From zero to hero

I decided to a start a career with an unknown unemployed manager. I set my past knowledge on "Sunday League" and went on a job hunt. My goal here is to reach a Worldwide manager and take the biggest club of the world to even greater heights. I chose almost every league of Europe.
My first managerial stop was AS Veroia from the Greek Superleague. After half a season, poor results from both me and my players meant the end of my reign there.
After only a couple of days I received an offer from Corbett Sports Welsh Premier League outfit Newtown AFC. I picked them up at 11th position and managed to save them from relegation. The next season, due to 0 wage and transfer budget(meaning i couldn't bring any new players), I got sacked again.
My next stop was FC Bihor, a team in the Romanian Second League Group 2. With the season six games in, I took the team from 11th spot. I managed to get a few free signings and with some great games from the team, managed to win promotion from second place.

The pick of the season for my team was a player grown by the club, Catalin Florea:

I had to prepare for my first Romanian First League season. The club is rather small so I couldn't hope for too much money. And I was right: the chairman only raised my wage budget. I insisted on young talented players and managed to remain in the First League, avoiding relegation.
Season 2014/15:

With the players I bought I depleted the club's funds and I had to let a bunch of players go just to strengthen my squad. Catalin Florea managed to maintain his great matches, winning the Romanian Second League Group 2 Player of the Year in 2013/2014 and the Romanian First League Young Player of the Year in 2014/15.
Because I have such a young squad, I wanted some more experience and signed only 3 players: 32 years old Rares Soporan, 33 years old Alexandru Pacurar, both released by CFR Cluj and 17 years old Florin Nitoi(given the lack of quality in the right wing).



I'm now eagerly awaiting the start of the new season. My friendlies were kind of dissapointing but I'm hoping that would change in league matches.

I'm using a 4-1-2-2-1 counter tactic, with players getting the ball on both flanks. So far it's doing good, managing to achieve some great wins in my first League 1 season, against Dinamo or Otelul.


I'll return with my monthly progress. Wish me luck!

With only 2 matches in July, I was hoping it will be a great test for the team.
The first game against Astra we got a goal behind but managed equalise in the 82nd minute thanks to a thunderous run from Claudiu Herea.
We then travelled to Dinamo Buc., one of the biggest teams in Romania. We closed the goal excellently, and scored after a well executed corner.

Brilliant to see people venturing into the relatively unknown, like these stories where you go from a no one to potentially the best! keep it up

With 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 lose, I can only congratulate the team on their early season performance. I just hope this form continues and injuries avoid us, so that we can achieve an EURO Cup qualification this year.

Badavi Huseynov has so far bossed our defence.

Thanks! Really look forward to see your carreer progress as well.

September wasn't too good for us, losing against Gaz Metan and Steaua. The loss against Gaz Metan shocked us and I had to take some measures to prevent that from happening. So on of my central defenders got fined for an abysmal game. The loss against Steaua didn't really suprise me, as they are the last 3 seasons champions. I am happy that we have the best defence of the league, alongside ACS Poli.
I managed to qualify further in the cup, after a 1-0 win against Astra, managing to rest most of my key players for the clash with Steaua. The draw for the seventh round was Otelul, a team I didn't lose to in the last 3 games.

We lost a couple of spots in the league, but altogether I am happy with our league standings.

After 2 games without scoring, the players got out of their shell and got 5 against Sportul.

We then managed to get an incredible 1-0 win against CFR Cluj, the biggest club of the country. During that game, our top keeper, Alexandru Buzbuchi, got a twisted knee and will miss the next 4 weeks.

In the cup clash against Otelul, I rested most of my players, because the league is my No. 1 priority. Unfortunately, the back-up keeper, Tadas Simaitis, made a couple of errors and we got knocked out of the cup.

Again, against CSMS Iasi, a game in which we were clear favorites, Simaitis failed again in his duties and we lost.

I just hope that Buzbuchi will return soon, or I can see the club free falling through the league.

Really good at the moment mate

Thanks. I just hope to finish in the top half of the league. Next season, if I get some money, I'll challenge for an EURO Cup place.

Your having a top season at the moment mate, really performing well!

With only 3 matches, December was a relaxing month for us.

We lost against 2nd spot Pandurii, but we put up a real fight.

Against Chiajna, being favorites, I decided to test a more attacking tactic, thinking "what's the worst that could happen?" Well, our attack was on fire that match, but the defence failed to live up to the expectations and we barely won the game. After this game I decided that goalkeeper Tadas Simaitis simply had to go and began looking for a new back-up keeper on the transfer market. Still haven't found a decent one though.

Last match of the month marked the return of key player Alexandru Buzbuchi and we started playing a solid defensive game again. We were robbed of the win by a 79 min penalty to which the players all protested furiously against. Buzbuchi came out the man of the match with a rating of 7.7.



We still hang on to the top half of the league, with only 2 games remaining this year.

We managed to grab a satisfying win against Dinamo Buc., again Buzbuchi getting the Man of the Match award.

Then came a loss against FC Vaslui, not at all surprising, although we manage to keep a clean sheet until a 3 min double salvo in the 69 min.



2 players left the club on a free(Robert Hutanu and Florin Nitoi) due to poor games. I managed therefore to free some of my wage budget, but I don't think it will be a busy transfer period.

The transfer period ended. I had 5 friendlies in which I tested out a couple of players and 2 tactics. The results don't really matter, as I am pretty pleased with the performance.



The board allowed me to change my season expectations. From the mid-half position at the start of the season, I chose a top-half finish, being confident in my players abilities. This allowed me more wage budgets to handle, and I could sign 2 players, 19 years old brazilian striker Tuparendi, in which I have complete confidence of being capable of pulling the team after him, and 22 years old Ukrainian defensive midfielder Olexandr Marchovets which will fill up a gap in that department.

The start of the 2nd half of the season saw us winning 5 matches and drawing surprisingly to CS Otopeni. Tuparendi had a good return of 2 goals in 2 matches. I am slowly introducing him to the team, as I truly believe that he will become on of the club's top performers.



Due to the club's monthly performances, I finished runner-up to Steaua boss Laurentiu Reghecampf to the Manager of the Month award.



We climbed up to 3rd place, having a real chance of finishing on a Continental Qualification place.

Also, we had a new intake of youth players, and after watching their debut match closely, I decided to sign 3 of them, with left winger Sebastian Popa potentially becoming a great Romanian First League player. The other two were striker Alexandru Iova and attacking midfielder Alexandru Nicorici.

well done on manager of the month buddy! Moving up the table well there!

Thanks a lot! I hope the players can keep on a cool head, as I only have 2 important matches until the end of the season.

Thanks a lot! I hope the players can keep on a cool head, as I only have 2 important matches until the end of the season.

Thanks a lot! I hope the players can keep on a cool head, as I only have 2 important matches until the end of the season.

Thanks a lot! I hope the players can keep on a cool head, as I only have 2 important matches until the end of the season.

Thanks a lot! I hope the players can keep on a cool head, as I only have 2 important matches until the end of the season.

Thanks a lot! I hope the players can keep on a cool head, as I only have 2 important matches until the end of the season.

We managed to keep our form in April, again with 4 wins and a draw. We played our "final of the season" for securing 3rd place against CFR Cluj, and the boys performed admirably, securing a narrow 2-1 win.



That last win saw us climbing up to 2nd position with only 3 league matches remaining. 2nd or 3rd position doesn't really matter because this season is the best season the club had in a long time.

Its been a great season buddy, all you have to do now is try your best to finish second!

Honestly, I'll be satisfied with 3rd place. But that doesn't mean I won't try to finish 2nd. It has been a wonderful year and the boys deserve it.

May wasn't a great month, winning only 1 match and losing two. The players failed to concentrate with two teams from the bottom half of the table, but managed to recover in the last match of the season against Pandurii.



We managed to finish second despite our two defeats. FC Vaslui had tougher games and didn't to win a single one. It's a wonderful achievement for the club and the final position means that we will compete in next year's Champions League Best Placed Third Qualifying Round.



The team's performance brought me the Manager of the Year Award, overcoming league champions Steaua's Laurentiu Reghecampf.



Badavi Huseynov got picked in the Team of the Year, this being a great recognition of his perfect defending.



Left winger Adrian Ganea won the Most Assists Award.

Overall I am very pleased with the team performance and in this transfer window the greatest challenge will be to keep my key players and manage to bring in a couple of fresh faces.

Being in this year Champions League, I only chose 2 friendlies to prepare. With Beius I tried a 4-4-2 attacking tactic which did the trick so I think I will be using it in matches that I am favorite. I chose a tough match against Anderlecht so that we could see what would await us in Champions League. Despite the 1-0 loss, the team showed that they could handle bigger teams.



Lokomotiv Moscow announced a link with us. Unfortunately I couldn't find any promising youngster to loan, but there is hope.



The draw for Champions League Best Placed 3rd Qualifying Stage saw us picked against Sporting Lisbon. I'm not too surprised we were handed a tougher opponent, as all the other teams are much stronger than us. I hope we could put in a good display against them.

With the transfer period halfway through, I brought 3 players and it looks like they will be the only ones. I am really anxious to see tireless right winger Banel Nicolita in action, managing to secure him for only 20k per year. Another great acquisition is defensive midfielder Florin Lovin. The last one is young striker Adelin Maier. All 3 were signed for free.





I don't think I will be signing any more players as I used up all my wage budget. The season start is rapidly approaching and we have to build up on last season's performance.

July was an unlucky month for us. Despite managing to win 2 games and draw one in the league, without receiving a single goal, Catalin Florea suffered a broken toe in the match against FC Olt and will miss for 4 to 5 weeks.

We lost the first leg against Sporting (not at all surprising).



I brought in a right winger on a loan, Nebojsa Kosovic because Banel Nicolita was suffering from an achilles tendonitis. He hasn't really imposed himself as a key player, but I am patient.

cracking season buddy! the champions league football will be a huge boost for you this season!

Thank you very much! Even if we don't qualify I just want to let the boys know the atmosphere in a continental clash. I know it will take another 2 or 3 years before we can face bigger teams.

August has been a busy month for us, and the absence of Catalin Florea has shown. We barely manage to score a goal in a match. If I can't change that it will be a tough year.

Sporting has knocked us out of Champions League, and in EURO League we faced Hoffenheim. We lost 1-0 on aggregate, with a 91 min goal which is a little bit frustrating, as we could come out of the tie with so much more.

Our league position isn't great, but I hope it will improve in the coming weeks.