Around the World in 80 Days? 80 Countries? 80 Something, for sure!

7 Jul 2025

Well, here I am, not sure of what is going to happen next, but I definitely wont know unless I take this first step. I was born in Defiance (is that a place or a state of mind?), almost 23 years ago. After high school I couldnt figure out what to do so I joined the US Air Force. My Dad had been a volunteer firefighter and I even went on some of his runs and I saw the sense of pride those guys had when they successfully battled a fire and I knew I wanted to be a part of that. So I told the recruiter that is what I wanted to do. He tried to change my mind, I had done so well on the tests, but my mind was made up. So there I was. I served in England for a while and fell in love with it. I traveled as much as I could, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and to the continent. I knew this is where I wanted to stay. After I got out, I got a job with a security firm near Cambridge, guarding a British Army base of all places and started to settle into my new life.

Where does football come into all of this? I played in high school and wasnt too bad, even if I say so myself. Once I got in the service, I found out there were teams on the bases I was on and I played in those as well. I had also started coaching some of the youth teams on the bases, and even ventured into managing in the local communities. The first couple of years were not anything to write home about. But as I talked to other managers and watched the wonderful game on TV, I started to get better and really enjoyed myself.

The guys on my security team would kid me about being the “Yank” and encouraged me to try to find a gig managing an adult side. I would tell them that I had just started my job and didnt want to go through that process again. One day, the team chief pulled me aside and told me the company was throughout Europe and he would endorse me transferring to another site if I could get a manager’s gig.

So here we are, I am working 12-hour shifts at the base and spending my free time managing a local U-13 side (we have only lost 3 matches) and scanning the boards looking for a gig that I might be interested in.

Hang on….here we go!

Manager Setup

I hope you find it interesting, this one is going to have a different feel as well. I am going to be writing it from the perspective of, well, me. It will be more like diary entries, my notes while managing. So except for the league tables, maybe some player profiles, and anything else I find interesting, I wont be relying alot on screenshots.

If it doesnt develop the way I am hoping, I may change the direction I take with the save, we will see.

I also hope that I dont have any issues with the save as well. 

Anyway, here we go! Thanks for following along!

Ready or Not World - Here I Come!

Hired!

21 Dec 2025

I had let it be known that I was interested in this job. I was starting to think that even though the supporters considered me a great candidate that the board had other ideas. But then 2 weeks later they finally interviewed me. The interview went great (I even told them I needed a much more substantial payroll) and was hired by Dalkeith Thistle in the EoS 2nd Division (185th ranked competition in Europe) in Scotland. They are in 11th place. 11 points from 13 matches, 3 points above the relegation spots (14th & 15th) which are relegated to EoS 3rd Division, which the objective is to avoid relegation. They offered me a contract until May 2027 with a salary of $6K per year, promotion raise of 20%. I was told the language in the contract about them not being able to retain me if we are relegated….I hope we dont have to use that clause!

I thought that this was so crazy because the regiment that we were providing support to at the army base was from Scotland. I told the lads that I would be transferring to Scotland and taking the job with the club while still working full-time in security. I know it is going to be tough, but what better way to see if I am up to this!

The club was founded in 1892 and plays home matches at King’s Park, which holds 2K supporters. They last won a competition in 2012. So lots of history…without much history at all.

The bank balance is $57K and the payroll is $33K while we are spending about 76% of it. I will need to bring in some more players though, and half of the squad is wanted by other teams. There are 2 coaches on the staff (no assistant or HOYD) and no medical staff, which will be a huge need! I also have a Chief Scout and can hire a GM as well as 2 scouts. I wont fill all of those openings as the players are the top concern. I will probably hire a physio, another Scout and a HOYD, but I want to make sure I have youngsters that need to be developed first!

The supporters, well, there are 641 social media followers, 70 season ticket holders and we average 79 per match. So definite room for improvement there. There may only be a small number of supporters, but they exert immense influence on the board, so definitely need to keep them happy.

The season goes until 2 May 2026 with 15 teams in the division, playing each other twice. So almost half of the season is already gone. The transfer window opens on 1 Jan and closes 1 Feb. So hopefully some time to get some improvements in the squad.

My first match will be in 6 days so no time to even unpack! I loaded everything I owned into the back of the taxi (it was only a couple of bags) and headed to the station to catch the train to Scotland.

Here we go! Once I get there and get a chance to evaluate the squad I will update this documentation. 

Oh yea, I have decided to keep a record of my experiences, so maybe it will be something to look back on and say “this is where it all started” or at worst…"this is where I went wrong…"
 

23 Dec 2025
Got in town last night and I think I slept 2 hours since then. Luckily I dont start my security job until after the new year, so I have some time to take a look at the facilities and the squad.

The facilities are what you would expect for a club like this/ Nothing to write home about, you take what you can get.

Now for the squad analysis…….

Goalkeepers: There is only one, and he isnt that good. He is complaining about not getting to start much, but his reflexes are atrocious so I will be looking to bring in someone to replace him. He is on an amateur contract, so no biggie if I can replace him.

Fullbacks: There is 1 right back and 1 left back. They are good players so I will look for a fringe player or 2 that can back them up. I dont want to spend anything to bring in these backups.

Central Defenders: There are 3 on the team, one that can anchor the back line and the other 2 are not good enough to sit in the 1st row of the stands. So this will be another target area.

Central Midfield/Defensive Midfield: Once again, only 3 on the squad. One is serviceable and the other 2, well, they can join the central defenders in the stands. So this is another area of need to add to the list.

Attacking Mid Right: There are 2 that will be joining the spectators as soon as I can find anyone to join the squad, they are basically bench-fillers for now.

Attacking Mid-Left: This is the strength of the squad. Luckily one of these 2 top-class players can play on the right. But I still need to bring in some fringe players, just in case.

Strikers: It appears they were playing a 2-striker formation because there is a really good striker, a somewhat good one and one that would be lucky to hit a barn wall that was right in front of him.

Looking at the players and what they are good at, I finally settled on a formation. I had been reading a book about different roles and formations on the train journey, hopefully I can apply some of what was in it. I decided to use a 4-3-3 counter-attacking formation.  The book did a good job explaining the roles and specific tactics to use, but, based on the players I have and their skillset, I am going to have to tweak those a little bit. The president had forwarded me a file with the player reports for me to review before I got there…which helped alot.

Staff Additions
I hit the web and found some staff that are at least not “unsuited” for their roles and offered them amateur contracts. Hopefully I get positive responses to those offers.

Lots got done, but more to do! 
 

Boxing Day…the day before my 1st match.

I have been scouring the free agents and have brought some in, if I can get them signed, would be a huge upgrade on the team. One cool thing about this league is that 2 trialists can plan in each match, up to 3 matches each. So even though the side is weak I can use trialists until I can hopefully bring in some new blood.

I will also need to try to sign players to amateur contracts. I hate that money is going to be the deciding factor about the players I decide to sign, but that is the reality of it.

The match tomorrow is away at Burntisland, who are currently 3rd in the table. Only 19% of our supporters think we have a chance of winning. I hope to prove them wrong!

Match Day!

I have to admit that they played much better than I had expected. I hate to park the bus but with the squad and against the quality we were facing I felt it was the only way we had a chance. Luckily, in the 26th minute we caught them off guard and were able to score a lovely goal from a cross from the right side. We withstood their onslaught and the team never cracked, until the 49th minute when they fired the ball over the wall and into the back of the net from a free kick just outside of the box. We actually had a chance to win it in the 81st minute on another counter, but Faulds sent the ball just wide of the net. We only had 21 supporters at the match. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did! That made 13 in a row unbeaten for Burntisland, wish we could have stopped that streak…

We remain 11th in the table, at least we didnt lose any ground! Now on to next month, lets see if we can actually win a match or 2!