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AWMG
Hey guys, the verdict has been given on my stay.
But first, let me walk you through the events that took place.
We first drew against Braunschweig with a dominant performance of 14 shots attempted to 4 and 73% possession to 27%
Point achieved: 1 | Points required: 10
We again got a draw with no goal against Aue. It was a fairly dominant game by us with 13 shots to 6 and 59% to 41% possession
Points achieved: 2 | Points required: 10
We get a narrow 1-0 win against Augsburg. Fairly even match with even 9 shots from both sides and possession of 56% to 44% which we led in.
Roman Bezjak got us the goal to give us 3 points
Points achieved: 5 | Points required: 10
We got another win against Dresden. A comfortable 3-0 win against them with a very dominant performance of 15 shots to 2 and 54% to 46% possession.
A Stuart Bannigan goal and a brace from Mats Kohlert gets us the 3 points.
Points achieved: 8 | Points required: 10
We fixed some friendly matches for our players to continue being on match fitness rather than resting and losing match fitness for our last game which is our deciding game
And now, the fifth game of our agreement is against Munchen Lions. They're 18th in the league and a lost or a draw will ensure my termination.
And the result is...
We drew 1-1 against them with a fairly even match although we dominated a bit more with 14 shots to 8 shots and 51% to 49% possession
Points achieved: 9 | Points required: 10
And yes.. that means I am terminated
I was devastated because I was just a point away, and the board didn't look at that. Rather they were really strict with the agreement and have decided not to overlook the fact that I was only a point away.
And now, from a manager who was dubbed a prodigy after winning two competitions with Celtic in his first season and without any experience before, is now dubbed as a fluke after my spell at Darmstadt.
There are jobs available, but I'm a bit discouraged. I will be keeping my options open if any team is interested.
Applying for a job for me right now seems like a dumb thing to do after getting fired so I will be studying and observing teams to learn how to be a better manager as I await for my next venture.
AWMG
After a 6 months of break, I finally got my first job interview.
I guess it is hard to find a job after you're fired. You will be overlooked by clubs in the same reputation as your last.
It was a good 6 months break though, I got to go hiking and enjoy the German culture as I used up my earnings from Celtic and Darmstadt.
I got to study more about the game from the stands just like another audience of the game and learned a lot from it.
I guess it's finally time to put it into works.
Tranmere Rovers offered me a job.
*The phone rings*
Andy Preston: Hello, is this Dan Ong?
Dan Ong: Hello, this is Dan speaking.
Andy Preston: Hello, this is Andy Preston from Tranmere Rovers. We were looking for some managers for our club after the sacking of our last managers and we managed to find your contact through your agent. We would like to bring you in for an interview if that's fine with you.
Dan Ong: Yes, that will be fine. I will be there in the soonest convenience of your choice.
Andy Preston: That is great to hear. We will be seeing you soon.
*The call ends*
England, the place where the Barclays Premiere League is held.
I never thought I'll ever travel here for football purposes.
As a young kid, I always watched the Barclays Premiere League. It was and still is the most popular league up til now.
I'm a Liverpool fan as a kid, supporting them after watching their Istanbul finals performance. It was my first ever game and it gave me goosebumps for the whole entire minute and penalty shoot out. The fans of Liverpool is what really dragged me in to the club.
That was when I learned what passion felt like. I enjoyed the process Liverpool went through, even the struggles.
Hopefully I'll be able to reach the Barclays Premiere League some day and win the league and even the Champions league. For now, I need to concentrate on landing this job.
*As I reached Birkenhead, I went to meet with the Andy*
Andy Preston: Good afternoon Dan, how was the flight?
Dan Ong: It was fine. How was your morning?
Andy Preston: Fantastic, had some breakfast with the family and an enjoyable jog. Anyway, let's cut to the chase. You've been to Celtic, one of the most prestigious club in the world and won two cups there and left. Why was that?
Dan Ong: I felt like I couldn't stand the pressure of just facing the expectation of winning every year and failure to do so would mean that my job is in tremendous danger due to their dominance.
Andy Preston: And what makes you think trying to get out of relegation is any better?
Dan Ong: I'm not saying it's any better, but I feel like there's more grace in getting relegated when you're trying to escape relegation than not winning the league when there's literally no other team that could compete
Andy Preston: And how about your Darmstadt, why were you sacked?
Dan Ong: Well, my stint there wasn't the best. I had a lot of drawn games and a few games won. The board were unhappy and gave me an agenda to meet. I failed to meet the agenda by 1 point, not to mention I had to do a entire revamp of the team as a lot of the players wanted to leave due to the bigger clubs wanting them and the players not wanting to stay after being relegated.
Andy Preston: And you think if we ever get promoted our players won't get taken away from us?
Dan Ong: I mean that would probably be the case, but given the scenario I was in and my experience, I think you would at least have some agreement that it was a big task for me to handle.
Andy Preston: Well, why did you accept the job offer from us. I mean from Celtic to Darmstadt was maybe a small step down but going to Tranmere will be a huge one. Are you not worried about your reputation?
Dan Ong: Reputation doesn't really matter to me. What matters to me is the support of the board when I manage the team and the fans are happy. Regardless of where I go, I just want backing from the club.
Andy Preston: I see. Getting into this job won't be as easy as your previous clubs, you do know that right? We won't have much money to give for transfers.
Dan Ong: Yes I understand, but I'm willing to learn if you're willing to take the risk
Andy Preston: Well, if that's the case, then I'm happy to welcome you Mr. Ong. I'm hoping you are the man to bring us to greater heights.
Dan Ong: For real?!
Andy Preston: Yes. I've been following your stints and I do agree that your last club was in between harsh and justifiable. They were expected to fight for promotion but you put them in relegation battle. However, when they gave you the objective you did almost meet it, just missing out by 1 point and that is a harsh decision. I believe that you have potential to be a great manager, it just that you need time to go there.
Dan Ong: W-W-Wow. Thank you Mr. Preston. I'm very delighted to hear such compliments. I thank you for such faith and praise and I promise you I will give my 101% in this job.
Andy Preston: Great, we'll send you your contract soon and you can get started. I'm very excited to see what you can bring for the team.
And just like that, I'm part of Tranmere Rovers.
Although the pay I'll be getting is significantly lower than the previous clubs I've managed, I am more than happy to take it after the interview. I hope that this will start the revival of my career.
AWMG
Tranmere Rovers is an English club founded in the year 1884 that is currently playing in the Sky Bet League Two and have just been promoted from Vanarama National last season.
Known as the Super White Army (heh.. had a slight chuckle reading this out in my head) or the Rovers, they play their home games at Prenton Park which holds adequate training and youth facilities. The club also has an average junior coaching and fairly basic youth recruitment network.
Surprisingly, their rivals are Liverpool, Everton and Wrexham. How are your rivals both in the Barclays is beyond me. It's like you'll face them once every 5 years, yet they're your rivals. But hey, who am I to argue right?
The club has a trophy cabinet of 4:
Checkatrade Trophy (1990)
English FA Trophy (2017)
JD Welsh Cup (1935)
English Third Division North (1938)
Grimnir
Who knows though, maybe you will be the one to get them in the same league and really kick start those rivalries!
Good luck!
AWMG
So, Tranmere Rovers, a team with not much budget to bring in players with money.
It was such a weird feeling for me considering I had more than 1 million at least for my past few jobs. It was such an unfamiliar feeling.
However, I've decided to look onto young free transfers that were released by other clubs.
We did A LOT of business. Tranmere was basically a ghost team only having a few players in the squad when I took over.
We brought in a total of 23 players to play for the first team and to increase our depth. A lot of them are home grown and youths ranging from 18-21 years old.
Yes, that's right. Call me the Wegner of Sky Bet League Two if you want. We're gonna build a young core with decent skills to bring us to glory.
Our squad looks like this right now:
As for our matches, it didn't go well so far.
For our friendlies, it went sorta decent?
We won Crusaders and Lancaster 3-2 and 2-0 respectively but they aren't that good in a sense.
We got beaten into pulps by Arsenal Under 23 as Iwobi tore us a new hole with a hat trick.
For our first games in the league and cups, it went horrible.
We won NOTHING. Absolutely nothing, we got beaten to pulp by Luton. Chesterfield beat us in extra time with a total of 12 goals in the game.
It was a bad start to get out of relegation
You think August was better? HELL NAW. Okay.. maybe a bit better.
We won our first official game against Bradford City and a 3-1 win against Grimsby who are doing worse than us in the league.
Other than that, our ass got whoop left right and center.
Yeah let's just say I'm still doing a bad job at getting the team out of relegation. We lost every game except against Notts Co who we won 3-1 against.
Can I just give Man Utd a stick up their ass. They played Mauro Icardi, Marcus Rojo and Pepe. Are you kidding me? I was so mad when I saw Mauro Icardi in the scoring sheet. It was definite overkill. But oh well.
May God have blessing on me as I continue the season with a horrible record so far. Although, the Board has assured that they're not worried and are still giving me time to work on the squad. I really do hope I'm able to repay their trust with wins and promotions and trophies.
AWMG
Yeah wouldn't have thought of going to England this soon, not to mention a club name Tranmere Rovers. W
How is it interesting though? Is it because it's a rare club that someone manages? Just curious.
And yeah, I hope I can bring them to the Premiere League.
AWMG
It's the 15th of January 2019, and I got fired again.
Maybe I'm no prodigy manager. Maybe I'm just lucky to manage Celtics and that's why I won trophies there. Maybe I should just quit being a manager, that my story is over.
Let me walk you guys through the events that happened
November went decent compared to the previous months.
We didn't have any big defeats except for the 3-0 defeat to Coventry, we drew twice and won one game
2 high scoring games of 6 goals and 10 games in total.
December went better again.
We won 2 games and one draw.
Losing once by a narrow margin and got beaten 4 - 1 by Leyton Orient.
At this rate, the board called me in and told me I am going to get terminated as we've been hovering in the relegation for too long and not much improvement has happened. I agreed for a mutual termination as they gave me enough time and I just couldn't do anything. They told me I can have some few games to say goodbye to the players and the fans.
And this marks the end of my time at Tranmere Rovers
At this rate, I'm very discouraged to manage again.
From the heights of winning two cups in a club, from gradually getting fired of not meeting expectations to get a team to do better.
A lot of my friends and families are saying "Dan, you need to stop living in a spiral dream. You've done your time at Celtic, and you should have stayed there but yearned for other stuff. And now you're paying the price and your faults are now showing. You should just come back to Singapore and continue studying."
I'm at a complete lost. I'm not sure what I should do now.
AWMG
It's been 6 months since I've been sacked for the second time.
I've been doing some soul searching while I've been exploring England.
Not going to lie, but I've been discouraged very much to manage again because so far, things haven't been going so well.
I've decided to look for possibly my last job. I've applied for loads of jobs for 6 months and have been rejected left right and center. No surprises there considering I got sacked twice.
Lo and behold, after 6 months, a job interview arrived. Eastleigh.
*I knock on a door*
Dan Ong: Hello? Is this George Waldron's office?
George Waldron: Yes, please enter and take a seat.
Dan Ong: Thank you for the hospitality, and thank you for giving me this interview opportunity.
George Waldron: Our pleasure. So Mr. Ong, this is your fourth job interview in four years. How are you feeling?
Dan Ong: A bit discouraged and nervous. I still believe that I can pull through and bring your club to greater heights but am not so confident.
George Waldron: Is that so? Well, that would be something you'll have to work on if you want a job here
Dan Ong: Will do
George Waldron: Anyway Mr. Ong, we aren't a prestigious club as compared to your previous clubs. We are a very very small club. How do you feel about that?
Dan Ong: As I've told my previous employers, the club will eventually get better over time, hence the position of the club right now doesn't factor my interest in a club. What factors my interest is the faith of the board in me.
George Waldron: Interesting answer Mr. Ong. I like that answer very much. Well, we would like to hire you as the manager of Eastleigh. Despite your past, we believe that along the way you have learned things and we hope to use those experience to manage this club and get us a step forward.
George Waldron: All that left is your decision. I know that it might be discouraging and hard as you haven't been in good terms with your previous clubs and you're gonna manage a club that is expected to be relegated for sure.
Dan Ong: I'll take the job. I've got nothing to lose, however that doesn't mean I won't try my best for the club. I will do my best to get us out of this league and eventually to the Barclays Premier League.
George Waldron: That's great to hear. Let's get started with the contract talks then.
Well, my last attempt as a manager. The contracts fits it well, a one year contract. If it goes bad, I'm gone. If it goes well, we go again.
*I take a seat in the conference room*
Dan Ong: Good morning everyone, I'll be taking questions now
Billy Allen from The Football League Paper: Good morning Dan, we would like to ask, what's going through your mind right now?
Dan Ong: Well, I'm currently a manager of a team so what's on my mind is bring in players to strengthen the team and increase the depth
Billy Allen: This is your fourth job in four years, do you regret leaving Celtic after having a successful spell with them?
Dan Ong: Not at all, I believe that I chose the right decision for myself despite the unfortunate spells I had in my previous clubs.
Billy Allen: Everyone is saying you've been on a constant step down of who you're managing. What do you comment about that?
Dan Ong: Everyone is entitled to their opinion. To me, I don't see the reputation of the club. I see the board's desire to have me and their backing of me.
Billy Allen: Rumors say that you might be leaving the managerial scene if you get sacked again, any comments on that?
Dan Ong: Well, all I can say is I'm keeping my options right now.
Dan Ong: That will be it for today guys. For the fans of Eastleigh, I hope I can make you proud. Let's do this together.
AWMG
Eastleigh Football Club was founded in 22 May 1946 by Derik brooks and a group of friends in the Fleming Arms public house and is currently based in Eastleigh, Hampshire, England.
The spitfires currently play at Sky Bet League Two and plays their home games at Silverlake Stadium, holding a poor youth and below average training facilities.
Surprisingly, the spitfires hold no rivals and has 2 trophies in their cabinet.
Vanarama National League South (2014)
English Wessex League Premiere Division (2003)
The squad currently holds 12 players.
AWMG
Just like last time, I've decided to scout out youths that were released by top clubs such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal and other more to buff up our squad's first team and depth.
This time round, I made it sure that I'm not swayed by my scout's recommendation and judgement but rather, my own judgement by reading each and everyone's stats and if they qualify for the position I'm gonna play them in. This time, I wasn't going to be messing about
With that, a total of 15 players are signed.
I was satisfied with our friendlies to be honest, we had no blowouts except the game against Leicester U23 where we got hit 3-1. The rest, we manage to hold on to a narrow defeat, a comfortable 2-0 win and a draw.
In August, our first game went well with a narrow 2-1 win against Cambridge. However, we proceeded on a 2 game losing streak before bouncing back to a 3-3 draw against Blackpool and another narrow win against Swindon.
Points achieved: 7
In September, it went better to be honest. Started off with a 2-0 win against Bristol Rovers followed by a 1-2 lost against Yeovil. A draw from Braintree, a 5-1 victory against Exeter, and a lost against Notts Co.
The reason why I said it went better is because I'm seeing a trend that we are defensively sound, our losses aren't blowouts and have always been a one goal deficit. In my opinion, that's an improvement from my previous team who were a bit better than the team I currently am managing.
Points achieved: 11
AWMG
October went decent. Judging by our past months, our average win rate should be twice a month, so if it's below that it'll be deemed a bad month by me.
We started off October with a great start, 1-0 win against Northampton and a 3-0 win against Hartlepool.
We fell to a 1-2 defeat and three 2-0 defeat for the rest of the month.
Points achieved: 17
For November, we broke the losing streak with a draw, a 5-1 win in the FA Cup and a win in the penalties against Southampton's U23.
and again, we went on a 4 games losing streak for the rest of the month, the 5-1 lost being the most prominent one.
Points achieved: 18
For December, we broke the losing streak yet again with a 1-0 win against Tottenham's U23 and a 2-1 win against Carlisle. We lost a staggering 5-0 defeat against Fleetwood and won against Cambridge 2-1.
We again, lost the rest of the month, with another big loss, 4-1 against Southend.
Points achieved: 24
I've been realizing a trend that this team likes to win the starting games in the month, go on a losing streak, and repeat for the next month.
I guess it could be worse, and we are still gaining 6 points a month which is actually enough to get out of relegation.
Considering we also have a young core, they're doing a great job keeping a consistent average of 6 points per month which at this rate, will most likely secure us another season in the league.
AWMG
I couldn't find any options to improve our goalkeeping options this transfer window hence it was a very quiet one.
Well this starts us off on a bad foot from my last log of us winning our first few games when we lost our first game.
However, we did pick up pace with a draw, a win, a draw and a win again in one month.
Oh, and we lost to West Ham U23 in the Checkatrade Trophy South 3rd round.
Points achieved: 32
We started February with a 3-2 win, and a 2 games losing streak, a 2-1 win against Notts Co, a lost and a draw against Hartlepool.
Another good month with 7 points
Points achieved: 39
We start March with a draw, then a lost, then 2 draws, a win and a lost.
It was still a good month surprisingly, 6 points.
Points achieved: 45
AWMG
*Knocks on the door*
George Waldron: Come in Dan and take a seat
*Nervously walks in. I know this scenario. Team isn't doing so well, the boss calls you in. This smells like another session of me getting fired.*
Dan Ong: Good afternoon Mr. Waldron
George Waldron: Firstly, I just wanted to say good job on your work with the team. Building such a young core and being able to keep us away from the relegation battle.
George Waldron: Honestly, I had some doubts in mind when it was seen that the team was on losing streaks, but I decided to keep you towards the near end to see how you deal with the scenario
George Waldron: You manage to keep lesser losing streaks and I realized we've been consistently keeping an average of 6 points per month which is very good.
George Waldron: Hence, I'd like to give you a contract extension
Dan Ong: A contract extension? Are you for real?! I came in here thinking I was gonna get fired. Thank you so much Mr. Waldron, thank you so much for believing in me. I will not let you down.
George Waldron: That's great to hear, let's get started with the contract talks.
With this, things looked bright for me.
The month started off decent with 2 draws, and then a lost, and then a win to summarize April
Points achieved: 51
In the last month of the season, we started of with a 2 - 2 draw against Southend
And in our last game of the month, with us being on the 19th point having only a difference of 3 points from the 23rd placed Barnet with the better goal difference than us, we still have a very unlikely, yet not impossible scenario of being relegated as Exeter has one point difference with Northampton and Braintree just 2 points away
Sadly to say, we did lose in the last game of the season. However, none of the team I stated earlier who were below me won except for Barnet. So on the bright side, we're not relegated.
*Enters in the locker room*
Dan Ong: Hey guys, I just wanted to say first and foremost, congratulations on staying in the league. It was no easy task as you guys are a bunch of young guys. Having almost 90% of the squad who are 25 and below.
Dan Ong: I'm really proud of you guys, it took a lot of hard work, sweat and pain to get this achievement and I hope next season, we will be fighting for promotion.
*The squad erupts in cheers and claps.*
CsAtlantis
First thing I noted in that league table was: "Wow, Blackpool is still in League Two?"
Congrats on surviving and getting an extension!
For League One and League Two physical attributes are a bit more important than the technical ones so youngsters will be fine there
What tactics are you using normally by the way?
AWMG
Hey Cs, thanks for the comment. Glad that you like what you're reading, and yes it was a true shame.
Here's some screenshots of my previous season's tactic
AWMG
With the transfer window, we had again, a lot of transfers made.
21 transfers in and 8 transfers out to buff up the squad again so that we don't drop in quality when someone gets injured.
TRANSFER IN
TRANSFER OUT
JULY
July was the month of friendlies. It went... decent? We went against a team named Bognor Regis who are divisions below us and it went horribly as we drew 1-1 when we should be winning.
We played Gosport who are again, a team in a lower league than us and won it comfortably 3-0
We lost to Torquay who are again, a league lower than us which is disappointing.
And drew against Leyton Orient who are a league above us so I'm considerably pleased with it.
AUGUST
The month went horribly wrong. I don't really need to say much but basically 5 losses, 1 win, and 1 draw in the month. We conceded a total of 16 goals in 7 games. That is horrendous goal keeping and defense right there.
AWMG
SEPTEMBER
September went better, having to draw 4 games, win 1 game and losing 2. A VERY BIG improvement from our previous month.
OCTOBER
Horrible month arriving again. 4 losses, 1 win and 1 draw.
NOVEMBER
Let's just hope November will be the last month that this happens. An atrocious month with 5 losses and 1 draw. Conceding 17 goals in 6 games. Insane nightmare right there.
AWMG
DECEMBER
The month was a massive improvement from our previous months, winning 2 games and losing 2 games.
JANUARY
The month was a pretty decent one, with 2 draws, 1 win and 2 losses
FEBRUARY
Winning 2 games, a draw and 2 losses again, another mediocre month.
AWMG
MARCH
March has come off as our BEST MONTH. Yes, we win 3 games. Call Barcelona and ask them to hire me because I have performed to pull off a miracle.
3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.
APRIL
Mediocre month, 2 draws and 1 lost.
On the bright side, we are given another season with the team.
MAY
Horrible month, 2 losses out of 2.
AWMG
To whomever is still reading this series, I just really wanted to say a big thank you to you guys first of all.
Secondly, I wanted to apologize. I've realized that the quality that I'm pushing out are quite sub-par and that's because I'm kind of discouraged considering the progress of my career isn't doing that well.
Although, I'm not discouraged in the bad way that I want to give up. I'm still motivated to bring glory to Eastleigh but am just not so sure how to do it at this state and I know it'll be a long process.
I guess what I wanted to ask you guys is are you guys still interested in this series? I'm not a good manager as compared to the other managers in here who I can see are enjoyable to read.
I'll be trying a new style of writing to create better quality story for you guys, but I guess depending on how you guys respond to this, it might be my last season of posting my story at least with this save.
I might start a new save where I start somewhere small and with all the experience I have now, I might/hopefully do better with them.
Grimnir
Whichever you choose, I would suggest organising more friendlies in a pre-season! You don't have to just play on the weekends you know
Dan
AWMG
It's 2021, and I've only achieved nothing but a finish around 20th place to avoid relegation.
It was kind of frustrating but that's my fault for not preparing tactics before the season. I've always done it the same way, wait til the season start, create a tactic, hope for the best.
This season I've decided to do it differently, while everyone is enjoying the season's break, I've decided to do some crunch time.
With the look of the squad, I've decided to go for an odd 4-4-2 tactic.
I've realized that last season, we've concede way too much goals and have not scored much either. I've decided to keep it simple and play everyone to the best of their positions.
With the horrible defense record, I've decided to have both Ball Winning Midfielders in the middle so that they'll always aim to win the ball as early as possible, one with more concentration with defending and the other with the concentration to back up attacks.
Because our best winger in the left was a normal left midfielder while our best right midfielder was an attacking right midfielder, this is why my wingers look like this rather than the normal 4-4-2.
Our fullbacks were mostly defensive hence I gave them a very defensive objective.
While our Target man, Novakovich, has no pace but has the height and some passing ability hence I've given him a support role to win headers and lay it off for someone like Shuttleworth who has better finishing and pace stats.
I've decided to play a Klopp-esque tactic which is high tempo gameplay and winning the ball as soon as possible.
This season, I've decided to demote every extra players I didn't need who either had no pace or the needed attributes to help me succeed and listen them for loan.
With this, I needed some buffing up.
Thomas Hart, an attacking right midfielder from Southampton joined us for loan. Pacy with decent dribbling, crossing and passing.
Mark Oxley, an experienced Goalkeeper to keep pressure of young Lumley.
Martin French, another decently paced left midfielder with decent stats to cross and dribble
Sam Hedges, another striker with decent pace and decent shooting stats.
With the demoted players and the new acquisitions, this is our current squad.
With this, I've seen that we are ready for the season.
FRIENDLIES
Our friendlies went fantastic. Couldn't have asked for better.
We won all our friendlies which compared to our previous seasons, it was like a miracle.
3-1 against Norwich, 3-0 against Worcester, 8-0 against Cirencester and 7-0 against Solihull Moors.
Yeah some of them are expected to be defeated but I believe this is a statement from the squad that they're not messing about and are showing that they are really supposed twinning this games with all their efforts.
AUGUST
August went great too.
We continued our winning ways against Grimsby, but fell short against Millwall who we gave away a penalty to and it stood that way.
Against Carlisle, we fell to a 2-0 defeat, but bounced back afterwards with a 4-0 win against Rochdale, 1-1 draw against Cambridge, 2-0 win against Stevenage and 2-1 win against Coventry.
SEPTEMBER
Things slowed down in September.
We started off the month with a lost, and then a 3-0 win against Oxford.
However, this got us losing again against Braintree, Swindon and a draw against Dag & Red
Despite our current month's bad run, I believe that we have improved significantly compared to last year.
In the first few months, we actually we going shoulder to shoulder with some of the best teams in the league and we even held the 1st place spot for a period but after last month's bad run, we dropped to the 11th place which is still a big improvement from our previous season.
Our strike force improved greatly with 24 goals combined ever since their friendly.
To me this is definitely a sign for great things to come. I'm excited.
AWMG
Thanks for the support you have shown since I've started this series with Celtic!
I won't say I'm delighted with the save but I am having fun trying to figure out stuff although sometimes it may seem frustrating.
I will probably keep with Eastleigh for one more season, if we aren't a mid table by then I might consider other teams.
And I'll keep the friendlies tips in mind, I heard having more friendlies = more revenue so I'll try to do that in the future. I usually leave this instruction with my assistant manager.
AWMG
Thanks for the encouragement despite my struggles.
This save has nothing but frustration after I left Celtics because I can't seem to steer them from winning ways and I feel like it'll be unrealistic for me to reload the game whenever I lose or go on a losing streak and then making new tactics to see which one works.
I don't import tactics too to keep it as realistic as possible, so it's a big challenge for me who never played any FM before. You guys are basically reading my progress as an actual player of a game.
Hope I can bring you enjoyable content!
AWMG
OCTOBER
October went terrible to be honest.
We lost to Barnet 0-2, a drew against Exeter but winning in penalties in the end.
And then we had a losing streak of 3 games and drew our last game of the month.
Things were looking bad again as we are going back to our losing ways and I was not gonna let it side.
I've decided to mix up our tactic again.
NOVEMBER
We started off the month with a 0-2 lost against MK Dons, my initial thought was that okay that didn't really change anything, but afterwards we went on a miraculous 5 winning streak! YES, A 5 WINNING STREAK, SCORING 12 TIMES! Talk about a come back
It seems like my tactic of two strikers up front isn't going so well after a while, I probably got exploited (in other words, when I closed the game and loaded my game later on, it suddenly doesn't work) as the opponents scout have probably seen through our tactic.
Hence, I switched it up by having only one striker forward and then putting in an attacking playmaker to fill in the void in between the midfield and the striker.
Surprisingly, after one month of success, an offer for another job suddenly came knocking at my door.
Union Sportive Littoral Dunkerque (holy crap that was a mouthful to type out) is a French team from the French National League. (2 leagues away from Ligue 1)
We also won Manager of the Month for November which is great because it's been a while since I've been deemed as the best manager of the month (all the way back from my Celtic days)
DECEMBER
December was another good month. Winning two games to start of the month but sadly losing to Arsenal Under 23s because they used Welbeck and probably other players from their first team that are regens and all.
Bounced back with a draw and a win against Shrewsbury to end December's campaign.
During December we were flooded with job offers left right and center.
Obviously rejected all of them because we are doing well and Eastleigh has been a good club to me. Hence I've decided to stay loyal to the club.
2 of our players were battling out for the best player in December with Shuttleworth winning the award while Pierre is at second place.
I myself was also 2nd place in being the Manager of the Month which is still a good achievement.
And we are currently surprisingly sitting on 3rd place, fighting for promotion as compared to our previous seasons, trying to get out of relegation
AWMG
JANUARY
After the bonanzas of all those job offers that come in, I've assured the squad and the board that I'll be staying.
And then, it was back to business again,
Started January with a 2-0 win and a 3-0 win before falling to a 1-3 defeat to Rochdale.
Bounced back with a 1-0 win against Cambridge, 0-0 against Stevenage, 2-1 win against Wimbledon
FEBRUARY
Continued the undefeated run with a 0-0 before falling to a defeat to Braintree and Swindon
Bounced back with two 1-0 wins against Dag & Red and Barnet
The month of February also started with a job offer yet again, which was again, turned down.
I guess this season really has done much with my reputation that a lot of teams are suddenly wanting me when like the past few years no one even dared to offer me a job.
MARCH
Continued where we left off from February with a 2-1 win against Doncaster and a 1-0 win against Oldham before falling to a 1-0 defeat against Plymouth.
Bounced back with a 3-1 against Notts Co, 1-0 win against York and 2-1 win against Blackpool
At the end of March, I was awarded with the Manager of the Month while Shuttleworth almost wins Young Player of the Month
And we are doing tremendously great.
Looking at the table, compared to the previous seasons where we needed to find ourselves at the bottom of the table, this year, we don't need to look that far. Eastleigh are Second place with 2 months to go.
Dan
AWMG
APRIL AND MAY
We ended the season with a weird run of 2 losses and 4 draws (Is this an FM thing where if you're doing well, and you leave the game and restart it makes you perform worse?)
And with that, the season of 2021/2022 has ended.
Did we get promoted?
or did we drop to the playoffs?
or did we not qualify for any in the end?
Promotion is ensured. After the final whistle against Exeter, all the fans ran on to the pitch and chanted and sang as if we just won the Champions League.
The players were crying on the floor as they embraced the hard work they've put, and how it paid off as they finally got promoted. One step closer to the premier league.
The fans, ecstatic. They've waited 2 years for this moment and it finally happened in the most unexpected manner as a lot of people has written us off as a 20th place team after our past 2 seasons.
For me, I was happy. So many doubts for the past 4 years, so many uncertainty. But this, this really boosts my confidence a bit. That I did the right things, and I did a good job.
Slowly after, the players ran over me and gave me a lift to throw me up in the air. I was in a glorious mood. It really made me feel happy and remember the days in Celtics.
Post game press conference
Dan Ong: Good evening guys, I am prepared to start taking questions.
Billy Allen from The Football League's Paper: Mr. Ong, what a magical season it is for you guys. A lot of pundits predicted you guys to be a 20th or below team, to be specific, the 23rd place. How does it feel to prove the doubters wrong by a very long mile and securing promotion?
Dan Ong: Well obviously it is a magical feeling. I don't really know how to explain it. It's like a fairy tale story. You can ask the lads, ask the board or ask the staff, everyone didn't though we would be finishing this high either. Not even to the extent of a mid table club. However, I told myself that I will push this team to greater heights, that even if we are not gonna finish a mid table, a move from a 20th place to maybe a 15th place is already an improvement. But with the hard work put in by the players and the great work of the staff, we were able to secure a promotion.
Billy Allen: You must be getting offers from a lot of clubs right now. Are you planning to stay with Eastleigh?
Dan Ong: I would admit that there have been some offers along the way from various clubs in various countries. However, I decided to say with Eastleigh not because of our great form but of the trust and belief that the board has given me when I was in a slump in my managerial career. Going out of 2 clubs in 2 years, I'm thankful that George Waldron took the risk of even hiring me and trusting me with the club and giving me another shot in the managerial role when I was surrounded by people who asked me to stop.
Billy Allen: The squad contains a total of 21 players who are below the age of 26, starting from the age of 19 while there's only 4 people who are above the age of 25. Would you say that's a factor to your promotion?
Dan Ong: I don't believe so. I believe that it's the hard work and their dedication to give their all every single game, despite the amount of games they need to play, that got us our promotion. They're a great bunch of people. They've given me utmost attention and followed my tactics and my Sol Campbell's (my assistant manager, ex Arsenal and Tottenham player) training routine, and that was why they performed so well to get us a promotion.
Billy Allen: Are you sending a message by choosing such a young core?
Dan Ong: A message? I didn't have any. I chose these young bunch because they were available in the market, are willing to join us, and are good enough to succeed in the club as first team players. Age does not matter to me if you have the abilities to provide and the work ethic to keep improving. So if I was to have a message, I would say don't look at the age, rather look at what they can offer and what kind of a player they are.
Billy Allen: Thanks for your time Mr. Ong. It was a pleasure to have given you instructions, and congratulations again in your achievement.
Dan Ong: Thanks for your time everyone. We'll see you next season in Sky Bet League One.
THE DAY AFTER
As I woke up, the promotion scenes still dwelt in me. I felt like it was all a dream. I felt like it didn't happen, like it was too true to happen, but it really did.
I went out to grab the morning papers after my morning run, and I saw the headlines.
Also winning Manager of the Year
CONTRACT RENEWALS
I also received a contract renewal with the club which I gladly accepted.
AWMG
Yeah, it was a bumpy and difficult 2 years, but hard work eventually paid off thankfully.