Carving a path through Europe.

CARVING A PATH THROUGH EUROPE!

So I've decided to follow in DanW19s footsteps and I have now embarked on my own journey across Europe to see if I can compete for honours and become a football legend after starting out from the bottom being unemployed and unexperienced as a football manager.


So here are my details.



A lowly unemployed manager from the inner depths of Manchester, with only the experience of sunday league football, who likes to play the 4-5-1 formation with a hint of attacking football in there.

Only the small number of 66 clubs needed a manager at the start of my game, ranging from the mighty Juventus in the Serie A to the lowly Port Talbot in the Welsh Premier League. I of course have applied to all 66 jobs.

Let's see where this will take me.

I HAVE A JOB.

After my many interviews, having to travel across Europe to meet with many potential future employers I decided upon my future. My first step into management is on the beautiful Island of Madeira with 'Uniao de Madeira'

UNIAO DE MADEIRA


Uniao de Madeira play their football in the Liga 2 Cabovisao which is equivalent to the Portuguese 2nd division. The club has no nickname but plays their football at the Estadio Municipal do Machico which holds around 3,300 people at it's capacity. It has good training facilities with basic youth facilities, which is something I will aim to improve over the coming seasons.




The board expects me to come somewhere in the middle of the pack but I'm expecting my team to challenge for promotion. Let's hope for a successful start to the season so I can set up the bases for a title challenge.

PRE SEASON

So i've been drawn in the Taca De Liga (1st Phase) in a group with:



I'm pretty confident I can come out of this group and progress in the cup, hopefully will gain a bit of money as well to help boost the coffers.



My friendlies were a big success having gone through unscathed and unbeaten. A new tactic for the lads to get used to with a 5-2-1-1 formation favouring an attacking style which seems to be working.

Thanks DanW19, hopefully we can both have long successful careers in Europe, and who knows, our teams may clash someday.

Thanks Van6969.



TACE DE LIGE UPDATE




So Phase 1 of the league cup happens before the seasons actually kicks off so gives me something to focus on before having the wear and tear of the league season upon me.



The first match went according to plan with a 1-0 victory against Covilha however a disappointing performance by my boys who only managed a low 46% of possession and on another day Covilha could have quite easily taken their chances and beaten us, but nevertheless 3 points in the phase.

The second match against Leixoes was a better performance, which ended in another 1-0 victory with my main striker Fidalgo bagging a goal. Once again the possession was down at 46% which is something I may look at trying to improve as it could be a problem in the league.

The final game in the group against Oliveirense ended up with a 2-1 defeat which was disappointing to see, again the possession was low ending up at 43% and in the end either team could have won but Oliveirense took their chances and we didn't.

In the end though we qualified from the group and will await the draw for the next round.



I've also had this good news which should aid my financial state going into the future. It's good to see the club attracting some sponsorship no matter how small they are.

Thanks George14brfc, hopefully I can continue this into the season and challenge for promotion.

AUGUST UPDATE





3 wins out of 5 to start off the league campaign is a great way to kick it off. We've played some good attacking football and kept it reasonably tight at the back.

The first game against Feirense ended up being a 5-2 victory with my replacement striker Silva grabbing a first half hat trick, which gives me something to think about when my main striker comes back from injury. Dominated this game from start to finish.

Second up was Leixoes who I played in the cup a few games ago, and we just about scraped a 1-0win with the same low possession as per usual. A win is a win though and I'll take that every time.

Maritimo B were up next and another rout came with it as a 5-1 victory came with it. 5 different scorers including an own goal helped me on the way. Very impressive victory against a team who have some support from the premier league team.

Oliveirense are quickly becoming my bogey team and it was a game that I never really looked like winning even though we went 1-0 up. A draw was perhaps a fair result so with 1-1 I was fairly happy.

Last up in August was Covilha and another draw this time 0-0. I wasn't pleased with the performance as I know I could have beaten them since we beat them a few weeks before. Crucial points dropped perhaps?



I'm top of the league but the teams behind me have a game in hand so that will probably change, but I'm more than happy with my position thus far.