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November 2018

A much quieter month in the end with just 4 games and a much needed two week break at the end of the month to rest these part timers. Although all 4 games were tough with the three league games all against teams fighting for the play-offs and that 1st Round FA Cup tie against Barnet. A Young Albie Hopkins was added on loan from Oxford United on a 3 month deal to cover whilst Wheeler and Jolley sit injured on the sidelines.



All in all a good month with 9 points from 9 in the league. Enough to win me manager of the month and more importantly keeps us right in the hunt for promotion come end of the season. In fact the top half of the table is looking very very tight indeed.



Two points off the top and a very nice gap formed between ourselves and Chippenham just outside of the play-offs. As you can see our three games were against 8th, 9th and 5th meaning the 9 points have been vital in propelling us up the table.

Therefore the only blip this month was the FA Cup where despite taking the lead in the 1st minute through Jake Hyde we were dominated by Barnet and in the end their class overcame our side as we exit the competition. We move on to the FA Vase which starts in December with Torquay our opponents in the 3rd Qualifying round.

November's Woking player of the month

It could only be one man as Greg Luer takes the award banging in 5 goals in the league putting him on 17 for the season so far. He also came 2nd in the League's award as he sits 2nd in the scoring charts. Without him we would be screwed!

Brexit is here

Not sure if on this version of FM there are different outcomes from Brexit but it has been announced and it is going to look like this



It seems pretty soft with Ireland still counting as non-foreign and just a limit on the number of foreigners in the squad. To be honest i am quite looking forward to trying to go up the leagues with as an all british squad as possible. Bring it on!

October 2018

Month 3 and the FA Cup start to kick into gear as we start the month with the 3rd Qualifying round fixture against Brentwood. A game i was expecting to win relatively easily but in the end a 93rd minute goal from Nicky Wheeler had to be enough to take us to the 4th Qualifying round where we got fellow Vanarama South side St. Albans.

It took going to a replay (Which we didn't need) but we eventually got free. Jake Hyde scoring in the first game to earn a 1-1 draw and hitting two in the replay in another 3-0 romp against St. Albans. In fact Jake Hyde has now scored 5 goals in 3 games against them this year. This has got us to the 1st round proper, meeting the board's expectations where we have a tasty home tie against Vanarama Premier side Barnet. Onto the league table.



Four more games down and 7 points collected in what highlights some of our struggles (Scoring goals) but does highlight some of our strengths (Defence). We can be very tepid and if Greg Luer is not playing well than we do really struggle to score goals. Jake Hyde has played himself into some form partly as i loves ripping apart St. Albans so we might have finally got him back to the scoring ways i expected but we do need the midfielder chipping in more with some goals if we are going to make a concerted effort to get back to the top.

It is though still pretty tight towards the top and in the month of November we have lots of the teams in and around us which if it goes in our favour means we could get ourselves comfortably into the Play-off spots. A nice 5 point gap over 8th place Slough is good to see though at this stage.

October Woking player of the month

Looking back at the month it was pretty hard to find that stand-out player. In the end it came down to two players who i can say improved from their first two months form. Jake Hyde and Nicky Wheeler were the the two men but in the end i will give to to Wheeler whose 2 goals and 2 assists helped us get through two rounds of the FA Cup and show there is some potential in our right hand side.

Takeover is complete



The long winded takeover is now over and it couldn't have been more anticlimactic as the fans trust take over and simply change nothing. Well apart from removing the need to play direct football.

September 2018

Onto Month 2 where we have fixtures against Billiericay and Torquay, two of our potential rivals for promotion, as well as our first foray into the FA Cup. Could we keep up our form?



Well yes and no. We managed to overcome Billericay 2-1 with Greg Luer being on fine form. In fact, that was the story of the month with Luer scoring 6 goals in just 5 games to keep the pressure on. His last minute goal against Dulwich Hamlet rescued us after we made 1 mistake and he helped get us going in what proved to be a trickier tie against Thatcham than i would have liked.

The game against Torquay was a similar game to the Wealdstone one from August where we just looked tired and we couldn't offer anything in the way of attacking threat. It does throw in the question that we might need a plan B and we already look too dependent on Luer to score our goals which is again something we are going to need to address. Still we are in the play-off spots 2 months in



September Woking player of the month

Quite clearly there is just one player in the running and that is Greg Luer who has been superb all season but really hit his stride this month with 6 goals putting his current season total of 11. 9 of which are in the league meaning he is 5th in the scoring charts for the league but if we can keep him going that is one of the key metrics for a successful season.

Transfer embargo now in place



So it looks like the takeover is going to happen but it isn't going to be a consortium which means we will not have a big boost in revenue. The Fan's trust will in all likelihood mean no change at all which isn't the worst of things.

August 2018

Just like in real life, we got ourselves off to a decent start in the league to stamp our claim as a promotion hopeful



It all started with a 1-0 victory over East Thurrock where their defender was unlucky turning the ball into their own net as he was trying to prevent Leur from scoring himself. In our first home game though we smashed through St Albans 3-0 with the strikeforce working beautifully in tandem. It was the same again in the 2-1 win over Oxford City where we never looked in doubt.

The one blip of the month came at Wealdstone as we looked tired and off the boil having played Oxford just two days earlier. A schedule like that with part time players is always going to make it difficult. However this man was happy with the result



That defeat and the endless chants of us having no fans has though shaken us a little. We lumbered to a 4-3 victory over struggling Hemel Hempstead with Max Kretzschmar banging in a left foot volley from outside the area and slotting home a penalty to go alongside Leur's two tidy finishes. Our second two games in 3 days spell came up and this time i played both games with rotated squads rather than the previous effort of a strong side followed by a weaker side but we still struggled. Two 1-1 draws against Truro and bottom of the table Eastbourne at least mean we avoid defeats but both were lifeless affairs to be honest.



Still after 7 games we find ourselves in 4th spot amongst a pack of teams chasing the very impressive Welling down. We have Billericay up next in what will likely be one of the tougher games of the season. If we can get back to winning ways there we should look good for the rest of September and close that gap with Welling.

Looking through the games, the wing play style is generally working as we sit top of the crosses completed stat (17%) and with 8 of our 23 goals (Including friendlies) being assisted by crosses it is definitely forming a strong part of our play. It has also helped we are 2nd on shooting accuracy meaning we are making the keeper work 54% of the time and we are also 2nd in headers won which i think has partly been down to the excellent Ellesley at the back as well as Hyde doing his piece getting on the end of the direct balls and crosses.

Defensively we can improve and we are seeming to have some problems from through balls and assists within the area. I think we need to either drop the defence a little to combat the directness of the lower leagues or try and put more pressure in the middle of the park. Something to chew over for the next month.

August Woking player of the month

The obvious choice could be Greg Leur who leads the scoring charts with 5 goals but instead i have gone for a man who has impressed me because quite frankly his attributes are not that good but he is performing. Reggie Young is just 18 and was drafted in from the U18's during pre-season as we lacked depth on the wings. Since that moment though he has really taken his chance and he leads the assists charts with 3 to his name and his partnership with Captain Casey at left back highlights a really strong attacking outlet on the left. One that is far outperforming the right hand side at the moment.

A takeover looms?

At the start of the game, Woking are set to having the owners open to offers as they are in real life. The old chairman left suddenly and was replaced by former Mayoress Rosemary Johnson a few months ago and the game also believes the owners are looking for a change and it looks like i could be about to happen as this came up



Obviously a consortium could put a fresh spin on the game with the potential for money helping me spearhead a charge up the leagues which finger crossed could happen. Admittedly a few days later i did get some news that a fan group is also interested in taking over. That will be a little less exciting but i am sure more will follow

Tactics

With a revamped tactics module in this years game i was keen to look at how we can set up in the lower leagues where the ability is just not there to play the likes of Gegenpress and Tika taka football. Therefore we needed something a little more simple and ready for the lower leagues. This is what i am opting for



A relatively basic 4-4-2 with the idea to get the ball forward quickly and out to the wings to knock in crosses. With two strikers (Target man and Advanced forward) we should have at least one willing striker to run into the channels and a big man to get on the end of any crosses, we should have the firepower to score the goals. So far i haven't tweaked any of the parts of the formation preferring to see how the out of the box option will do for the first part of the season.

Off the back of this a secondary formation (4-4-1-1) with a pure direct play is being trained as a back up formation should we need it.

Squad

After going through the U23's and the U18's i got myself to the conclusion this would be roughly the 1st team squad for the season wiithout any new transfers.



It looks pretty strong but there is some work to do as we do quickly go into teenagers for back ups in a lot of positions and although i do want to give youth a chance, i think we need a few more better rounded players to make a charge over what will be a long season.

Kane Ferdinand is our best player by a longshot and will play as a ball winner in the middle of the park alongside Max Kretzschmar in what looks to be a very strong central midfield for the division. I cant actually remember the last time i had two 4.5* midfielders in the middle of the park. Max will be more likely a box to box engine midfielder to give us some impetus moving forward.

However, it is the two men infront of them that the formation is going to rely on. Jake Hyde is a useful looking target man with 14 for heading and some decent height to boot. He should be able to terrorise defenders in the air and it should mean any floated crosses we will be in the hunt for. Greg Leur alongside him will be the legs and will be the one that will help stretch the back 2 to give Hyde more space. Well that is the plan anyway!

I will call out more of the squad as we go through the season

Scouting & Transfers

With lower league management it is all about looking for bargain buys which quite often means the free transfer market. A modest scouting budget has been supplied which as expected has gone on scouting the Vanarama North/South to see if there are any decent players we could pick up for next season on frees as we can't afford to pay any transfer fees



Over pre-season a tonne of players were bought in on trial as i looked to add a few more players. The main aims were for wingers, a central midfielder and the defence and it was tough going. A lot of players were either no better or the ones that could make a difference were not interested. However 3 new faces all join the ranks



There were no other outgoing's but we are still way under budget on wages even when i secured new contracts for our best 5/6 players. To help with the finances i also asked for a senior affiliate and i was pleased to tie up a deal with Sunderland who will pay us £30k a year, come to us for a friendly every season and loan us their youngsters. So far none have come over but in time that could become an important source of players for us.

Pre-season

Things have been going alright on the pitch too as the players have adapted themselves nicely to the 4-4-2 formation.



As you can see goals have been pretty easy to come by so far smashing four goals on 3 occassions but we can't get ahead of ourselves as all of the games were against weaker opposition in lower divisions than ourselves. Newcastle U23's was our one defeat but to be fair i rested the whole 1st choice side as the match came just 3 days before our first league fixture and i didnt want a knackered team for my debut.

Greg Leur caught the eye early on scoring 6 goals in 6 games and could be the main man this season. A young winger Reggie Young who was in the U18's at the start of the game has also come through and is in fact in pole position to be on the left wing for the opening game after some impressive performances including a handful of assists.

So far the cards are looking in my favour. Let the season begin!

So my first game on FM19 will be with the team that were just down the road when i grew up. I am a Gooner at heart but Woking is still the first team i saw live in their relative heydays on the mid 90's. The aim here is to take the side from the doldrums of the Vanarama Conference South to the lofty heights of the Premiership.

Club History
Woking Football Club are a semi-professional side based in Woking, Surrey. Formed in 1889 the club play at the Kingfield Stadium (Named the Laithwaite Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons) and are nicknamed the Cardinals or the Cards. Whichever you prefer.

Now in the 6th tier of English football after their relegation last season, the club is looking to rebuild and in the short term get themselves into the league football season for the first time. A feat the club nearly achieved in 1995 and 1996 where they came 2nd two years on the trot just behind Stevenage on both occasions


As you can see there is some cup history with 3 FA Trophies to our name coming in 1994, 1995 and 1997 highlighting how dominant Woking were in non-league football at one point. It was during this time that Woking famously took than Premiership side Coventry to an FA Cup 3rd round replay where a last minute goal prevented the tie going to extra time.

Finances
Finances are especially key in non-league games as you need the money in order to make the jump from semi-professional to professional status. I am pleased to say that the club are in the black and are looking pretty good with £160k in the bank


The finances mean we can go and add some new players to the squad with an extra £2k or so per week available to offer to new signings but we will have to make do with no transfer fee budget for the time being.

Expectations
Having been relegated last season, i was expecting relatively high expectations by the board and i wasn't too wrong as the Board demand we finish in the play-off spots (Top 7) which nicely aligns with the Media's pre-season expectations where they predict us to finish in 7th as well


However, as you can see the odds between 2nd and 7th are exactly the same, meaning it will be tight. Relative moneybags Billericay are going to be tough, whilst Welling had a decent squad and Torquay have history of being a League side so shouldn't be underestimated either.

Cofidis Cup
We made it to the 6th Round and the furthest i have achieved in my 3rd season in Belgium and we were paired with Jupiler Bro and Belgian giant Standard Liege. It was my first experience of playing a top tier side and we really held our own. We matched 50% on possession and had 13 shots to their 15 in what was a surprisingly tight game. In fact so tight that the game went all the way to penalties after a hard fought 1-1 draw. It took sudden death to decide the tie and in the end their superior experience and cool heads saw them knock us out of the cup 6-5 on penalties.

A great result in my opinion.

Derde Klasse
The Belgian 3rd tier is certainly the craziest league i have been in. Just look at that league table.

We sit in 4th at the half way point having won just 5 of our 15 games this season! Just two points off the top of the table and we have suffered just one defeat. In fact the highest win rate is 7 wins from 15 games just showing how tight this division is. 6 Points separate the top 10 and only 13 points from top to bottom. Anyone can beat anyone and more often than not matches end in draws. Well that is certainly our case as we have racked up 9 draws from our 15 games. The fact we are on a 14 game undefeated streak is kind of lost when its endless draw after draw.

In 6 of them 9 draws we have been winning by just the one goal to see us pegged back against the run of play and often in the 70th+ minute. A severe lack of killer instinct is the diagnosis as we fail to kill teams off and let them peg us back. We lead the way in possession and passing and often create more than 7 more chances than the opposition but sharing the points is what we like to do.

However, the last two games saw us pick up back to back victories as we beat rivals Geel 2-0 and came back from behind twice to beat Torhout 3-2 with new striker ">Toze Marreco scoring a hat-trick in only his second appearance. Perhaps he will be the man to finally provide that killer instinct for me.


Thoughts
This is the most fun i have had on this save despite the endless draws and in fact might be the most enjoyment i have had for FM16 in what has been quite a torrid year for me with saves dying midway through the 2nd season. We are quite clearly one of the best teams in the division and if we can get that killer instinct there is no reason why we can't just move away from the rest of the pack and put us in a massive lead when it comes to the Championship play-off.

On the field Rochina hit the ground early on and leads the scoring charts with 9 goals and also has 5 assists to his name. Lebanese International Phillipe Paoli has 8 goals to his name and has done quite well upfront and now with extra competition i can see him kicking on. Brandon Deville is the main creative outlet with 8 Assists but with 4 goals is also a threat. To be honest everyone is playing well with only a handful of players averaging less than 7.00.

On a side note i know i need to concentrate on getting some coaching badges as i have none but the board keep saying i am crucial to training so i have taken myself off of training completely which will hopefully allow me to get my badges, build my reputation and allow me to kick on. I can see myself at Lommel for quite awhile which is a nice feeling and i have some quiet confidence that we can get promoted this season. Fingers Crossed!

After last year's battle i was gearing up for another slog with Dender with minimal budget at my disposal and that was the plan until....

Background
So here i am at my 3rd club of this save at the beginning of just the 3rd season. I certainly was planning on moving around but this frequently is still a surprise. In the end the tiny wage budget of £3.7k per week looked too daunting and when the Lommel job came up due to their relegation from the Proximus League last season i cheekily applied. I was surprised i got the interview but even more surprised to get the role. It was an easy decision and here i find myself.

Lommel United are another Belgian club that was formed through the merger and dissolution of other clubs. The club started life as Koninklijke Football Club Lommelse Sportkring and were founded in 1932 and had two spells in the Belgian top flight between 1992 and 2000 and 2001 to 2003 with a highest ever finish of 5th in 1997. In 2003 the club fell victim to the Commission des Licences newest regulations regarding debt as the club owed several thousand euro to the Belgian FA and were unable to pay on time. The entire playing squad left the club in the face of the impending liquidation so the team attempted to continue playing in the league by playing their youth players but 3 games before the end of the 02/03 season were expelled from the top flight despite not sitting in the relegation places.

The owners contacted local side K.V.V Overpelt Fabriek and allowed them to play at Lommel's 12,500 seater home ground the Gemeentestadion and a new club of K.V.S.K United Overpelt-Lommel was created. Then in 2010 the club merged once again with KFC Racing Mol-Wezel and the club changed its name to the current Lommel United.

In game, during the 15/16 season Lommel finished a respected 4th in the league but last season they were relegated to the Derde Klasse after finishing bottom of the table and this is where i take over. For this season the club has a Media Prediction of 1st and the board are expecting us to win the Derde Klasse.

The club is in debt but after a recent takeover the club has taken out a loan to keep us going. There is no transfer budget but i have a wage budget of £15.5k to play with, with only £5k being used after an exodus of players left following the relegation. The money is there and we have certainly some of the best players i have managed in this save. Progress is now a real possibility.

Transfer Window and Playing Squad
Before i get into the new faces that i bought in, i thought i would show a few i already had at my disposal. Brenden DeVille is the club's best player and will be a great outlet on the right flank. Mehdi Lomma was on loan at the club when i started and is certainly a class above the rest of this division. In goal we also have ">Sven D'Hoest who is way above what i has at both Rupel Boom and FCV Dender and gives me hope.

To help aid the team i looked and concentrated on the loan market. Three new players were bought in from Standard Liege on loan. Allasane Diallo, Francis Marquet and Rochina all join and will certainly mean we have a very strong midfield for the season to come. Parent club Genk also sent us another young midfielder in the form of Dante Vanzier who will get the odd game here or there. Two permanent signings were made as i went back to Dender to bring in keeper Xavier Gies due to an injury in pre-season to first choice D'Hoest. The second was Rwandan International Salomon Narasirike,


Cofidis Cup
Pre-season went very well with 5 very easy victories and we continued that form in the cup. A 4-0 beating of lower league side Molenbeersel was followed up by a 2-0 victory over Zwarte Leeuw. The 5th round saw a bigger challenge as we took on fellow Derde Klasse side Aalst who are predicted to be our main competition in the league. The game went to extra time but we nicked a goal to put us through to the 6th Round and my furthest exploits in the cup to date.

There we will take on Standard Liege

Derde Klasse
4 Games down in the league as the transfer window slammed shut and it has been a mixed affair to say the least but still positive. We lost the opening game to Patro Eisden against the run of play but it was the best 1-0 loss performance i have had this save. We followed that up with a 1-0 win over Eupen who are another one of the stronger sides in the league before just missing out on victory against Aalst just days after we beat them in the Cup. A 92nd minute goal robbed me of another 1-0 victory. Finally we took on Sprimont away and we were shit to be honest going 2-0 and 3-1 down but loan signing Rochina got all 3 goals to give us a 3-3 draw.

5 Points from 4 games isnt great and it will need to improve but if i am being honest we are dominating game and if we can keep doing that than we are going to win more than we lose. This league is tight as i have found out but i am feeling confident i can move to the promotion play-offs and get our 2nd flight status back.

Transfer Window
There was only one new face as i added Luxembourg International Guy Blaise to the team to provide more cover across the midfield

Derde Klasse

An absolute slog but ultimately not a bad season at Dender and its nice to finish in the top half and not get relegated! It was a tight league and it was only after our 29th game that we were guaranteed not to fall into the dreaded Relegation Play-offs. Equally with 2 games to go we were just one point away from being in the promotion play-off but 2 straight defeats to finish the year killed that hope.

Our defence was terrible and our keeper was a flapper and that really explains the terrible goal-difference. We were prone to a thumping if we didn't score first. Our form was patchy although in an 8 game spell we picked up 16 points and rose to the loft heights of 5th and 6th as we switched from a direct play to a more measured approach and that saw us pick up a few more victories.


Thoughts
A tough slog this season as we just couldn't get into a good run of form although the form between Match day 21 and 28 was at least a positive note as we picked up enough victories to have an outside chance of qualifying for the Promotion Play-off. A 6th place finish in a league of 16 having been media predicted 11th and the board hoping not to be outclassed can probably be seen as a triumph. It does though mean two seasons in (Officially my longest FM16 save) that i haven't really progressed and i still sit in the 3rd tier of Belgian football. So much for winning the big leagues.

Frustration has crept in and despite that i have agreed to a new contract to give it a proper go for promotion next season. To do that we will need to look at the defence who were clearly the worst in the league. There were some positives though, Yannick Put did put in a good performance upfront and his 15 goals (virtually a goal every two games) was a highlight. Mick Michiels towards the back half of the season really came into his own and Alessio Virgone was the most consistent provider with 12 assists from the left flank.

The Club is massively in debt (Around £250k) and we have no new transfer budget next season with our wage budget frozen. It will be tough but i can do it... Right?

Transfer Window
With a half depleted squad it was a case of a busy window to rebuild the team. No less than 4 players joined from Rupel Boom. Koen Gommers, Jeroen Mertens, Yannick Put and Jeff Vogels all came in to boost the squad. Vogels will be first choice centre half with Gommers the right back. Mertens will go on the right flank whilst Put excelled last year for me up top and i will be looking for him to bang in the goals this term as well.

Bram de Rop, Jeremy Voluzulo and Stig Engelen joined on a non contract term to provide cover in the midfield and the defence. Olivier De Groodt and Niels Ringoot have been added to make a whole new backline for the season whilst Mick Michails was added to the midfield from Ciney. 10 new players in total added to the squad.

A very busy window and the first team here now looks a hell of a lot stronger than it did before but it will be a case of trying to get that many players gelling. All in all it looks like 7 new first team starters to gel together. It certainly won't be easy

Cofidis Cup
We got to the 5th round in the end having just about dispatched lower league side Westhoek in the fourth round with a 4-2 victory after extra time. In the fifth round though we were unstuck by fellow Derde Klasse side Roeselare who beat us 2-1


Derde Klasse
When it came to the league it has been largely as expected with a mixture of results as we have shifted formation and tried to blood in new faces. We started the season in a fairly traditional 4-4-2 formation. A 1-0 defeat in the first game against Lierse was upsetting as we didn't quite deserve it as it was only a penalty that cost us the game. We beat Bornem 1-0 in the very next game before we picked up another 4 points in the next two games.

From that point 4 defeats in the next 5 saw us plummet down the table and with that i switched to a 4-5-1 as we looked to bolster midfield numbers to better cope with the other teams in the division. The switch immediately worked as we won the first two games in the new formation 1-0 and were just minutes away from a 3rd straight victory when Sprimont got a late equaliser. Two defeats followed by another draw saw us drop from 5th to 11th where we sit at the half way point.

Thoughts
A rollercoaster of a year to be honest but i am just happy to have a job. The league is incredibly tight with just 5 points between us and 4th and i am hoping we can gel much better in that back 15 and pick up a run of victories. It really is a league where anyone can beat anyone with only Aalst showing any real level of form this season. We are light in the midfield due to the formation change so i will look to add another central midfielder or two to the line up.

Performance wise only Yannick Put has an average rating of over 7 and leads the scoring charts with 8 and the assists chart with 4. We need more goals from the rest of the squad if we are going to get that run of form together

So i know you have all been waiting with baited breath as to where my save would take me. So this is the story....

After being fired from Rupel Boom, it was a case of scouting for the next job. The league restructure in Belgium certainly caused a lot of jobs to come available as the 2nd Division (Proximus League) also had 10 teams relegated from it to the newly created third tier. Two jobs immediately caught my eye - Lierse and Geel. Lierse have certainly fallen quite hard in recent years and although i applied i was never offered a job interview there. Geel did give me a job interview and immediately i got hit with relegation questions and for not having enough experience. Needless to say Geel passed. A further Belgian job in the form of Helst came out and it was the same story as Geel.

Confidence was hit and it looked like i would have to give up on Belgium, So i went for a job in Turkey and that didnt go anywhere after an interview before i had an interview with Dorchester Town who were just promoted into the Vanarama Conference South. This time they didn't question the relegation and in fact were asking about why i would take the step down. I duly got offered a job and i was close to accepting and nearly hit the button before i had another quick cheeky glance at the job screen. To my delight there were two jobs open in Belgium - both in the 3rd tier. FCV Dender and Hoogstraten, both teams surviving the massacre of last season. I applied for both and I asked Dorchester for some time and i was about to give up hope when i finally got an offer....


Background
Football Club Verbroedering Dender Eendracht Hekelgem of the catchier FCV Dender are a Belgian football club based in Denderleeuw in the province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. It has a rough population of 20k. Currently in the newly formed Derde Klasse, FCV Dender survived the horror of the Belgian third tier last year but found themselves without a manager after the previous manager decided to jump ship to Beerschot Wilrijk (Who incidently FCV Dender relegated to the new 4th tier!).

Like a lot of Belgian clubs, the club was founded from the formation of KFC Denderleeuw Eendracht Hekelgem and Verbroedering Denderhoutem who merged at the end of the 04/05 season. The club's official founding is in 1943 and they first reached the 4th tier of Belgian football in the 1980s and finally reached the 3rd tier in 98/99 where they remained until their merger. The merger kickstarted a crazy couple of years as in the next season (05/06) the club won the Third Division A title and then the very next season (06/07) won the Second Division title to find themselves in the top flight for 07/08 for the first time in their history. In 07/08 they finished 15th and survived and finished in the same position the very next year but this time they were relegated thanks to the top flight reducing to 16 teams.

Since then the club has slowly dropped back to the 3rd flight where i now find myself.


What did i inherit?
Looking through the squad it is clear that i need to rebuild. There was a mass exodus of players last year on free transfers and virtually everyone still at the club is out of contract and playing on a non-contract basis. All but one of the players is under 21 and we are missing 2 centre halves, any wide midfielders and full backs. Our one star player is central midfielder Julien Pe and right now he is who i am building the team around.

We don't have a transfer budget and our wage budget is set to £5.7k per week. What is helped is that we are only spending £700 of that as everyone on a non-contract does not count towards the allowance. It means i can move this around, create some transfer budget and bring in a new team. Getting them all to gel is now going to be the challenge.

Expectations
The third tier is now just one league of 16 with the bottom two getting relegated and 14th facing a relegation play-off. The top four get promoted (I suspect to help fill the now depleted 2nd tier) in a shorter 30 game season. The Media are predicting a 11th place finish which is not too surprising since the number of former Proximus sides now in the league (I think from memory there were 8 relegated

The board are asking me to not be outclassed in the league and for a 6th round appearance in the Cofidis Cup (meaning two rounds to navigate). That to me is music to my ears as i think that is quite a low expectation. I am going to be looking for a top half performance personally with a view to fighting for promotion next season.

Thoughts
Really happy that i have got to stay in Belgium. I have a feeling of unfinished business and want to salvage my reputation a little over here. For me Dender feels like a club to stay at for 2 to 3 seasons building up enough of a reputation to perhaps make a jump to an established 2nd tier side. However, equally i could stay here for a bit longer.

For now i will leave it and i will come back with a half year review / Sacking report depending on what comes first

On the Pitch
There was no further activity in the winter window and it was just a case of trying to keep the season going along and trying to avoid slipping into the relegation places. In the first half of the season we were inconsistent with victories quite often being backed up by a defeat. If we were to push on to take that top spot and possible promotion we needed to get more consistent with our performances.

Well that was the plan anyway but the 2nd half of the season proved to be a slog as we only won 5 of our final 18 league games. To be fair we only lost 4 league games as we went on to draw an incredible 9 times! We just couldn't win matches and i was at a loss to what to do. I tried increasing our attacking mentality to try and kill games off and even looked at tweaking the tactics but nothing seemed to get us out of this draw epidemic. We did though manage to hold on and avoided the automatic relegation spots

I was actually exhausted after that second half of the season and i was ready to call it a season and look at building on the squad for the newly formed Derde Klasse. However, i was wrong as the season wasn't over there. We then entered into the Derde Klasse Semi Final play-off which i presumed would be a promotion play-off and give us a shot of moving up a division. Great news! Oh how i was wrong as it was in fact a relegation play-off where we had to win to give us a shot of staying in this god damn division. It was a one off game and we were going away to Beerschot-Wilrijk. It was simple. We lose and we are relegated.


It was over like that as we went on to lose 3-0 in the final game and with us now not being in a playable division i was given the boot. In the first time in my career i was relegated and to boot sacked. I was gutted but to show you how brutal my chances were of surviving, see the below league table


I was onto a hiding to nothing it seems

Performances and Reflections
It was a tough first season in management and one that ultimately didn't end where i wanted it to. Where could it have gone better? I am still not too sure it would have made a difference. We effectively needed to win the league for me to be certain of keeping my job. The media predicted 8th and the board wanted top half and i delivered over and above that. We certainly lacked goals and only Yannick Put was a regular on the score sheet scoring 24 in 35 appearances.

So where do i go from here? I am currently biding my time and having a think about where to go next. There are a couple of jobs opened up in Belgium with sides that were relegated from the old 2nd division to the 3rd division. I could be tempted to move back to England but at the moment who knows.

However, here is a summary of what happened in the top flights

Premiership: Arsenal won the double and reached a Champions League final. Man City, Tottenham and Man Utd will join them in the Champions League next season
La Liga: Valencia were the surprise champions as Barcelona and Real Madrid finished 3rd and 4th respectively
Bundesliga: Bayern won the league and added the Champions League. Dortmund had another poor year finishing 7th and missing out on Champions League football
Serie A: No surprises as Juventus won the league with Napoli and Lazio following
Liga Nos: Porto won the league with Benfica only getting 4th and missing out on Champions League football
Ligue 1: PSG won the Europa League and racked up 100 points to win the league
Russian Premier Division: Zenit were the champions
Ukrainian Premier Division: Another shock as Dnipro won the league meaning Shakhtar will not be playing Champions League next season
Jupiler League: Gent held on during the Championship Group to win the league
Super Lig: Besiktas won here with Galatasaray missing out on Champions League football
Eredivisie: Twente were relegated as PSV went on to win the league
Superleague: Olympiacos ran out as champions

Euro2016: Italy beat the Czech Republic to become Champions of Europe

Now to find a new job

Save Premise
For the first time in years i finally got to a point where i just couldn't get into any save at all. No team was keeping my attention for long enough and i had feared FM16 was going to be my last FM. However, the saves from [USER="171"]Ben[/USER] , [USER="134"]Varyy[/USER] and [USER="64"]Robson[/USER] inspired me and opened my eyes up to the task of starting with nothing and building up from there. From that inspiration came some reading about the most celebrated managers out there and how many different top flights they have won. From my research the leader of the pile is Croatian Tomislav Ivic who won 5 different European Top Flights (Yugoslavian, Dutch, Belgian, Greek and Portuguese) and was manager for part of Marseille's triumph in the early 90's. From the current era Mourinho currently leads the way with 4 (Portugal, England, Spain, Italy). All of that has led me to this save.
In this save i have loaded up the top 12 ranked European divisions (Spain, Germany, England, Italy, France, Portugal, Holland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Belgium and Greece) and made their full league structures playable. I then created myself in the game, a 28 year old englishman with no coaching badges and a sunday league reputation and went off to find a starting point with the overall aim to top Ivic's haul of top flights won with the nirvana state of being to win all 12.
Rupel Boom
So starting unemployed i applied for every job going and in the end i had 8 clubs willing to give me an interview (Kidderminster, Bromley, Chelmsford (All England), Baikal (Russia), 2 Turkish Clubs that i can't remember, 1 Ukranian side and two Belgian sides (Boom and VW Hamme). In the end, Boom were the only ones that came back and offered me the role and so my journey began in Belgium.
Rupel Boom or Koninklijke Rupel Boom FC to give their full name are a club based in Boom in the Antwerp Province. Boom is most famous for the Tomorrowland festival held every year. We are currently playing our trade in the Derde Klasse B. This iteration of the club was founded in 1998 due to the merger of K. Boom FC and Rupel SK and intially started in the Antwerp Division 3 Regional league. One of the original clubs K. Boom FC did briefly have some success in Belgian football even reaching the top flight as recently as the 1992/93 season and have a 2nd Division title to their name which has been passed back down to this newly formed club.
Since 1998 the club has steadily moved up to the leagues reaching a high point in 2010/11 of the Second Division before being relegated and sitting in the current 3rd Division. A fairly unremarkable history but one piece to note, the club currently boasts Romelu Lukaku, Jordan Lukaku and their father Roger Lukaku as club icons. Roger actually played for Boom during their heyday and was part of the team that was promoted to the top flight in 1992 and to this day still lives in Boom. Both Jordan and Romelu were on the books at Boom as kids before being poached by Lierse and then Anderlecht.
The club is expected to finish 8th out of 19 teams and the board want a top half finish with a little run in the Belgian cup to the 5th round to boot. The only problem about finishing 8th this season is that will actually mean we get relegated to the 4th tier. In fact this season in Belgium is a crazy year with the Belgian league structure going through a restructure. Essentially the two 3rd divisions are being merged into one 3rd division with the rest moving to a newly formed 4th division and the current 4th flight becoming a 5th flight.
Essentially i will be happy if Boom are still playing in a playable league at the end of the season!
Transfers
To add to the challenge, we had no transfer budget and no wage budget to do anything with and it was a chance to go scrimp and save for new additions. I added a new parent club in the form of Cercle Brugge and added two new players to help provide cover for the season in the form of Simon Vanderwiele and Sebastien Perquy. A third loan signing was added from Anderlecht with 17 year old Bjorn Schoukens coming on board. All three will be back up's this season but in a 36 game league season with a bunch of part timers they could all come in useful at the end of the season.
There were three permanent signings all on free transfers. Mario Pruna comes in to compete for the striker position. His pace of 15 is rapid for this flight and with decent finishing and composure stats i am pretty confident this guy can easily get into double figures for the season. Veteran Kristof Imschoot has been bought into add more bite to the midfield and will be deployed as a ball winning midfielder as i look to break down the opposition before pumping it forward. The final signing was Angolan teenager Jonathan Mavacala who provides cover for the right wing.
There was one outgoing as i let Sven Herrigers leave for £1.5k
On the Pitch
Now down to what really matters and it is results that matter. We kickstarted the season off with the Cofidis Cup and we entered in the 3rd Round. First up we had Turnhout from the 4th Division and they were smashed 5-1. Next up we took on fellow Derde Klasse side VW Hamme who were also put away with a fine 2-0 victory. Our cup run was ended in the 5th round as 2nd Division side Eupen eventually beat us 3-0.
The League had to be the main priority this season and we got off to a great start to the season with 3 straight victories all by a one goal margin. Confidence was high and it was looking like we had built a compact efficient side that would get the job done. We were soon bought back to earth though as Liege destroyed us 5-1 in a shocking performance that i am still trying to get my head around. We picked up two more victories with Berchem being beaten 1-0 helped by my keeper Otte saving a penalty for us. A 3-1 victory in the next game actually saw me win a league game by more than a goal as we scored 3 compared to their 1.
However, a small shaky spell was due and it came as we picked up just 1 point from the next three with some tight 1-0 losses dropping us down the table before we picked it up again with two more victories. Three defeats in the next four shook the confidence and co-incided with injuries to some key personnel before 7 points from the next three saw us surge back up a tightly contested table. All in all it leaves it looking like this:
Now you see how daunting the relegation places look! It has been a good year and with Overijse slipping in the final few games we are still in the hunt for that top spot and promotion to the second division. However, to be honest at this stage i am concentrating on that points gap between myself and 7th as i do not want to end the season relegated. We need to be a bit more consistent and turn 3 game runs into 6 or 7 game runs but i can live happy with a 5 point gap for now.
Performances
All in all it has been a decent if frustrating spell as manager. We are winning games and doing better than predicted but performance wise we have not been great. Our season has been compounded of a lot of 1-0 wins. We are tough to break down but we also struggle to create chances and quite often we might only have 4 shots on goal all game but somehow come away with a victory. A lot of that has to do with Yannick Put who as the main striker has put the ball in the back of the net 12 times and is the 2nd top scorer in the league. He has missed the last 4 or 5 games with an injury but luckily Pruna has come in and done an okay job.
However the big player we have missed all season is Dirk Mathyssen who has been injured for most of the campaign but did get 6 games in this half of the season and leads the way with an average rating of 7.77 with 3 goals and 4 assists in that time. I need to keep him fit for this second half and if i can he could be the difference between staying in this league or slipping into relegation spots or even pushing into that top spot.
That is all i have to report for now. See you at the end of the season

Botola
The transfer window is about to open and with 16 games gone in the league it is time for a mid season update. As per my previous update, the season started well with big victories over COD Meknes and MC Oujda but we were then unstuck against IR Tanger and Wydad Casablanca which quickly crushed my hopes. However that is about as bad as it got generally over the first 16 games we have put in some good performances and picking up the points.



27 points from 16 games doesn't sound brilliant but we are just 13 points from our overall points total from last year. In fact if we hadn't have slipped up against COD Meknes in game week 16 we would have easily been back to 3rd where we have spent much of the year. As you can see it is an incredibly tight league title for the Continental positions with only Wydad Casablanca looking certain of a top 4 position. A slight understatement as they sit undefeated and pretty much have the league title in the bag again.

I am still hopeful we can grab a top 4 finish and that is all i am looking for. If we can get to around the 50 point barrier it should be done.

Coup du Trone
The 2nd round saw us take on AS Touarga and a 5-1 victory with new boy Ismael Chrifi scoring a hat trick easily put us into the 3rd round. There we had struggling Botola side OC Khouribga where i was still confident of getting the job done. A poor 0-0 first leg put me on edge and we had to battle back from a goal down to seal the victory thanks to 16 year old Yassin Farid scoring his first professional goal for the club. 2-1 on aggregate was enough and we were into the 4th round.

There we will meet Wydad Casablanca in a repeat of last year's semi final. With the way they are ripping through the league i think they will beat us again and my search for a first trophy on this save and FM16 overall will continue.



Administration and thoughts
A much better start than last year and it looks like we are making progress. Last year Pierre Koko'o was the saviour with 15 goals from just 17 appearances but this year he has struggled a bit more and only had 7 to his name. He has asked about moving away and it feels like his head is turned and if a bid comes in than i expect to see him playing in pastures new. To soften the blow though Ismael Chrifi has been superb upfront stealing the limelight with 12 goals at the age of 19 putting him up there as one of the best players in the league.

Diomande Eric Siekoua along with Koko'o had a big impact last season when he came in and his form has continued this year with 8 assists and 2 goals comfortably putting him as my most dangerous out ball for the team. However he is being outshone by Youssef Ait Bennasser who is getting stronger and stronger and with 5 goals has already beaten his tally from last year and is in the top 3 in the league for average rating.

However, off the field it hasn't been quite as rosy as the team finds themselves in debt despite me staying within wage budget and working at a transfer profit. I will have to sell a few in the mid season transfer window to help balance the books and that is going to be the story for the foreseeable future. The key is going to be to find the right replacements for the squad.



World Cup Qualifiers
The 3rd and final round of qualifiers began in October as we looked to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. In our way were the Ivory Coast, Kenya and DR Congo with only 1 place up for grabs. It was always going to be a tough ask but we need a challenge in our lives.

We started the campaign at home to a Yannick Bolasie inspired DR Congo. We have to win our home games if we are going to have any shot and we did just that (just about) with Karim El Ahmadi and Adil Hermach being the surprise goal scorers as we crept through 2-1 on the day. In other news Ivory coast drew in Nairobi against Kenya just showing that there are no whipping boys in this group.

Next up was the away day trip to Ivory Coast and for this game i decided to put the team in a more defensive midfield 5 to counter the likes of Gervinho and Yaya Toure from dominating our midfield. We were under it for most of the game and for a second i thought we were going to get away with a 0-0 draw but Toure scored. Not Yaya or even Kolo but a Thomas Traore scored in the 78th minute to lose us the game 1-0. Kenya went on to lose against DR Congo leaving the group like this



Qualification is still doable but we will need every result to go in our favour. By my reckoning we will need to beat Kenya twice and grab at least 4 points from Ivory Coast and DR Congo. That would give us 13 points. If DR Congo and Ivory Coast draw both of their games than we would win the group. All very doable but very specific. Better keep my fingers crossed.

Friendlies
The year ended with two friendlies allowing me to play around with some new faces and see what the depth was like. First off we had Trinidad and Tobago where a 0-0 draw was played out before we struggled to a 2-0 win over Eritrea.



Thoughts
A good 2nd year in charge with generally decent performances and more importantly meeting the expectations of the FA. 2017 kicks off with our first African Cup of Nations in Gabon and we are going to need to be at our best. We were seeded 4th and got



The FA want us to be competitive and i want us to finish at least 3rd in the group. Ivory Coast are the holders and the overwhelming favourites for the tournament. Egypt are going to be dangerous with the likes of Salah and being one of our fierce rivals also means a heated match. Burkino Faso i think on paper are the weakest but shouldn't be underestimated.

In other news our Moroccan U23 side got to the Quarter Finals of the Olympics beating a Lionel Messi Argentina on the way

Thanks Dan and everyone else for your comments

Transfer Activity
A very busy window but one that looks like we have won! 4 players were released as their contracts run out (Kargbo, Ait Hayet, Zaari and Essadek). Kargbo was a regular last season but was largely dog turd whilst Essadek and Ait Hayet were getting on and i was happy to let them go. Two also retired in the forms of Zoubairi and Kessab but neither were in the first team last season so it wasn't a big loss.

The first piece of business to sort out was the 5 players that were on loan here last season. Diomande Eric Siekoua did enough for me to pay his agreed future fee of £7k from Stade Malien. Youssef Ait Bennasser, Karim Essikal, Achraf Achaoui and Anas Hamzaoui were all happy to resign on new year long loans. This meant a large important part of the team remained intact whilst i looked to improve in other areas.

However, as per all year around we have vultures overhead and it saw three important first team players leave the club. Issam Badda was number 1 last year but Chateauroux's £40k bid for a 33 year old goalkeeper was decent money. Abdelouahed Chakhsi was then off to Tolima for £60k and Ahmed Chagou went to Cyprus with AEK Larnakas for £40k. I also then loaned out back up centre half Adnane Sarhane to COD Meknes for the season and i eventually let veteran Abdelhak Ait-Laatif leave for £6k to go Greece when the new enforcements were confirmed for the season.

It was a cool £140k or so raised from transfers and with 35% being kept for transfer budget along with the £20k made available for the board, i had a small amount to bring in new faces. So who come in?

Well i need another keeper for sure so i looked domestically and picked up Yassine El Houasli for £7k from FAR Rabat to compete with Baayou. From further afield i bough young Ilias Kaissoumi from Belgian side KV Mechelen. He provides decent cover across right back and the right wing and at £5k should allow a little profit should i sell him on at some point.

We were also thin at centre half and it was a clear area that needed improvement. Two new faces came in, first was Central African Republic International Salif Keita who joined on a free from fellow Moroccan side DH El Jadida and the second was 32 year old Spaniard Antonio Ayala who was playing for Mas Fes for £7k. Both should be my first choice centre back partnership for the next year and it provides a slight improvement from last year.

Siaka Bagayoko caught my eye last year when he was playing for MC Oujda so i snapped him up from his parent side Djolba of Cameroon for just £8.5k and he will compete with the veteran Ouali Alami for the right back slot. Another striker to compete with Koko'o was a must and young Moroccan Ismail Chrifi was available on a free so the Moroccan U20 joined. Finally the last signing was the marquee signing as a i signed former Fulham winger Adil Chihi on a contract making him the highest paid player at the club. Capable of playing on both wings he adds good balance with Siekoua on the other flank meaning i should have crosses flying in from both sides feeding Koko’o and co.

On top of that, Yassine Yildrim, Yassin Farid and Yassin Benali have all been called up to the main squad.


Botola
The transfer window has slammed shut with just two games played in the Botola and so far so good. We opened at home against newly promoted COD Meknes, the team in which striker Pierre Koko'o came from and it was that very man that led the onslaught getting two goals as part of a 6-1 whitewash. New Signings Antonio Ayala and Adil Chihi were also on the scoresheet. To put it into context, in 15 home league games we scored just 16 goals and with one game down we are already up to 6!

That victory was followed up with another one as we went away to MC Oujda and dominated from start to finish. It took a fluke goal in the 70th minute from Diomande Eric Siekoua to break the deadlock but a 1st goal from new striker Ismael Chrifi doubled the lead and gave us a 2-0 victory.

Thoughts
A cracking start to the league and with some impressive friendly victories over the likes of Luzern and Belenenses it is certainly looking a much better team. The squad is bigger and certainly packed with more talent than last year. I think this could be a side that gets me into the top 4 and fighting for Continental football. The key will be to keep this squad fit and ready to play week in and week out.

We already have one new injury with Chihi fracturing his ribs meaning he is out for a few months but with one or two other options i do feel less exposed than last year. See you again in January!


African Cup of Nations Qualifiers
One final qualifier to go and it was at home to Libya.

Top spot in the group was pretty much out of the question unless Sao Tome and Principe caused a massive shock and took points of Cape Verde and therefore it meant i had to look into the lottery of the 2nd place teams where Goal Difference was almost certain to take affect and decide all of us. Therefore all i had to concentrate on was scoring the goals and hoping results went in my favour elsewhere.

And Goals is what i saw as the returning Hamedallah banged in a hat trick in the first half with Younes Belhanda adding a fourth to seal a very easy 4-0 victory and give us 13 points and crucially +13 goal difference. As i predicted it wasn't enough to win the group


There were only three teams that could prevent us from getting one of the top 2 2nd place spots. Mozambique were easily ruled out when they lost their final game to Ghana 2-0 meaning it was down to 3 - Nigeria/Egypt and Mali/Benin. In the end i didn’t need to fret as Mali and Benin played out a draw meaning both ended with 13 but were let down by their goal difference whilst Egypt lost 3-1 to Nigeria which also meant their goal differences didn’t matter.



Qualification was ours!

Friendlies
In the final match of this update we went away to the Seychelles on a nice friendly adventure and with a reserve team picked up a comfortable 4-0 victory


Thoughts
Missing Qualification would have been a disaster and I’m so relieved that we got there in the end albeit we should have won that group with relative ease. I think we are slowly getting there as a team and performances have been much better over the last 3 or 4 matches. As the Moroccan league finished a number of the top Moroccan domestic talent has made the jump over to Europe and that will be interesting to see if their development pushes them into this squad as i think we could have a very competitive team especially in the midfield for a few years to come.

Next up is the World Cup Qualifying campaign and we have DR Congo, Ivory Coast and Kenya in what looks like will be a tough tough group. The FA want qualification but to be honest I’m not so confident as i would expect the Ivory Coast to win this group.

Transfer Activity
So the winter window hit and there was more movement both in and out of the club. Both Mnasfi and Aoudane were transfers i agreed in the summer and they left for small change. However, bigger news came when i let go first choice left back Khalid Sekkat as he moved to Medellin for £42.5k. Sekkat was one of our better players but at 32/33 he was getting on and that sort of money was good enough to see him go. The last big move during the window saw my board accept from Elfsborg a £13.25k deal for Ismail Khouchame. Another player who was playing well but at 31 was the wrong side of 30. However, i could have done without the board letting him move on.

It was therefore essential i looked at new faces and 3 new faces came in. Another young Moroccan came on loan from Belgium and that was Anas Hamzaouli from Club Brugge. Hamzaouli will be the new back up left back with Achaoui moving to 1st choice. I also added in Malian Diomande Eric Siekoua on loan with an option of a £7k permanent signing. He joins from Malian side St Malian and will provide another natuaral left wing option. Goals were a problem in the first half of the season so i raided the league below for the top scorer and in came Cameroonian Pierre Koko'o who had hit 21 goals in 26 games for league leaders Meknes for just £14k

With the transfer window shut, i thought that would be it but after the window shut i saw two of my best players leave to new continents. Brazilian born Jeferson was whinging about me rejecting bids from Switzerland so i eventually let him leave to Luzern for £90k happy that Koko'o was going to work out. It also saw the departure of Malian Samba Diallo who moved to Deportivo Cali when they met his release fee of £350k. Both have the potential of being big losses but the income came will help me boost the facilities here.


Botola


The board wanted a top half finish, I wanted 4th and the Media predicted 7th and in the end we pretty much got the average of that with a 6th place finish. Our form at the end of the season saw us lose 4 of our last 5 matches and that to be honest was the difference between us and 4th. The top 3 were miles ahead and it wasn't until matchweek 25 that Wydad Casablanca pulled away to clinch the title. In the first half of the season we struggled for goals but defensively we were strong and in the second half we did score a lot more goals but we also became a lot leakier than i had hoped to leave us no better off.

The signings of Siekoua and Koko'o did prove to be inspiration as they ended up topping the assists and goals charts for myself whilst finishing 3rd overall in the league. Not bad for half a season's work. In fact Koko'o finished 3rd top scorer in the league below as well and amassed 36 goals in 43 appearances overall last season.

Coup du Trone
When i left you last we had just drawn the 1st leg of the 4th round with MC Oujda 1-1. The 2nd leg went our way though as we beat them 2-0 to move to the Quarter Finals which the board wanted. From there we were drawn with lower league opposition again with Youssoufia Berrechid. A 2-0 and 2-1 victory saw us into the Semi Finals as expected where we took on our toughest match yet in Wydad Casablanca.

It was a tight two legged affair but in the end away goals and a slim squad choice saw us go out having won the first leg 1-0 but losing the second leg 2-1. Wydad went on to win the final to complete a domestic double

CAF Confederations Cup
In the season before i took over we finished 4th and that meant we competed in the Confederations Cup. The African equivalent of the Europa League. It is a straight two legged knockout affair and in the Preliminary rounds we were drawn with Mozambique side CNaPS United. They were semi-professional and it should have been a walk in the park for us but it wasn't going to be so easy. Both Siekoua and Koko'o were signed after the squad registration and Mehdi Azim was long term injured meaning i had to play a form of a second string side. Still we managed a 4-0 aggregate victory to put us in the 1st round proper.

The second round saw us against Sudan side Khartoum-3. Another side we were expected to beat but yet again we struggled to victory. A scrappy 1-0 victory in the away leg thanks to a penalty was followed up with a second 1-0 win at home to put us into the 2nd round. There we had a much tougher tie as we were drawn against South African side Sundowns.

In South Africa we were battered 4-1 putting us pretty much out of the tie... or so i thought. In the final game of the season the boys put on a sterling role and although it wasn't meant to be a 3-1 victory at home saw us lose 5-4 on aggregate but put some pride into a tired team.

Youth Intake
The key to any C&C is the youth intake day and despite our very poor youth facilities we did okay for ourselves. I snapped them all up as its much better having a full U18 side than just a few players. Yassin Benali and Yassin Farid are the two stand out players and will likely be in the first team squad next season. Benali looks like he could be an okay winger for the Botola and already has okay physical stats whilst a 10 in crossing is a good starting point. Farid looks like he is going to be a hard working midfielder and 18 and 20 for determination and teamwork look good in my eyes. Not an awful passer it shouldn't be long until there are more double figures on his stats.

Administration and thoughts
A long season in the end and a lot of the time we were down to the bare bones due to injuries and suspensions. Up top Koko'o was immense in the second half and 15 goals was a cracking return. Siekoua was another immense signing and it wasn't long before i took up that permanent option as he was voted the 3rd best player in the league having knocked in 11 assists. Aqqal should also get a mention putting in a good shift with 8 goals and 5 assists with 4 PoM's to his name as well.

In terms of next season, i have to look at the squad. Two back up players are retiring from the game with 3 others refusing to sign contracts with just weeks left. On top of that 4 players are here on loan including the impressive Essikal, Achoui and Ait Bennasser. Some European and South American sides are sniffing around and there will likely be sales with keeper Badda, right back Chakhsi and centre half Chagou being the ones predominantly targeted. All are getting on a bit so it might not be the worst thing to let them go. Bids of around the £50k mark for each might test my resolve.

Depending on who goes it will be a busy summer getting players in. The defence is an area i will need to look at as well as the centre of midfield and definitely on the right wing. I will also look to blood in Benali and Farid and both should get around 10 - 15 games next season.

I have got the club to agree to improve the youth facilities and we have also added Lugano as another parent club as i look to maximise all revenue options. Next season we are predicted to come 7th from the Media and the board want a top half finish again meaning my ambitions remain the same. There is a definite chance to grab that 4th spot and cement our place there for years to come. I have £20k to go out an buy players which doesn't sound a lot but i should be able to find some good African talent albeit out of Morocco to fill the gaps. I will also continue with the plan to bring in young European based Moroccan's on loan for first team chances as it worked well this time around.



African Cup of Nations Qualifiers
Only the one game since the Nations Championships as we had one more qualifier to qualify for the Cup of Nations. It was against group leaders Cape Verde at their place and it was vital we get the victory to have any chance of qualifying.

It was an open game and we were missing some of our biggest players through injury in particular Boussoufa and Belhanda. However we took the lead through a Benatia header from a corner before a 20 yard striker levelled things just before half time. I had a bad feeling about this and so i pushed the team on and on and there were a few scary moments and a lot of missed chances from ourselves before Assaidi latched onto a parried shot in the 83rd minute to put us 2-1 up. The last 7 minutes saw us miss another chance to score but also saw some scrappy Moroccan defending but eventually we held on for a crucial 2-1 win.

So with that victory we remain in 2nd on 10 points with Cape Verde on 12 with one game to go. Only the top team go through automatically into the tournament with the top 2 second placed sides also going through. In the last round of fixtures we have Libya at home whilst Cape Verde go to group whipping boys Sao Tome and Principe. I'm not even that confident of beating Libya as they have been a right pain in the arse so far but i don't see Cape Verde losing meaning we are likely to finish in 2nd.

So that means i need to look at this table.


With only the top 2 going through sitting in 3rd with one game to go means i still have hope. As already mentioned our last game is against Libya at home. I am expecting a victory and probably by a two goal margin. That would mean we would be on 13 points with at least a +10 goal difference.

With that in mind there are only 3 other teams who could compete for the two spots. Mozambique currently sit 4th but have to go to group winners Ghana who are home and dry with 15 points. Therefore i don't really expect Mozambique to get a point let a long a win so they should be ruled out. Nigeria on the other hand take on group leaders Egypt who themselves sit on 13 points with a goal difference of +11. An Egypt win easily gets rid of Nigeria. A draw will also be enough due to goal difference with Nigeria on +6 but a Nigerian win means we would definitely need to win by a minimum of two goals as it will be very tight on goal difference with both teams in similar positions for goals scored.

Finally, Mali have group leaders Benin and both teams sit on 12 points. Both team's goal difference is underneath ours so from my reckoning any combination of result will be okay as long as we win.

So in short we have a shot but we have to win and win well to make our chances better than good. We find out in our very next match!

Thoughts
By the numbers so far but it will be a disaster if we don't qualify as i'm not sure the FA will keep me on. There were lots of regens coming through across Europe with Moroccan being a 2nd country so i am busy looking at the options. World Ranking wise we are 87th meaning we have barely moved in the year i have been in charge. However, Cape Verde were ranked 40 something before our match so i should jump up a bit post that victory.

Pre-Tournament Friendlies
So before we got into the main tournament i laid out two warm up friendlies against Namibia and Angola. Namibia proved to be a straight forward game as we came out 2-0 winners whilst Angola had us beat all over the park as we lost 1-0.

Squad for African Nations Championships

Goalkeepers

Anas Zniti - (27) Raja Casablanca - 10 Caps 0 Goals - The Number 1 for the African Nations Championships and 3rd choice for the National team overall.

Mohamed El Yousfi - (25) MA Tetouan - 4 Caps 0 Goals - He is the Number 2 right now but he is pushing Zniti's claim on the jersey. Depending on results he will get appearances at this tournament.

Zouheir Laaroubi - (31) Wydad Casablanca - 0 Caps 0 Goals - 3rd Choice for the tournament and not likely to get his 1st cap at the tournament

Defenders

Youssef Rabeh - (30) Wydad Casablanca - 8 Caps 0 Goals - A solid defender for the Botola and Mentally is one of the strongest players we have at our disposal.

Abdeljalli Jbira - (25) Raja Casablanca - 4 Caps 0 Goals - First choice left back for the tournament with a decent set of physicals for this level

Abderrahim Achchakir - (29) FAR Rabat - 18 Caps 0 Goals - One of the more experienced players in the squad. Can play either right back or in the centre but will more than likely used at right back

Mohamed Aberhourne - (26) MA Tetouan - 1 Cap 0 Goals - Will likely compete with Rabeh for one of the centre back slots. Has the added ability of being able to play the ball out from the defence. Something that i have been utilising with the main National team

Mohamed Oulhaj - (28) - Raja Casablanca - 20 Caps 0 Goals - Our main centre back. Has decent physical stats but his real strength is mentally. One of the better players i am taking to this tournament

Abdellatif Noussair - (25) - Wydad Casablanca - 10 Caps 0 Goals - Probably the first choice right back for the tournament. Decent enough pace and has the technical stats to do a solid job. Not that far off from the main National team due to a national shortage at right back

Anas Lamrabat - (22) - MA Tetouan - 1 Cap 0 Goals - The youngest of my squad and will be the back up to Jbira for this tournament. Needs work mentally before he can be considered a starter for this side.

Midfielders

Salaheddine Saidi - (28) - Wydad Casablanca - 11 Caps 0 Goals - Not got a lot of game time for his club so was nearly left out of the squad but he brings experience and a ball winning midfielder might be useful in order to close out some games later on in the tournament

Mohammed Ali Bemammer - (26) - Raja Casablanca - 4 Caps 0 Goals - Another not getting game time for his club and is okay all over without excelling anywhere. Will be more than likely a sub for the tournament being used to come on and provide fresh legs

Abdessamad El Moubarki (34) - FAR Rabat - 8 Caps 1 Goal - The old man of the tournament and is in the team thanks to having a great season so far for his club side. I’m a believer in taking people to tournaments who are in form and will be the first choice in the centre of midfield for that very reason.

Ahmed Jahouh (27) - Raja Casablanca - 10 Caps 0 Goals - One of the only two players along with Zniti that make it into the full Moroccan side. Will sit in the defensive midfield position as the ball winner. His performances could be vital this tournament

Rachid Housni (25) - Wydad Casablanca - 1 Cap 0 Goals - Like the El Moubarki he is in the squad due to form and will be a sub this tournament as i have better options in his natural AMC role but he could be another man to throw on should we find ourselves chasing a game

Brahim El Bahri (29) - Wydad Casablanca - 8 Caps 0 Goals - The star player during the qualifiers for the tournament and will occupy the right wing slot here.

El Mehdi Karnass (25) - FAB Rabat - 1 Cap 0 Goals - Bought in as back up to El Bahri and is also having a good season domestically

Abdelilah Hafidi (23) - Raja Casablanca - 12 Caps 4 Goals - Another player that did well in the qualifiers and will probably take the AML role for this tournament. Will be one of our main goal threats for this tournament.

Anouar Hadouir (33) - MA Tetouan - 3 Caps 0 Goals - On fire for Tetouan, the dutch born player is in the squad for his adopted second nation.

Zakaria Hadraf (25) - DH El Jadidi - 12 Caps 2 Goals - Can also play upfront and has been banging goals in for fun in Morocco for surprise outfit El Jadidi. Likely to be an impact sub or could take Hafidi’s place if needed

Yassine Salhi (28) - Raja Casablanca - 9 Caps 3 Goals - Probably the best player at my disposal and in the Moroccan league and normally sits in the AMC slot. We will need him at his best to progress

Strikers

Moussa Tigana (28) - Mas Fes - 2 Caps 1 Goal - A Senegelese striker that recently declared for Morocco. He was having a good season and so i capped him and a goal on his debut against Namibia sees him as probably my best hope for a striker right now.

Hamza Abourazzouk (29) - MA Tetouan - 1 Cap 0 Goals - Probably a sign of the lack of strikers domestically. Will be used sparingly

As you can see there are none of my Marrakech players in the squad and this is purely because i can’t afford to lose any of them for an International tournament. Games are coming thick and fast and we have a small squad as it is so i decided to not pick them for this tournament,

Group Stages

So we were 3rd seeds in a group consisting of rivals Libya, Gabon and the Ivory Coast. The board expected a semi final appearance and i just didn’t know what to expect.

Libya 0 - 0 Morocco
Not the greatest start to the tournament as Libya were seen as the weakest of the sides in the group despite being holders. I thought we would win this game having beaten them in the qualifiers but we just couldn’t get hold of the ball. Libya dominated from the 1st to last minutes but the boys defended well to earn a point

Gabon 0 - 0 Morocco
Another 0-0 but this time it was us who dominated the match. We just couldn’t finish and our strikers looked woeful all match. Another strong defensive performance being one of the only highlights from a dull match

Morocco 1 - 0 Ivory Coast
Wahey! A goal finally. Another tight game where the boys defended with their lives and blocked a couple shots off the line. With the game heading towards another draw i knew we would be out. I put the team out on all out attack to just try and force something and it worked as a corner was not cleared and Zakaria Hadraf bundled the ball in at the back post to give us a goal and a vital victory.

So somehow we progressed from the group as runners up and we were now in the quarter finals.

Quarter Final

Zambia 1 - 2 Morocco
We went behind in the first half and to be honest with the way things were going i thought we were out. However a shake up at half time, a change in direction saw us come out of the gates fast in the second half and we were finally on top. The pressure finally resulted in a goal as Jehouh headed in to put us level before Salhi raced through to curl home a winner.

Semi Final

Morocco 1 - 1 Ghana (Lost 5 -4 on Penalties)
At this stage, every man in the squad was down to 70% fitness and it was a battle putting a side out. The game went on and both teams were defending well and so it went onto extra time. In the 103rd minute we went behind and any thoughts of going through were out of the window but a late overload setting forced a few corners and eventually one of them corners went in off a Ghana player to tie the game up at 1-1. On to penalties and it all went to plan before we missed our 5th and final penalty

3rd Place Play Off

Morocco 1 - 3 South Africa
Our worst performance and by this point the main team were down to 50% fitness against a very strong South African side. We were ripped apart in the 1st half before putting a much stronger performance together in the final 45 minutes.

Thoughts

Not a bad opening tournament with the B team and we met FA expectations and probably slightly exceeded mine as the team is a little bit average. I can certainly take courage from the defensive performance with Zniti being excellent in goal as well. What we really need is slightly better attacking midfielders and strikers. The good news is that i see this tournament as a great way of blooding regens into international football and will hopefully allow the players to develop a tad quicker.

Surprisingly Tanzania went on to beat Ghana in the final!

Onwards and upwards.

Botola
It is now January 1st and this is as good as time as any to update you on my Moroccan adventures. The first half of the league is a little stop start with only 11 league games played as of January 1st ensuring a busy 2nd half of the season. When i left you last we had comfortably beaten Olympic Safi 2-0 in the league opener and my confidence was high that we could indeed have a good season. Our next two games were going to be a challenge though as we took on Tetouan and Wydad Casablanca, who were both tipped to be in the top 3 this season. My boys did me proud though defensively as we held on for two 0-0 draws to keep our defence intact.
At this point i thought i had things covered but my world came crashing down in the next game as another team tipped to be near the top Mas Fes smashed us 4-0 in a truly shocking defensive display. Made even worse by the fact that Brarou who i sold to Fes before the season started assisted 3 of the 4 goals! Talk about an ex player coming to haunt me. We recovered though well as in the next three games we picked up another 7 points and another 3 clean sheets. Goals were hardly raining in for us but if we were going to be a wall in defence than we always had a shout of picking up enough points.
However, once again with confidence high, we became complacent as we then managed to lose the next two games against Khouribga and high flyers DH el Jadida. The two losses rocked us somewhat and put us into the lower half of a congested table. Injuries were coming thick and fast and with the Moroccan U23 side at the African Cup of Nations we had 5 men at the tournament meaning our reserves were low. However, like all good underdogs we came out fighting and decided to unleash ourselves on poor HUS Agadir as they were smashed 4-1.
Our final game of 2015 saw us against Raja Casablanca, another of the favourites for the title and we held our own taking the lead through Samba Diallo early on to eventually be pegged back to take a well deserved 1-1 draw.

It is a tight old league table at the moment and we could easily move into the Confederations Cup places or slip into a relegation battle if we are not careful. We need to start turning more of this draws into victories but if we remain strong at the back we will be there or thereabouts this season.
Coup du Trone
We entered the national cup in the 2nd round where we were drawn against Botola 2 side Kasba Tadla. An experimental side was named and it was a comfortable 2-0 victory for us only allowing Kasba Tadla to have one shot on our goal. In the 3rd round the cup becomes a two legged affair and once again we were paired against a Botola 2 side. This time it was Khelnifra who were dispatched 2-0 and 2-1 providing me a 4-1 aggregate victory and a place in the 4th round.
Here, competition got a little tougher with fellow Botola 1 side Oujda our opponents. Only the first leg has been played but a 1-1 draw away from home is a decent enough platform to provide me with the ability to progress to the next round

Administration and thoughts
A solid start to the season so far for me as we are doing exactly how the media and the board predicted us to do. We are not scoring as many as i would have hoped but we are keeping clean sheets with 8 already achieved in just 15 games. Both our strikers are struggling for goals and so it has been left to our midfield to get on the scoresheet. Rather unsurprisingly our midfielders are leading the way. Samba Diallo has 6 assists to his name as well as 2 goals making him the most involved in our scoring exploits. Already a bid from South America has come in for £150k which i was able to reject but i don't think it will be long before higher bids come in and the board get itchy feet. Something they have already done this season but more on that later. Backing Diallo up, both Mehdi Azim and Saleheddine Aqqal have equipped themselves well and both lead the scoring with just 3 apiece.
The transfer window has opened again and has another two weeks to run. Currently there are no new faces in at the club but the board have accepted a bid for Ismail Khouchame for £13k from Elfsborg. He is one of our older players at 31 so was never going to be around for too long but it is annoying that the board have gone above my head as he has been an ever present in an injury ravaged side. He hasn't accepted the contract yet but i fully expect him to do so. Another player that could be out of the door is Khalid Sekkat who despite being out best left back is wanting to move on so i accepted a £45k bid from Medellin of Colombia. Again i am waiting to have confirmation of the move but i fully expect him to be out of the door as well. The sales may mean i make a move in January but in all honesty, money is tight and i might be able to get away with moving two players from out of the wilderness back into the fold to keep squad numbers up.
Injuries have been killer for us this season and along with call ups for the Moroccan U23 side and the African Nations Championships i have been left a little short on a number of occasions. I may have to restrict the numbers of call ups for the even busier 2nd half if i want to push on up the table.

African Nations Championship Qualifiers
So after Libya surprisingly beat Tunisia just before this game it meant that all we had to do was avoid defeat in the last game of the group against Tunisia to succeed in qualifying for the African Nations Championships in Rwanda. It was a very nervy affair with many of the players looking sub par but we managed to hold on for a 0-0 draw with special thanks to our keeper Zniti who did a sterling job keeping a clean sheet. It meant the group looked like this

Qualification was achieved and the FA were happy. We were then drawn as 3rd seeds for the tournament proper. My best hope was a group consisting of Rwanda, Gabon and Central African Republic as the FA were looking for a Semi final appearance. In the end i got 1 out of 3 as we were put in this group.

Hard to know what to make of it as I won't be seeing the full compliment of players with domestic only players being allowed. Ivory Coast are very much reliant normally on their expatriate players such as Bony, Toure and Gervinho so they might not be as strong as their 1st seeds make out. Libya again are a known quantity and so far i have been able to get the best out of them but a 4th match up in just over 6 months might be one match too many. Gabon looked the weakest of the 2nd seeds and i think i can get something out of the match with them.
World Cup Qualifiers
We ended the year, with a two legged 2nd round qualifying tie against South Africa. A very tough match on paper and one i was not confident of. The first leg was in Rabat and i named a strong side looking to keep the ball and work the ball into the box with some slick passing. What i got was a masterclass as Nordin Amrabat destroyed South Africa almost single handedly banging in two goals and causing a nightmare for the South African Defence. The fact El Arabi also chipped in before a comedy own goal added a 4th was just a distraction. Amrabat is some winger and could be a hidden gem for me. A 4-0 1st leg victory was just not what i was expecting.
Back in South Africa, i tried to prevent complacency becoming an issue but also knew this was a chance to try out a few different players and ensure i had 11 fresh men on the pitch. We defended well but South Africa were much better. They ended up missing a penalty though and it might have proved costly as although we lost 2-0 on the night we were through to the 3rd Round thanks to a 4-2 Aggregate victory.
On to the 3rd round which was the group round and you had to win your group to book your place at Russia 2018. Our reward was....

Urgh! Not a nice group at all. Kenya should be beatable home and away but DR Congo and Ivory Coast are both top African Sides. The FA want qualification but in all honesty i am not sure we will be able to match that ambition.
Friendlies
In September, we had two more friendlies as we took on Uganda (1-1) and Libya (2-1) as i looked to tinker with the first choice squad to see who was worthy of a place. Both games did show a worrying lack of a killer instinct. Something the bigger teams will punish if we are not careful. Still, we came out unscathed.

Thoughts
All in all a fairly successful year as we managed to meet all of our expectations. Rwanda 2016 for the African Nations Championships will be my first tournament on this save and we have a shot with that group to get out of the group stages and make some progression. We just need to make sure we kill teams off when we get the chance. Progress from a tough World Cup Qualifier with our best performance to boot shows we have the potential to dominate African sides should we hit every beat full on. We will need a good 2nd half to the African Cup of Nations qualifiers thanks to that loss to Cape Verde but i think i have the team clicking much better than i did back then so we should make light work of the sides in that qualifying group.
Nordin Amrabat has been the standout over the last few matches and i think he could be a great wide outlet for this side. If i can just make sure we don't go too attacking with our midfield options and find a right back worth calling an International we might have a good base for a few years to come. Our World ranking stayed at 89th but lets see what we can do over the next 6 months.

On a side note... The Moroccan U23 side won the U23 African Cup of Nations. Bodes well for the future

Transfers
I said the squad needed some new blood and so i set about looking at any way possible to revamp the squad for the better. With no transfer budget or wage budget spare it was a case of shifting a lot of deadwood out of the team at first. Something that in the end wasn't as difficult as i had first feared. 8 Fringe players were moved on to new pastures either to fellow Moroccan sides or to the outer reaches of European football and these sales in total raised £43k and freed up a good chunk of the wage budget.
On top of the 8 there were two other players sold in slightly more substantial deals. Chamessdine Chtibi was arguably my best player and i spent the whole summer rejecting bids for him but after a while i had a second thought and looked at his age. He wasn't going anywhere and this was probably my last chance of letting him go and getting anything for him and since i needed to rebuild it made sense. I eventually came to an arrangement with Deportivo Cali of Colombia and a £55k deal was done with a Moroccan represented in South America!
The final sale was probably our best youth prospect in the form of right back Mehdi Zaya who moved on to Belgium and Charleroi for £40k plus a % of his next move. He probably had a future here for this team in the next year or two but at 19 he was not anywhere near developed enough to make a full blown international so off he went.
The £138k raised gave me not only some transfer budget but also the wage budget needed in order to bring in the new faces we so badly needed. With only one keeper in the squad it was imperative that we bought in at least one keeper. I bought in two. Mohamed Baayou has been picked for the Moroccan U23 and U20 squads and was a free agent and was a no brainer to come in. He should be able to take over from Badda in a year or two as well. I also added a Brahim Zaari who is soo terrible he isn't even worth a screenshot but i needed a very cheap 3rd choice until the newgens come in next year and he fits the bill. Hopefully we never have to call on him.
Left midfield was another troublesome area with a real lack in depth and so i bought in Abdelhak Ait-Laarif. At 31 he is a tad older than i would have liked but his 13 for pace makes him pretty quick out here and with 15 for dribbling and 16 for technique i think he has more than enough ability to fill that hole for a year or two. Another veteran joined in the form of Ibrahim Kargbo, as the Sierra Leone International joins on a free to provide some more competition across the whole backline. With Premiership experience he can be a vital tutor over the next year or two. My final permanent signing was in the form of Mehdi Azim who joined from league rivals Tetouan for £20k. I will be playing a 4-4-1-1 formation this year and we only had one option at AMC and Mehdi has overall decent stats making him a solid player for this level.
However, the real coups came in the loan market as i looked through the Moroccan U20 squad and made loan offers to some of the players plying their trade in Europe. Luckily for me, 3 of these players agreed to come play with us for a year. Instantly making them available for the African Nations Championships. Youssef Ait Bennasser joins from Nancy and goes straight into our central midfield replacing the outgoing Chtibi. Standard Liege's Achraf Achaoui is one of the best young Moroccan talents and looks sure to be our number 1 left back in a few years should he carry on developing. He needs work on his tackling and Positioning but he has great physical stats for his age. Also coming in from Belgium is defensive midfielder Karim Essikal who at 20 is the oldest of the three but also probably the most finished. He still needs developing but there is no reason why he can not turn into a decent defensive midfield option in a few years.

Friendlies and the Botola
On the field, the simple 4-4-1-1 formation has worked well as we have blown away all opposition that have faced us during the friendlies. Admittedly they have been against lower league opposition but the 6-0 destruction of Bordeaux Reserves highlighted that we were linking up well.
As the transfer window slammed shut we played our first league game of the season at home to Olympic Safi who are the nearest we get to local rivals (still 90 miles away or so). We had injuries picked up during the African Nations Championship Qualifiers and the long pre-season but in the end we held on well with Samba Diallo opening his account getting on the end of a cross from the left with Billat Biat adding a second to seal a comfortable 2-0 victory.

Administration and thoughts
So far so good and i am encouraged by what i have seen. Our transfer business has worked brilliantly and i am excited to see what regular game time can do for three of Morocco's current young generation. I also have my eye on two other young Moroccan's playing for Real Madrid but as they are 16 i am not able to get them in on loan. Off the field i have bought in a whole new staff team bulking out the Scouting and coaching teams with a mixture of English, Portuguese and Moroccan staff (predominently regen staff). None are that great but its a start. I have also opened up Kalmar of Sweden to be a parent club helping us generate more revenue every year.

African Cup of Nations Qualifiers
My First match as a manager was with Lions of Atlas in the Cup of Nations Qualifiers as we took on potential group whipping boys Sao Tome and Principe away from home. 3 Points was a must here and the boys didnt disappoint as we got off the mark after just 47 seconds with Younes Belhanda putting one in. The goals kept coming as Karim El Ahmadi hit a 25 yarder in to double the lead before Hamedallah put his claim forward for being our main striker using clever feed to add a third before half time. With the match won i made some changes at half time and Twente's Hakim Ziyech scored 3 minutes into his debut to make it 4 before Nordin Amrabat notched in a 5th on the hour mark. The last 30 minutes was pure exhibition football and a 5-0 win was the way i started my tenure.
We had to wait three more months before our next qualifier as we hosted Cape Verde. Things didnt start well as Ze Luis scored a header for the visitors in the 6th minute and the preceeding 84 minutes saw us spurn chance after chance and have two goals ruled out for offside. The 1-0 loss hurt and means we cannot afford another slip up in this group if we are going to progress to the actual tournament.
African Nations Championship Qualifiers
As Previously mentioned this tournament means i have to almost have a completely different B team ready and waiting to play International football. It certainly makes it hard getting tactic fluidity right and being in a tough group doesn't make things any easier. We started the campaign at home to Libya who are the current holders. With the B Team i have gone with a similar 4-4-1-1 tactic that is being used with Marrakech and it worked well with Hafidi opening the scoring having come off the bench to put us in the lead. When Victory looked to be within our grasp we were cruely undone by a deflected goal that sneaked into the net meaning we could only get the 1-1 draw.
Next up we had to go away to Tunisia where we were huge underdogs to get anything from the match. It was here that i took gamble on my Brazillian born striker Jeferson to do something for his new country and he didnt disappoint opening the scoring just before the half hour mark. I had hoped it would be enough but Tunisia had attack after attack and in the end we couldn't hold on as we were pegged back and then went behind and a 2-1 loss was given to us.
This group has been tight with Libya beating Tunisia and I knew we needed a victory in our 3rd match away to Libya. Playing a positive side it was the chance for Yassine Salhi to get off the mark for Morocco slotting home early on in the 3rd minute before adding a penalty to seal a vital 2-0 victory with one match to go. We will need to at least avoid a defeat against Tunisia if we are to make it to the tournament proper.
Friendlies
Only the one friendly in a busy 3 month period as we flew out to Santiago to take on Chaodck's Chile. I was expecting a hiding and in fact we were unlucky to come away 1-0 losers as Mbark Bousouffa missed a penalty which would have been enough to seal a draw.

Thoughts
A mixed bag of results so far and that is to be expected having effectively played two different squads over the 6 games. With the main A squad it looks like we just need to get a striker who can get on the end of our chances. We have an abundance of creative talent at our hands and in both the Cape Verde and Chile games we were guilty of missing good chances. Benatia at the back is looking like a beast and that gives me hope and Lazaar at left back has also been impressive. We are probably about 3 or 4 players away from being a top top African side and being able to compete at a World Cup. The next three months sees a few more friendlies (Uganda and Libya... again) before finishing off the African Nations group with Tunisia at home. The year then ends on the crucial home and away leg of South Africa for a place in the group stages of the World Cup Qualifiers.
Our current World ranking has slightly improved to 84th but my aim is to break into the top 70 by the end of the year.

Background
KAC Marrakech (Full Name: Kawkab Athletic Club of Marrakech) will be my new home on this C&C Adventure in a new climate for me - Africa. Founed in 1947, Le Kawkab (The Planet) have an okay if unspectacular record in Moroccon Football with two League titles (1958, 1992) and six Moroccan Cups (1963,1964,1965,1987,1991,1993) to their name. It has been awhile since they were last considered a leader in Moroccan football and it is time to change that immediately.

So why Le Kawkab?

- Domestic Dominance is not going to come at once. We will need to catch both Raja and Wyda Casablanca who do have better squads initially meaning it might be awhile before we are even a regular at the African Champions League
- A strong 45k seater stadium (Stade de Marrakech) means we have the ability to draw in the crowds and bring much needed match day revenue to the side
- We are the only top flight side in Marrakech and there are no other big sides around us. This opens up the ability to have the pick of the bunch in terms of youth which is where i want to concentrate my efforts
- A chance to create a dynasty. As you can see from the history there hasn't been a sustained period of dominance at the club with our bets period arguably being the early 90's where we won two cups a league title with some runners up / third place finishes to boot. Time to change that
- Blank Slate in terms of facilities and staff. There are no staff here other than a Director of Football and the facilities are pretty basic. Not only can i stamp my authority on the pitch, i have the chance to do it off it the field too.

Competitions
The 2015/16 season gets underway in September and so i have a long pre-season of 3 months to assess and improve the squad. I have arranged a number of friendlies against lower ranked Moroccan sides and the Bordeaux Reserve side to see where we are. Competitively we have two tournaments to compete in this year - The Botola (Moroccan Championship) and Coup du Trone (Moroccan Cup).



Playing Squad
So what did i have at my disposal? Well in truth a very old team with an average age of shockingly 30. Something that needed to be changed immediately and hence the board accepting the new philosophies of bringing in youth and developing it for the main side. Being one of the more established Moroccan sides the squad we had was quite large, in fact probably a little bloated. Once the intakes start taking effect i will be aiming to have quite a small squad of around 18 - 20 with the rest being made up of youth so i can blood them in quickly and look to create the next Moroccan star.

Goalkeepers
Only the one keeper in the squad in the form of Issam Badda. Not bad at this level and should be number 1 for a few years but i will need to be on the lookout for some more keepers to join the ranks in the off season.

Defence
A pretty solid first choice back four with some okay for now backups. Khalid Sekkat will be the left back with Abdelouahed Chakhsi mirroring at right back. Between them we have Ahmed Chagou and Cape Verdian veteran Nelson Viega. For this season it might be enough but it will be an area for next season. There are other battles to pick first

Midfielders
In Midfield we lack balance with no natural left sided midfielders so to speak. Abderrazak el Mnasfi probably being the best of the bunch here highlighting our problem here to perfection. It is better news elsewhere though as Malian Samba Diallo should do a job on the opposite flank whilst Ismail Kouchame and Chammesdine Chtibi make a respectable if not hold central midfield partnership. Behind these four there are another 6 or 7 midfielders highlighting a clear area where we can cut the squad and get some much needed quality in.

Strikers
Here we find our classic travelling Brazilian with Jeferson at the club and almost a fully blown Moroccan national. He should be good enough for this level. Billal Biat and Willfrid Endzanga will provide some competition as well.

Finances
Financially we are just about in the black and with no spare transfer or wage budget we will need to fund any new additions ourselves. Luckily we have 5 or 6 players transfers listed and with willing clubs to buy meaning we should be able to do enough business to bring a few new faces in.



Background
The Lions of Atlas are the pride of Morocco and it will be my job to build on their history and take them to World Glory. With only one African Nations victory (1976) it is quite surprising that they haven't done more on the International stage. Sure in 1986 we became the first African side to win a World Cup group and qualify for the 2nd round, but we have never really dominated the continent. We have Four World Cup appearances to our name (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998) and it has been 17 years since we graced the World Stage.
With a population of 33m we are the 11th most populated African Nation and it feels like Morocco are an African side not fulfilling their potential. It is a nation that is waiting to be woken up and made into an African force. As of June 1st 2015 we are currently ranked equal 89th and not even considered one of Africa's top sides.

Competitions
Plenty of action for the African sides in 2015 as i compete in three qualification tournaments this year alone.

African Cup of Nations Qualifiers
First up we have the qualification of the African Cup of Nations where we are grouped with Cape Verde, Libya and Sao Tome and Principe. On paper we are the strongest nation but Cape Verde are higher ranked and can be a dangerous side. We need to top the group to make it to the 2017 tournament (We are lucky to be able to enter having had a ban overturned for refusing to host the 2015 tournament) but i think we have a chance. Sao Tome should be the whipping boys and Libya are one of our rivals so they will be heated matches for sure so its anything but certain.

African Nations Championship Qualifiers
With a very similar name, The African Nations Championships was a complete unknown to me but is a tournament that was first held in 2009 and is now in its 4th year. This tournament differs from the African Cup of Nations as you are only allowed to play players who play in your domestic league and is a tournament designed to promote domestic leagues. For myself it will mean playing a completely separate side to the other qualifiers as most of our first choice national team play in mainland Europe. It will be a great opportunity though for me to get a look on an International stage, up and coming youngsters and provide them with vital International minutes.

We are paired in the Northern section for qualifying which contains 3 teams (Ourselves, Libya and Tunisia). A very tough group when you see that Libya are the holders having won the 2014 tournament and Tunisia won it in 2011. How we qualify is a bit unclear as every area is done a little bit differently and the game is not giving a lot away at this stage. Looking through Wikipedia it looks like the top two from our section will qualify but at this stage i'm not sure if that is correct.

World Cup Qualifiers

Finally the last tournament is probably the most important in terms of the end goal for this save and that is the World Cup. With the tournament being held in Russia in 2018, I want to end what would be a 20 year wait since our last appearance. We are going into the 2nd round of Qualifiers and we have been drawn against South Africa. Not the nicest of ties as i know Football Manager always rates that quite highly. It could be either one of us over the two legs to be honest.

Playing Squad
The Moroccan side is not too bad at the start of the game and there certainly is enough talent to create not only a good African side but one that could cause other teams to have a think. In goal we are a little bit light with Munir being our best option. Mehdi Benatia has been made captain of the side and at the heart of our defence we have a top top centre half. The options to partner him are pretty good and i will explore my options with Manuel da Costa of Olympiakos being the favourite so far. At left back we have a guy at Palermo called Lazaar who looks useful enough whilst right back is certainly the problem position by the looks of it.

Moving into midfield we are going to be a bit unbalanced with our defensive options certainly not as good as our more attacking options. In fact, attacking midfielders and wide men seem to a Moroccan speciality and it certainly lends itself to a possession led tactic. Omar El Kaddouri, Mbark Moussoufa, Nordin Amrabat and Younes Belhanda highlighting that fact. They key is going to be to find the right blend.

Up top is another area where we will need to explore the options. The most famous name is Marouane Chamakh of Crystal Palace who is getting on a bit and has become more of an AMC in recent years. There are two other options with El Arabi who plays for Granada and a chap whose name escapes me who is playing in Qatar. If no options works i could be tempted by a strikerless formation.

Games come thick and fast with the African Nations Championship and the Cup of Nations qualifiers up initially. It will mean a squad that is in constant rotation as our first choice squad heavily favours talent playing abroad. Therefore tactical consistency may be harder to get than normal as the first choice squad looks much better with a possession led tactic whilst the second choice will not be able to play to that level i fear.

That's it for now. See you at the end of pre-season where i would have knocked out my first 6 Internationals and hopefully revamped Marrakech