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Dan
Welcome one and all, as the title suggest, I'm going on another worldwide FM adventure, only this time its going to be bigger and better than ever before. Obviously I had an attempt at this early into the FM17 release however an issue with the leagues being added with every club managerless caused a few issues and it was shortly abandoned. This time I'm taking on the challenge with the view of potentially not buying FM18 and therefore prolonging this career for a good year should I have the motivation and patience to continue with it that long. Thats the aim though.
Anyway, I know what you're thinking 'this is just another journeyman career', well yes, you're correct there. However I have decided to download @claassen's FM17 Megapack which contains over 210 league and cup updates (all listed in the spoiler below). This will give me the chance to play in completely unknown leagues not only to me, but hopefully most of you guys too which with any luck will keep you interested in coming back to read more with plenty of comments to keep me going
AFRICA: 56 updates
Algeria: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup,Angola: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Benin: 1st division ("normal" format), Cup, Super Cup, Botswana: 1st division, Top8 Cup, FA Cup, Burkina Faso: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Burundi: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Cameroon: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Cape Verde: 1st division, Cup, Independence Cup, Super Cup, Central African Republic: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Chad: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Comoros: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Congo: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup,
Djibouti: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, DR Congo: 1st division, Cup, Super cup, Egypt: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Equatorial Guinea: 1st division, President Cup, Super Cup, Eritrea: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Ethiopia: 1st division, Cup, League Cup, Super Cup, Gabon: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup,
Gambia: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Ghana: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Guinea: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Guinea-Bissau: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Ivory Coast: 1st division, Cup, League cup, Super Cup, Kenya: 1st division, Cup, Top 8 Cup, Super Cup, Lesotho: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup,Liberia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Libya: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Madagascar: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Malawi: 1st division, Cup, League Cup, Super Cup, Mali: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), Mauritania: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Mauritius: 1st division, Cup, Republic Cup, Super Cup, Mayotte: 1st division, Cup, French Cup, Super Cup, Morocco: 1st and 2nd division, Cup,
Mozambique: 1st division, Cup, League Cup, Super Cup, Namibia: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Niger: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Nigeria: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Reunion: 1st division, Cup, French Cup,
Rwanda: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup,Sao Tome & Principe: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Senegal: 1st division, Cup, League Cup, Super Cup, Seychelles: 1st division, FA Cup, Airtel Magic Cup, Super Cup, Sierra Leone: 1st division, FA Cup, Super Cup, Somalia: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, South Sudan: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Sudan: 1st division, Cup, Swaziland: 1st division, Cup, Castle Premier Chalenge, Super Cup
Tanzania: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Togo: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Tunisia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), Uganda: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Zambia: 1st division, Cup, Super cup, Zanzibar: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Zimbabwe: 1st division, Cup, Independence Trophy, Super Cup
ASIA: 39 updates
Afghanistan: 1st division,Bahrain: 1st and 2nd division, King's Cup, FA Cup, Super Cup, Bangladesh: 1st and 2nd division, Federation Cup, Independence Cup, Super Cup, Bhutan: 1st division then National League,
Birmania: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Brunei: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Cambodia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, King Cup, DPR North Korea: 1st division, Cup, East Timor: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Guam: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Iran: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Iraq: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Japan: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th division, Emperor's Cup, League Cup, Super Cup, Suruga Bank Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), Jordan: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, FA Shield, Super Cup,
Kuwait: 1st division, Emir Cup, Crown Prince Cup, Federation Cup, Super Cup, Kyrgyzstan: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Laos: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Lebanon: 1st and 2nd division, FA Cup, Elite cup, Super Cup, Macau: 1st, 2nd and 3rd division, FA Cup, President Cup,Maldives: 1st and 2nd division, FA Cup, President Cup, Super Cup, Mongolia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Nepal: 1st and 2nd division, Aaha Gold Cup, Budha Subba Gold Cup, Pokhara Cup, Simara Gold Cup, Birat Gold Cup, Jhapa Gold Cup, Northern Marianas Islands: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Oman: 1st and 2nd division, Sultan Cup, Federation Cup, Super Cup, Pakistan: 1st division, Cup, Palestine: 1st and 2nd division (West Bank and Gaza), Palestine Cup, West Bank Cup, Gaza Cup, West Bank Super Cup, Gaza Super Cup, Philippines: 1st division, Cup (With new formats, from season 2017), Qatar: 1st and 2nd division, Emir Cup, Crown Prince Cup, Sheikh Qassim Cup, Saudi Arabia: 1st, 2nd and 3rd division, King Cup, Crown Prince Cup, Super Cup, Sri Lanka: 1st division, FA Cup, Silver Cup
Syria: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Taiwan: 1st division, Tajikistan: 1st division, Cup, Cup FFT, Super Cup (With new formats, from season 2017), Thailand: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, League cup, Super Cup,
Turkmenistan: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, United Arab Emirates: 1st and 2nd division, President cup, Emirates cup, Super Cup, FA Cup, Uzbekistan: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, PFL Cup, Super Cup, Vietnam: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super cup, Yemen: 1st and 2nd division, Cup and Super cup
EUROPE: 21 updates
Albania: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Andorra: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Armenia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), Azerbaijan: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Cyprus: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup,
Estonia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup,Faroe Islands: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, France: only French Cup rebuilding: for winners of specific competitions on updates of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Tahiti, New-Caledonia... are qualified for the 7th round of the French Cup, like IRL!, FYROM: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Georgia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18,
Gibraltar (by SIgames): 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Kazakhstan: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Kosovo: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Latvia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, League Cup,
Lithuania: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Luxembourg: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Malta: 1st, 2nd and 3rd division, Cup, Super Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), Moldova: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), Montenegro: 1st and 2nd division, Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18), San Marino: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup
NORTH AMERICA: 41 updates
CFU Club Championship : The Carribean Champions League qualifying for the Concacaf Champions League for the Top3, Anguilla: 1st division, Cup, President Cup, Antigua and Barbuda: 1st and 2nd division, ABFA Champions League, Aruba: 1st division, Cup, Bahamas: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Barbados: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Belize: 1st division, Bermuda: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Friendship Trophy, Super Cup,
Bonaire: 1st division, Cup, British Virgin Islands: 1st division, Williams Cup, Terry Evans Cup, Canada: Canadian Soccer League, League1 Ontario, PLSQ, PCSL, Cayman Islands: 1st division, Cup, President's Cup, Super Cup, Costa Rica: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Cuba: 1st division, Curacao: 1st division, Dominica: 1st division, Cup, Dominican Republic: 1st division, Cup, El Salvador: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, French Guiana: 1st division, Cup, French Cup, UNAF Cup, Grenada: 1st division, Cup, Guadeloupe: 1st division, Cup, French Cup, Trophee Guy Roch, Guatemala: 1st and 2nd division, Guyana: 1st division, Mayors Cup, Kashif & Shanghai Knockout Tournament (With new formats, from season 17/18), Haiti: 1st division, Cup, Super cup , Honduras: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Jamaica: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Martinique: 1st division, Cup, French Cup, Super Cup, Montserrat: 1st division, Nicaragua: 1st division, Panama: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Puerto Rico: 1st division ,Saint Kitts and Nevis: 1st division, Cup, Super Cup, Saint Lucia: 1st division, Cup, Saint-Martin: 1st division, Cup, Saint Pierre & Miquelon: 1st division, Cup, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 1st division, Sint-Marteen: 1st division, Suriname: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super Cup, Trinidad & Tobago: 1st and 2nd division, FA Trophy, Pro Bowl, League cup, Toyota classic cup, Goal shield, Charity Shield, Turks and Caicos Islands: 1st division, Cup, US Virgin Islands: 1st division (Saint Croix League & Saint Thomas League)
OCEANIA: 16 updates
Oceania Champions League + Melanesian Super Cup: For correct continental qualification with my Oceania's updates., American Samoa: 1st division, Cup, Cook Islands: 1st division, Cup, Fiji: 1st division, Battle of the Giants, FA Sup, Inter district championship, Champions vs Champions, Kiribati: 1st division, Micronesia: 1st division, Cup, New-Caledonia: 1st division, Cup,,New-Zealand: 1st division, Regionals Leagues (D2+D3), Charity Cup, Chatham Cup, Papua New-Guinea: 1st division, Samoa: 1st division, Cup, Solomon Islands: 1st division, Tahiti: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Super cup, Tonga: 1st division, Tuvalu: 1st and 2nd (B teams) division, Independance Cup, NBT Cup, Tuvalu Games, Christmas Cup, Vanuatu: 1st division, National soccer League, FA shield, PVFA Cup, Wallis&Futuna: 1st division, Cup
SOUTH AMERICA: 5 updates
Bolivia: 1st and 2nd division, Cup, Ecuador: 1st and 2nd division, Paraguay: 1st and 2nd division,
Peru: 2nd division activated, Venezuela: 1st and 2nd division, Cup (With new formats, from season 17/18)
CONTINENTAL & INTERNATIONAL: 32 updates
- AFC Solidarity Cup: Every 4 years between 10 small Asian countries, - AFF-U19 Championship: Every year between 12 South East Asian Nations, for U19, - African Games: Every 4 years, for U23 players, - Arab club championship: Every year with 22 participants (22 champions of 22 Asian and African leagues), - Baltic Cup: Every 2 years between Estonia, Lituania and Latvia, - CECAFA Cup: Every year between 12 East and Central African countries, - CECAFA Cup U20: Every year between 12 East and Central African countries, for U20, - Central American & Caribbean Games: Every 4 years, for U21, - Central American Games: Every 4 years between 7 Central American Nations, for U20, - COSAFA Cup: Every year between 14 Southern African countries, - COSAFA Cup U20: Every year between 14 Southern African countries, for U20, - Francophony Games, - Gulf Club Cup Champions League: Every year with 12 participants (2nd and 3rd of 6 Asian leagues), - Gulf Cup Winners Cup: Every year with 8 participants (8 winners national Cup of 8 Middle East countries), - Gulf Cup Of Nations: Every 2 years between 8 Middle East countries, - Gulf Cup Of Nations U23: Every 2 years between 6 Middle East countries, for U23 players, - Indian Ocean Champions Cup: Every year with 7 participants (7 champions of 7 African leagues),
- Indian Ocean Islands Games: Every 4 years between 7 African Nations, - Islamic Solidarity Games, - Kagame Interclub Cup: Every year between 12 participants (12 champions of 12 East and Central African leagues), - Ligue des Antilles: Every year between the 4 best Martinique teams and the 4 best Guadeloupe teams, - Lusophony Games, - Mediterranean Games: Every 4 years, for U20 players, - Mekong Club Championship: Every year with 5 participants (5 champions of 5 Asian leagues), - Oceania Cup U20: Every 2 years, for U20 players, - PanAmerican Games: Every 4 years, for U22 players, - Pan-Arab Games, - SAFF U-19 Championship: Every 2 years between 8 South Asia countries, for U19, - South Asian Games: Every 2 years, for U23 players
- South East Asian Games: Every 2 years, for U23 players, - Supercopa EuroAmericana: Every year between the winner of Europa League and the winner of SudAmericana Copa, - WAFF-U23 Championship: Every 2 years, between 12 Middle East countries, for U23
So if you clicked the spoiler, you can see all the fantastic work thats gone in to making such a large playable batch of leagues and the wide range in countries that hopefully I can visit over the years of FM. Touch wood we run into no problems.
Obviously for this I will be using the add/remove leagues as I want to keep the game running as fast as possible. I'll probably try and keep 5 - 10 countries loaded at a time to give myself that chance to move around and aim to leave the 'bigger countries and leagues' until a much later date or until I just want to hit somewhere I know.
Here is 'Dan', born in Chard down in the South West of England and about to begin his managerial campaign. Apart from a bit of Sunday league football, and the odd bit of coaching, hes a newbie to the footballing world who wishes to be known about in the near future. A 'tactical' manager sees that aspect of my game the highest along with player knowledge, all my other stats are pretty much rubbish. Support Liverpool, following Yeovil, Dortmund and Real Madrid so obviously would love to manage those four along the way to managerial greatness but we shall see.
**I've already noticed that most of the custom leagues load in without managers, but this is just going to be the case unfortunately. The manager slots get filled up pretty quickly and hopefully won't make some routes too easy.
Next Post: Career History
Dan
Clubs Managed:
Trophies Won:
Country Completion:
** This page will get updated with each and every job I get, trophy I win and will mark off countries as we go.
Next Post: The selected leagues & Job Search
Shedender
Dan
The Selected Leagues & Job Search
Okay so with so many leagues available it was a bit hard to pick so I went on each nation and did a random number generator for two of each except for South America, as I don't plan on heading there, I think. Anyway as above these are the leagues I've ended up going for to kick this challenge off. My two European leagues are Armenia and Kosova, both have two playable tiers. In Asia we have Nepal and Turkmenistan. South Africa provides us with Botswana and Rwanda. North America sends us Cayman Islands and St Vincent whilst from Oceania we have Kiribari and Wallis & Futuna. Bar the two European leagues, Nepals is the only other with two or more divisions.
As I said before, most of these custom leagues don't have managers, so upon loading there are 18 available jobs, I went on to sieve through these to find the best few that can get this career going, and in the end applied for four, these were the ones I had an interview with in the end:
AS Kigali from Rwanda, predicted to finish third in the top division but the board expect the league title. Part time contract on £120 per week, not the big dollars we want thats for sure. Its kept on the back burner with it being delayed a week to wait and see back from the other three posts I had applied for.
Cayman Island Premier League side Elise SC (CAY) were next in with a contract offer. This time they're predicted to finish top of the league however the board only want them to finish around the top of it. Over double the wage offered though, £250 per week.
The third and final offer on the table was from amateur Wallis & Futuna Islands Premier League side Leava and once again, a third different contract. Due to them being an amateur side there is no wage offered to me and nor a wage offered to any players. Predicted to win the league, the board want a top half finish once again.
And it may come as a surprise, but I'm starting at the club without a wage on offer to me, I'm heading to Wallis and Futuna Islands Premier League and Leava to be more precise. It could be an exciting stint in the Oceanic country but one thing is for sure, it'll be a learning curve. We have 83 days till the season kicks off, so plenty of time for me to bring in new players and try get this country done in season one.
Next Post: Leava - End Of Pre Season Round Up 2016
DNZY
Eric Portapotty
Good luck with this, excited to see how far the save file can go
Dan
Kinda inspired by your lengthy ongoing one @Eric Portapotty lets see how far we can get.
Leava - End Of Pre Season Round Up 2016
My first summer of the save has come and gone and its been a very, very, very busy one with the club being amateur we've had to secure as many players as we can. Now we lack staff too so ratings won't mean anything, I'm just hoping we've done enough during the window to have the strength to really compete in the league and take the league title as we're expected to. But time will tell.
And here is our large squad for the season ahead. As I said, we're favorites, I expect this to turn out in our favor. Remember to ignore the player stats and star ratings as the coaches and scouts etc are rubbish. We're very top heavy though with plenty of attacking midfielders and strikers but I'm hoping this will just let me rotate more often and see what happens.
There were no other teams to play, so pre season was boring.
A weird setup here in the league, four points for a win, two for a draw and one point if you lose, everyone wins! But apart from that its all normal. Just fourteen league games as we play each team twice, let the season commence!
Next Post: Leava - September 2016
DNZY
Grimnir
Dan
I did indeed @Suffolk Seasider just hope it goes to plan.
Leava - September 2016
Into my first competitive month in charge here at Leava then as we cruise through September. The aim is to pick up as many points as we can early to ensure we get that league title the board expect. Not too much to say, three league games awaited us at the start of the month and this is how they panned out.
A strong, unbeaten start for us, two wins and a draw from our opening three league games. We kicked off at home, welcoming Vaisevela and winning two one. Laurent put in a superb debut netting twice. A trip to Falaleu saw us make it two wins from two as we cruised to a four nil victory, four different scorers too with Patrac, Laurent, Fournier and Chevalier. Before we ended the month with a goalless draw against Vaitupu at home.
Top of the league but its early days, Vaisei are tied on points with us in second place whilst Falaleu and Vaitupu are only a further point and two points behind. I'm not really expecting the league to 'open up' too much this season with everyone guaranteed at least a point each match.
Next Post: Leava - October 2016
Dan
Leava - October 2016
Following an unbeaten start to life in Wallis & Futuna Island we move into October with another short month. In fact, I think every month will be short as we have just the three league matches again. The small cup run begins in November, with us entering the Quarter Finals its not going to be lengthy thats for sure. Anyway, could we maintain our strong, unbeaten start...
The answer was no, we've been beaten. But we did make it four wins without defeat at the start of October with a win a day before my birthday as we beat Vaisei two nil away from home. Chevalier struck twice in the final twenty minutes to secure the four points. At home we welcomed Aiele and they were the side that beat us, a Laurent goal bought us level after we went into the break behind but we couldn't hold on here. Finally ending the short month with a trip to Mata'utu and claiming a four nil win. Lechevalier, Laurent x2 and Soulard securing the victory.
Six out of fourteen league games played this season and we still sit top, a big eight to come but we hold a one point cushion over second place Falaleu. A further point behind are Vaitupu and then Vaisei another point behind. Its tight with three points separating the top four sides but we will keep battling through.
Next Post: Leava - November 2016
Grimnir
Forgot to mention, nice shoes
Dan
Leava - November 2016
Into November and funny enough we already only have four months of competitive football left of the season. Its going to be a short competitive year thats for sure which already has my mind running on what to do come the end of February. The usual three fixtures for November awaited us. Could we finally break away from the chasing pack.
The answer was no. We've struggled through November in fact as we won just a single game, and that ended a draw with us to go on and win on penalties. Toloke were the first side we faced, welcoming them and losing out two nil. The Cup Quarter Final saw us travel to Vaitupu and beat them on penalties. Garnier had originally given us the lead after twenty minutes which we blew in the second half. But we progressed into the Semi Finals nonetheless. Finally ending the month at home against Falaleu who beat us one nil. Not a great month when you see what its done to the league table.
Yep, thats correct, we slip down to third and are now two points off the front two with just six league games to go this year. Obviously we're not out the title hunt just yet with the points system but we do need to improve if we're to get back into this title race. Three months of action to go.
One thing I have realised already is the league season ends in February, meaning then there is no competitive game until September. IF I don't scoop the league and cup, do I remain at the club and go through a boring eight months waiting for competitive football to kick back off or do I resign, move to another country and job and head back here when I can?
Next Post: Leava - December 2016
Shedender
Dan
Leava - December 2016
The good thing about small countries and their small leagues is that you fly through the months. Already at the end of the 2016 calendar year and we're beyond the halfway stage of the league season. This month was quiet for us, like usual. But just two games through the festive time of year.
A trip to Vaitupu, the league leaders kicked things off and we done very well to take a point back home. A close game saw us fall behind after twelve minutes only for Lechevalier to level things two minutes later. We went into half time behind again but Laurent converted a spot kick to grab us a point. We then faced Vaisei and grabbed an important four three win. The goal fest saw us fall behind three times, but eventually come out on top with goals from Poirier, Loiseau and two for Raynaud.
So the unbeaten month moves us up from third into second and the table tightens up with just four league games remaining this season. Vaitupu lead the way but only on goal difference now with twenty seven points. We occupy second, three goals behind them whilst Falaleu sit third, also level on points but sit on just two goal difference. Fourth place Toloke can't be ruled out either as they occupy fourth just two points adrift.
Next Post: Leava - January 2017
Dan
Leava - January 2017
So I spent New Years day over here in Wallis & Fortuna Island and it was an experience for sure. But after a long wrong without a league game we finally got started in January. We ended up facing three games towards the end of the month as we returned to cup action with a Semi Final tie coming up.
An unbeaten month which sees us stretch to five unbeaten on the bounce now however a goalless draw against Aiele kicked things off rather dull'y come the middle of January. We bounced back against the leagues bottom side Mata'utu as we claimed a three one win. Petit on fire with a brace in the opening twenty five minutes, Chevalier converting our third before the hour mark. Finally we ended the month by booking our spot in the Cup Final as we beat Toloke on penalties. Its the second successive round we've required penalties to head through. Fournier put us ahead after three minutes yet come the break we trailed two one. Boyer leveled for us before the match went to penalties where we won five three.
Back on top and in charge and what a time for it to happen. There are two league games left and now the league title is ours to throw away. We only lead cup semi finalist Toloke by goal difference, ours being four better than them but we do face them in the next league game. Vaitupu are still in the hunt, two points behind whilst Falaleu and Vaisei both have thirty points, just three off the top, where will the league title go come the end of the season...
Oh and the draw for the Cup Final, we'll face the leagues bottom side Mata'ulu who we've already beaten twice this season. How does a side with just two wins all season in the league end up featuring in a cup final. Surely this is ours to take. The double is on!
Next Post: Leava - February 2017
Shedender
Dan
Leava - February 2017
Going into the final month of the league season on top of the league with just two games to go leaves us in great stead to take the title if we can keep our heads. We also have a very winnable cup tie which won't be played until March so all focus throughout February was on our two league games.
Unbeaten for a third month running as it seems like things are now clicking for us, however we have picked up three draws and three wins in our past six matches. Needed to turn some draws into wins and we could of ran away with the title. Second place Toloke welcomed us at the start of February and we drew two all here, blowing a two nil lead built up by Laurent from the spot and then Patrac in the twentieth minute. This sent us into the final day on top but able to finish anywhere from first to fifth!! We did our bit though, a win against Vaisevela, two nil with Loiseau and Chevalier netting left us waiting on other results a day later...
Champions! Trophy one of the longest journeyman save ever has been ticked off, but it wasn't as easy as the pre season title odds had looked. We were odds on favorite to run away with the title, in the end we won it by five goals beating Tolokes goal difference. Vaitupu ended up being third two points adrift of us two at the front. Mata'utu finished with twenty four points, winning just twice at the bottom of the table, and we face them in the final next month,
Next Post: Leava - March 2017
Dan
Leava - March 2017
One game in March then and its a big one, a chance to tick off a country first time of asking, within six months of being in charge there is a chance that the Wallis & Fortuna Islands league could be withdrawn already. We've won the league title, on goal difference and now face the leagues bottom side Mata'utu in a head to head to claim the cup. We've beat them twice already this season but somewhat fluked our way to the cup Final with two 5-3 penalty wins to get us here.
Champions! Double winners! Make that three 5-3 penalty wins. An unreal stat, to go through all three wins to win by the same penalty scoreline is incredible. Mata'utu gave it a good shot, taking the lead nine minutes before the break sent us into shock. But second half a penalty for Laurent saw us strike back with half an hour to go. Unfortunately we couldn't seal it in normal time but the shootout saw us prevail to take the cup.
Its exciting times now for Leava and their fans as the board have taken notice of the successful season on the pitch and obviously want to build on this. The chairman has announced plans for the 'Leava Stadium' which will cost the club a small £1.5k and hold 3606 fans. However...
I won't be the main in charge of this as I head to pastures new. There is no point me staying in a country that I have ticked off within six months and don't have a competitive game for another six months or so. The league may stay in for one more season as I watch to see how Leava do out of my control but I'm now on the hunt for a new post. I was at Leava for 270 days, playing 17 games, winning 10 whilst we drew 4 and lost just 3. Scored 30 along the way, conceding 19. #JobDone.
Next Post: Back on the job hunt 2017
DNZY
Dan
Back on the Job Hunt - July 2017
As soon as I left my post in March I was on the job hunt and applied for three posts. It wasn't until July, four months later that I finally heard back and was offered interviews at those clubs. As you may or may not be able to tell, these were split across two different counties, continents in fact. One in Asia in Nepal and once in Oceania in Kiribati to be more precise, as I could look to extend my stay there following the success at Wallis & Fortuna Islands.
Kiribati club Makin were first to make contact with me following a successful interview they come back with a job offer. One slight issue is the club is another amateur one and I've just been at an amateur club. However they are expected to win the league. Then again, they were expected to last time but lost in the Championship Semi Finals.
The other offer on the table was from the Nepal Army football club! A big club offer to be in charge of the army. However they were relegated last season from the top tier and are tipped to finish thirteenth of fourteen this year. I mean I'm not in this career for one season wonders everywhere, but that seems a bit of a challenge.
And so on the thirteenth of July 2017 I was in my second job. Two jobs within a year of this career, just need to hope this one can be just as successful because it could be just as short thats for sure. The league is a little weird, I'll run down that below. But there is no cup competition here so the league is the sole focus.
Here is the league, I told you it was weird. There are four groups of five teams, each side playing each other just once so four games per team in the group stage. The groups play one at a time, so as you can see Groups A and B are completed with C just starting, we'll kick off our journey last. The top four teams from teams from each group then qualifies for the Championship Playoffs. Which goes from the first round with 16 teams, into the quarter finals, semi finals and then Final to crown the winner. And thats it.
There is just over a month until we will kick a ball so gives me a bit of time to sort the squad out and arrange for a couple new faces should I be able to find them in time. We'll do the work off the pitch, with any luck we can find a couple of friendlies to get us ready for the group stage. Although we should take a top four spot with ease you'd imagine.
Next Post: End Of Group Stage Round Up - September 2017
Grimnir
Congrats on winning the double! I expect it's more relief than pride as that way you can move on, like you have, without having to wait many months!
Dan
End Of Group Stage Round Up - September 2017
Another pre season has come and gone, slightly different one this time as we squeezed a couple friendlies in before playing four games in our group. Its a weird league, they all seem to be but hopefully soon I'll move to bigger, more competitive leagues. Anyway with the four group games played, lets review how it went.
Well, that wasn't as ideal as I was hoping. I wanted to see us ease through the group but thats certainly not happened as we failed to win in our opening three of four games. Welcoming Abaiang saw us lose three one. Three nil down before Dome bought one back for us. Wood netted an injury time equaliser against Butaritari as we stole a point. Another trip from home and another defeat, Onotoa beating us one nil. Finally we ended the stint with a one nil home win against Kuria, was it enough to see us go through.
Well that was a close call. We did qualify for the knockout stages but only just. At the top Abaiang and Onotoa could only be split by goal difference as they both won twice and drew twice. Butaritari failed to win a single game, but also didn't lose as they drew all four matches. We came fourth with four points whilst Kuria finished bottom of the table, with just a point on the board.
This is better, much more like it as the Championship Playoff drew us away against Marakei and saw us advance to the Quarter Final with ease. We dominated the game stats and possession and it proved to be a brace from McDonell who secure our spot in the next round. Three wins away from another trophy...
Next Post: Makin FC - October 2017
Dan
End Of Group Stage Round Up - October 2017
Now just three games away, three wins away in fact from completing a short stint here in Kiribati. But we'd have to improve if that is the case. We struggled through the group stage despite being favorites for the competition trophy at the start there was work to do. Winning it two of the last three times there years there certainly was a little bit of pressure on me to bring success.
Not quite the greatest performance from the team and we probably only deserved a draw here. But it was a case of taking the chances you get early in the game and we did just that. Starting quickly saw Ruka guide us ahead after thirteen minutes. It'd be two nil after just twenty minutes played when Japu converted a spot kick for us. And we held strong from there to send us into the Semi Finals.
What a game, what a result! This is probably my favorite team performance in the year of management I've been in to date and we showed some great spirit here. Originally taking the lead after twenty minutes through an own goal it was looking like our day. However second half hosts Aranuka came back into the game as Taraare and then an own goal saw them lead two one with just fifteen minutes remaining. We went attacking and it paid off, Ruka netting with eight minutes to go to force the game into injury time. And thats where we sealed it, a penalty just two minutes from time secured our spot in the Final for the third time in four seasons.
Champions! Not a great game by any means with only eight shots in the whole game and the only goal of it coming after nineteen minutes it was a little dull for the fans. Mune nettethe winner after just nineteen minutes to see us lift the title and Makin lift it for the third time in four seasons whilst reaching the Semi Final the year before. Its job done here and another easy stint.
Resigned as there was only the one competition here to win. Hoping some of the other leagues, bigger leagues throw up a bigger competition to me over the years. But I have had an easy start thats for sure. Just one hundred and three days in charge and thats both leagues in the Oceanic continent done now. Eight games played, five won with one draw and two defeats, those coming at the start of the group stage. Its all looking so good right now, twenty five matches played in a whole year, fifteen wins, five draws and five defeats. A nice sixty percent win ratio.
So where to next, this is the current job centre screen I have loaded and whats currently available to me. Obviously all the ones inside the red box are ones that now don't apply to me as I don't need to return to the Wallis and Futuna Islands or Kiribati so will unload these two countries over the next year. Two jobs in Nepal potentially await me with the bottom league more applicable, two available in Turkmenistan and one in the Cayman Islands. Lets see what happens.
Next Post: Another Job Search - 2017
Grimnir
I'd say that Cayman Island team looks good, as they're 1st already
Parker26
Dan
I am three seasons through on another save though (yes I've had a bit of spare time