The Humanitarian

After my Walsall game culminated in my sacking after two seasons I was gutted and have been struggling to find a game to motivate me to play FM since, But yesterday I stumbled onto inspiration by accident. I came across a website offering individuals the chance to go and coach football in some of the poorest and remote countries on Earth which is a dream of mine, There are thirteen different localitys available for you to choose from, These are;



Kenya, Nigeria and Vietnam are replacements for Senegal, Togo and Mongolia respectively whom I could not find editor data for.

Unfortunatly I doubt my ambitions of doing this in real life will ever come to fruition so I'll have to live out my dream on FM. I don't have any particular goals set for myself but if I do well it could develop into a Pentagon/Hexagon career. I very rarely play outside of England so this game is also a good chance for me to learn about some foreign leagues as I travel around a bit.

There were over 100 jobs available as I looked for the starting point of my global adventure, And so the process of narrowing them down began.
South America and Europe didn't really interest me much as I have had games in those Continents before so that ruled out Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Moldova for now and left Africa and Asia for me to ponder over.

I applied for about 30 jobs in all, mostly ones I had either heard of or liked the logo and kits of. I received a response from most of those clubs and after studying what each of them would offer me in terms of financial situation, strength of playing squad and overall ambition I filtered down my choices...

Heart of Lions (Ghana)

African Warriors FC (South Africa)

OC Khouribga (Morocco)

Hanoi FC (Vietnam)

After extensive deliberation I eventually accepted the offer from Olympic Club Khouribga of Morocco who are in Botola (Morocco's top division) and have won said division as recently as 2008, A strong squad coupled with a transfer budget will give me optimum chance of achieving instant success in this strange, distant land.

Interesting idea, good luck

Right, So here's an in depth look at OC Khouribga who have entrusted a complete rookie with the reigns at their club.


As you can see the first team is fairly strong and should be capable of achieving the boards objective of a top half finish within Botola, I have my sights set even higher, Qualifying for either the African Champions League or Confederations Cup by finishing in the top four isn't beyond us if the players adapt well to my tactics. My biggest problem is obviously the language barrier as I speak neither Arabic or French so my assistant will be responsible for team talks to begin with.
One thing I will be looking to do is bring in a few young players as the average age of my squad is crazy, Only three players are under 27 years old.

And for those of you who like me have no idea about Botola, The league consists of sixteen teams who play each other twice between mid-September and April.

In addition to Botola we will also be competing in Coupe du Trone (Throne Cup) which is a straight 32 team knockout tournament in which there is no seeding, all teams must play in every round.


Thanks mate, Keep reading.

A fresh approach to the game
Will be following !

Good luck with your career. I will follow the story!

Thanks guys!



I'm very encouraged by our pre-season campaign, a 100% record would seem to indicate my squad is raring to go ahead of my first season in Morocco. Indeed this pre-season has not so much been about team building as getting to know my players, their personality's, strengths and weaknesses on the pitch and learning what my strongest first XI is.

My first game ending 10-1 was a particularly affluent spring of optimism. Our Coupe du Trone campaign began after that decimation of EJS, After going two up early on things were looking rosy, only for us to become complacent in the second half and allow the lead to slip. Thankfully I was able to rally the troops in extra time as we reinstated our two goal advantage to eventually run out 4-2 winners.
After four more friendly victories we headed into a second round game against fellow Botola side Kenitra where we came from a goal down to lead 2-1, only to allow that lead to slip again, It looked as if we were going to extra time again until Jamal Triki's 96th minute winner to save us an extra half hour, This win has seen us advance into the quarter finals where we will take on Botola-2 side Ittihad Riadi de Tanger away, I see this trophy as an excellent chance to collect some silverware in my very first season in Africa.

Transferwise I have been more busy with outgoing moves than incoming;

£185k is a nice amount for several reserve players whom I didn't think gave much weight to the squad, These players leaving also makes my wage bill look much healthier than when I arrived two months ago.

Here's a look at my new players;

Signed on a season long loan as we didn't have any established left backs.

Snapped up for £9k from Senegalese side ASC Diaraf, A good creative midfielder who will slot straight into my starting line up.

Another full back who will be my first choice at right back, signed on free transfer.

So the league season is looming large on the horizon, I would like to add another striker to the squad but other than that I'm happy with my squad and fairly confident we can qualify for continental competition this season. Wish me luck!

This is different. Looks very interesting and the team you're running is looking rather good, ah?

I'll be following.

On other note, what's this website that offers coaching possibilities? Mind sharing?

Thanks, Keep reading.

Here you go: http://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/volunteer-projects/sports/football/

September-November 2012

I'm surprised by how much I have enjoyed this save so far, My team is doing well and it's really caught hold of my imagination, hence me zipping through three months without realizing!
We've been performing admirably in both Botola and especially the Coupe du Trone in which we marched all the way to the final, albeit to an unhappy conclusion.

Losing the final on penalties was heartbreaking, collecting my first piece of silverware after just three months would have been amazing, as would qualifying for the Confederations cup which we would have if we had won.
Still, I'm not too down, It's still early days in my career with OCK and hopefully there will be more chances to get my hands on trophies.

In the league we've also been playing well and are just two points behind El Jadida whom we are seeking revenge on following the cup final defeat. Botola is so tight at the moment we are going to have to keep our run going throughout the entire season if we are to claim a continental place.

Striker Abbas Rassou has been in sparkling form, leading our line with ten goals thus far.


I must be doing a good job because I've had foreign clubs stand up and take notice;

I obviously turned down both offers as I'm committed to Khouriba at least until the end of the season, But it's always nice to be wanted!

Decent challenge and decenet start to this mate!

Again, apologies for not updating in my usual monthly style but I've been rather hooked in this save and have flown through several months.

After losing the Coupe du Trone final in November we went on a magnificent run of games, winning 3-0, 6-0 and 8-0, Taking us to the pinnacle of Botola, However just as we hit the top our form dies in true FM fashion, seeing us slide all the way down to seventh.
We have since fought our way back into the title picture, we're currently six points behind FAR Rabat with severn games left to play, can we catch up? I think so, we play FAR before the end of the season in a crucial match for us. Even if we don't win the title I'm fairly confident we will finish within the top three and qualify for either the Champions League or Confederations cup.

I have two new players to unveil;

A bargain for just £16k, He will easily become one of Botola's top goalkeepers.

Another Sudanese international who has made a great start to his career in Morocco, scoring six goals in seven games. Not bad for £40k


In other news I've applied to take the vacant Raja Casablanca job at the end of the season, Raja are Morocco's most successful side with eleven Botola wins and three Champions League's, They possess the sort of resources I need to establish myself at one of Africa's most prestigious sides.

So the 2013 Botola title race has come down to the final day of the season. FAR Rabat hold all the cards at the moment, They are three points ahead of us, However they face a tough tie with third place Wydad Casablanca in their curtain call. We have the superior goal difference so should we win and Rabat lose to Wydad we shall snatch the title from under their noses.


We face fourth placed Mas Fes to whom we lost back in December, Obviously only a win will do for us if we are to take the crown for the first time since 2007. We have already secured second place in Botola and thus will be competing in the African Champions League next season which is fantastic as the boards target when they approached me last year was just to achieve a reasonable mid-table place. However it may be the case that I won't be the man to lead Khouribga into that campaign...

Nearly two months after I applied for the position Raja finally got back to me, Conveniently just days before we played them. I want to see how things pan out in the title race before I decide on my future, But that transfer budget coupled with the challenge of restoring a fallen giant makes Raja an alluring prospect.

Its very unlikely you will claim the title, with first 3 points ahead and you both playing 3rd and 4th respectively! But even second would be a fantastic finish and somerthing to build on

Yeah, unfortunately we came up short on D-Day, Going down 1-0 in our game as Rabat won 2-0 to clinch the Botola title. Still as you say second place isn't bad at all for my first season in this strange foreign desert country. We qualified for the Champions League which I'm looking forward to competing in so I turned down Raja Casablanca's offer, it should bring in some much needed cash as we're nearly £500k overdrawn at the moment.
Runners up medals in both the league and the national cup this season, It's a bit disappointing to fail to lift either but still, Perhaps next season will put that right.

Great season and good that you turned some job offers down. Especialy the one in Bolivia..... I don't think I would let that one go, but it's better to stay on path in Africa first. Good luck next season!

Then I may be about to disappoint you....

After a successful debut season with Khouribga I have been offered a move to the Bolivian Premier League with Aurora FC, Given that OCK are nearly £1M in debt and I have been unable to find suitable players to strenghen my paper thin squad for the upcoming season in which the board expect me to compete for Botola, The African Champions League and the Coupe du Trone I have decided to accept Aurora's offer.

Despite the boards expectation of avoiding relegation, Aurora are actually competing in the Copa Sudamericana, South America's equivalent of the Europa League. So I will get to experience continental competition this season despite leaving OCK, They have already played the first leg of the qualification round, losing 1-0 away to Paraguayan side Cerro Porteno although I'm fairly confident we can turn that around.


A nice big stadium (and colorful) although that pitch will need sorting out.

My initial squad isn't bad but I think some wheeling and dealing is required if I am to turn Aurora into title contenders over the next two or three seasons.


So then, From Morocco to Bolivia, I doubt any manager has ever made that jump before, especially an Englishman who doesn't speak a lick of Spanish. Let's see how it works out.

August-September 2013


I've had a reasonable to my time with Aurora, Starting with advancing against the odds to the first round of the Copa Sudamaericana by coming from a 1-0 deficit inflicted by Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno in the first leg and winning out in a tense penalty shootout following a 1-0 win in normal time to get my career in South America off to a good start. We drew Uruguayan's Nacional in the next round with the bookies heavily fancying the opposition, However home advantage played a key part in us turning over the Favorites in a tight encounter.
I was hoping that these two strong results would set us in good stead ahead of our first league game against Guabira who are forecast to go down this year, Things looked good as we went ahead from the spot after half an hour, However we were unable to secure the points and capitulated in the second half, conceding a late Guabiri winner.

We put the disappointment of the Guabiri result behind us quickly though by making the long trip to Uruguay and advancing to the first round proper of the Copa Sudamericana, Things should have gone more smoothly as we went into half time 2-0 up thanks to two poachers goals from Jose Padilla, However Nacional came out all guns blazing in the second half and turned the game around to 3-2, It made for a very tense end to the game, they knew they only needed one more to advance, However we did manage to weather the storm and held out. Our prize for doing so? A mammoth tie with Brazilian giants Sao Paulo! I realize that our adventure probably ends here but still this is the sort of game I came to South America to manage in, It will also be a nice little earner for our bank account.
We followed up with a 1-1 draw with San Jose in the league, We had trailed for most of the game thanks to a dodgy penalty which was converted in the fifth minute, Thankfully five minutes from time we pulled level with a well worked goal finished off by left back Jorge Ayala who find himself free to belt the ball past San Jose's keeper as he cut in from the wing.

Before we made the 1,300 mile journey Eastwards to Sao Paulo we were rocked by the news that we would be losing club captain Fernando Souza who will be making the journey to Brazil permanently in January after Serie A side Ceara triggered his £275k release clause. At least that money (A club record sale) will allow me to bring in a few players of my own in January.
The game itself was not one to remember for any other reason than we were playing one of South America's premier clubs at their magnificent Morumbi stadium, We held out until the 17th minute when Flamengo loanee Negueba fired the home side into the lead, It took just one minute for them to double that advantage, Ademilson with a scorcher from 30 yards. Both of the goalscorers got another in the 38th and 68th minutes respectively to effectively kill this tie before the three times Copa Libidedores winners even set foot on the plane to Bolivia next week. I'm hoping we can put up a bit more of a fight at home to restore some pride even if we are not going to advance in the competition.

Our final game this month was against Bolivia's most famous team, The Strongest who aren't called that for no reason, They are eleven times champions of this country and were going to be a formidable opposition for us, especially with most of my squad still worn out from being run ragged in Brazil a few days beforehand. The Strongest were very much in control of the game for the first half, until stoppage time where our first good opportunity of the game forced a corner, from which centerback Carlos Oritz nodded in to give us the lead completely against the run of play.
Our lead lasted just two minutes following the start of the second period as El Tigres also made use of a corner to level up.
It looked as if the game was going to fizzle out as neither of us were really pushing hard for a winner with the only efforts on goal coming from distance, that was until we won another corner with 13 minutes to go, Oritz supplied almost an instant replay of his first by leaping higher than his marker to head home and make it 2-1. I was expecting the visitors to throw caution to the wind following that but they failed to do so, allowing us to capitalize with Jose Padilla tapping in from close range to win an unlikely three points and hopefully kick start our season.

So a mixed first month or so in charge of Aurora, It's a bit early to take any stock by the league table but here it is anyway;

The season here in Bolivia is a long one, Clubs play each other four times during the first stage of the campaign (The Apatura) and the top eight then contest the Clausura, a two legged knockout tournament to decide the champions, Meaning the season is potentially fifty games long, A bit different to Morocco where we only had thirty games.

Thus far I have favored a very South American 4-2-3-1 formation which has produced some exciting football, When facing stronger opposition I switch to 4-1-2-1-2 which is a counter attacking tactic.

I have only brought in one player so far as I'm quite happy with the squad at the moment;


I'm enjoying life with Aurora so far, The continental adventure has been fun and the quality of the football played has been to a much higher standard and entertainment value than in Morocco.

Their stadium looks very bright and colorful ahaha! good luck with thw switch of teams. Does that Real Potosi have the same badge as Real Madrid? some kind'a link between the clubs?

Not quite although it's very similar.

A lot of the clubs in South America are named after bigger clubs from this continent and Europe, The second division here in Bolvia also has a Barcelona, Flamengo and Espanyol. As far as I know none of them share a link with their more illustrious counterparts.

October wasn't the most encouraging month for us, Just a single win in the league this month, Although all of our three defeats came at the hands of clubs to whom we were expected to lose to.


As expected our Copa Sudamericana run came to an abrupt end thanks to Sao Paulo who trounced us 6-1 on aggregate, Although we did give a decent account of ourselves in front of our own supporters, even leading the Brazilian behemoths for a brief period of time. My goal now is to ensure we get another crack at Continental level football next season, To do so we must reach the semi final stage of Clausura (Closing stage championship) or win the Copa Bolivia.
In the Apatura (Opening championship) we are just about maintaining our position in the Clausra qualification places, although there is still a very long way to go. Defeats to Blooming and Oriente Petrolero were to be expected, However we really should have eaten the then bottom side Real Potosi on our own ground.
Thankfully we did pick up a win over Real Memore who are directly beneath us in the table, We should be aiming to add to our points haul in our upcoming game with the now bottom placed Univeritario.


I have been trying to switch the team to 4-4-2 as opposed to 4-2-3-1 which seems to be very vulnerable to counter attacks despite supplying plenty of goals, However I need to sign some genuine wingers as I am currently having to play attacking midfielders Daner Pachi and Jorge Rios out of position. I'm looking forward to January as I will be hoping to recruit not only a couple of wingers but also replace Fernando Souza at the back who has been an absolute rock, He is leaving for Brazilian side Cerea for £275k.

not doing too bad rick, keep it going

Where did you find the African leagues?

http://www.thedugout.tv/community/forumdisplay.php?f=267 would be my guess.

posted twice

any update?