FM17 Brexit Challenge

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2023/24 Season

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(Championship Stage) - 533 until Danish Citizenship

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During the last window I found this guy, who I could pick up for free. Too good not to get I offered him a contract, which he accepted. He comes in now his contract is up, giving us very good options at DM.

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Well there it is, the title is over in the first game of the championship group. I thought we had enough about us to win the game. Risvanis missed a header which let their player through, Thompson came charging out to give their striker an open goal. Shortly after Khairi got sent off and that was it.

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We can’t even beat Lyngby.

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Although we were good value for our win, it took two penalties for us to get the goals we needed.

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A great result, hopefully the kind of result and performance that can kick-start a little run to end the season. We’re 10 points behind Kobenhavn in 2nd​ and 15 points behind Midtjylland in 1st​, with 6 games left to play, we have to play them both. It would take a spectacular capitulation for us to win the league, but we might just catch Kobanhavn with some luck.

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Another win and we gain ground on Kobenhavn with a goal and an assist from Drazic. Yeah, they both came from corners, Drazic takes them now Poulsen is out of the side, but he has to gain confidence from somewhere.

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A great win, we really had to fight for it. Murphy saved another penalty today, we had some good chances. Midtjylland are really tough to deal with when they go 3 up front.

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A disappointing result and it could have been worse had Odgaard not come off the bench to rescue a point.

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A good result, Odgaard and El Amrani save the result. I have been experimenting with a 433 and after they had a man sent off we switched to it and got the result.

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I had been thinking about leaving the club but any such thoughts were quickly put to bed when I was offered a DKK 12k p/w pay rise. The board have given me a wage budget of DKK 1.3m and a transfer budget of DKK 157m, time to go for it next season.

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We were the better side and deserved to win, and we got there in the end but our finishing was disappointing and typically of much of the season. I have been experimenting with ways off getting Gerard more support up top and we played a 433 and 442 narrow diamond either half of this game.

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A fitting end to the season. In a game where we could have broken the record for most points accumulated we got hammered. In fairness I tested the 2 new formations away from home which was clearly a mistake but it was a defensive horror show today with none breaking the 6.5 mark.

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So after all that I actually finish the season on exactly the same points total as the last 2 seasons. With the enormous upheaval player-wise this season and a morale draining European run it should probably go down as a decent season but I just can’t help but feel disappointed. Next season I want to have a real good go at the title. I think the team needs a goalkeeper, right back, left back, centre back and left winger all at least 4 star to do that. There is plenty of money to spend, and I have players I can offload too.

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It appears we are big in France.

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We say goodbye to a colossus in my time at Randers. Georges Nsangou-Sohna leaves the club after making 135 appearances in all competitions, scoring 11 goals, making 4 assists, picking up 16 man of the match awards and averaging a 7.28. He also counted as trained at the club. We’ll miss him.

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Ahmed Derhem gets player of the season, goal of the season and young player of the season, Risvanis only gets signing of the season I thought he was nailed on for player of the season.

Best 11:

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[yescomeon]

This season I am going to experiment with shorter posts, splitting the preliminary stage into quarters rather than halves.
_________________________________________________

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2024/25 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 1st Quarter) - 459 Days until Danish Citizenship

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A hefty loan has been taken out to expand the stadium, I thought it would have come out of the money we raked in from transfers but there you go.

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The board have taken the initiative on improving the youth and training facilities again.

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Here is Murphy’s replacement, he’s better than him. Looking forward to seeing what this guy can do.

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The board were willing to accept lower compensation to let me leave but Kobenhavn decided to promote their assistant manager to the top job.

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Europe gets harder for the 3rd​ year running. I can take my share of the blame this time after a poor showing in Europe.

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New right back, better all-round player than Derhem, who I will now consider offers for.

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New left winger, with him coming in I will look to offload Bassogog.

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The replacement for Georges Nsangou-Sohna, very similar to Risvanis, hopefully they can work together.

Results from the friendlies:

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We despatched the side from Slovenia with ease, Gerard looked good in this match and the woodwork prevented him from getting a hat-trick.

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Another good player for us leaves, this is simply a matter of squad evolution that has forced him out. Over his time with us Bassogog played 126 games for us in all competition, scoring 17 goals, making 25 more goals, picking up 4 man of the match awards and averaging a 6.99.

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A polite reminder of the board expectations. Making the groups in the Europa league is my minimum expectation, Personally I want to win the league, if I can’t do that I want to win the cup.

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No post could stop Gerard from getting his hat-trick today. Hopefully he can maintain some form this season.

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Given how easy we found things in the first game I decided to rotate the side at home. I actually gave a debut to a very promising centre back that came through our youth system. He managed to score, making him the club’s youngest ever goalscorer.

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A derby match and Gerard was superb again today. The shine was taken off by El Hachimi breaking his ankle in a collision.

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With my National A in the bag I move on to my final coaching course.

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Gerard picks up player of the month, hardly surprising with 5 goals in 2 games, and that’s just in the league.

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Next up was a tie against a side from Luxembourg, not a bad draw. We put them away with ease.

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A great win, we lost Afkir in this game with a broken collarbone, he’ll be out for a few months. I’ve been struggling to get my newest DM into the side, this will give him a chance for some game time.

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He wouldn’t sign a new contract so I decided to cash in on our young right back. I’d rather have kept him but better to get something for him than lose him for nothing.

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I know it’s only a side from Luxembourg, but Drazic looked excellent today. His form this season has been much better so far.

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All square in an even game. Not a perfect result but AaB are a good side.

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A good thumping win against a side we should be beating. Nikos scored a screamer and Khairi got his first goal for the club.

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Keystone cops at the back at the end of the first half. 3-0 was too big a mountain to climb, we gave it a good go but Nikos got carried away and that was the end of that.

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That last result meant we lost top spot to AaB.

 

[yescomeon]

Apologies for the little spoiler I put on the end of the last post this morning, I have confused myself with these shorter posts
_________________________________________________

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2024/25 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 2nd Quarter) - 417 Days until Danish Citizenship​

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My experimentation with overlapping wingbacks are over, outside of that we were very sloppy with the ball. Gerard was great, as was Drazic, Galal popped up with this cheeky little finish.

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This was a mad game. They scored 3 goals out of nowhere that just seemed to go in, I’m sat there 3-0 down no idea what is going on. We pulled two back but just like the last league game it was too little too late.

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A good win in the second leg puts us into the group stages.

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I consider that to be a favourable draw, especially after last season.

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Good solid win, bringing Paulo Cesar seems to have made a difference.

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We’ve been hit hard by injuries, but a depleted side got a great result away at Brondby, Odgaard should have had a hat-trick.

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Good win to kick us off in the Europa league courtesy of Paulo Cesar, record attendance and record gate thanks to our temporary 26k stadium.

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A routine win in the league to keep us top, Odgaard has been good since returning to the first team.

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A tough game which we had to fight hard to come out on top, and we did. We lost Castillo for 7 weeks and Khairi and Odgaard picked up minor knocks.

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A superb win, Galal bagged a hat-trick and this season is looking like the advanced playmaker I have never been able to find. Drazic has been awesome this season but picked up a 3 week injury in the game. The large number of games must be taking its toll on the squad.

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Halfway through the season and we’re top, we’ve been here before and let it slip, I’m keen not to let that happen again. We have AaB breathing down our necks, Kobenhavn are a long way off (they should have hired me in the summer) and Midtyjlland are nowhere to be seen.

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Off to a solid start in the Europa league, still a long way to go yet though.

 

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2024/25 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 3rd Quarter) - 355 Days until Danish Citizenship

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A great result, not so much of a smash and grab as it seems. We could have played better attack-wise but we defended well enough. Nsangou-Sohna came off the bench in the second half to play against us for the first time. This was also 20 consecutive games we have scored.

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Our patchwork back five struggled in this match, big time. We had to dig deep in the squad to put a defence out but we might has well had a raffle for the fans to be in it. The first goal 3 of our players were chasing one of theirs, he got a shot away, Thompson should have saved it, his angles were right, but he didn’t. Our young left back gave away a penalty. They then scored a long shot out of nowhere, and did the same again in the second half. Abysmal, and top spot it gone.

I’ve seen too many of these defensive shambles this season so straight after the game I went out and signed a player:

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My god, we tried to throw it away, we really tried our best. We came out with the win in the end thank god. It came at a cost though, we lost Cesar and Drazic, for 4 and 3 weeks respectively.

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A decent result, it’s not our strongest side we put out but we got a point to keep us top. Another record attendance and gate, why can’t we just move into this stadium, it’s in Randers?

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It’s getting a bit beyond a joke now.

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We had to face Jagerbomb in the 3rd​ round, could have, maybe should have, been more comfortable, but we are through to the next round to face Midtjylland in the next round.

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We were on top but gave away a goal, we started the better side too but our finishing was wayward. We went a man down shortly after going 433, a moment of madness from Nikos, not his first. Odgaard did managed to pull a goal back, we stayed 432 but couldn’t get the win.

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A disappointing result, we went 2 down and decided to go for it with a 433, we pulled one back then we conceded a goal from 30 yards that Thompson should have saved. He’s not up to it any more. Gerard ended a 10 hour goal drought but picked up a 3 week injury.

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A must win game, away, bookies had us 10-1. Our starting 11 was without 7 first team players through injury, tiredness and suspension, 4 of them were on the bench but so was a youth striker – down to bare bones. I feel like I have said this multiple times before. We let in a disappointing and a bit unfortunate goal and we couldn’t get back into the game. Early days but I think the title has gone, AaB are on absolute fire without Europe, I just don’t see us catching them.

We finished upgrading the youth and training facilities, the training facilities are now impressive and the youth facilities average. With plenty of money left in the bank I asked the board to upgrade them both again and they agreed.

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We now have the joint second best training facilities in the league, behind Kobenhavn, tied with Brondby. The youth facilities however are only exactly mid table.

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A good win and boy it was needed, hopefully it gives the team a morale boost. We looked good going forward and aside from Gerard we were at full strength, but still looked suspect at the back. Drazic was lethal with a goal and 3 assists, but unfortunately, we lost him for 3 weeks. Oh, and Risvanis scored a nice goal, not bad for a defender.

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Disappointing and unfortunate. The first 2 goals were shots saved but knocked back into play that they got to first, Castillo has to do better. We lost Paulo Cesar for 9 months with damaged cruciate ligament, this season has been so brutal with injuries.

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What a result, after Nikos was sent off in the 3rd​ minute I feared the worst but we managed to go on a score 3 goals. They will feel very disappointed with that result. This keeps us in the hunt for the title.

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We’re 3/4 of the way through the preliminary stage and 6 points behind AaB with a game in hand over them. It’s not over yet.

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With one game left in the group we have to win it, it’s Vitesse at home, so if we we were going to pick a must win game that would probably be it.

 

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2024/25 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 4th Quarter) - 243 Days until Danish Citizenship

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Unreal, missed loads of chances, they have one and the put it away, we missed all of ours.

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They seem determined to throw away the title, in reality it’s probably already gone. We were very lucky to come out of this with a point. We’re 9 points behind with just 1 game in hand.

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A good win to see us through to the first knockout round. Gerard isn’t doing it so Odgaard is back in the side. I’d rather get the results in the league.

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Diallo has been good on the right, we’re short on the left, so we moved Drazic over to the left and Diallo keeps his place on the right. Thank god, he got us the goal to give us 3 points.

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Big draw, probably the end of our Europa league run. Hopefully we can get a full house in the home leg, not embarrass ourselves then concentrate on the league.

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My scouts picked up this guy and I just couldn’t resist. I’m not sure what to do about Gerard, he started off the season so we but has gone off the boil big style. I’ll probably use him as a winger for the rest of the season but will probably accept offers.

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Good god. The board tried to sell Diallo out from under me. I almost missed it but protested the transfer and told them I didn’t think I could carry on if they sold him and they backed down.

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After what happened with Diallo, the board only went and sold Afkir, an even more important player without my blessing. Couldn't resist the offer?! I could have got a much better deal! Normally I would resign under these circumstances, but I have my citizenship, which is less than a year away, to consider, I want my next move to be to Germany, not somewhere else in Denmark. We’ve lost another big player from my time here, 143 appearances, 12 goals, 9 assists, 6 man-of-the-matches and a rating of 7.19 in all competitions.

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Panic, I’m not panicing. The other young Afkir didn’t want to sign a contract and has actually decided to join Bologna at the end of his contract. I have taken the opportunity to begin the process of migrating my DMs to the centre mid position.

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So much for a quiet window.

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An okay bunch of mid-season friendlies. I’ve been trying out a new tweak to the formation, the 2 DMs move to MCs with the same roles with the ball-winning midfielder on defend. The right winger changes to Raumdeuter with Gerard playing there and the left winger changes to an inside forward with Drazic playing there, both on attack. The advanced playmaker changes to a Trequartista on attack and the striker to a complete forward support. It’s looked ok, especially in the last match, but the quality of opponent isn’t great. I will give it a go against Arsenal. Unfortunately, we will be without Maulid and Genc for the first game.

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Close, but no cigar. We gave Arsenal a **** of a game, they had a monster of a regen up front, the kind the game like to churn out every now and then. He put two past us. I thought we might nick a draw but we certainly didn’t embarrass ourselves. It wouldn’t be a match without an injury – we lost Drazic for 5 weeks.

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AaB suffered a surprise defeat to OB so this was a must win match. I feared the worst when Risvanis was sent off for a daft tackle, but we held on. We actually could have won by more but Baertelsen missed a penalty. Even a man down we were the better side so a fair result. We actually made it through a match without picking up an injury and we qualified for the championship stage.

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A harsh result that we didn’t really deserve, but at the end of the day they are a lot better than us. Risvanis and Odgaard both put in sub 6 perfromances and we lost the ball high up the pitch and were punished on the break time and time again. I could have changed it but we needed the win. It was over at 4-2 and the heads dropped, but we gave Arsenal a scare going in 2-2 at half time. Oh, and our ‘keeper picked up a 2 week injury.

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It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked in the end. A debut goal from our new striker and a great performance from Hjulsager filling in for Drazic as the left inside forward.

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My 200th​ game in charge of Randers and a pretty routine win. We’re persisting with the new system, it’s really allowing Galal to shine, and he grabs us the 3 points. We’re only 3 off AaB now.

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Disappointing result we lose ground on AaB and Kobenhavn.

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A good win in the cup against a decent side. Galal and Hjulsager lead the way whilst the strikers work through whatever they’re going through.

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A good thumping win to see out the preliminary stage. Two more goals for Hjulsager who is in a rich vein of form, a great finish from Gerard who ended a 13 hour goal drought and Drazic’s first goal since coming back from injury. A needed boost to morale heading into the championship stage.

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So, there it is, we’re in 3rd​, 4 points behind AaB and Kobenhavn. Kobenhavn have moved top on goal difference, they have been blowing teams away for a while now and look really good.

 

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2024/25 Season

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(Championship Stage) - 168 Days until Danish Citizenship​

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Fantastic win, showing great spirit. We were the better team, they went ahead against the run off play. We went 433, but had a man sent off. Despite that we still went on to win thanks to 2 goals from Gerard and one from Maulid. We couldn’t go 433 for the rest of the season, could we?

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Sweet, sweet victory. This was a simply must win game and we pulled it out of the bag. Gerard is back in form, Hjulsager continues to impress and it’s great to have Drazic back. It’s amazing what a full strength side can do.

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Drazic manages to break David’s old record with 17 assists. Still a few games left yet.

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We couldn’t afford to lose this game but we did. The title is now out of our hands. We’re 7 points behind AaB.

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Nikos has actually managed to beat Poulsen’s old discipline record. I never thought I’d see the day.

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A win and we had to fight very hard for it. We’ve lost the last 2 on the bounce in the derby, glad to break the bad run.

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Really frustrating. We were by far the better team but we couldn’t get the goal we deserved. All the more frustrating as Kobenhaven did us a favour by beating AaB.

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It wasn’t the prettiest performance but we got the result here. We were the better side even if we didn’t dominate possession how I would like. We limited them to 2 long shots, and despite our lack of quality in front of goal we got two goals to win it. Victory made all the sweeter by AGF getting a late equalizer against AaB.

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A good win to take us into the final, we got off to a bit of a shaky start but it was quite comfortable in the end. The defence put in a great display.

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Well and truly mugged off. They punished 2 mistakes, we were wastful. Luckily AaB only drew, but with a game against Kobenhavn and 2 games against Brondby Monday, Wednesday, Sunday, it doesn’t look good.

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A great win. We looked excellent in the first half. Not so much in the second half but we held out. If we win out game in hand we go top.

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We finally break the points record, with 3 games to go still.

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TOP.

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Record number of wins, two games left.

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Brondby could not have done much more for us to win the game, two men sent off and a penalty conceded. We couldn’t win it and we lost top spot to AaB. We play them in the next match though so all is not lost.

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Our reserve team won their league, let’s hope our first team can repeat the feat.

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So close, so, so close. 26 shots, 20 long shots, no idea what more I can do to stop players being so wasteful. We have work into box selected. Player are told to shoot less, what else is there. We have to go on and win the cup to alleviate some of the disappointment.

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What a way to win it. Surely Gerard has his name in the record books with a cup final hat-trick. That’s the first trophy of my career.

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So there it is, we were one game away from the title, the closest we have come yet. AaB have been fantastic this season so they are deserving winners.

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With the cup win I am now one of the best Welsh managers of all time.

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Second best in fact. Some way off Toshack though.

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Gerard breaks Odgaards goal record with his cup final heroics.

Our best 11:

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End of season awards:

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Surprised to see Derham get player of the season, more so that he was young player of the season.

 

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2025/26 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 1st Quarter) - 95 Days until Danish Citizenship​

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The finances have gone a bit weird. The board put in DKK 31m, then another DKK 45m. The club now has a debt of DKK 230m, whilst only being valued at DKK215m. The debt has to be related to buying the stadium. This season I will dial back the spending.

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The expansion is complete, we now have a 16,500 all-seater stadium, with the potential to go up to 20k. It’s a little bit of a comedown after out season in a 26k stadium.

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We’ve gone flying up the European club rankings to 73rd​. We’re now the second highest Danish team in the rankings, behind Kobenhavn in 52nd​.

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The nation coefficient goes up, not quite to where it was but it’s getting better. I feel we played a part this season.

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Smashed the last average attendance record. We could accommodate more in our expanded stadium, which should be the aim.

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A decent set of friendlies, no injuries, all wins.

The season expectations:

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We got the win, but disappointed to concede the away goal. Still I’m confident of getting a result in Dublin.

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A disappointing start to the season. Drazic scored a free-kick, we couldn’t muster anything else.

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He’s back. Paulo Cesar’s first competitive start since his injury and he picks up where he left off, a goal, an assist, and a man-of-the-match 9.2 rating. Good to have him back.

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Our poor league start continues. They came straight out with a 433 and got us on the break despite us dominating.

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A good win which leaves us in a good position for the second leg.

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We got fm’d real hard in this game. They scored with their first 3 shots, all hopeful hits from 25/30 yards. We managed to pull one back, but 1 point from 3 games is a terrible start to the season.

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Great first half, terrible second half. I let the players know as much. I made the mistake of giving them a passionate well done at half time. Maulid was excellent, 2 goals and 2 assists, but he picked up a 3 week injury.

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Our terrible league start continues. Another game we shoudnt have lost, but we did.

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With the game still nil-nil I brought on Diallo, in the 74th​ minute he gave away a penalty. Before it was taken I changed to 433 and took Diallo off for a Odgaard. Castillo saved the penalty, Odgaard got us a goal in the 78th​ minute, Galal secured the result in the 88th​.

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Really shook up the team and it seemed to work. We got a good win, hopefully we are back on track. Two goals and an assist for Drazic, two assists from Diallo.

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Our poor start has us down in 9th​. The last 2 games have been better so hopefully that’s behind us now. Luckily our usual rivals around the top of the league have got off to slower starts too.

 

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2025/26 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 2nd Quarter) - 53 Days until Danish Citizenship

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We had a favourable draw for the Europa league playoff, getting Cypriot side APOEL. We fell behind in the first half, we pulled it back with Maulid getting 2 goals of the bench and Paulo Cesar getting man of the match off the bench with 2 assists.

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Another win in the league, 3 wins, 3 clean sheets and we edge up the league.

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APOEL were dispatched with relative ease. We are into the group stage.

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Bit of a tricky draw for the group stage. We might be able to just sneak out.

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A great win against top of the table Lyngby. Lyngby have been doing well the last few seasons but are smashing it this season. That is until they came up against us. We absolutely battered them.

The transfer window closed without any key players leaving, my objective for the window. I’ve not brought anyone in but with no one leaving I don’t think I need anyone to come in.

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Our run of clean sheets continues as we smash newly promoted Skive. Paulo Cesar picks up another man of the match for a goal and an assist, he’s playing so well again this season, his injury has wiped most of his potential though.

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A fantastic result. We went 2-0 down and it didn’t look good. A half time bollocking and we turned things around, grabbing the winner in the 3rd​ minute of extra time.

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A bit disappointed to concede a goal but delighted to keep our winning run going.

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Horrific result. Goals just kept going in. I guess it’s just one of those games but it’s not the first time it’s happened this season.

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We did well to come back and get a draw in this game. I had to change things up and go for a more direct passing style, which my assistant has been nagging me to do for a few seasons.

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Halfway through the preliminary stage and to be honest I feel lucky to even be in the top 6. The only saving grace is that other teams are dropping points.

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One game played and we sit in second after a good away result against Bordeaux.

 

[yescomeon]

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2025/26 Season

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(Preliminary Stage 3rd Quarter [and a bit])​

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A dramatic last gasp winner. This was at home against the bottom seed so we really had to be winning this if we are looking to make it out of the group.

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When things aren’t going well you can take perverse comfort in the fact that it is going a lot worse for someone else. AaB are having a real season to forget, we were only too happy to gain a bit of confidence from giving them a kicking.

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I couldn’t resist this guy. He’s someone I know from looking for a winger previously. He was a free agent now so I picked him up for a very reasonable wage.

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Yet more disappointment at more dropped points.

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A great result against Utd., we approached the game with a more direct counter-attacking style. A great finish from Galal and a solid defensive display got us a hard-earned point.

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We played a strong side so I hoped for a bit more of a hammering, but we got the win. Galal was awesome.

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Goals from Remy and Maulid give us our derby revenge against AGF.

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Brutalised by Utd. I’d didn’t try very hard for this match. Kept our usual tactic and they hammered us. We got off to a terrible start with an own goal. It didn’t get much better. Luckily, goal difference doesn’t matter that much tie break is done on head to head, and we’re ahead of Bordeaux somehow.

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We got off to the usual bad start, but pulled it out of the bag in the end Maulid is having a great season, 2 goals here.

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A very good win against league high flyers Brondby keeps us in the title race.

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A great win, and it sees us through to the knock out stages with a game to spare.

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Our hot run of form blazes on with Maulid pouring petrol on it. He got player of the month with 6 goals in 3 games. He has 25 goals in 25 starts and is set to break the goal record very early in the season.

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Disappointing result, Nikos killed our chances getting sent off. We missed a penalty though and a hatfull of chances too.

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We recover from the disappointment against Hobro with handsome 4-0 win, with the goals nicely spread around the side.

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There it is. Maulid breaks the goal-scoring record, and I expect him to go on and set a real big record.

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We rescued a late draw. It was a nothing game but I would have rathered the win for the extra prize money.

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Somehow clueless Bob was still manager of the Swans when I turned the English leagues back on. Didn’t take long for them to sack him and my name is in the hat to replace him. Would obviously love the job but I can’t take it until my citizenship comes though.

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A great away win against Lyngby, it keeps us in the position of being able to go top on goal difference if we win our game in hand.

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We go into the winter break in second place, a win away from top.

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We qualified from our group in second place. I’m pleased with that given it was a reasonable tough group.

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Was hoping we might finally get an easier draw in the first knockout round, but obviously not.

 

[yescomeon]

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It’s 27th​ December, the squad are away on winter break. The Christmas celebrations are still ongoing at the villa as I am celebrating 9 years in Denmark and my new dual nationality. Sitting on the balcony overlooking the Grund Fjord I contemplate what I have achieved so far in my career, and what direction it is going in.

I feel I have almost a job for life here at Randers. I’m the highest paid manager in the Superliga, earning almost twice as much as the next highest earner. It’s possibly questionable if I deserve my wage, having only delivered a Danish Cup in my 4 years here. I have transformed the side from winless relegation candidate to the nearly men of Danish football, with 2 second place finishes and 2 3rd​ place finishes. I’ve had relative success in Europe progressing out of the group stages in the Europa league on 3 out of 4 attempts. I just don’t feel I can progress any further with a Danish side.

Both here and at HIF I feel, if I was to leave Randers now, I have left both clubs in a better condition than I found them. When I took charge of HIF, they were in financial difficulties in the Second Division, when I left they were solvent and in the First Division. Randers, having a terrible season when I arrived, I kept them in the Superliga and never looked back. On the field, since that first season, I have finished no lower than 3rd​ place, and have been real title contender twice. I’ve also won the cup, and done quite well in Europe. Off the field, I have made a lot of money off transfers and prize money, I’ve used this money to oversee the purchase and expansion of the stadium and also the improvement of the youth and training facilities twice.

Despite being my new home, and it does feel like home. I feel I have to leave Denmark to progress my career, unfortunately. I have interest in my former home, Swansea. It feels a little like giving up to return to the UK, the Bundesliga seems the most logical route for me now. It’s time to polish the CV and send them south…

CV

Managerial History

Hvidovre Idrætsforening:

• 2016/17 - Danish Second Division - 13th*
• 2017/18 - Danish Second Division - 2nd(P), Danish Cup - 3rdR
• 2018/19 - Danish First Division - 8th, Danish Cup - 1stR
• 2019/20 - Danish First Division - 4th, Danish Cup - 2ndR
• 2020/21 - Danish First Division - 8th**, Danish Cup - 2ndR

Randers Football Club:

• 2020/21 - Danish Superliga - 13th*** [Relegation Stage: Group - 3rd, Playoff - W], Danish Cup - 4thR
• 2021/22 - Danish Superliga - 3rd, Danish Cup – SF
• 2022/23 - Danish Superliga - 2nd, Danish Cup - QF, Europa Cup - 1stKOR[G(1st)]
• 2023/24 - Danish Superliga - 3rd, Danish Cup - 4thR, Champions League - PO, Europa League - G(4th)
• 2024/25 - Danish Superliga - 2nd, Danish Cup - W, Europa League - 1stKOR[G(2nd)]

* - relegation stage only
** - first period only
*** - 14 games of preliminary stage only

Managerial Record

Hvidovre Idrætsforening:

Played – 131, Won – 58, Drawn – 36, Lost – 37, For – 177, Against – 144, GD - +33, WP – 44%, Cups – 0, Leagues – 0, Promotions – 1, Relegations – 0.

Randers Football Club*:

Played – 250, Won – 138, Drawn – 49, Lost – 63, For – 431, Against – 248, GD - +183, WP – 55%, Cups – 1, Leagues – 0, Promotions – 0, Relegations – 0.

* - up to 27/12/2025

Awards

One time winner of, and twice shortlisted for, Danish Manager of the Year.

Trophies

Danish Cup Winner – 2024/25, Superliga Runner-Up – 2022/23, 2024/25, Danish Second Division Runner-Up – 2017/18

Qualifications

• National A
• National B
• National C
• Continental C
• Continental B
• Continental A
• Continental Pro

Profile

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[EnglishYeti]

Really enjoyed this and always check to see next update while at work. Good Work

 

[TheBattman]

shame you couldn't get the elusive title. must admit I hope you continue to stay away from the UK for a while, enjoying this

 

[yescomeon]

Thanks EnglishYeti glad to provide some procrastination material for you, I like to browse the stories on here at slow periods in work myself.

That title is a slippery b*****d TheBatman. The Swansea job is a real curve ball, one of the only jobs I would really consider, I intend to say away from the prem and try win the champions league with a team from a different league.

Sorry about the delay with the posts, a lot has gone on in game and I've been busy.
__________________________________________________

Randers FC - Danish Superliga - 2025/26 Season

​

(Championship Stage [and a bit])​

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Deserving winner of the player’s player of the year – Drazic.

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First and second in the media player of the year Drazic and Maulid respectively.

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A clean sweep for Randers players in the Autumn player of the year Risvanis, Drazic and Mualid respectively.

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I didn’t even apply for this one, they sought me out.

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I didn’t get the Swansea job. Same as the Kobenhavn job, I didn’t want to come in mid-season, especially not for a relegation battle. They decided to bring back Micheal Laudrup instead.

View attachment 109027
I decided to let Gerard go, he wasn’t getting in the side and he was on DKK 140k p/w. We got a tidy DKK 35m, a profit of DKK 13m. It wasn’t popular with the squad but I talked them around.

View attachment 109025
For similar reasons, I offloaded Thompson.

View attachment 109024
Once again, a high earning player not getting game time has been offloaded. Achleitner has been replaced by a young Brazilian who will act as backup Derham…

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We lose a good coach, but he is off to manage a decent side so best of luck to him.

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Yes mate! The board accepted an offer for Tayou, who has been very good since signing, without my permission and I was not able to object. He turned the contract down though and will therefore be staying.

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Our upgrade to the youth and training facilities has been completed, we now have training facilites second only to Kobenhavn, whilst our youth facilities are tied 3rd​ behind Lyngby and Kobenhavn, level with Brondby, Midtjylland, Vejle and AaB. With a little bit of nagging the board were willing to again upgrade the youth facilities.

View attachment 109017
We’ve come though the other side of the mid-season friendlies, not unscathed however. Diallo (4 months), Galal (2 weeks), Remy (3 days) and Genc (2 days) are out for the Liverpool game. The window is shut and I am pretty happy with it overall. No big players left other than the ones I chose to let go. The squad is weaker but if we can keep our best players fit, I think we can have another crack at the title.

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A harsh result, we were good for at least a draw, but they really are a lot better than us.

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Maulid really is having a fantastic season. Keeping hold of him in the last window is the main reason I am staying till the end of the season. With him I really think we have a chance of finally winning the league.

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We were unable to do anything in this game, we’re out but that’s as much as I thought. We can focus on the league now. We lost Genc for 3 months which is probably the rest of the season.

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Odgaard comes off the bench to get us the win, just like the good old days.

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Injuries are just starting to mount for the first time this season. Hopefully it doesn’t impact our form.

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We went into this game with 7 of the first team squad either injured or suspended. We were only able to pick 6 subs. We still managed to get the win we needed to keep us top.

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Disappointing result, especially considering we had 3 clear cut chances to their 1. Their goal was a long range free-kick. Castillo got to it but couldn’t keep it out.

Championship Stage

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I feel like teams are figuring out how to play us. We were dominating but they we getting loads of chances, we changed to 433 and our fortunes changed. Maulid really is carrying us this season.

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Same again, but this time Maulid wasn’t able to bail us out. We missed a lot of chances, and we lost top spot with Brondby beating Kobenhavn 6-1, they’re going to beat us to the title aren’t they.

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Blew Brondby away in the cup quarter final, hopefully we can repeat the act in the league in a weeks time.

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We lost a title 6-pointer. We managed to pull it back to 2-2 and decided to stick with 433 to go for the win, but Castillo spilled the save then fell over on the way to close down the player going for ball. We’re 6 points behind Brondy now, still 7 games to go and we play Brondby, anything could happen but it won’t be easy.

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We bounce back with a win, although it was a laboured one. Unfortunately, we lost Maulid for 5 weeks, which will mean he misses the lion’s share of the remaining season.

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A huge win, we were the better side. Unfortunately, Brondby just won’t stop winning.

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A very pleasing win, and needed too, Brondby won again. Paulo Cesar scored a great goal to seal it for us but he also picked up an injury keeping him out for a month.

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Whilst we were busy with the cup Kobenhavn gave Brondby a 4-0 maulling. We just about got away with this, I could have done without extra time. We had to go 433 towards the end of the game and we just got the result.

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I think a special mention should go to Fredensborg for the 4 penalties they gave us.

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A fantastic victory, well deserved. Since Maulid’s injury, Drazic has really stepped up to fill the void. I can’t believe I ever doubted this guy. We have played our games in hand now and are a single point behind Brondby, we still have to beat them and Kobenhavn if we want to win the title.

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He’s back! Maulid comes off the bench, still not fully fit to get us 2 goals to win us the game. Lyngby beat Brondby 3-1 so we are top with a 2 point lead. We still have to avoid defeat against Brondby in the last game of the season if we are to win the title. A fine way to celebrate my 400th​ game in management.

View attachment 108988
With his heroics off the bench Maulid breaks the league goal-scoring record.

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And the record for most man of the matches.

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Extremely disappointing. We were poor. Lyngby didn’t even play well, we were just very poor. Every bounce of the ball seemed to favour them, and we went down to 10 men due to injury. Yaw Akrofi-Mohammed had a very poor game and had to be substituted. After the match his agent asked for an improved contract, I told him to f**k off. I had dreams of the double, so I am very disappointed. Before the game my assistant recommended an odd reshuffle of the side I didn’t listen to him and put Nikos into the side, he repaid me by giving away a penalty.

View attachment 108985
What an epic this game was. We went 2 down seeing the kind of misfortune we saw in the cup final, I really thought we were going to blow it all. With nothing to lose I went 433, we pulled 2 goals back before half time and I returned to 451. Hjulsager put us ahead after the restart against his old club, the club he spent 14 years at, his only other club. They had a man sent off but were still a threat and caught us on the break but we held on and got the draw we needed to win the title.

View attachment 108984
At last, at ****** last.

View attachment 108979
So, after much soul-searching, I have decided to step down as Randers manager. It was a hard decision, I really do feel a real affinity for this club. In the end, I just didn't have the stomach to keep fighting to keep and then replacing players, especially with the board starting to sell players without my say. I won the title and the cup here, I could have continued to win trophies I think, but having never gotten past the 1st round of the Europa league, and no idea how to go any further with the club, I decided that in order to win the champions league, I will have to move to a bigger club in a bigger league.

My record at Randers is as follows:

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[yescomeon]

Job Hunt - Summer 2026​

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View attachment 108950
A few of my backroom staff followed me out of the door at Randers, if I need any of them I will bring them with me to my new club.

View attachment 108949
The most interesting job available after my resignation was Everton, and I got an interview…

View attachment 108948
…which was unsuccessful.

View attachment 108947
This is a biggy, a job I REALLY want, but I think it is too big for me at the moment. In fact I didn’t even get an interview.

View attachment 108946
Leicester actually approached me, I’m not keen on the job but I will go to the interview.

View attachment 108945
Randers went for the current manager of Silkeborg as my replacement. Not quite the big name replacement many may have hoped for.

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They didn’t even want me either.

View attachment 108943
The Leipzig job came up they won the Bundesliga last season, very keen on this one too but again it was too soon.

View attachment 108942
The CV went on a round the world trip following the world cup. I was offered the job at Norway, Ukraine, Mexico, Colombia, South Korea, and Georgia. After a lot of thinking, I turned down them all, it was very difficult to say no to Mexico and Columbia. Especially with Mexico offering 25k Euros a week, but I decided to stay in Europe.

View attachment 108941
The media are linking me to the Austria job which has just become available. I’ll send a CV off sure…

View attachment 108940
…and I was offer the job and decided to take it on a wage of 14k Euros a week.

View attachment 108939
Just a bit of a bigger move than the last one, I think I’ll probably take the plane. I think Vienna is the most suitable base for the national team manager, it’s the capital, well connected to get to see players playing abroad, and having actually been ther – what a city it is.

Earning 728k Euro a year, for less than a year’s salary I could buy a 3 bed apartment in Vienna. I went for a place with a view from the terrace…

View attachment 108937
I see this job as a chance to bring in a wage, learn German, and give my reputation a boost whilst looking for other job. With more countries surrounding Austria than Denmark I have a load more opportunities available to me.

 

[yescomeon]

Austria - UEFA Nations League Division A - 2026

​

View attachment 108934
View attachment 108933
This is my first Austria squad, I have gone for a strong a squad – per my coach reports – as possible. I have picked it myself based on playing the 451 I played at Randers, which I see as the tactic that best allows me to field my strongest players together…

View attachment 108928
The strongest 11 players in this squad, and almost the strongest 11 in the country are the following…

View attachment 108927
A really good, and young, goalkeeper, always good to have. His day job is at Napoli, where he is first choice.

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A familiar face. We know Achleitner from Randers, he is currently a bit-part player at Frankfurt, right back is not a strength in the national pool.

View attachment 108926
No real need for introduction for this guy. A well-known player, he’s still at Bayern, and getting game time. He is still our first choice left back.

View attachment 108925
A decent centre back, currently at Man Utd., who are farming him out, to Ligue 1 clubs the last 2 seasons.

View attachment 108924
This guy is a first team player for Southampton in the prem, he reminds me a bit of Risvanis from Randers.

View attachment 108923
Ball winning midfielder is a real weakness in the squad, at least ones who can play in the MC position. Mann is probably the best we have, it’s not his best position though. First teamer at Sturm Graz in the Austrian Prem.

View attachment 108922
My assistant thinks this is our best player, I don’t think he is far off. Mario will play the deep-lying-playmaker role. When not playing for Austria he players for Dortmund, regularly.

View attachment 108921
The right wing is another of our weaknesses. Murg, the Udinese winger is currently our first choice, but I am keeping an eye out for better.

View attachment 108920
Another Dortmund player, this one not such a regular, but I really like the look of this guy.

View attachment 108919
This guy looks good, he’s just moved to Villa in the championship, where of course he is a regular so far.

View attachment 108918
The Utd. man looks like a beast but his goal return is disappointing, for both club and country. Hopefully I can get more out of him.

View attachment 108917
Our first game is a friendly against Jamaica. Not a bad side but given the performance I would have wanted a bigger win, especially with them down to 10 men.

View attachment 108916
What are the chances? My first competitive game in charge of Austria and it’s against Denmark. Unfortunately, it’s a disappointing result. I have to say though, our left winger Florian Fliess has caught the eye with 2 man of the matches in 2 games.

View attachment 108915
An expected defeat to Spain, to keep it to 1-0 might just be a good result.

View attachment 108914
Terrible result, we got f**ked over a bit here, they had 1 clear cut chance to our 3. It was still a poor performance and we were well beaten. I changed up to the 433, I don’t think the 451 is going to work.

View attachment 108913
Our bad performance means were relegated from the top level of the international league.

View attachment 108911
Maybe this could be what we do now, we can just try and score more goals than the opposition. We played the whole game 433, it certainly wasn’t dull.

View attachment 108910
We went 2 down playing my old narrow diamond from my HIF days. I changed it to the 433 and we got 2 goals back and looks much better. I think I will play the 433 from now on.

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We my first competitive, if you can even call it that, games as Austria manager were a clusterf**k. We were relegated in from the European International League Division A without a single win.

 

[yescomeon]

Austria - UEFA European Championship Qualifying - 2027​

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Well, got to be happy with that draw. Denmark again! Will be good to go back to return to my adopted home. If we can’t qualify from that group, then we’re a shambles.

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A great result and some revenge on Denmark. A good hat-trick from Thuller. We went for the 433 from the off, the whole squad has been picked to play that way, and raised a few eyebrows in the press.

View attachment 108685
Nice to get the win, the performance was not as convincing as the last match.

I’ve applied for the jobs at Koln, Stuttgart and Shalke, not getting an interview at any.

View attachment 108684
We had 22 shots 9 goals first half, finished the game 13-0, my biggest win so far in FM17. A perfect 10 from Blechschmidt (striker) with 5 goals and an assist, a 9.9 for Thuller with 2 goals and 5 assists, and 4 goals on his debut for our young striker Milenkovic. They also never got a shot the whole game, perfect performance.

View attachment 108683
We set a goal record with that match.

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And no surprise we got the biggest win record.

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Another fine performance and another hat-trick for Thuller, who has really come alive with the 433.

The Bayern and Salzburg jobs came up and I applied for both but was offered an interview at neither.

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We went up 3 places in the world rankings, and set a new record.

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Another favourable draw, this time for the world cup Qualifiers. Being so high in the rankings is great.

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We get started on our hardest pair of games away against the Czech Republic and Denmark with a fantastic 4-0 win against the Czech Republic, and a hat-trick from Thuller.

View attachment 108675
For the first time we fail to win in the European Championship qualifying. We managed to pull things back to get a draw after going 2-0 down, then 3-1 down.

I have decided to dial back the job search and focus on the Austria job, see what is available after the world cup when I will step down regardless.

View attachment 108674
A new high in the world rankings.

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Thuller continues his goal-scoring exploits to fire us to another win.

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His goal-scoring in fact breaks a record.

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And gets us through the qualifying for the Euros.

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A fine handsome win away to Andorra, with goals spread all around the side.

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Fair play to Simon Achleitner, he’s been far better for me for Austria than he ever was for Randers.

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Another big win and another clean sheet, our 6th​ in this qualifying campaign. A hat-trick from Michael Blechschmidt who has done very well in this competition so far.

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Our final game of the qualifying stage and we blow Lithuania away on their home turf. A hat-trick for Michael Gregoritsch and seven unanswered goals. We have blown away the competition so far.

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Undefeated in qualifying, 46 goals in 10 games, only 5 conceded. We have looked fantastic so far.

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Our fine performances have seen us break our highest ranking record yet again.

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The best 11 for the year 2028 I think, although it says World Cup up the top so who knows, no idea why it is only coming through now if that is the case.

 

[yescomeon]

Austria - UEFA European Championships - 2028​

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We do okay, nothing spectacular, in a friendly against Algeria.

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Not the easiest group for the Euros. I’d like to think we can get out of it though, at least as runner up.

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Only 2 players missing with injury. I also picked 2 wingers, who can also play other positions (just about), so I can switch to 451 should I need/want to.

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We also got the draw for the European nations league. We drew Albania again, and also have a short trip to Switzerland. I'd like to think I can win that group and gain promotion back to Division A.

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Good to get off to a winning start David Alaba and Johann Thuller were out for 2-4 weeks and 1-6 days respectively at the start of the match. Albania gave us a much tougher game than I expected. They sat deep and looked to get us on the break and were dangerous. If a tougher team tries that against us then I think we will have to switch to the 451 as we are vulnerable on the break playing the 433.

View attachment 108559
Another win, and the same result. Johan Thuller still 1 day away from full fitness so was on the bench again. We got off to a great start with goals from Gregoritsch and Blechschmidt. Achleitner had an interesting first half, he got both the assists, he then gave away a penalty and got 2 yellow cards in a minute. I don’t know if they were both for the same incident or what. Thuller actually saved the penalty and made a string of impressive saves throughout the game. We managed to hold on despite conceding in the second half to see us through the group with a game to spare.

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Confirmation of meeting the boards expectation and progressing to the next round.

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We avoid defeat again to keep our impressive run going. We were without Achleitner through suspension and Alaba is still 6 days to 2 weeks away from fitness. Belgium played the same game Albania did, so I changed it to 451 after conceding and we were more in the game, still, Belgium were the better side and if anyone was going to win the match it was them.

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We finish the group stage top, undefeated, with 7 points from 3 games. Belgium came second with 5 points.

The rest of the groups finished like this:

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:'(

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Our good performances so far have given us a winnable fixture against Ireland in the second round.

The fixtures for the second round look like this:

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The winner of our game against Ireland will go on and play the winner of the Denmark Italy game in the quarter-final. The winner of that match would then go on to play one of France/Greece or Poland/Holland in the semi-final.

View attachment 108548
Ireland gave us a **** of a game, and I may have made the mistake of underestimating Walter Mazzarri’s side. We were still without Alaba who is now only out for 5-10 days. Ireland played a counter attacking 532(WB) which we struggled to break down in the first half. They came out in the second half with a 343. We broke them down after a mistake from their ‘keeper who rashly came out for a free-kick leaving an open goal for Kvasina to head home his first goal for Austria. Thuller then scored 2 goals in 5 minutes to make it 3-0. I decided to play a more conservative game to hold on to the lead. The Irish heads didn’t drop and they clawed back 2 goals, showing the typical Irish fight. I was worried but we held on to get the win.

Here’s the results from the rest of the games:

View attachment 108547
And the quarter-final games:

View attachment 108546
The winner of our game against Italy plays the winner of the France v Holland game in the semi-final, with the winner of that game taking on either England/Portugal or Turkey/Spain (England or Spain one would think).

Alaba, still 4 days away from full fitness was able to sit on the bench for this game Jakupovic is out for the rest of the tournament after picking up an injury only minutes after coming off the bench in the Ireland game, and Schwab is suspended after picking up a second yellow card of the tournament in the Ireland game. Italy play a 442, and have all tournament. So, I decide to stick with the 433 that has served me so well so far.

View attachment 108545
We can consider ourselves unlucky. We had two penalties saved. Our ‘keeper picked up a knock and it affected his game, a fully fit Thuller would never concede the goal he did for Italy’s equaliser. They got a second to put them ahead in injury time, we went all out for an equaliser, they got a third. We played most of the game 451 and played well. Italy were the favourite and are probably better than us so we did well, but given the chances we had we should have won.

The results from the other quarter-finals:

View attachment 108544
It’s a shame we lost, as I would have fancied our chances against Holland.

Semi-final results:

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Final:

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Past winners:

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A real Austrian legend, David Alaba, retires after the Euros. He won 169 caps and scored 20 goals for his country. He will be missed.

View attachment 108539
The board are pleased with our performance in the Euros. As am I. I can’t help but be a little disappointed with our luck in the Italy game, as we might have been able to make the final.

 

[yescomeon]

Austria - UEFA Nations League Division B - 2028

​

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​

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After the Euros, being the summer, I decided to look at what jobs were available. Two jobs interested me Borussia Mönchengladbach and Slavia Prague. Obviously BMG is the much better job, but Prague is Prague, and the one I’m more likely to have a chance at.

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I didn’t get the BMG gig, I’m not really surprised. The AC Milan job became available though, might as well send a hopeful CV that way.

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An interview, I’ve not had one of those in a while. No interview for the AC Milan job though, quelle surprise.

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Man, I got my hopes up.

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This squad has been picked to give the 451 another chance. I switched to it a lot during the Euros, and since trying last time, some very good wingers have come on the scene. This is the first squad since Alaba retired, and a new 17 year old left back prospect is in the squad, and he looks a very good prospect indeed.

Here are the 2 wingers that have changed my thinking on the formation:

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And here is Alaba’s long-term replacement.

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A decent enough performance and the result we wanted away from home. Lukas Kellnreitner made his debut in this match.

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A very disappointing result this. Thuller came out rashly and didn’t win the ball leaving the goal open for their equaliser. We changed it up to 433 but couldn’t break down their back 4 and 2 DM formation.

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Some fantastic defending and almost an equal measure of luck sees us beat Italy in a friendly. The will feel hard done by having 4 clear cut chances to our 0.

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We needed a big win as Switzerland had gone ahead of us on goal difference. A very good result, even without Thuller up front.

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I think our assistant might have a holiday home in Italy or something, he’s organised another away friendly against Italy. Italy were clinical, we were wasteful.

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A good win, Ott stepped up today with 2 goals. We got ourselves a nice handsome win which sees us top the group, and gain promotion to Division A.

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Final table, unbeaten. We go into the world cup qualifiers with another chance to have a go at the undefeated record – 17 games. We came within a game of it and the quarter final would have been 18.

 

[yescomeon]

Austria - FIFA World Cup Qualifying (UEFA) - 2029​

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The best 11 from the Euros came through, a lot of real quality performances in there.

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I had an interview for the Freiburg job in the Bundesliga, didn’t get the gig though.

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I have been thinking that I may have to go for a Bundesliga 2 job, however I’m a little hesitant about it. That said there is one job down there I would like and that is at alternative Kult club St. Pauli. Amazingly, despite getting an interview, I didn’t get the job. I’m pretty worried at this point.

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We matched our biggest ever win to get out world cup qualifying campaign off to a great start. Johann Thuller was on a 10 at half time. He finished the game with 9 goals and 2 assists, a hat-trick of hat-tricks. Ott finished the game with 2 goals and 5 assists.

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Thuller breaks the record for goals in a match and become Austria’s all-time leading goal-scorer, currently on 50 goals.

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A bit of a shock loss, but that is the hardest fixture of the campaign out of the way. We were unlucky but their pacey wingers caused us trouble on the break.

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I got myself an interview with Bremen, all the noise in the press is very positive.

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I said I didn’t fancy signing high profile players, I knew straight away that was a mistake, just say you’ll do it then don’t do it mun. Everyone lies in job interviews. That is easily the closest I have come to a job, and it was one in the Bundesliga too.

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Palermo have given me an interview. They have actually been relegated to Serie B, could be a good challenge to get them back up, I’d fancy getting the title if I were to get the job.

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A pretty routine win, Gerogia were more of a challenge than I expected truth be told but we put them away.

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Another big win for our collection, I expect there are 2 more to come. Six more goals and another perfect 10 from Thuller, he’s having quite the campaign.

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He has broken Ronaldo’s old goal-scoring record for the World Cup Qualifiers, in just 4 games, 18 goals, in 4 games. He’s going to set a record that will never be broken this year.

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Palermo came back and offered me the job. The wage offered was considerably lower than what I was on at Randers. Their reputation is considerably lower than Randers, lower even than Swansea in the championship. Also, being a long way from Vienna (I’m not going to give up the Austria gig for such a low wage) would make things difficult juggling the two jobs. So, after much deliberation, I turned them down (I actually didn’t notice they had been relegated when I applied).

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Terrible performance, we were lucky to come out of this game with anything, and it was at home. Ukraine beat Romania 3-0 away, we may well have to go through the playoff now. We’re 5 points of Ukraine now with 5 games to go.

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Back to winning ways with an expected result against Malta. Ukraine drew with Georgia so we make up some ground.

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A huge game against Ukraine. A win would have put us top. I was too worried about them getting us on the break which they always looked capable of doing. We couldn’t afford to lose, I would have rathered win but I’ll settle for a draw. We drop to 3rd​ as Romania won their game, but we play them next. We’re 3 points behind Ukraine and 2 points behind Romania with 3 games to go.

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A hard fought and imperative win. Ukraine expectedly beat San Marino so we had to win here to keep ourselves in with a chance of topping the group. We’re 3 points behind Ukraine with 2 games to go, both at home, against Georgia and San Marino, 2 winnable games. Ukraine have Romania and Malta at home, it’s going to be tight.

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A thumping win against Georgia, with Blechschmidt celebrating his 60th​ cap with 4 goals. Romania beat Ukraine which sends us top thanks to our enormous goal difference.

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As I expected, a good solid win against San Marino. With Thuller out injured Blechschmidt has stepped up to fill the void the last two games.

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That result sees us through to the World Cup in in Italy.

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We finish top of our group, automatically qualifying for the World cup. It was a close run affair, that’s for sure.

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:'( have to say no sorry, but one day.

 

[yescomeon]

Austria - FIFA World Cup - 2030 Italy​

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The draw for the World Cup group stage has been made. Not the worst draw ever, we have previous with Italy, the others I fancy my chances against them.

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I got an interview for the Sparta Prague job, I really want this one.

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I didn’t get the job

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Best 11 for 2029, quite a few players there averaging over an 8.

I’ve been applying for a host of jobs in the pre-January sales. The likes of Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Fiorentina, Freiburg, Maribor, Grasshoppers, Slovan Liberec, SV Ried, Young Boys, Lazio, Koln, Cheivo, Shalke and Bremen. I wasn’t offered any of the jobs. Not taking the Palermo job feels pretty stupid right now.

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It might look a bit like a smash and grab, but it wasn’t that bad. We scored the only clear cut chance of the game. Almost half of Germany’s shots were long shots, and a lot came at the end when they went 433 and it was attack vs defence. A pleasing performance showing we can mix it with the big boys, which we will no doubt have to do at the world cup. The defence were awesome in this game.

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Really tough decisions had to be made for this squad. I’ve gone for the same idea as the Euros, having a squad that can play both 451 and 433.

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A brutal draw for the Nations League, I think whoever replaces me will be relegated.

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The odds for the world cup have us as a 20-1 outside chance. Realistically we aren’t going to win it. But last time Ivory Coast won it so who knows.

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We started with the 451 and got an early goal. We kept the lead till the 70th​ minute. We were probably just about second best. I changed to the 433, because f**k it, it’s a friendly, and straight away we were better. I think the plan has to be wait for them to come at me then switch to the 433, obviously it only works if we get the early lead.

Didn’t get the INTER job.

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Welcome to Italia '30. Off to a losing start, we went down to the hosts. We were very much in it until the sending off. We need to bounce back now.

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We went out with a 433 from the start, I’ve beaten Chile with that formation in the past. It worked again. We’re back on course for the next round.

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A nice looking win, it sees us finish second and qualify for the second round.

The groups finished as follows:

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The second round:

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It’s going to take something special to beat Spain, but this is the world cup, it was always going to be tough. The winner of our match takes on the winner of the Poland v Morocco match.

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Disappointing as we were by far the better side up until the sending off. It was a ridiculous sending off. A straight red tackle miles out, player going nowhere. I went 432 (the 433 less a striker), maybe I should have been more cautious and played for penalties, who knows. It was always going to be a tough ask.

The results for the remainder of the world cup:

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It was always my intention when taking the job to do a single rotation (Euros and World Cup) then leave. So I stepped down to give some one else a crack at the job.

My record as Austria manager (1448 days, not 0):

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I'm pretty pleased with that. A very nice win percentage. No cups but that was always going to be hard with Austria.

My profile:

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My coaching stats haven't done much, then again, I haven't been doing much coaching. My reputation is now up to 3.5 stars, 70%, so I am pleased with that. Also fluent in German, handy as the Bundesliga is where I want to go.