((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Dfl3ed1bA))
That's it! You're welcome two people
Of course some details were dressed up for the story; Steven Gerrard retired and due to losing the Inter chapter so too did my England coaches as they weren't offered a job anywhere else. The final didn't go to extra time, but it just fit so much better taking it all the way; and in fact I was forced to take the England job before the previous European Championships, else risk waiting forever for it to fall before the World Cup. We won that btw, and the subsequent Confederations Cup, which may have contributed to the players respecting the manager more (for any of you purists).
For those who might be interested, with my terrible laptop grinding through the matches it was an ordeal to take any screenshots at all, so I took notes after the first few seasons when I realised I might enjoy making a story of it.
View attachment 389428 That's 39 pages of full page notes, double sided (so really 78); on how matches went, staff, reactions, noteworthy incidents, etc.
Endgame:
View attachment 389426 Brighton and Hove Albion - Manager years: 2012-19
Brighton enjoyed a period of unprecedented success following The Manager's seven years in charge of them, and the huge trophy haul during that time. They went on to retain the vast number of the players who had formed The Manager's team, who remained together for the best part of their careers, before it simply became a squad of many world stars brought together to keep the winning up.
The only domestic team that really stayed in touching distance of Brighton for decades was Manchester City, who through the power of extreme spending rivalled them for quality. The two teams won most of the silverware between them, each enjoying long and short stretches in the league where they would win back to back titles, domestic cups and so on.
Brightons greatest success really though despite domestic domination for so long has to be in Europe, where they won the Champions League for a total of 11 times by the time The Manager retired. They were the number 1 club for reptuation in the World for a good period of time before eventually things started to dip; changes in managers and poor signings for a lot of money at the end of their careers (think Andre Schevchenko) meant they fell away in Europe and England slightly, still in competition but not quite the huge power they had enjoyed being.
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View attachment 389425 Ghana - Manager Years: 2019-22
Ghana sadly didn't manage to replicate any of their World Cup success which came in the story, managing only group stages and 2nd round exits mostly, with a few quarter finals thrown in. The country produced only sporadic stars and talents, backed up by far too many poor quality squad players who would have earned their trade in relegation threatened top tier clubs, or 2nd tier football clubs.
They did however win the African Cup of Nations a reasonable number of times to compete on respectable terms with their rival continental nations, neither dominating nor failing to obtain any silverware.
View attachment 389424 Sao Paulo - Manager Years: 2035-37
Sao Paulo became quite simply THE club in Brazil, attracting the best Brazilian talent both young and old, winning the domestic title so many times in a row that in fact the rankings for greatest managers ever had Jailson Finger (the manager who followed) as first, above Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and all the rest; though the rankings on my game wern't quite 100% accurate as a lot of The Manager's honours for some reason were missing.
Sao Paulo also continued to challenge strongly in the Copa Libertadores, winning it a healthy number of times in the years until the end. Reputably, they finished the game the best that South America had to offer, and even after Brighton's slump ranked above them by a few places.
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View attachment 389423 Internazionale Milano - Manager years: 2039-40
It still irks me that my save file with the Inter years corrupted, spoiling the legacy of The Manager slightly. Inter without the treble and subsequent league title delivered by Gerrard in charge ended up becoming the bridesmaid to Juventus and AC Milan, struggling to obtain much success or compete on a level field with Europe's elite. They certainly didn't slump to disgrace, but failed to achieve any real success which the club hopes, expects, and to a degree demands.
They finished the game just below Brighton in the club standings.
View attachment 389422 England - Manager years: 2024-30 / 2056-58
The struggles of England are quite well written in all chapters of the story, as they failed time and again to really surprise anyone or make ground against the world's best when The Manager wasn't in charge. England did however produce a great number of world stars, many plying their trade abroad in Europes best leagues. The golden generation of outstanding players fell during the first time in charge for The Manager; following that the squad always had at least 2 players who could be considered World Class, but didn't quite have the depth in the team as shown in the squad taken to the last World Cup, though it was still decent.
Nation and Club reptuations upon retirement:
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Valedictory - England Music Playlist:
1. A Real Hero - College ft.Electric Youth
2. Mother - Skyfall OST
3. Intriguing Possibilities - The Social Network OST
4. Listen to Beethoven - Warrior OST
5. Remember Us - 300 OST
6. The Day We Fight Back - Independence Day OST
7. Jolly Rodger - Independence Day OST
8. End Titles - Independence Day OST
9. Aftermath and Resolution - Super OST
Endgame post track: Summer - Joe Hisaishi
Thanks to anyone who has read this chapter, or indeed all of the story of The Manager. Thoroughly enjoyed writing this even if it is throwaway stuff. I hope anyone who has stuck with it enjoyed the story, I'll look back to respond to any messages if there are any to be had.
Here's hoping that come the World Cup we make a good showing of ourselves! Come on England!