[FM18] The Ultimate Journeyman Challenge - Second Leg

Good luck with this, its a long way to the top in your structure but it'll make a sensational career if you get it there!

Thanks @r96Skinner, I'm quite looking forward to the format, although we really will have to be the best team in the league to win it, you can't rely on others messing up here!

@Suffolk Seasider Yeah I can agree with that, the oldest player in my squad is 29, and half of them are 17 or younger so. It's crazy how football actually means so much to these people with everything else going on around them, so I'll try to do it justice!
Well spotted, I have indeed completed my National B, but as it was completed between clubs I didn't get a notification so forgot to mention.

Thank you ever so much @ErRaptorz, that is lovely to read, glad you enjoy it, I'll be sure to update as regularly as possible.

Thanks @Dan, I never do anything by halves that's for sure. As soon as I'm a few seasons in I know I'll have the motivation to see it through, so long as I have no issues with the save file.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

December/January 2017/18 - Getting up to standard

The Squad

Just going to take a look at my current squad, and any strengths and weaknesses from the season just gone.





Very good reading if you're looking at my current attacking options, with Khamis Leilano leading the way, he will clearly be my go-to striker after picking up 10 in the previous campaign. Wingers Gader Emor and Atem Yai are good enough, whilst despite being only ranked as two stars, Makeer Kon's 11 assists in the previous campaign (best in league), will see him hold down a MC spot. Defensively, we don't look too bad either, with fullbacks Marial Deng and Atem Riek more than up to the job (Riek getting the third best overall rating in the league in 2017), whilst Locapio Yai and Bul Mamer hold down DC and GK positions respectively.

The strengths of my squad: workrate, goals, dribbling and tackling, as well as our positional strengths, lead me towards my favoured formation of 4-2-3-1, or maybe 4-1-2-3 with a DM and wingers, both on the counter attack. For this, or any formation, to work I am going to need to recruit 1 or 2 good ball-winning DM/MC's, another strong DC and maybe a couple of alternate options throughout the front four, as this is where depth is the weakest. Again, we are a semi-pro club, dealing with players on non-contracts, so our best players may be poached away. We have £100 of wage budget to play with (out of £178), but will not need to bring about anywhere near as drastic a change as I had to with ASC Abeilles.

Transfer Window Summary

Bizarrely, the transfer window closes on December 31st, and doesn't re-open until May, despite the players all being on holiday until the end of January, with play not starting until February, so I had to gamble on some players based on last season's form, without having seen them play personally (or even scouts seen them play).
Out
No-one! Managed to keep all of my best players despite interest from elsewhere. The only downside is that my assistant manager and chief of scouting both decided that they didn't want to re-negotiate contracts.

In

Only four players in, but they all cover for my areas of concern as stated above. I'm very happy with my squad now and will play a 4-1-2-3 DM wide on counter.


Very happy here, as my Head of Youth Development sourced this transfer. A poor last season, but in the right set-up he looks like he will do a great job as the most defensive of my midfield three.



Performed excellently (6.85 avg) at a slightly better club last year. A real coup as Zalan finished top of our first stage last time round. Immediate slots in as a first choice centre-back.



On paper this looks a strange one, but without time to scout him, this one was done on judgement. Yes he is only one star, but he played every game last season for a side that reached the grand final at an average rating of 6.78 with 5 assists. I'm going to give him a chance as our third MC initially and hope he can replicate his performances from last season.



This is my depth. Fully capable of playing anywhere across the AM slots, and signed from a club of similar stature to ours, Mamur will initially start out as a replacement, but could very easily see himself in the starting XI with good performances, or if we switch to a 4-2-3-1 where he is our first choice AMC.

League fixtures have been announced, and the sides in our league are identical to the previous season. But with the announcement of fixtures, come our expectations for the season:

They don't expect much then! I can now see why the previous manager was sacked based on poor performance! There were no expectations set when I took the job as it was the end of the season, but looking at them now I think we will have our work cut out reaching the final of the cup, and finishing at the top end of the league. Now if they want us to finish at the top end of the first stage, that is fair, but if they want the top end of the final stage then this will be a real challenge.

Next update: Rest of pre-season including friendlies and predictions for our finish.

Wow what a strange league structure, however that makes it more interesting in my opinion. Best of luck, glad you moved on and left on a high!

Guess the old manager wasn't a fan of midfielders , hopefully your recruits will prove the difference and give you strong performances.

I completely agree @bigmattb28, it's the interesting and different league structures that keep it fresh for me, don't think I could do 20 seasons+ with the same format each time.

I know right @Suffolk Seasider, think they must've played a solid 5-0-5, can't imagine the number of "You're getting overrun in midfield" notifications the assistant would have given out each game, probably why he left!

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

February 2018 - Pre-season Madness

With the transfer window finally closed, attention now turns to preparing for the season, as I need to decide on my best XI and formation, as well as getting my squad up to match fitness through a sequences of friendlies.

Very few sides would accept friendlies against us due to the distance apart, and the fact that clubs operate on a shoestring budget. Even the clubs we could play refused to play us more than once, so we had to pad it out with a few games against our U20's. Here are the results:


The most disappointing thing to come from all of this was obviously the 5-0 thrashing we were given by Al-Ghazal, but that fixture wasn't helped by losing 3 players to injury early, with this being the key one.

Fortunately this means he should be back by the end of March and should only miss 3 league games, but he is the cornerstone of this team, and the only one that can play in his position effectively, so we may resort back to a 4-2-3-1 until he is back.
The games against our reserves weren't exactly great either, but I put a lot of first team players in that squad to maximise playing time.
Even better news followed our final friendly game against our reserves (a week before our first match)

I have decided to make him play through the matches with light protective equipment, so we still have our first choice LB, but I'll have to monitor him and he may make it worse, but it's a gamble! Only two of our key players out now.

Following a good transfer window the predictions for the league are as follows:

We come in at third, behind Atlabara - looking to make it their fourth consecutive title, and Kator, who would've reached the final if it wasn't for Atlabara. Fortunately neither of these sides are in our half of the league, so we go into the opening stage as narrow favourites in our group, ahead of Zalan, Kuch FC and Al-Gazal, who just destroyed us 5-0 (although I wasn't managing). Although in theory if I lose to these three sides and beat everyone else, I can only finish 4th at worst and qualify for the next stage anyway.

At least there's one thing, the players have my back and a lot of respect for me for winning the league and cup double in my only season of management.

Oh no, wait, they hate me as well! Don't really know how much worse a pre-season could go really, but I've probably now jinxed it and will lose my striker for 12 months. I feel this one will be an uphill struggle.

March will be the first time a side I have managed will play a competitive game in 4 months, and we open the season with one of our busier months on the calendar, with 4 fixtures (all when my players are injured, excellent). The first game against Citizen SC (h) is crucial, as it will hopefully start winning my players round, and also has been marked as a fan day with free tickets being given away (compared to their usual price of £0), so will be big for fan support as well. Fortunately they appear to be a mid-table side. I then play Tahrir (a), Al Nil (h) and Super Eagles (SSD) (a) to finish my first month in charge. Tahrir will be the tough game, with them finishing in the top 5 last season, and I have to travel to them which puts me at a disadvantage. The final two sides both finished towards the bottom of the table, so at least I should hopefully get off to a decent start overall. Last season 22 points from 14 was good enough to finish in the top 5, so we need to be winning a minimum of 8 games at this stage to be secure.

For sure mate leagues like this for me at usually a one and done, I spend a season, 2 at most and move on. Can see you definitely qualifying from the group tho despite you're side not being the best am sure they're better than the other teams in your group.

I hate when the players say the don't like me, I'm manager you should be respecting me! With a couple of wins they'll be on your side though.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

March 2018 - Round 2 begins

Despite being the stronger side, as we play on counter we were second best in terms of chances in the first half, but Citizen SC didn't create anything concrete. We took the lead after 26 minutes, when right winger Gadet Emor crossed for left winger and club captain Atem Yai, who volleyed home to give me my first Al-Salaam goal. Arok Aguer equalised with an emphatic finish in the second half following a swift counter-attack. Yai had a shot cleared off the line for us shortly after, but it was Citizen who took the lead, when more slack defending allowed Ayik Gatkuoth to crash home with help from the bar with just over 10 minutes to play. However we had enough fight in us to claim our first point of the season, as after substitute Wanni Mamur's shot got tipped onto the post, he had the awareness to square the rebound across goal for Gadet Emor to tap into an open goal from 2 yards. Neither side deserved the win, but I'd hope to be more defensively sound when we get suspended DC Locapio Yai and injured DM Agot back.

Even better news, as MOTM Gadet Emor is out for a week so will miss the next game against the best side we will play this month!



Wanni Mamur started well for us, hitting the post and then almost lobbing the keeper from 30 yards inside the first 20 minutes. We were the better side in the first half, and played much better than the previous game, but saves from Garang Locapio in the Tahrir goal kept things even. Amum Mamur did manage to deservedly break the deadlock for us, finishing on the turn from the edge of the box. However as time marched on, Zamoi Lul's volley from the edge of the box tied things up which they didn't deserve, but the strike was incredible. Another draw, but at least this time against a good side, but we still should've won.



Khamis Leilano put us 1-0 up on the counter-attack, notching his first of the season. We absolutely dominated the first half, and should've been far better off, as saves from the Al Nil keeper, poor finishing and bad luck all prevented us from extending our lead at half-time. They did have the ball in the back of the net in the second half, but it was rightfully disallowed for offside. We continued to press, having a total of 25 shots, although only 7 were on target, highlighting a massive problem area, but at least we kept creating chances. We restricted them to 0 shots on target, until the 90th minute, but Mamer was on hand to save. Our first victory, but against a side who had already been beaten 3-0 and 4-0, not the positive result we were hoping for.



Another poor quality game where we had more chances was decided when Atem Yai's free-kick was headed home by namesake Locapio Yai just 10 minutes from time. Another victory, but Super Eagles (SSD) were dispatched 7-1 by our side last season. We were the only side in the game, but still felt fortunate to score.

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Despite starting the season unbeaten, I can't help but feel disappointed. The promise of attacking football was one of the reasons I took the job, yet my counter-attacking plans aren't yielding the results I'd have liked. However I think I am going to stick with them, as I think it will work better against the top sides at the business end of the season. We appear to have started well, but have faced the sides currently sitting 10th,12th, 13th and 14th, having given Citizen and surprisingly Tahrir their only points of the campaign.

April sees us starting in the top 5, but with three games to play to take us to halfway through this stage, it will be interesting to see if we can remain there. We face the side below us, Black Star (h) first, before facing pointless Kuajok United (a). We finish the month with our biggest test to date as we take on currently 100% winning side Kuch FC (h).



@bigmattb28 I'd be incredibly disappointed to not qualify from the first stage still, after that, who knows? Sadly I don't think this start has done anything for the players' faith in me though, although ultimately they're the ones that need to put the performances in on the pitch.

Not the worse start though mate. All being well stay unbeaten for the foreseeable and you should qualify.

@bigmattb28 Cheers Matt, I'm pretty confident that we should qualify, I don't know what it is, but there's just something off about this club/team.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

April 2018 - Time to start playing

Our task against a side in a similar position in the league to us got easier after 21 minutes when left-back Mamer Tombe picked up his second booking to reduce Black Star to 10 men. We had the better of the first half, but couldn't get past the goalkeeper on multiple occasions. It took something special to break the deadlock, as DM Gatluak Agot sent his 25 yard effort crashing into the top right corner, leaving the keeper with no chance as the second half started. Makol Tala in the Black Star goal continued to make some extraordinary stops, tipping a point-blank header onto the bar, and diving and catching an effort that was heading straight for the top corner with players ready to follow up. Somehow Garang Ruei managed to equalise with only their second shot, collecting a long ball before walking through our entire defence alone and finishing. Fortunately we did get a second as Locapio Yai grabbed his second of the season from a crossed free-kick, and Khamis Leilano finished the tie off, as he flicked home Atem Yai's deep cross - his third assist of the game. 13 shots on target and 3 goals scored - finally an emphatic performance!



Khamis Leilano got us off to a great start, converting after he was played in by Atem Yai. They combined again after the break, with the same lethal outcome, despite us not being in the same form that we were in in our previous game. Kuajok United had a decent number of shots, but failed to get any on target.



An incredibly boring first half saw us get one shot on target but that was it. The second started in typical fashion, with Gasim Ladu flicking home from a corner for Kuch FC with their first shot on target. Serious pattern emerging here. We pushed for an equaliser and went attacking, and when Atem Yai's free-kick from the byline got squared to the edge of the box, Makeer Kon thumped the ball home into the top corner giving us a deserved point. It was Ladu who had the final word though, being given far too much time and space to finish, before adding a third emphatically on the volley as we once again pushed for an equaliser. A first defeat, yet the stats showed an even game.

A nice bit of news before the month ends.....

Clearly you are not allowed to lose here under any circumstances. 56% board support, but my reputation with the players has somehow gone down despite sitting 4th and having won 4 in a row prior to our loss? A strange squad indeed. Fortunately I managed to placate their concerns through passion for the meantime, but I can't help feeling that somehow my days are still numbered.

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I just don't think this job is going to work out somehow, especially with the players random hatred of me. The disappointing thing is normally I would go all dictatorial and put all of them in the reserves until they apologise, but these are my best, first team players, let by Atem Yai who has 8 assists in 7 games. I think I might change tactics to my usual control 4-2-3-1, and hope that the slightly nicer brand of football will win them over. I do have to keep reminding myself that I have just won two of three and currently sit 4th!

May takes us up until the summer break, with league action involving games against Yambio FC (a) and Aweil Star FC (h). Aweil Star FC is a must-win as they are a way off the pace, but the Yambio game is going to be even more crucial, as they could overtake us and potentially take us out of the top 5 if they beat us, whilst we could widen the gap between us and 6th place to a minimum of 3 points. The month ends with us playing our first part in the South Sudan National Cup in the last 16 against unknown opposition.

Weird outburst that from the players especially when form previous to that had looked so good!

What a strange turn of events form the players, kicking off with you, sounds very fickle to me mate you've only lost 1 league game and they're moaning about it! They need to buck their ideas up really

I know @Dan and @bigmattb28, it seems ridiculous to me, but like I said, these are the absolute best players on my team, so I really do just sort of have to try to ride it out. If I had other options I'd just demote them to the reserves but it's 7 of my 21 man squad, and that includes 16 year olds. I think I'm just going to have to try to win what I can/be as successful as possible and then jump ship as soon as a decent opportunity comes along.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

May 2018 - New formation, new style, new attitude?

Gatwech Deng scored for Yambio with a dipping shot from outside the box (their first on target), which was a shame as we'd started as the better side. We proved that we deserved more from the game just moments later, when debutant AMC Tombe Anyang played in Gadet Emor who, despite hating me, finished with aplomb. We started the second half as we finished, this time with Emor the provider for Atem Yai who tapped in at the far post to complete the turnaround. Emor hit the post and Locapio Yai hit the bar before Atem Yai added to the total from the spot after Kon was fouled in the box. Substitute Aguer Amum added gloss to the scoreline from the edge of the box with 10 minutes to go, just to prove that maybe this new formation idea (my classic one) wasn't such a bad idea.



Mabil Kiir put Aweli Star in front from the spot after we gave away a silly penalty. But Khamis Leilano was having none of it, first of all equalising following a defensive mix-up, and the putting us ahead with a speculative left-footed effort. Just before the break, Locapio Yai managed to concede another penalty, but this time Bul Mamer was the hero, beating away Kiir's second spot-kick and keeping the score at 2-1. Just before the hour mark Leilano sealed his hat-trick, squeezing home a shot from a tight angle. But he wasn't done, grabbing his fourth of the afternoon after holding off two defenders and rolling the ball into the corner as we swiftly countered and then a fifth via his head to give him all the goals needed for a perfect hat-trick (and two extras). Atak Biar and Chan Madit pulled goals back as Aweil Star pushed for goals, but this truly was the Leilano show.

With the May transfer window having come and gone (only two weeks long), we didn't need to do any business, but lost squad DL/DC Marial Kuol, but he had only made 5 substitute appearances to date.
We also got drawn away to Tahrir in the Last 16/Eighth Final of the South Sudan National Cup after receiving a bye through the First Round.



Leilano, off the back of scoring 5 in the previous game, picked up where he left off, sweeping home just inside 20 minutes. He doubled our advantage against the non-existent threat of Tahrir shortly after half-time as he decisively finished Tombe Anyang's through-ball again. Mawien Lobong did pull one back however after we inexplicably managed to allow a long ball to go straight to the only player in our half of the pitch and let him score without a challenge. Things were made more difficult for us as Akol Yol managed to get sent off for being the last man (by about an inch), yet their player wouldn't have received the ball? But we went defensive, but again our marking let us down as a simple ball into the box was converted by a free Nyong Malual 10 minutes from time. Atem Yai gave us an unexpected winner on a rare venture forward, as he finished via the keeper in the last minute of normal time to send the 10 men through to the next round!

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A much better month, I think my preferred 4-2-3-1 is going to be my default now instead of trying to match to the players, seeing how well that went! Leilano in particular has shone in the system, netting 7 in 3 games this month. We are through to the cup quarters where we will face Young Stars at home, a side with only 8 points from 8 games in the other group - so an excellent opportunity to reach the semis, and we sit comfortably in 3rd in the league, at least 4 points clear of 6th with only 5 to play. Yet somehow this is still a thing.



So the players work well together, are happy with their football, can have no complaints about how things are going (as well as 1 defeat in 10 with 7 wins in our last 8), but they have completely no faith in me. I don't know if any manager has been hated so much, might as well change my name to Mourinho.

We now have the summer break, so will not be in league or cup action again until August, where we will face Young Stars (h) in the cup quarters, before finishing off the league First Stage with ties against lowly Amarat United (a) and Final Stage contenders Zalan (h). I am also going to complete September's sole game in my next update as it seems pointless to have an update dedicated to just one match, although it is a big one - main rivals Merikh FC (a) who have an identical league record and defeated us in the cup final last year.

Sounds like your hands are tied with those players mate, can never understand why players won't support the manager but hopefully results don't suffer because of it. Good luck in the cup!

Straight forward month, good stuff.

Thanks @bigmattb28, apparently I'm just not a high-profile enough of a name for them, my 70% win percentage has nothing to do with it! Hopefully the new formation can see us challenging for honours (the cup is looking more likely than the league) which should hopefully win them around.

Just doing what I can @Dan , need to churn out results and get away from this leg of my journey ASAP.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

August/September 2018 - Can we match the big boys?

During the summer break (June/July), not a lot happened, we played and won some friendlies, including against Al-Ghazal, which was a massive improvement from our 5-0 pre-season loss to them. I largely put this down to the formation. Anyang netting 4 in 6 and Leilano averaging one per game are both positives going into our Autumn fixtures.


We manage to negotiate our way through the friendlies without any major injuries, the only loss to our playing team is Gatluak Agot, who has been called up to the South Sudan U20's for the East Africa U20 Cup, so we won't have him for the whole of August.


The only other news is that the approval for me to obtain my National A Licence has finally gone through!




Minnows Young Stars put up little resistance to start as Atem Yai played in Leilano just 3 minutes in and he picked up from where he left off before the summer break, before doubling his tally with an accurate shot into the bottom corner from a tight angle. Locapio Mayom pulled one back in the final minute of added time, but we fully deserved the victory and combinations of woodwork and saves prevented us from winning by a more convincing margin.

Even better news is that some of the weaker remaining sides won their ties so the competition really is up for grabs for us. In the semi-finals we will play the most difficult remaining side in Group A leaders Malakia away from home. The other semi-final contains two far weaker teams, so this is almost the real final on paper, with the winners of our match expected to lift the trophy. We will play the game in late October.



Amarat came into this one off the back of 5 straight losses, and when they conceded a penalty 24 minutes in, Leilano grabbed his 10th in 4 competitive games to help them on their way to defeat number 6. However they came out a different side after the break, and Bul Mamer saved well twice for us before Lotiman Ariik equalised 10 minutes after the break. The second half then became an end-to-end battle, but left-back Marial Deng's delightful swung over cross was emphatically finished at the back post by Gadet Emor twenty minutes from time gave us the lead. However as we went defensive and invited pressure, substitute Zamoi Yai found time and space to head home an equaliser. In truth we were lucky to hold on and draw the game as Amarat United created far more chances than us in the second half, but we will take a point!



In the first of two games against other top 5 sides we started excellently, with Anyang, Emor, Atem Yai, Leilano and one of their own defenders hitting the Zalan post all inside the first 5 minutes, yet none of them went in. Leilano then had the chance to convert from the spot after he was fouled just two minutes later, but he saw his effort saved! Unbelievably we were still level, but our task was made harder after 30 minutes, as AMC Tombe Anyang's needless two-footed challenge in the Zalan box saw us reduced to 10 men for the remaining hour. Sebit Aloisio made the numerical advantage pay with a low driven shot from the edge of the box with their first shot on target to put them 1-0 up just before the break, but our keeper should've done better. The second half was pretty dull, with Zalan attacking but failing to get a single shot on target, they mainly looked happy to take the 1-0 win against 10 men. But the 10 men fought back, with Aguer Amum countering swiftly and centering the ball for Gadet Emor who scored in back to back games after he swivelled and finished from 10 yards to deservedly equalise with 5 minutes to go. After the goal went in we were in the ascendency and looked like the side with 11 men as Bol Riek and Leilano both missed chances which would've given us all 3 points, perhaps deservedly if Zalan could only manage one shot on target in 60 minutes against 10 men.



The big rivalry was our only game in September, and the good news was that Gatluak Agot was back from international duty to stabilise our defensive performance. Khamis Leilano got us off to a flyer in this Top 5 six pointer by lashing home an emphatic volley after just 8 minutes. Majak Mading in the Merikh goal made a few excellent saves in the first half to deny Leilano and an incredible fingertip save to divert the ball around the post to deny Amum and keep the score at 1-0 at half-time. At the start of the second half Bul Mamer pulled off the heroics himself, making an excellent double save to stop a direct free-kick and then the rebound which was a cert to be a goal. The game was largely even with chances for both sides and both keepers performing excellently, but it was Mamer who pulled off arguably the best save, backpedalling to single handedly claw the ball away from the top corner in added time to give us a priceless victory.

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Another excellent month sees us unbeaten, although we were lucky to draw with Amarat United and had to play with ten men against Zalan for only the second time in my career. Generally very pleased with the results against the big sides in particular, as this is how we will advance through the next stage, which we are now almost assured to qualify for.

We go into October knowing that a single point from our remaining two games will be enough to ensure that we qualify for the final stage given our head to head record. We currently sit second on goal difference having played a game less than Al-Ghazal, our first October opponents at home, and we know that we can top the First Stage standings with victory over them and Tiger Club (a), who are outsiders for a top five place and should be out of it by the time we face them. Arguably our most important game of the month is our final one, the South Sudan National Cup semi-final away to Group A high-flyers Malakia (a), as a cup win would really help me with this squad.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

October 2018 - Can we match the biggest boys?

October sees us take on the current league leaders in both groups as we face Al-Ghazal in our group in the league, before finishing the month against Al-Malakia in the semi-final of the cup - the Group A league leaders.



Both keepers made excellent fingertip saves around the post as both sides showed their attacking intent inside the first 10 minutes, but it was Ng'or Lobong who broke the deadlock as we let a long ball become our undoing once more. League top scorer Lobong shortly grabbed his second as our gameplan became undone, tapping in from a corner. We improved in the second half as I subbed off three of our back 4 during the break, and Leilano hit the bar with an attempted lob around the hour mark which could've got us back into the game. But after Obure Agot smashed home from another corner, Lobong had the final word from the spot to complete his hat-trick and end our wretched defensive display and finish the tie at 4-0, and if it wasn't for the heroics of keeper Bul Mamer, it could've been more.

As tradition dictates, we lose a game and the players decide that I'm no longer good enough at my job.


Hopefully a good final league game and a cup final will turn the atmosphere around.



A very even first half hour with perhaps Tiger Club edging it was ended when Aguer Amum tapped in Anyang's excellent cross to give us a 1-0 lead. Aguto Ajang equalised just after the break with a shot from outside the area - how many of these do we concede? Leilano scuffed a one on one wide of goal shortly after, before Emor headed us ahead from Yol's cross. As luck would have it Emor then went off injured, leaving us with 10 men for 30 minutes as I'd used all my substitutes. And we couldn't hold on, with Aguto Mach volleying home to equalise 15 minutes from time, but Mamer should've done better and Kabashi Yual condemning us to back to back losses with Mamer hopelessly out of position not once but twice.

A disgusting way to end the league season as we whimper over the line with two defeats, conceding 8 in the process having conceded only 14 in our previous 12. No defender managed a rating over 6.4 in either game, whilst Mamer kept the scores semi reasonable. A great way to go into the cup semi-final and the final stages of the league as we now have one win in our past 5 since the summer break.

Even better news as my only in-form player is now out for the rest of the season.




Going into this game, things could only get better for both sides as we both came into this one with only one win from our last 5. You could clearly tell this was a game between two sides struggling for form, with Al-Malakia only managing 3 shots in the first 80 minutes, whilst we could only get one of our many shots on target. A dull affair until Khamis Leilano ended his October drought, finishing from the bench after Tombe Anyang had played him in behind the defence. He was the difference between the sides and hit the bar shortly after he scored, but did finally grab his second in injury time following debutante and fellow substitute Nyawelo Bulabek's cross. Good to see an academy player come good. We are through to the final!

In the cup final we will face Nile Eagle, a Group A side who only managed four wins and two draws from their 14 league games to finish 12th of 15. You'd think we should be big favourites for some silverware now, surely that has to cheer the side up and earn me some respect?

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An incredibly disappointing pair of league results which are a bad omen of things to come in the final stage, which we managed to qualify for in 4th due to our strong form in the middle of the first group stage. Sadly this made October 2018 my first losing month as a manager, as hopefully my last for a while yet! We seem defensively inept regardless of the combination of players I use and Atem Yai has provided no assists in his previous 6, despite getting at least one in each game in his previous 9 before this run. Everything is suggesting that we have no chance of finishing top of our Final Stage group and reaching the grand final, yet whilst we are still in it we have a minute chance. The semi-final is the only silver lining from October and I'd now expect to end my reign as Al-Salaam manager with some silverware at least.

The four sides with us in the Final Stage are as follows:

November sees us face each of them once, before the side that goes through to the Grand Final is decided. If we look at how we fared against these sides in the first phase, we beat Black Star 3-1, drew with Citizen FC 2-2 and lost to both Al-Ghazal (4-0) and Kuch FC (3-1), so if we do the same again it will match our record last season at this stage when I wasn't in charge. Interestingly only ourselves and Al-Ghazal actually reached the Final Stage in both this season and last season.
In terms of scheduling we play 3 games in 6 days against Citizen SC (h), Black Star (a) and Al-Ghazal (h), and I feel if we can start with two victories against the two weaker sides then perhaps psychologically we might have a chance against Al-Ghazal and then in our final game a few weeks later against Kuch FC (a). Our cup final isn't scheduled until December.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

November 2018 - The Final (Stage) Countdown

We start the Final Stage with the same fixture that we started the First Stage with, a home tie against Citizen Sports Club, although this time we hope to go one better and claim all three points. I started this one with the same defence as I did in the Al-Malakia game, hoping for the same result, and two of the defenders combined for our opening goal, with Marial Deng floating in a free-kick which was glanced into the corner by Akol Yol. We controlled the first half, but allowed our poor marking to be exploited again, with Arok Madit scoring from a corner to equalise with their first shot on target. We continued to dominate as Tombe Anyang hit the post, before Leilano restored our advantage with an excellent solo effort which was capped off with a placed finish into the top corner. We were the only ones who looked likely to score another, with Makeer Kon coming the closest as his low 25 yard drive came back off the post. But we did eventually add a third as Atem Yai, fresh off the bench, converted Amum's cross with 10 minutes to play. We even managed to add more gloss to the scoreline as we countered, with Leilano expertly controlling the ball and rifling home his second and Yai smashing home through a crowd for our fifth to boost our goal difference.

The only negative was right-back Atem Riek's broken collarbone putting him out for the rest of the season, which will affect our new solid back four combination.



Black Star beat Kuch FC in their first game, so this was really a battle to see if either side could go two wins from two and put themselves in an incredibly strong position with only two games to play. Black Star threatened early, but we took the lead through Leilano's 20th of the season after a well constructed team move just 7 minutes in. Both sides came forward well and Gatwech Malual equalised on the stroke of half-time, but fortunately the goal was disallowed for offside. The FM gods were on our side somewhat in the second period as Arok Mabil's own goal was a classic, where the defenders clearance rebounded off his own man and past the keeper. Both sides had small chances, but we were largely in control, and Leilano grabbed his second in back to back games in the dying seconds on the counter as he slotted home to give us a massive 3-0 victory.

A start I could only have dreamed of, with two huge victories. Now as Kuch FC lost both of their first two games, they cannot (realistically) finish top, so provided I don't lose to Al-Ghazal I have an excellent chance of qualifying, but they have beaten me 4-0 and 5-0 at various stages with my only victory a narrow 3-2 one. I'm not worried about Citizen SC or Black Star topping the group as positions are sorted via head to head records initially, so I hope they can defeat/hold up Al-Ghazal!



The worst news going into this match is that in addition to having lost first-team players Riek and Emor to injury, AMC Tombe Anyang and MC Makeer Kon would both also be absent for this fixture through suspension. But it was one of the enforced changes that made an impact, as Nyawelo Bulabek ,on his full debut, played in Khamis Leilano who grabbed league goal number 16 for the season, taking him temporarily to the overall top scorer spot. That was the first shot of the game of any kind, and the second shot of the game almost went in as well, but Bul Mamer tipped it round the post on 20 minutes to keep us ahead. Leilano added to our lead just before the break from the penalty spot after Akol Yol was pushed in the back at a free-kick. Al-Ghazal had plenty of shots, but hadn't managed another on target since the 20th minute until Ng'or Lobong controlled a long ball and finished with devastating effect. We thought everything was done there, with both sides seemingly done, but another long ball and atrocious marking allowed Zamoi Ng'or to equalise with a placed shot into the bottom corner. Akol Yol was sent off in injury time for being "the last man" for the second time this season, and yet again it was so far from a red card it's unreal. It could've been much worse as Mamer pulled off an excellent save from the resulting free-kick, but if we hadn't conceded the late equaliser then we'd have been through to the Grand Final!

Just a couple of quick updates before my final league game.
Firstly my U20's just about scraped to a league win, despite picking up 4 of their 5 losses in the last 5 games of the season!


Secondly, this is the current situation in the Final Stage group going into the tie with Kuch FC

We know that winning our final game will all but guarantee us qualifying for the Grand Final, provided that Al-Ghazal don't win their final two games by a total of 7 or more goals. We could still win the group without a win here, but wouldd need Al-Ghazal and Citizen SC to drop points in their final two games, although they are due to play each other, and a draw in that game makes a draw in our game enough.



We had the ball in the back of the net through Wanni Mamur after just 18 seconds, but he was sadly offside. Anyang Aguer in the Kuch FC goal made an incredible save, diverting a point blank header onto the woodwork whilst he was travelling the opposite way across goal after 30 minutes. Bul Mamer produced a ridiculous save of his own to deny Jacob. Mahmoud Altahir put Kuch FC 1-0 up as he headed home from a corner via the defender on the line, but when Wanni Mamur was fouled in the box, Leilano blasted the resulting penalty through Aguer to equalise. Abujohn Makol put Kuch back ahead just before half-time though, as our makeshift defence continued to be breached. And it got worse as Jacob made it 3-1 to Kuch at half-time when Marial Deng gave away a needless penalty. Khamis Leilano pulled one back 16 minutes from time as we pushed forward desperately looking to snatch a point, but Abujohn Makol had the final word, as his shot on the turn hit the post and went in. Leilano got his hat-trick, but it was disallowed for offside. However with 6 minutes to play, he curled one in from 25 yards to earn his hat-trick proper and give us a chance to equalise in the dying moments. We threw everyone forward, playing a 2-1-4-3 with 4 AM's and 3 strikers for the last few minutes, and it almost paid off, but when we lost the ball Kuch FC broke 4 on 2, and Thomas Jacob wrapped up the 3 points for Kuch.

All of this meant that as Citizen SC and Al-Ghazal drew, Al-Ghazal just needed to beat Black Star and they would be in the final.

P4 W2 D1 L1 GF13 GA8 PTS7

Incredible scenes as Black Star defeat Al-Ghazal 4-0, which means WE QUALIFY FOR THE GRAND FINAL. An excellent month, and like I said before the start of it, if we could win our first two "easier" games, then who knows what would happen. I think the fact that all 5 sides finished so close to each other in the standings just shows how similar they all are and how any of the top sides can beat each other in this league. I'm gobsmacked and actually lost for words.

Now December will be my last month in charge of Al-Salaam Wau, either because I will have won the league and can therefore move on, or because I failed to win the league, and have had enough of this country and in particular my players, who are a bunch of tw*ts. December sees the final two fixtures of my tenure, both of which are finals, and both take place at the national Juba Stadium, in the country's capital.
My first tie sees me take on free-scoring Kator, who have racked up 45 league goals in 18 games, whilst only conceding 22 (compared to Al-Salaam scoring 39 and conceding 30 over the same period). Whilst it is supposed to be played at a neutral stadium, as Kator are a Juba-based team, this is their home stadium, so we are basically playing an away game. I give us probably about a 5% chance of winning this one, as we are missing first team RB Atem Riek and AMR Gadet Emor to injury, first team CB Locapio Yai and replacement RB/CB Lokine Ajak to suspension, and most crucially, Khamis Leilano is on F*CKING INTERNATIONAL DUTY - excellent timing, it really is. I mean he's only scored 20 in 16 starts in the league, easily replaceable -.-

Our second game - the cup final vs Nile Eagle (n) is actually on neutral ground, but I will still be missing Emor, Leilano andYai , but may have Riek and Ajak back. I think we should win this one when it comes down to it, but we could easily finish this season, and my final month, with no silverware.

Al-Salaam FC - South Sudan Football Championship - Season 2018

December 2018 - Two Finals and I'm Out

Kator were clearly the better side initially, with Sadam Opera having the ball in the back of the net, but it was disallowed correctly for offside. We improved towards the middle of the first half, and Tombe Anyang had two efforts excellently saved. Then came our biggest chance, with Atem Yai sending over a teasing cross from the left on 35 minutes, all Wanni Mamur had to do was place it into the empty net from 2 yards, but he managed to scuff it into the keeper. Even more tragically Kator then broke with pace, and Opera headed home whilst onside this time to put Kator 1-0 up. We had chances to equalise, but they had arguably more, with us unable to cope with MOTM Opera. He scored a second midway through the second half to seal victory, as we couldn't finish any chances we created and missed Leilano badly. With him there we'd have been in the game, but Kator felt like the stronger team throughout and deservedly took the title.

Before the Nile Eagle game, confirmation of my National A coaching licence came through.




My final game in charge of Al-Salaam, come what may, started excellently, with us on the ascendancy as expected, but lacking the cutting edge, as a combination of brave defensive blocks, and Aguer Amum, promoted from MC to STC, hitting the upright in the 18th minute kept the sides deadlocked at the break. However it appeared like it was not meant to be a good send-off, as Lino Yaak's 30 yard free kick bent into the corner of the net to give Nile Eagle the lead with only their 3rd shot of the game. As we pushed forward desperately for the equaliser, Ruei Mabil and Ayik Yai scored tap-ins on the counter-attack as we were outnumbered at the back. No trophies, and this game couldn't have been made easier. Why the hell were Leilano and Yai called up for international duty during the climax of the season? Possibly the worst scheduling ever. I think that the most telling statistic is that without Leilano, we failed to score in either final despite having clear-cut chances in both.

I'll hand in my resignation after the end of year summary, but to summarise my time here, I think this is an apt thing to say. I truly miss a lot of my players from ASC Abeilles, Dikoumana, Bertrand, Delanys, Kidane, Baptiste Otieno, and maybe most of all Birhanu Pastor. I think the only people I will miss from this club are Bul Mamer and Khamis Leilano, maybe Gadet Emor. The whole system of South Sudanese football is one that is almost impossible to overcome, you have to be the best of the 30 top flight teams to win it, and that is an almost impossible task when your players have no faith in your ability, despite winning over half of your fixtures as manager, and the national side depriving you of your best players for your most important games of the season. So long South Sudan, I will NOT be coming back (probably).


As I have decided that South Sudan is not for me, the only possible option to allow me to progress to the next tier of the pyramid is Djibouti, so here I come!








Unsurprisingly Leilano was voted as player of the season, considering he scored 26 goals and finished as top scorer in both the league and the cup. Atem Yai's first few months were incredible, with 9 assists before the summer break, but he spent too much time complaining about me and not enough playing football, as he only provided one after the break and didn't even finish with the most assists in the league. The main issue we had all season was our quality in depth, particularly in defence, with all of my first XI getting decent average ratings, but no-one else really did. So when injuries/suspensions struck, we were left with sub-par quality players.


I won't be getting into management quite as quickly as when I resigned from my previous job, as I now have to wait for a vacancy at one of the 10 sides in the Djibouti Premier League.

The Ultimate Journeyman Challenge - Second Leg - Africa

As soon as I said I would never work in South Sudan again, two excellent opportunities came up



Winners of 3 of the last 5 league titles Atlabara, and the South Sudan National side! Atlabara as a concept almost got me to go against what I had said before, but they shipped a lot of players on since their league title, and defensive football was their core philosophy, whilst attacking football was hated, so I declined the opportunity. Out of principle I also declined the national side, and waited to see what opportunities would arise in Djibouti.

I had to wait 5 months until June (just after the 2018/19 season had finished in Djibouti) for my opportunity, and I didn't hesitate to declare my interest in the role at Guelleh Batal.



As you can see, things went well!

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

June 2019 - Chapter 3 begins

As I have referred to, I have had to travel through Ethiopia to Djibouti, a small nation with a population of just under a million people and just smaller than Belgium. Strongly linked to the Arab league, the country contains a large number of Somali people, although French and Arabic are both national languages.

The city of Djibouti is the largest city in Djibouti as well as the capital, and contains about half of the population of the entire country (500,000). The most popular sport in the nation is football, and the national Stade du Ville or El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium can seat up to 10,000 people and plays host to 8 of the 10 teams in the Djibouti Premier League, including ourselves.




I mean it's certainly an improvement on what we were playing on previously!


The Djibouti Premier League fortunately has the most incredibly simple format following the bizarre laws of South Sudan and Mayotte. 10 teams play each other twice each (once home and once away), with 3 points awarded for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss, with the side top of the table after 18 games being crowned champions. Three substitutes from seven are used and there are no player restrictions. Transfer windows run from August-October and for the month of February, and most players are on non-contracts.The bottom two sides get relegated, whilst the top side qualifies for the Kagame Interclub Cup, contested between select East-African nations, and someone qualifies for the Arab Championship, but I'm not certain on whether this is the league champion also, or the winner of the Djibouti Super Cup. The Super Cup is a one-off game contested between the league and cup champions, whilst the Djibouti Cup is a simple 16 team knockout competition.

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC

Otherwise known as Guelleh Batal, Garde Republicaine or simply Garde, the club was founded in 2005 in the city of Djibouti.They have the nickname "The Guard" as they are the side representing the Djibouti National Guard, with playing staff mainly made up of soldiers in service. Although the side has never won the league, they have won the Djibouti Cup three times, most recently in 2018. They finished as league runners up in 2018 as well. We play in yellow and white. Our main threats for the league title are AS Port and Djibouti Telecom. The two sides are the only ones to win the league since 2009, with Djibouti Telecom claiming each of the titles from 2012/13, to 2017/18. AS Port are the current holders, and Djibouti Telecom are the current cup holders.

Guelleh Batal were incredibly close to upsetting the apple cart last season as they finished only two points away from winning the league, so it shouldn't take too much additional work for me to work my magic and secure a first ever league title for Guelleh Batal at the first time of asking.
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Competitive action runs between October and May, so I will summarise all of pre-season in my next update, complete with personnel changes (staff and players), expectations and predictions for the upcoming season, evaluations of my current players and the formation I will use based on our strengths and all of our pre-season friendlies.

Good luck with the new post mate

Not been on the site for a few days mate just caught up. Well your players at Al-Salaam were obviously a fickle bunch, best to get out of there! Unlucky with both finals though hopefully now in Djbouti you fare better.

Thanks @Dan.

I know @bigmattb28, would've been nice to win something but I don't feel sorry for the players that they finished with nothing, they deserve that for the way they treated me! Onwards and upwards

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

July-October 2019 - Getting things together in Djibouti, Djibouti

Sorry it's been a while since I last updated this thread, I've been busy taking on the Susie on Tour Challenge over the past week, so head over there to see how I got on and to give it a go yourself, it was good fun!

The Squad

First things first, lets take a look at my current playing squad, and any strengths and weaknesses they have from the season just gone.





On the whole my squad varies greatly when it comes to the level of talent. The first thing to point out is the size of my squad - 17 players - is nowhere near the size it should be, and as a result leaves some gaping holes in our starting XI, no matter what formation I choose. The positives to take are the strong workrate and teamwork attributes that give me confidence that the players have the passion and drive to succeed, they are just going to need some new colleagues.

Hassan Guedi in goal, Moussa Hirir at CB and Moussa Warsama and Ibrahim Said at CM offer an incredibly strong core to the side, which when combined with the reliable options of Daoud Ilyass upfront and Agot Abdourahman partnering Hirir at CB will make up a strong XI. However, here come my issues, none of the other players at the club are of the quality that I would expect, so I will try to bring in new personnel at LB, AMC, AMR, AML and backup CM and STC roles as well. Bizarrely I am going to keep Ashenafi Ali as my first-team right back, as despite him being nowhere near good enough, he has top scored in each of the previous two seasons from right-back (6 and 7 goals respectively), and his stats show why! (Not)


My wage budget is an almighty £2,318 p/w, which is actually insane compared to what I've been working with, and considering that all players are on amateur contracts! Since we are currently only spending £42 p/w, I hope that I should be able to keep all of my existing strong players, whilst being able to entice a few more top-quality lads to fill in the gaps. The transfer window runs from Aug 20th - Nov 2nd, so I'll summarise what business I have done so far (end of October), but I'm sure nothing will happen over the final two days.

Transfers Window Summary

Out

Three squad players out, with DM Subax Ahmed already kicking up a fuss about tutoring another player, he clearly doesn't have the right attitude and doesn't fit into our formation, so he was offloaded to FC Dikhil on a free. I did try to keep Gedion Doualeh as a squad depth option, but as he plays MR/ML, he also doesn't really fit into the way I like to play so his transfer to Gendarmerie wasn't too upsetting.

The final one was disappointing though, with good ML Francis Warsama deciding that Hopital Balbala was a more attractive option for him to ply his trade with. Not a first XI player, but an excellent option from the bench.

In

A total of 5 players in, boosting my squad size to 20, a much more reasonable figure.



A blast from the past here, picking up one of my old ASC Abeilles players as he was without a club, he should slot into the AMC role whilst providing support if we have injury problems at centre-midfield.



Dominique is both an excellent utility player (ideal when we have a small squad), as well as potentially our starting AMR, but this will be decided in the first few games.



Probably the coup amongst all of my signings, poaching him from champions AS Port, Guedi will form an excellent partnership with my next signings and should start at AML.



Despite his poor star rating, Awad was the best available DL, and without him we'd have no left-back of any calibre. He should work well with Guedi as they were both lured away from AS Port. He took a lot of convincing and a high wage to come (he earns more than the rest of my squad put together per game).



This was one from my Head of Youth Development, as Ashenafi Ali will start, but if he can't perform to his 6 goal a season standard, then Migameh will come in immediately as he looks much better on paper.

I'm very happy with the transfer window in general, as I managed to find players for each of the positions I was lacking in, whilst managing to offload some disruptive players. My only concern now would be if we have an injury crisis, our second XI is nowhere near the same calibre as our first XI.

The league fixtures have just been released, which I will share with you in a moment, but firstly, a glance at what is expected of us this season.

Only the league and cup double expected, should be a piece of cake right? Well here's where we are expected to finish.


I'll be honest, I think we probably should be winning the league this year, but AS Port won last year, and Djibouti Telecom are the traditional powerhouses that have dominated the past 10 years, so it won't be easy.

Another bit of good news is we should get a lot of money through ticket sales this year. 66 season tickets have been sold, that 10,000 capacity stadium will be nearly full!!!



12 friendlies played, 7 won and only 1 lost (to my U20's) , with fitness all built and no injuries to speak of. About as well as I could have hoped for pre-season to have gone, especially with a creditable draw with Yemeni side Al-Saqr thrown in the mix. The most positive thing for me is the fact the goals came from all over the team. In my first two roles Kidane and Leilano have carried the side in terms of goals scored, and when they've been out of form or injured, we struggled. Hopefully I won't become as reliant on one man at The Guard.

The final bit of business in this long update, is that my next coaching course has been approved, with Guelleh Batal sending me on the Continental C Licence course which should be completed about February.

My first competitive match in almost 11 months (and a week in real time) sees us take on last season's champions AS Port (h). I know it was a while ago, but my last 3 matches as manager all finished in defeat, so I hope we can get a positive first result here and stop the rot before it becomes a problem. We then face AS CDE-Colas (h), before finishing the month with two quick-fire fixtures against title rivals Hopital Balbala (a) and newly promoted Arta/SIHD (a).

It will be a good opportunity to get to know my players, but we have two difficult fixtures against similar opposition, starting with the AS Port game first up! I'd be happy with 8 points from the month.

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

November 2019 - Round 3 begins

It took just under 3 minutes to open our account for the season, with Abdallah Guedi crossing for fellow winger Jean Claude Hirir to tap in at the far post. Hirir then turned provider for Daoud Ilyass just before the break, who netted with a first time effort from 6 yards. AS Port were not at the races in the first half, and things were made worse for them just after the break, as when Moussa Warsama made a good tackle on the edge of his own box, his pinpoint pass sent away Ilyass, who calmly finished to grab his second. AS Port only managed two shots on target all game as we thoroughly controlled and dominated them!



Boniface Omar got CDE-Colas off to the best start, as the short corner routine found him on the edge of the box, and he fired in off the underside of the bar. We responded quickly though, as Maxime Adan's incisive through-ball found Guedi, who centred for Ilyass' third in two games. We completed the turnaround after just 23 minutes, when more good work from Guedi saw a defender's clearance rebound in off Maxime Adan and into the net. Jean Claude Hirir put the game beyond doubt before the break as he first collected a long goal kick and slotted home calmly, before tapping in a rebound after Warsama saw his effort saved onto the post. Mamer Daoud pulled one back just after the break following a well-constructed move, before Karim Lubega made us sweat, finishing from outside the box, but Hassan Guedi in goal should've done better. Daoud then equalised and Saladin Mohamed put CDE-Colas ahead for only the second time in the game, as we struggled to cope with their 3 strikers defensively, particularly from long balls. At this point we had gone from 4-1 up and cruising, to conceding 4 unanswered goals to put us in a dangerous position. But we did deservedly equalise, as substitute Nelson Houssein collected a long ball of his own and kept his cool to place his finish into the corner to make it 5-5! We then had multiple chances to win it, with Houssein fluffing his lines when 1-1 with the keeper, and Guedi twice hitting the post. Our 24 shots to CDE-Colas' 9 showed our dominance, but they were clinical and we were far too frail defensively to claim the 3 points.



Issa Osman got Hopital Balbala off to a fast start, converting an excellent drilled cross inside 15 minutes. We clearly have no issue with scoring though, as Ilyass got his fourth of the season in response shortly after we went behind, beating the keeper one on one. Guedi then put us into the lead shortly after, tapping in when Ilyass' header hit the bar, but Ilyass wasn't going to miss again, clinically rifling home Warsama's through ball off the post to give us a 2 goal cushion ten minutes after half time. We held Hopital Balbala back well, with their only shot on target being their goal in the end, and we were always the side most likely to score another.




It took just 5 minutes for Ilyass to get his 6th of the campaign, matching last season's top scorer in just over 3 games! Centre-back Moussa Hirir doubled our advantage from close range after we won the second ball from a corner. We pushed for more goals, with Warsama hitting the bar late on, but a comfortable 2-0 win in the end, nice to record the clear sheet as well!

P4 W3 D1 L0 GF13 GA6 PTS10

An incredibly strong start to the season, with 13 goals in 6 games, and Daoud Ilyass netting 6 of those makes me think we can probably go into any game and have a good chance outscoring the opposition. However, as our draw to CDE-Colas proved, we are still very defensively shaky at times, and will need greater strength in depth there later in the season. We could also do with trying to prevent teams from getting the first goal of the game and waking up at kickoff, not 20 minutes in. However we did only concede 1 goal in total over our other 3 league games. We sit top of the league to start December, but Djibouti Telecom have a game in hand on us and will re-take top spot with just a draw in it (and they have scored 13 in their first 3 games).

December sees the East Africa Cup for the national side, and as we have 6 players called up to the squad, all of our mid-December fixtures have been postponed. We play fast-starters AS Tadjourah (h) the day before my squad leaves, where we will look to stay unbeaten at the least. Due to the cancellation of some fixtures, I am going to include January in the next update as well, where we play one league game against minnows Kartileh FC (a), before finishing the month with the first round of the Djibouti Cup against currently unknown opposition. Every month from then on is slightly more substantial!

Strong start indeed! Keep it up!

Thanks @r96Skinner! This job has definitely got much more of the feel good factor about it than the Al-Salaam one did!

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

December 2019/January 2020 - Keep banging in the goals

Excellent, the players due to go on international duty went a day early, so I'm without GK Guedi, MC's Said and Warsama, AMC Ismael, AMR Hirir and 6 goals in 4 games striker Ilyass. due to this, my XI was makeshift at best, and my bench full of 16 year-olds from my youth team. One of the 16 year olds almost got us off to a great start though, as striker Razak Ali forced the Tadjourah keeper into an excellent save after just 40 seconds. However it was Tadjourah who got the opener, with Jean Claude Kadar climbing highest from a lofted cross to head home. A true FM goal doubled their advantage just before the break, as Ally Mazag got in the way of a clearance from a corner and the ball trickled past our keeper. I changed our formation and personnel at the break, and it almost worked, with Nelson Houssein hitting the post after being promoted to our central striker. He then found the advancing goalkeeper when played through one on one again just minutes later. The stats favoured us slightly, with them scoring both of their shots on target, but we only had 3. In truth a very poor game, but we were without all of our key players! Hopefully the result won't cost us at the end of the season.

The start of January saw both the return of our players after a poor East Africa Cup campaign which saw 1 point from 3 games for the national side, and the draw for the first round of the cup. We got drawn away to lower league side Poste de Djibouti.



Fortunately it was business as usual after the long break, with Ilyass picking up from where he left off, placing the ball into the corner of the net halfway through the first period. He grabbed his second after a poor defensive mix-up, and had the opportunity to complete a 10 minute hat-trick from the spot, but saw his drilled effort saved. From nothing Kartileh were back into the match, as when Patrick Awad was caught in possession, a squared ball allowed ex-Guelleh Batal man Akililu Guirreh to tap home and make it 2-1. Ilyass did net his first career hat-trick however, as he headed home Hirir's cross shortly after the break. We ramped up the pressure in the second half, with Guedi's teasing cross forcing John Nour into sliding the ball into his own net, and George Bogoreh Salime netting from the spot. Kartileh did get a second as Duncan Warsama tapped in from close range after we failed to deal with a corner, but we were fully in control and should maybe have won by more than the 5-2 margin in the end.



Minnows Poste were our first obstacle in the cup, and we were expected to thrash them. Signs looked good when Maxime Adan was tripped in the box, but Ilyass saw his spot kick saved down the middle for the second game in a row. Safe to say he's off penalty duty. Ilyass only had to wait for a minute before Adan would give him another opportunity, and with the keeper badly positioned, he slotted home after beating the offside trap. Poste couldn't cope with the gulf in quality, as Hirir robbed a defender before squaring for Ilyass' second, but Sidi Said Wais did pull one back on the counter after 10 minutes, as he managed to win a header with none of our 6 men in the box deciding to mark the only Poste player in the box. Ilyass did grab his and our third just after 20 minutes though, making it back to back hat-tricks (or 4 in a row if you count friendlies as well). Ilyass missed a good opportunity for his fourth, before being subbed off on 35 minutes to avoid risking injury with the game settled, and it only took his replacement, Nelson Houssein 3 minutes to get off the mark himself, making it 4-1 with 5 minutes until the break. The second half was a much more tame affair, but Adan deservedly managed to get on the scoresheet, dusting himself off to convert a spotkick after he was pushed over in the box.

Our reward is a trip to recently relegated Gendarmerie in the Quarter Final in just a few days.

P3 W2 D0 L1 GF10 GA5 PTS3

Looking at our fixture list, it looks to have been a busy two months, but only 3 competitive fixtures have been played. I'm disappointed to have been let down by the scheduling of games during internationals again, as I feel we would've beaten AS Tadjourah with a full strength side, and were unlucky to not at least get something from the game anyhow. Can't complain too much about the other two games, other than I wish our defenders would learn to mark. I said at the start of the season that I was glad that goals would be coming from everywhere, and they are, but I had no expectation that Ilyass would perform like this. Going into our next game he has scored in every competitive game this season, has at least two goals in every game in 2020 (averaging 3 per match) and currently has 4 consecutive hat-tricks (although two were in friendlies).

February contains 4 fixtures for us, as we look to continue our battle with Djibouti Telecom at the top of the league. The first two games of the month are the most crucial. with the cup Quarter-Final vs Gendarmerie (a), followed by the huge first of two league games against Djibouti Telecom (h) this season. The two sides go into this one with a combined 38 goals scored over 12 combined games, and a win for either side deals a massive blow to the other's title ambitions. We can potentially go top, or drop to 4 points off the pace. The month is rounded off with games against struggling sides Arhiba (a) and Bahache Universite de Djibouti (h), although Bahache shouldn't be struggling as much as they are and will be looking to prove a point.

Just catching up as have been doing the Susie on tour challenge too, looks like you made the right choice in leaving South Sudan!

I feel trophies are coming with this club - or at least a lot of goals...that 5-5 draw

Just caught up after not being online over the weekend mate good going so far keep it up

You've got that right @Suffolk Seasider! This place has got a much nicer feel to it and I'm enjoying my time here, probably because of all the goals to be fair. The only reason we won't win trophies is Djibouti Telecom, they only dropped 7 points all season two years ago, and there's not much you can do against that!
Thanks @bigmattb28, hopefully we can!

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

February 2020 - Telecom round one

It was no surprise that Ilyass got us off the mark after just 10 minutes, after playing a nice one-two with JC Hirir. 16 year-old centre-back Agot Abdourahman doubled our lead from a corner with his first professional goal, before Prince Osman pulled one back for our lower league opposition following a long punt downfield (Shot one on target for them). Abdallah Guedi added a third before the break and Ilyass grabbed his second 15 minutes from time with a ridiculously powerful penalty into the top corner after he was punched by the keeper to give us a convincing victory over a side who showed why they were relegated from the top flight last season.

In the Semi-Final we will play AS Port (h). The fixture will be in May just after the league season finishes, and even better news as Djibouti Telecom were knocked out at the quarter final stage!



With 6 draws and only one win each in the previous 8 encounters between the sides, we knew that this was likely to be a tight game, and one that would give the victors control of the title race. It was a defensive error that gave the game its first goal, with JC Hirir robbing the Djibouti Telecom left-back on the edge of his own box, and squaring the ball to Ilyass who emphatically buried it on the half-volley from 10 yards. His second was pure class though, following some slick passing in midfield Adan played a reverse ball into Ilyass, who arrowed the ball into the bottom corner across the keeper with his weaker right foot. Djibouti Telecom didn't manage an effort on target in the first half, and we made them pay further at the start of the second, with Ibrahim Said feeding winger Hirir to slot home our third from 6 yards on the angle. Djibouti Telecom managed their only shot on target after 80 minutes, so we held out for a convincing victory which I was very surprised about and it sends us top!



Without 5 of our key players due to international callups for this one again, including 16 goals in 8 games striker Ilyass, keeper Guedi and both of our CM's. Fortunately we had to travel to 9th placed Arhiba, who played as badly as their position suggests in the first half, but we couldn't break the deadlock despite being the only side that threatened to do so. We were missing Ilyass, as JC Hirir kept crafting clear chances, but our shooting was wayward. It was a defensive mistake that gave us the goal our dominance deserved, when stand-in striker Nelson Houssein robbed the Arhiba centre-back on the edge of his own box and finished calmly past the keeper at the start of the second half. It remained 1-0 but we could've had more if our shooting was more accurate, in contrast Arhiba failed to have a shot on target. A good win with our key players out.




We went into this one following three consecutive victories, whilst our opponents hadn't won in the league all season so it was no surprise when we took a first half lead, but it was slightly surprising to see MC Ibrahim Said popping up in the box to lash home his first of the season. We had struggled to get past Warsama in the Bahache goal, but made it two goals in quick succession when Abdallah Guedi's pinpoint ball from out wide was chested down by Maxime Adan on the run, and finished past Warsama with aplomb. Two goals and not a single one for Ilyass - madness on recent form, but he did score just after the break - Elias Ilyass that is, who pulled one back for Bahache straight from a goal kick, unchallenged, and with their first shot on target. Not wanting to be outdone, our Ilyass responded immediately, flicking on a cross to the in-form JC Hirir who turned from provider to scorer to put us 3-1 to the good. Bahache looked a different side in the second half, and following a slick team move Henok Mohamed pulled another goal back, before JC Hirir restored our two goal advantage on the hour, with a placed finish into the postage stamp after a corner routine paid off. Hirir ended up taking home the match ball with the final goal of the game, completing his second-half hat-trick with a header from the edge of the box that the keeper should've done better with. 5 goals in the game for us, and for the first time this season, Ilyass failed to score in a game that he's played in! Not a bad run though!

P4 W4 D0 L0 GF13 GA3 PTS9

Don't think there's any need for complaint in February that's for sure, surprisingly our toughest game was probably against Bahache, as Djibouti Telecom just seemed to roll over and let us take the victory. Even more surprising is that they then went on to draw and lose their next two games, leaving us with an unexpected and comfortable 7 point cushion at the halfway stage of the league season (although Hopital Balbala could close it to 3 if they win their games in hand)! The only slight disappointments are Ilyass' goal streak ending (16 goals in 9 games now looks poor xD) and our goalkeeper's performance, which I will summarise at the start of my next update.

March is a quiet one before the league comes to a climax in April and May, seeing us only take on two fixtures (which will be supplemented with friendlies). These are league games against Hopital Balbala (h), who could now prove to be our closest contenders with Djibouti Telecom seemingly imploding. In fact they could even go ahead of us if they beat us and if they win their games in hand, so the importance of this one may not be known until after the event. Then to finish the month we will face CDE-Colas, who will hopefully give us a repeat of the 5-5 thriller when we faced them back in November. They are probably the best attacking team we have faced so far based on what I have seen, so both games could potentially be difficult to navigate.

I will also post some squad statistics and information for those interested as part of a mid-season update next time

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

March 2020 - The Guard vs The Hopital

Just wanted to share some squad information for those interested. Starting with keeper Hassan Guedi's stats, since I always seem to complain about teams scoring with their first shot on target.



Well he has manged to save 12 shots in 7 games, but conceded 10, meaning he has let in almost half of the shots he has faced. Backup keeper Daher has conceded two without making a save! I think we're lucky that our defence does such a good job and that we control the ball based on this evidence! And yet somehow Guedi ends up being the national side's first choice GK, and the second highest rated in the league based on performance!



The main things to point out here are 1) Thank god we haven't had many injuries so far this season, so our line-up hasn't had to be rotated too much. 2) Moussa Warsama is an absolute beast in the centre of midfield, averaging 6 tackles a game. 3) JC Hirir is in the form of his life, averaging the most kilometres per game travelled in the league, as well as being the third top goalscorer and third most assists! (Daoud Ilyass does not need mentioning here, his stats speak for themselves).



Hopital Balbala won one of their games in hand before this was played, so this was indeed a game that could've seen them potentially go top with victory, whilst we knew that if we won then the gap at the top would be large enough to allow us to slip up once or twice. Both sides came into it off the back of 4 straight league wins, so it really was a crucial 6-pointer and should be a good game of football! Daoud Ilyass looked impotent in the opening 15 minutes, spurning two clear cut chances, before an incisive through-ball by Adan left him with an opportunity he couldn't miss after 17 minutes. Adan was key in the next bit of action as well, with his goalline clearance denying Balbala's Ahmad Djama from a corner. This game was the best we'd played in terms of the fluidity of our football going forward, but Hopital Balbala stretched us at the back, with Adamu Souber narrowly missing the target after his strength held off multiple of our defenders, I thought it was in! However with 15 minutes to play Issa Osman did equalise with a screamer from 30 yards as a free-kick was squared to him. No complaints with Guedi following that one, although he was yet to make a save. Hopital Balabala then bombarded us in the final 10 minutes, with Guedi making a good save and their strikers narrowly missing. In injury time, Osman was sent through on goal again, but Guedi blocked his shot with his chest when one on one, but Osman followed up the rebound to give Balbala the win their final 20 minutes of play deserved, although the game on the whole was even with us edging it. The title race was certainly back on and I let my players know how disappointed I was in no uncertain terms post-game.



We waited a while for this one, and in that time every other side played at least a couple of games, so when this one kicked off we were second in the table, 3 points behind Hopital Balbala who had won two more games, although this meant that they'd played one more than us. Because of that, this game became a must-win to put the pressure back on Hopital Balbala, although against a CDE-Colas side who put 5 past us last time in a 5-5 draw, that would be easier said than done. Our opponents were in good form themselves, but we took an early advantage when Ilyass swept home Ashenafi Ali's low corner in just the second minute. We really should've put the game beyond CDE-Colas in the first half, with Ilyass and Said seeing excellent shots saved, and Adan striking the bar from distance, but Adan did get his goal to double our advantage just before the break with a low effort into the corner. CDE-Colas must've had the most inspirational of team talks at the break, as following a slick passing move, Saladin Mohamed halved the deficit with a half-volley from the edge of the box after just 14 seconds. Both keepers made good second half saves, with Alexandre Moussa in the CDE-Colas wracking up 6 or 7 excellent ones that normally would've gone in. I thought it was going to end 2-1 after the heroics of the keepers, and with Abdallah Guedi hitting the bar and JC Hirir the post, but substitute Dominique Mohamed's wickedly deflected long-range shot deceived Moussa and gave us a 3-1 lead. Top goalscorers Ilyass andd Boniface Omar traded blows late on, with Ilyass flicking home a near-post header and Omar blasting through Guedi who should've done better, but we maintained our two goal cushion to win a game that entertained throughout against in my opinion, the best side we have played all season.

A couple of bits of other business before the month was over, with Delphin Warsama becoming the new chairman of the club, and fortunately not replacing me (well we are top of the league).


And the other being slightly less pleasant, I've managed to jinx myself by talking about having an injury free season! At least it wasn't an important player......

P2 W1 D0 L1 GF5 GA4 PTS3

I think I was a little too complacent going into the start of March after Djibouti Telecom faltered in February and I thought the title was as good as ours. Although we only lost once, it has definitely brought excitement back into the title race. Hopital Balbala fortunately lost to AS Tadjourah whilst we were playing CDE-Colas, so we are just back at the summit once more although only on goal difference but with a game in hand so we could stretch our advantage to 3 points. The CDE-Colas game could be the pivotal one in our season if we do go on to win the title, as although we probably should've scored 8 or 9 due to the woodwork and Moussa in the Balbala goal, we equally could've conceded 4 or 5 if it wasn't for the heroics of Hassan Guedi, who finally showed why he is Djibouti's number one.

April sees the most league games I will have played in a month since April 2017 with ASC Abeilles! The bumper month (I know it's nothing compared to some other people's careers!) sees us take on 5 fixtures of the 7 remaining this season in the league, and leads us right to the very climax of the season. At the start of the month we will play both Arta/SIHD (h) and AS Tadjourah (a) without Daoud Ilyass. Both sides are doing exceptionally well as newly promoted sides this season, and the AS Tadjourah game will be especially difficult as they currently lie third and beat us earlier in the season, although we were without our international players for that one. We then fortunately have a break for Ilyass to recover before finishing the month with 3 fixtures in 6 days against Kartileh FC (h), Djibouti Telecom (a) and AS Port (a). Djibouti Telecom and AS Port were our two biggest rivals pre-season and are the two dominant forces in this league over the past 15 years with no-one else winning a title, so these fixtures will be a massive test of our character regardless of where they sit in the table currently. Possibly the most demanding month of my career so far as a manager, and I need 10 points from it as a minimum.

Guelleh Batal de la Garde Republicaine FC - Djibouti Premier League - Season 2019/20

April 2020 - Can The Guard defend against the onslaught?

I really should've put this in the previous update, but I completed my Continental C coaching qualification.


The board also allowed me to train for my Continental B Licence, with the new owner stumping up the £960 fee as well! This should be complete in about October 2020. Thank the heavens for new owners!





JC Hirir headed against the bar after just 3 minutes when he should've scored, but that was about the extent of the action in a dire first half for both sides. My lads got a rocket up them at half-time and responded well, with Abdallah Guedi netting for the first time since the opening day in the league with his weaker right foot from a corner. We had other chances but failed to get past the keeper. In injury time Arta/SIHD got their first clear sight of goal, but Ashenafi Ali's last ditch sliding tackle prevented them from getting the shot away and maintained our clean sheet.



The lads really wanted revenge for the defeat we suffered last time against AS Tadjourah in unfair circumstances, along with wanting to prove their old manager (now at AS Tadjourah) wrong for slating them in the press. It was first vs third, and second played fourth at the same time as this game as Djibouti Telecom hosted Hopital Balbala, so the game meant a lot to all of the sides involved as we all tried to get an advantage over our rivals. A cagey first half hour saw chances for both sides, but nothing on target. Ilyass was the first name on the scoresheet unsurprisingly, but it was AS Tadjourah centre-back Khadiijo Ilyass who headed home from a free-kick as our striker Daoud is still injured and only fit enough for the bench. We did peg them back immediately though, as Ibrahim Said had the ball played to him on the angle of the box, and unleashed a crisp strike across the keeper into the side netting. The goal rush wasn't over though, as a minute later they cause us more problems from free-kicks, as Moussa Warsama was controversially alleged to have pushed his man in the box, and Ahmed Warsama slammed the penalty down the middle to make it 2-1 to AS Tadjourah. We went on overload and risked Daoud Ilyass with 20 minutes to play, but AS Tadjourah defended well and the chances didn't present themselves. A shame the game was won on the back of a controversial penalty, but as Djibouti Telecom snatched two late goals to beat Hopital Balbala 3-2, they didn't gain an advantage and the title race was thrown wide open.

After the AS Tadjourah game finished, all four of the above clubs were separated by just a point with 4 games to play, although we had the advantage of a game in hand.



Daoud Ilyass marked his return from injury with his 20th of the season in a must-win game against relegation-threatened Kartileh, running onto Ashenafi Ali's diagonal through-ball. We knew that victory here would see us top of the table on goal difference with a game in hand on all of our title opposition. Kartileh knew that they needed to get something to avoid relegation, and Zephanie Mazag almost equalised with a long range drive, but it was Ibrahim Said who got the game's second goal, as he smashed through a crowd after Adan teed him up just inside the box. Ilyass then teed up Adan for our third which was almost a carbon copy of our second. Kartileh improved after the break, and ex-Guardsman Paul Ali pulled one back with a shot from a narrow angle. We then scored twice to make it 5-1, with both goals probably being the nicest goals that have been scored in my managerial career to date. Both were devastating counter-attacks, with Said, Hirir, Adan and Ilyass at the heart of the fluid, one-touch moves, with the latter two taking it in turns to set the other up to finish them off. Ali could've had a hat-trick on another day if it wasn't for the fine saves of Guedi in our goal, but he did get his second in injury time to replicate the score when we faced Kartileh earlier in the season.



Djibouti Telecom were 4 points behind us having played a game more in 4th going into this one, so their title hopes were slim at best, but if they were to stand any chance they had to win all of their remaining fixtures. If that wasn't a daunting enough prospect for us, first-teamers Ashenafi Ali and Moussa Warsama were out through suspension, so the defensive rock at the heart of our midfield was gone. We struck the first blow, as Warsama's replacement, Binyam Ismael, launched a ball through the heart of their defence, which Ilyass let drop over his shoulder before lashing over the advancing keeper. Our goal was against the run of play, but at the break each side had only managed a single shot on target. Hassan Guedi kept us in the game in the second half, with some good saves, but the pick of the bunch was an incredible double save right at the start of the second half. We did threaten with Ilyass on the break, as he almost lobbed their keeper with a header, but we couldn't hold on as Darar Aboubaker slotted past Guedi with 10 minutes to go, BUT HE WAS OFFSIDE!! We held on for a crucial victory, even though Djibouti Telecom will feel robbed!



Current holders AS Port have just mathematically confirmed safety from relegation, but their recent form is more like you'd have expected from a side predicted to challenge, so we'd have to be at our best to beat them. Adan got us off to an excellent start as he converted Abdallah Guedi's dangerous low cross. We dominated the first period but couldn't find another goal that our performance deserved. It took until the hour mark, when their keeper Daoud came and flapped at an Ali cross, Adan was presented with the most simple of opportunities to grab his second by rolling the ball into an empty net. Nothing else of note occurred and we managed to negotiate another potentially difficult fixture with no injuries.

P5 W4 D0 L1 GF10 GA4 PTS12

My target for April was 10 points and we picked up 12, so a very successful month that has left us in control of our own destiny. Credit where it is due, I don't think we'd be in a position this strong if it wasn't for Hassan Guedi, so kudos to him for turning his form round after I slated him, and Maxime Adan has been inspired of late as well. The victory over Djibouti Telecom was crucial, and also took them out of the title race, whilst AS Tadjourah fell off the pace after beating us. This means that with two fixtures to go it is between us and Hopital Balbala for the title, and we know that 4 points from our final two games will guarantee us the title no matter what Hopital Balbala do, although 3 points should be enough. At the other end of the table Bahache have gone down without a single victory, which is surprising given their top half ambitions at the start of the season. The other relegation place will go to either Arhiba or Kartileh, and I hope it is Arhiba, as Kartileh played much nicer football against us and actually made a match out of it, whereas Arhiba just sat back, defended, and didn't even have a shot.

May will see the end of domestic football in Djibouti for another year, with the final two league games of the season and then the Semi Final, and potentially the Final of the Djibouti Cup. Now our first league game sees us face Arhiba (h), just days after we played 3 games in 6 days so we may have to rotate although we want to win to help Kartileh out at the bottom. Then the final game of the season is against winless Bahache Universite de Djibouti (a), and could be a must-win game to clinch the title depending on what has happened up to this point. Finally we face AS Port (h) just days after our final league game in the cup Semi Final, and could face AS Tadjourah or Hopital Balbala in the final with victory.