Back to the Journey man. A Lisbon lion's tale.

Big win over Widzew! Keep it going!

That was our biggest game of the season so far and just call us the mailmen as we delivered! Ha jokes aside it was a great result, and depstie the scoreline was a pretty even game. We just took our chances our set pieces. Long 3 month winter break now.

Great to beat Widzew, that was important, things are looking good my man!

Cheers mate, things are going well so far and I am confident we can definitely keep it up.

Only a small update this time as there was the big 3 month winter break from November right up until March. Before the break we were in Poland cup action against top division team Piast who turned us over 1-0. Not too disheartened at this however.



During the 3 month break in Poland I noticed Boavista had sacked their manager Jorge Costa after not really that bad a run of form and sitting 4th in the league. I’m actually happy at their plight long may it continue







During the transfer window a number of players kicked up a fuss about wanting to leave. Whilst I managed to talk most of them down center half Alan Uryga more or less forced my hand and got a move to Arka in the top division. Hopefully this doesn’t hamper us too much as we’re in with a real shout of getting promoted.



So the league makes its return and we faced Ruch Chorzow first and absolutely smashed it with a 3-1 win. Awesome performance and not 1 bit of rust from our long break



Next up were Rakow away and we rode our luck a bit after going behind we went in at half time 2-1 up and managed to make it 3-1 before letting in a goal in the 85th. We saw out the last 5 minutes and injury time to secure another win



Garbania at home next who beat us last time we played and we managed to get revenge with a 2-0 win. The red card helped as we were 1 up at that point but a good result nonetheless



A good away win over Stal Mielec next and another red card in our favour. Maybe we should have won by a bigger margin but I’m happy with the result



ARC Oleiros finally got a long overdue win by beating Gil Vicente 2-0 at home. The result doesn’t really do much as they are propping up the league but I’m happy for my old team finally getting a win with my man Lassina Toure picking up the man of the match award.





More wins for us now as we managed back to back victories over Podbeskidzie (3-0) and Radomiak (4-2) to continue our great form in March.





Before our final league game of March I am offered, and signed a contract extension. I won’t lie I’m absolutely loving life in Poland and staying for at least another year was a no brainer. Note the 10% release fee, this is a ‘just in case’ option as you never know what might come up.





Last game in March saw us absolutely demolish Sandecja 4-1 to round out a perfect month, 7 games 7 wins which also means we’ve won 12 on the bounce in the league now.







I don’t have a screenshot but we’re top of the league with 8 games to go. If results go our way we could secure promotion in our next game against Olimpia Grudziadz. I am confident that with our perfect form in March promotion at least is a mere formality.

Next update will be our final 8 league games and if where we finish in the league. Thanks for reading!

Some run you're on man! Won't be long till you're back in that top division now!

Yeah hopefully mate, not long left of the season and we're certainly looking like going up, all being well as champs

12 wins on the bounce, that’s some form! Promotion must be on the cards!

It's even more remarkable as the run stretches right back until October last year, obviously due to the massive winter break in Poland. Hopefully keep up this run of form and get promotion confirmed soon.

Here we go then with the run in and final handful of games of our season. A win and other results going in our favour will give us the league title.

First up were Olimpia Grudziadz and we continued our fine form by battering them 5-0. As other results didn’t go our way we have to wait a little longer to see if we’re crowned champions before the end of the season.



Back at home we struggled to beat a determined Kazimierz side who played pretty much the entire match with 10 men behind the ball. A poor performance really but we move on.



Now we’re looking nervous as we went and got destroyed 3-0 away to Elblag as our title challenge took a hit however we’re still top of the league. Can’t describe how unhappy at this result I was and the fans aren’t happy either. Not only that but left winger and main man Tiago Dias got injured in this game and may just be the end of his season.







Another poor performance now as we went and drew 1-1 with Miedz who were even down to ten men and we still couldn’t get the winning goal. Frustation at the highest level.



Before our next game I noticed Oleiros had a great month winning all 4 of their games with some pretty good result which sees them now out of the relegation zone.



So this is the run in for the last 4 games. A draw would do and we’re quite clearly going up it’s just a matter of when not if.







Whilst it’s not make or break this game against Bruk-Bet is definitely 1 I want, NEED to win. Get this game over with at home then we can relax, we’ll be champions.





A pretty even game all things considered until we get a free kick in a dangerous position in the 9th minute. Mt reliable and set piece specialist Machaj steps up.



He hits it and it beats the wall



But the keeper does well and it’s cleared



Not long after Machaj gets the ball in midfield and plays Muric in





Who finds Ryczowski inside



Who plays Fidalgo in, who takes a touch, turns onto his right





Lets a shot go and boom! 1 nil!





Shortly after we get another free kick, this time out wide on the left



Machaj sends a wicked ball into the box



The ball finds Causic at the far post who buries it home, 2 nil!





Half time comes and we’re looking good. I tell the team not to get complacent. I;m confident of seeing this through

Around the 60 minute mark we get a free kick edge of the box. Up steps Machaj



As usual his free kick beats the wall and is heading for goal



The keeper makes an incredible save to keep the score at 2-0



Nothing else of note happens and the game finishes 2-0. Jesteśmy mistrzami















It took a little longer than I wanted as we had a couple of bad results, however mission objective number one was completed and we won the league with games to spare. Definitely a good season despite being the favourites for this division.

Last few games of the season saw us draw 0-0 with Widzew in a game we absolutely dominated. In our last home game of the season we beat Kazimierz 2-1 and finally we beat Tychy 1-0 away to round off a good season.







End of season stuff now as Stefan Vico gets player of the year and our season review shows we were on top for most of the season. As well as that we had 7 players in the team of the year.









Around the leagues now and I’m very happy for my old team ARC Olerios who went on an incredible run towards the end of the season to stay in the league.







Whilst it’s never a good thing when a team gets relegated but Arka, who defender Uryga forced a move to did just that. He should’ve stayed with us, oh well.



Sporting managed a third place finish behind Benfica and Porto. Hopefully 1 day they will hire me as manager and I can finally get the league title back to The Lions. Maybe 1 day….



Next update will all be about our pre season in preparation for the Ekstraklasa . I had in my mind a 3 year plan with Wisla Plock, year 1 promotion, year 2 survival and year 3, if I last that long will be to hopefully go on a decent cup run and finish in the top half of the league as by then hopefully the squad will be a lot better than it is now. Hopefully we can create something good here next season as I am confident survival is achievable. Thanks for reading.

Congrats on winning the title! Ekstraklasa football on its way.

Good to come back on and see you get that league title as expected! well done man!

Thanks dude. The real hard work starts now.



Cheers man, really looking forward to seeing how we get on in the higher division.

Here we are, back where this club belongs, the Ekstraklasa, the top league of Polish football. This is a big club that much is evident so why oh why am I finding it hard to sign players? All this off season we must’ve spoken to 30 players all but 2 wanted to sign with us. Saying that my coaching staff are all in agreement that our current first team are decent to good players for this division, and I did say I have faith in this team to stay up.

2 players that are definitely signing are ones already here. Tiago Dias has agreed to extending his loan deal for another year, not only that but he is in his last year of his contract at AC Milan so depending on what happens this season we may even get him permanently, if I’m still here. Second confirmed player staying is center forward Jeremy Guillemenot who was in his last year of his contract at Rapid Vienna whilst on loan with us and has agreed to a permanent deal. I am happy with both of these as they are key and influential players who know me and my methods. Complimenting them is goalkeeper Tim Krul. I’m actually surprised he’s agreed to join us despite being 34 I think he can certainly help keep us in this division. Final singing is versatile wide man Marko Vukcevic who will rotate on the wings with Dias and Muric, who has just signed a new contract which I’m delighted about.







1 last signing I wanted to make was a full back and there was 1 player I had in mind. It would mean going back to Oleiros but I felt firstly I needed to only put Wisla first, and secondly that this player would want to join me here. Interest in Jean-Luc Viala confirmed







After a lot of back and forth we managed to get our man, and the price was nothing in the grand scheme of things, 50k for a player with so much upside it’s unreal. His agent demanded a 500,00 release clause to foreign clubs but I’m not worried, we’ve only got 1 goal this season and that’s staying up and from our time at Oleiros I have every faith Viala will help us do just that.





Season preview now has us finishing 14th. Not a bad prediction before a ball has even been kicked for a promoted team so that is definitely the aim. The board are also in agreement that mid table is achievable.







With that done and out of the way it’s time to get started in the league, the Ekstraklasa. I won't lie or hide from the fact I wanted more signings but it is what it is, we are a promoted team at the end of the day and not the most attractive of options right now. We turn our attention to Wisla Krakow in our first game back in the big time. This team may have been relegated without me but I am damn sure they won’t get relegated with me.

Here we go then, our first game of the new season. Wisla Krakow are a good side but I back the boys no matter what. I tell them to go out there and show the world we’ve got what it takes. Almost straight from the off Stefan Vico goes in hard and gets a yellow for his trouble. After telling him to concentrate he goes in again literally 2 minutes later and gets another yellow! Cheers Stefan you **********!! From there we struggled. We were battered from pillar to post it was only a matter of time before they scored, which they did with a good finish in the 23rd. We didn’t even look like threatening to score never mind actually scoring and they added a second late on. We couldn’t have wished for a worse start, we move on though and hopefully see an improvement.



Vico is also fined 2 weeks wages for this absolute embarrassment of a showing. He accepts his fine.

Our next game of the new season sees us take on Jagiellonia at home. Our season starts today, this is where we lay down the marker and let the rest of the league know we’re not here just to make up numbers. Hopefully my rallying cry rubs off on the players and we put in a good shift





All things considered it’s a pretty even game up unto the 36th minute where we get a corner. Dias swings it in



Finds new boy Vukcevic at the far post



He heads it down into the path of Nwakali who hits a first time volley



At first viewing it looked like an absolute belter, however it took a wicked deflection before going in and has gone down as an own goal. Not that it matters much, 1-0!



Late in the first half Jagiellona are pushing forward and send a long ball over the top, which Viala expertly cuts out and finds Dias





Dias is off and sends his own long ball forward towards Ivan Fidalgo





Fidalgo takes a touch before moving forward



He’s through on goal…..





Second half now and more or less straight away they get a corner



It’s whipped in deep and headed back towards goal



It’s hit on the volley and flies into the net, 2-1 they’re back in the game





10 minutes to go and Viala cuts out another long ball



Which finds Vukcevic



Who plays in Dias who made an intelligent run in front of him



Dias plays in Chen out wide on the left who fires the ball across goal



Dias himself gets on the end of it….



But it’s blocked, only to fall to Vukcevic, 3-1 and game over!!









A massive win and a good all around performance. Hopefully that will continue into our next game as we’re away to Legia Warsaw, the biggest team in Poland.

Despite going behind early on we equalised straight away before conceding before half time. Second half we came out strong and once again equalised to make it 2 all. Shortly after we let our guard down and conceded what turned out to be the winning goal. Losing to Legia isn’t that bad as they’ve won the league many times and are the favourites, however we showed great determination to get back in the game not once but twice. I am confident we can stay up this year after this match.



Next up were Lodz who had signed Daniel Smuga from us when we were relegated and we definitely got 1 over on him! Unbelievable stuff as this was a pretty even game we just took our chances and went 4 nil up before half time. Second half they didn’t look like scoring and we saw it out.



With that 4-0 win we came so very close to having 11 players in the team of the week



Next up were Korona away who decimated us despite the scoreline staying at 2-0. We had Tim Krul to thank keeping this at 2. Also Dias got injured in this game to make it a bad day all around





So that brings an end to our first month back in the big time. 1 thing for sure is we have goals in our team, however we also concede a lot of goals too. So that’s something to work on. I am happy so far as we’re not propping the league up and really everything considered we’re holding our own so far. The rest of the season looks promising.



Thanks for reading.

August 2022

Month number 2 now for us as we’re looking to improve on our current 2-3-0 record after 5 games. Next up are a team close to my heart, Slask Wroclaw .I have actually been to Slask’s stadium and believe me it’s a thing of beauty. Slask are a team I want to manage in this save and I’ll be looking for a good performance from the team here.

When I said I wanted a good showing I didn’t think we’d see another 4 goals in the first half of a game! My word we absolutely took it to them and even at 4 nil up we didn’t look like slowing down and it could’ve been a higher scoring game for us on another day.



Not quite the high scoring game as last time but we managed a win nonetheless at home to Zaglebie Lubin. A pretty solid showing again and another 3 points.



2 poor results rounded up August as we laboured to a 1 all draw away at Cracovia in a game they absolutely dominated, so really a draw wasn’t that bad a result before we saw another poor game and lost 1-0 to Pogon in a game they also dominated. Both of these games could’ve been worse results for us any other day so I’m kind of disappointed in 1 sense but not too disheartened as we’re still finding our feet back in the top league.





Finishing off August was transfer deadline day and we had 2 deals, 1 in 1 out. Firstly left winger Calo had kicked up a bit of a fuss wanting to leave. He’s been a decent option, but I’d rather just let him leave so as not to cause any friction in the team. He goes out to Miedz on a permanent deal whilst we secure Bartlomiej Pawlowski on loan from Slask. It’s a like for like replacement as Pawlowski can play on both wings and up front.








First game in September sees us getting humiliated at home to Lechia Gdansk in a game we showed absolutely no desire despite scoring twice. Nothing more to add, we were terrible, moving on.



We did however follow up that 5-2 defeat with a 5-1 win of our own over Piast Gliwice. A good all around performance by us and very deserved.



Back to back losses followed as we went down 2-0 away to Gornik Zabrze and losing late on 1-0 to Rozwoj Katowice. Not much to say other than we weren’t even close to playing like we have done previously and totally deserved these losses.





We play Lech Poznan next who have just sacked their manager after a bad run of form. This is quite a big club and 1 where Robert Lewandoski played before going to Dortmund. Not only that but I’m linked to the job and confirm I’d be interested in taking over I’m not going to actively follow this up as I’m happy at Wisla, for the time being.







The game itself we dominated really. Only a lapse in concentration in the final minute allowed Lech to get a very undeserved equaliser. Not too upset as despite their form Lech are still a massive club so a point away to them is always a good result.





For a promoted team that really didn't strengthen too much in the summer, I'd say we're doing alright. We're not getting battered every week although there has been a couple of one sided results, but in most matches we have been in the game for most of it and held our own. I'm still confident of staying up this year and feel we can only improve from here. Nothing came of the Lech Poznan links but I'm happy here for now. Who knows what the next few months might bring, we've only got October to go then there's the 3 month winter break.

Next update will be how we got on in October and if anything happen during the break and into the final 3 months of the season. Thanks for reading, it is much appreciated.

October 2022

We kick off our next round of games in Ekstraklasa at home to Katowice looking to build on the 1 all draw with Lech, however as it turns out we were pretty bad. We were second best all over the pitch in this one. We’ve got to play better than this going on.



We followed up that home loss with another home game, this was against Widzew Lodz who managed to batter us nil nil as we never looked like getting anything out of this game either. Still it’s definitely a point gained and not 2 dropped.



Just after this Paderborn, current basement team in the Bundesliga offer me the chance of an interview. I politely decline as I’m not ready to leave Poland just yet. Plus I think I’ve got a better chance of keeping Wisla Plock in this league than I would if I went there to attempt to keep Paderborn in the Bundesliga.



We played Jagiellona next and whilst we beat them in our second game of the season we just about scraped a 1 all draw this time around. Despite having more possession and shot, most of which were half chances or just hit and hopes, we never really looked like winning this one. We even missed a penalty to make it a completely bad day all around.



We entertained the big boys now as Legia came to our place, not even break a sweat and win 3-1. Moving on.



After the match, not that it’s enough we’re struggling now the fans are getting on my back.



Just to make it a no win October LKS Lodz absolutely embarrassed us 4-1. Games like this make you question everything. Somethings got to give, there’s got to be some change along the way.



That brings us to the end of October and thank God we’ve got this winter break coming up. We’ve got to go away, think things through and come back stronger than this, 9 games with no wins and some bad performances in there for good measure. Dressing room atmosphere is poor despite the team still backing me, I just wished they’d back themselves on the pitch a bit more.





Just as the team are on holiday, I get another job interview request, this time a big club in the form of Sturm Graz from Austria. I won’t lie, I wouldn’t mind getting this one, it’s a definite improvement on my current job and they’re a bigger club than Wisla. Not only that maybe if I leave not I may not continue in this poor form. Fingers crossed.



During our winter break the World Cup of 2022 was held in Qatar and played during November. The final stages looks like this, with Nigeria pulling off 2 massive wins over Germany & Italy to get knocked out by eventual runners up Wales.



The main reason I’m showing this is because you’ll notice England got knocked out in the second round, prompting Gareth Southgate to get sacked, then this happens:





It’s my heroes first national job and a big one at that. Sporting are now looking for a new manager, however as much as I’d love to apply, I’d get laughed at right now.

Next update is going to be what if anything happened in the winter transfer window and the final 3 months of the season to see where we end up in the league.

Thanks for reading!

Take it there is no chance you can get the Sprting job so early on? I'm guessing your rep isn't quite there for that yet? Need to do something to get out of the slump in form!

Congrats on the promotion! It looks like you’ve got enough about you to stay up, fingers crossed!

Haha no way I'd get it yet, Patrick Vieira is the front runner as much as I want it, if I apply I think it would hamper my relationship with the board as my job status is secure but the bar is only half full. Going to try and build up my rep a bit more. As for the form it's bad but hopefully the winter break might sort it out and we kick on when we're back.

Cheers mate, hopefully this run of form is temporary and we really push on after the winter break.

It’s an eerily familiar feeling, we’re not playing well, we’re not getting decent results and the fans are on my back. It takes me back to my time at Oleiros where this kind of thing happened there, we went on a poor run and lost 6 in a row before I changed things up and we went on a pretty decent run towards the end of that season so maybe I change it up here? Maybe I go and completely rejig the team. No, not yet. I’ve had an idea on how we’re setting up each game and don’t want to deviate away from that, just yet. I’m going to give it 1 more game before changing things.

First game up after the winter break we’re at home to Korona, and we need a win or at the very least a draw and a good performance. We set up as we have most of the season in a flat 442 and the intention is to take to them. We make a break through early in the first half and never looked back. The game was sealed when Fidalgo grab a late second and my word did we need this victory!





Confirmed just after our game was that Nuno Espirito has been chosen as the man to lead my club Sporting Lisbon after Jorge Jesus left for England. Not a bad replacement and I will be keeping a keen eye on how he gets on



This popped up before our next game against Slask



This is a bit worrying, the club haven’t made any moves to secure my services at the minute, and with a few more bad performances their hand may be forced sooner.

Slask have been poor in the league and are near us in the bottom half. Praying we carry the form from the last game into this one. Not even close. I’m very concerned with this performance hopefully it’s just a blip.



Rounding off January was another piss poor showing as we got dismantled 3-0 away to Zaglebie. I’ve got to sort this out somehow, the transfer window is coming up, but with how much I struggled in the window before the season I’m not hopeful of improving my team with new signings.







Not only that but unsurprisingly my job is currently insecure.










Next game sees us at home to Pogon looking for a win to try and ease the pressure, and you know what happened? We got thumped despite it being a pretty end to end game but it’s the result that matters. Hopefully we can pick ourselves up and try and move on from this.



Captain Stefan Vico gives a public show of support but my job is now very insecure. It looks like only a matter of time before I’m given the boot





So it is looking more and more likely I am to be given my P45, how would my team respond in our next game against Cracovia? We lose, again, obviously. The red card didn’t help as it was still only 1 nil then and at 1 nil there’s always a chance but not on this day.





Somewhat surprisingly I’m still here after that game, however the media are quick to point out that a bad result against Piast in our next game could be my final game as Wisla Plock manager



Can you believe it, another poor result. At home I thought we might just take it to them but they were the better team all around and the team never looked like giving me any hope of staying in this job.







The bad news keeps coming as Tim Krul is more or less ruled out for the rest of the season, however the cynic in me says hopefully our back up keeper Dahne steps in and maybe, just maybe improves our results. We’ll see.



There’s 1 game left in January and it’s against Lechia Gdansk who more or less didn’t even break a sweat and absolutely destroyed us, destroyed morale and probably destroyed my chances of staying here.







After that abysmal performance we managed 2 signings on deadline day, not for want of trying but I just couldn’t get any players to come in, none that I felt would improve our team however. First in is center half Martin Erlic on loan from Verona.





Next in was striker Lars Veldwijk on loan from Sparta. Hopefully he can get us some goals to try and keep us in with a shout of staying up.





Closing out this update, I am greeted with an interview request from Maritimo in Portugal's top division. I’m actually surprised at this, surely they’re not considering me on current form? I attend the interview and wait and see what happens. Highly doubt anything will come of it.



This run of form has to end somewhere right. We struggled to score goals as well as stopping goals going in, maybe just maybe our 2 new loan signings will have a fire in them to do well and hopefully give us, and me the best chance of survival.

The league splits in 2 after the next 3 games with us in the relegation group where the bottom 2 go down. Lech Poznan are playing badly and we’ve got them coming up so we might just get a result there who knows. 1 thing for sure is I am bewildered how I’m still here, job status is insecure and with every game there is the media saying this is the 1 where I get sacked. I want to stay and try and keep this team up this season however if I fail and do end up getting the sack what will that do for my future chances? I won’t give up, however I think some of my may have already given up themselves.

Thanks for reading!

The local media want you out! Let's hope you can turn it around with the club, unless you jump ship to Maritimo.

I suppose Maritimo could put you in Sporting's eye line, so that might help!!

Yeah it sure feels that way. I'm hoping we can just get to where the league splits in 2 with me still there, I honestly think anything can happen when the league splits so fingers crossed.

That's a very good point man, however Maritimo are currently 6th in the league I'm not holding my breath. I'll be lucky to still be at Wisla by next week

Looks like the Wisla faithful are happy to throw you out with the trash! I'll be surprised if you can keep the job, but a couple good performances could help

I know right! I'm favoured personnel as well, so if they do decide enough is enough then so be it. We'll see what the future brings, I'm not confident of staying however.

Can we press the panic button yet? I asked myself this at least 100 times already. It doesn’t matter that this team has only just been promoted to this division, or that this whole club was on it’s way to becoming an afterthought before I came here, no that doesn’t matter as now I’m precarious in my job status and apparently 1 more bad result and I’m gone. Well if it wasn’t for me this club probably wouldn’t even be in this division! Sour grapes maybe but the players don’t perform the manager gets the abuse, but when the team the manager picks wins they get all the praise and the manager isn’t given credit. Oh well whatever, I’ve got enough about me to try and get this club out of this mess and I’ll be damned if we’re going down, we’re going down fighting!



First up in March are Gornik Zabrze at home. At this point I’m not bothered about the performance, I don’t care if we get 3 own goals scored against us, I don’t care if we get battered all over the pitch just as long as we win the game by any means!



Where oh where has this type of performance been! Let’s forget that new signing Veldwjik scored a brace for 1 minute, lets also forget that we abslolutely dominated this game all over the pitch, but how bad must they have been for left back Nwakali to get a hat trick, a bloody hat trick from a left back!!! Okay they all came from set pieces but whatever, we thumped this lot 6-1! We’ve got to carry this type of form on now and get as far away from the bottom of the league as possible. The news item says he's a playmaker as CM is his natural position, but he's green at most positions and played this game at left back.



Remember when I said Lech Poznan (still a big club despite this form!) are hanging around the bottom of the league with us? Well they’re up next and you know what happened?


It’s amazing what 2 wins can do. Now my board say I’m secure in my job. I’m not sure what to make of this, but we’ve still got a long way to go as the league will split in 2 now and whilst we’ve played well there is still the possibility of relegation. Also how am I supposed to make high profile signings if firstly I struggles to get the few players in I did, and the fact we’re still a promoted team and staying in this league is the only objective this year.





2 more games now before the league splits into the championship and relegation groups, and first up were Katowice away. A fair 0-0 draw however with the last 2 games in mind I can’t help but think this is 2 points dropped. But still not another defeat.



Widzew Lodz next and this was a poor game. A game we threw away in 1 respect as we took the lead and actually looked like adding more but after the break it seemed like they turned up and really took it to us. Poor second half and a poor result going into the split.



The league now splits in 2. The bottom 2 teams are relegated to league 1 and at the start of these 7 games Katowice and Slask are the 2 in the relegation places.



**disclaimer, for the eagle eyed amongst you see if you can spot the glaringly obvious mistake / bug in the next couple of posts. I have logged it as a bug over on the SI forums**

We’re up against Slask first and we got what could prove to be a vital win. Stefan Vico, you know right back Stefan Vico grabbing a brace. It was an end to end type of game as both teams really went for it and both keepers kept the score at 2-1. On another day we could’ve lost this.



We followed up that good win with a 2-2 away draw with Zabrze. Not too upset with this as we’re still doing okay, sort of.



Another draw followed, this time 1 all at home to Katowice. I’d like to close games out and get another win on the board to ease our relegation fears but we move on



Now we’re talking as we managed a win over Widzew Lodz. Despite the red card we managed to hold on and get some vital points on board toward the end of the season.



Good job we did manage to get that win over Widzew as we went down to Lodzi after going ahead. Another game we threw away a lead to lose. It could’ve been worse had they converted that penalty but a loss is still a loss.



Lech Poznan up next and a win here would guarantee our safety in the league, and a win is what we got. A pretty nervy game but both teams went at it for the win and we managed to take our chances whereas Lech didn’t.



Last up in a meaningless game were Zaglebie and with our survival mathematically confirmed we set up just to enjoy the game and we managed a 1 all draw despite being second best in this game. I’m not concerned, we survived and that’s the main thing.





Also confirmation that Lechia Gdansk won the league. Well done to them I guess.



So that’s that, we made it, well I made it to the end of the season. Despite it looking very likely I’ll be given the boot I managed to keep this team in the league. We finished in 4th place in the relegation group, 6 points above Slask who were unfortunately relegated. I literally haven’t thought about next season at all, I’m not sure if I’m going to stay here, all the will they won’t they sack me carry on really made me think I’m not as highly thought of here as I thought I was. I took this team and got them back here, not only that I made sure they’re going to be here next season as well. What more do they want, this club could’ve so easily gone on a downward spiral and stuffed it last year but because of me it didn’t it. Call me a narcissist but there’s 1 man and 1 man alone responsible for steadying the ship, getting the team together last year and promoted, and for keeping this team in the league and that’s me, Manuel Vargas!




Next post will be what happens after this season, if I stay or go and end of season stuff. Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!

Here we are, at the end of a tough and long season for me. Time and time again I was on the verge of getting sacked, can I be bothered with going through all that again? What choice do I have, I mean I'm still relatively a nobody in the footballing world, I've got 2 promotions to my name but that's it. I need to think long and hard about what to but first let me see how our end of season stuff











Machaj getting player of the year is no surprise to me as he was a stand out in midfield. Also the fans released our best 11 but I've never been sure how they work that out as Acron was only here 1 season, Varela, Furman and Ricardinho helped get the club relegated as did Urgya.

The phone rings and it's an unknown number calling, now usually I'm a bit sceptical about answer with held numbers but I answer anyway. An unfamiliar voice on the other ends speaks in Polish. ‘Manuel, have you got a minute? I’d like to arrange a meeting’

This is unexpected. Lech sacked the manager, their second this season just and I mean just avoiding relegation finishing 2 points above Slask. Their still a big club. They’re still going to attract big names and could probably challenge at the top end of the league. This season was just a blip and let’s be real, there’s more chance of me winning something there then at Wisla. The interview date is set.

3 days pass and nothing.



Can’t say I wasn’t expecting that outcome really. I’ve not got much about me right now, I think the best thing to do is dust myself off, get my team ready and do everything I can to not only do better than last season but give the cup a good go and show the world just what Manuel Vargas is really made of!

On my way out of the training ground a the clubs press officer Lena Gorska asks for a minute of my time, I oblige.
‘Manuel, what do you think of the mini manager merry -go-round going on?’
‘I’m sorry, what?’
‘Well as you know Sa Pinto has left Legia Warsaw and has gone….’
‘Wait, what?!? Really’
‘Yes really, he’s gone to Borussia Monchengladbach. Anyway, Ronald De Boer has taken over at Legia’
‘Okay that’s a good move for them, a really good move actually. But again, what has this got to do with me?’
‘Well as De Boer has left Dinamo Zagreb to go to Legia, the Lokomotiva Zagreb manager Borimir Perkovic has left to take over at Dinamo’
‘In Croatia?’
‘Yes, Croatia’.
‘Again, why does this concern me?’
‘Don’t you see? You’re the favourite for the Lokomotiva Zagreb job!’
‘Me, really? Why me, what have I done to get linked to a job in Croatia?!?
‘Just embrace it, this could be a good move for you. Plus I’ve already confirmed your interest to the media’





‘You’ve done what?!?’ Just as I said those words, my phone rang.



Okay. This is unexpected. Croatia. World cup runners up in 2018. A decent league dominated by Dinamo and Hadjuk. I attend the meeting with an open mind. I’ve been rejected by every team that has approached me, I have applied for 1 job and that was at Wisla, everyone seemed to just be playing with me. We’ll see how this plays out, I’d be happy to take over at Lokomotiva Zagreb and maybe win something but we’ll see.

A full 2 weeks passes by. During this time I made sure Wisla’s director of football got player and staff contracts tied up. I was given budget info for next season and for the most part it looks likely I’ll be here next season hopefully improving our fortunes. I decide that I am going to sit down with Tiago Dias who’s loan deal is up at the end of the month, as is his contract at AC Milan. Zaragoza, Maritimo and Alaves are all interested in him, so keeping him here is definitely a long shot. As well as that I offer a contract to loan signing Martin Erlic as keeping him here will definitely improve our chances of a good season. But just before I go down to the training ground the clubs secretary says there is someone on hold and I need to take the call.

Back to my office I pick the phone up, and hear 3 words ‘Manuel, it’s time’