A European Fairytale

Here we are then. FM18 is out and its time to embark on a journeyman. Before I start, it's worth noting that my managerial skills are limited and this could just turn in to 'FM18 sacking simulator'

The aim is simple, to win the Champions League. I'm going to start with the lowest attributes/experience and want to build myself up within Europe and eventually lift the Champions League. Whether I actually get anywhere near that or not is debatable. With that out of the way, here we go!



Here I am then, 21 years old, no managerial experience and half a star reputation. I've loaded fairly standard leagues: England, Scotland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy (all lowest leagues possible). There were a few jobs flying around at the start. In England there was FC United of Manchester and Darlington. Elsewhere there was Osnabruck in Germany and a few national jobs.







I didn't apply for the Bognor Regis job but they offered me an interview so I took it. Initial indications are pointing towards me starting my managerial career in England. Ideally, I would have liked to have started outside England but it looks like the Vanarama Leagues will be where I start.

Darlington is the first stop then! I'm very sceptical after seeing @shedender get sacked with them. However, there wasn't any choice. Both Bognor Regis and FC United of Manchester decided to go with other candidates. The Vanarama North is where it begins!



On arrival the squad seems to have a decent enough core. It's lacking the depth that I would like to have in a promotion challenging squad but such is the way of non league football. There have been no outgoing transfers but I've made three additions to the squad. Lewis Turner comes in as an able deputy to both the right back and centre back positions. Harry Worley comes in as a high profile signing. He looks to be a top quality central defender for this level and joins us on a free from Salford. The final signing is Jamie Holmes who we have picked up after he was released by Newcastle. Darlington aren't blessed with the greatest of striking options and this lad looks like he could become a big part of this team.







You can see the setup I've tried to go for. I want us to try and play attacking football and get the front four really working as a unit. Best compared with the current Liverpool front four. Obviously it's going to be nowhere near that but the early showings have been good. I've been using the analysis tools from the friendly games to work out how the shape is working and where we are leaving ourselves open. The front four seem to be operating in the wider positions and really getting hold of the ball in the final third. The midfield two that are holding was my worry. Wheatley has had to go to a more defensive role to try and fill in the gap that was open between them and our back four.



Fairly solid pre-season. Didn't get as many friendlies in as I had wanted but I delayed a week so that was a game or two lost. It's impossible to tell much from pre-season friendlies but it appears that scoring goals is coming along nicely and I've been encouraged by the recent two clean sheets. Something I struggle with on FM is the defence.

Next up is the opening league fixture against Salford City! Let's see how my debut in this career goes.

You can't do worse than I did at Darlington @Manno. Best of luck.

Haha, I'm sure I can! Mixed results so far. Struggling to make use of our high possession (60%) in most games.

It's been an odd first month in charge, but one that can be seen as positive. We were up against it with an opening fixture away at Salford. We went 1-0 down but a Terry Galbraith penalty sparked us in to action and then with 10 minutes to go, the young prospect Harvey Saunders races through and bags us 3 points. A confident and inspiring victory at home to Gainsborough. Nice to see my wingers contributing with a goal each but disappointing to have conceded.

Things then take a turn for the worst and leave me worrying somewhat. Alfreton should have been a game that got us at least a point. We had 62% possession but couldn't come up with anything. A header from a corner that was straight at the keeper was as close as we came. York was going to be tough no matter what, but we didn't turn up and really let ourselves down. We retained the ball well again but just could not work anything and deservedly lost. A third straight defeat had me questioning whether the setup was working. We went down 2- 0 to a poor AFC Telford side and again showed no attacking spark. This prompted a change in tactic (below) and results followed.

North Ferriby had to be a win, considering their start to the season. It was a fast start and we were 3-1 up by the break. Not the scorers I would have predicted, seeing as 3 goals came from defenders but we will take it. Spennymoor was the final game of a very long August and in fairness it was a drab one. Alex Marrow picked up a second yellow card early in the second half leaving us short changed. However, up steps James Caton to finish off a fine team move and seal us a much needed 3 points.



It's hard to sum up my feelings on this one. We are sitting 6th and four points off top spot and a single point outside the playoffs. Performance wise, we've been very good at retaining possession and calming the game down. At the other end of the spectrum it really feels like we are feeding of scraps up top. Caton and Gillies really need to do more from their respective wide positions to help out Holmes up top. Still no goal for Holmes yet, I'm persisting with him because he has great potential. Mark Beck is back from injury and is a very decent target man, so he may go back to first choice. Below is the tactic I've employed since losing to Telford.

Good luck @Manno really looking forward to this

September turned out to be a fairly successful month for us. Although it hasn't felt as good as the results look. I am still struggling to find our main source of goals. I'm thinking of giving someone a prolonged run and keeping him up there to try and force a turn in form.

A trip to Southport was up first and it was always going to be a tricky affair. In truth, it was a fairly poor showing from us, could easily have been 3 or 4 for Southport. Chorley was a particularly pleasing result, we were fairly in control of the game and had a good attack on us. Leamington were hard to overcome but a lovely header from Dominic Collins sealed the three points for us. FC United of Manchester really should have put the game to bed early on, but their efforts were poor and it allowed for us to fight back and Mark Beck got his first of the season. We then took a long trip down South to visit Aylesbury in the FA Cup. An 84th minute goal from Gillies got us out of jail on this one, we were really off the pace against a much weaker side. We took our chances early against Boston to secure a win, despite a late scare as Boston brought it back to 3-2. Finally, September ended as it started, with defeat. We are out of the FA Cup after an uninspiring performance at home to St Albans. I wanted a good cup run this year in the FA Cup but we drew a blank and got knocked out.



I can't complain when we are sat in the play-off spots and only 4 points behind Salford at the top. The team hasn't really found any consistency yet, despite the results. We are still feeding of scraps and taking our only chances in the game. I need to find my main man up front to sort this out. Conceding is still an issue, but Harry Worely was out for most of the month through injury.

A very good start! Definitely tight at the top early on

Good start with Darlo