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tongey
@bigmattb28, poor runs of form at the crucial end of the season are my forte though
A little bit of good news for myself to start this update off. I've been offered a new contract to stay at Larne up until the end of the 2031 season. I've been given a pay rise and I'm now earning just shy of £1k a week. That's not bad for a little old manager in the Northern Irish top league is it? I'll take it anyway.
I lied in the last update, saying we were half-way through the season. I had no idea where that came from, as we were nowhere near half-way. We play 38 regular-season games, not 28, but that's by the by now. Anyway, let's talk about the ridiculous form we were in during this 'second half' of the season. In total, we played another 24 league games, winning 16 of them, whilst losing only 5. That's title-winning for wouldn't you say? I'll pick out a few of the key and more exciting games for you.
We managed a lovely 3-1 win against Linfield to carry on our strong form against them. We also had a strong 5-2 win against Glenavon with Daniel White netting a hattrick. We actually went on an outstanding run of 8 games where we only won. Not bad, not bad for a little old team from Larne.
On the not so go side, we lost a thriller to a team not doing so well. Ballymena United ended up victorious in a 7-6 spectacle. Imagine scoring 6 goals and still losing. I wasn't impressed when the winner went in I can tell you. We also had a heavy defeat against Glentoran, the leaders of the league at the so-called half-way stage. In the run-in, we had 2 big games in a row against Glentoran & Linfield and ended up losing them both which was disappointing. You'll see why it was double disappointing in a minute...
Cup competitions now, and things have gone extremely well for us. WE LIFTED THE BET MCCLEAN CUP, after a wonderful set of performances got us to the final. On the way, we beat Ballymena United, Crusaders, Ballyclare, & Glenavon. It set up a final against much-fancied Coleraine. It was an even final, with nothing separating us after the regulation 90 minutes. I was preparing for penalties and had even brought on penalty takers so we had our best on the pitch, but it wasn't needed. Sean McGovern pivoted on a sixpence, and slammed home from the edge of the area in the 94th minute to send us into raptures. A trophy in my first full season at Larne.
I'm also ticking another trophy off the list, albeit somewhat cheekily. I saw that my reserve side Larne Olympic was in the Steel & Sons Cup, which is another one on the list to complete. I took over from my assistant manager and led them to the trophy in a brilliant 2-1 victory over Killyleigh. It's a bold strategy to win them all, but it's another off my list.
HOW CLOSE CAN WE GET! I told you that the results come the end of the season would be doubly disappointing. The loss to Glentoran actually made us miss out on the league title. We had spent all season chasing them down and making it interesting come to the end of the season and it was all for nothing.
I say nothing, but we did qualify for the Euro Cup II by finishing in 2nd position. We are in a strong position to challenge next season now, and I am to win the league title.
GOALS
1 | Sean McGovern | 38 (an outstanding effort from the advanced forward)
2 | Shea Adair | 12
3 | Steven Todd | 11 (despite having 2 serious injuries this season)
ASSISTS
1 | Khlodian Lala | 13
2 | Daniel White | 10
3 | Trevor Anderson | 9
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Sean McGovern | 7.30
2 | Khlodian Lala | 7.14
3 | Daniel White | 7.13
Next Post: Mid Season Update | 2030/2031
Dan
bigmattb28
TinakoFM
well, if Chuck Norris says so...
Jokes aside, that's (despite the slips) an excellent season! So very close to the title, hopefully you can push on to that in 30/31!
DNZY
Shedender
bigmattb28
tongey
@bigmattb28, it was the most exciting, yet frustrating game! I was fuming when the winner went in!
@r96Skinner, the judging panel have decided......IT'S A YES
@DNZY, wow it's double bad news for you this time eh? Someones got to manage Larne though right haha!
@Shedender, I've never ever had a game like that before on FM. It was insane! To come out on the losing side was gutting.
Well, here we are again, with another pre-season roundup. We've made it all the way to the 2030/2031 season and it's going to be good I'm sure! The off-season has been crazy, and it's been the board that's been providing all the crazy! I've had to suffer, not one, not two, but THREE takeovers this summer. I don't think I've seen a version of FM with this many takeovers, one after the other. I don't really understand it, but I've survived all three, and our finances are looking a lot better now so we'll be stable for the future.
The league media has predicted the finishing spots, and they have us finishing down in 4th once again. There is no way we will finish there, and it's only the top spot that I will accept this season.
With all the takeover processes going on, I had been put under a transfer embargo for a lot of pre-season which didn't allow me to sign many players. I have brought in two players that strengthen the squad straight away and I'm excited to introduce you to them.
Phil McNulty // CB // Glenavon // Free
Phil is a hell of a signing, and instantly comes in as our starting centre half. He will probably rotate in and out, but he is the day one starter. His mental attributes are impressive, but his marking stood out to me as the one. He won't let attackers past him easily and that's what we need here. A cracking piece of business.
Tony McClean // CM // Free
Tony has it all, and will hopefully, make an instant impact in the middle of the park. He's creative and has energy to burn! I'm hoping he's all over the park winning tackles, setting up goals, and, maybe even scoring a few too.
One thing I can say from the friendlies is that we score a hell of a lot of goals. I know we play a lot of weaker teams, but scoring is immensely important and we do it well! Our only defeat came at the hands of Chelsea U23s which was probably predicted. These results should set us up nicely going into the Euro Cup II qualifying!
Next Post: Mid-Season Update | 2030/2031
bigmattb28
Also, 3 takeovers, in 1 summer?!? What in the blue hell is that all about? Never seen that in all my years playing FM
tongey
Well, we've gone through half of the season, (yes, an actual half of the season, not like last time), and we've not had another takeover so that's good news. Other than that, things are going well, the finances are still stable and in the positives and things just couldn't really be better. Can we keep it up?
19 games in and there is a lot of green on that fixture list. Like usual, I'll go through the league fixtures first, followed by our many cup competitions we're taking part in this season. We've actually not had a massive run of wins, but have lost or drawn the odd game after a decent little run of wins. They've kind of been a momentum stuffer, but we recovered really well and kicked on to go on another little run again. With some really good wins against Linfield, Crusaders & Institute. We've actually done quite well against the teams near the top but struggled against the lower teams like usual. We've continued to score a lot of goals, but haven't kept as many clean sheets as I would've liked so that needs tightening up. We've actually only lost 4 games, against Crusaders, Portadown, Linfield & Dungannon. We should never have lost to Portadown and I'm gutted we did. We've won 14 of our 19 games an drawn 2 of them.
In the Bet McClean Cup, we reached the Semi-Final but were knocked out by Dungannon Swifts 2-0, after a poor performance. We had actually had a good run before that beating Ballymena United, AFC Newry City & Glentoran. I'm disappointed to be knocked out after getting this far, but I've got this trophy so not too fussed in the long term.
We're still on the march in the County Antrim Shield, and have reached the Final. I've not won this competition yet, so I'm desperate to win it this year! We have a great chance of doing so, as we play Crusaders in the final. Fingers crossed we can go all the way!
We actually played 2 rounds in the Euro Cup II at the start of the season. We had a cracking 5-1 aggregate win against Breidablik who play in the Icelandic Premier League. It rewarded us with a glory tie against Rangers. Unfortunately, this was a step too far for us, after losing 3-0 at home in the first leg, it left us with too much to do. We did gain a credible draw away at Ibrox which will be in our player's memories forever. It also brought a load of wonga into the club too!
LOOK AT THAT! WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE! HELL YEAH! It's been a close battle all season so far, and we have edged them out at the halfway stage. We sit top of the tree on 41 points. Linfield are our closest challengers as they sit 2 points behind on 39. Can we stay top, and kick on to pull away from the rest of the pack. Time will tell...
GOALS
1 | Sean McGovern | 16
2 | Khlodian Lala, Matt Kelly, Ricky Young, Ross Gibson, Tony McClean | 5
3 | Shea Adair | 11
ASSISTS
1 | Daniel White | 9
2 | Tony McClean | 8
3 | Khlodian Lala | 5
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Sean McGovern | 7.24
2 | Tony McClean | 7.18
3 | Matt Kelly | 7.08
Next Post: End of Season Update | 2030/2031
TinakoFM
SrWer
Sean McGovern doesn't look like a bad goal scorer.
tongey
@SirWerGaming, we are on a great path! The path to glory! Sean McGovern is a quality striker, but unfortunately for us, he has had two bad injuries this season keeping him out of a lot of the games.
Another season is now wrapped up, and in the books, but how did we get on I hear you ask? I'll let you know all that in a bit, but first more contract news for you. I don't actually plan on sticking around for too much longer, but I signed a new contract with the club, which earns me £1k a week now. Good going I think.
Happy days are here again, and Larne is one happy place to work and live. We've hit good form and we hit it at the right time. We were top of the league, but that didn't last for long as Linfield went on a crazy winning run to topple us for a while, but could they keep it up. We had a lot of wins in the second half of the season, totalling 13 altogether in the league. We only lost 3 times in the second 19 games and drew thrice. We had cracking wins against Cliftonville, Coleraine & Portadown but couldn't manage a win against Linfield. We did manage a lucky draw in the latter stages of the season but I desperately wanted a win against our closest rivals. All this fine form, but could we win the league? You'll find out in the next section. First, we head to the cups...
In the County Antrim Shield, we ended up as eventual winners, after a shaky performance in the final against Crusaders. It was a tight affair, that went all the way to the dreaded penalty shootout. We held our nerve though and went on to win the trophy with a 4-3 win on penalties. Earlier on in the game Tony McClean scored an absolute belter to put us ahead. A win is a win, no matter how you get them, and it's another trophy in mine and Larnes cabinet.
In the Northern Irish League Cup, it was to be more successful as we went on a run to the final, and were crowned champions on a rainy day in May. The route to the final included wins against Cliftonville, Linfield, Newry City AFC & Portadown. We rode our luck from time to time and relied on penalties but we got there and anything can happen in a final. The final was against Glentoran who failed slightly for their standards this season. Once again we had to rely on penalties, and held firm to win the trophy. Crazy that we are quite good at penalties! Alex Wright is a beast at them.
On another note, the reserve team Larne Olympic won the Development League title and the Steel & Sons Cup once again. It's a successful youth team we've got there. Some in there for the future definitely.
I told you, you would find out if we had won the league, and here is that moment! WE DID IT! It couldn't have been closer to be honest, but we just about edged it this season. We ended on 83 points, with Linfield only a point behind us. It came down to the last game once again, with us needing a win to stay at the top of the table. Both ourselves and Linfield won meaning we were crowned champions! Happy days!!
GOALS
1 | Sean McGovern | 19
2 | Khlodian Lala | 14
3 | Daniel White | 11
ASSISTS
1 | Daniel White | 15
2 | Khlodian Lala | 12
3 | Tony McClean | 10
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Tony McClean | 7.15
2 | Daniel White | 7.10
3 | Khlodian Lala | 7.08
Next Post: SOMEWHERE NEW??
I think I've won everything I can at Larne now, with only 2 competitions left to tick off in Northern Ireland. Larne isn't in the 'Bluefin Sport Championship, or the Northern Irish Mid-Ulster Cup, so I can't win them here. I think I'll move on from N.Ireland for now and opt for a change, but I'll be back to tick off the rest...
tongey
I did leave Northern Ireland and Larne and I'm headed to somewhere often called the hidden jewel of Europe. Slovenia is a little known country in Europe but has been growing in terms of tourism over recent years. It's absolutely stunning and it's part of the reason I'm here. I had a couple of offers from teams around Europe including from Greece, Romania & Germany, but ultimately, I thought Slovenia was the right choice for me at the moment.
So here I am, the new manager of....wait for it...ND Ilirija 1911 Llubjana. Yeah, that's not easy to say at all, so from this point on, they will be known as Ilirija or Ilirijia 1911. I've signed a 2-year contract with the club and I'm earning £825 a week. Not as much as I was on at Larne, but that really doesn't matter to me, to be honest.
Ilirija 1911 play their football in the Slovenian Second League which is the bottom tier in the Sloevnian football pyramid. The club was formed in 1911 and is a fully professional outfit. They don't have a nickname, so I'll have to come up with one...any suggestions are welcome. They have no rivals which mean no derby days for us. I'm sure we will make some rivals along the way though.
The team play their home games at Sportni Park Ilirija, which is a 1,450 all-seater stadium. The club needs to improve it's facilities as it has basic training facilities and below-average youth facilities.
The squad we have at the moment doesn't look to have too many difference-makers in it. We are thin on the ground in terms of depth and need to strengthen. The problem being is that the season is literally just about to start as I've just taken over at the end of pre-season. I'll try my best to bring in a few players though to help me improve the current crop. Aleksander Sitar is apparently the best player at the club at the moment, He also has the longest face I've seen. The central midfielder is an aggressive player with great natural fitness. Hopefully, he can improve under my tutelage.
Aleksander Sitar
Next Post: Mid-Season Update | 2031/2032
Dan
TinakoFM
Good luck with *checks nickname idea vault*
The 'Riga...The Green Ilirs... erm ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯tongey
@r96Skinner, not easy this nickname malarkey is it haha? Interesting step, but one I'm finding fun and challenging!
Slovenia may be beautiful but by George! It's one hard place to manage in! I may have taken on a bigger job than first thought, and maybe I'm not the man to turn it around for them. I'll give it my best shot though. I have brought in a couple of players, but I'll introduce you to them in another update I think. This is definitely my toughest challenge on this career so far.
YIKES! that the fixture list is not looking too healthy. There is an awful amount of red result icons splattered around and there is definitely not enough green on there. I knew we weren't going to be challenging anywhere near the top of the table, but we were expected to finish just above the drop zone. With this form, we aren't even doing that. We did go on a run of 2 games where we won both in a row! Impressive for us to be honest. Those wins came against Dob & Gorica. The 1-0 against Dob was my first victory in Slovenia, coming a good 3 months into my tenure. We are, however, on a run of 4 games now without a win or draw. What can I do eh?
In the Slovenian Cup, we were knocked out in the Qualifying Round against Bilje who are in the same league as us. It wasn't a pretty game, and although I didn't expect any success in this competition just yet, I wanted to go a few rounds further.
As you would have expected to look at that fixture list, we are glued to the bottom of the league and have been all season. We have a measly 10 points from 15 games and are 5 points from safety. Can we chase down Bled who sit in that golden spot above the relegation zone or will I get sacked in my first season in Slovenia? I think I may know what happens but I hope it doesn't! We need to improve quickly.
GOALS
1 | Marko Urbanc | 4
2 | Sasa Spudic | 2
3 | Boris Golob, Dragan Krajnc, Tomaz Brumen | 1
ASSISTS
1 | Marko Urbanc, Matija Avbelj, Sasa Spudic, Dragan Krajnc, Blaz Kocar, Tomaz Brumen, David Laban | 1
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Marko Urbanc | 6.96
2 | David Bokal | 6.85
3 | Matija Avbelj | 6.77
Next Post: End of Season Update | 2031/2032
bigmattb28
tongey
God this is a tough place to manage! It's not gone well, to be honest with you! Slovenia is harder than I remembered! It may be a beautiful country, but it's not a good pleasant place to manage a football team. I got this message from the board towards the end of the season, and you'll find out if we managed to fulfil their aim at the end of the update...
We were on a terrible run of form at the end of the last update, as we hadn't won a game in 4 attempts. That changed quickly and we actually played really well for about a month. We won 3 of the next 6 games, and drew the other 3. That's crazy good form for us. We had good wins against Radomlje, Drava & Brezice. All of these teams have been performing well in the league and I was shocked at all 3 results to be fair. All good runs have to come to an end though, as we went on a run of 8 games where we couldn't find a win. We had no luck, and things just went against us. That's not to say we played well, as we didn't. It all came down the last game of the season ironically. It was us in 15th, and Smartno in 14th. We smashed them 3-0 and our safety was secure! Happy days, but it's going to be a mammoth job next season to turn this team around and into a challenger for the league. I'll be searching the job market too...
Also, we have two more games left on our 5 game promise. We currently have 4 points out of the 8 they wanted. So we need to start next season with a win and a draw at least, otherwise, I think it's the end of me here at [b]Ilirije.[/b]
As I said in the previous segment, we had survived, but only by the skin of our teeth. We were not impressive this season but showed flashes. I hope we can kick on next season and show we belong in the league. We finished on 28 points, in 14th position. Smartno & Dob were the two teams that will be going down into the league below. Close.
GOALS
1 | Marko Urbanc | 9
2 | Boris Golob, Dragan Krajnc | 4
3 | Sasa Spudic | 2
ASSISTS
1 | Sasa Spudic | 6
2 | David Bokal | 3
3 | Matija Avbelj | 2
AVERAGE RATING
1 | Marko Urbanc | 7.06
2 | Matija Avbelj | 6.94
3 | David Bokal | 6.89
Next Post: Pre-Season Update | 2032/2033
bigmattb28
TinakoFM
HawkAussie
SrWer
Dragocen
tongey
@r96Skinner, job number one done, job number two, not so done. I'm nervous for the first two games haha!
@HawkAussie, very close, the first time we've struggled really on the save. It had to happen sometime.
@SirWerGaming, it is indeed a difficult mission, but I will rise to the occasion!
@Dragocen, Cheers for the good luck, I think I'm going to need it!
It's been an important pre-season for us here in Slovenia, considering my job isn't safe yet. We still have to get 4 points from the next two games to ensure my status as first-team manager here at Ilirije. It's a tough ask, but I've got some new players in and things are looking up slightly I think. The media have put out their preview for the season and it's not as bad as I thought. We were fancied for relegation last season, but now we are predicted to finish in the lofty heights of 9th. Crazy eh?
I went out and scouted the transfer market for players to come in and provide quality in the first team, or to provide more depth so we can make an impact off the bench. I've managed to sign 4 players and I'm pretty happy with all of them. I also spent a little bit of money for the first time in a while. Rok Kovac comes in for the hefty price of £6.25k. He's an attacking midfielder who can play on the wing. He's very pacey and has good dribbling skills, so he should be able to trick his way down the line with pace and bamboozle the defenders. Matic Krizaj is the second player through the door. He plays on the other wing to Kovac and has a similar skill set. I have gone for pace down the wings. I signed William Scannel from Northern Ireland, to provide cover for my center halves. He probably isn't good enough yet but has huge potential apparently. He will get some game time this season. The big signing comes in the form of Vid Kocuvan. He's instantly the best player at the club, and plays in the middle of the park. He can play defensively and attacking. His stats are quite frankly awesome for this level of football. I hope he lives up to his promise now.
Rok Kovan | AMR | £6.25k | Tabor Sezana
Matic Krizaj | AML | Free | Fuzinar
William Scannell | CB | Free
Vid Kocuvan | CM | Free
Only the four friendlies this pre-season, and we improved week on week which is a good thing. We were beaten by Sigma Olomouc in the first friendly. A 0-0 draw followed against Beltinci. We grabbed a good win against Prevalje and beat our league rivals Bled 2-1 in the final pre-season friendly which was also a testimonial. Not a bad set of results really.
Next Post | Mid-Season Update 2032/2033
tongey
Next Post | A new club? A new country?
tongey
That's right, we're back and we're back with a bang. A new country after that rather unsuccessful and embarrassing stint in Slovenia that will forever be ignored from now on ok? Anyway, it took ages to get offered an interview and then all of a sudden 3 teams were battling for my signing. The three clubs I had to choose from were Metalist in the Ukrainien Second League, Foresta Suceava in the Romanian Second League and Chornomorets in the Ukrainien Premier League.
I ultimately decided to head to Ukraine and take charge of Metalist Kharkiv. I chose them as they were in the second tier of football in Ukraine so I can build them up. They aren't performing badly in the league and have a chance of promotion this season which is always a bonus. They're also a fairly big name. I'm looking forward to this challenge in Ukraine and hopefully, it will be more successful than Slovenia.
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv are a professional team in the Ukrainien Second League. Although their name suggests they were formed in 1925, they were actually formed in 2016. I'm guessing because of a restructure or liquidation. The team goes by the nickname 1925. (It's nice to have a team nickname). The club has one trophy in its museum, the Ukrainian First Leauge, back in 2031, and has fallen back into the league the season after.
Metalist play their home games at the Metalist Stadium, which is a massive 40,000 seater capacity stadium in the city of Kharkiv. They also have average training facilities, and below average youth facilities. These will need to be improved fairly quickly in order to really challenge in Ukrainian football.
So as you can see, the club lies in the middle of the league after an average campaign. Not going to lie, it's not where the club should be, as they should be challenging at the top of the division. We sit on 27 points in 9th position. A title is still an option but we need to get a move on. The team has actually improved its form lately and hopefully, this is good for me. There will be no domestic silverware this season as we were knocked out of the Ukrainian Cup in the first round.
Another club, another squad overview. We have one player who is absolute quality for this league. Vasyl Medvedev is an advanced playmaker and at the age of 22, he can improve massively as well. He's got all the stats needed to be good in his role. He should score and assist for fun. I could do with a new striker that's going to score for me, but that's for another episode...
Next Post | End of Season Update 2032/2033
bigmattb28
Dan
TinakoFM