bigmattb28 Activity
The winter break is supposed to be quiet. Rest, relaxation and reviewing the first half of the season, mixed in with a few contract renewals. One or two departures might go ahead, some tactical work in the office while the frost clung stubbornly to the gr...
The formal offer arrived the following morning. NK Čelik Zenica officially offering €20,000 for Edin Bebanić. Scott sat with the email open for a while before calling Bebanić into the office. The captain knocked once and stepped inside, st...
The winter break didn’t just bring rest, it brought decisions. One of the first pieces of business Scott and the club moved on quickly was securing the future of their young forward Maid Adnan. The striker had shown flashes throughout the first half...
Winter transfers 2022 The winter transfer window kicks off with the Erling Haaland sweepstakes. Manchester United and Bayern Munich are both reportedly circling the Inter Milan striker, who only joined the Italians from Red Bull Salzburg back i...
The table didn’t lie, but it didn’t tell the whole story either. At the winter break, Velež Mostar sat on top of the league with 38 points, a narrow one point lead over NK Široki Brijeg. On paper it looked tidy, controlled even, the kind of position...
The match itself began in an oddly cautious rhythm. Despite FK Velež Mostar dominating possession early, NK Podgrmeč Sanski Most looked determined to make the afternoon uncomfortable. Their shape was compact, their midfield crowded, and every time Ve...
The milestone crept up on Scott quietly, two hundred matches as a manager. It wasn’t something he had been counting or even paying attention to when he made his own notes after every game, but when the club secretary mentioned it during the week he...
The cup draw itself felt kind. Another team in the same division as Velež this time around, another chance to keep momentum alive. When Velež Mostar were paired with FK Velika Obarska in the quarter final, it had been received quietly inside the dres...
October arrived quietly in Mostar, but the calm didn’t last long. The first blow came on a grey morning at training. Belmin Kobilica had been jogging during a light possession drill when he suddenly stopped. No collision, no tackle, just a sharp step and...
The press room in Mostar was small, crowded, and still buzzing with the noise from the cup match the day before. Scott could still hear the echo of the travelling supporters outside the stadium corridors as he took his seat at the front table. The smell o...
From the opening minute FK Sloga Simin Han made their intentions clear. Direct football, long balls, second balls route one all the way. The home crowd sensed the opportunity even before a ball had been kicked. Scott stood with his hands in his...
The press room beneath the eastern most stand at Vrapčići felt different tonight. The hum that had followed seven straight victories had disappeared. Instead there was a low murmur between journalists, chairs scraping on the tiled floor as they sett...
By the time the game drifted into stoppage time, it had become stretched. Željezničar were committing numbers forward now, centre halves stepping up into midfield, full backs almost playing as wingers. Every throw in was hurried and hurled forward, every...
The whistle for half time came at just the right moment. Željezničar had begun to push in the final five minutes, more direct and more urgent than they had but without clarity. Velež walked off to a wall of noise, 2–0 up, having controlled both tempo and...
By the time the clock ticked toward thirtynine minutes, the pattern was clear. Željezničar weren’t dictating anything, they were reacting. Velež moved the ball with patience now, almost daring Sarajevo to step out. Reinert drifted inside, dragging a...
Željezničar’s early press began to lose its bite around the twelve minute mark. Not because they stopped trying, but because Velež stopped reacting to it. Plantak recycled calmly, Bebanic and Kobilica dropped between the lines. Reinert drifted intell...
GK - Abdihodžić. RB - Lugonja. LB - Dijakovic. CB - Malania. CB - Plantak. RM - Reinert (3 assists in previous game v.s Igman). LM - Hedilazio.CM - Kobilica. CM - Bebanic. CF - Adnan. CF - Goncerz (3 goal...
The week leading into the game had an edge that Scott didn’t acknowledge publicly. Five wins from five had lifted Velež Mostar to the top of the table. The mood around the training ground was confident without being loud. The work felt sharp,...
The final ten minutes felt longer than the previous eighty. Budućnost threw men forward now, not recklessly but with nothing left to conserve. Long diagonals, first to the second balls. Late runners from midfield and from every clearance Velež made there...
The equaliser didn’t trigger panic, it triggered scrutiny. For ten minutes after Ignjić’s goal Budućnost were by far the better side. Not in terms of clear cut chances or putting Velež under pressure, but sharper. First to second balls. Quicker...
The warning came before the goal, Scott felt it in the two minutes after Ilíć scored. Velež had dropped five yards deeper without being told. Not dramatically and certainly not obviously. Just enough to protect what they had reclaimed, the few passes...
The equaliser didn’t turn the game chaotic. It became tense. Velež had the ball again within seconds, almost as if trying to erase the mistake through sheer possession. But something subtle had shifted. The passes were still accurate, the movem...
From the first whistle it was clear this would not look like last week. FK Budućnost Banovići came to frustrate. Two tight banks of four. Lines barely ten yards apart. One of their strikers dropped so deep he was almost another midfielder. Every Velež tou...
The week felt shorter than it was. A 4–0 opening day win has a strange effect, it lifts everything, but it also sharpens expectation. Training had an edge to it now. Smiles, yes. But also competition. The tempo was half a yard quicker in every drill...
The own goal changed the temperature of the game, they could all feel it. The passes that had been tight and rushed now moved with rhythm. The distances between the lines shortened. Voices grew louder, clearer. Instead of reacting, Velež began antici...
Velež Mostar starting eleven:GK - Abdihodžić. RB - Lugonja. LB - Danilovic. CB - Malania. CB - Leovac. RM - Koné. LM - Hedilazio. CM - Kobilica. CM - Bebanic. CF - Goncerz. CF - Ilic. The...
Stadiums are never quieter than they are on the morning before a season began. Scott stood near the halfway line, hands in his coat pockets, looking up at the empty stands of the Vrapčići. No noise. No expectation in the air yet. Just concrete...
It was Marcin who found him. Not through an agent’s glossy email or a desperate recommendation, but buried in footage from a regional league match, the kind watched at one in the morning with tired eyes and cold coffee. ‘Stop it there’ Marcin said as...
The offers landed almost back-to-back, like buses you’re not waiting for. Győri came first. Hungary. Seventyfive thousand. Clean, sensible, the kind of bid that suggested they’d watched Radchenko just enough to convince themselves t...
The numbers didn’t lie, even if they tried to dress themselves up nicely on paper. Chances created. Crosses delivered. Work done in the final third. Goals, though? They were a rumour. A hope. Nothing you could hang your coat on. Scott said it o...
The flip side of momentum came quickly. For every name pencilled in and ready to get to work another had to be taken off the list. Squad building was never just about arrivals, it was also about knowing when to let go. The call about Adnan Alihodžić...
News of the next signing broke quietly at first, a small headline on a French third tier site, then whispers through the Bosnian press. By the time Scott saw it officially confirmed on the club’s feed, he already knew the truth - this was Marcin and Blaze...
The office was dim except for the pool of light spilling from the desk lamp, training had finished for the day and only a handful of people were still at the training ground. Papers were spread across the table, scouting reports, stats, grainy photos of c...
Wojciech Mróz. The name carried weight with Scott, not just a former player, but one of his. Reliable, intelligent the kind of professional who understood the game beyond his own boots. Scott had made the call earlier in the day, already guessing wh...
The paperwork came through on a quiet Wednesday morning. A few signatures, a few handshakes, and suddenly the familiar faces were official again. Blazej Radler, Peter Basista, and Marcin Lachowski, three men who knew Scott better than anyone. Togethe...
The Key players Almin Abdihodžić – Goalkeeper Entering his seventh season in Mostar, the years have etched the lines of experience across his face. He isn’t flashy and probably never was. Abdihodžić deals in the ordinary miracles, steady hands,...
Part five - Another touchline The morning light over Mostar was soft, almost deceptive in its appearance, the kind that made the city look calm when you knew it had lived through anything but. Scott stood by the edge of the main ent...
You deserve it pal, your stories are always a good catch up
I like challenges like this. Following for sure.
Scott sat in the dim hotel room, the streets of Mostar a low hum beneath the window. His notes from the interview still lay scattered across the desk, squad lists, formation sketches and half scribbled ideas. He hadn’t touched them since leaving the stadi...
The office smelled of old wood, a haze still hanging in the air despite the window cracked open. Across the desk sat Sefkija Vila, sharp suit, sharp eyes, a man who gave nothing away unless he chose to. ‘Scott’ Vila said, his voice low but firm ‘than...
Scott had the phone in his hand, thumb hovering over the last call. He almost pressed it, almost gave Alihodžić his answer, whatever that might’ve been, he still wasn’t entirely sure. Then it rang again. Another number he hadn’t saved. He swore...
Another good story from Journeyman. Very unique this too, don't think I've seen this type of save before mate. Love it so far.
I laughed a bit harder then I probably should've done at this. Good going mate keep it up.
Ahh yeah the man is back!! Great to see you posting again mate!!!
I like the rules you've set out here, should be an interesting save to keep an eye on
Catching up on that now mate.
To be fair I'm the same, get all hyped for a nice shiny new FM just to find myself going back to 17, usually because the game takes longer to process or something stupid like I don't like the regen faces lol you got any saves lined up to be post??
Now mate it's good to hear from ya, it's been a while ain't it!!! I just can never seem to stick to a newer FM save, hence this being on 17. I also go back to Journeyman's Journey quite a lot too 😂😂The clean up has been all @HockeyBhoy work, I'd n...
Scott sat with Peter, Marcin, and Blazej later that evening in a small cafe. Three coffees, one half eaten pasty sat there along with the hanging silence until Marcin finally broke it. ‘Well?’ he asked ‘how was the call with Sarajevo?’ Scott rub...