A Nigerian's Journey. - An FM19 Story

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Growing up in Nigeria, the closest I've ever gotten to seeing my country lift global silverware was the Olympics. However at the 2018 World Cup, I was so sure things would be different. We had won a game and lost a game going into matchday 3. All we had to do was avoid defeat against Lionel Messi's Argentina. Sounds easy right? Well that was what I thought with the score line at 1-1, the ball falls to former Watford man Odion Ighalo. It comes off a handball, so he could stop and claim a penalty. But from less than 12 yards out he hits it, to send us to the Knockouts, OH MY GOD HE'S MISSED. The nation was in shock. Then less than five minutes later Argentina take the ball up the pitch and Marcos Rojo of all people scores to send us packing. No one can say what would have happened if Ighalo had bagged. Me? I say we would have gone on to win the whole thing, sparking a revolution in African football which would have seen the likes of Senegal and Ghana improve as well which would mean we could see an all-African final in 2022! But now we may never know. Seeing as it doesn't look like my country will be the best footballing nation on earth, I hope to make them the country that will produce the greatest manager to ever walk the earth.(Or at least the greatest African Manager.) I am Okezie Onwuegbu and this is my journey.

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

So you may be wondering who I am. Well, I'm simply a man with a dream and while my friends where getting trials at Football League clubs, I was at University getting a degree in Sports Management. The thing is, I told my parents I was going to law school. So I couldn't simply say "Oh Hey Mom and Dad could you lend me £1000 for my coaching badges?" No. I had to be shrewd which is why my only qualification is a Bachelor's degree. However I am feeling very confident as I have sent out applications to Dergview in the Northern Irish second division and Hemel Hempstead in the Conference South in England. I have already planned to tell my parents about my managerial career plans once I know I'm succeeding. I'd ask you to wish me luck but, are you really rooting against this face?

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

So after taking a shot in the dark it's finally happened. Dergview is the team where I will be getting my first chance at management. I arrived in Castlederg bright and early and to be honest I had no idea this place existed. Whatever, they probably had no idea I existed either. But the chairman Roy Lecky needed a man capable of rearing this cash-strapped semi-professional cow. And if there's one thing to be certain about I am not afraid of a challenge no matter how big or how small.
After meeting with my chairman and backroom staff one thing was clear; we needed some major recruitment. But seeing as the board were intent on getting some local ****- sorry I meant to say "Director of Football"- run staff incomings, I am left to build a squad I am happy with. And things didn't go too badly for the most part. Apart from me having to replace our best striker and our only left back, but here are the signings I was able to make.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself they are all on amateur contracts for now because looking at the finances I get the feeling we should hold off on spending. I haven't seen anyone particularly screenshot worthy but hopefully our youth intake will change that. My DOF also got me a whole new backroom staff and I am feeling confident.

Mostly newgen Northern Irish staff who make my stats look good but they'll have to do for now. Besides Stefan Craig seems to know what he's doing as he kept sending me e-mails about who he thought we should sign. But that's enough of that, let's get into the squad and tactics I intend on using.

They're bang average for this level and seeing as our best goalkeeper is our 35 year old goalkeeping coach, maybe that's a position to think about.
Now for where I make my buck; the tactics. This squad doesn't really have a lot of technical ability and seeing as we're predicted to finish bottom I've decided to take a cautious approach, think Simeone's Atletico. We will use a 442 inspired by said Simeone or a flat 451 I thought of while watching some old fashioned Pulisball.

Look out Bluefin Championship, Okezie Onwuegbu has arrived.

 

[Crayth]

Good luck mate! Wish you all the best! I will follow from now on!

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Good luck mate! Wish you all the best! I will follow from now on!

Thanks mate! This is my first time doing something like this but I hope you’re enjoying it!

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

So we were all set and ready to go into pre-season. I was thinking it would be smooth sailing; we'd win a few games, raise morale and start strong. But first I had to organise some friendlies. But for some reason Pep Guardiola just didn't write me back. So these are the friendlies we ended up playing:

Yep things were looking good. Although I didn't actually manage any of the games heh heh. I was too busy getting to grips with the rules of this division. But now I get it. There are twelve teams who play each other twice at first. Then the league splits in two between the top six and bottom six, each team playing a total of 32 games. 1st place goes up 2nd and 3rd have a playoff where the winner faces second from bottom from the top flight. Win and you go up. Lose and you're stuck down here for one more year. Now that's out of the way, It's time for my managerial debut. We are away in Belfast to Dundela. I go over the game plan one more time. For this game I thought it would be best to take the 451 for a test drive. This was it as I made my way to the away dugout I could feel the intensity in the air. I could hear the shouts from all 90 away season ticket holders. The number doesn't matter, the game does and it was a tense opening half until a ball was swung into the box and met by our striker SImon McGlynn! 1-0 to the Derg! Then a mistake allowed our on-loan midfielder from Coleraine, Matthew Kirk make it 2! I was on cloud nine. I kept shouting to the boys to concentrate and it didn't really matter as our opponents grabbed a consolation goal. But it was just a consolation. Which means I am now UNDEFEATED AS A MANAGER!
Forget about it I could retire now.

 

[Crayth]

Thanks mate! This is my first time doing something like this but I hope you’re enjoying it!

Loving the comedic aspect of it! Just keep it up mate and look at other stories for inspiration, thats what I always do!

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Loving the comedic aspect of it! Just keep it up mate and look at other stories for inspiration, thats what I always do!

Thanks I was actually inspired to write because of Klippybo, Stone Cold and you among others.

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Ah August. What a beautiful month. Summer sun, the beach, away trips to Dundela, need I go on? Well let me run you through the rest of this month.....

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? I couldn't pick a single negative out of this one. We defended well, we took our chances when they came to us and that made it 2 wins out of 2 in the league. Lovely stuff.

I may have to think about bringing this Kirk kid in at the end of his lone. I say kid when he's the same age as me. Whatever. Another league win and another clean sheet we'll take that.

I'm sorry, what, pardon? Where on Earth did this result come from. One minute we're flying in the league, the next we're getting smacked in the league cup. And based on the balance of play we didn't deserve this.

Whatever, I don't care. It's not like I wanted a cup run. Forget you August. You're just a poor man's July.

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

SEPTEMBER
After the not so shocking league cup defeat I was looking for a response from these boys. I thought we'd shake it off immediately, because even though we lost I saw a lot of positives. So can SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THIS?

You know I probably shouldn't be angry. When I told these boys I wanted to avoid a relegation battle, they thought I was crazy. I can't blame them, seeing as the media have us as odds on favourites to go down. But I thought something special was on the cards. So in order to still achieve something, I called a meeting among my coaching team to discuss this "situation".
"Welcome all, I'm glad you could make it." I say as all 3 of my coaching staff arrive. "I've called you all here because we need to do something about this poor patch of form. I'm thinking we need to change up the tactics. Any ideas?" "Well I for one think we've been doing fine and no changes need to be made" says Gary my assistant.
"I'm sorry what did you say? I know you were fine with battling relegation but now I'm here and based on what I saw in the first few matches I think we can challenge for a playoff place if we all commit to it" William McFrederick looks uneasily between myself and Gary. I can tell he doesn't agree with me but he doesn't want to speak.
"Listen Okezie, I can understand you're ambitious just like the rest of us, but at the end of the day we have to be realistic with ourselves and accept that we're just not good enough to compete with the bigger teams in this division who's budgets are triple ours. So I say you call off this meeting and let us all get back to work" monologues Gary. Well I was certainly not ready for that. I was shell shocked. I had been rendered completely and utterly speechless. "You're all free to go" I said as I walked out. Looks like I'll be working on the team myself. I can tell Gary doesn't respect my words. He thinks I'm just a crazy 20 year old coach with no badges. Well He's right but he has not heard the last of this. Whether he likes it or not I am going to DRAG this team into promotion contention.

 

[Crayth]

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Ugh, I really wanted this 451 to work. I tried. After having no wins in the last 5 games I knew something had to be done. I took a long, hard look in the mirror and thought. I decided to give it one more chance before changing to the 442. And here's how we did....

Not good enough. After this game I held a team meeting to discuss our poor form. Me and the boys agreed that we needed to do better, but with contracts being offered to Simon McGlynn, he doesn't look as committed to the team as he was before. Seeing as he is on an amateur contract, if he wants to leave I can't stand in his way. But luckily I found this young replacement for him if he leaves.

I have a good feeling about this boy. Once he gets his finishing sorted, I just know he'll be a phenom at this level.
Striker? Sorted. Tactics? Chosen. Hotel? Trivago. We are absolutely ready for our next game and I know we'll pick ourselves up.
OCTOBER REVIEW

After losing to Ballyclare the boys really turned up. We are out of another cup competition but apparently we'll still take part in the Irish cup. We are now just 2 point away from the playoffs but the media don't seem to think we'll last long in the top half. But I fear no challenge, so as Delia Smith once said, "Where are you? Let's be havin' you!"

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
Following last month's success, I was hoping to see some improvement. I was going to give the boys a day off as a reward for their form but it occurred to me that being part-timers we only train twice a week normally, and I don't feel like training once in 7 days. So I hoped for a continuation to the wins and here is what the boys did in November.

Man forget Barca 5-0 Real or Bournemouth 4-0 Chelsea, the greatest tactical masterclass ever? Dergview 6-2 Dundela. I don't know what to say. We were truly lead by Simon McGlynn, I was shouting a whole load of instructions but he is the true boss here. He's already up to 11 goals in the league. And considering we're the favourites to go down that says a lot about his individual quality. I actually arranged a team outing. We went to the movies and saw Megamind because I'm trying to teach them the importance of PRESENTATION. The morale is high and it always brings a smile on my face to see this.

We now just need consistency to go top at Christmas. Now it's time to see how we did in December.

All good things must come to an end I suppose and I think I'm being too nice with these boys. I need to be more Neil Warnock and less Jurgen Klopp if you know what I'm saying. I mean if I don't do it who will? Certainly not Gary Mortland. We were 2-0 down at halftime against Ballyclare and he told me to tell them they were doing very well. Idiot. The only upside is that the split is 1 game away and we have secured a top half spot meaning we will spend the second half of the season fighting for promotion. The Board are so pleased they agreed to fund my first coaching badge.
"Boss, I need to tell you something.". Oh Simon McGlynn just came into my office. I wonder what this is about. "Sit down mate. Please please make yourself comfortable. Wouldn't want my goal machine getting uncomfortable now would we?" He doesn't sit. "Well boss that's the thing. I'm leaving"
Well ****.

 

[Crayth]

Well done mate, two months were absolutely class! Unfortunate about the last month, keep it up mate and the results will start coming!

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Well done mate, two months were absolutely class! Unfortunate about the last month, keep it up mate and the results will start coming!

Thanks a lot mate I will keep going and as for the two months I was trying to get to the new year but I think I’ll do monthly updates

 

[Crayth]

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
Following last month's success, I was hoping to see some improvement. I was going to give the boys a day off as a reward for their form but it occurred to me that being part-timers we only train twice a week normally, and I don't feel like training once in 7 days. So I hoped for a continuation to the wins and here is what the boys did in November.
View attachment 498393
Man forget Barca 5-0 Real or Bournemouth 4-0 Chelsea, the greatest tactical masterclass ever? Dergview 6-2 Dundela. I don't know what to say. We were truly lead by Simon McGlynn, I was shouting a whole load of instructions but he is the true boss here. He's already up to 11 goals in the league. And considering we're the favourites to go down that says a lot about his individual quality. I actually arranged a team outing. We went to the movies and saw Megamind because I'm trying to teach them the importance of PRESENTATION. The morale is high and it always brings a smile on my face to see this.

View attachment 498396
We now just need consistency to go top at Christmas. Now it's time to see how we did in December.
View attachment 498397
All good things must come to an end I suppose and I think I'm being too nice with these boys. I need to be more Neil Warnock and less Jurgen Klopp if you know what I'm saying. I mean if I don't do it who will? Certainly not Gary Mortland. We were 2-0 down at halftime against Ballyclare and he told me to tell them they were doing very well. Idiot. The only upside is that the split is 1 game away and we have secured a top half spot meaning we will spend the second half of the season fighting for promotion. The Board are so pleased they agreed to fund my first coaching badge.
"Boss, I need to tell you something.". Oh Simon McGlynn just came into my office. I wonder what this is about. "Sit down mate. Please please make yourself comfortable. Wouldn't want my goal machine getting uncomfortable now would we?" He doesn't sit. "Well boss that's the thing. I'm leaving"
Well ****.
View attachment 498399

Where has he gone to?! That must be a huge blow!

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Where has he gone to?! That must be a huge blow!

He went to Ards in the top flight and he was just 3 goals away from breaking the all-time record!

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

So obviously McGlynn leaving is a huge loss to the team but that is life we must roll with the punches. I was taking a look at our finances and I had no idea things had become THIS bad.

I spoke to the board about finding an affiliate to get some extra money but they couldn't find anyone so I have absolutely NO idea how to balance these books. But on the plus side the board have given me a new contract until the end of next season.

But in all honesty I'm not sure if I should see out the contract. If we go up I definitely want to start next season here, but I think I could be tempted to leave during or after next season if a better job becomes available. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should tell you that I promoted Henderson as a replacement for McGlynn and I definitely need him to step up to the plate despite being just 18. I hope we can put ourselves in a strong position going into the split. We have 2 league games this month, followed by our Irish Cup 5th round fixture against a team called Police Service of Northern Ireland. I hope we can recover from the loss of our star striker.
JANUARY FIXTURES

It's a poor run of form and it shows how different of a team we are when Simon isn't here. We have been knocked out of every cup competition we were in but at least we have a bit of a break before the second half of the season. We are sitting in 4th place 2 points off a playoff spot 7 off the title. All I can realistically ask of my team is not to embarrass ourselves but in my mind I can see us getting promoted. Next update will be February and our first ever youth intake.

 

[OutcastGaming]

Look at getting rid of older players for ones who can develop into better over time. This will means smaller wages saving the club money.

Maybe try sell on a good player to get money into club.

 

[Michael Onwuegbu]

Look at getting rid of older players for ones who can develop into better over time. This will means smaller wages saving the club money.

Maybe try sell on a good player to get money into club.

Yeah but the problem is most of our players are on amateur contracts so we can’t sell them.