forameus - Comments

It's interesting, granted, but I just can't see this ever being possible. Do all 20 current Premiership teams have to be outwith the league at the same time?

Still, it's certainly a challenge!

What can I say apart from ****?

Alright, we started off well. Very well actually. Until we met Kaizer Chiefs. They romped home 3-0, but even then we bounced back with a hard fought win against Milano. After that we floundered a little, picking up some good wins, but also some terrible results. We even managed to progress in the cup with a 3-2 thriller against Golden Arrows. But then we travelled to Piermaritzburg for the first of a double header, and the wheels well and truly flew off. After being pumped 3-0 in the league, they completed the double by beating us 1-0 at home in the cup. We then only managed to pick up 2 points in the next 4 games as we plummeted down the table.

Nothing seems to be going right, and from a lofty position, we're now 10th, only 8 points off the relegation spots.



I'm starting to worry a little about this team. We're losing around £1.5 million a season, and I dread to think what our budgets may be like next time around. I'm wondering whether or not this is a team I can realistically hit the Champions League with. Of course, given time I could, but at this stage, I'm wanting to knock out as many of the competitions as possible. I'll see out the season, then we'll need to rethink.

Board Expectations:
South African Premiership:- Respectable Position
South African Knockout Cup:- Not important
South African FA Cup:- Not important

My Expectations:
South African Premiership:- Top half, worry the top teams
South African Knockout Cup:- Make an impact - I doubt we'll win it, but quarters/semis at least
South African FA Cup:- Make an impact - I doubt we'll win it, but quarters/semis at least

Budgets:
Transfer:- £0
Wage:- £34,000 (spending £27,312)

Squad:

Remarkably thin. We have a squad that can challenge, but as you can see from the finances, we're in a bit of trouble. I have no idea what has happened to the club before I arrived, as we've been bleeding money for years. We have no transfer budget, and although there's a bit of room in wages, we don't really have the money to push those limits. I may have to sell to buy, but do we really have the squad to be able to do that?

Transfers:

Prince Arko and Brilliant Khuzwayo join us during a quiet summer. Prince and Brilliant - what a pair of first names - will take up positions on opposite ends of the pitch, goalkeeper and striker. The former was brought in because of a couple of sales.

As you can see from the transfers, we've made 270k back on player sales, which will realistically not even make a dent in our debts. It's a start though.

Key Player(s):
Asive Langwe - Was an ever-present "in-the-hole" in the 4-1-2-1-2 formation we sported in the latter part of the season, and one of our best performers. Only 21 so a good lot of improvement is expected from him
Tinashe Nengomasha - If Langwe was the tip of the spear in our midfield, Nengomasha was the base. A lot of experience in this 32 year old, and similar to Fanteni, I hope for a couple of seasons more from him.
Jabulani Shongwe - Shongwe sat right in the middle of the park, and made sure our midfield remained solid. He's 25, so plenty more years left in him to form a key part of our team.

Results

If you take my first 9 games in charge, it started to look like we might turn everything around. After those games, we were a mere five points off the top spot, and I held a triumphant team meeting, telling them how well they were playing. They were all either neutral or positive in the aftermath, but it seems there was some hidden effect, as in the very next game Kaizer Chiefs absolutely ragged us. My assistant seemed to think we were unlucky, but all I saw was a team getting torn to shreds. I tried to write it off, but from then on we went on a month-long run of awful results. Three (goalless) draws and one defeat in the league, and then crashing out of the cup to my old team Mamodeli Sundowns. When we finally turned it around with a fighting win against Milano, and it looked like we'd have a late surge. Unfortunately, the team disagreed, only managing one revenge win against Sundowns.

League Table

10th was a respectable finish for us. It's a tight league, with the top teams only pulling away in the final few rounds. We finished 19 ahead of Sundowns, who came through their relegation play-off and stay in the Premier League

Key Players

Top scorer - Terror Fanteni - Our main striker, and was always going to end up our top scorer. He's 31, so ideally he'll be around for the next couple of seasons to fire me to Champions League glory.

3 Top Rated
Asive Langwe - Was an ever-present "in-the-hole" in the 4-1-2-1-2 formation we sported in the latter part of the season, and one of our best performers. Only 21 so a good lot of improvement is expected from him
Tinashe Nengomasha - If Langwe was the tip of the spear in our midfield, Nengomasha was the base. A lot of experience in this 32 year old, and similar to Fanteni, I hope for a couple of seasons more from him.
Jabulani Shongwe - Shongwe sat right in the middle of the park, and made sure our midfield remained solid. He's 25, so plenty more years left in him to form a key part of our team.

The Disappointments
Mor Diouf - I picked him up on a free transfer but with the form of Langwe, he didn't really get much chance of a game. He then proceeded to bitch and moan about it, demanding first team football. When I did give him some, he didn't exactly set the world on fire. Big mistake in signing him it seems.

Board Confidence

The season ended with a nice message from the board saying they were happy with my performance. Of course, they didn't exactly have high expectations, not caring what happened in the cups, and only wanting mid-table in the league. I managed that, and the board are pretty happy. Hopefully we can surpass those expectations next season.

So here we are, in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, ready to take on the next challenge. This time we don't have such a benefit of instant Champions League qualification, and we certainly won't have the same budget we enjoyed at Central Coast Mariners. However, the restrictions on squad building are mostly lifted, leaving behind only one rule - no more than five foreigners. I think I can deal with that.



In terms of history, we don't really have any. We've never won the Premiership, and can only boast a handful of cup trophies, and one first division title. I intend to change that. The finances are worrying. I didn't initially look at them, but when I did, it's clear that for the past two years we've been hemorrhaging money. We're now about to head into the red, so a journey to the Champions League could end up being essential. I'm already looking forward to the off-season when I can start to steady the ship and get back some of that money.

The previous manager could only manage these results in the opening part of the season, and it seems that the 0-0 draw with Amazulu was the final straw. I'm actually surprised he wasn't given the chop earlier given that he could only manage two wins and twelve points.

It's not as if there isn't a talented squad here.



I would say from that, we have a good team, but probably not a great squad. We need improvement, but we should be able to do something with the resources at our disposal.

So after completing the first part of the tetradecagon, it was the time to leave the sunny coast of New South Wales for pastures new.

The job situation was as follows. I would have liked a national job to start towards crossing off some of those, but unfortunately no-one will have me. Seems a lot harder to get them in this game, which I suppose is more realistic. Anyway, it's looking like South Africa may be the best option, although I would love to get back to the MLS. I'll take whatever's going.

I had a couple of offers, one from Bay Utd in the National First Division in South Africa, but as you can see the offer wasn't exactly the greatest. Over-budget in terms of wages and nothing for transfers. It would be quite a battle, and one I'm not fancying at this stage. Then there was a second offer, and one that suited me much better. Bidvest Wits, a club from Braamfontein in Johannesburg. They allowed me a modest transfer budget, but more importantly, a lot of space in the wage budget. They're also a Premiership team.

There's only one decision really. Johannesburg here I come.

Champions League Results

CL QF - 1st Leg - Central Coast Mariners 2 vs 2 Shandong
CL QF - 2nd Leg - Shandong 1 vs 3 Central Coast Mariners

We fought for this one, and completely deserved our place in the semis. After the first leg, I was worried. We would have to go to China and score, otherwise we would be out, and that's never the best position to be in. When Shandong went ahead in the 3rd minute of the second leg, I feared the worst, but we fought back with three unanswered goals to take the victory and the tie.

CL SF - 1st Leg - Osaka AC 3 vs 2 Central Coast Mariners
CL SF - 2nd Leg - Central Coast Mariners 2 vs 0 Osaka AC

We went back to Japan to play a team we had already faced twice that season in the group stages. It also didn't bode well, with them having beaten us on aggregate. The first leg did not go well, and we left Japan with a defeat. We did, however, claim two away goals, which would end up being very important as we got a fantastic 2-0 win back at the Bluetongue stadium to put us into the final.

A Champions League final...what could make it better? This draw. We would be playing Lekhwiya again, just over a year after they humbled us 9-0. A chance for revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge.



You have to say, they've had the far better run. They've beaten three middle eastern sides, including the double holders, who they absolutely routed. We've experienced that team first hand, and I do not want to experience it again. Madjid Bougherra will play his final game for the club against us, and the legendary Algerian will want to finish on a high...let's see if we can spoil his evening, shall we?

League Results

Full results are here.

Can you take a guess as to when my 9-0 defeat in the Champions League happened? Yep, right before the Wellington game. From there, it looked as though we would struggle to qualify again for next season, let alone mount a challenge for the title. Fortunately for us though, we managed to stop feeling sorry for ourselves for long enough to put together quite a run. From the moment we trudged off the pitch away from home at Newcastle Jets after a disappointing draw, we only dropped 13 points in the remaining 21 games. As you can imagine with that kind of record, we pretty much strolled the league, securing a play-off place early on, and then securing the title by a massive 11 points. But that was almost to be expected - there was still one more title we wanted - the Grand Finals trophy.

And we did. An easy passage to the title too, with two 2-0 wins giving us the trophy I've demanded since our defeat the previous season. That win took me into the Australian hall of fame - hopefully the first of many admissions Worldwide.

Champions League Results

But let's face it, as long as we qualify for the Champions League, it doesn't really matter what we do in the league. This is our target, and after the horrorshow of that night in Qatar the previous season, we're desperate to right the wrongs.

Our results were pretty poor though, and we didn't rise to the occasion. It took until the final day to ensure qualification, thanks to Guangzhou destroying Osaka. Our 2-0 home win was by no means certain, but we did it when it mattered, even after only winning 2 points in the first three games. We. Got. Lucky.

Luckily, we decided to perform a little better in the knockout stages by dispatching Okayama FC over two legs. They equalised our away goal in the second leg, but we hit back two giving them too tough a task to get back. We were in the quarter finals again, and in with a shot of the title.

And here is the quarter final draw. We'll return to China to face Shandong after the long summer break, but the real story is that after the rest of the draw was made, we are potentially on target to face old foes Lekhiwa in the final. Could it happen?

Key Players

Luke DeVere - Our Australian Marquee player and absolute rock at the back. He complained earlier in the season and I promised him a Champions League win, so if we don't do it this year, we might have a struggle to keep him at the club.
Ibrahima Niass - One of our best performers, and someone I brought to the club myself. After moving to a plain old 4-4-2, he has made the right midfield spot his own. Very important player for us.
Richard Porta - Our second marquee player, and another Australian, and probably our best chance for goals.

Next Season

The most obvious one is the conclusion of our Champions League campaign. Four games to make or break our season. Intae them!

Pre-Season 2013

My first pre-season with the Mariners, and I intended to make the most of it. I appointed a new Director of Football, hoping that he can take some of the less fun tasks off my hands at the club. Say hello to Ian Crook, who will hopefully not live up to his name. I'll be using him to negotiate deals for the players I really can't be bothered negotiating deals for. I fully expect him to screw up and not get some of them, so if that happens I'll step in to make them.

Talking of transfers, my summer was pretty much unspectacular. My remit at the club was to sign high profile players, but it was a struggle. I also think the A-:League is bugged in terms of offering contracts at times, especially with Marquee players. I still managed a satisfactory haul, but crucially, most of them were signed too late to be registered for my remaining matches in the Champions League...would that cause trouble?

Anyway, here are the transfers in full, and then the players individually.

Jamal Mrad - DC - 16 years old
Khaled Kanj - DM - 16 years old
Wayne Liddall - S/AML - 17 years old
Milad Zeneyedpour - AML - 27 years old
Richard Porta - SC - 30 years old
Hao Junmin - AMR - 26 years old
Ludovica Marengo - DR - 16 years old

As you can see, the focus was on some highly rated youths that can hopefully take advantage of our great facilities. Above them though, are three new attacking signings which will hopefully spearhead my formation. Zeneyedpour on the left, Hao on the right, and new marquee signing Richard Porta up top. I have high hopes for those three, but unfortunately, only one (the former) will be available for the Champions League.

Friendly results were very mixed. We started off slowly, which was worrying given our CL matches fell in between these. But we did improve, and ended strongly once my team got up to proper fitness.

We had a couple of league fixtures early on, but there's only one thing we're really interested in...

The Asian Champions League

We were drawn against Al-Ain in the quarter finals, which worried me. Historically, and in other FM stories, Australian sides have struggled against Middle Eastern opposition. We just can't compete with the money there, or often the quality of players.

Could we do it this time?


[/spoiler]

Central Coast Mariners then. The current Champions of Australia sacked their manager after a disappointing result against rivals Wellington Pheonix, leaving me to take charge of the final seven games of the season. That's not a typo by the way, there really was only seven games left in the season. The Mariners were riding high in the league, and barring a complete collapse would be in the play-offs. The perfect opportunity really.

My first act was to have a look at the finances and see what was going on there, given my massive transfer budget. The balance sheet looked good, but it was the wages that worried me. We are waaaay above the recommended, to the tune of 15k. Surprisingly though, it wasn't dragging us too far down. It will be the one thing that needs to be looked at come the end of the season, but we can't risk losing the quality we have in the squad.

So about the squad. Here it is. A selection of good players, but we have quite a few weak points. From memory of Australia though, a weak squad can still go far, so a few key signings would probably see us through and give us that key first Champions League. Any league titles along the way would just be gravy.

End of Season Results

Hyundai A-League



As you can see, some very good results, starting off with a fantastic 4-0 win in my very first career game against Melbourne Heart. The Wellington Pheonix game before that was the one that ended the last manager, but until the untimely final defeat, we remained unbeaten in the league to take the regular season title and give me my first trophy. To be honest, with the squad and team I was left with, it would've been a massive failure not to end up winning this. Unfortunately, we couldn't follow it up with any kind of success in the play-offs, as Brisbane roar deservedly beat us to progress to the final. Disappointing, but to be honest, the Champions League is all that really matters. There are only 14 competitions I have to win, and this isn't one of them. Onwards and upwards.



AFC Champions League



A wonderful start to life in the continental competitions. Once again we went up against Chinese, Japanese and Korean opposition, which seems like it's written in the stars from previous experience. Further to that, we were up against Pohang Steelers, a club I spent all of three weeks with in FM12, winning a trophy in the process before leaving for Melbourne. I pegged them as the team to beat, so when we beat them 3-1 in Korea in the opening game, I thought we were on for a very successful run. We followed that up with two home wins against Fuli of China and the fantastically named Funabashi Bandits of Japan, but then hit a blip with a poor home defeat against Pohang and an uninspiring draw in Japan. However, with that result, we had done enough to go through, leaving it to the last game to secure top spot in the group. We did so in style with a 4-1 win in China, giving us the chance of a favourable draw in the second round.

That arrived in the form of Nagoya Stoltz. Favourable didn't quite cover it though, as we took until the 115th minute of the second leg to secure a place in the quarter final draw. We deserved it on the balance of things, but we certainly made heavy weather of it in Japan.

The quarter final draw does not happen until August, along with the draw for the semis. It will be interesting to see who we manage to draw. Three clubs from the Middle East join one each from Korea, Japan and China, along with the only remaining Australian representative - us.

Next Season

So what are my aims for next season? It's a difficult question to answer, but at the same time it's quite easy. The best option will be to win the Champions League at the first time of asking, and then I'll be off. But if we don't, then I'll need to start bringing through a squad that can win it the next time.

To cover both bases, I plan to bring in some quality and youth in the off-season (which will only be six weeks long. Nice feature - although the squad may hate me) which will hopefully win me the Champions League. Even if it does, I'd like to cross off the A-League Major Finals title before I leave, but we'll see about that.

My game was started with these leagues loaded, giving us the option to start in one of the three corners of the Pentagon. I would say that adding England and a South American nation (probably Brazil) to that would give me the final two, but given they're the ones that will slow the game down, I'll be adding them at a later date.

Here's Stephen Smith's profile. Pretty bare at the moment, but hilariously, it looks like Roberto Mancini has turned into a massive dick (turned into...yeah...har har). Despite Smith only being present in the game for one day, he is already hated by the scarfed Italian. Weird.

When the game started, these jobs were available and safe to say none really got me excited. I applied for them all of course, but the finances ranged from average to awful, and none of them really screamed at me as the job for me. I think Mamodeli Sundowns will end up being my choice in Africa after my fun there in FM12, but that's another story for another day, as after six months or so of trying, the perfect job arose.

Central Coast Mariners, a team I had never really considered (ever) came in with what could only be described as an amazing offer. For a manager with sunday league rep with no previous employment, this job was a big one, especially considering the Mariners had won the A-League the previous season, giving them immediate Champions League qualification.

I negotiated using the fun little tool that will probably have zero impact to the game to tell them I would be playing attacking football. They were fine with that, funnily enough, and the job was mine.

The new manager of Central Coast Mariners. Bring it on.

So as you can see from the first part of the blog, this is going to be the story of one Stephen Smith, based around a couple of the Tartan Army I met in Cardiff last weekend.

So who is Stephen Smith?



This guy. Look at that shiny head, that sneer. How could this guy not become one of the greatest managers of all time? He'll have to be, because his task is the Tetradecagon, the challenge I put together towards the end of FM12's life. His task will be to win the following competitions.

UEFA Champions League
Asian Champions League
African Champions League
CONCACAF Champions League
Copa Libertadores
FIFA Club World Championship
Gold Cup
Copa America
African Cup of Nations
Oceania Nations Cup
Asian Nations Cup
FIFA World Cup
FIFA Confederations Cup
UEFA European Championships

I managed six of them last time out - how far will Stephen make it?

Cardiff City Stadium
9:30pm
October 12th, 2012

The crowd was silent for a moment as the ball flew towards the goal, but it soon erupted as the Welsh fans inside Cardiff's second stadium celebrated what had seemed an unlikely win not one hour ago. As the Welsh celebrated, the Scottish fans inside the stadium both in the away end, and indeed dotted in and around the home fans too, hung their heads. A defeat had seemed unthinkable before the game, not to a Welsh team who, on paper, seemed far inferior. Stephen Smith turned to his friend beside him and leaned in to be heard above the noise. "This is the bottom," he said simply while applauding what he had to admit was a fantastic solo goal. It was going to be a long night on the streets of Cardiff.

Cardiff City Center
1:00am
October 13th, 2012

"He has to go," the large man in the Glengarry hat said simply, leaning back in his chair and draining a sizeable amount of his pint.
"But who have we got to replace him?" Stephen shrugged. He had no idea what the man's name was, having only met him an hour earlier on the streets of Cardiff. He and a friend had joined Stephen and Pete for a few drinks, and the conversation had very quickly turned dour and negative.
"I couldnae care!" the large man's pal replied animatedly, looking like he hadn't been a stranger to a few mind-altering substances earlier in the night, "Any **** wid dae! All ah know is we're gaun tae Belgium on Tuesday and we're gonnae get pumped!"
The table nodded in silence, they knew he was right about what would happen in Brussels midweek, especially with a performance like they had seen earlier that evening. As another pint was drained, Stephen and Pete got up to get their round, avoiding any celebrating Welshmen like the plague.
"What do you think will happen to Levein?" Pete asked, signalling for the same again.
"Probably nothing. The SFA won't sack him tonight - he'll have at least until Belgium, and probably beyond," Stephen shook his head, "I tell you, the guy over there had a point: I could do better than Levein with all my Football Manager expertise!"
Pete shook his head and gave a rueful smile. He had never quite "got" the appeal of the game Stephen called a drug, despite being a fan of football. He knew the ins and outs of his friend's careers over the years though - his exploits with Man United; his managing of Stockport County from Conference to Champions League winners and everything in-between; and his determination to win the World Cup with Scotland. He felt like he'd been there with him, but he suspected that there was a big difference between Football Manager and real life.
"Aye, you do that, pal," Pete said, patting him sarcastically on the back, "And while you're at it, buy a lottery ticket for tomorrow night, you'll need it for all that managerial globe-trotting you'll be doing!"
As they shuffled back to the table with their round, they had no idea that within a few days, they would get to see just how different.

Cardiff International Airport
9:00am
October 14th, 2012

Stephen felt rough. Like really rough. He wasn't sure what the Welsh put in their drinks, but after two days of pretty much solid drinking, he was willing to bet that whatever it was, it should be banned. He had stupidly booked a return flight to Glasgow for 11:00am, which was far too early considering they hadn't made it home until 6:00am the previous night. His head pounded and his stomach churned, but he thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't catching a high-speed train home - that journey would have probably ended him. As a man with a briefcase brushed past him, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. He winced and squeezed it tenderly, feeling like there was a ring of bruising right around it. He took a moment to think where that had come from, and then remembered his ill-advised battle with a bouncer the night before. On trying to defend a fair lady from being thrown out, he himself had been, rather more roughly than she had. He thought at least he'd get lucky for his act of chivalry, but alas no. He chuckled to himself. It had been a fantastic night, making him forget all about the terrible result of Friday night.

As he thought back to that game, he started to recall some of his later boastings of how he could be the greatest manager of all time, and that all other managers - including Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson - were all idiots and completely useless. He had drunkenly put on a lottery ticket with a series of themed numbers, starting with the number 1, which was where he claimed he was destined for. Of course it was bravado, but as he stared up at the departures board awaiting his flight, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. Being a football manager would certainly be more exciting than his day job, and he would get to see parts of the World he had no chance of otherwise seeing. It would certainly be some life.

The buzzing of his mobile phone shook him from his daydreams. As he pulled it out, he imagined it was Pete reminding him of several heinous things he had done the night before. He was half right.

The message simply stated " 1 - 8 - 9 - 19 - 28 - 29 ". His numbers.

He checked the Lotto website with trembling hands, and couldn't quite believe his eyes when it was confirmed. He had won. Alcoholic boasting had paid off. He was probably now a millionaire. Millions of thoughts raced through his head, but in the end, one single thought pushed its way to the foreground.

He signed off a quick message to Pete telling him to meet him at the airport and then glanced back up at the departures board. This was the first day of the rest of his life - his life as a football manager.