A...B...C...D...

I have been struggling to settle on a game to really get going of FM13, I keep getting inspired to start as some obscure outfit before getting another flash of inspiration a few games in to try somewhere else. What I need is some structure so I decided to pick up on a story Dan did last year where he went through Europe alphabetically one letter at a time, winning the title of each. I can't remember how far he got but hopefully this will be the start of a long term game for me finally, Also I will not just be in Europe, I have various additional leagues installed to give me a plethora of options for each letter. In addition I will hopefully complete the pentagon challenge in the process.

For letter 'A' I have the following countries loaded...

Albania (Europe)
Algeria (Africa)
American Samoa (Oceana)
Argentina (South America
Australia (Asia)
Austria (Europe)

So I'm kicking things off unemployed and with a Sunday league rep...


I had a few job offers from Argentine and Albanian clubs but they didn't really appeal to me, Eventually I did get a job that caught my imagination though...


Sydney have been rather under-wealming in the A-League this season and with seven games left to play look set to miss out on the play-off's...


Their poor position is suprising given the wealth of talent in the squad...


Brett Emerton and Mikel Forsell are obviously important players but there is one true standout star...


I reckon we can still make the play-off's and hopefully go on to snatch the title, Which would check off the the first leg of the challenge rather quickly.

Well my first game in management wasn't much of a specticle, In fact it was a rather dour affair where, in the first half at least my star studded side was over-run by a dogged Adelaide....


United were using a 4-5-1 formation with all five midfielders in a tight diamond shape in the center which made it difficult to put together sequences and allowed the visitors to control possession, an advantage they capitilised on by taking the lead mid-way through the half.
With talismanic forward Alesandro Del Piero looking thoroughly uninterested in proceedings I decided to bring him off and switch to 4-5-1 myself which immediately began to yeild results as my players began to play far more expansive football to what they had shown thus far and it wasn't long until we got some pay off when midfielder Kristian Sarkies was played through on goal to finish with aplomb.

From there on in we looked the most likely to snatch all three points, Mikel Forsell came close to winning it but struck the post. I suppose a draw was a decent result and we can look to build on it in the next game against A-League's bottom side Melbourne Heart, a side I almost became manager of just a couple of weeks ago but opted for Sydney instead.

Another career? hopefully this is the one you stick to

My first couple of months down under have been an unmitigated disaster...



Just four points from seven games is just not good enough considering the players in the squad, They were absolutly awful in posession and just never created anything threatening in any of the games.



Thankfully as I took over so late I'm not being judged on our performance this season, If I was I think I would be out of a job already.
On the bright side I can now begin to build my own squad, The current bunch will be stripped back as I look to get the club playing the way I want them to with most of the big names being shown the door. An improved position in next years A-League is essential.

Good challenge mate can I have a link to where you downloaded the additional leagues from thanks

All over the place mate, Mainly FM-Base and The Dugout.

Ok thanks

As I indicated I would, I have spent the long off-season revamping my squad with no fewer than seventeen players whom I considered deadwood being shown the exit, Incoming are several players who are more adept to playing in the style in which I wish the club to play...


The Colombian forward has spent the last few years in China playing for Dalian where he scored nine goals in fourteen games last season. He arrives in Oz for a fee of £50k


A promising youngster who is a member of the Aussie U21 team, He will be with us for the season after Dutch side VVV agreed to allow him on loan.


Another Colombian addition who will be my number one this season which in the seven games I oversaw last season was probably our weakest position. A free transfer.


Admittedly I would have preferred Lucas Neil who was my first choice for this position but he opted to stay with Al-Ahli in Egypt instead, Still Currie looks as if he will become a solid enough full back and is already in the national U18's.


Snapped up on free transfer this commanding centre back will add some girth to our back line, Has been capped for Australia.

Along with the new boys I have also promoted a bunch of promising youth players who will provide the squad with depth, Here's a look at the complete team sheet...


Whilst I'm not expecting miracles from my radically overhauled team, I do expect better than last seasons woeful campaign, Qualifying for the play-off's is the absolute minimum requirement.

Hmmmm.

Pre-season hasn't gone as I hoped it might, a humbeling by amature Sydney United was the low point and one that had e on the brink of chucking in the towel in Australia already. However I hung in there and pressed ahead and although things didn't get much better during the friendly's I shall be leading the club into the 2013 season.


I have one more signing to reveal...

October 2013

After all my pessimism and negativity we have started the season fairly well...


It's early days but we have been playing reasonably which comes as something of a surprise given the spectacular flop of last season and the poor friendly routine.
I am currently utilizing a 4-3-1-2 formation which is good for getting the ball forward but can leave my full back exposed if the opposition posseses tricky wingers, Thankfully most A-League clubs seem to favor this sort of line up as well.


So after four games we lye in seventh place, My target for the season is sixth in order to qualify for the play-off's, Anything above that is a bonus.

Decent enough start to the season seeming no one won all their opening games.

I'm afraid that a corrupted hard drive has brought this career to an abrupt end. If someone can delete it please.

I'm especially annoyed this was the first FM13 career I've managed to get into thus far. Do yourself a favor and never buy an Acer laptop.

Or not

In my defense of the three careers I've started on FM13 only the one was me getting bored, The other two were poorly configured add-on leagues and a laptop fuck up. Proper annoying though.