Hello everyone. This will be my first time writing a story on this forum although I have previously attempted this challenge on previous iterations of FM, unfortunately, with very little success. My idea for a story is as follows. I have always enjoyed managing lower league sides and being responsible for their rise up the leagues and for that reason I have decided to start unemployed, with no coaching badges and the lowest level of previous experience possible.
The main aim of my story is centered around the Managerial Hall of Fame. The current leader is Sir Alex Ferguson, the enigmatic Scotsman has racked up an amazing score of 5016 points. It is my aim, starting unemployed in one of the lowest reputation leagues possible, to chase down and hopefully surpass Sir Alex in the Managerial Hall of Fame!
I will be allowed to manage anywhere in the world and hopefully my journey will incorporate many different challenges, clubs and scenarios, Can a new, young manager from London become one of the greatest in history? Or, like so many before him, will he struggle to stay atop in a profession that is so ruthless and cutthroat?
Follow me as James Yates chases Sir Alex!
---------------------------------------------
THE AIMS:
1. Reach the Worldwide Managerial Hall of Fame
Current Leader: Sir Alex Ferguson (Score: 5016) Currently 20th: Lula (Score: 1742)
James Yates will be starting his managerial career with zero coaching badges and thus the teams that were interested in his services at the start of the game were extremely limited. As an unemployed manager I felt the best course of action was to apply for all available jobs.
My luck of experience and coaching badges meant that a number of teams were reluctant to even invite me to interview. As those that need, most choose to go in a 'different direction' but in the end I was able to find a club willing to take a chance on an unproven English manager with lofty ambitions.
Welcome everyone, to James Yates' first managerial club. Slovan Duslo Sala.
FK Slovan Duslo Sala are a small, professional football club located in the town of Sala in the southwest of Slovakia. The club were formed in 1921 but have spent their entire playing days in the lower realms of Slovakian football, having never made it into the countries top flight. They are a club who are yet to win a recognised trophy and their highest ever league finish came in 2007 when they positioned 4th in the Slovakian Second Division.
The club is currently valued at just £100,000 and has just 1.5 stars in reputation.
Duslo Sala player their home matches at the 1,126 capacity Mestsky Stadion Sala when the cost of an average ticket is just £5. The stadium itself has no roof, no under-soil heating and is currently in average condition. The pitch itself is grass, which I am happy about as some lower-league European sides play on a synthetic surface, which I have never personally been a fan of.
In terms of our other facilities, there is not much to get excited about. Our professional playing status means that we will have some chance of developing players at our own club through training sessions and this will be aided by our adequate training facilities. Our below average youth facilities mean that it is unlikely that we will be developing any promising youngsters anytime soon. That said, we do have adequate junior coaching and basic youth recruitment, meaning we could produce some reasonable academy players.
Competitions:
Duslo Sala will take part in two competitions this season.
The first of these is the DOXXbet Liga. This is essentially the Slovakian Second Division and follows a rather interesting format. It consists of 24 teams, split into two divisions, an East and a West. We are situated in the DOXXbet Liga West and our season consists of 22 matches, playing each other side twice. The top six sides from the West division qualify for the Promotion Playoff (alongside the best six from the East). The bottom six are put into the Relegation Playoff.
The Promotion Playoff consists of a further 10 matches, with the victor winning promotion to the Slovakian top division. The Relegation Playoff sees the two worst teams relegated to the lower realms of the Slovakian domestic league system.
In terms of rules, the league dictates that the match-day squad must have no more than five non-EU players. This should not be an issue for me as I severely doubt I will bee able to attract many foreign players to the Slovakian Second Division. The league also has a winter break which runs from December to February.
The second competition that Dulso Sala will compete in is the Slovnaft Cup. This is the only knockout cup competition in Slovakia and is essentially their version of the FA Cup. One rule that is particularly interesting is the fact their are no replays or extra-time in this competition. Any games that are tied after 90 minutes automatically go to a penalty shootout.
Domestically the best teams in Slovakia are Slovan Bratislava, MSK Zilina, FC Spartak Trnava and AS Trencin (who completed the domestic double last season). Trencin's best player is valued at just £400,000 which gives you an indication of just how poor the level of domestic football is here. The Slovakian First Division is the 35th most reputable league in Europe.
Despite the relatively poor level of domestic football here, the international scene is not as bad as one might think. Currently, the national side is ranked 19th in the world, above the likes of Croatia, Mexico and Russia. In fact, over recent years, Slovakia has produced a number of very talented world-class players who have gone on to play for some of the biggest clubs globally.
The most famous members of their current squad included Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool) and Juraj Kucka (AC Milan).
---------------------------------------------
That concludes the introduction to Duslo Sala and to Slovakia as a whole. Sir Alex's first job in management was at East Stirlingshire FC, where he remained for just a single season before moving on. Will James Yates' first managerial employment, in the lower realms of Slovakia, last for a single season similarly to Sir Alex? Or will Yates develop FK Slovan Duslo Sala into a Slovakian powerhouse?
The next update will cover the 2015 preseason and will introduce the club's staff, the squad, report on any transfers and cover all preseason friendlies. I hope you have enjoyed my story thus far!
Hello all. This will be my very first update as manager of Duslo Sala. I want to include quite a bit of detail in each update I write as I want any readers to get a real sense of the club, the players, the staff and my tactical approach. This update itself will include everything that has happened during my first preseason in management and, as you can see below, it was a very hectic one.
---------------------------------------------
BOARD ROOM:
The president of Duslo Sala is a man named Miroslav Wollner. He was the guy willing to take a punt on a little known manager from England and so far I am beginning to like him a fair amount. Not only did he give me my first managerial job but he has been very fair with my budgets for the season:
Transfer Budget: £0
Wage Budget: £5,451 per week
I'm sure many of you will see those figures and think I am crazy for being happy. In fairness, I was never going to need a transfer budget, as I was always going to focus on free agents more than signing players from other teams. I am manager of a club with a very small reputation, so could not imagine many players wanting to swap their current sides for life in the Slovakian Second Division. The wage budget should be enough to keep me interested this year and hopefully I will be able to attracted some decent players currently out of contract.
Board Objectives (2015/16) DOXXbet Liga - Avoid Relegation
Slovnaft Cup - Reach the 2nd Round
I am the only English member of the club's staff, with everyone else originating from Slovakia. All these staff members have been signed since I took charge as I was not a fan of the previous regime's backroom staff.
We brought in Dusan Kramlik as our new assistant manager. The Slovakian is just 38 years old but he was most recently the assistant at Trencin, last seasons Slovakian Division One champions, so he has a wealth of title winning experience that we wish to utilise.
We signed three coaches; Roman Lukac (GK), Lukas Kocis (Fitness) and Rastislav Chmelo (General). All three are relatively inexperienced and their employment with us is their first in professional football. We also hired a new physio, Marian Lukac, and two new Slovakian scouts, Jozef Balis and Karol Orsula, who have helped improve my knowledge of the nation.
TRANSFERS:
I will not show the 'out' transfers for this as it was merely me releasing a number of players who I deemed surplus to requirements. In terms of bringing players to the club though, I have been fairly busy...
Six players joined the club this summer as we brought in some quality talent to fit into the tactical system that I wish to implement.
The only Slovakian we signed during this window was Zdenko Kamas (31). The experienced midfielder has played much of his career in the lower realms of Slovakian football, although he spent last season at Pohronie in the DOXXbet Liga. He will likely operate in the centre of midfield, utilising his high passing, first touch and decisions.
We also signed three South Americans. We picked up Jose Pablo Diaz (26), a Mexican midfielder who will be deployed alongside Kamas in central midfield. We has similar attributes to Kamas but is obviously a little younger. He has spent his entire career in Mexico up until this point, although during that time he represented eight clubs in eight years. Here's to hoping he has found a more permanent home in Slovakia.
Diogo Tilico (30) is a talented, Brazilian, attacking midfielder who will sit just behind the forwards this season. He has very good physical attributes, which should be useful in my division, and exceptional mental attributes. Tilico has spent his entire career in the lower realms of Brazilian football.
Remys Parejo (20) is one of the more exciting signings of this transfer window. The young Colombian forward will start up top this season and he has the potential to be a star. He has very good finishing, dribbling and heading.
Our final two signings are both from Africa. Firstly we picked up Sulliman Mazadou (30). The experienced defensive midfielder from Niger is extremely physical and has exceptional mental attributes. He will sit in front of the back four this season.
Finally, we signed goalkeeper Willis Ochieng (33). Willis is the current Kenyan international number one and he is probably the best player in the squad. He has quality reflexes and agility, meaning he should be an excellent shot-stopper.
Ochieng (33) as mentioned above, will start the season in goal. He is an extremely talented keeper and I have high hopes for him.
The only other keeper in squad this season is Denis Kubica (20). The young Slovakian has potential and should be next in line to take over the number one shirt when Ochieng eventually retires.
This is a definite area of weakness in the squad but one I struggled to address during the preseason. All five of these Slovakian players were here when I joined the club.
At left-back we have Marian Datko (38). The experienced fullback has spent the past six seasons at the club and is still very talented given his advancing years. Miroslav Sedlak (22) is predominantly a left midfielder but he will provide cover at left fullback this season.
Our starting right back this year will be Jakub Kastelovic (20). The youngster is a natural at both left and right fullback so will likely get loads of playing time this season. Behind him we have Denis Galbavy (21) and David Kiss (21). Galbavy is an attacking option at fullback, meaning he will see the field often this year.
Again, all 3 of these players were at the club when I joined. The best two Michal Hambalek (28) and Lukas Remen (22) are both Slovakian. Hambalek is the current club captain and one of our best defenders. Remen is equally adept at playing defensive midfield as he is at playing in the centre of defence.
The only specialist back-up we have at the moment is the Frenchman Mehdi Guemache (26). Jakub Kastelovic can also play central defence however, as can our two defensive midfielders.
Sulliman Mazadou (30) is the most talented of our defensive midfielders and he is backed up by young Slovakian, Matus Kochan (21). In addition, Lukas Remen can be utilised in this position.
This is definitely one of the weaker areas of our squad at the moment, despite two signings this offseason. I am currently searching for another central midfielder to add to this group. Zdenko Kamas (31) and Jose Pablo Diaz (26) are our most talented players.
Behind them we have Andriy Zagranychnyi (20). The young Ukraine has loads of potential and hopefully he can realise some of that this season.
Only two attacking midfielders in this group. The most talented is Diogo Tilico (30) and I am hoping he will be a big hit this season.
Behind him is Tomas Vanek (19). The young Slovakian has plenty of potential but is not currently ready for the first team.
Simon Valachovic (22) is one of the best players at the club and he already is refusing to sign a new contract as he wishes to move onto a bigger club. I am hoping he will form an effective partnership with new signing Remys Parejo (20) up top.
Behind those two we lack any real talent. Richard Prucny (22), Simon Herceg (19) and Adam Krcik (19) are all youngsters with minimal potential.
RESULTS:
Not an excellent preseason by any means. We defeated Budaors from Hungary in our first game of the summer but then slipped to four straight defeats. We struggled to score goals in all games and I ended up tinkering with tactics a lot. I will go through the exact tactic that I will be employing this season during my next update (this one has already been extremely lengthy).
---------------------------------------------
That concludes my first proper update of this save. I apologise for it being extremely lengthy but I wanted you all to get a real feel for the club. Join us next time to see how Duslo Sala get on in the first few months of the season.
If anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or comments please do share them as I love getting feedback from you guys on the forum!
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.