pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
My plan is to travel the world and manage in a lot of places I have not managed before. I decided however that I needed to create some sort of challenge to get some structure into this.
I have downloaded claasens megapack which as of 1st of January 2018 gives me 189 playable countries.
Now I have divided these 189 countries into 19 levels based on FIFA World Rankings. Level 1 contains all leagues from countries not represented in the FIFA World Rankings. Level 2 contains the 10 lowest ranked playable countries and it continues like that with 10 countries in each level. With exception for level 18 and 19 which have 8 countries each.
The idea is to start unemployed with Sunday League Footballer reputation and all leagues from level 1 loaded. I will need to win the domestic league or cup of one of the countries to be able to move on to the next level and load the countries in level 2.
These are the countries in Level 1 which I will load to start with:

Reunion
Northern Mariana Islands
Guadeloupe
French Guyana
Martinique
Saint Martin
Saint Pierre & Miquelon
Sint-Marteen
Kiribati
Micronesia
Tuvalu
Wallis & Futuna
Crimea
Bonaire

So it looks very likely that I will end up on an island somewhere. I expect Reunion, French Guyana, Martinique and Guadeloupe to be on a somewhat higher level than the rest and they all have semi-professional leagues. Crimea is also interesting but I am really not sure about the level there. The rest all seem to be Amateur leagues with very low level of play.
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
There were a lot of jobs available to start with. I ruled out Tuvalu which has a season of just 7 games which was already completed by the time I started. Also there would be a couple of months until Bonaire and Sint-Marteen seasons would start, so I they were not going to be my priority either.
The jobs for the predicted top teams in French Guyana, Martinique and Reunion were available. They actually have some decent reputation though, so not sure I would be able to get them.
3 other jobs in leagues that had already started caught my eye though as they could ensure a fast and easy completion of level 1.
1. Kanoa in Northern Mariana. They were in 1st place with a two point lead after 10 games played with 10 games to go.
2. Nimgil Youth in Micronesia. 1st with a 1 point lead after 9 games. 5 Games to go.
3. ASSP in Saint Pierre & Miquelon. 1st with an 8 point lead (the 2nd placed team has a game in hand) after 5 games. 11 Games to go.
I applied for job 1 and 3. Kanoa was faster to offer an interview. I decided to delay it however and a few days later the offer from ASSP arrived:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/uthuXboFogHRAoBpDXakksgU1JABviDV70CP0IQq.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
So I had my choice of Caribbean and South Pacific paradise islands to move to, but decided to head to the North Atlantic islands Saint Pierre & Miquelon.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/dWFbZKUYZrWxesd3yyFYKmWizeqXoMP9qpq63xoI.png

It is a place with interesting history as a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France and the last remain of New France that is still under French control.
The population is only 6080 people with most living on the smaller island Saint Pierre, while 626 people live on the smaller Miquelon island.

The Ligue de Futbol de Saint Pierre & Miquelon consists of only 3 teams. A.S.Saint Pierraise (ASSP) and A.S. Ilienne Amateur (ASIA) are from Saint Pierre while A.S. Miquelonnaise are from Miquelon.
There is however only one stadium in Saint Pierre where all the games are played, so I assume that the ASM is really based on Saint Pierre as well.
This stadium or pitch was well visible when flying into Saint Pierre:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/SPE7z3CtkJPMKjVXb0zVoEkX3SP42pJSbERrF5ol.png

In the League each team plays each other 8 times making it a total of 16 games. So not the best league to be in if you want some variation.
As mentioned all teams are fully amateur and the level is really as poor as what could be expected from an island with 6000 inhabitants.
An indicator of this are the few results of Saint Pierre and Miquelon´s national team. They participated twice in the Coupe de l'Outre-Mer in 2010 and in 2012.
During these tournaments they played 7 games and lost except one (0:7 against French Guyana) with double-digits. Among them two games against Reunion and one against Guadeloupe.
So the standard seems to be significantly weaker than some of the other countries in Level 1.

The club I am taking over is ASSP which is the oldest club in the country and founded in 1903. They have won the double in both 2015 and 2016.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23191453.png

As fully amateur I would get no salary managing the club, so will have to live on savings. The season however is short as football can only be played between April and September due to the harsh weather conditions.
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
As mentioned before 5 games were already played when I took over:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/02WXbfvyFsChOn3EGn6szCLdccwXejotDEiognn2.png

3 wins and 2 draws meant 16 points in Saint Pierre and Miquelon where a win gives 4 points and a draw 2. While even a defeat absurdly gives 1 point.
I forgot to take a screen shot of the League table at that point but that meant I had 8 point lead on ASIA who had one game in hand.

My two best players according to the Assistand Manager are Reynald Cheron and Florian George. Unfortunately they are both left midfielders.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/1XjY86vGnISDxwR3dzX06rAopCOP0RbBcKPH7kJb.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/aGvnEXIkNMXOQSQUlDaLeHeW8QhKlhHscSXTlFbS.png

After that the players start looking weaker, but I don´t really know how they compare to other teams.
Especially right midfield, right back and goalkeeper look like positions that could be strengthened, but without any scouts available in Saint Pierre & Miquelon it might be difficult to make any quality signings.
I still had a look at the other teams players and found one that seemed interesting. ASM right midfielder Gregory Tessier. I had no idea about his attributes but he was seen as the strongest right midfielder in the league by the media and had decent stats from the first few games. And with these being amateur clubs there was little risk in a signing as I would have to pay no transfer fee nor salary. ASM and ASIA also tried to sign some players from me, but no one was interested, while Gregory Tessier seemed very happy to join ASSP:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/XguUmvJ3xNPc2bPotdHankA1R5AEXfbeglrNnhNe.png
It was a good gamble and he looks to be one of the better players at the club.

I decided to keep it simple and play a 4-4-2 formation. My team looked to be weak passers while being physically in better shape than the other teams. So I will be trying to play the ball into space for my strong wingers Cheron and Tessier to pick it up, while the central midfield will be mainly focusing on winning back the ball.

The four first games would see us face ASM at home before playing ASIA three games in a row. Twice at home and once away.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fcofwusDhb7PqCsDPNrQUCLKuVTneCCSv4hylmqG.png

A very nice start to the career. We absolutely dominated against ASM, hitting the post 3 times. Just a narrow 1:0 win in the end but it was never in danger.
We continued our nice form with a 2:0 home win against ASIA. This game we were more efficient scoring twice from only 6 chances. But we also limited ASIA to mostly long shots.
The away game against ASIA was the first one we really struggled a bit. We got an easy 2:0 lead in half time but got my left-back sent off in the 46th minute. After that we really struggled to control the game but held on to a 2:1 victory.
The last game we had enough chances to win but the forwards were very wasteful. I have to make sure that does not become a trend but the way the table looks at the moment we can live with a draw.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/oSG5xBrZpEHICl91C39m9Ik7zs2plsM1UEEwcdbK.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
ASSP - September 2017


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23191453.png


In the next four games we would play ASM away once and twice at home, as well as ASIA at home.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/WFMXvJhCrrRo4UBYBh0K9U6oUZFW8WCDauNiB6fZ.png

It started well with another draw where we were the better team before getting an easy 2:0 win.
This meant with 5 games to go we just needed one more win to secure the title.

Unfortunately something went wrong:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/B16oqjGocWMW4Tm77vuzptpC562RX1kjf2qToKGa.png

I started both games with a relatively conservative approach hoping to win by counter-attacking. This did not work at all and I was totally outplayed in the first half of both games.
When switching to a more attacking approach our game improved but it was already to late in both games.
A 17 year old named Jacques Barnabo scored 3 goals for ASIA in the first game. I sat down with him for a beer directly after the game and managed to convince him to join us and help us secure the title.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/OX93JYC1pEPSK5JIlgz7I94JhMrTaPYS9Y2yVRPc.png

Looking at the table I start to get a little bit nervous. I definitely need to learn from the mistake in the last two games to make sure we do not throw away the title.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/QBkY6su7bW8dIvjlzUpf8lIdXGTgsZItPA5FAY5i.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
ASSP - September 2017


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23191453.png


After the last two disappointing games I decided to implement some tactical changes.
We would start with an attacking mentality, while one of our central midfielders would drop down to a defensive midfielder position to support our defense.
In goal young goalkeeper Gwenael Thomas would get his first start of the season.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/Fh3CIelpVMw3h1K2ihYUvEWey5qApVcyvCBQPeSr.png

It seems to have worked out well:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fJflhnUtFTO9WOFfTYZ1kXuFfeNIfr1VzB0Sg3Vp.png

We controlled the game from the start and striker Bryan Fontaine scored an hat-trick to give us the title.
There were still two more games of the season to be played:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/I5xaX05LKg3f7aTmkqTqJV9n50OWa9t6zWjRPBBZ.png
Against ASM we were cruising and I felt very confident that I had found a tactic with which I could consistently dominate the Saint Pierre & Miquelon Premier League.
ASIA quickly brought us back to earth however. Although not great we were not as bad as the scoreline. They scored on every shot on target they had and our strikers were unable to score despite some good chances.
In the end it did not matter as we had secured the title already:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/Sx1DEOkqDu4wIRHw7lTafTa1Q3KN21bijAkE0DLG.png

I will hang around in Saint Pierre for a little bit longer. First I think there is still a Cup to be played and second I want to try to convince the board to allow me to take the National C coaching course.
Sheriff Skacel
9 years ago
1 month ago
940
Premium
That Barnabo looks tidy, normally at an amateur level you just want to target players who either have great physical stats or one or two great technical stats, and he looks the part.

I like the looks of this, a very different career indeed. Is there any road into continental competition at all?
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
That Barnabo looks tidy, normally at an amateur level you just want to target players who either have great physical stats or one or two great technical stats, and he looks the part.

I like the looks of this, a very different career indeed. Is there any road into continental competition at all?


Yes, Barnabo could be the best player in the league stats-wise. He only scored one goal in the four games he played for me though. I still might try to sign him for one of my future clubs and see if he can make a bit of an international career.

Unfortunately I do not think there is any road into continental competition as Saint Pierre is not a member of CONCACAF. So time to leave as soon as I get my coaching licence, if approved by the board.
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
ASSP - September - November 2017


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23191453.png


A few days after finishing the season it was time for the cup. The Coupe de l'Archipel is just one game and played between the winner and runner-up of the league.
Unfortunately my players decided to celebrate the league title a bit early or in other words there was a bit of a bug in the game.
All my players left on holiday the day before the game. In contrast my opponents ASIA still had all their players available.

So I was forced to play the game with grayed out players, who strangely along with all staff from Saint Pierre and Miquelon have English names, while all normal players including regens have French names.
It did obviously not go to well:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/dWw2BarLWaszukRGYifOydCCd7yKDuxj8JF2l8Ib.png


So only one title from my time in Saint Pierre & Miquelon. But by beginning of November this happened at least:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/V0Tep1U3XeyNSoJSEBKO5aajGExrMEBi7rejJcSN.png

I have also loaded the level 2 countries in this challenge. I.e. the 10 lowest ranked countries according to the current FIFA World Rankings.
None of the leagues start before summer 2018 though and my coaching course will be completed by March 2018, so I might still take a job in a different Level 1 league for a few months to increase my reputation.

Level 2 countries:
Tonga
Gibraltar
Bahamas
Anguilla
British Virgin Islands
San Marino
Cayman Islands
Turks & Caicos Island
Pakistan
Sri Lanka


I would be quite intrigued to manage in the semi-professional leagues of Pakistan or Sri Lanka. They should also be among the higher reputation ones along with Bahamas, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands & maybe San Marino.
The rest is probably really low level insignificantly better than Saint Pierre & Miquelon.
But let's see what is available in the summer.

tongey
14 years ago
1 month ago
1,101
What an awesome looking challenge this is! I'll be following with interest! Great start in Saint Pierre.
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
What an awesome looking challenge this is! I'll be following with interest! Great start in Saint Pierre.


Glad you like it. Yes, it has been a good start, although I did make it quite easy for myself taking over a club which was already leading the league by a few points.

March - 2018


By March 2018 I had finally completed my coaching course.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/8OWIKe4qfcHa39D8lnhPaGtTbgcEPxel7osJOHAD.png

So i had a few months with nothing to do in Saint Pierre until any Level 2 leagues would start.
I had a look at the job market and there were a few interesting choices for clubs to manage for the last few games of the 2017-2018 season. One option stood out however and after a successful interview I had a new job.
I would even be earning some money now.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/H6k8ysOSgVAVAFobtfJaW7wbWY2TcU4w58afiptS.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
US Marinoise - March 2018


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/85131521.png


So I was escaping the winter of Saint Pierre & Miquelon to some warmer climate.
Via Montreal I flew to Fort-de-France and was picked up at the airport for the 45 minute drive down to Le Marin in the south of Martinique.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/3f1nuCjXuUzbJp3rGafknxlbntwhVUgdLnUFSN8u.png

Le Marin has around 8800 inhabitants and is known for being the biggest yacht harbour in the south caribbean.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/ZTYAMxoBkOIVuRBdAjvZQY5XuEp99MeIesZxU9Vm.png

Martinique is definitely a more established footballing nation than Saint Pierre & Miquelon. The Coupe de l'Outre-Mer which was mentioned earlier, the tournament where Saint Pierre & Miquelon got all their double-digit losses , was won by Martinique in 2010 after beating Reunion in the final.
Additionally they have won the Caribbean Cup in 1993 and have some decent performances in the CONCACAF Gold Cup where they reached the quarter-final in 2002, losing to Canada after penalties. They are not a FIFA-member however, so they are not taken part in World Cup Qualification.

The top tier of Martinique, the Martinique Championnat National conists of 14 teams. US Marinoise however were relegated from that league in 2015-2016 and now play in the second tier Martinique Promotion d'Honneur. The club was founded in 1970 and has won the Martinique Championnat Nacional on two occasions, in 1990 and 1994. They also participated in the CONCACAF Champions League in 1991 where they had a pretty good run before getting knocked out by Police FC from Trinidad & Tobago. They play their games at 2500-seater Stade Roger Bonaro.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/NOJ9N8kgKRWScj5uvRLZKlz2Ia322heLyzwQZTjU.png

In the current season the team was expected to finish 7th. They have been overperforming however and find themselves in 3rd spot after 20 games with 6 games to play. Only 6 points separate them from 8th place however, so they could easily drop down the table if results do not go their way. The top 3 teams are promoted and that is what I am going to try to achieve here even if that is not necessarily an expectation from the board.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/iQtaNLnOt7CFCmLmAuPGo6AkPcOXAu6rFUciltyu.png

The club is semi-professional but only has one player on a part-time contract of 24€ a month (+ a 1€ appearance fee). It is 47-year old club legend Jean-Michel Modestin who has played at the club since the season 1994/1995.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/YIFHsS7av5vmnxOH4hxQbuYzZEfXpxMsnLr2pNQR.png

Otherwise the best players at my disposal can be found on the wings and in central midfield:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/h6EtEjTLEJtF3LWWcLp6RFzVWWhV57cxAFtjBldV.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/327Y0ME7HxorquGbVhFdv1jtXoEs20sGJUhN5ZbX.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/u29fH6PmNKm1jNOzKNCmAZhsJFnKJ6rn01EyrWlx.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
US Marinoise - April 2018


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/85131521.png


I was quite happy with my squad at US Marinoise although it was somewhat unbalanced. The midfield and attack were looking quite good, while I was not entirely sure if I would be able to trust my defense and goalkeeper.
Also there was not a lot of depth, but a schedule with a game only every 14 days would hopefully allow me to play with my first team in all games.
I was going to go with an attacking 4-2-4 wide formation to mainly try to score a lot of goals even if that would leave me somewhat vulnerable in defense. I aimed however to put a high focus on closing down to make it difficult for opponents to get out of their own half. Hopefully in that way my defense would not get too much work.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/QdjKQHq3R6aqFLPcl81nTRldtWdpUqcUCwXHLuHZ.png

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/59sLLO2LFYv7wrKltOIP8R6zt7jjHki0cjauLKrS.png

And we certainly were able to score a lot of goals. I could not really have hoped for a much better start.
Against AS New Club we were the better team throughout and took an early lead. We should have scored more, but they hit us twice on the counter-attack instead. But when throwing everything forward Joshua Gicquel who came on for Jean-Michel Modestin scored a late 88th minute equaliser.
Also in our first home game against US Robert we were early in control. After getting a 2:0 lead we allowed them quite a lot of chances though and they even missed a penalty. But again Joshua Gicquel scored in the 88th minute to ensure the victory.
After that followed a crazy away game against Stade Spiritain. The players were complaining before the game that our tactics were too attacking considering the opposition. And our defense certainly struggled. Again we conceded a penalty which Stade Spiritain scored in the 3rd minute. We quickly came back with a goal by Aurelien Blondel in the 6th minute and then defender Nathanael Marchand scored in the 25th minute after a chaotic corner situation to give us a 2:1 lead.
We were not really able to control the game after that however and Stade Spiritain could have scored a few goals and in the 41st minute they got their equaliser.
In the second half we played better creating a lot of chances. Instead Stade Spiritain scored on a counter in the 84th. But this team seems to have an ability to find a way to score when they need to. Throwing everything forward Louis Gauthier scored the 3:3 just one minute later and in the 95th minute substitute Liam Faucher scored our fourth goal to give us an unexpected win.

It has been a fantastic start. Only club legend Jean-Michel Modestin has been underperforming and might not be allowed to start next game. We are playing bottom of the league CS Vauclinois at home next. One worry however is that right-back and our best defender Christophe Renard will miss that game as he is suspended.

In the League table we are now up to 2nd with 3 games to go. Only 3 points down to 4th place though so we can't afford to slow down.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/UOFtIBS0qdiSFFIRbvrtEVlpunHZUYQSW47nifgq.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
US Marinoise - June 2018


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/85131521.png


It has been a great start with US Marinoise. With 3 games to go I knew that 2 wins would probably be enough for promotion.
I forgot to mention it earlier, but you might have seen it by the number of points in the league table, that a win gives 4 points, a draw 2 points and a loss 1 point. So the same system as in Saint Pierre & Miquelon.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/dD35WjDMuB6qqQDdvKloLmS0QT0DEw6rW1wXZQgr.png

In the last 3 games we would play two relegation candidates. Bottom of the table CS Vauclinois and Réveil Sportif, while we also would play fellow promotion candidates Assaut at home.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/OhbJZtzlBMNpxZ1IkoWBOBiUSH8djJ6Mq1JloqPe.png
We continued scoring lots of goals. The supposedly easy game against CS Vauclinois got off to a terrible start and we were down 3:0 after 45 minutes. Again my team showed a lot of character however. Louis Gauthier scored 1:3 on a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time of the first half. In the second half we looked like a different team and after 64 minutes of play we were 4:3 up thanks to another goal by Gauthier as well as goals from Blondel and Gicquel. Gauthier added another one to complete his hattrick in the 95th before Vauclinois pulled one back in the 96th.

In the game against Assaut ther win never really felt in danger, although you never know with out goaltending and defending. Finally Modestin had a good game and scored two, This win secured our promotion all but in theory. We could however still hope to win the league if Diamantinois would drop points in the last game.

But Diamantinois won and my players were not really motivated anymore and we even got two red cards which meant we had no chance. Still, this ending to the season with US Marinoise has been very enjoyable and a 2nd place finish in the table and promotion should give my reputation a bit of a boost.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/rJGw7tR2NI8xoEWYjJOLhA4vrbM016pFa9wCcdHj.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/czFOkBHZndoDVfMw2bc9q3RCzCxjRSKCg2oWumIg.png

So I feel I have a bit of a difficult decision to make. It would be fun to have a shot at the top division with US Marinoise. For it to really be fun, I will need to seriously strengthen my defense though. But I also have a challenge to think about and should maybe really move on to level 2. I was allowed by the board to take another coaching course. So I will hang around for four months and see how well I can strengthen the squad and what level 2 jobs are available once I completed it.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/AZiQENjlQxPdFNxNcIrFEGL8KX6FjFncXogtpPa2.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/LpLAqx4M9jYSJLxcvlXbLI24wUsx9CF7YYRC3gyE.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
July - 2018


During the summer I was still very undecided what to do with my career.
A first thing that happened was that Jean-Michel Modestin decided to retire, which was hardly surprising at the age of 47. So I was in need of another striker and could not resist giving an old acquaintance from Saint Pierre & Miquelon the chance for an international career:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/NMBu9s4v5KiWxpm1qyYfMAls900HZK26bP2y3L6s.png

Apart from that it proved to be very difficult to find reinforcements for the goalkeeper and defense positions. This made me doubt how much fun the coming season at US Marinoise would be.

Then out of nowhere some players came to me and told me that I did not have their support anymore. Maybe not out of nowhere as I knew there was a lack of respect due to my inexperience in management. But I did not really expect it after leading the club to promotion. I told them that I still felt that the majority of the players were behind me. That turned one of the key players Aurelién Blondel around.
The other three Soulier, Bernard and Martin Durand were however still complaining.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/X7u0sYTKG1lbauk8cYyq0Rr3HmID9yLQftkj9bKA.png

I told them how unprofessional they are and immediately released Bernard from his contract. He was one of my worthless defenders who I wanted to replace anyway. Soulier, my goalkeeper I wanted to replace as well so I did not see it as a huge problem. Martin Durand however was one of my best players and someone I would ideally like to get on my side.

Anyway July arrived and some Level 2 jobs became available as those countries got loaded into the game. Some of the better ones looked like they could be tough to get at a later stage. So I had a difficult decision to make.

And I forgot to take some screen shots of the next few events. But I decided to resign from US Marinoise as there were manager positions for some of the top teams in Pakistan and Sri Lanka available.
It did not take long and a few weeks later I had a new job on my third island after Saint Pierre and Martinique. I was going to move to Sri Lanka. It resulted in a bit of a pay rise as well. In Sri Lanka I might even be able to live off that salary.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/0ZxDKM30LhLdEZ6iRjr8KHe0Kmt5Ka90S4aPyIG3.png

Sheriff Skacel
9 years ago
1 month ago
940
Premium
Barnabo must follow you to Sri Lanka, its a must
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Barnabo must follow you to Sri Lanka, its a must


Haha, especially since it looks like Marinoise put him in the Under 21 squad after I left.
But I can only register two foreigners in Sri Lanka and I already have three Nigerians, so it will be difficult.
Maybe he has to wait until I join my next club.
MidKnightDreary
6 years ago
5 years ago
4
Would you mind posting/ messaging me the rankings of the playable teams?
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Would you mind posting/ messaging me the rankings of the playable teams?


Sorry, what exactly do you mean by rankings of the playable teams?
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - August 2018


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


After a long 32 hour trip with stops in Paris and Delhi I finally arrived in Sri Lanka.
It would be quite a change of scenery, changing the Caribbean for the chaotic city of Colombo.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/GAWT2KpI9id9WhRoz8RJvl8pAGl1Byj3Wcgpn9Od.png

In terms of stadium this is definitely an upgrade from previous jobs as we are playing our home games in 25,000 seater Sugathadasa Stadium.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/x0Xlgm6wTEwES3Yvg43JzMsoOOJ1BVvqjQd7hDi7.png
Apart from Football it also hosts Rugby Union games and Track and Field events. And it also seems like many of the other teams also play some or all of their home games in our stadium as there are only 7 FIFA standard stadiums in the country.

The Sri Lankan Premier League consists of 18 teams and everyone plays everyone twice for a total of 34 games.
The league was started in 1985 and has since then been played in many different formats.
Colombo FC though is a very young club, founded in 2008. They made it to the top league already in 2014/2015 and immediately finished top of the table. However that season had a playoff system and they were knocked out in the quarter final. The next year they won however and in real life retained that title in 2016/2017. In the game however Renown SC are the current title holders.

Colombo FC are clear favourites to win this season and the board expectations reflect that with us being expected to win both the League and the Cup.

The squad looks ok. Some established players and some promising youngsters. I have three Nigerians. As I can only register two foreigners one is in the reserves however and has been told to look for a new club.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/UNu3qsc72SH45TUXliK1ninBwOsp5c8v8qVhXiFS.png

Striker Ahamed Shazny and central midfielders Nagur Meera and Momas Yapo will be crucial for my success.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/duKuYTvTZkv7BgfRtUDaxAbSyMnJbRXEjlrjtC5T.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/mncImpJQnZqN7v0SrQ026zOJyVGAi4YnQ1TYi2hg.png
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/NdxFaL1dJIcieYhNDAkRMSPx9M1usl38xxcXJsfv.png

I wanted to strengthen my squad somewhat and was not able to hire a scout until towards the end of the transfer window. I did managed to find one good player however that I signed from league rivals Java Sport.
He should go right into the starting 11 and take one of the center-back spots.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/9o75TGMftSMPQvltdHmb3KjfJedqpDA4Vf6Cn7JZ.png

Sheriff Skacel
9 years ago
1 month ago
940
Premium
Imagine the money you'll be able to make on selling the letters for the back of the shirts for that new CB
tongey
14 years ago
1 month ago
1,101
Imagine the chants for your new Center Back!!
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - September 2018


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


Pre-season
For pre-season I decided to play exclusively against lower league Sri Lankan opposition to hopefully build up some confidence and score some goals.
But I can't say it went great.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/cU2PWz7vm1LeKCLeriyvqKxzrEA77MiaO6quy0oS.png

I switched back and forward between different formations, struggling to find one in which we performed the way I expected.
Going forward we did not create enough and when we did our strikers were unable to put away the clearest of chances. In the back meanwhile we made unnecessary mistakes on regular basis.
11 of my players being called up to Sri Lanka's national team and being away for game 3 and 4 of pre-season did not have much of a negative nor positive impact either.
In the last pre-season game I switched to a 4-2-4 wide formation which I also used at US Marinoise although it does not suit Colombo FC's squad perfectly. It did seem to get us scoring a bit more though.

Sri Lanka Premier League - September

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/FMDSwSItcjc66Mw8RSuOulgYzHMZvRIZ7lwZwDCr.png
I was not very hopeful after the pre-season but in the first game of the season against title holders Renown everything fell in place and we got a 5:1 win. We were back to the old problems in our first away game agains Pelicans however and were unable to score. But in the 90th minute 16-year old right winger Mohamed Rizwan Ishan saved us a draw.
Against Civil Security we were totally dominant and should probably have scored a few more goals.

The good news is that most teams are not really better than the lower division teams we played in pre-season. We should have by far the strongest squad.
But I am still not convinced by the way we play and we might not be allowed to slip up to often.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/N4nWztgEqQI6qb9yK8K9Ohm5QnrwH0YTD6tml0WG.png

Other good news:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/xwkOkFvRhw7xe7TYBlk0SljARvFgVsZgcIRmNUB0.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - November 2018


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/kt6CIkyVCtomSaz5W9hpDDIu3tNjrS5V6CEqI1JM.png

7 more games were played in October and November and we definitely stepped up, winning all of them. Most of them very comfortable and the league seems a little bit too easy at the moment.
But it is important we do not slow down. We managed to build a bit of a cushion down to 3rd placed Air Force. But the Police are still chasing us and are only one point behind us.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/E19Y78be0QLupaYswqJTwygvRmlOtGXDkZOCJ0s9.png

My two strikers David Osagie and Ahamed Shazny have been the outstanding players so far scoring 9 and 8 goals respectively.
New signing Hapan Pediyalage Sunanda Chamara Gunasekara has been the best defensive player while 16-year old right winger Mohamed Rizwan Ishan has been the biggest positive surprise scoring 5 goals and 3 assists with an average rating of 7.78.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/dhO8UCqqy3HQWetWfKfkXqiVqSOdl8tws2LNjx8O.png

I am making good progress on my coaching qualifications as well and started another course.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/bGSbAjFaSZFvKi1cJlJUq8LCNECFAIU1HR3Bj45Z.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - February 2019


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


December 2018
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/bUgshIvR3xH928dqjlSwqpey1xzIMsvAhOa3s6gM.png
The good form continued until we had to face main challengers for the title Police. It was an even game, but unfortunately we did not do enough to beat them and they gave us an indication that they might be good enough to challenge us for the title until the end.
We bounced back directly though and Police losing the next game meant we were back in top of the league pretty quickly.

January 2019
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/n09XxwixZggaCHIuEsThfXRfM1tYctFRLjNgiQjd.png
After an almost one month long winter break we kicked off the new year with a cup game against lower league Maligawatte Youth. It was not really a problem and we moved on to the next round with a 3:0 win. We continued by getting a 6:0 win in the league before playing our probably weakest game so far in a 1:1 with relegation-threatened Blue Star. A game we could easily have lost. I feel we definitely need to get a bit more consistent to make sure Police or Air Force do not catch us.

February 2019
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/sm8gncJeqIoKSi2FtzLJ3hbW6EbloRl7p0JM0nJz.png
February was a very busy month which was not made easier by four of our players being away playing the South Asian Games with Sri Lanka. Three of them were starters: my best defender Hapan Pediyalage Sunanda Chamara Gunasekara, central midfielder Zarwan Johar & left-winger Anura de Silva. I thought I would get by ok without them but I certainly struggled with consistency. At least most of the games we failed to win were due to not taking our chances and not due to playing badly. The other good news were that we won the cup game and moved on to the quarter final and that the form of Police and Air Force was not great either.
This means we are still top of the league 3 points ahead of Police with 12 games to go of the season.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/3JG9Lxgdsmhqg2q9V99X4oYAPgK54u23jwnEqYKN.png

Meanwhile we also had a youth intake. Not a lot of great players but this guy could already be a decent back-up for the first team and has the potential to be our best defender.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/ABwd7ZRAf4jZ3gPQBs6rcHE2zvwT1vPumTmOgEQh.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - March 2019


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


March was another relatively busy month with 6 games.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fsUDhS5IDzkjqTYHMkfDkEXaxoRt6vvljny1V4AK.png

It started off well with three straight convincing league wins. After that we struggled a bit with fixture congestion and in the last game of the month we were again missing Hapan Pediyalage Sunanda Chamara Gunasekara & Anura de Silva as they were playing with Sri Lanka's U23 team.
In the cup however we did our job and move on to the Semi-final.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/S6YJsyIKwrWhnqiICNC49wm1HugcZMyH7HBxSX7u.png

The two draws in the end brought Police a bit closer to us, but a 4 point lead with 7 games to go should still be something we should be able to defend.
However this happened in the last game and is a bit of a worry:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/MXq4Z6heoYRgtvW8TdJzkipWV0crHTY2GTDldOsK.png
Osagie is our top scorer so far this season with 22 League goals and will be out for 4 weeks. Luckily April is a bit less of a busy month and we have a 2 weeks break until the next game.

Meanwhile I completed another coaching course and already started on the next one.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/eovJYkXM3znmEDLx7yoceUEHA3jn3Yg3WEdOxhRL.png
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - April 2019


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/5tZJ3eDwTAF3aCvRlRkBtZEtWNLWz4IaFgaG1e7r.png

A pretty shocking start to the month.The Sri Lankan Premier League does unfortunately not have the best scheduling so I had 12 players away on international duty and top scorer Osagie inured, so I knew it was going to be a tough game. But I did not think it would go that badly. To be fair looking at the stats it was a fairly even game, but with no natural striker available I was always going to struggle to score.
The supporters were not very happy.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/by478GmjBcfmqT3IIzzkhLgDFfjOQQlSn2oWOTu6.png

We now only had a 1 point lead on Police who we were playing next. Luckily all players would have returned from international duty at least.
Time for the probably most crucial game of the season:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/yYpTYjco8jsSGdKgyUKn1QiowV3yJV7yW3UMEnu7.png
Great result and we were back to a 4 point lead ahead of Police. The rest of the month went quite well too.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/gzw8HAdQp1f2GlgVchmxuRtOj3awXloF1DlugoRg.png
We started with easily advancing to the final in the FA Cup. After that a tough game against in-form Air Force awaited and we struggled being down 1:0 early and could not score an equaliser until the 77th minute.
Then the game went somewhat crazy and ended 3:3. Huge credit to 16-year old striker Wawalage Sumedha Kumara who as a backup for Osagie already scored against Police and now came on as a substitute to score two against Air Force.
With 3 games to go we now have an 8 points lead. So barring a total collapse the Premier League title should be ours.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/7QUuFdTVwlg3HeZoOsqxOpY2ri64VqvpPW81xjDH.png
MidKnightDreary
6 years ago
5 years ago
4
Earlier when I said the rankings, I meant releasing your tier lists for the countries.
pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Earlier when I said the rankings, I meant releasing your tier lists for the countries.


Ah ok, sorry.
Yes, so basically it is just based on the FIFA World Rankings excluding the African countries which were not in Claasens megapack beginning of January. So it is not really aligned to league quality as some countries have pretty competitive leagues but a bad national team or the other way around. Anyway these are the tiers:

Level 1:
Reunion
Northern Mariana Islands
Guadeloupe
French Guyana
Martinique
Saint Martin
Saint Pierre & Miquelon
Sint-Marteen
Kiribati
Micronesia
Tuvalu
Wallis & Futuna
Crimea
Bonaire

Level 2:
Tonga
Gibraltar
Bahamas
Anguilla
British Virgin Islands
San Marino
Cayman Islands
Turks & Caicos Island
Pakistan
Sri Lanka

Level 3:
Kuwait
Brunei Darussalam
Timor-Leste
Guam
American Samoa
Cook Islands
Samoa
Bangladesh
US Virgin Islands
Montserrat

Level 4:
St Lucia
Kosovo
Aruba
Cuba
Laos
Bermuda
Malta
Macau
Mongolia
Bhutan

Level 5:
Guyana
Puerto Rico
Moldova
Fiji
Dominica
Nepal
Singapore
Cambodia
Malaysia
St Vincent and the Grenadines

Level 6:
Tahiti
New Caledonia
Maldives
Barbados
Vanuatu
Belize
Papua New Guinea
Grenada
Indonesia
Dominican Republic

Level 7:
Sudan
Kazakhstan
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Myanmar
Angola
Hong Kong
Afghanistan
Lithuania
Solomon Islands

Level 8:
New Zealand
Philippines
Tajikistan
Korea DPR
Suriname
Guatemala
Thailand
Latvia
Liberia
Chinese Taipei

Level 9:
Jordan
Mozambique
St Kitts and Nevis
Vietnam
Turkmenistan
Bahrain
Kyrgyz Republic
Azerbaijan
Nicaragua
Yemen

Level 10:
Canada
Faroe Islands
Congo
Israel
El Salvador
Oman
Qatar
Zimbabwe
Georgia
India

Level 11:
Palestine
South Africa
Luxembourg
Curaçao
Lebanon
Trinidad and Tobago
Estonia
Armenia
Cyprus
Belarus

Level 12:
Ecuador
China PR
Mali
United Arab Emirates
Zambia
Uganda
FYR Macedonia
Syria
Uzbekistan
Iraq

Level 13:
Algeria
Norway
Korea Republic
Côte d'Ivoire
Albania
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Finland
Honduras
Slovenia

Level 14:
Czech Republic
Bolivia
Ghana
Nigeria
Venezuela
Hungary
Jamaica
Panama
Haiti
Japan

Level 15:
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Australia
Congo DR
Morocco
Romania
Turkey
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Montenegro
Greece

Level 16:
Tunisia
Slovakia
Austria
Paraguay
Egypt
Republic of Ireland
Iran
Scotland
Ukraine
Serbia

Level 17:
Croatia
Sweden
Wales
Netherlands
Uruguay
Iceland
Senegal
USA
Northern Ireland
Costa Rica

Level 18:
France
Chile
Peru
Denmark
Colombia
Italy
England
Mexico

Level 19:
Germany
Brazil
Portugal
Argentina
Belgium
Spain
Poland
Switzerland










pavelg
13 years ago
3 years ago
40
Premium
Colombo FC - June 2019


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/team/23159678.png


So in the next game against Old Ben's we had the chance to capture the league title with two games to go. Last time we beat them 6:0 so hopefully it would not be too much of a problem.


https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/AOS2aiBIcAXnwknn6zLPU5x1JHOaICRf6rjaN9Mc.png
The players were a bit nervous towards the end but we managed to hang on to a win thanks to two goals by in-form Kumara. This means level 3 is unlocked.
There were still two more league games to be played before the FA Cup Final however.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/wSlqZ0FFmD8k436R5p0wfq8DBrYBIcBPWxWXdzXE.png
Two more wins meant that we won the League quite comfortably in the end.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/BU1pdo6Ah4HVW36SF04aI3ufBSy9cZnvrqpbicb0.png

In the FA Cup Final we were going to face relegated Civil Security. Would they be able to cause us any problems?
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/njlPX7ZyVnpOGv8zfSvl58x4cmMgAqHeUu7nJ9QI.png
No. Quite a convincing final win. Overall a very successful season. Really started to like my team towards the end and it would be interesting to see what we could do in the AFC Cup next season.
But in the end the Sri Lankan League is quite boring with way too many games and no one to really challenge us. Also the board does not seem to be interested in making any improvements to take the club to the next level,
refusing my demands to go professional, improve training facilities... despite decent finances.
So it is time to leave.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/hA2mAZ7jyjcB6131S02Oteg3KT1H3kmCrZlnRTSL.png

Level 3 contains the following leagues:
Kuwait
Brunei Darussalam
Timor-Leste
Guam
American Samoa
Cook Islands
Samoa
Bangladesh
US Virgin Islands
Montserrat


Kuwait is by far the most reputable league, but I would probably not be able to get a job in a top team there. The most logical next step would probably be Bangladesh, while Brunei could be good as well.
All other leagues look like quite a step down in level from Sri Lanka.

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