A better Journeyman Career Than Shedenders

Thanks Zan! As I said to Shedender, we will just keep building and battling away

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With a second season in charge now being close a third season was on the horizon and we were set to battle our way through another pre season, made tough by the budget and size of the squad we had. Here is everything that happened leading up to the start of the summer transfer window.


Firstly, as they did last year I've been offered another year extension on my current contract. I only had a matter of two months left again and have now accepted the deal. My wage budget has been reduced to three hundred and fifty pound per week but for the sake of the clubs finances it has to be worth it.


The boards expectations were here again and they wanted us to finish in another strong mid table finish however this year I thought we would push on and press our confidence a little more. Once again our budget is tight though. I've opted for a top half finish, which we have achieved the last two seasons despite being predicted in the bottom half. The media are predicting us to finish down in twelfth this season.


The financial situation is looking extremely bleak again despite a new chairman at the club for over half a year now. He temporarily brought us back into the black but we are now slipping into that financial crises once again with the side one hundred and seventy thousand pounds in the red. However with the transfer window just opened we have lost a load of players reducing our wage bill. We now have over one thousand seven hundred pounds to spend on wages for new players.


As I said the squad has been reduced massively in size over the last couple of days and this is what I have been left with heading into the summer. Just twelve players are on the books in the first team and with at least three of them being nowhere near the right quality we definitely need to look to strengthen. Again for the third season running I will look for another keeper whilst our in form striker over the last two years Bessa has risen to a five star player!

You perhaps should have negotiated the contract to try and get at least a two-year-deal mate so you wouldn't need to worry about receiving a new contract every season.

Can I see a screenshot Bessa please thanks and good luck signings the players you need !

Finding a good GK is hard. I am struggling with it myself. And your defence can use a bolster aswell. Good luck in filling those spot on your budget. And lets do two good halve this season. I want to see you battle up there!

I could only make it two years at the most Shedender and if we don't advance much this year then I'm not sure if I will stick around so a year deal is fine for me.

Course you can George! Here is Bessa

I've gone another summer without finding a decent keeper Dyrim and its getting annoying now. Defense and midfield needs to be bolstered so hopefully this summer allowed us to do it. Hopefully we can compete for it this year!

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This summer saw me so close to turning my back on Mirandela and heading for another job. However I decided to stick it out another season and try and battle through it. A tough summer saw a busy transfer window with most leaving than joining as well as our tough financial situation continuing and the long summer list of friendlies.


So a quiet transfer window coming in however we did lose a lot of players early on. We've released ten players alone before another two players were snapped up on free transfers. So we've lost twelve players already this summer. However we have brought three in but could of done with more. Young midfielder Paulo Ferraira signed to bolster our midfield whilst Mesquita signed as did Loukima. Both defensive midfielders.


Here is the squad review now, we now have fifteen players on the books for our main squad which won't be enough and we will carry on playing our football this season and looking to add new players. Still needing a second keeper which would be a new number one Our defence is weak and midfield isn't the great however our attacking performances are looking strong on the wings and up front.


Our financial situation continues to look awful as we sit just under two hundred thousand pounds in the red, I'm usually quite good financially with lower league management however it seems a very tough ask to sort Mirandela's finances out! However we are now spending one thousand three hundred and eighty pound short of the wages allocated to us, meaning we shall save money there but also look to build if we can.


Our friendlies was our key strengthening point this summer as we performed very well across the whole of the summer which pleased the fans and myself. Seven friendlies saw us win five and lose the other two however we performed very well. Only two clean sheets however we did score nineteen goals conceding seven goals saw us please everyone! Hopefully we are in good form heading into the season!

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As always in August we faced just one game and that was the opening round of the Taca de Portugal as we looked to kick start our cup campaign and improve our position from last season. An away tie waited for us as we looked to get off to a flyer this season.


The opening game of the 2014 season saw us travel to Ronfe in the first round of the Taca de Portugal which saw us advance easily enough. A quiet first half was lit up in the second half by attacking winger Borges. His first came with twenty four minutes remaining before netting a second twelve minutes later which proved to be enough to send us into the second round.

You need to leave this club mate and take Bessa with you.

I know Shedender, lifes beginning to get hard here in Portugal!

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So the summer didn't quite go to plan and this has left our squad very short this season and not very competitive. We started March with a whole bunch of fixtures, five in fact. Four league games along with the Taca de Portugal second round as we looked to better our current performances.


So we began the league season on the road traveled to Famalicao where we narrowly avoided losing and claiming a point on the opening day. Ribeiro may have given us the lead after just two minutes but two minutes later the home side had clawed level with what proved to be the final goal of the game.

The Taca de Portugal second round drew as at home, welcoming second tier side Aves, they were struggling in the league which made us think we had half a chance. However the performance we put in proved otherwise. We were two down at the break before Toninho netted confidently in the second half to bring us back in contention. We went on to concede a third to crash out in the second round for the second year running.

Our third game of the season saw us kick off our home campaign as we welcomed Varzim. We were off to another bad start and conceded moments before the break. Second half they went on to net another two before we got on the scoresheet seven minutes from time through Fernando but it was too late.

I know what your thinking, the start of the post said there were five games this month...welll...


My time here had come to an end. I enjoyed Mirandela from the start and after building the club over the last two years I really thought this could be the season. The summer killed me though having next to no payers interested in signing and this had me already one foot out the door. The poor league form saw me make up my mine and on the twenty first of September two thousand and fourteen, my time here at Mirandela came to an end.

very tough job you had there mate I think it was for the best you left good luck finding a job

It was a tough job to take on George and a tough job to resign from. I wanted to be a success but it just wasn't happening there!

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After handing my resignation in to the shocked Mirandela board just a couple of months after accepting a new two year deal I boarded the first flight back to England and back home for a bit. It was time to look for a new job almost immediately so after unpacking and getting a bacon sandwich I went straight back to the job center, logging onto the computer to find my next adventure.


This is what I found at the job center upon arrival, a few jobs available however how many of them that would be interested in me taking the reigns of the club was up for debate. Mirandela was obviously a no go, I wasn't heading back there now! Barcelona B in the second tier of Spain is also out of the question, I don't think they'd consider me just yet. However I feel I may stand a small chance in the other three vacancies, League two side Southend and the two French sides, Ligue Two Bastia and Championnant National side Frejus Saint-Raphael, maybe it was time to put my name about once again!

Interesting career upon now. Can't wait to see what's your next step. All four clubs (if they want you) have something nice if you decide there to go. My choice would be Spain, France England if I had the choice. I had a lot of careers in England but none in Spain or France. Good luck with your choice.

I am thinking about joining your trip this weekend. At the moment I am doing a classic career with Ajax with the goals to win the CL in some years. But I already won it twice in the first two years and looking for some other challenge. I will try to do your trip also but something different. I will also load additional leagues that are non-playable and I will switch leagues sometimes (unload leagues and load new leagues).

Now I am writing about it I already get some good ideas to make a start with this.

Thanks Benni! Its been a tough start to this but Journeyman careers are always fun so would be nice to see another person follow me and Shedender on this!

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So life back in England on the dole wasn't fun and I was continuously there searching for a job. I've applied for several but so many times I've been dismissed now and almost 'not good enough' to take the reigns of the clubs. However after a month of searching I finally have not one, but two offers lying on the table to be considered.


By the looks of things I could be staying in England as its two English clubs that have approached me. Firstly Burton approached me without me even showing interest in the vacancy. The Blue Square Premier side are expected promotion however are sitting down in fifteenth. They have twenty three thousand pounds to spend but are over spending on wages which is a huge hit.

Halifax approached me as I declared my interest in the vacancy. Again they are expected to win the league and are currently sitting down in seventh in the Blue Square North so aren't sitting too far away from the top spot. There isn't a transfer budget on offer and heavily over spending on their wages which means there is no room to continue improving.

Whilst League Two side Bristol Rovers become the latest team to come to me with a contract offer. Another job I declared my interest in, living just an hours driving away from their they are quite close anyway. No transfer budget and little room in the wages and they are sitting down in the bottom end of League Two.

[b]Now laid ahead another tough choice to make...Burton, Bristol Rovers or Halifax...and thats if I do stay in England

Tough jobs to choose from. Burton is sinking squad comming down from higher league looking at the wages and budget. If you can cut away dead wood fast enough to spend some of the wages on good players it could be a decent choose. But there is the possibillity when you cut away the wages the budget will shrink and you can't reinfest. Halifax looks like a team that hasn't been moving anywhere. Also over its wage budget so not much room to do much. Bristol looks like a team that need chance quickly or will drop down further. As Burton will give you a transfer budget I would say that is the savest choose.

I know the perks and downfalls of each job Dyrim, I studied the squads hard but eventually came to a conclusion and the right job to take on!

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It was time for me to make my mind up and with three not so flattering offers now laid on the table I had to think each through and what would be the best for my long term future. Was it to be the highest league possible and go with Bristol Rovers in League Two, or the lowest possible in Halifax in the Blue Square North but who are looking at a playoff spot. Then again there was Burton in the Blue Square Premier...


It was to be Halifax. The other two clubs were appealing offers and although Halifax aren't in a great position financially I really feel I can do what it takes to take them to where they should be finishing and compete for promotion immediately this season. We aren't too far ff the pace in the league and I will review the finances as soon as possible to try and find areas we can cut down.


The financial situation of the club looks almost the same as it did back in Portugal with Mirandela. The club are deeply in the red by just under one hundred and fifty thousand whilst over spending on the wages by over a grand a month certainly isn't helping their financial situation. Its an area I will be looking to reduce immediately.


However what isn't the same as life in Portugal is the size of the square. Mirandela had just fifteen players on the books this season whilst I join Halifax to find eighteen players here in the first team with another ten in the reserves giving us plenty of room to manouvre and find the right players for the job as well as the players who need to go. We need to find a decent keeper...again. Our defence and strikers both seem to hold some talent but the midfield could do with some new faces. I will look to offload players soon!


And finally this is the league table as I've taken charge. Another league game has been played since I started talks with Halifax and this has seen them rise up to sixth, just one position outside the playoffs and trailing by just goal difference. Only six points off league leaders Nuneaton too which will be a gap we look to close. We are out the FA Cup in the third qualifying round and are in the FA Trophy which we shall also begin in the third qualifying round.I

Ive been thinkin bout writing a llm story on here, would it be alright to use your layout?

Looks like you have a decent first eleven, but no depth. So you can offload all squad players that are in your first eleven and replace them with youngsters. Then pray for not to many injuries . Good luck on your Halifax job, an other tough job you have taken on.

You should’ve taken the Bristol Rovers job.

Wish you the best of luck at Halifax mate, I’m sure you’ll be a hit with the supporters and be successful on the pitch.

Yeah, I know it taht you take Halifax job. It was really hard in Portugal and it didnt look like it was going to be better. Good luck in England!

good choice mate IMO good luck !