Deleted User #151676 - Comments

May-July 2014

I've jumped ahead in this save after becoming immersed in the action, we're now two thirds of the way through the campaign as we continue to move steadily along in mid-table with the threat of relegation more or less banished, we're now looking up and with our current good form and six game unbeaten run a high finish doesn't seem out of the question.

Since my last update we have only lost twice in the league, and both of those reverses came at the hand of first and second Dolphins and Heartlands, our improved results have caught the attention of would-be employers as I turned down an offer from Sunshine Stars to take over there, I was tempted as at that point they were still alive in the African Champions League, however I decided to stay loyal to United on that occasion, however I received another job offer yesterday that has me in two minds;

I had an enjoyable game in Scotland on FM13, including a season with Dumbarton so a return to Blighty is appealing, however I can't help feeling there is more to be achieved by remaining in Africa for now and continuing to build my Kwara side up to qualify for the Champions League within the next few years. What do you guys think? Should I stay or should I go now?

In the league table we are sitting comfortably in eleventh, if we can keep up our good form there is a great chance of us reaching the continental places as the top half of the table is very tight;
Since April I have brought in one new face to bolster the ranks;

Salifi has slotted right in as our marauding right wing-back and in nine game fr United has already scored three and assisted four goals as well as being dependable when called upon to defend.
Also in a rich vein of form is forward Baba Sule who's found the net in six consecutive games, seventeen times this season in all. not bad for a 35 year old with a finishing attribute of five!

Yes mate.

Are they not created on face modeler?

It's back! This was one of the most popular challenges last year with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson from football after 27 years at the helm at Old Trafford. Many supporters have never known another United manager and most agree that there will never be another quite like Fergie as the Red Devils begin the search for the person charged with the unenviable task of succeeding the most successful manager in British football history.

That's where you come in....

Your challenge is to equal Sir Alex's trophy haul, there are several ways you can do this;

The Easy Way: - Start with the now manager-less Manchester United and continue the Red Devils's dominance of English football for another quarter of a century.

The Moderate Way: - Begin with a mid table English club who haven't won a league title in over 25 years and turn them into world beaters, developing several generations of new superstars along the way.

The Fergie Way: - Beginning in Scottish Division one, take charge of any side for a season (SAF started at East Stirlingshire) You do not need to win a trophy here, eventually move on to a bigger first division club (SAF: St. Mirren) and guide them to promotion. Eventually take over at an SPL side that is not a part of the Old Firm (SAF: Aberdeen), emulating the great man here will be the toughest part of the challenge, particularly in Europe (You'll be going for the Europa League instead of the now defunct Cup winners cup) Finally, after checking of Scotland you can move South of the border, taking on a fallen giant side from the Premiership (SAF: Manchester United) and guiding them to the staggering haul of silverware that Mr. Ferguson has amassed in the last 27 years.


-Start with professional footballer set as your experience level.
-You may manage the Scottish national side during the course of your career as Sir Alex did briefly.
-Remember, Fergie's rule #1, No player is bigger than the club! if some prima donna starts acting up, give him the boot.
-If you manage to win the treble, you earn the right to nickname yourself 'Sir'

Scoring system

10 Points - Scottish First Division
15 Points - Scottish League Cup
15 Points - Englih Community Shield
20 Points - Scottish FA Cup
30 Points - Scottish Premier League
30 Points - English League Cup
40 Points - European Super Cup
45 Points - FIFA World Club Cup
70 Points - Europa League
70 Points - English FA Cup
100 Points - English Premiership
150 Points - UEFA European Championship (ONLY if won with Scotland)
150 Points - UEFA Champions League
150 Points - FIFA World Cup (ONLY if won with Scotland)

5 points - per Manger of the Month award
25 points - Have a Player win domestic player of the season award
25 points - Have a player finish highest scorer in your league
40 points - Have a player who you have brought through your academy win domestic player of the season award
40 points - Have a player who you have brought through your academy finish highest scorer in your league.
75 points - Manager of the year award.
80 points - Have a player win World player of the year award
100 points - Have a player who you have brought through your academy win World player of the season award

Bonus points

5 points - For every game won after the fourth minute of stoppage time (Fergie Time)
5 points - Beat a side managed by Gordon Strachan
5 points - Beat a side managed by Kenny Dalgleish
5 points - Beat a side managed by Arsne Wenger
5 points - Beat a side managed by Jose Mourinho
5 points - Pick up a touch line ban for criticising the referee but still win your game in the stands.
15 points - Stay in the game so long you have a son (ala Darren Ferguson)
100 points - Win the Champions League in stoppage time
100 points - Enter the Managerial hall of fame in both Scotland & England
150 points - Enter Worldwide hall of fame.
150 points - If playing as a side other than Man United, surpass United's record 20 league titles.

Good luck to all who are up for such a monster of a challenge, I highly doubt anyone will complete it but the honour of having the highest points haul by the time of FM15's release is still to be had. Good luck and remember the referee is always wrong! (unless the decisions in your favour )

April 2014

We were not taken for fools this April as we took something from all bar one of our eight matches this month;

I'm pretty happy with that kind of form which should see us finish comfortably mid-table again, the 4-0 hammering to Kano was a blip but one we expected before the game as they are one of the traditional title challengers, the biggest problem we have is we alway struggle against Dolphins, Kano and Heartland who are the top sides in the league, thankfully we have done well against everyone else thus far and I'm confident of finishing within the top half again.

With three games in hand we could jump right up to seventh should we win them all.

We're suffering in the injury department at the moment with five players currently sidelined;


As you can see from the results we ensured safe passage to the next round of the challenge cup where we will meet relegated Niger Tornados in the round of 32.

I

I'm suprised that half volley Matt Lowton scored last season against Stoke didn't make it in, that was a helluva shot.

The nominees for goal of the year;


Ibra for me out of that lot. shame Pogba's strike against Napoli the other day would have missed the cut-off date as that was a real beauty.

I can't recommend 5-3-2 with wing backs highly enougth if your struggling. It's working a treat for me with my lowly African club.

As Tom said it costs a lot of money to run a website, just because people have paid once in the past doesn't mean Rob doesn't need more money to keep it going, the site needs a continuous revenue, as with any business. It's probably more important then ever now due to the noticeable drop in posting as old regulars have ceased coming on here.

And also why would anyone ban you? you have aa right to express your opinion just like anybody else.

March 2014


And off we go again! my first full season in Nigeria is under way, albeit in rather underwhelming fashion, but it is of course early days.
Before I get into the business of results, explanations and excuses, I think it would be prudent to first introduce to you my squad, including a pair of new signings who have linked up with Kwara during the off-season;

As you can see it is a very young group of players with a strongish core to the team and plenty of strength in depth, I have never put much stock in the star system, both Dan Quigley and Musa George are very dependable players despite only achieving a half star rating.
As I mentioned previously, I have two new signings among the squad;

Adama joins us on a season long loan from divisional rivals Nasarawa United and looked potent during pre-season, scoring four goals in three games, as of yet though he is yet to find the net competitively.

John was a Nigerian under-20 international who I managed to snap up on free transfer from Swedish division two side Syrianska, he is the archetypical box to box midfielder who could be a key figure this season.

It was John Junior who netted our first goal of the campaign as we suffered an not unexpected 3-1 reverse at the hands of the champions Dolphins FC in Port Harcourt before having to battle back from the same scoreline to earn a point against the Wikki Tourists, Baba Sule getting the last gasp equaliser there.
After a disappointing 1-0 defeat to the Stars I decided to switch things up tactically as we had now only won three of our last ten NPL games, previously I usually employed 442 diamond so I had no wingers in my squad which limited my options considerably, eventually I opted for 532, the back three would seal the leaks in our rather porous defence and with wing backs getting forward when possible we shouldn't lack width any more. The effect was instant as we powered our way to our first win of the season against newly promoted Abuja, the score could easily have been much, much higher as we utterly dominated the league new boys from start to finish. but hey, three will do!
Following the emphatic win against Abuja, I had hoped we could follow up with another three points at home to Nasarawa, however we were forced to settle for just the one as captain Romanus Orjinta headed home his second goal in as many games to cancel out the visitors early opener, push as we might we just couldnt seem to find a winner.

That result has us placed 14th in the NPL, the pre-season expectation is for us to finish in the top half of the table again which I certainly think is do-able once the squad adjusts to my tactical switch. Dolphins are flying at the moment, maintaining 100% start but they are being matched by Heartland so far, it could well be an interesting title race, I have no illusions of being part f it even at this stage, but my ambition is to finish in the top four and qualify for continental competition next season, a tall order but if we can hit a rich vein of form it's far from impossible.
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Just a quick question for those of you who regularly play in strange foreign lands; how long does it take for my knowledge of country to expand? I've been in Nigeria for six months now and it hasn't moved a bit yet. Is this a bug or does it always take years?

Who's watching Shortwood United Vs. Port Vale then?
Be great to see a side from the eighth level of the game get through.

Looks like it's going to be a long hard slog this year hopefully you'll have enougth about you to stay up.

Cheer guys

2012/13

My first few months in charge of Kwara have been reasonably good, not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but we did achive a top half finish which was all the colonol asked off me when I took charge.

I could hardly of gotten off to a worse start to life in Nigeria as we got thumped 5-1 at home in my first game against Enugu before going down 2-0 in the susequant fixture with Enyimba. Thankfully things picked up from there as we steadily sailed to safety and the cmfort of midtable obscurity.

I'm enjoying the experience in managing in West Africa which is not somewhere I have ever really given a looking to before now, I'll admit I'm quite suprised at the quality some of the teams in this division possess, althgh their is most definatly a top three who do battle for the title wheras the rest of us compete to be the best of the rest, My target for the coming seasons will be to make it a top four and crash that exclusive party.

I've managed to keep the finances in order, we have £48k in the bank, however we are £600 over the salery budget which means I can't offer the sort of wages it would take to hold on to my better players when their contracts expire during the break, a almost complete rebuild may be required in pre-season.

Tactically I have predominatly been utililising 4-4-2 diamond with the below instructions but have on occasion shook things up against weaker teams by employing 4-2-3-1.


Just for transparency purposes the leagues I have loaded are;
Nigeria (NPL only)
South Africa (NFD and above)
China (Jia League and above)
Hong-Kong (Red MR First division only)
Japan (JFL and above)
England (Skrill North/South and above)
Estonia (Meistreliga only)
Latvia (1.Liga and above)
Lithuania (1.Lyga only)
Scotland (League Two and above)
Australia (A-League only)
USA (MLS only)

And here's the profile I started with;

Half decent March, shame about the takeover collapse mind.

Our first night in Ilorin was an uncomfortable one, a delay at customs had prevented our furniture arriving, leaving us to settle down on camp beds lent to us by the colonel. As I tossed and turned on the uncomfortable bedding that night I was awoken at regular intervals by a sense of dread, had I made a terrible mistake in moving halfway across the world to be here? How would I greet the team tomorrow morning? or more importantly how would they respond to me? a completely unknown Englishman who had only got the job in the first place due to having friends in high places. The inclination that many of my players were likely to have five years or more on my twenty-six was also not lost on me as a maelstrom of scenarios continued to swirl relentlessly in my minds eye, all depicting ways in which my emigration to west Africa could end in disaster.

After what seemed like an eternity sleeping in fits and starts Michaela and I were awoken by a knock at the door, Paul had stopped by to wish me luck and offered to take us out for breakfast before I headed to the training ground, after the night we had just endured I was only to happy to accept his invitation. During the course of a round of omelettes at a nearby internet café Paul asked me if I would like him to become my right hand man until the end of the season, by which time I would hopefully have found my feet in Nigerian football and he would move on, for the second time today I gratefully accepted his proposals, not least because I would feel somewhat more at ease meeting the squad later with another Englishman in my corner.

As it transpired that I need not have been so apprehensive about the moment I finally came face to face with my new charges, upon arrival at the clubs somewhat dilapidated training ground I was welcomed with open arms, the entire playing staff as well as coaches were waiting for me a the gate , crowding Paul's car in order to be the first to shake my hand and embrace me as if we were old friends. Completely taken aback by such a greeting it took me a considerable amount of time to finally get everyone into the rickety club house that adorned one end of the facility. Once inside I set about introducing myself and giving them a brief overview of my history and managerial credentials to date, the injury, working for Leicester, winning the under-18's championship and the success in Hong-Kong two years previously, however what most seemed to impress the assembly was the simple fact I had attended university in England, I would learn that Nigerians prize academic achievement and knowledge above all else, the desire to learn and better themselves is a true flagstone of the culture here and the fact I had been educated at a prestigious British establishment was particularly lofty to them.
Eventually we got to down to the subject of football, I was given a verbal briefing detailing every member of squad, to which there was twenty-six members, including two Brits, who as the only white men in the room aside from me and Paul were not hard to pick out. I shown the league table where United currently occupied twelfth position at the halfway point of the campaign,despite pre-season fears of a relegation dog-fight and that my first game in charge would be at home to Enugu Rangers who sat a place above us in the league in two days time.

After a constructive training session where I began to introduce my tactical approaches to the group me and Paul sat down to discuss whom had impressed us and who we felt may not fit into the style we wished to implement, we decided to start against Enugu with good old reliable 4-4-2 and take it from there.
Tuesday's session followed served much the same purpose as Paul and I continued to evaluate the squad, slowly piecing together our starting line-up for tomorrow night, I was particularly impressed by a striker by the name of Baba Sule, a 34 year old Ghana-an national who looked deadly in front of goal. Equally eye catching were the defensive partnership of Romanus Orjinta and Sari Abacha, both of whom had won caps for Nigeria. I also had chance to meet my fellow ex-pats Martin Callum and Dan Quigley. Martin; a twenty-five year old midfielder from Inverness, Dan; a twenty-three year old anchor man hailing from Northampton. It was warmly reassuring to have two fellow Brits on board, both of whom were around the same age as me, making friends quickly is invaluable when settling a new home with a very different culture to which you are accustomed and along with Paul and my wife Michaela, Martin and Dan formed our cosy little ex-pat circle.

Our furniture finally arrived late on Tuesday evening after being released by Nigerian customs officials, a good night sleep in a real bed saw my spirits sore, as another gloriously warm July morning dawned on the day of my first game as head coach of Kwara United, I felt little in the way of nerves or trepidation, a sense of optimism had beaten away the nagging doubts regarding the move that had clouded my mind. Excitement began consuming me as butterflies danced in he pit of my stomach. In just a few hours time I would realise what six years ago became my dream of a life in professional football management. My time had come.

Having the flag and the FA logo makes what is otherwise a pretty nice shirt look a bit clustered.

Two quickfire goals from Pirlo and Pogba have finished off Napoli, 3-0 Juve.

Both goals were stunners.

Juve ahead after just a minute. - Llorente

I reckon this thread should be closed if everyone disagrees with what he's dong. it's not really serving any purpose but to advertise 'his' product.

Who's watching Juve-Napoli then?

We got drawn away to Leyton Orient.

Aye I brought it up last year, most people agreed it's an insult to the people who spend hours making these graphics for no financial gain.

Shortly before departing Leicester I was introduced to Paul Ashworth, an old friend of Trevor's who also failed to establish himself as a professional footballer after starting out at Norwich City, and like myself Paul also opted to remain within the game by taking up youth coaching before being recommended for the vacant managers position at Latvian side FK Ventspils by a former college who was living in the Baltic country at the time. Paul guided Ventspils to three consecutive runners up finishes in the Latvian Higher League as well securing UEFA cup football for the first time in the clubs history via winning the Latvian cup. His success did not go unnoticed by the league's elite club Skonto Riga who employed the Englishman from 2005-2009 where he became known by the moniker 'Mourinho of Latvia' due to his evident managerial prowess despite no significant playing career.
Upon leaving Skonto in 2009 Paul's globe trotting exploits continued when he jetted off to the West African country of Nigeria to take up a role as sporting director at the Kwara Academy, one of Africa's most established football academies.

Paul had heard of my refined tactical knowledge from Trevor and arranged to meet me during his next trip home to England, I drove to Paul's parents home in Norwich in May 2013, where he was staying for two weeks before returning to Nigeria in mid June. Paul informed me that a Nigerian Premiership side Kwara United were currently manager-less after their previous coach was lured away by one of the leagues bigger clubs, Paull wielding much influence at the club due to his role at the academy believed he could land me the role if I was willing to relocate to Africa. After a long discussion with Michaela, my new wife it was agreed we would undertke the monumental 4,000 mile journey from our comfortable life in rural Leicestershire to the city of Ilorin in Kwara state.

Following our long flight from London to the Nigerian capital Lagos we were greeted by Kwara chairman and Nigerian military chief Colonel Michael Onyilo who personally chauffeured us on the five hour drive from the airport to our new home in Ilorin, the colonel informed me that the players were excited to meet me and that would not be the first European to take charge of United as two Swedes and a Serb had also held the post within the last decade, I would be taking over from a chap named Kadiri Ikhana who had done a reasonable job after keeping the club safely mid-table throughout the campaign before being head hunted by the wonderfully named Dolphins FC, my task would be to ensure that the club stays comfortable throughout the second half of the season.

My first musings upon arrival in Ilorin were that the city of 800,000 plus could not have been more different from the home I had just left behind in the sleepy market town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, the suburbs we passed through on the outskirts of the city were little more attractive than the Brazilian shanty towns I had studied in a school geography project once, playing home to the cities poorest and most under privileged in squallid conditions. as we delved deeper into the metropolitan labyrinth the building things begin to look much more inviting, Llorin is home to four university's so large academic establishments seem to be dotted everywhere, there is also many high rise tower blocks, playing home to the citys many law offices, in fact we are told that so many of the local scholars go into law that Ilorin has been branded 'the city of lawyers' after making a mental note never to scratch anyone’s car around here I catch site of Ilorin's most breathtaking building, the truly stunning central mosque with it's magnificent golden domes and four high towers in each corner, a true testament to the ingenuity of human engineering.

Finally we arrive at our new flat which is situated within the grounds of the University of Kwara, just a short walk from United's training ground and the 10,000 capacity Kwara state stadium which the club calls home. So we had arrived in our new home, and now it was time for the hard work to begin...

I got woken up by the local scouts group marching through the village with a brass band. fucking go get fiddled by your scout leader quietly.

Chapter Two

Following the injury that brought about the premature death of my playing career, I spent many weeks brooding over what had transpired that day and what glories had been denied me, snatched cruelly from my future, eventually however I was forced to come to terms with the undeniable truth that I would have to move on from this crushing setback and begin to carve a new destiny for myself from what at the time felt like unworkable stone.
Determined to stay within the warm bosom of football I enrolled upon a coaching course at Loughborough university, not being one for academic life I struggled with my coursework in the classroom but excelled when out in my element on the pitch where I felt entirely at home teaching local school children.

During the three years I spent studiously working towards my UEFA B licence at Loughborough, I maintained contact with my former City coach Trevor Peake who regularly hosted guest lectures at the university, despite my infuriating arrogance as a player Trev could see that my injury had instilled a new sense of humility within me and was only to happy to help by putting me in touch with some of his various contacts, including Stuart McClaren, a young Scottish coach who had just returned from playing and managing in Australia to take up the job as head coach at the university's successful football outfit in the Midland Alliance league. Stuart offered me a coaching position to help me gain experience whilst still working towards my licence where I gained much knowledge from the cultured Glaswegian.

Towards the end of my time at Loughborough I was approached by Trevor with an offer of becoming his assistant manager with the Leicester under-18's on the provision I achieved my licence this year, this incentive really galvanised me and ensured I worked my socks off in the classroom which was still my Achilles heel, however I did scrape a pass on my theory exam which set me up to achieve an outstanding in the practical test, I felt very little apprehension before the practical as three years of coaching not only in my coursework but also with the university team had me fully prepared for this.

True to his word Trev immediately took me on as his assistant where he tutored me in the art of tactical awareness, together we studied various formations and approaches, watching endless hours of videos from great sides of the past and present, something I found myself rather adept at despite my lack of enthusiasm towards academic work previously. I soon found myself developing tactics of my own which Trev trustingly adapted into games to great success, the side finished runners up in group B of the Premiership academy league. The following season we went one better and won the group, I was also given the chance to be head coach for the first time by Trev as he offered me the opportunity to take a squad to the Hong-Kong seven's tournament where we defeated the likes of Celtic, Aston Villa and Chelsea in front of 10,000 enthusiastic Chinese fans to see our oriental adventure culminate in success.


For the 2012/13 season Trevor was promoted to the under-21's, as I was left to make the step up to head coach of the under-18's where we took part in the newly formed national development league, finishing a respectable forth place with Fulham taking the crown.
Now having garnered almost six years of coaching youth football I decided I now wanted to climb the ladder and get involved in the senior game, in late June 2013 I notified the club that I did not intend to take charge for the 2013/14 in order to seek the achievements that had been snatched from me as a player. Which brings us conveniently up to the present day...

A rejuvenating sunshine warmed my face on a pleasant mid-summer afternoon in rural Leicestershire, as I gazed up at the wispy white clouds punctuating what was otherwise a flawless blue sky I could have no idea of what lay ahead of me, stalking me, waiting to pounce at the opportune moment like a lion crouched low, slowly but surely edging towards an unsuspecting prey who remains, for now at least, blissfully unaware of fate conspiring against it.

My name is Richard Beale, on that fateful day back in 2007 I was a somewhat haughty twenty year old with the world at his feet, a reserve striker for Leicester City FC who many were touting as a prodigy after impressing at youth level as well as during loan spells at local sides Loughborough Dynamo and Hinckley United, giving voice to calls for me to be given my chance in the first team, even Leicester and England legend Gary Lineker had appraised me as one to watch, and as with any young man who is doted with praise from all around, I allowed my head to swell and my arrogance to consume me.
As I arrived for training at City's Belvoir road facility ten minutes early, I was greeted by Trevor Peake, the Foxes youth development coach, Trev instructed me to run a lap of the ground whilst he set up cones for the first drills of the session, but who needs to warm up properly when your as good as me? I sauntered through the first few exercises with minimal effort, these tedious passing drills were obviously beneath me anyway. Eventually Trev divided us into groups for five-a-side games, I found myself being marked by a lad by the name of James Russell who had a rather slender frame for centre back, myself being of a muscular build thought that I was going to have some fun and humiliate James during the kick-about, pulling off step-over after step-over much to Trev's, who hated show boating, displeasure. And then in it was over, in the blink of an eye the career that had promised the world was snuffed out like a candle in the wind. Whilst attempting to again humble young James, this time with a lavish turn, my studs had caught in the ground as my leg twisted, an terrible crack that was audible to all those around me. I found out later that I had completely torn my knee ligaments and that the joint would never be the same again.

That night in my hospital bed I wept silently, I wept for the Leicester debut I would now never make, I wept for the millions of pounds my bank account would now never know and I wept for that first England cap that would never proudly adorn my parents wall, all because of my own foolish arrogance. That night as the other patients on the ward slumbered, their chests rising and fallng in a gentle rhythm, I lay wide awake, I wondered if I would ever be able to sleep again.

Watching Inter Vs. Livorno on BT Sport, pretty shit game to be fair, a cock up by Livorno keeper Bardi put Inter into their 1-0 lead.