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#146977 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
Over the course of the season I made three signings and sold two players.
My first signing for Messina was experienced goalkeeper Generoso Rossi on a free transfer. Rossi had previously played for Sorrento and such teams as Siena, Lecce, Venezia and Bari and in his career had played in Serie A and B along with a brief stint for Q.P.R. in the English Championship. Signing Rossi was not really intended as I didn't really need a goalkeeper but he was available on a free and with his higher level experience, I figured he might make a better first choice than Rino Iuliano.
Unfortunately Generoso Rossi did not perform as I had hoped and when he played, we tended to lose, while we won more when I had Iuliano in nets. This lead to Iuliano reclaiming his place in the side and at the end of the season Rossi would be released.
My second signing was striker Antonio Montella. I scouted Montella and the feedback was very positive and so I handed him a contract. He has played much of his career in the Lega Pro divisions but he did play briefly for Messina in the past so I figured it was time to give him a second chance at the club.
With Montella on the team, Chiaria and Corona were largely restricted to appearances from the bench. Montella's partnership with Lasagna did not last as Lasagna got injured and Chiaria and Corona were both inconsistent when I tried to bring them back into the first team and that lead me to use up the remainder of my wage budget on my last signing.
My final signing was veteran Northern Irish striker David Healy. I signed Healy in the January transfer window on a one year deal. This deal gave me a good striker to replace Lasagna and as it was a short term deal, it meant that if he was not up to standard, I could be rid of him at the end of the season.
Antonio Montella and David Healy both proved their worth. Montella is now my star striker and David Healy has been a decent purchase and earned himself a contract extension.
The outgoing players were Tommaso Bonanno and Antonio Chiappone. Neither were anywhere near the required standard to play in the first team and both lacked the potential to be of any use in the long term.
The next post will detail how the season went.
#146972 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
With me now sat in the hot seat at Messina, my immediate task is to turn around the teams performances so that this season does not end in disaster for the club. The club has been performing badly in the few games they have played so far, though we are not long into the Italian season and if I can set things right, the club can quite possibly achieve the minimum expectation of promotion.
Promotion for the club this season due to the restructuring of the Italian league will mean finishing in the top 8 or winning the playout. The playout is like a promotion playoff but while the winner will go up in this instance, the teams in it that don't win, will go down to Serie D. Basically what is happening is that the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is being disbanded and some of the teams from leagues A and B will be going up to form a league C in the Prima Divisione while the rest drop to Serie D which will move up and become the 4th tier of Italian football, replacing the Seconda Divisione. As Serie D is not playable in my game (I'm using no league mods in this game) if I get relegated to it, It means automatic sacking as is normal when you get relegated to any non playable league.
So with the league situation explained, hopefully anyone reading this will understand how important it is that I get the team performing to a better standard. With that in mind, I can reveal the player star ratings...
As you can see, the team is not really short of talent and really the club should be doing a lot better than they are doing currently. With the players they have, there are several formations that come to mind but I think a 4-3-1-2 like I used at Frigg Oslo might work well here or alternatively a 4-1-2-1-2. There is an abundance of talented central midfielders here and while the wide players are reasonable, there is a lack of depth there that wouldn't be an issue if I decided to not use wingers. Either of the two formations that I just mentioned should work well as there four players who can play well in the central midfielder role and two of them can play well as a defensive midfielder, not too mention that there is a really good attacking midfielder in the squad.
This is the likely first team I will use based on my initial inspection of the squad.
GK - Rino Iuliano
DR - Luigi Silvestri
DL - Riccardo Bolzan
DC - Giovanni Ignoffo
DC - Alessio De Bode
DMC/MC - Antonino Comegna
MC - Francesco Simonetti
MC - Stefano Maiorano
AMC - Mirko Guadalupi
SC - Fabrizio Lasagna
SC - Roberto Chiaria
Aside from the above players, I also have Rosario Bucolo who is easily good enough for the first team and Giorgio Corona who I will likely rotate with Roberto Chiaria. Another player of note is Marco Guerriera who while not quite good enough for the first team, is in my development plans. With Guerriera, I plan to try and train him up as a more central player, to provide backup for the first team and to play as a wide player on the right of midfield if the situation should call for one. I will attempt to do the same with Pedro Ferreira as well but he will cover the left of midfield if needed as well.
With the squad I have, I could probably get by just fine in the league but while I don't especially need any new players, I may sign a striker. Fabrizio Lasagna looks really good but my other two strikers are fairly average and Giorgio Corona is close to 40. After a new striker, I think youth players would be the best investment. Offloading players that are no longer needed will also be a priority.
My next post will detail who I signed and sold and if/how that alters my proposed lineup & formation.
#127470 Missing league option in careers section
Zebramanii
When adding new seasons to your careers it asks for the country, league and team but the league I am in is not listed. You need to add C1/C to the list due to the restructuring of the Italian league system in the game (FM 2014). Serie C 1 or Lega Pro Prima Divisione as its known has three leagues instead of two for the 2014/2015 season and beyond.
#127469 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
So having turned my back on the Oslo-based side, that I briefly managed, I have now made my way down to the city of Messina on the island of Sicily in Italy. The weather is a vast improvement and looking at the deal I was offered and the club's facilities, I think most things here are a vast improvement, or will be once I have established myself at this new club.
So, what do I have to work with...
The club is currently in the 4th tier of Italian football and in a league of eighteen teams, finds itself in seventeenth place after a six game run of poor form. The club has a wage budget of £20.5k and a £0 transfer budget.
The transfer budget is fine, at this level of football it is meaningless to me, what I need is wages and a little room to manoeuvre. Looking at the squad, I can already see a number of players who could be loaned out or sold to make room in the budget if needed and as the club is already slightly under the budget, I can see no major issues here.
Expectations for this season, require me to gain promotion to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione. Based on the restructuring of the Italian football system, the top eight teams in my division get automatic promotion while the team that wins the playout, will also gain promotion, leaving the rest to be relegated to Serie D.
At seventeenth place, the club has an uphill struggle to remain in the league, let alone gain promotion. The media prediction is fifteenth which suggests a long hard season, but on the bright side, there is plenty of time left in the season to change things around and improve the fortunes of this struggling Sicilian side. Based on the fact that anything other than a top eight finish or a playout final victory will mean relegation, I can be almost certain that anything other than promotion will result in my sacking, so for me at least, this will be a do or die season.
In my next update I shall reveal my thoughts on the squad, my tactics and any signings/sales.
#127251 Manager's home town
Zebramanii
#127247 Manager's home town
Zebramanii
Any subsequent games I start however don't display the town I selected and it seems there seems to be no option to enter home town either in the preferences section or when starting a new game and adding myself in as a manager.
Anyone had a similar problem or know a way to solve this issue?
#127243 Playable Maltese league for FM14 - now compatible with 14.3 [19/3/2014]
Zebramanii
On a side note, I will be travelling to Malta in February and staying in Gzira. Hopefully if time permits, I will go and watch a football match while I'm there.
#126997 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
Moments before the game against Strømsgodset 2, I decided to resign from my position as manager of Frigg Oslo. I was able to apply successfully for a position with another club, Leaving Frigg Oslo three games before the end of the season was hard to do as it does not show any loyalty to the club that first offered me a job. I do believe however, that this new team has a lot of potential and hopefully I can take advantage of their leagues restructuring and gain a promotion in my first season with them.
The team that I am to join is Messina. Messina is an Italian team that currently plays in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Girone B which to those not familiar with the Italian league system, is the 4th tier. The team lies in 17th place and recently sacked their manager due to their poor form, but with the right man in charge (hopefully me), they can put together some decent results and aim for a promotion place (which due to the restructuring, would be anything from 1st down to 8th for the automatic promotion or 9th-12th for the playoffs).
As a former Serie A team, Messina have dropped quite a long way to their current position in the relegation zone in the fourth tier of Italian football, but I believe that they also have the potential to return to the top level. My next post will detail my initial expectations and my expected first team and any other relevant information about the beginning of my time in Messina.
#126984 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
So its now three games away from the end of the season and after a four game winning streak starting with Odd 2, and some other respectable results my Frigg Oslo team has moved up into 2nd place, one point above Strømsgodset 2. The team has done well to not only maintain their form but to push on into their current position, it is however impossible for me to win the league at this point and therefore the team cannot get promoted to the Adeccoligaen.
During the season I have only signed in three players, all of them on youth contracts. The club has been doing well with the players it has, so I am happy to see out the season with the current line-up. The three players I brought in are Trond Holberg, Inge Larsen and Brian Lien. The only player to depart was Bård Olsen, who left on a free transfer.
With promotion no longer possible and with the club being small, the problem I now face is that several key players within the squad, notably Brent Brattbakken, Johan Nås and Markus Norheim Cham are not willing to negotiate contract renewals. I believe they probably think themselves too good for a team of this stature so they are not interested in playing at this level any more. This will leave me without my goalkeeper, star central defender and captain and one of my strikers who has done wonders up front. The prospect of rebuilding the squad for next season now seems daunting and challenging for the league title seems a long way off. To end this post on a more positive note, the club has been steadily making profit for most of the season and looks set to end the season with a balance of roughly £157k.
#126977 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
I decided to accept the offer from Frigg Oslo. This was their offer...
As you can see, its not a huge wage and it certainly wasn't the most logical place to start my career given that I don't speak Norwegian and that a team close to my home offered me a job but I liked the idea of managing abroad and Oslo is as good a place to start as any. After speaking with the chairman, it turns out that many of the players actually speak some English, so it shouldn't be too hard to introduce myself to the team and make a start on running the team.
The board's expectation of me is to avoid relegation and reach the second round of Cupen, which is the main cup competition in Norway. As the season is already underway and the team already eliminated from Cupen, the board will not be judging me on the cup, only the league. As I join the team, they currently occupy a respectable 4th place, which coupled with good morale, should hopefully make my job a whole lot easier.
Looking at the table at the moment, I think a realistic aim, if I can get the team to continue their form now that I have taken over management, would be to challenge for 2nd or 3rd place. 1st place is also within reach but it all depends on whether the team is currently overachieving based on the players skill or merely underrated by the media and board expectation. If things don't go so well I hope I can hold onto 4th or drop no lower than 6th.
#126968 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
Stockport (England)
Isloch (Belarus)
Frigg Oslo (Norway)
Nesodden (Norway)
Ålgård (Norway)
Völsungur (Iceland)
Of those offers, Stockport would seem the most logical due to its proximity to my home and there being no language barrier. Isloch however made the best offer in terms basic wage and team budgets. Isloch were also doing well in the league, which had already started. Of the Norwegian teams, Frigg Oslo were doing the best in the league but all three teams offered me similar deals. A move to Oslo would also be more interesting to me than a move to one of the other Norwegian towns. Finally Völsungur made the worst offer and considering the other job offers on the table, I was not really interested in joining them at this time.
Now as I am trying to get to the top, I also have to consider what the best way to do that will be. Stockport is in the 6th tier of English football, the three Norwegian clubs are in the 3rd tier of Norwegian football while Völsungur and Isloch are at the 2nd tier of their respective leagues. Because of this it would be (in theory) easiest to get to the top level of a countries football system and into Europe by managing either Völsungur or Isloch as they have less far to go to reach the top of their country. However, reputation wise the Icelandic and Belarusian leagues are fairly low down the European ranking system. As such while I may get to the top quicker, managing in England, albeit lower down may be more beneficial to my own reputation.
In my next post I will reveal my choice and my reasons.
#126943 [FM14] Zeb's Journeyman Career
Zebramanii
After successfully completing several coaching courses, I was now ready to put my name forward for any football management jobs available.
#68595 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
which team do you play for?
#68439 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
eidt:
I decided to go with SK Victoria Wanderers as they didn't have a manager and they were willing to give me a job. Will probably do one season on Gozo and look to move to Malta if something interesting comes up.
#68351 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
Now I have the issue of deciding which team to use as I begin my adventure in the Maltese leagues. I have previously used Sliema, Pietà, Rabat Ajax and Qala in the 2011 version of the game but I'm not sure if I want to reuse one of them or pick someone different, or even start unemployed and join whichever Maltese team offers me a job. I am also thinking about using Gzira Utd as they are the team from the town where I stayed for each of my three visits to Malta.
#47238 [FM12] Go Bodo/Glimt!
Zebramanii
I have played a few seasons in Norway myself, using Algard and Frigg Oslo (in two seperate game saves) and found it to be a good place to start a career. I managed to win the Avdeling 3 league and then finish 3rd in the Adeccoligaen with Algard in 2 seasons. Its the kind of country where you can rise to the top without spending big sums of cash and there are loads of reasonable free transfers.
#46914 Nation legends
Zebramanii
I've only checked European nations but it seems to be the better teams that are affected in my game (england, italy, spain etc) while many of the lower ranked ones seem ok. In my game im using an unmodified default database with all standard european nations loaded and playable on a large database with around 115000 players loaded.
#43413 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
I started the game with default database with only the malta mod and the options below and it still has sandy martens at every maltese club
-All available european leagues playable
-All maltese and malta based players loaded
-large database
-115000 players loaded
If I try it with just malta slected as a playable league, sandy martens is not loaded and all is good but I like having every one of the available european leagues loaded to give me more choice when moving clubs. I might have a look in the database editor to see if i can do something about it.
#41543 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
When I run the malta leagues mod, I get Sandy Martens (id:1) as the under 19s manager or coach for every team in Malta.
He is I believe actually employed by some team in Belgium as their coach but he shows up in the staff section at all the Maltese clubs from what i can see.
For mods, I have just the malta league mod and the real name/german national team fix running
#41542 new to lower league management
Zebramanii
As with previous editions of football manager, you cannot normally manage in the cfa in the standard un-modded version of the game. You may be able to get a mod that makes it playable or if you know how to use the game editor, you could do it yourself, If you already have a mod sorted then feel free to ignore what I just said.
For professional status, it will change to semi-professional and to professional if the leagues require this. In England I know this is the case for teams moving up into League 2 from the Blue Square Premier (if they are not already professional) there may be a similar system in France but not checked. There is also an option to request a change by talking to the board but this is often greyed out if your team doesn't have the finances in place to make this change.
Also France does not have a reserve league as far as I know, their reserves play in the CFA and below so that could be an issue as your reserves would need to get promoted up to the CFA before you would see there matches.
For youth teams, France has a few leagues that seems to be for teams in the top 3 divisions (therefore excluding teams in the CFA). You should be invited to it once you reach the National division as you will simply replace a relegates teams youth team.
#41108 Frustrated by quality of goalkeepers in English lower leagues
Zebramanii
I can't say I have any real issue signing players at that level, you just need to keep looking around, try looking for either a backup or young, up and coming gk in a Scottish premier league side or send your scouts to check out the top Irish and Northern Irish teams.
If you are at the beginning of the season, look at the teams relegated last season (both into your league and those demoted out of it) as they may be willing to offload players to balance the books or the player my be unhappy about being in a lower league.
If you are half way through the season or towards the end, you may find a backup goalkeeper that is unhappy at a lack of first team football, this may be especially the case where teams have more than one first team standard goalie.
hope that helps
#41102 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
there is a metallic logo megapack here on the site, just click home and scroll down or click here
#40831 Maltese League add-on [new version with January transfers and more - 21/3/2013]
Zebramanii
On a side note, I made my 3rd trip to Malta back in May and stayed for a week in Gżira.