[FM18] Rising Through The Ranks...Journeyman Styley!

St Mirren - 1 Scottish Championship
Aberdeen - 3 Scottish Premierships, 4 Scottish Cups, 1 Scottish League Cup, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Cup Winners Cup
Manchester United - 1 Intercontinental Cup, 2 Champions Leagues, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Cup Winners Cup, 4 English League Cups, 1 FIFA World Club Cup, 13 English Premier Leagues, 10 Community Shields, 5 FA Cups

Job Hunting



So the big question is 'where will this journey begin?'. And the answer is....'I have no idea' as I search through the job listings. I decided that my best bet was to look to some of the less reputable leagues around the world in order to secure a job and get myself on the ladder. I wasn't fussed where I started out to be fair, with the opportunity of moving abroad actually exciting me a little! I was looking at the likes of South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Argentina amongst others.

Over the next couple of months, I spent majority of my time scrawling through the job ads as managers departed their clubs either by choice or the dreaded sack. As I went through the vacant positions, I tried to establish the shittest teams in the world for me to forward an application onto. Ambitious, maybe not, realistic, certainly! I applied for a number of roles with varied responses...

Deportiva Y Cultural de Pereira (Columbia) - Failed to make the shortlist
Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor FC (Malaysia) - Interview, Rejected me as I asked for a larger wage budget than they were offering
Universitario Popayan (Columbia) - Interview, Offered me the job but I rejected it as felt the expectations of the club were unrealistic
Universiti Teknologi Mara FC (Malaysia) - Interview, Offered me the job but I rejected it as club's financial situation is so bad, they have vitually every player up on the transfer list...can't be good!
Perlis FA (Malaysia) - Interview, Offered me the job but I decided to take the job at Tampines Rovers instead
Sabah FA (Malaysia) - Interview, Took the job at Tampines Rovers before they responded
Tampines Rovers (Singapore) - Interview, Offered me the job and I accepted it

Relocation to Singapore

The first thing on the agenda was to look at where I was moving to. I'd accepted this job and knew nothing about Singapore or where I was going to be living....

Tampines Rovers FC are based in a town called Jurong, based in the western region of Singapore.




The Singapore Football League Structure

The other thing that needed some very quick research before I arrived at my new club was the league structure in Singapore. I had no idea how it worked or even what level my new club was really playing at. So here it is...

When I looked (in terms of football manager 18), it's a pretty simple one to explain. There is only one league...Great Eastern Yeo's S League. It is made up of only 9 teams!

With regards to the league placings, the winner will qualify for the AFC Champions League First Preliminary Round.
The teams finishing 2nd and 3rd qualify for the Asian Confederations Cup Group Stage (dependant on the winner/runner up of the Singapore Cup).

Nickname: The Stags
Year Founded: 1945
Country: Singapore
City: Jurong

Professional Status: Professional
Training Facilities: Basic
Youth Facilities: Poor
Corporate Facilities: Fairly Basic
Reputation: National (1.5 Stars)

Stadium: Jurong West Stadium
Owned By: Council
Year Built: 2006
Capacity: 4,000 all seater

Fierce Rivals: None
Other Rivals: Tampines Rovers SC (Local), Woodlands, Home Utd
Derbies: None



Previous Honours:



Well it would seem that my very first club have something about them. They've won the Great Eastern Yeo's S League 3 times and finished runner up twice in the last 6 years! They have also won the Singapore Cup 3 times, although they haven't lifted the trophy for over 10 years now.

Current Position & Target

Hang on a minute...I could win a title here...there are only 6 games remaining in the league and we currently sit 5th, but only 5 points behind the team in 1st place. That would be a bit of a touch if I can add a trophy to my name after only 6 games in charge! The board's expectation at the start of the season was to win the league, so it would certainly put me in their good books if I could deliver.

Squad Evaluation

- I have very poor central midfielders.
- I have very poor cover at right back.
- My attacking players are clearly the best players in my team.
- Ivan Dzoni is a very good player at this level.
- I have a pretty decent goalkeeper.
- Outside of my main two central defenders, I have extremely poor cover.
- Nearly my whole team is from Singapore, with 1 player from Croatia and 1 from Japan.
- I have virtually no height throughout the whole team so playing the ball high and long, or wide with lots of crosses is going to be pointless.
- Virtually everyone in the team has a balanced personality.

Well, we gave it a bloody good go and remained unbeaten throughout my 6 games in charge. With those results, I managed to lift Tampines from 5th when I took over, to finish 2nd in the table and qualify for the Asian Confederations Cup next season

Not much to update you on before pre season begins in January. Just a few news items coming out of the club...

The board are looking at building a new stadium back in the club's home town of Tampines. There are no solid plans in place just yet, but it's good to see the club planning for the future and I'm sure this will go down well with the fans.

The club are investing in me! Sending me on a new coaching course to gain my National C License.

On the commercial front, we announced an additional main kit sponsor.

And the board have set the budgets for the upcoming season.