[FM24] The ABCCHRSSS Journeyman

00:

Yep, back again with yet another new career to share. Long story short, I embarrassingly caved and purchased Football Manager 2024. I know, I'm just as disappointed in myself as you ought to be… but we move.

Why the aforementioned tone? Well, this was me literally on this very site a mere three weeks ago:

…and yet here I am. 🙃

It is not without a positive spin, however. Although I actually didn't even load that previous save again after my one (and only, sorry!) sortitoutsi post, I still had a nagging feeling to play Football Manager but with the downloaded extended database it felt too far astray from FM in itself - I do quite like being ‘limited’ (hardly, plenty of leagues on the game after all) rather than having a cobbled together (if still impressive and respectable) database with barely any limit. I'm weird like that!

Final tid-bit, I also did say the following last time out… so I did predict my future self!

That could always happen again I guess, but I don't actually foresee myself dropping this on this attempt… at least no where near as quickly. I've already had a mini escapade on FM24 with my team, Manchester United, and really enjoyed playing the game again - and that's despite very poor form; I got around 9 or 10 league matches in and the media were already predicting trouble for my future so… yeah! Still, despite that, I gained enjoyment from FM so that can only be a good thing. I never used to overly like ‘big team’ saves anyway, journeyman saves are my absolute favourite.

…and that segues perfectly into where we reside now: The ABCCHRSSS Journeyman. // tumbleweed \\ Yah, I know, it's a bad name… give me a break!

I'll explain more in my next post, talking about the save a bit more and belatedly revealing what club my manager is managing first, which is the most important thing from this whole overly wordy and not at all concise post. Thanks for reading!

01:

Here lies the beginning of The ABCCHRSSS Journeyman!

You'll likely be able to guess what “ABCCHRSSS” stands for based on the lead image, but in case not - It is to do with the starting leagues (plan is to add/remove later) that I have loaded, which are:

Austria 🇦🇹

Bulgaria 🇧🇬

Croatia 🇭🇷

Czechia 🇨🇿

Hungary 🇭🇺

Romania 🇷🇴

Serbia 🇷🇸

Slovakia 🇸🇰

Slovenia 🇸🇮

…I know, oh so creative. I am very talented. /s

To be serious, though, I decided that I wanted to pick an area of countries close together to add to the realism, so I decided on the aforementioned portion of Central Europe-ish; having narrowly decided against starting within the United Kingdom and Ireland.

I have all of those noted country's leagues fully loaded, which is two levels deep in all but Romania; which is interestingly three levels deep. I also have ‘the big six’ leagues on view only. As for advanced options, I only ticked ‘Do not Add Key Staff’ and ‘Prevent use of the In-Game Editor’. I've selected a ‘large’ database, with a start date of 10/07/2023 (Austria, latest starters) and the ‘original’ game mode.

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Now, meet the manager: Carles Carmona!

Mr. Carmona is a 42 year old Spaniard born in Huelva, where he naturally grew up supporting Recreativo. He is fresh off a full blown career in the deep depths of sunday league playing and managing a team close to his work as a data analyst. Following a few decades of success with his mates, he has now decided to jump into ‘proper’ football management.

Carmona speaks Spanish, of course, and English. Such was his eagerness to get started, he currently holds zero coaching badges so will need a club to help him out in that regard. Managerial style-wise, Carmona holds the default 1s and 2s across the board.

Here he is, a very stylish geezer if you ask me.

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Most importantly: The First Job!

Carles Carmona has had to wait patiently for his first management opportunity, all the way to November 2023 in fact. Interest came and went from Solin (Croatia) and Horn (Austria), but in the end the Huelva-born manager is off to…

Croatia 🇭🇷 with Orijent!

The Croatian second tier will be where Carles Carmona makes his official debut as a serious football manager.

Hrvatski nogometni klub Orijent, to give them their full name, were originally founded back in 1919, going through various guises before eventually ceasing operations in 2014. However, a phoenix club of sorts was instantly formed and they've been on a mini up ever since. In 2014-15 they sat in the sixth tier, so to be in tier two since 2019-20 is a very good achievement. Counting that old history, Orijent have only ever played top-flight football once - in 1996-97! Their big rivals are Rijeka, which is not a surprise given they are based in the Sušak part of the city of the same name.

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How Orijent currently stand: They sit 10th (of 12) after 13 (of 33) fixtures with 15pts after W3 D6 L4. They are out of the cup.

1st gets promoted, 2nd-8th are safe, 9th goes into a two-legged relegation play-off with a team from (unplayable) league below, 10th-12th get relegated. The board expectation is to avoid relegation, the season preview had them 7th at 25-1. Just 8 points separate 1st to 10th.

First match for Carles Carmona's team: Bijelo Brdo (h, 11th), 6 days away. Big match!

Check behind the spoiler wall for further screenshots:

Show Spoiler

Carmona will be working under a director of football, one Marinko Koljanin; who has previously managed in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman as well as in Europe, a fellow journeyman I see! 🤝

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I'm looking forward to getting started! As I always say with my saves, it's best not to expect any serious success in the save - I'd be lucky to win more than a few trophies in truth! I'll try my best no doubt, but I just try to enjoy seeing where the journey (man, ha! get it?…) takes me.

Idemo Orijent!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023– | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

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03:

04:

Season 1 of Carles Carmona's managerial journey has come to a conclusion. Here's a rundown of how the Spaniard got on in Croatia's second division with Orijent, who he joined mid-season in November as they sat in the relegation zone in 10th after 13 games.

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Safety guaranteed! Avoid relegation was the goal, and it's one that thankfully came to fruition.

Orijent end up placing 7th, missing the drop by 6 points and the relegation play-off by 5 points. The former didn't happen until the penultimate matchday though, with play-off avoidance not rubberstamped until the final day. With that said, I felt safe for a decent while to be fair - we had enough about us I felt, while the teams below kept dropping points and taking them off each other.

If you look closely, we actually won a match 8-1 versus Dugopolje (who won the relegation play-off) in March which was quite astounding; especially as we then lost our next three and only won twice more all season. Elsewhere, special mention to Jarun. Remarkably, they were bottom for something like 23 matchdays but after game 33 they were 8th!

Check behind the spoiler wall for further screenshots:

Show Spoiler

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…and that's all she wrote for Carles Carmona at Orijent.

Contracts-wise, we were in trouble as we were set to lose a number of key players and the finances (varying from okay to insecure) weren't, in my opinion, strong enough for the director of football to be able to fix things and revamp the squad sufficiently. The club also took away it's professional status too, so I thought this was a good time to depart having achieved what the board wanted originally - safety. I enjoyed my time there though, a few very fun players. As per, we wish 'em all the best!

Where next? Even I don't know yet, but I'm very interested in finding out! No changes in the leagues, so it'll be somewhere within the ‘ABCCHRSSS’. Time will tell.

Thanks for reading!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

05:

Carles Carmona has found his next club. But where will he be heading this time?

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Mr. Carmona remains in Croatia 🇭🇷 as he joins top-flight basement boys Istra!

Carles Carmona's previous experience of saving Orijent from second tier relegation has evidently impressed those at Istra, as they've given him a chance at a top division club to try and save them from dropping out of the top-flight for the first-time since 2006-07!

It's a relatively big step up! The transfer budget (~600k, use it well DoF!) is a sign of that. Carmona must also have something against Rijeka, as he has moved from one of their rivals to another one of them! It's quite an interesting read in regards to their rivalry, which apparently stems back to the Kingdom of Italy days of the 1920s!

Nogometni klub Istra 1961 find themselves, at the back end of December 2024, bottom of the SuperSport HNL, two points adrift of promoted Šibenik and therefore safety in ninth place. 19 matches have been played, so Carmona has 17 games to fulfil and hopefully save Istra from relegation; which is the board expectation. It will likely not be easy though, especially with leaders Dinamo Zagreb (home) and third place Osijek (away) as his first two opponents in charge!

Check behind the spoiler wall for further screenshots:

Show Spoiler

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Let's see what happens! Thanks for reading!

Idemo zeleno-žuti!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024– | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

06:

Erm… Excuse me?!

An incredible first match in charge of Istra for Carles Carmona.

Literally me after each goal went in:

07:

Have a guess how many times we've won in the 11 games since that 3-0 debut win over Dinamo Zagreb?

I'll give you a clue: it rhymes with oh-dear-o. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5 matches left to save one's bacon!

08:

I'm genuinely speechless. I have no idea how, but: Istra. Are. Staying. Up!

The craziest final day, and fixture run-ins, I have ever experienced on Football Manager - and it actually went in my favour, for once. Flabbergasted.

I'll explain further in a ‘proper' post later, but my word.

09:

As seen previously, Carles Carmona somehow led Istra to a dramatic final day salvation from relegation. It was all looking incredibly dark… and then sheer craziness occurred. Here's a rundown, at least the best one I can provide because I'm still stunned to be honest!

First of all, let's take a look at Istra's fixture list since Mr. Carmona arrived.

That unbelievable debut victory (3-0!) over Dinamo Zagreb actually turned out to be somewhat of a poisoned chalice, given Istra subsequently went 11 encounters without a win. It was originally only 2 defeats in 5 after the Dinamo match, though things quickly went absolutely dire as the club then lost 3-0 back-to-back, 2-0, 5-1, 4-1 and 5-1 again. At that moment, I was expecting relegation - especially as, at around that point, Šibenik managed to find a win so stretched the gap between them (9th) and us (10th) to 4 points.

At that moment, I switched to a new tactic that I've always tended to play down the years on Football Manager - 4-4-2 (or 4-2-3-1) with basic instructions of being expressive and ‘standard’ mentality. I had previously listened to my coaching staff as to what tactics to use, which worked well at Orijent but here - Dinamo aside - clearly wasn't working. My own tactic instantly produced a 3-1 victory over mid-table Gorica, so I was happy. However, that didn't last long as Istra then lost back-to-back - which is damaging whatever way you slice it, but even more so as one of those defeats was to nearest challengers Šibenik.

So with 2 games left, we were 4 points off safety… and with title challengers Hajduk Split on the final day, I had mentally checked out. I even switched to text commentary only, such was my lack of belief and eagerness for the campaign to end. I stuck with my ‘new’ tactic, though, and we miraciously beat Lokomotiva next time out. Better news followed elsewhere, as Osjiek beat Šibenik 1-0. That meant we were 1 point off Šibenik with 1 game to go. Still, I wasn't moved at all given we'd play Hajduk Split last. Yet, as you've seen - mental scenes ensued.

The outcome of the final day is ridiculous enough, but what went on during that day's two matches is way more unbelievable. Here's the best way to describe it:

16 minutes:

Istra 1-0 Hajduk Split

Slaven Belupo 0-2 Šibenik (Slaven had missed a penalty!)

= Istra relegated.

55 minutes:

Istra 2-0 Hajduk Split

Slaven Belupo 2-2 Šibenik

= Šibenik relegated.

69 minutes:

Istra 2-2 Hajduk Split

Slaven Belupo 2-2 Šibenik

= Istra relegated.

90+4 minutes:

Istra 3-2 Hajduk Split

Slaven Belupo 2-2 Šibenik

= Šibenik relegated.

That is just insane. After we had thrown away the 2-0 lead, I was on 'text commentary only', on 'very attacking' and just staring at the Šibenik scoreline on the right hand panel of ‘latest scores’. And then, all of a sudden, I notice the text commentary flash but the match instantly ended - so I didn't see the table update, nothing. Then it hits me that we've probably survived, which is confirmed by the team talk options. I've never been so stunned by Football Manager, genuinely shocked.

Ivan Dolček, our left-back who can't even properly play left-back (1½ stars!), is the Istra hero - what a man!

One other piece note, Carmona's Istra defeating Hajduk Split meant Dinamo Zagreb won the league title by 1 point! If not for us, it would've stopped Dinamo winning their 8th title in a row - and Hajduk woulda had their first title since 2004-05!

My apologies to Šibenik, but isn't that a beautiful thing to see.

Carles Carmona still has 1 year left on his contract, the plan is to stick around to try and build upon this season with Istra. With ‘secure’ finances, I feel like it could be a team to stick with for a few seasons - but next season must be better. The board aren't best pleased with the squad morale and have set a ‘promise’ to improve it by the start of next season, so Mr. Carmona may fall foul of that. And there are also takeover rumours, so a new regime may not want Carmona. So his future is not totally certain… time will tell!

The squad needs a major rebuild, though. So many players not good enough and the senior squad size is heavily bloated - at the moment, and more-or-less since Carmona joined, the team has 39 (!) first-team players. The staff needs a revamp too. A summer of change is coming, one way or another.

Two seasons, two clubs saved from relegation. ‘The Spanish Sam Allardyce’ nickname has been heard around Croatia…

Thanks for reading!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024– | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

// Noteworthy Events \\

Hi to all. 

My name is Serge and I am doing research on FM game as my thesis project. It is necessary to conduct a short interview with an FM user (I myself have been playing FM for more than 5 years). 

I would greatly appreciate it if any of you would agree to answer a few of my questions about the FM game. 

Please write to me personally. Sincerely, Serge

010:

A summer of upheaval was desired, and a summer of upheaval happened.

From last season's line-up, just 2 players were selected to remain as starters - meaning 9 new faces have arrived.

Here's the difference:

Before Signings:

After Signings:

All snapped up and ready to go ahead of pre-season. Sadly Márk Koszta picked up a few week injury literally in his first training session.

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It'll either be a masterstroke from Carles Carmona, or a disjointed mess… it'll be fun to find out!

Next update will either be mid-season or season's end (assuming Mr Carmona is still in a job) - I'm not sure yet.

011:

It won't last I'm positive, but it sure has been fun thus far!

012:

Carles Carmona has completed his second season with Istra, meaning he has belatedly completed a full season with one club for the first time in his managerial career; after half seasons with Orijent and Istra. And I must say, it has been an absolutely ridiculously bonkers campaign - Carmona had Istra looking incredibly good, almost too good if I'm being totally honest. Nevertheless, it's been a lot of fun… here's a rundown:

Incredible. What a campaign from Carles Carmona's Istra. From staying up last season by a single point via a dramatic final day to finishing 2nd and reaching the Croatian Cup final. Sadly, the cup was not brought back to Stadion Aldo Drosina for the first ever time but UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round action will be coming to Pula in 2026-27 - it will be the club's first-ever escapade in European competition. Back in the league, it's their highest top-flight finish; previous best was 5th in 2022-23.

Our form towards the end of the season was insane, especially in May - look at all those goals scored… 20 in 6 games! Before that, Mr Carmona's boys lost just once from January to the end of April - a run that included a 4-0 success at home to Hajduk Split, a 2-1 win at Stadion Maksimir versus eventual champions Dinamo Zagreb and a cup semi-final win away to big rivals Rijeka. To finish 2nd is unreal, 4 points clear of Rijeka & Hajduk and ‘only’ 12 points off top spot; around March or April, at one point Istra were just 4 points off Dinamo.

It's a shame Hajduk beat us in the cup final 4-3 on aggregate, for obvious reasons but also as it meant UEFA Europa League football was denied; due to the cup winners getting that instead. I can't complain though, the season as a whole was nuts (Carmona won Manager of the Month twice and then Manager of the Year) and we got given a silly run of form… I even stayed up until the very early hours of Thursday (safe to say I've got the FM bug back) so I could finish the season, such was my enjoyment but also as I didn't wanna risk the classic FM conspiracy theory of reloading the save and therefore resetting form. 😂

So, what next? It's May 2026 and Carles Carmona has signed a new two-year contract with Istra, meaning he is set to be attached to them until June 2028. Despite that, I will keep an eye out on the job market in case any interesting jobs pop up. The plan is very much to remain with Istra to lead them into European football for the first time and also to hopefully keep them flying high domestically, but if an obvious step up job becomes available Mr. Carmona may throw his hat into the ring for it… we'll see. For now, this great season will be lapped up.

Thanks for reading!

Side-note: As of now, Carles Carmona still holds zero coaching badges - both Orijent and Istra have been extremely stingy in letting him take a course. Thankfully, Carmona has now just started his National C Licence course. Hurrah!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024– | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

// Noteworthy Events \\

013:

A simply unexplainable 5 days at Istra.

From losing 6-1 to promoted and 3-out-of-3-losses-to-start-the-season Hrvatski Dragovoljac in the HNL on 9 August 2026…

…to overcoming a 3-1 first leg defeat by beating Liga Portugal side Boavista 6-1 in the UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round on 13 August 2026.

Two truly bizarre results, with practically no changes in line-up or tactic.

My head was on Mars after that first result 😂, I even avoided the game for a couple of days as I was so demotivated by it… I return to then see my team do basically the same thing to the AI. awkward

014:

Carles Carmona has now concluded his second full season (third overall) with Croatian top-flight side Istra. The prior campaign, 2025-26, saw major positivity after Carmona guided the club to a historic 2nd place finish, into the cup final and into the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round for this forthcoming season. There was a good feeling around Stadion Aldo Drosina, so the only question was: would it last? Let's find out.

No, in short. Well I say that, but it's all relative as the supporters and board are both happy with that season that just took place. Mr. Carmona, however, not quite so much. It's been painful to sit through and play this campaign if I'm totally honest, the team lost everything great about them in 2025-26 and transitioned into a very bad side to manage throughout 2026-27. Istra conclude the campaign in 7th, somewhat harshly as they sat 6th from Match 11 to Match 32; two matchdays aside midway through.

Simply put, Istra were nowhere near as good as those above and basically too good for anyone below them, for the most part. That brought with it inconsistent form, so not much enjoyment could be generated. I was delighted to see the end of the season arrive. Away from the league, we went from runners-up to second round departers in the Croatian Cup but positiveness did come slightly in the UEFA Europa Conference League - in the club's maiden European campaign, we reached the fourth qualifying round after beating Tirol (Austria) and Boavista (Portugal) before exiting at the hands of German Bundesliga side Union Berlin. No shame in that at all.

The plan is for Carles Carmona to remain at Istra in the off-season, though - depending on what happens in 2027-28, of course - the Spaniard will very likely depart at the end of his current contract in June 2028. As for this next season upcoming, the squad needs a tremendous amount of work once again - just like at the beginning of 2025-26. That rebuild went very well, let's hope this one does too.

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024– | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

// Noteworthy Events \\

015:

Carles Carmona headed into his third full season (fourth overall) with Istra in 2027-28 under a cloud of disappointment from the preceding 2026-27 campaign, which saw the club meander at the bottom portion of the Croatian top division; having placed 2nd and reached a cup final in the previous season. Could he regain 2025-26's success, or would it be a second consecutive slog of a campaign with Zeleno-žuti? Let's take a look:

Well… there's the answer. Carles Carmona is out of Istra.

It was mentioned previously that the plan was for Carles Carmona to remain for one last season into June 2028. Well, that was cut short by six months due to events coming to a head on New Year's Day. There are both on field and off field reasons for Carmona's premature departure from Istra.

Firstly, on the pitch. Unfortunately last season's poor form carried into this campaign as Carmona's second rebuild with Istra failed to reach the heights of the one prior, as Istra sat 9th (second bottom, relegation play-off spot) from pretty much the first few rounds of the season… with only promoted Cibalia, a club very much not equiped for top-flight life, stopping Istra from sitting with the wooden spoon. After 19 league matches, Carmona's boys had won just three times and had lost twelve - with the additional triumphs coming in cup ties with lower-league opposition. They were already nine points adrift of safety.

Somewhat amusingly, Istra had played would-be champions Dinamo Zagreb twice and came away undefeated with one win and one draw - work that one out! Looking back, Carmona's recond against Dinamo whilst with Istra was very good, oddly.

As you can tell above, it had been an awful opening six months to 2027-28 and the media, supporters and club (and, partially, the players) were beginning to vulture around. The board were not terribly displeased (marked as a ‘C’) but did call a few board meetings to discuss the on field issues. This is where the off field reasoning comes into play.

The first meeting at some point earlier was basically a non-event, but the secondary meet occurred on this now noteworthy New Year's Day. On this occassion it was the board trying to interfere with team selection, as they questioned why left winger Florian Rieder was starting. Naturally, Mr. Carmona did not take them putting their nose into his business very well - as he hit back staunchly in the meeting. Interestingly, that defiance worked as the board dropped the issue. However, hours earlier Carmona had requested an additional meeting to request a coaching course to add to his National C licence.

The board immediately quashed any discussion in regards to Carmona's coaching course request, something they have done more than a few times already since he completed the National C course - citing, rather selfishly, that they didn't want Carles Carmona to improve as a manager as it might make him leave for another club. So for this reason, which had been pedalled by the board before, Mr. Carmona decided to quit his post at Stadion Aldo Drosina, somewhat regrettably.

So, here we are. Carles Carmona is back on the market. He did, however, take the second part of the season off on holiday, as he took rest back in his native Huelva, Spain. It is now 29 May 2028 and Mr. Carmona is back on the look out for a new job. But where will job number three take him? Will he remain in Croatia yet again? Or will it be, for the first time, somewhere else in the ‘ABCCHRSSS’ for the Spaniard? Time will tell.

Finally, a quick update on how Istra got on: They reached the relegation play-off, as expected, and ended up beating Rudeš 4-2 on aggregate to stay up. Elsewhere, Carmona's first club, Orijent, were sadly relegated from the second tier automatically in last place after 29 defeats in 36 games.

Thanks for reading!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

// Noteworthy Events \\

016:

Carles Carmona is off to Romania! After almost 7 months out of a job, the Spaniard has found his feet at FCSB.

That's a nice gaff, eh?

Carles Carmona has landed by far his biggest job thus far, as he takes over arguably Romania's biggest club in FCSB (aka Steaua București).

Well, that statement has asterisks attached to it. One being that in the save so far, Cluj and Farul Constanța have won two titles while FCSB have won only one (2024-25). Another is that FCSB aren't in Europe for Carmona's first season in charge due to placing 4th, if 'only' 11 points off champions Cluj. A third asterisk is the major controversy around 'FCSB vs. CSA Steaua'. That's a whole different issue, one I'll be learning more about but for a rundown check out Wikipedia here. Interestingly, CSA Steaua have been promoted back (been up-and-down across the save) to the top-flight for 2028-29 - tasty!

For the first time in the save, Carles Carmona starts a new job at the beginning of a new season - how refreshing! I'm looking forward to this one.

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028– | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

// Noteworthy Events \\

017:

018:

019:

Carles Carmona headed into his first season with FCSB full of hope and expectation, having finally landed a job that would see him start a season in the hot seat; as opposed to coming in mid-season. As previously shown, the season did not start well at all for Carmona's boys… but how did it finish? Well, let's take a look:

Welp, that was short and not-so-sweet, wasn't it? Carles Carmona is sacked by FCSB after just over three months into the 2028-29 season! Ouch. That has to be my fastest sacking on Football Manager for absolutely ages, I don't think I've been sacked that quickly in a save since like FM12/FM13/FM14; as I'm usually managing teams with low expectations. Mr. Carmona has, evidently, failed in his first ‘big’ job.

Based on prior posts Carmona's sacking is understandable. However, since I made those posts form had actually picked up quite a bit. After that U Cluj win posted previously, we did lost to Farul Constanța heavily at home 4-0 - but actually started the match on top, before shipping like 3 goals before half-time iirc. Following that, however, we won back-to-back Liga 1 fixtures and won 1/drew 1 at the start of the Romanian Cup group stage; thus sitting top of our group. The match that got Carmona sacked, though, was a 2-0 away loss to leaders Cluj. The board subsequently called an urgent meeting:

Their criticisms were that the board were unhappy that our projection was only to stay clear of relegation (having set expectations of a top two (or three?) finish pre-season), Carmona's “lack of support” and the defeat to Farul Constanța (but not Cluj, oddly) - the first and third are fair, but the middle was debatable in my opinion; player support and fan support was relatively fine when I checked prior to Cluj. Carmona attended the meeting and literally pleaded for more time, but the owner disagreed and sacked him on the spot.

I was expecting the sack at some point to be honest, but I do feel like the timing of this one was a tad harsh. Though I have heard that Gigi Becali, the owner, is a bit of a, erm, 'maverick' so I guess if it is harsh it is very much in Becali's wheelhouse to be fair. In the meeting I did avoid clicking an answer that would set a promise, because based on prior FM experience (albeit a number of FMs back) after clicking that they set a points target of sorts across the next month. But I didn't think that would be realistic as the board clearly weren't happy with W3 D1 L1 prior to the meeting, so why would they accept something like that after a meeting. Perhaps a too presumptuous call on my part, but I guess we'll never know.

So, Carles Carmona - who, btw, did amusingly pick up a Manager of the Month award (!) days before his FCSB sacking - is on the move once more. Where will the Spaniard end up next? I'm intrigued to find out.

Thanks for reading!

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// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028 | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 1 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

// Noteworthy Events \\

020:

Carles Carmona's search for a new job has been extensive and seriously time-consuming, as it is now 2 January 2031 - he was sacked by FCSB on 4 October 2028… - but the Spaniard has belatedly found himself some new work. But where?

Carles Carmona heads to Slovakia with Železiarne Podbrezová!

A more humble home venue, compared to FCSB's national stadium home.

It has been a struggle in finding Carles Carmona his next job, from 4 Oct 2028 and 2 Jan 2031 the game decided that it was only going offer him clubs in relegation battles, even then the job interviews were few and far between - which is bizarre, sure the manager flopped at FCSB but he still managed a big club and holds prior experience of getting a non-Europe team (Istra) into Europe and into a cup final. So to literally only get relegation (even relegated, at points!) interviews was rather ridiculous - in my opinion, of course.

Amusingly, Dinamo București (Romania) gave Mr. Carmona an interview three times across that aforementioned period - but evidently went with someone else each time. Slovakia's Michalovce (who sit 3 points and 1 place below Podbrezová as it stands, interestingly) did actually offer him a job a while back, but they were overachieving as a likely-to-be relegated side so were rejected by the Spaniard. Other than that, there wasn't much more to the job search frustratingly. I was prepared, and somewhat expecting tbh, to keep holidaying/applying until Carles Carmona reached his mid-60s (about 10-15 years away) and then just retiring him - citing lack of interesting jobs - and adding a new manager into the save.

Anyway, Železiarne Podbrezová are still a club I'd consider a bit low for Carmona but they pass the bare minimum of what's acceptable in my eyes. Across the save so far, Podbrezová have finished: 5th, 9th, 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 7th and 6th in the Slovak top-flight between 2023-24 and 2029-30. They've played European qualifying football every season since 2027-28, predominantly in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Last season was their best in the save though, as they won the Slovak Cup and played UEFA Europa League qualifiers this season; dropping down to the UECL eventually, and exited that competition back in August to Vojvodina (Serbia). They lost the Czechoslovak Supercup to Sigma Olomouc a month prior too.

This season has been, compared to the above, terrible since those early cup disappointments. They currently sit 9th (of 12) with 4 regular season matches left to play after the winter break. Podbrezová are 11 points clear of automatic relegation, 5 points clear of the relegation play-off and 7 points behind the top 6 (split upcoming). Their reputation is 2 stars, which is the same as Istra so basically Carles Carmona has dropped back down to ‘his level' after getting that big chance (and failing) at FCSB.

Their five-year plan is simply to avoid relegation, which seems a bit low considering their history in the save but perhaps that's their level now - time will tell.

Away we go, then. Next update will be, all going well, an end of season wrap up.

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028 | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 1 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 04: 2031– | Železiarne Podbrezová | (🇸🇰 Slovakia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

// Noteworthy Events \\

021:

Carles Carmona begins job number four in the save, as the Spaniard takes his bags to Slovakia for the first time as he takes over at Železiarne Podbrezová. He joined with 4 matches left of the regular season, with 10 further encounters on the way post-split. Here's a rundown of how that portion of the campaign went:

I consider that a fairly good start to life with Železiarne Podbrezová in Slovakia. Mr. Carmona arrived with the club 9th and he ends up moving them up a space to 8th after 14 games in charge. He only lost once in his opening 5 games, winning thrice. Across the remaining 9, he led Podbrezová to 4 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses. Overall, all 5 defeats in charge were narrow 1-0 losses. It's gone well, I've enjoyed playing it out.

Going into next season, 2031-32, the board have now upgraded their five-year plan to now aim for a mid-table position; as opposed to simply avoiding relegation, which I previously mentioned as being too low an expectation. Carles Carmona heads into that season with 1 year left on his contract, let's hope he lasts that long at least! Or he gets poached by Bayern Munich or something… /s

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028 | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 1 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 04: 2031– | Železiarne Podbrezová | (🇸🇰 Slovakia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | 

// Noteworthy Events \\

022:

Carles Carmona has one month to save his job at Železiarne Podbrezová… in that period: 4 of the top 7, including 1st (a), in his next 4 games. It's not looking good, bruv.

023:

So, Carles Carmona had a month to save himself from the sack as manager of Slovak top-flight team Železiarne Podbrezová. With mid-table expectations, the club were sitting at the time of the board meeting around the relegation zone after 7 defeats in 11 games to start the league campaign. Carmona requested more time and was given 30 days or so, could the Spaniard turn it around?

Nope. Carles Carmona has been sacked by Železiarne Podbrezová, which makes it back-to-back dismissals following that 2028 sacking by FCSB in Romania.

I wasn't actually too fussed by the start of the season, which probably says more about how I feel about Football Manager than anything else. Still, though, I wasn't too annoyed with the squad at hand, the results just weren't coming - every team we played, more or less, happened to be in good enough form to always score against us and also impressively keep us out, what more can ya do eh?

#WeGoAgain! Carles Carmona is back at the job centre, his second home at this point.

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028 | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 1 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 04: 2031 | Železiarne Podbrezová | (🇸🇰 Slovakia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

// Noteworthy Events \\

024:

Carles Carmona headed back out on yet another job search. After departing FCSB in October 2028 it took the Spaniard until January 2031 to find new work, but I am pleased to say this job search was much more busy and much quicker in terms of the new job arriving; he left Železiarne Podbrezová in November 2031, the new income begins in April 2032. Let's see who with:

Carles Carmona heads to Bulgaria, as he takes over the reigns of second division outfit Slavia Sofia!

It was a busy job search that saw offers from Železničar (Serbia), Spartak Subotica (Serbia) and Mezőkövesd (Hungary), three relegation-threatened outfits nearing the conclusion of their seasons. All three offered Mr. Carmona the role but, after much delay for each, he chose to decline them as the Slavia Sofia job became available. Admittedly, I made a bit of a gaffe in that I thought Slavia were top-flight mid-table, whereas they are actually second tier mid-table. I know of Slavia IRL as a decent top-flight team so just assumed they were still there without looking properly.

That was, however, before I accepted the job, so I knew what I was getting into at that point - deciding to follow through with Slavia as it's a good project. They were pre-season favourites for the title, have secure finances and have average-to-good facilities; and a big stadium. After struggling at a few clubs, Carles Carmona wanted a project and he has found one. It does make a third straight sacking quite possible if Slavia flop at the start of next season*, but hey-ho. As for now, it is April 2032 and there are 7 fixtures left to play. Slavia sit 12th but are 12 points clear of relegation (15th to 18th), the gap between Slavia and 9 points off the promotion play-off and 10 points off automatic promotion. Therefore, it ought to be a simple, no fuss end to the campaign and time to prep for 2032-33.

*especially given the board wanted automatic promotion in 2032-33, pressure if very much on. Surely Mr. Carmona can't flop again?

Show Spoiler

 

I'm actually looking forward to this, but then again I was also just that for both FCSB & Železiarne Podbrezová and look how those jobs turned out… 😬 We'll see.

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028 | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 1 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 04: 2031 | Železiarne Podbrezová | (🇸🇰 Slovakia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 05: 2032– | Slavia Sofia | (🇧🇬 Bulgaria/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 |

// Noteworthy Events \\

025:

Carles Carmona is aiming to rebuild his career after failed (and rather short!) stints with FCSB in Romania and Železiarne Podbrezová in Slovakia. To do so, the Spaniard has moved to Bulgaria to take over Slavia Sofia - a former solid top-flight team that has fallen on difficult times in the second division, though do look fairly well set-up for a rebuild… whether Mr. Carmona is the man for that, time will tell. He joined with Slavia sitting mid-table with 7 games to go, here's how those fixtures went.

No complaints, really. P7 W5 D1 L1. Carles Carmona moves Slavia Sofia from 12th to 8th in the process, ‘just’ 5 points off the promotion play-off.

The squad looks a good one, some changes definitely needed in the off-season but I can see potential. A decent transfer budget set too (~3.4m, iirc).

I reckon next season should, at worst, be enjoyable - the board have altered the expectation to reaching the play-off (3rd), though that may change again before next season begins. Either way, let's get it!

Thanks for reading!

--

// Save Recap \\

Job 01: 2023–2024 | Orijent | (🇭🇷 Croatia/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | contract expired

Job 02: 2024–2028 | Istra | (🇭🇷 Croatia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 3 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | resigned

Job 03: 2028 | FCSB | (🇷🇴 Romania/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 1 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 04: 2031 | Železiarne Podbrezová | (🇸🇰 Slovakia/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 | sacked

Job 05: 2032– | Slavia Sofia | (🇧🇬 Bulgaria/2) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: 0 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0 |

// Noteworthy Events \\

026:

Nothing achieved yet, but a crazy season no matter what. Prediction: 2nd, with cup final loss.

027:

Onto more important matters…

028:

How good does that look? 😍

We are going up, say we are going up!

Now can we get the title? Doubtful as we play 3rd and Dobrudzha (who won their game in hand, also securing promotion) play the bottom side. I don't really care anyway, promotion was all I wanted.

029:

Prediction Recap:

Cup final loss = tick

2nd place finish = tick

Dobrudzha win on the final day, we fail to win = tick

Give me 1 second, I'm off to buy a lottery ticket because I can predict the future! /s

I'll let it slide on this occasion, I'm grateful for promotion!

Full breakdown of the season on the way later, but in short: Slavia Sofia are back in the Bulgarian big time!

Quite the season, one Carles Carmona and his boys can be proud of!