A Football Manager's Journey

[FrontRowGaming]

This will be a journeyman save with the ultimate goal of becoming top of the hall of fame, winning as many trophies as possible along the way.

Aims
1) To become top of the hall of fame.
2) To win the champions league at least 3 times.
3) To win a quadruple in one season.
4) To manage an international team and win the world cup.
5) To manage a player who wins the Ballon D'or when I am in charge of his club.

Rules

1) I cannot resign from any job but I can declare interest and apply for other jobs while at my current club.
2) No downloading of custom formations. Something I never really do anyway so won't be a problem.
3) I must start off unemployed and with a Sunday league rep and work my way to the top.

Managerial History
Newry City AFC 2016-2017
Albion Rovers 2017-

Trophy Cabinet

 

[FrontRowGaming]

So as you can see my stats are pretty awful! That's ok though as this is what we would expect starting out with a Sunday league rep. I plan on asking my first club to allow me to start studying for my coaching badges right away. But what club will that be?

 

[FrontRowGaming]

So this is a list of the current vacancies. I don't imagine I will get anywhere near some of the bigger clubs on that list like Birmingham and wolves but I will apply for all positions and take whatever I get just to get my foot in the door of management.

Next Post: The Journey begins with my first club! Who will it be?

 

[darnho]

Good luck with this mate, will be following!

 

[FrontRowGaming]

So after a number of job applications and interviews, I have been given my first shot at management by the board of Newry City A.F.C. The most prestigious (and only professional) club I had an interview with was Grimbsy Town but unfortunately I didn't secure the job. I kinda expected not to get that job and in any case I am delighted to be given an opportunity with Newry City who seem to be very much a club that is on the rise in Northern Ireland.

Newry City A.F.C.
A club that has risen from the ashes of one that was dissolved in 2012, Newry City A.F.C. was formed in 2013 and is a club which has gone from strength to strength since it's formation. Based in Newry, County Down, this semi-professional club plays it's football in the Showgrounds. The club finished 1st in the Northern Irish Mid Ulster B championship in the 2013/2014 season, finished 5th in the Northern Irish Mid Ulster B championship in the 2014/2015 season and won this same division in the 2015/2016 season. The club is now in the NIFL premier intermediate league and is tipped by the media to finish 4th in this division. The success of this club since it's formation was a significant factor in me accepting this job, as it is clearly a club with a lot of potential and one I hope I can help rise through the ranks of Northern Irish football. With a stadium that holds a capacity of 6,000, which is actually pretty decent for this level, I'm hoping we can bag some silverware for the Newry faithful while playing some decent football along the way.

Next Post: Let's meet the squad.

 

[FrontRowGaming]

Good luck with this mate, will be following!

Thanks mate, my first time posting an FM story so really hope it's going to be a good one. Good luck with your pompey story, will be following with interest as I've done that save in the past.

 

[FrontRowGaming]

So this is my complete squad at the moment. In terms of Goalkeepers Peter Murphy is head and shoulders above our backup GK, Symon Ferguson who is 41! Murphy is no spring chicken at 34 but he will defo be getting the no 1 jersey this season. Our defence is pretty thin and what we have apart from the starting back 4 is far from amazing. However, the starting back 4 look decent and should be able to do a good job at this level while I will hopefully be able to get in one or two more defenders, particularly a CB to add some much needed depth to the squad.

Our midfield is similar to our defence with the 4 starters being of decent quality. In particular, 23 year old Chris McMahon looks to be a quality player with a lot of potential. Both wingers have decent dribbling and ok crossing but need to be immediately put on individual regimes to improve their passing which is shocking. It has to be said that our midfield does have a bit more strength in depth than our defence with players like Declan Carville available to come into the team when needed.

Up top it looks like it's going to be a typical 442 strike force with a big man, small man partnership. Timmy Grant is going to occupy the poacher's role with Sean McMullan acting as the target man. I'm hoping in time that this blossoms into the Crouch and Defoe partnership of Northern Irish Football. Fingers Crossed.

Next Post: Our first month and a half in management. All preseason results and our first competitive games. Stay tuned.

 

[EnglishYeti]

Good luck with this save.

I started my unemployed sae with Dundela. Have fun.

Also look out for a young GK Jack Boggs. In my save he has become N. Ireland No. 1 at 20 or something. If gets good he wants to move on quick though

 

[FrontRowGaming]

A pretty decent start to my career in management. Lurgan Celtic are in the division above us and we were the better side for the majority of that game eventually losing 9-8 on pens!!! Despite that being a difficult result for me and the lads to take, we bounced straight back in the league winning 2 and drawing 1 of our remaining fixtures in August. All in all a good month and a start to my life in management that I am pleased with.

 

[FrontRowGaming]

A pretty poor month in all honesty. Two 0-0 draws, against two sides in the division who are doing pretty well admittedly, is still not good enough. 3 games and an entire month without my team scoring is a little worrying but I'm hoping that this is just a minor blip. The 2-0 defeat to Sport & Leisure, who are one of the worst teams in the division, was unacceptable and I let the players know that at the final whistle. Hoping for a positive response for the rest of October and beyond. If our fortunes do not change quickly, I might be looking to change from the 442 as we cannot let too many early season points slip by if we want to clinch promotion this season.

 

[FrontRowGaming]

So it all went wrong in my first job in management. My board set me a points target of 9 points from 5 games but I only managed to get 7 and this proved to be the final straw. I had previously stated that if I was sacked the journey would be over but in true journeyman style, I have decided to trade quality for quantity and keep the story going. Getting sacked is also now as common in football as picking the starting 11 so in the interests of realism, I will plough ahead with this story rather than starting a new one.

After getting sacked I applied for literally every job that came up. I got one or two interviews with semi-professional sides but they decided to give the jobs to other candidates. Finally, one team decided to take a gamble on me. As I packed my bags, I reflected on what I had learned during my time at Newry and will do everything possible to learn from that experience and bring success to my new club.

Stay tuned to find out who that club is......

 

[FrontRowGaming]

So I have arrived in Scotland to start my new job with Albion Rovers. Similar to Newry, this is a club that is also on the rise. Having spent most of their recent time in Scotland's League 2, they managed to win promotion to League 1 in 2015, finishing 6th in that division in 2016 and 8th in 2017.

The board have made it clear that the primary objective this season is to once again avoid automatic relegation and if possible, to avoid been drawn into a relegation battle at all. Having looked at the squad I feel that this is certainly possible and will hope to do even better than their 6th place finish in 2016.

Next Update: Meet the Squad