with a finishing bid of £12 million! This is a new record for a club in the Colombian top-flight and we get to loan him back for the rest of the season - bonus! We had a single mid-season friendly against second-tier Deportivo Pasto. In term's of a result, we took them apart with a series of wonder goals but... ... everything comes at a cost and this time it's a strain for Joal Contreras which will rule him out at the start of the season's next stage. We then suffered a transfer blow - we'd put in a bid for Garces and he fitted the profile of what I wanted perfectly. I didn't get him though and our key competitors at the top of the table did. It remains to be seen what role he takes in the season's second stage. And here, at the last, is the team that will take the field in our first game. In goal, 33yo Facundo Altamirano is an Argentinian who started out at Barfield but never really broke through but has been here and between the sticks since 2025. The star of the backline is Emerson Saraz. Only 21 and a Millionarios youth product, I wonder how long it will be before bids come in for him. In the midfield section, Nelson Deossa, 29, has been producing the goods so far - he has a rating of 7.42, three goals and three assists. I hope that that good form continues. Young Jorge Correa is the wonderkid that we've just sold to Arsenal but he remains with us for the rest of the season. Upfront we have Jader Valencia at the moment. He's 29 and 6'4". He has only managed five goals in his 25 starts though this season so I'm certainly looking for better there! So here's who we face first! Aguilas Doradas finished 6th in the Apertura compared to our 10th. Then we have Expreso Rojo who ended up 18th and Llaneros FC who were 19th - giving us two games in a row that I'd really expect to get points in. The month's final two games see us play Once Caldas who finished 5th and Independiente Medellin who ended up 8th in the Apertura. Everything gets reset through for the Finalizacion stage of the season so we really do go again!

CONCACAF Gold Cup Final And the answer is no! We executed a clinical counter-attack in the first half from which Leon Bailey fired home. For much of the game, it looked like that would be enough but, in the 76th minute, Grant passed the ball back to the keeper - except he didn't! It rolled past Boyce-Clarke, hit one post, rolled along the line hit the other post and then rolled in to level things up! The USA pounced on this and Ferrerira got two late goals to take the trophy home.

CONCACAF Gold Cup Before the games begin, I found out who I'll be facing in the final charge for World Cup qualification. It doesn't seem like too threatening a group so maybe the chance to lead Jamaica to a World Cup is really coming into view! It was then time to get on with the CONCACAF Gold Cup itself. It's fair to say that the group stage was something of a procession! In game one, we face Curacao (Oxford 12, Capleton 45, Gray 76, Thomas-Asante 82). Whilst we scored the goals that we needed - they got the most the memorable one with a real thunderbolt past second-choice keeper Noah Cooper who's playing the first few games while the first-choice keeper, Boyce-Clarke, is out injured. The same thing happened in the second game against Suriname (Graves og 6, Oxford 39, Thomas-Asante 61). We got the three goals that secured the win but, once again, they smashed home the worldie - Cooper must be developing some worries! Boyce-Clarke returned for the game against Guyana (Spence 21, Thomas-Asante 51, Bailey pen 60, Grant 79). I needed a point from this game so a full-strength side was put out. That secured our result and progress on to the quarter-finals... Here we took on Honduras and all the action happened early! Russell opened the scoring by heading home a corner after just one-and-a-half minutes. Thomas-Asante then followed up by bringing down a beautiful ball over the top from Russell and smashing it home. Then, on the 15 minute mark, Yoha got sent off for a shocking tackle on Leon Bailey. They weren't going to give up though and, just before the break, Elis fired home the first long-range worldie that Boyce-Clarke had conceded in the tournament! Our scoring was finished though and Clarke scored after Dion Rankine put in a low cross. Then, we were on to the semi-finals... ... and it was a game full of drama! We weren't favourites but Leon Bailey opened the scoring early by heading home Spence's great cross. Canada, then took a hold on the game and Jonathan David put away a penalty and then a neat one-touch finish to take the lead. We weren't giving up though and Bailey slipped Clarke through one-on-one to put the ball home. Then Canada battered us - David had a penalty saved and two goals ruled out for offside which took the game into extra-time. There, Gray sent in a vicious low cross which Millar sent into the back of his own net and we're into the final! Will I win my first trophy on FM24?!

Great to see you back @DerbyJack! It’s a great idea for a save. I’d thought of doing an ‘anti-me’ save at some point where I aim to do the opposite of my normal ‘known-for’ collection. You’ve got some great names in there too so I look forward to seeing how you get on!

Millonarios I might not have got the dream move to Brazil or Argentina but I have moved to a club with a real possibility of success. Millonarios are one of the most successful clubs in Colombia. I'm staying in the capital, Bogota, but this time at a club that plans on sticking around and winning things! What was even better was them giving me what might be the magic ticket to that big-time job in the not-so-distant! The double-league nature of football in Colombia produces quite a spiky graph but it's clear that they hit the top more often than not! Joining the club means I get my first taste of continental football in the Copa Sudamericana - the second-tier international cup for the continent. Challenging for the domestic cup and getting a top-half finish are on the agenda too. We're still on the mid-season break though so we won't be diving too far into this yet as we have a CONCACAF Gold Cup to play!

June 2024 June began with the bad news that my dream of getting into the Argentinian top-flight wasn't happening any time soon. There was some much better news though in the form of Jamaica's results against Honduras and St Kitts and Nevis. These two results put us above the USA in our group and meant that we'd qualified for the third round on the road to the World Cup. Could I be taking part in the world's biggest tournament for the first time in FM24?! That wasn't all the news that this month held though...

May 2029 May began with good news for me and my aim of getting out of here before the club get relegated! It got me noticed too and dangled the carrot of getting into Brazil! May wasn't an easy month in terms of results but I can't really complain overall! It began with us playing Dportivo Pereria (K Moreno 81). They cruised into a two-goal lead but Kilver Moreno scored a thunderbolt free-kick late on to give us some hope! That goal wasn't enough to impress GOI though so I won't be going to Brazil just yet! He then had a fall in training that saw him out for a long spell so there won't be any more free-kicks for a little while yet! The next game was the first of our triple-header against Jaguares de Cordoba (Celemin 30, 44) Celemin fired a rocket home for his first and then headed home a close effort to give us a two-goal lead. It wasn't enough though and, in the second half, they fought back and the first round of the cup finished all-square. Jaguares de Cordoba (Mosquera 5, Palacio 56) were up again and this time it was the league. We took an early lead when Mosquera headed home from the right-wing position. They then turned it round with a close finish and a penalty-box pinball smashed home - and this was all by the ten-minute mark! The scoring wasn't over though as, in the second half, Palacio put home a close finish and it was all square again. Then the offer of an interview came in from Peru and the chance to dodge that relegation mark against my name! It was then time to play Jaguares de Cordoba (Chara pen77, Mosquera 90+6). There was plenty of excitement in this cup tie but success wasn't to be. They began by getting a two-goal lead. Late on, we got a penalty and the young Chara stepped up to knock it home. They then got a third to make it 3-1 but Mosquera finished with a goal just to add a final hope! Not a bad way to finish the month! And this was good news too - with the club running out of money, a takeover would be very welcome! If I'm not going to Brazil, maybe I could go to Argentina. I've been delaying on the Peruvian job since this possibility came up. It would be a dream to get into one of the two big South American leagues! With the money running out, the president makes it clear that he's happy for someone else to sort it all out! An upgrade to one of Colombia's top clubs is also on the table. I'm hoping that I can avoid that relegation! The Apertura stage of the league finishes and we're bottom of the table. We're still in the red zone on average points but, with the Finalizacion stage of the league to play, there's only 0.01 of a point in it!

April 2029 My time as La Equidad boss has not been easy but it's been pleasing to see the upturn in results over the month of April. Whether it will continue or not remains to be seen but there is some hope! The normal form carried on in game one when we took on table-topping Atletico Nacional (Palacio 12). In this game, I took a park-the-bus approach and hoped it would pay off. The hope grew whean Palacio got us ahead but, over the course of the game, the stronger team came to dominate and win. Whilst he's not a regular starter, he's a certain bench option and, with the squad being so thin, every player counts! In game two, take a deep breath, we got a league win! In the game against Expreso Rojo (Chaverra 45+1). Chaverra finished off a fine move with an equally great finish and, combined with our first clean sheet of the season, we got all three points! I dreamed of two wins in two when we took on Millionarios (Jimenez 10, Chaverra pen 90+6). The dream lived large when Jimenez headed us into the lead early on in the game but, later on, they turned it around. It looked for all the world like we'd actually lose but, right at the death, we got a penalty and Chaverra put it home to get us all three points! Before the next game, our CONCACAF Gold Cup group came in. We're clear favourites against this group so I look forward to some wins! In the game against Llaneros FC (Palacio 27), we took the lead through Palacio, who's having a good month. They however fought back and the game finished level at 1-1. The week's training brought with it a big blow in injury terms with Clavijo being ruled out for nearly two months! He's one of the first names on my team sheet so I hope we can work without him! The cup brought us a game against second-tier Barranquilla FC (Jimenez 10, Pedrozo pen79, Piedrahita 90+3). Jimenez opened the scoring with a great header from another corner which is always pleasing to see. RW Pedrozo made the result look more secure when he a penalty home and then Piedrahita curled home a long-range beauty to put the final gloss on the result! Between the two cup games, we took on Real Cartagena. In this one, we couldn't score any goals and they managed to nab one in order to secure all three points for them rather frustratingly! The squad is thin and so the young players were being blooded regularly as the needs were required. We then took on Barranquilla FC (Celemin 44, Mendoza 67) in the cup second leg. Barranquilla gave us a scare by taking the lead on the day but we held on and two goals - from Celemin and Mendoza - left us with all three points. It's not been a easy season and I had promised to Mosquera that I would cheer the team up. He feels like I've failed in that regard which isn't much of a surprise! The month's final game saw us take on Union Magdalena and it's fair to say that we didn't do well. We weren't in the game at all and were sent home with our tail between our legs! We're still bottom of the league table but we're closing in on the average points - maybe relegation isn't the certainty that I thought it was. I don't really want to hang around to find out though! We have four games in the month of March before the break comes in June. We start against Deportivo Pereira who are 11th. We then have a three-header against Jaguares de Cordoba. They're presently 16th and we take them on in the both the cup and league. What can we get off them?

March 2029 My time in Bogata has been challenging so far and that didn't change in March! Independiente Medellin (Chaverra 71) and, like many of the games we've played in the league, we weren't really in it. We got one goal but it's fair to say that worse things were coming up! Not straightaway though as we did manage to beat Patriotas FC (Cossio 56, Clavijo 68) of the second tier! We got a two-goal lead up and going in the second half and, while they did pinch one back, I got my first competitive win as La Equidad manager. Back to the league and back to normal was the case against Once Caidas (Mosquera 67). This time, Mosquera got our only goal but we didn't have anything else to shout about! We then got our first (note I say first) thrashing of the month when we took on Expreso Rojo (Cossio 60, Mosquera 73). It was great to score two second-half goals but we'd already conceded three in the first half and still let in two more after that! We then returned to cup action and our second game against Patriotas FC (Garcia 14, Cossio 86). It looked, for one scary moment, like we were going to lose to these guys too and risk our place in the cup! thankfully, Cossio scored late on to save our blushes. A draw means we progress on into the next round. Jamaica then had a dramatic game against Mexico in the NA Nations League semi-final. We took a a shock lead in the first half and held it until almost HT. They then pinched one back straight away. I thought we'd unravel when Rankine got a silly yellow for a push. They did eventually get two more but Jahmari Clarke got one to make it close! Then thrashing two came against Cucuta Deportivo and this time we didn't even have a single goal to celebrate. It was back to international action and a dramatic game against Canada for the bronze medal! Despite utterly dominating the game, it looked like Canada's early goal, courtesy of a defensive mix-up, was going to nick it for them before we poked home a corner at the death. It went on to penalties and we managed to win a dramatic shoot-out 7-6! We then got only our second point of the season against Deportes Tolima (Jimenez 19, Celemin 90+6). Jimenez headed home a corner early on and I began to dream that we might even win a league game! However, once they'd turned it round, I feared that the chance to get anything at all had passed us by. Celemin had other ideas though - smashing home a long-range volley to double our points score! All I can really say is that La Equidad are going down! I only need to manage for eleven more days before I can start casting round for a new job. The challenge will be persuading other clubs that this mess is not my fault! April is another crazy month - we begin against Atletico Nacional who are 2nd and Expreso Rojo who are 17th. Milionarios find themsevles in 6th and Llaneros FC are in 19th - maybe we can nab points against them! We then have the cup games against Barranquilla FC who are 7th in the second tier so I hope we can beat them like we did Patriotas this month. In between the cup games, we take on Real Certagena (15th) and the month finishes with a game against Union Magdalena (9th).

February 2029 To combat the wave of departures and the poor form that the club was in, I snapped up Julian Clavijo on a free transfer. The 25yo spent last season at Expreso Rojo making 25 appearances and averaging 6.79 so I hope that he bring that sort of form to La Equidad. The results suggest that we need anyone who can bring any sort of form rapidly! We began the month against Aguilas Doradas (Parra 90+4). We found ourselves 2-0 and struggling again within an hour. Late, late on, Parra managed to break through and finish but, by that stage, it was only ever going to be consolation. The board got their way at Pablo Rodriguez leaves to join Atletico Nacional. My response was to bring in Carlos Quitlan on a free. The LB spent last season at Forteleza in the second tier but he played well for them there so I hope he can do the same for us in the top-flight! He was joined by potentially my star signing - Joan Cajares. The 25yo, again on a free, comes in from Sport Huancayo of the Peruvian top-flight. He excelled last season so I hope his top-flight form comes with him and lights up our patch of Bogota! Game two saw us take on - and lose to - Envigado. They got a throw-in down the right-hand side, threw it close, their man wriggled away from his marker, got the cross in and it was one-nil. We then picked up another blow to the squad to go with our bad results! Our only point of the month came in the game against Deportes Quindio (Caicedo 89). We were poor at a corner to go one goal down but scored one of our own to nab a point! I'd made a promise to Echeverria and had to stick to it when they hit his value. Defeats came again in the games against Indpendiente Santa Fe (Clavijo 8) and Junior FC. Things are staring to look pretty grim! Given last season's poor form and this season's too, we're already down baring a major miracle - minor miracles won't do it here! I've got to get out before I get a big red 'R' next to my name. 42 days before my promise to hang around runs out. Here are the games for the next month. As an indicator of how bad we are, I look forwad to taking on a mid-table second-tier side to see if we can even compete against them!

January 2029 This looked like a tough job to do and everything that took place in January confirmed that certainly was! The ray of hope in the month had to be the youth intake. While I don't intend to be here long enough to see these players come good, there's certainly some hope here. But it feels like there's less hope when the president is happy to sell your team for you! We're thin enough as it is and so this really doesn't help! In our two games, the results weren't great either. We started by taking on America de Cali (Chaverra 45+3, 60). Initially, the cruised into a 2-0 lead within 20mins and I thought all was going to be bad. However, either side of HT, Chaverra scored to get us back level again. Then the drama really started - we got through and thought we'd scored a late winner to see it chalked off for offside before they beat our backline to score a late winner themselves - gut-wrenching but at least there's hope! Frustration then grew when we took on Alianza Petrolera. They had a pop with an early free-kick that pinged in off our backline and then we fought back into the game but couldn't get a goal to leave us with two defeats to open the season. Here is the league table and the average points table - the one that really matters! These two defeats see us drop into the red for the first time since I took the job. Not good news! So the next month starts off with Aguilas Doradas who are 8th with one win before we take on Envigado who are 13th and have drawn both their games. Then a mid-week game sees us play Deportes Quindio who are 14th with two ponts and the final two games are Independiente Santa Fe (6th) and Junior FC (4th). I really don't know what to expect but I don't think it will be anything good!

Pre-Season I'm sorry for the long, long wait but life has been busy and this pre-season has been crazy! The pre-season foci were complex - save lots of money but also make sure that the club is good enough to stay up! And, with this in mind, the process began... ... here. We were spending £32k a week on wages with a budget 5k below that. Savings had to be made! Luis Soto was the first played out and he joined Benfica for £23k on a deal arranged before I joined the club. Fernando Garces is a promising LB but the chance to get him out on loan was too good to turn down and it helped on the wages too! Davier Vega was an older player and went out to Sport Huancayo in Peru. At 32 years old, Moneyball says you take the cash and run! Two more players were then out. Striker Cristian Renteria and winger Marino Hinestroza both departed. For the first time, the budget dipped under out limit but players were still on their way out... Defenders Manrique and Lanza then departed the club. After all that, it was time for some players to come in... Noticing that we have no players in goal, Jorge Palacios was the first in. The on-loan keeper wasn't the best or first choice that I had but I was able to bring him and he'll line up between the sticks for me! With all the players heading out, the backline needed strengthening. Santiago Jimenez was brought in to do just that. He spent last season playing for Real Santander in the second tier but they released him and we snapped him up on a free! The state of the club's objectives was clear - I'm still struggling on the money front and the objective is clear - don't get relegated. That doesn't look like an easy task though... Relegation, you'll remember is done over average points from the last three seasons and we hover just over the drop zone. Things are not in our favour! Pre-season saw us play MLS side Atlanta United and we gave them a decent game before we actually won against Boca Juniors de Cali. We open the season with a game against America de Cali who are expected to finish 4th and are in the Copa Libatadores and then Alianza Petrolera who expect to be 19th and are just promoted. We need to beat them to get ourselves going!

November 2028 November began with the NA Nations League QFs against Honduras. As you can see, there was nothing of note in the scores. My achievement was capping a young player at Spurs called Alton Brackenridge in order to secure his playing future for Jamaica. In the resulting draw, we get Mexico again who knocked us out at the same stage last year! Normally, at this point, I'd review the squad position by position but - with most of the club's best players and highest earners loaned out to get them off the wage bill and no idea who I'll be able to afford to have from the present squad, I'm not sure any planning is worth doing at all!

There were three games left in the season and it's fair to say that it gave me a sense of the challenge I have at La Equidad! Game one saw us take on Junior FC and it was a bore-draw. It at least reassured me that the team could be vaguely solid and, Moneyball-style, defence is what you build on so I took that as a promising start. Given the state of La Equidad's finances, youth is going to be vital so a positive intake is very pleasing to see. This was bad news though as the squad was thinned out through injury. All my hopes were blown apart in the game against Expreso Rojo (Rodriguez 31, Moreno 62). We opened the scoring against Expreso when Sanchez drilled low ball in for Rodriguez to smash home. In the second half, they turned it around with two quick goals before Vega pulled a ball across for Moreno to smash in off the bar. Things were level again but it wasn't to stay that way. They scored another two goals and we went home with our tail between our legs. Bad news then came though - Solohaga went out the match injured and Hinestroza was injured in training. Not good news! This all took us on to our final game against Cucuta Deportivo (Palacio 15). Sanchez got hold of a loose ball and drilled another low cross in for Palacio to smash home. We couldn't hold on though and they got one back for the game to finish 1-1. So the season ends and we're bottom of the table - only the three year average saves us from relegation. The summary stats are pretty brutal too. There's a lot of work to be done... ... but no money to do it with! The club are nearly £3 million in the red and so I don't how much good I can do! I think the aim here will be to enjoy a few months in the top-flight before I get my A licence and move on!

Starting XI So, who is the XI that will start the end-of-season run-in and, hopefully, keep the team up?! On paper, the team's quality is not high - three stars represents a good player for the second tier so, even if we stay up, there's going to be a lot of work needed on this squad with not much budget. working back to front, Melo in goal, on loan from Sporting Cristal, doesn't look like a great option but there are some good players in front of him in the form of Nadalin and Bueno so hopefully they can keep Melo safe! Correa looks like a good option in DMC and Antonio looks good in CM too. Then we have some hope that Vega will be the creator going forward even though he's only managed four assists so far this season. I hope that my tactial approach will bring the best out of this team! In terms of average performance, Moreno, Bueno and Vega are the best of a bad bunch - can they lead us to survival?! So we're on to the final three games of the season - Junior FC are presently 15th and their run hasn't been that superb recently while Expreso Rojo are 7th but also haven't won in their last five. Finally, we play Cucuta Deportivo who are 5th so we don't really want to leave things to the last game if we can help it!

La Equidad ... and that's because I'm moving on to top-flight football! I've joined La Equidad in Colombia's top-flight. I'm now in a top-flight and at a three star club so it's the biggest side I've managed on this save so far. It's going to be far from easy though I think. It's a spiky profile to say the least! The club have managed to remain in the top tier since their promotion in 2006 but they're running it pretty close at the moment! Colombia run an interesting relegation system. It measures your average points per game over three seasons and, as you can see, we're' running it pretty close! I hope that, with the small number of games we have left, it doesn't all go wrong! The club's finances aren't great and doing better in the Colombian league is the priority alongside sorting out the finances. Can I do it?!

October 2028 The first bit of news in October was the draw for the NA Nations League. Honduras came out the pot and it's a game for us to look forward to. I also had another top-flight interview. This time with La Equidad of Colombia. We then played our only game against Cobreloa (Rojas pen 83). The took the lead again, much to our frustration and then we were up against it. We did manage to level things up though when Rojas put away a penalty late on. At this point though all updates pause...

September 2028 As you know from when I took this job on, the club had really struggled towards the end of last season and it's fair to say that they're not finding the end of this one much easier! It all began with the derby against San Marcos de Arica. Despite being a derby, this match was a real snooze. Neither side could really produce a chance even after they had a player sent off for persistant fouling around the 60th minute. At this point, we got the first of red x's for this month. Mendez, out starting DM, pulled a hamstring and would miss a vital part of the run-in. Game two saw us play Deportes Magallanes. They nabbed their first goal in the 30th minute. We fought to try and level things up but, with the game closing, we opened up too far and they got through to secure all three points. Another two injuries then hit the squad. Montano has not really started games this season so is not too much of a loss but Loyola is our starting RB so that really is a big blow. And then there was another one with MC Alvarado ruling himself out for a few games too. With almost no-one left, we took on bottom side Deportes Copiapo. This was another poor game which they managed to nab via a penalty. We were certainly giving away our title race and I was now beginning to worry that we wouldn't even get into the play-offs! The final game of the month saw us play Deportivo Nublense (Sanhueza 48). Sanhueza got the only goal of this game with a fierce effort from just outside the box and that was enough to get all three points and... ... to get ourselves a playoff place too! We know that we're in the top 8 but a win could take us up to 2nd which would be pretty remarkable! We have one league game left against Cobreloa who are 15th before we find out what the playoffs have in store for us...

August 2028 Before a ball was even kicked, interview action dominated my mind. I found out that wasn't going to Universidad San Martin but Centro Altetico Fenix of the of Uruguayan top-flight offered me an interview. The month start also had the usual injury information in it too. Arancibia hasn't been starting games but he's been a consistently useful option and the squad is thinner without him. Then came more bad interview news. Finally, it was time to play some football! It wasn't easy footabll to play though as the results show! Top-spot Santiago Morning came up first. It's fair to say that we were under the cosh for most of the game but we did manage to hold on a grab a point under pressure. Once again, it was contrasting interview news that was the follow-up to the game. This time, the carrot of hope came from Nacional of the Uruguayan top-flight... And then FBC Melgar of Peru offered me an interview too. Would this finally be the moment that I managed to get into a top-flight job? Before worrying about that though, there was more football to be played when we took on Palestino (Moraga 79). For most of the match, it looked like bad news when they got a cross from a throw-in headed home. My angry words at HT woke my team up though and we dominated the second-half. We could only get one goal though when young RB Ureta's shot cannoned off the bar to Moraga who poked it home. My hopes of top-flight football in South America weren't coming true quite yet! We then took on Deportes La Serena (Mendez pen 19, Ventos 57, Rojas 90+1) who were top by this point - it feels like every team we face are top! Things didn't start well when we dropped a goal behind due to a cutting through-ball. Mendez stepped up to put a pen home though and make it 1-1. However, goals in the 27th and 30th mins for them made it look like another defeat was on the cards. Ventos managed to give us a glimmer of hope though when he ran round the keeper to score and Rojas scored the dramatic late leveller running through late on to post the ball through the keeper's legs! All this drama wasn't enough to get me a job though! The final game of the month against Puerto Montt (Ventos 45, Rojas 69, Alvardo 80) finally got us our first three points of the month. Once again we started the game off by going behind but Ventos was on hand to level things up just before HT. Rojas then put us in front when he put Rodriguez's super cross home and Alvarado smashed home a rebound to make a 3-1 lead. They got one back to add some tension but we held on for all three points. I failed to get another job - but only because the potential employers couldn't afford me this time. Perhaps, I'm edging closer... With one month left to go, I remain in a crazily-tight title race. There's a real chance that I could get Iquique into the top-flight but the chance is secure enough that I'd turn down a top-flight job via interviews! September begins with the big derby against San Marcos de Arica and guess what - they're top! Deportes Magallanes follow and they're 11th so I'd hope to get points there. Deportes Copiapo are 16th and doing pretty badly so I'd certainly hope to beat them before we play 12th-placed Deportes Nublense in our penultimate game of the season.

July 2028 The Copa America began by delivering us our semi-final opponents. We knew that, after one league game, we would taking on Ecuador! Without the Copa America finishing, domestic football returned - and with a bang! Result one was a shock - a defeat to Deportes Concepcion. The game itself was a non-event. No real shots of note or chances for either side. They managed to nab all three points though when a long ball over the top was nodded down and then smashed past our keeper. It was then a tale of two interviews - I found out that I wouldn't be going to Platense but there was the chance of going to Alianza Lima who wanted to be challenging for the Peruvian title. We then had another no-show but this time in the Copa America semi-final against Ecuador. It was so frustrating that, at this point in the tournament, we had our worst game by far and meekly dropped out into the third-place playoff... More bad news followed the bad game! ... where we played out an absolute goal-fest! Sadly, we couldn't hold in extra-time to get the bronze medal but I'm still hugely proud of what the team achieved compared to what was expected of us at the start of the season. The poor form continued in domestic football when we took on Santiago Wanderers. This time the game wasn't a non-event but we certianly weren't in it! Santiago got a quickfire brace round the 30 min mark and, from there, the game was all theirs. They took us apart and I was really worried with two defeats and two bad bad performances. It seemed that my potential employers were watching and they were none-too-impressed either. This wasn't the showing that I was after! Finally, we managed to put things on an upwards track in the game against San Antonio Unido (Pereyra 76, Igor Gabriel 83). Sub Pereyra finally broke his duck by heading home a far-post cross sent in by Arancabia. They pegged us back straightaway and I was growing more and more frustrated until Igor Gabriel turned his man inside out and then hit a blistering shot to give us the win! We carried on the winning when we played Union San Felipe (Pereyra 11, 29). Now that his duck was broken, Pereyra was in fine goal-scoring mood! He got the first by knocking home a shot when Moraga had run the length of the pitch before putting the ball across. The second came in almost the same way but this time Moraga only began his run on the halfway line! Following the game, two more job interviews came in as I sought to raise my game in South America! The final game of the month came against Rangers de Talca (Ventos 21). Pereyra's two-game run came to a short end as injury ruled him out of this one. Ventos then regained the leading striker spot by running on to Moraga's throughball, standing up the keeper and smashing it home. Sadly, it was our only serious shot of the game and, in the control we let them have, Rangers went on to score two and nab all three points! We drop down a place but, with large chunks of the season now behind us, we remain in the title race and should certainly finish as a playoff team! Top-spot Santiago Morning come up first and we know that they're never an easy game! Palestino are 11th though so that's much more hopeful. We then have Deportes La Serena who are 7th and Puerto Montt who are 9th. It doesn't sound easy but I think that there are points to be gained there...

Copa America 2028 The opening game against Paraguay was utterly mad! We got to 3-0 up by the 60th minute before they scored. Then we shifted it on to a 5-1 lead before they made it 5-2. We then scored another to make it 6-2 before they finished off at 6-3! I don't quite know what to make of it all but I'll take the win and good start on the GD for sure! We knew that a win against Venezuela would take us through to the next round. We didn't get it though! Twice we trailled and twice we managed to level things up but we couldn't get the goal that would give us that win. From a domestic point-of-view, I got this report in on our youth intake for next season. It doesn't look very good to me but we'll see what it produces! In our final game, we took on Panama and it's fair to say that we did enough! Even with rotating out as much of the first team as fast as we possibly could, we still steamrollered our oppostion and this is what the table looked like afterwards... We topped the group and marched onto the knock-out stages of the tournament! Platense in the Argentinian top-flight offered me an interview so that was rather exciting! That led to a dramatic game against Uruguay. Leon Bailey opened the scoring with a penalty before they equallised straightaway. In the second half, Bailey put a second away with a far-post header before Nunez levelled up for them. This led to penalties and we held firm to win and take Jamaica to the semi-finals! GOI are in the Brazillian second tier having just been relegated. They seem to have a pretty serious budget so I wonder if they're a serious promotion candidate. The semi-final and the team that we will play awaits but it will now interweave around domestic duties. Deportes Concepcion are up first and they're presently 11th. Game two is against Santiago Wanderers who are in 4th just below us. San Antonio Unido are top so they won't be an easy game either. There are then two more games - Union San Felipe, 5th, and Rangers de Talca who are 6th.

June 2028 The month began with the news that I wouldn't be making the instant hop to the Chilean top-flight as I wasn't the chosen man for Union La Calera - the search goes on! We then had the second of Jamaica's World Cup Quals where we got a stunner against the USA! I thought we'd struggle here but Thomas-Asante broke through their backline before the break to put us a goal ahead and Richards was there to head home a second-half header. Thomas-Asante got himself sent off for a second yellow late on and Pepi got one back for the USA but we held on for a famous win! Before we resumed domestic duties, our backline took a blow when Navarrete twisted his ankle and ruled himself out for the next 5 - 6 weeks! We had one league game this month and it saw us play Deportes Melipilla (Mendez pen 27, Rojas 81). Mendez opened the scoring in the 27th when Moraga was brought down and won a penalty that needed converting. They got and converted a penalty of their own late on but Rojas then fired in a twenty-yard rocket to give us all three points! We finish the month only four points behind top-of-the-table and firmly in the play-off places. The turnaround from where we were at the start of the season is unbelieveable! I just hope that some of the big clubs on the continent are now taking some notice! All attention now turns to the Copa America. We open the group with the hardest game of the bunch against Paraguay who are firmly ranked above us. Venezuela are pretty equal to us so that should be a close but winnable game and, finally, I'd expect us to beat Panama without too much trouble but we shall see!