Deleted User #819733 - Comments

All working now and looks much better. Keep up good work!

9th May 2022 - 10th July 2022

We have 4 games left to go and are in with a great shout of automatic promotion to La Liga, an unthinkable goal at the start of the season Three very winnable games and one which I hoped wouldn't matter against Champions elect Malaga.



Shocking. If we tried to throw away all our hard work all season we went about it in the right way. Three draws meant we picked up 3 points, 4 points and we would be visiting the likes of the Nou Camp, Bernabeu and Mestalla next season but now had to go to Malaga and get a result which did not happen. So how did that leave the table?













Long and Moreno both on fire providing 73 goals between them this season. On a sad note, that partnership is over as Long is calling it a day. I tried to persuade him at one last season in the top flight but he declined my offer. We all wish him well in the future. The average ratings were once again dominated by the attacking players but I kind of expected that to be the case. Stefano Okaka found goals hard to come by but chipped in with 20 assists the most at the club. Hopefully going up will attract better players to the club. I already know with the money we will get and the exposure the club will benefit massively. Promotion to La Liga does have one downside, we have to expand the stadium and that is money I could use to build a better squad to attempt to stay up not to mention the reduced capacity I have all season and therefore money lost in ticket sales. One side of me is glad to use our home advantage up in the mountains but another side would have loved a ground share for a season and more money coming in. Wilson Balegas was the young player and signing of the season. What a steal for £500. The media gave us overachievers of the season, something which was fully deserved. There are transfer rumours flying all around at the moment but I wouldn't be commenting on speculation, however, I am already in talks with a Premier League winner about joining next season. Some say he is quite boring but he can still do a job on the pitch which is what counts.

9th January 2022 - 8th May 2022



THE LORD HAS SIGNED. I said I wasn't going to make any big named signings but there are times when you have to do what you have to do and this was one of them.



First year with improved youth facilities and same old story. Another shocking youth intake. I suppose when the Head of Youth Development says no player stands out it tells you all you need to know, Andorra's first superstar will have to wait.



La Liga clubs now showing interest in me. Shame they are 20th and all but mathematically relegated. Wouldn't have taken it anyway, I have a job to complete here.



What a run we are having this season. The complete opposite of last season where points were hard to come by. Three losses in a row at the start of the year threatened to undo all the hard work but in but the lads have bounced back brilliantly since then. The Badajoz result hurt the most since we smashed them 4-0 away earlier in the season. Our run of form has seen us take 34 points of a possible 51 since the last update and things are looking a lot brighter. Two results which were hard to take were the back to back games against Alaves and Numancia. At 3-2, we missed a penalty against Alaves only for them to go down the other end and pinch a goal to come away with a point. Then to make matters worse the next game against Numancia, we were 2-0 at half time and coasting only to lose 3-2. I know bad patches are expected but that is two games we should of closed out. But where does it leaves us in the table?





Without Shane Long and Jaime Moreno I would be well and truly stuffed. 68 goals between the pair (Long 28, Moreno 40). The next highest after that in the team is 8. Ideally, I would have liked the 3rd striker to chip in with an equal amount of goals as in previous seasons but as long as we are scoring and winning I can't really complain. I will be asking Long to postpone retirement and stay another season if we are going up as his goals and experience will be priceless at the top level. Sevilla are also sniffing at my keeper Pedro Direito but unless they match his £5m release clause he is going nowhere. Not bad for a player last season I paid £500 for. A final point. Lord Bendtner was a shit signing. 6 sub appearances and no goals to show for it. He hasn't show why he should start and as his contract was only 6 months he will be leaving the club in the summer.

21st September 2021 - 8th January 2022



First off I have now gained my Continental C Badge. Hopefully, this will help to improve the standard of training and show to the club I committed to taking them forwards.



At this point one year ago I had a 'Plan B' thought out as a return to Sedunga B looked on the cards. That was the most challenging time I have as manager here going 14 games in a row without picking up a point. Fast forward 12 months and I am pleased to say there has been no repeat of that horrible time this year. The team are playing with the confidence that they can get the results to keep us up. Jaime Moreno has come into his own this season and rightly deserves all the praise he is getting. Shane Long has been a revelation for a free signing cementing his place in the team with his goals. The big loser of the signing is Stefano Okaka who is stuck to the bench due to the unexpected performances from Wilson Balegas who is putting in performance game after game. Why should I drop a player who is in form for a bigger name? Okaka has had chances to start and has failed to impress on them. I am here to do what is best for the team, not an individual. Goals don't see to be an issue this season and we have tightened our defence up. The Huesca game shocked me. Went from 4-0 up to 4-4 to win 5-4. A late goal by Jaime Moreno to bag his hat-trick at Reus away was my favourite moment of the season so far.





If you told me we would in 4th place in January at the start of the season, I would be checking my calendar to see if it was April Fools Day. However, to my surprise, it is actually true. We are playing much higher than I ever expected and whilst it is nice to be so high up the table, my only goal was to make sure we avoid the drop. I have changed my season expectations to mid table finish as I believe we have already enough points to secure that but I don't want to aim higher as I know we aren't ready for that yet. Anything above mid table would be a bonus and as much as we all love a fairytale story, I don't want to run before I can walk. We have also yet to hit a bad patch of form yet this season and I can see it coming in the second half.



The new signings have all been made with the future in mind. I'm happy to look at more young prospects but in terms of the first team, unless the right player comes along I am not really looking to make any signings in that department. I feel we are playing well and I don't want to upset the balance of the team.

11th July 2021 - 20th September 2021

After a long and at nervous season 99% of the time, a major squad rehaul was going to be needed to have any chance of moving forward instead of being a relegation candidate side. With our reputation now up to National, I'm hoping we can bring in a few strong experienced players to lead the side. Whilst I did manage to bring a few big name signings in for this level, I am still finding a lot of people won't discuss a contract for FC Andorra not being a big enough club or enough ambition or not considered to have the money to sign them (Greedy bastards!)



On a first note, I have increased my contract until 2024 and the board have given me a pay rise from £525 to £6,250. Whilst I'm not one for big wages on the manager, it helps to improve my job security in case everything goes all tits up and we go and do a Sunderland.



Last season's released players list sees a lot of players brought in during the Segunda B2 season released. This would have happened a season sooner but due to the lack of decent players willing to join me, I didn't have much of a choice but to hold onto them. There were a few youngsters signed in January that also left that weren't good enough. The only one I'm sad to see leave is Bakka for all he had given to the club.



And now for the real business. We actually broke the £1.4m pound mark for spending. Not bad for a club that only 2 years ago spend £18k in a transfer window and that was the record signing. Once again a lot of free transfer but also some big name picked up from the free agents. Stefano Okaka, Shane Long and Jakub Blaszczykowski (Why did I sign him having to type a name that long to spell!?) are the noticeable ones from the list. I have also picked up prospects from Andorran side Lusitans (again) with a modest £500 purchase of Wilson Balegas. Just a shame he's not Andorran. I decided to splash out on deadline day because I was unhappy with the strength in depth bring in Marcus Pedersen and Angel from Getafe on loan and for £775.



This was taken after 7 games. Why Okaka is benched can be seen lower down if anyone is wondering. I'm much happier than I was at the end of last season with the squad strength and I'm hoping to push on for a mid table finish this season.



The verdict is out. 550-1 to win the league, 9-5 to be relegated. I'm sure Leicester proved that odds mean nothing for predictions.



Although we had a strong pre season with 4 wins and a draw, I'm actually shocked at how well we have started this new season, especially with all the new signings. We'll get the negatives out the way quickly first. We lost the home opener against Lugo who we took 4 points from 6 last season. Moreno scored a hattrick away to Las Palmas but still managed to be on the losing side and we are out of the Copa Del Rey again at the first hurdle. Now onto the positives. We are sitting in the playoffs spots which will be nice while it lasts. We are now doing much better against teams we struggled last year like Castilla and Albacete and put the sword to new boys Badajoz winning 4-0. Bet they wish they were the other side of the Portuguese border.



Few things I didn't expect to happen this season. Okaka gets injured pre season and Long after 1 game. With not many options I decided to give Wilson Balegas a shot and turns out he has been my best player. £500 investment already returned in my opinion. In 6 leagues games, he has returned 1 goal and 7 assists and is currently making Okaka warm the bench. Long is proving his worth already with 6 goals but he trails his strike partner Jaime Moreno in the golden boot race who has bagged 9 times so far this season.



I'm alot more confident we can pick up points to stay in the division. Last season even at this stage I struggled to see where they would come from and went on to lose 14 games in a row. If we wish to progress as a club we have to make sure that we don't go on a run like that this season. In other news, I'm am now keeping a lookout for the Andorran national job and will be keen to apply for that as soon as it becomes available.

3rd May 2021 - 10th July 2021

Last update we were still scrapping at towards the foot of the table to stay in fully professional football. 3 of the 4 spots were already decided but could we be the unlucky team out of the five to go down? I had a gut feeling it was going to be us but was I right?













The first step of hopefully many on the improvement front. The board has deiced to upgrade the youth facilities. Not only will the club benefit from this, but also the national side. I can't see it makes much of a difference on the main campaigns, however when it comes to the UEFA Nations League against similar standard teams it could help them improve at that level. Will we see a future club star, I really doubt it but we can only hope.



With being professional, we are now earning more money than ever before and have been able to pay off the club's debts which occurred expanding the stadium.



For the first time since I took over, a striker has not won player of the season. That honour went to our new signing in midfield Ramiro Guerra who also won young player of the season. Strikers Zakaria Boulahia who was loaned from Atletico Madrid and Bakka came 2nd and 3rd respectively. Both will be leaving the club in the summer and for Bakka it is a very sad occasion. On one hand he single handily brought the club up the leagues working his way up to captain but on the other hand, he has come as far as he can with the club with game time very limited this season. As much as it is a sad moment for all involved, deep down we all know it is the best decision especially when it comes to the player's future. Bakka will sorely be missed and all at FC Andorra wish him well in the future. Pedro Direito was announced as the signing of the season after joining from Andorra Champions Lusitans for £299. Direito came in and was the answer to the goalkeeping problems where the club went through 4 goalkeepers from the start of the season until the new year. Thankfully number 5 solved the problem and is looking to have a bright future ahead of him. It is just a shame he is Portuguese and not Andorran.



Overachievers of the season. I'll take that. Very happy with the performance this season but now it is attention to the future. On one hand I would like to set the bar a bit higher and go for a mid table/top half finish, however, I can't ignore that avoiding relegation can be classed as another good season. The club now can also attract some better players and I have 2 big signings to announce very soon.

28th December 2020 - 2nd May 2021

After a very rocky start to the season, drastic action was required to try and save our season. With the transfer window opening the club had a lot of new faces to show.





Eleven players came in as soon the window opened. Quite a lot were youngsters with one eye on the future whatever happens this season, however, I decided to take a risk and bring in a few big players on big contracts for this level to salvage my season. In short terms, all the eggs are in one basket. If this risk backfires and we don't manage to stay up then a lot of them can go for next to nothing with Jaime Moreno, Tano and David Soto being the main ones who would be snapped up. I have finally managed to convince players to ditch Lutisans in Andorra and come to my club snapping up 3 promising youngsters for a modest £500 each. CD Sabadell who I am ground sharing with for now want me to take over as their manager but I'm not interested.



This fella was available on a free transfer after leaving League 1 Shrewsbury Town and even though he was retiring, I did everything I could to bring him in on a 6 month deal hoping his experience would improve those around him. Now for the moment of truth, has all the incoming been worth it? We'll find out a little further down after our stadium news and youth intake.



Finally, we are back playing in Andorra with a 6000 stadium. We will struggle to get 6000 fans however that is the minimum requirement for Liga 123. Hopefully, it will still be a mountain fortress and will pick up our home form.



Another year, another youth intake and another one where I struggle to find anyone who will break into the first team regularly. At least compared to the previous seasons we have some better players coming through but the likelihood is they will find lower level football their calling card. The two standouts are goalkeeper Ander Echeverria and defender Luis Lourenco both who are solely Andorran. Whilst they may not help the club, they can be key players in the future for the national side.

And now the million pound question. Was my risk and could say reckless recruitment worth it?







The answer is unknown yet. Whilst I have managed to get out of the relegation places, we are still fighting for our lives down at there. Our home form hasn't picked up as much as I have liked and although we have managed to get 20 points since the turn of the year, only 6 of those has come against teams who were higher than 16th place. We are taking points from those around us, however, is this going to be enough to stay up considering 4 teams go down. The 5-8 defeat to Reus was very disappointing. You don't expect to come away with nothing after scoring 5 goals. Mile Jedinak has been very poor as a signing and thus so I will not be asking him to reconsider retirement. With 5 games to go, it looks like 3 of the relegation places are confirmed leaving ourselves, Castilla, Nastic, Albacete and Ponferradina to fight out for the last one. Personally, I still see it will be us to go down as out fixture list seems the toughest. The games with Nastic and Huesca will be massive and we will need to take maximum points if we want to avoid a return to the regional divisions.

23rd August 2020 - 27th December 2020







We are truly in a relegation battle this season. Life in the Spanish 2nd tier has been difficult to say the least. My prediction for seeing where the points would come from was pretty accurate. Our start to the see looked promising with 6 points taken from a possible 9 and then the reality of the challenged we faced hit. The next 13 league games we managed 1 draw and 12 loses. That is a whopping 1 points from a possible 36. OUCH!. We also fell at the first stage in the Copa Del Rey to make that 0 wins, 1 draw and 13 losses in all competitions on what can be described as the worst run of results under myself. I knew this level was going to be tough but I wasn't expecting this. The Granada and Eibar games hurt the most scoring 3 and 4 goals respectively and still coming away with nothing. Our last 3 games before the mid season break (if you can call it that), saw us big up much needed wins over fellow relegation candidates Real Madrid Castilla with a deserved stoppage time winner and a 4-0 thrashing of Nastic to take 6 points from 9. Still, from week 10 onwards we have been in the 4 placed drop zone and unless things can improve with some new signings in the upcoming window, I'm afraid a return to Segunda B looks very likely.



My work with FC Andorra is not going unnoticed in Spain now and although I have been linked with clubs before, this is the first who have offered me an interview. Segunda B2 Mirandes want me to interview for the position but I declined it straight away. Usually, when I'm linked I distant myself from the jobs or outright say I have no interested but this went to the next level. Whilst it is nice to be linked with bigger rep clubs, I'm happy at Andorra and have a mission to fulfil.

29th June 2020 - 8th September 2020

I said there would be a massive overhaul this season with not many staying and here is the job so far.





I found this gem below with a release clause of £275k. He is only a young pup but has potential to go far. As min release clauses are mandatory in Spanish, I have set it at £2.5m. I know this doesn't seem a lot to most buying clubs but that will do wonders for me as a selling club if someone comes in. I have managed to get Pepe in from Barcelona on loan to challenge for the starting keeper spot. O n a closer inspection Barcelona signed him recently on a free from Real Madrid!? Yes, this shocked me as well!



My team at the end of the transfer window can be seen below.



Am I happier with this side than the one that finished last season? Yes. Do I think we are going to stay up this season? Most likely not. Trying to bring in quality players has been such a struggle with some preferring to stay in the Tercera Divison (4th tier) on amateur contracts than play professionally in the 2nd tier. The most common reason is the club does not match their level of ambition yet they would rather stay in the 4th tier. You do get the odd few who say I don't have the resources to match their asking wage. Again I can beat your current deal of fuck all quite easily. The lowly rep is killing the club for signing and I'm often left with Segunda B are even worse Tercera level players. I've managed to pull a few from the Andorran league but again they would still rather stay there on a part time deal. Although promotion has helped the club develop itself, the club wasn't ready to take the next stage and I now find myself thinking of a season wondering where the points are going to come from let alone wins. I have very little quality and I'm scraping together a scratch 18 matchday squad. The transfer window is now shut until the 28th December and the only way I can get better players between now and then is free transfer whom most aren't at the level of what this division requires. On the plus side, we have managed to form a partnership with Barcelona, however, we have only received Pepe on loan from them.



We have been made 1-5 favourites to get relegated this season by Ladbrokes. I'll be having a word with them when I'm next in one of their shops to ask where this crazy short price has come from.





Only 3 preseason games this year with the results of a win, a draw and a loss. I'll be using my season friendly match against Barca in the winter break. I have already played the first 4 league games but left them off this post for when I do a result updates. Eibar in the cup will be a tricky test with the board wanting minimum for us to make the third round. Good luck is going to be needed for that to happen.

11th May 2020 - 28th June 2020

Finishing 3rd not 1st meant we were entered into the longer version of the playoffs and would require 3 rounds (instead of potentially 1 in the Champions path) and to make matters worse I had to sign an emergency goalkeeper.





I'm actually speechless. The only thing pundits were correct about is that next season we wouldn't be in this division. However, by that they all meant relegation and we have gone and pulled off the impossible and got promoted. First round we got very lucky against Badajoz losing 3-2 away and winning 2-1 at home getting through by the skin of our teeth on my most hate rule in football the away goals rule. Second round a 3-3 draw away to Caudal Deportivo set us in a strong position for in the home leg and hammered them 4-0 back over the border. The third and final round saw us drawn against RCD Mallorca who had knocked out Real Union previously. Unlike the previous rounds, I was playing at home first hoping to put an advantage on the board and then defend it over in Palma. What happened next I was beyond my wildest dreams. A 5-4 victory. I was disappointed to concede 4 goals at home but as the old Dutch mentality was/the lyrics of Vindaloo we're going to score one more than you put me in a good position. The only doubt I had was the 4 away goals Mallorca had which turned into squeaky bum time as they scored first in the return leg. In a free following attacking game, we managed to scrape a 3-3 draw with an 80th-minute striker from Bakka securing the draw and sending FC Andorra into the Spanish 2nd tier for the first time in the clubs history.

In the aftermath of promotion the following occurred







Finally, we have turned professional! I know my rep is still local but has moved up to 1 star. Can see this being a major issue in attracting the quality of players I need for next season. The club has also offered me a new 2 year contract which I am very happy to sign. The board have also decided to expand the stadium to the max capacity it will currently go to at 6000 seats. The downside of this is
1. The cost of it which means the board won't improve training and youth facilities
2. Which is more important that I have to spend 8 months playing at Sabadell just outside Barcelona losing my massive home advantage in my mountain fortress.





End of season awards and again it is the strikeforce sweeping them up. 3rd place went to a defensive midfielder so it is nice to see that it is more than just goals that are being recognised this season. The sad reality now comes that not many of these players will have a future with the club and only a handful will be offered full-time contracts next season. The overhaul will be bigger than before making the leap into professional football. Our low rep will see players asking for money they are nowhere worth but with limited options what else can we do. Loans will be a big part of next season in our struggle to stay in the 2nd division.

6th January 2020 - 10th May 2020

Once again I have managed to mess up the screenshots. Completely shut the computer down last night after turning the game off and after noticing the error it was too late to get the youth candidates as a separate team. Instead I have the result of the game vs the under 19s and then an overall under 19 reports with the two teams mixed.





Overall I'm happy with the new youth breed coming through. I know it will be a struggle to find a future star but considering the facilities are still the same old shite, the potential of the new ones has slightly improved. The Andorran National Team have appointed a new manager. I never actually noticed until a few months later but would have left the job for now even if I did see it.







At the start of the season, the aim was the attempt to avoid relegation. By the new year it became mid table but how can you feel disappointed about finishing in the playoffs. The simple answer is being involved and having a chance of winning the title and losing out on the last day. If someone said you'll stay up this season I would have taken their arm off, however, as the season goes on and you grind out results there is a belief you can actually pull off the impossible. To be fair even if we won on the last day we still wouldn't have won the league. The damage was done leading 2-0 away to Racing and conceding 2 goals in last 8 minutes to draw 2-2. We had a better head to head record with both Racing and Real Union. The last game of the season result will be shown below along with the answer to quiz question asked in the previous post and the relevance of it. Although we fell short of the league we still have the playoffs to come. Another promotion is unthinkable but if it does occur we need to weigh up the pros and cons of it. The boost in reputation, income and turning professional seems like great rewards but it also means more money to pay out for a club with is already struggling to operate at the level they are on a shoestring budget.

Quiz Question: What do the following players have in common?

Kevin Großkreutz, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Harry Kane, Vinnie Jones, John O'Shea, Alex Revell, Felipe Melo, Niall Quinn, Cosmin Moti?





The answer is they are all outfielder players who have had to go in goal. Some were better than others. Cosmin Moti is arguably the best having to go in goal for Ludogrets vs Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League playoff for the shootout. He scored his own penalty and saved two of Steaua's to send the Bulgarian into the Champions League groups. Now Bakka can be added to that list. I have taken the gamble at lower league levels not to use a keeper on the bench as we are only allowed 5 subs. Today for the first time in 3 years this backfired on me as my keeper came off in the 22nd minute with a broken hand. With not much options left I had to use Bakka in goal. For an outfielder, he didn't fair to bad and although he conceded 2 goals, he still finished with a 6.9 rating.

Quiz Question

What do the following players have in common?

Kevin Großkreutz
Rio Ferdinand
John Terry
Harry Kane
Vinnie Jones
John O'Shea
Alex Revell
Felipe Melo
Niall Quinn
Cosmin Moti

The answer and relevance will be at the end of the next post

7th October 2019 - 5th January 2020





We picked up where we left off and had our best performance of the season beating Burgos 8-2. As usual, when teams come to my place and drop points they complain about the state of the pitch. Two points arose from this to me. Firstly when you get beat 8-2, you would ideally give your opponent credit rather than blame the state of the pitch. Fair enough if it was a 1-0 loss that is a lot more understandable but 8 fucking 2. Take it on the chin and admit it was a bad day at the office. Secondly, you have to play one game a season on my pitch, I have to play on it every two weeks. How do you think I feel playing on a crap surface when I want to play a deck based game ideally. Following on from the Burgos game, we got and get hammered off a B team. I do like the idea of B teams competing in the lower league but when just transfer list unwanted players who could do a job in La Liga it just rubs off the wrong way. I feel a B team is more of a development team rather than one loaded with unwanted players. On the bright side, we have taken 25 points out of a possible 36 and now we are past new year I have been offered a chance to change my season aims. I took the highest one possible which was a mid table finish but I think I can safely say we will be playing in Segunda B2 next season unless we perform a miracle and get promoted again.





Well at the halfway point of the season I did not expect us to be sat in the playoff spots. I would have snapped your arm off if offered that at the start of the season. Of course, this means nothing right now and although we have only been outside of the top 4 for one game, there is still a long way to go and the hard work needs to continue. I've tried picking up a few players from the Andorran leagues but I'm still getting rejected by them. Perhaps if all goes well this season and the club decides to go pro next season we can eventually start cherry-picking the best players plying their trade in Andorra. Head to head records stands as I'm ahead vs Racing, Sporting B and Segoviana but losing out the Bilbao (Athletic B).

I have sets teams that I normally go for such as

Blyth Spartans - local team and thankfully on the default database again

A German team - Not Bayern or Dortmund. usually go one of Leverkusen, Schalke and Hertha but Hamburg could be a nice challenge this season (although for 2018 I decided to go lower leagues and go BFC Dynamo)

Currently got my Andorran challenge going but I'm keen to test my self in new waters for FM19 and have thought of the following

The Soviet Challenge - Win the domestic top league in each of the 15 former USSR republics.

The Nordic Challenge - Win the domestic top league starting with the lowest rank league (Faroes) and working way up through Nordic countries in order of rank.

Sporting CP - Although this is not new waters, given what has happened and turn around of players at the club, I can see it being a struggle for them going forward.

13 May 2019 - 6th October 2019







All the hard work over the season has paid off and we are going up again. Each of the three rounds of playoffs we faced followed a similar trend, one tight game and one with us dominating the game and getting a massive result. I set us an over the top goal of challenging for the playoffs but I never expected us to make them let alone come through three rounds. Next season will once again be a new challenge but for now, it's all about celebrating this achievement. For the second season running my main strike force finish with the highest ratings with each of them scoring at least 25 goals. On the flip side, they were the only players to break into double figures which can be worrying if anything happens to them. I've managed to mess up my screenshots so this season there is no end of season awards the show (just my luck).
Moving onwards the rep of the club has gone up to 'Local' but we are still at half a star and can see this being a hindrance in signing better players. This also isn't helped by how bad the training and youth facilities are. In moving up another division we are now going to start to encounter professional first teams and a lot more B teams. As much as I want to keep Andorran players at the club to help the national team, I feel like for now I have to put the interests of the club first and will have to be ruthless when it comes to who stays and goes. On a plus point, we can now offer a weekly wage as well as non-contract deals however these are restricted to 12 months only. The board have also decided to expand the stadium again.



A much shorter preseason this year due to our last league campaign finishing at the end of June.



On the transfer front, there was a complete overhaul. This only shows plays who left to other clubs but there were a few retirements and several more released as they were not up to standard for the new league. Our deal with Numancia (Now La Liga) seen us bring in one youth prospect and one unwanted player.



For the first time ever as FC Andorra manager, I have actually spent money on a player, paying £19k. Introducing Andres Llorian, who come through the ranks at Atletico Madrid featuring regularly in the B and C teams there. His experience at this level will prove vital to the team in the quest to avoid relegation.



Joel Coch became available after leaving CE Europa (Tercera Group 5). Physically his stats aren't up to scratch although this technical stats are reasonable for this level. However, the thing I signed him for is his mental attributes and to address the lack of a leader amongst the team.





First two games of the season introduced us to Segunda B2 with a bang. First game away we are on the wrong side of a hiding from Valladolid B then lose a tight encounter with Bilbao (Atheltic B Team). After making a few selection changes and with the signing of Joel Coch we started turning things around and went on a run of 5 wins putting us up to 3rd in the table. A remarkable turnaround for the team destined for relegation. My aim from the board is to bravely attempt to avoid it. Although we are in the playoffs, it will be tough to keep them and I would be happy with a mid table finish. Bakka keeps getting called up for Uganda but as they are friendlies I keep withdrawing him. Current leader Sporting B are one of the five teams I have beaten so far this season

Much better than last season. Got more points already?

17th December 2018 - 12th May 2019



There wasn't much to get excited about from the youth intake and looking at the youth facilities it's not hard to see why. Thankfully the board have agreed over the off season to update the facilities however it could be a few years before this investment is worthwhile. Getting youth players from teams on a similar stature and level is not a big ask however when it comes to Andorran players there are still difficulties in getting them to leave the comfort of their own league to come to me.





At the start of the season, we struggled to adapt to the next level of Spanish football. With a bit of time, new players gelling/getting used to my style of play and a few reinforcements, we managed to propel ourselves from the relegation battle up to mid table, which was what the board wanted. The board and myself have different expectations of the team and I was setting a high aim of challenging for the playoffs this season. For a team coming up last season, this would be a massive achievement to lay down a marker for future seasons at this level or beyond. The league has also been very tight for the playoffs spots with teams in and out throughout the season. After 37 games only 1 out of 4 spots has been confirmed. We have put ourselves in the strongest position we could sitting 4th and leaving our fate in our own hands. The head to head record puts us of 5th place EC Granollers and 6th place Pobla Mafumet. Our remaining league fixture is against the bottom of the league at home. You can see further down whether we achieved the result we needed. On a few positive points, I have had my contract extended for another year and have also gained the National B badge. We also had our best result of the season with an 8-0 thrashing away to Gava.





Here it is game 38 of the season.

1st October 2018 - 16th December 2018









Not much in the way of transfers throughout this period. A few fringe players have left the club but nobody noteworthy. On the incoming side of things, other than a few trials which didn't amount to anything, Christopher Pousa who I recently branded a muppet/moron has come to his senses and realised joining us would not be moving countries. Our coaches think he won't add anything to the squad and for the most part they are probably right, however, this is not just about the club. It is about the country who Pousa is classed as a top player and I would hate to see him retire because of not having a club.
Back to the results sides of things and over this last 10 weeks, the club has played a total of 11 games picking up 20 points. Some of the better moments came against the top sides with at the time of the games beating both Pobla Mafumet (1st) and FC Santboia (2nd) in the league in consecutive weeks 5-2 and 4-2. Bakka's equaliser deep in the injury time also salvaged a draw at home against Gava. Towards the end of this stretch of games, the team managed to finish undefeated in the last 5 games picking up 13 points from a possible 15. This run of results has propelled ourselves up the table to a season high position of 7th. My stretch aim of making the playoffs seems a reality, however, there is still a long way to go and with some many teams together in terms of points it would be very foolish to think any sorted of goal has been achieved yet. CE Jupiter still lead the way out front and it seems crazy that the team that got promoted behind us last season is making this league look like a walk in the park.

That's what I thought, I can potentially get through a season in a day this way. My computer is 5-star performance rating and 5-star game speed. May as well use it

From here going forward, I am going to change the way I post about this challenge. I find I am spending more time actually saving the screenshots, uploading them to the internet and then posting them on here than I am playing on FM. As a result of this, I am starting to lose enjoyment from the game (I know hard to believe it is FM after all) and will also not have as much free time as I am back to work as of tomorrow. Instead, I will do an overview of each month/2 months with the fixtures list and expand on that rather than posting every match screenshots.

September 2018



Pre season was mixed fortunes. 3 wins 2 draws and 4 losses but more importantly was the money generated for the club. Interesting I've beaten the best Andorran league side in my opinion yet most players would still rather play in the Andorran leagues citing lack of ambition at my club. I suppose a part-time weekly wage and chance of European football for a few early rounds is more appealing than Spain's Tier 4



Damian Ruiz's second departure in 6 months and unlike the first time I couldn't lure him back with the same contract. 2 weeks prior to moving I signed him to a £70 per game deal. After Alermia came sniffing he wanted £575 a game. He would have been far too expensive to keep and off he goes to play in the youth team of a Liga 123 team. And as he was non-contract there was no fee and worse no future bonus if he turns out to be decent. I've noticed the Spanish under 19 teams are called Juvenil instead. Must be down to it being a Spanish language custom database as the language Spanish is referred to in game as Castellano. One bug I have noticed that it doesn't say a players nationality on the overview screen and will only have a flag instead.



Why sign a player to then transfer list him instantly? Is it just to piss me off and weaken my side. There is 2 out of my 4 strikers from last season gone already.



First game back had pros and cons. Pros: Still undefeated and scored 2 goals. Cons: Went from 2-0 up to 2-2. We are predicted top half finish but if we want to push on from that we need to take every point available and this is certainly 2 dropped.



Got 2 defenders injured and one on the verge of leaving. Brought in a young defender who at this level has the right attributes to succeed. The only worry is his strength.



I couldn't turn down the chance to sign an Andorran international. He will be a rotation option at best but I would rather see him in my team than a free agent.



39 years old and as slow as an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping. Quick movement is something this chap doesn't possess however his mental and experience will do wonders for a relatively young side. Overall I'm looking at him as a Spanish lower league Per Mertesacker.



I could sense this coming as the game went on. Around 80 minutes I said I would happily take a draw there and bang a few minutes later 1-0 and that how it stayed.



Midweek re-arranged game and may as well not of turned up. 5 yellow cards and a 2-0 loss. Hoping to move on from this quickly.



His physical may not be the best, however, his technical for this level is outstanding.



Much better performance 3-0 up by half time and 2 of my centre backs scored. Great reaction to the last game and hopefully can be the start of a winning run.



Brought in as cover for a defender about to leave.



Another player who has been poached. He has gone off to the league above at least. An interesting thing I found when offering a player a deal and trying to bring the appearance fee down was to offer a massive international cap bonus. Unless they are Andorran, they have no chance of playing internationally and can help save the club a lot of money. For Andorran players, this method could be used but would have to be the right balance.



So far this season I've have been disappointed with most of my strike force. Charles Nyagwegwe isn't scoring or looking close to it. Thankfully on these non-contracts as long as he isn't in the match squad it costs me nothing. Would cost me a £10 if he sat on the bench and didnt play but I've decided to bring in some competetion. Introducing Biel Gili. A great physical player who also has a bit of technical about him.



What a debut. I only made a change because of the tactical screen coming up due to the red card and faith reapid instantly with a goal from Gili within 3 minutes of coming on. That has earned him a place to start the next game.



Another striker brought in. More competition and more opportunity to rotate players.



Not a bad start I must say. I'm hoping as the team bonds together the performance will improve on the pitch. Top half finish is a fair goal to achieve but with a bit of hard work and luck I'm hoping to push on and challenge for the playoffs. At this level top 4 go into the playoffs along with the rest of the Tercera leagues to battles for 4/5 places in Segunda B. C.E. Juipter who we beat last season for the Catalan Divison have made an amazing start sitting 2nd with 4 wins and 1 draw.

Pre Season 2018/19



Brought his chap in as cover for a range of positions. Still only allowed 5 subs so he will come in handy for freeing up space on the bench.



A product of Barcelona's La Masia. Wasn't good enough to make the grade, however, stepping down to this level will give him a big opportunity to show off what he has learnt at arguably the best club in the world.



The goalkeeper was an issue last season and now being able to pay players I'm hoping this guy signed on a free (like all transfers) from Villareal can step up and sort the problem.



FC Andorra has its first samba star. First attempted to sign him ended nowhere, but I went back and managed to get him to sign for less money than I offered the first time around.



Our partnership with Rayo Vallecano was a joke tbh. Apart from a friendly and £15kish fee, I got nothing from them not a single player. So I decided that for the best was to change senior clubs and on choosing Numancia was promised a player.



Media is predicting my 7th. Not bad for a team just promoted. The board wants top half finish.



After agreeing on a partnership with Numancia, they decided that this guy should come over to me. Only 16 but very promising and looking forward to what he can do. I needed another keeper and Numanica would rather he was playing in a senior league than under 19s. A win-win for both of us.



Squad ratings. A complete mixture of abilities. Defence needs to be improved and I'm hoping to address this in the near future.

Off Season 2018



Top 3 players vote is split between my main 3 strikers. Can't say I am shocked about that but I thought it would be a bit tighter between them.



Jordi Alaez's 7.99 rating for a midfielder with 0 goals and only 9 assists seems to be silly however he has done this from a defensive minded role. I thought he would have been in for a shout with player of the season but 99% of us would rather see goals than a good tackle. Apart from 1st, the rest of the top 5 places for ratings was made up of strikers.



We are getting an expansion....by 396 seats. Personally, I think the money could have been spent elsewhere especially when it is costing nearly 520k for less than 400 seats. I would have rather seen this invested in youth facilities to help the squad in the long run and added more seats when the time was right.



Pros: We can now pay our players. Cons: I can only offer a non-contract deal which means players can still be poached at any time and are requesting stupid amounts in appearance fees.



I have committed myself for another 12 months, Would have liked a longer deal but 12 months was the most they would give.



And now time to get on the coaching ladder. If I want to take this team to greater heights, I need to improve myself too.



Go up a division and go semi-pro and my sponsorship income goes down. I don't know who is running the business side of this club but they need a good slap. And my club stature has gone down for winning a league.



Top goal scorer from last season. 34 goals in total, 29 of them in the league and is off elsewhere because I refused to bow down to his demands and pay £475 appearance fee. I offered £275 max he said no and has moved on for £300 a game. For £25 quid extra! The greed of some players is a joke, however, I am enforcing a no player is bigger than the club.



There seems to be an issue with clubs from one country playing in another's league. This guy won't even talk about a contract because he doesn't want to move country. Hello muppet you would still be living in Andorra if you joined my club, the only difference is he would be playing his club football in Spain and not Andorra.



First signing, brought in to compete for left back. Seems like he is going to be quick off the mark and that's about it but he is best of a bad bunch I could get.



Second signing who has a bit of speed, accel, agility and strength. Decent first touch but finishing slightly on low side. Hopefully his physical side can bring results on the pitch. has some big boots to fill in replacing Igor Salutegi

April 2018



Massively one-sided game. Should have been much more with that 21 shots but it doesn't matter how much you win by, it is still 3 points at the end of the day.



An early goal sent us on our way to a hard fought out win. Nothing handsome, nothing pretty about the game from our perspective but I'm happy to come away with a win against a strong opponent.



Another victory secures a place in the playoffs. Promotion is edging ever closer.



There it is. With 2nd placing dropping points, FC Andorra will be playing in the Tercera division next season. Part 1 is achieved, now for the league title and semi-pro to wrap up my aims for the first season.



FINALLY. I can start paying my players. I will only be able to on a part-time basis however it offers me much more security in keeping ahold of players rather than losing them at any point because of amateur deals. 2 out of 3 for the season goals achieved.

May 2018



Not a game great game by any standards. Ruiz picking up his second red card in a month. Will be having a quiet word with him about discipline.



Nice to end the regular season with a win. Even nicer to pick up £35.66k prize money which is a lot to a club of this stature.



Only dropped 5 points all season. Would of nice to hit the 100 mark but at the same time with only 102 available that would have been a big ask. I still have to play the winner of group 1 to secure the league title.



Wow that was a close one. Firstly I'm annoyed that I had to play away from home with C.E. Jupiter being classed as the 'higher seed' therefore getting home advantage. I'm sorry but in what world does a team with 88 points get classed as higher than a one with 97? Secondly, a 95th minute equaliser got them the penalties when it was only supposed to be 3 added on. Yes I know I scored in the 93rd but that does not add 2 minutes onto injury time. Now the rant is over, I'm happy the lads got their heads together in the right way after being pegged back at the death. Extra time was a dull 30 minutes with nothing exciting other than a few yellow cards handed out. Then came the dreaded penalties. We went first and out regular taker Bakka missed. I thought this is not our night but 2 great saves put us in the driving seat and clinched the shootout, match and more importantly league title with a kick to spare.



A hattrick of goals achieved for the season. Now it is time to send the lads on holiday after a hard season for which most of them won't be back sadly.

March 2018



Pros: Scored 6 goals, Come away with 3 points. Cons: Conceded 4 goals to bottom of the league. That is a worrying factor but luckily it didn't come back to bite us today.



The third keeper who has been made number 1 this season and has gone to elsewhere. Is it that much of a bad job?



A dominating victory. Restricted the opposition to just 2 shots and a clean sheet to go with it.



Youth intake a 2 star potential best. To be honest wasn't expecting a lot from the standard of our facilities.



The stand out player of the intake. To make matters worse he is a keeper. Let us see if the keeper curse affects him as well.



Another thrashing. 2 goals inside 10 mins for Bakka then he is off injured. Hoping it is nothing serious.



6-7 weeks with fractured ribs ouch. That is his season over. Could have got it down to 4-5 with special but couldn't really afford the 2.5k to pay for it.



Nice win to end the month. Bakka's replacement Adrian Perez on his first start bags himself a brace taking his tally to 4 goals in 2 games.



The gap is back up to 7 points with 5 games left to play. Part 1 of the plan is so close now.

Out of interest what is your play time and addictiveness rating for this save?

Done this challenge before, it's very tough but also very fun. The hardest thing I found was getting the national team to a point where dual San Marinese/Italian players would pick San Marino over Italy. Nothing worse than having a player who is not picked by Italy because he is mediocre by their standards but would be the star of the San Marino team. All the best with it

February 2018



Just been promoted to first choice goalkeeper and now he has his shot, has decided that his future lies elsewhere. Understandable if he wasn't playing and was offered first team elsewhere but I'm not going to dwell on someone who has played 3 games and conceded 3 goals.



Promising youngster for this level and he is off elsewhere. Won't be the last you hear about him



Losing players left right and centre so happy to bring in some reinforcements. Not the greatest rating but will do as a back up option.



Guess whos back?
Back again?
Ruiz back!
Tell a friend!

After he left I noticed he was only on an amateur deal, so cheekily offered him a contract and now he is back. Be going straight into the first team. I just hope he didn't pack his stuff to move house.



A missed penalty, 6 yellows and a red card. Discipline was shocking that game. Not sure how I finished with as many as 10 men but 3 points is 3 points. A horrible debut from Ruiz in first game back, a booking on 60 and his marching orders on 63.



Another backup player brought in. Nothing special, in fact, coach reports thinks he's not good enough at all. At least he is not costing anything on the wage budget.



Pros: Taking a 5-0 lead. Cons Finishing 5-4 conceding 4 unanswered goals. Just about held on but complacency was clearly an issue here.



A nice easy game after the 9 goal thriller. 3 points, no cards and a clean sheet away from home. Great performance overall



Another penalty miss by Bakka. Seems to be missing them more than scoring at the minute. On a positive note, another win to wrap the month up.



Still 5 points clear with 9 games left to go

Thankfully I've just finished my breakfast before seeing that

Texas hattrick is a hockey term meaning 4 goals. The logic behind it is everything is bigger in Texas

Found this on a hockey site - "Bigger is better in Texas, and a "Texas hat trick" is one where there are four goals scored in a single game by a player."