Pontus Fem

After two and a bit seasons undertaking my normal game style, I decided to try something different and add a truly amateur manager to my game and see what would happen. I loaded up a who host of new leagues to me, and waited to see what would come his way.

I decided to go with a Swedish manager called Pontus Fem. Pontus means “sea bridge”, which feels fitting for a man who will make a career of travelling the world, and “Fem” is Swedish for “five”. After a huge wait, I finally managed to get an interview and a job offer from…

South China Athletic Association of Hong Kong. Turns out they might just be of the most successful teams in Hong Kong having won the First Division 40 times in their history. It's been 12 years since the FA rearranged the top flight in Hong Kong, and South China haven't won the new iteration of the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League. We've won the Challenge Shield a record 30 times, and the FA Cup 10 times. But our aim is to do something that has never been done…win the AFC Champions League.

My first request is for the board to agree to fund a coaching badge for me. It's a hard no, and I'm too scared to argue in case it costs me a job I've waited months for. I have a one year contract, and I don't want to give the board any excuse to turn it into a ten minute deal. The club is a blank slate, as there are just two members of staff on the books…me, and the chairman. It's a squeeze in our joint office, but I'm hoping we'll get on well. I have just six days from starting at the club before our first league game, and a huge amount of work to do.

The first team squad is…a squad. I make my first addition in the form of Luke Mitchel on trial. Beyond that, I might need some investment.

Luckily for me, the chairman has given me a little bit of money to spend. £460k feels like a good budget for the league, and an extra £2.5k a week in wages to play with. 

Ideally, I need to hire a whole backroom staff, and sign a couple of decent players to ensure we mount a challenge for the league. Anything other than the title means no AFC Champions League football. That being said, a second or third placed finish would mean a go at the AFC Cup…and the challenge of adding both of the continental competitions on my way around the world is a little appealing. I plan on trying to ensure I use as many local players as possible, so let's see what happens. I immediately throw out job adverts for coaches, an assistant manager, scouts, physios, tea ladies, a dog…anyone I can get my hands on really. 

Thankfully, my first game in charge ends up being a 4-1 victory over North District FC (who are predicted to finish 11th out of 12 teams) gets us off to a good start. I'm not Guardiola, so I play safe with a formation I've used for over a decade in game (obviously the 4-2-3-1) and it works well enough.

I think I might make Au Man Lok the captain and sign him wherever I go, because it might just be the best name I've seen in game since Yaya Banana.

I complete Luke Mitchel on a free transfer, and he instantly becomes the best player at the club. A dual nationality player, holding both New Zealand and Hong Kong passports, so I'm happy enough to consider him one of our own already. 

He did demand a £34,500 release clause in his contract…so I am a little concerned about what might happen. But, future Fem can worry about that. Back to the drawing board, and back to focusing on building the club from nothing.

Fem, out (for now).

Challenge One - Staffing

As mentioned, I am currently the sole member of staff at the club. I'm running around sorting training, washing the kits, giving the players a rub down, and sorting the coach travel for the next game. It's a ghost town here.

The biggest issue I have is that trying to trawl through the transfer market is difficult because I can't filter my search by those who are unrealistic targets. I know not to approach a certain caliber of player, but I'm being rejected by almost everyone I look at. Even Hong Kong physios who are unemployed aren't interested. I'm beginning to wonder whether I need to change my toothpaste…

Throw in the other big issue around training and player development. Really I need to build the squad up, and without enough staff training is ineffective, and without a medical team injuries will be an issue.

Challenge Two - Youth Squad

I have no issue with the youth team here. That is to say, I have no issues as I have no players. I need to find time between now (late August 2026) and October 5th 2026 to add some quality to my first team AND try to find a few decent young prospects I can sign up to build a youth team up. All of a sudden that transfer budget feels like it might be a little tight. I'd originally planned on trying to put most of the budget into the wages, and sign up some free transfers. Instead, I'm going to have to free up wages from the squad by getting rid of deadwood (which always feels harder when you need to do it) and hope I can pull some bunnies our of the proverbial hat.

September Arrives

As the days roll into weeks, South China remains largely a lonely place. We win game two against Woofoo Tai Po thanks to a loan goal from Shiu Tsz Long midway through the first half, and find ourselves in third place. We are predicted to finish 8th in the league, and a 150-1 shot to win the title. Apparently, I'm not allowed to bet my entire transfer budget on us winning it, even when I point out what the £6m could do for the club. I begin to feel like Jack Torrence sat around in my office on my own talking to myself, and decide to act before I go mad.

Desperate to get staff in place, I feel like I've approached almost every person I can find. The adverts placed for staff draw little interest. Not one applicant for the coaching or fitness coaching jobs is disappointing. An offer is made to a Head of Youth development until the end of the season, and an offer is extended to add a Sports Scientist to the medical team. 

I do stumble across a candidate for the Assistant Manager job in Lau Chun Chung. He's got a few reasonable skills, especially when compared to some of the assistant managers across the league. He'll do until the end of the season.

Now the canteen has a few more faces in it, I can begin to think about recruitment. I still need more staff, but as the club has decided to run both a reserve and an Under 18 team, and I have just one player on the books for both, I do need to try and find a few players to bolster those squads. I begin by looking in the free agent market. There really are so few Hong Kong players available on free deals, so before I start looking to dust off the club credit card, I begin to search for other nations in the region who might have some players. A quick call around leads me to the doorstep of the Supreme Leader, and a small batch of unattached North Korean players. Trials are offered, and accepted. Now, I just need some staff to help me evaluate them. A further seven trials are offered to some Hong Kong players on amateur contracts, but all are rejected. I even try to approach a real life friend to sign for us…sadly, it ends our friendship when he rejects me.

We make an offer to add a goalkeeping coach to the staff, and before we find out if he accepts or not, we face Southern District Recreation & Sports Association in game week three. The bookies favourite for the title, Kitchee, find themselves in 6th place and face current league leaders Hong Kong FC. We take an early lead when Cheung Lik Hang scores in the 14th minute, before Leung Chong Yip adds a second just three minutes later. Things do take a turn around the half hour mark when Cheung Wai Fung picks up his second yellow of the game. This doesn't hold us back, and almost instantly we make it 3-0 when my right back comes out of nowhere to smash it home from the edge of the area. As I discuss with the one other person on the bench about what we should do, we pick up our fourth yellow of the game inside 35 minutes. I remind the AssMan to warn to players to calm down, and we decide to make a slight change to the tactics. We are pegged back just after the hour and a consolation goal is scored in the 91st minute to make it 3-2, but it isn't enough and we jump up to second in the league behind Hong Kong FC (who have beaten Kitchee). 

Obviously we have some talent in the squad, but we lack quality and depth. A better quality striker is an urgent need, and some steel in defense is something we need to consider. We are allowed up to six foreign players in the match day squad, so it might be time to look at what is out there and who might be interested in signing for us. Whether you consider it frugal or sensible is a subjective choice, but loans and free agents are the preferred choice. I can't help but feel a chunk of the transfer budget will be needed to increase our wages on offer, and we might still need to replace a significant number of players. 

We have just two days until we play our fourth league game. A quick glance across the transfer screen, and I pick a few players to throw bids in for players who all look like they can replace their count parts in my team. Eastern District have a Brazilian defender called Victor Balduino, Happy Valley have a veteran defender called Brian Fok, and Hong Kong FC have an English fullback called Rory Lonergan. Fok is offered a trial, whereas Balduino and Lonergan are offered contracts on free transfers. A defensive midfielder called Amadou Parfait is offered a trial, and a contract is offered to Sint Maarten striker Jean-Jacques Craane. 

Will these players add the required depth to make a challenge for the title? Or will they struggle to find their form? Only time will tell. 

For now, Fem out.