Anyone can be a Manager

[zacram]

The Beginning

At the age of 31 i was facing an early midlife crisis following a divorce that left me with practically nothing. The b***h took the flat and kicked me out, after saying that i lacked any real ambition and she needed someone more spontaneous in her life. Having lost the majority of my life savings which were tied up in the flat, I was forced to move back in with my parents.

I started to look at my life and think about what my ex-wife had said. Maybe she was right? I am in a dead end job, earning only a little above minimum wage and had barely ever stepped foot outside of Craigavon. The only real positive thing in my life was football, and had been playing for my local Sunday League side for the past 14 years. Football was my main real passion and I had always dreamed of having a career, but unfortunately was never blessed with the natural talent to make it at that sort of level.

This gave me the crazy idea that i should follow my dream and try and make a career in football, and become a manager. What did i have to lose? I had no money, no home, no family to support. Nothing was stopping me.... except for my complete lack of experience and coaching qualifications. The only thing i had was my Sunday League career and my illustrious managerial careers on Football Manager. Despite this, it still seemed as though i was up against an impossible task, but as i said what did I have to lose from sending a few e-mails.

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I felt I needed to get out of Craigavon and make a fresh start somewhere else if i was fortunate enough to land a job, so focused on sending my CV off to clubs, in lower reputation leagues around the world. I did feel like a spambot as i sent hundreds of speculative e-mails, to any club that were looking for a new manager. Understandably, I didn't hear back from the vast majority clubs and those that did reply, only did so to let me know i had been unsuccessful.

Months passed and i was beginning to give up hope on my dream, until one morning I awoke to see that i had been offered an interview with South African side "Thanda Royal Zulu FC"! I couldn't believe my eyes and instantly replied to schedule the interview for the following morning - In all honesty i had never heard of the club and don't even remember applying for the position of manager, but nevertheless was extremely excited at the prospect of getting a step closer to starting my dream career.

The skype interview went well and i told them i would be looking to play direct football and make the most of set pieces. As i had researched these to be philosophies the board agreed with, and by adopting them I believed it would bolster my chances of securing the job.

Then, 2 days later on the 16th October 2014, I was formally offered the job!! I didn't have long to celebrate as i was booked on a flight that evening as i only had 5 days before my managerial debut.

And so begins my managerial story.....





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[zacram]

My First Club

6 hours had passed since i had been appointed the new manager of Thanda Royal Zulu and i was sat in the terminal waiting for my flight. I then glanced up at the monitor to see if a gate had been allocated, only to see the words "Cancelled" next to my flight number. GREAT!

So, after a good hour of ranting and swearing at anyone i believed to be associated with the airline company and quite possibly a number of confused and horrified passengers, I was able to arrange an alternative flight. This involved flying over to Heathrow and getting a flight out to South Africa first thing the following morning.

In my eagerness to get the earliest flight i could, I forgot i had no money to get a hotel for the night and instead had to try sleep on the airport floor. What a great start to my new career. As i had nothing better to do i began to further research the club, I was joining as I honestly knew very little about them. I had a quick look at the league standings and saw that they were currently in 15th place with 6 games gone. I then remembered how i had confidently told the board i could achieve a mid table finish. Quite a big statement for a man with no experience, but we shall see how what the squad looks like, when i finally arrive!

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The morning arrived and my flight left as scheduled. I was full of a mixture of excitement and anxiety as i sat wedged between two rather large men at the back of the plane. Hopefully it wont be long until i can travel in at least premium economy!

I was greeted at the airport by a very casually attired driver, who drove me to the stadium to meet the board and backroom staff. This was the sight of The Richards Bay Sports Stadium that greeted me as i arrived. From my airport research i thought the capacity was 8,000 but was informed that it was actually on 5,000. Even so, if we could get anywhere near filling that id be happy man.

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I was then swiftly introduced to the board, who gave me a swift overview of the clubs background. There wasnt much to hear in all honesty as the club was only founded 7 years ago! Nevertheless the cubs facilities were in pretty good condition as it was a ll relatively new.

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I was then given the formal paperwork, to begin my contract with the club and couldnt believe they were offering me a 2 year deal on the equivalent of 925 p/w!! That was much better money than my last job! Im guessing they previously told me this but not much went in after i found out i had been offered the job. I should have become a manager a long time ago if i could get this sort of money with no prior experience....

My season objectives were actually to finish above mid table, so I had actually been cockier than i remembered!

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It was now to late to look meet the players as they had all finished for the day. I now only had 3 days to prepare the team for our first competitive fixture at home to "African Warriors" and I knew nothing about any of them. Except for my backroom staff to inform me that my best player was a 30 year old DL called " Phelelani Mpangase". A name i couldnt even pronounce!!​

 

[Timmzeh]

Really nice start man! Will definitely be following.

 

[zacram]

Managerial Debut

Following on from my meeting with the board members, i decided to get straight down to work and look through the player profiles and squad members. After going through every single player profile, 3 players really stood out and will be hoping they can perform for me and the club. These players were as follows;

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I am still pretty unsure on the average standard of players in this league, but to me they looked like they could be solid players. Although they may look pretty good on paper, if they don't perform I wont be afraid to drop them from the team.

I also noticed that we really lacked natural CB's with only one in the first team. A number of players were adept at playing there as secondary positions so was not the end of the world, but is an area i really feel we need to strengthen. Up front i only really had the option of Tsowaseb, so would be keen to bring another striker in to give me some greater options.

I then had a little look at the books, to see what sort of money I had been allocated to strengthen the squad. I was delighted to see a generous transfer budget of 100k! I think in my entire life so far I may only just have made that sort of money! The wage budget however was not so appealing as we were currently spending nearly 3k p/w over the allocated budget! This meant I would be looking to get rid of some players before any would be able to come in!

Working with what i have, I think a 4-2-3-1 tactic looks the best fit for my squad. I began frantically writing notes to bring to the team meeting tomorrow to express the style of football i want them to play. To start off with i will be trying to implement a controlled, possession style at home and a more direct counter attacking when playing away.


The morning quickly arrived and i picked up from my hotel by the same taxi driver as before. I introduced myself to the team and spoke in depth the style of football i wanted to play, and the reaction was exceptionally pleasing. The players attitude was great and they appeared to be taking in every word i said.

It all felt so natural, as if i was just born to become a manager, but never knew it! To improve my technique and qualifications i also began to study for my Continental C licence, which was being funded by the club and would take approximately 4 months to complete.

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We then began training in preparation for our first match under my management. As i was bringing in new tactical ideas we focused mainly on tactics and getting them used to the style I wanted them to play.

The 3 days flew by, and game day was upon us!

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I had announced my preliminary squad the night before, so those involved could prepare mentally for the match. I am just hoping unlike me they managed to get some rest before the big day!

I gave my team talk and walked out onto the pitch early to soak up the atmosphere from the 760 strong crowd. I had never been on a pitch and looked up to see that many many fans, the site was quite phenomenal! Still i had to forget all of that and focus on the match, it was vital that we got a result from this match! I would hate to start my career on a loss.


It wasnt the greatest start to the game with my AML getting injured inside 16 minutes

We made a shaky start and the African Warriors took advantage of it, as a deep cross was met with a header at the back post to give them a lead within 23 minutes

The rest of the half was quite dull and not a lot going on

At half time i desperately tried to rally the guys and changed us to play more attacking and shot on site as we had barely had an attempt.

This seemed to work as Nene finished a placed shot from inside the penalty area to draw level

We kept our foot on the accelerator and took the game to them.

Then in the 83rd minute Mpangase was brought down in the area for what looked a clear penalty, but nothing was given. I went crazy, and couldnt believe it wasnt given, although i may have been a little biased

The game then pittered out an finished 1-1. Which in all honesty was probably a fair result in a very even game

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African Warriors were in good form coming into the match so a 1-1 draw wasnt a bad result. A win would have been nice but am just glad i didnt lose on my managerial debut! Now to get my head down and grind out some results

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[xJamieWilliams]

Very nice start mate, will be following this closely

 

[zacram]

A Steady Start

I was still buzzing from having just undergone my first match in charge, but after a days rest for the player we were back on the training ground bright and early Monday morning, preparing for our next match. As there was plenty of work to do in order to get the team up to scratch with the tactics i wanted them to adopt. Every session was predominantly focused on tactics. Although i was changing our focus to try exploit/null our oppositions weaknesses or strengths in the final sessions before a game.

Time was flying by, and a month and a half had passed by the time i got the chance to look back and reflect on what had happened! I couldn't believe it! But this was my life now and I was loving every second of it. This was also a perfect time to evaluate how my managerial career had started as I had now played 6 matches, the same as the previous manager before I took over.

After 6 games when I took over the club we were in the relegation zone, 2nd from bottom with just 4 points from a possible 18.

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In a way i felt this poor form took the pressure off me. As lets face it, it couldn't get too much worse!

My first 6 matches went much better and am delighted with my managerial start looking back at it, as I managed to pick up 10 points out of 18! Not to shabby for an inexperienced, unqualified, Irishman in South Africa.

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It felt as though a win was never going to come after the first 4 matches, and i was going to be labelled as some kind of draw specialist! I was getting desperate for 3 points, to really get us moving up the table and was fortunate that my last 2 games were against a couple of the worst teams in the league. I was absolutely ecstatic to claim my first win in front our home crowd... even if only 365 people turned up to see it! To then follow that up with an away win was great and closed the gap on my mid table target.

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Having sat down to look over the results again, I have noticed how we generally seem to play much better in the second half of our matches. In 4 of the matches we were trailing at the break, but looks like my superb half time team talks have been the reason for getting us back in it... obviously I don't do the pre match talk...

A better first half performance is something i really need to address, as that could have turned a few of those draws into wins and really got us moving up the table!

Even so i am delighted to remain unbeaten so far and those last to results have filled me with confidence that we can my season objectives of an above mid table finish. That means 7th place minimum!​

 

[zacram]

Pressure Building

I had now been in charge of Thanda Royal Zulu for around 3.5 months and i could feel the pressure starting to grow on me as a manager. With no prior experience, I was finding it difficult to earn the respect of my players and felt i was being continually undermined

It started with fringe players asking for more playing time, and in all honesty i respected there motivation to play for the side and so would diplomatically reply saying if they impressed me in the reserve side i would happily give them a shot in the first team. Now I havent been a manager very long but this seems a very reasonable response to me and if i was ever told that as a player i would relish the challenge. However, these conversations were quickly escalating into a full blown argument with them demanding to be transferred! Not only that but other players started getting involved saying how they thought I treated the players badly!!!

The F***ing cheek of it! There i was trying to resolve the issues peacefully, only for it to be thrown back in my face and somehow they blame me? It seemed my only option now was to get ruthless and remind them who was in charge. I therefore decided I would start terminating contracts if players were going to unsettle the squads harmony!

Despite the unsettled squad harmony, we were still grinding out results at a moderate pace, and felt we were on track to meet out aim of finishing around 7th in the league. Unfortunately the cup was a bit of a disaster as we crashed out in the preliminary round, failing to reach my objective of making the first round, although in all honesty my focus was solely on the league!

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However, following my devastating 4-1 loss at home to Baroca FC, I was called in for a meeting by the board.... I was sweating a lot more than the average pasty Irishman in 26 degree heat!!

They asked for the reason behind the defeat, to which I took full responsibility, as I had experimented a new tactic... which clearly went terribly wrong. They didnt take that news to well and effectively told me if i failed to get a win in the next game I would be out!!

I comprehend the fact that i may be sacked in under 4 months of my first job! Now if anything that would make me less employable than before - No qualifications and sacked in 3.5 months!

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Fortunately my next game was at home to strugglers GA-Rankuwa Utd and got the vital win ensure i kept my job.... for now.

I dont really feel as though the board has treated me very well, by threatening my job so early on in my career with them! Obviously i have no alternatives at the moment, but if an offer arose of another job I wouldnt think twice about taking it after all this carry on with the board room and players.​

 

[Yeti01]

Wow - what a crazy board!! You've steered them out of the relegation zone and into mid-table safety in only half a season and now they want to sack you!? I think you might be better off without them!

 

[zacram]

Wow - what a crazy board!! You've steered them out of the relegation zone and into mid-table safety in only half a season and now they want to sack you!? I think you might be better off without them!

I know I couldn't believe it when I got called in! Thought I had been going alright considering the start position and inability to bring any players in.

 

[zacram]

Back from the Brink​

I was still feeling a little hacked off with the way I had been treated by the board and was really beginning to question whether this was the right club for me to manage. Although to be fair the club had taken a punt on an unknown manager when nobody else would. I had no reputation to rely on so the only way I was going to keep my job was through results!

I did start to feel under a huge amount of pressure/Stress with the board breathing down my neck, squad harmony at an all time low, and I was still studying for my Continental C licence!! I just knew this was going to be a huge test of my managerial ability! Would I succeed or would I flop under the pressures!?!

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I therefore decided to hold a meeting with the team in an attempt to increase the squad harmony and at least deal with one of the problems i was currently facing.

I was still very much aware that i hadn't won the respect of a number of the players within the squad, as they would continuously challenge my decisions if i wasn't selecting them. My approach was to passionately motivate them to kick on in the second half of the season and finish in that mid table position. I felt i couldn't go in to aggressively as in all honesty I didn't think we were doing to badly myself and that would most likely lead to a worse reaction. Thankfully I got a very positive response from the side, as they accepted the challenge i lay before them! That was a huge relief as i had at least made progress in one area of my management!



The next 2 months saw an incredible turn of form from my side! I didn't know whether to put it down to the squad meeting, Players finally grasping the tactics I was playing or just me thriving under the pressure.

Either way we managed to go the whole of February, March and first 2 games of April unbeaten. This had now put us on a run of 9 games unbeaten in the League!! I couldn't believe it!

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This mid season form had seen us rise from mid table, and up into the top half. It seemed and above mid table finish was definitely on the cards now and with the table being so close we could potentially make the promotion playoffs!!

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I was desperately trying not to get ahead of myself and stay composed but it was impossible not to! We had just 3 games left of the season with 5 teams tied on 42 points trying to make the 2 playoff spots!!

I was aware that a number of those teams had a game in hand but was felt if we could get 7 points from the remaining 9, then we would be in with a real shot at the playoffs!

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Our run in looked pretty decent as well, with 2 home games and all the opposition below us in the table!

This was going to be a mighty close run in, and in our current form I couldn't help but feel confident that we were in with a real shot!​

 

[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

my story has me in SA too! nice comeback

 

[zacram]

my story has me in SA too! nice comeback

Cheers man!

Yeah have been a silent follower of yours, although am a bit behind on it so will catch up when i get the chance - Can i match your first season promotion thats the question!

 

[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

Cheers man!

Yeah have been a silent follower of yours, although am a bit behind on it so will catch up when i get the chance - Can i match your first season promotion thats the question!

I probably had a stronger squad to inherit + Modibo Sidibe!!

 

[zacram]

So close yet so far

So, with just a few games to go in the season and 5 teams level on 42 points, with 2 promotion playoff places to fight for you knew it was going to be a dramatic ending.

Unfortunately for us both Baroka and Golden Arrows won there games in hand and so now sat 3 points above with just the 3 games to go.

The first match was against Santos F.C. We dominated, but ended up scraping out a point with a late equalizer, I could feel the playoffs slipping out of reach but just prayed the other teams also slipped up

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Unfortunately Baroka got 3 points and Golden Arrows also secured a point through a last minute equalizer.

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These results meant it was now realistically a two horse race between me and Golden Arrows for that 3rd place

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Although we managed to get a win, so did Golden Arrows which meant on the final day we would need to win and Golden Arrows lose with a 4 goal swing, it was looking increasingly unlikely we would make the playoffs, but knew we had to keep going right to the end

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Going into the final game i knew we would have to win by a decent margin to have any chance, but unfortunately things didn't go to plan. We failed to take our chances and conceded goals as we pushed forward. As it happened Golden Arrows won anyway to even if we had won 10-0 we still would have been in the playoffs.

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I can still look back at the season with a great sense of pride as I managed to guide Thanda Royal Zulu, to a 4th place finish. When i took over we were 15th after 6 matches, so this felt like an incredible achievement especially as i narrowly avoided the sack after less than 4 months in charge!

The board are now singing my praises, but i will never forget the way I was treated!

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Next Season I will be looking to finish in the top 3 and get promoted, but will have to see what funds i am given to finally bring some faces into the club.

A bit of good news at the end of the season was that I managed to gain my National C coaching license and get straight onto the course for my National B license. Hopefully this combined with a promotion next season will spark my interest in some new clubs!

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[zacram]

​Off Season

After narrowly missing out on the the promotion playoffs i decided to return back to Northern Ireland for a couple of weeks, to try and wind down a little but in preparation for my second season. Unsurprisingly my name in football hadn't traveled very far in the world and so my trip went relatively unnoticed apart from seeing friends and family.

After 2 weeks it was time to head back out to South Africa to meet the board, and get an overview of my season budget and objectives.

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The board gave me the exact same objectives to last season, which i was pretty happy about as I was felt very confident i could achieve this as a minimum. Unfortunately the clubs finances were looking very poor, despite keeping well within my budget last season and so was only given 40k transfer budget and the current squads salary was now just over the budget!

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As it turned out this want the end of the world as there were a number of contracts expiring that I wasn't going to renew, which cut almost 4k p/w of the clubs salary. However, this budget still meant that i wasn't going to be able to bring in quite as many players as i had hoped.

Whilst approaching a number players out of contract i quickly learnt that Thanda Royal Zulu, might not be the most reputable club, as a large proportion of players refused to even begin contact negations!

The small scouting range, small budget and small reputation meant that i was very limited on players i could bring into the club, however i managed to find 3 additions that i hoped could boost the first teams depth

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The CB position was one of great concern for me and focused on bringing some extra cover in. I managed to get veteran Chabalala on a free transfer, an am hoping his experience will prove valuable. Looks to have decent attributes despite his age and should have one more decent season in him. Mabuna was the 2nd Cb i brought in on loan just to add extra cover at the back, although is not expected to be a first team regular.... despite what his club thinks.

I decided to spend my entire transfer budget on Langa, as he was the only decent CM i could find and desperately needed a decent player in the middle of the pitch. He will be a key member of the squad this season and have faith he will be a vital addition to the squad!!


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