From Bulgarian Minnows to Porto... and Beyond

[Tk1129]

First of all, I am at a computer terminal at school and I still haven't figured out how to post my screenshots to an image-hosting site online, so screenshots will be coming soon.

I started off my game with Rila (Belitsa), who are a Bulgarian amateur team, that no longer exist.

Right off the bat I had to edit the database to maky my team playable.

I had to change their status to professional, create a stadium of 1500 (instead of the default 200), the stadium is much bigger in real life actually. I put them in the appropriate division in Bulgaria (Western B). Did something sneaky which was add a youth academy to my team (very rare in Bulgaria). Also gave myself wage budget and finances which were equal to the last placed team in the division (fair I think)

When I started, I was offered a 4 year deal and all my players and staff were regens.

It was a tremendous hurdly trying to convince any player to join my team (my reputation was only 200). However i found that by loaning in players was a good bet, because the team made the decision on whether to send their players out and it wasn't made based on reputation, but how much playing time they would get. Needless to say i loaded up on a load of talented 18 year olds and my wage budget was almost gone.

I managed to win promotion in my first season, after being stronhly tipped for relegation (based on my reputation I think as the next worst team had a reputation of 2200) and every match I was facing odds of 50-1 (again based on reputation I think)

Will continue later, with screenshots.

 

[Roonaldo]

Good luck mate

 

[jswigan]

Best of luck

I'll look back and forth

 

[The Shots]

Looks good, are you from Bulgaria? Just asking?

 

[Tk1129]

Ok. I am back home and as promised I would be updating my story with pictures.

Background

The Team I started with was Rila (Belitsa). I am from Bulgaria and I lived there for about 14 years. Its a very small town - roughly 3000 people and I remember we had an amateur team named Rila (Belista), which i probably saw play maybe 5 times in the 14 years i lived there. I was surprised that it was actually in the database and after doing some heavy editor work to make my team playable I was ready to take charge.

I started off unemployed and thankfully they hired me straight away with a 400 euro/week contract for 4 years. Every player and backroom member were all regens and considering my reputation was 200 as opposed to 2000 for the next worst team in the Bulgarian Western B group, I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Just so you have some idea about how small of a club we're talking heres a google maps screenshot.



BTW the big green patch in the middle is our stadium

I also am sorry for not having a lot of pictures from my first few seasons as I started taking screeenshots much later in the game.

More updates coming soon.

 

[udbhav45]

good luck mate i'll keep an eye

 

[Tk1129]

FIRST SEASON SUMMARY

I had an incredibly successful first season, considering the team I was managing. I won promotion and made it pretty far in the domestic cup. Since I could only sign the crappiest players, because noone was interested in coming, I relied heavily on loaning in youngsters, who were grateful for first team football.

Off the top of my head, I remember loaning in Jan Zapotoka, Kostadin Adzhov, Tsvetan Filipov, etc.

Here's how I finished the Season:





Following my incredible run in the league and cup, as well as being hailed for "surprising" promotion, I had been favoured by a lot of my load players and my team had been favoured by many of them as well. This was important as I loaned to buy a lot of those players in my second season to keep continuity.
I also forgot to mention a takeover occurred in the first season and my new chairman was very happy to spash cash on improving training/youth facilities and expanding the stadium.

Will soon update with second season summary. Thx for those checking in.

 

[Roonaldo]

Great season mate (H). Well done on promotion

 

[dazdazdaz]

nice story mate well done

 

[valya]

I am Bulgarian too! I support Levski!

 

[Tk1129]

Ok. It's about time I did an update.

Season 2 Summary:
Having been promoted in the first division in Bulgaria "A Group" I got to work early, signing a few experienced players on free transfers and a lot of my talented youngsters that came on loan - to loan to buy deals. I also manager to pick up a swedish kid, who has turned out to be a great wonderkid and is now playing in Valencia and is in the running for world player of the year. He scored 6 free kicks for me and they were all stunning top drawer stuff.
After the promotion my club's reputation went to over 3500 and I was now able to attract suitable players. I signed a few youngsters for Nigeria as well as a few great cheap signings from the likes of Tunisia and other lesser known countries.
I was projected for finish 10th, which i thought was overestimating my odds considering at the time the predictions were made my squad was half-way complete.
I thought I would just be making it out of relegation, but I overestimated the competitiveness of the league and I was fighting for the title by season's end. Most of the major players in Bulgaria were struggling (CSKA, Litex, Loko), expect for Levski who seemed to tear through the opposition. Probably a major reason why I didn't win the title. I finished 2nd.
I was however able to bring the first significant piece of silverware to the club - winning the Bulgarian Cup 2-1 against Litex. It also put up my first points in the hall of fame and I was beggining to be linked with every club imaginable in Bulgaria.
Here are the final standings in my second season - notice that it may seem close, but Levski actually went unbeaten until the 25th game of the season, and it got close at the end when the title was already lost

Here is how my road to the cup looked

My confidence screen at the end of the season


Thanks for checking out my story and I will soon update with season 3 summary.

 

[Tk1129]

SEASON 3 SUMMARY:

My third season at Rila was my most successful to date. A number of factors contributed to this success. All my main rivals were struggling, my team has started to blend well together, considering it has been put together from scratch 2 seasons ago, my wonderkid Jonsson was developing at extraordinary rates and was now an swedish international, I was finally able to get over 4 stars coaching on everything, and many more.

I had a few stumbling blocks along the way. The club was going to change ownership for the second time in 3 seasons and the new chairman was not so keen on me, despite being top of the table, in the bulgarian cup and on route to qualify from the group stages of the UEFA cup.
Observe:

Specific mention about replacing me:

My performance in the UEFA cup was admirable by my club's standards. I was not expected to even qualify for the group stages, but came in second in a tough group that included Hoffenheim, Braga and club Brugge. Unfortunately at the first knockout stage I was up against it versus Tottenham. Though I lost 3-0 on aggregate the games were surprisingly close with my team hitting the woodwork 3 times, before Tottenham's late winner.

---------- Post added at 11:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 PM ----------

SEASON 3 SUMMARY (continued)

Here are the standings in my third season:

I finished 10 points clear, brining the first top flight championship to the club. My goal difference was also pretty good compared to everybody else. This solidified my favoured status with the club and perhaps swayed the new chairman's opinion about replacing me.
But I wasn't done.

Though, it was a relatively weak cup competition, with the top teams getting knocked out by second division sides, I was still happy to win it. In the final I played Montana (second division side) and there was never any doubt as to who the winner would be, as I completely dominated the match. My (and the club's) first domestic double.

(I don't know why the screenshot is not of the specific news iteam, but you can see a 'do the double' news item in the bunch)

The chairman has decided to keep me and my facilities have been upgraded to rival some of the best clubs in europe. I had a hefty transfer budget for a bulgarian club and a wealth of young talent. However my club reputation was still relatively low and a lot of my players were being tapped up by bigger clubs. With champions league qualification battle looming and an uphill struggle to keep my players, I knew next season would be especially difficult.

---------- Post added at 12:30 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 11:31 PM ----------

SEASON 4 - OFF-SEASON

After my successful third season I knew I had a very tough task ahead of me, especially when it came to keeping my players. A lot of them wanted to move to bigger clubs and were regularly tapped up by other managers.

I did something, which I can honestly say I regret, which is resign from my hometown club. Yes, I turned my back on the fans, lost my favored status and left the empire which I had built in 3 seasons to crumble.

The impact could be felt immediately, with important staff members quitting and players reacting negatively to my departure. I have always had a very strong relationship with my players.

The season my resignation was part due to the feeling, that it would simply take too long to win a european trophy with this team. As soon as a team in Bulgaria gets competitive in Europe, other clubs pounce and try to pry away all the talent. I didn't think it was impossible, I just didn't want to wait.
The other major reason was the interest being shown in me by major European clubs. Sunderland were considering me a contender for the manager job and an interesting news item pointed me out as the odds-on favourite to take over at Atletico Madrid.

Feeling confident about my chances, I patiently waited and applied first for the Sunderland position (my first choice). My application was rejected as Sam Allardyce took over (he was the favourite to do so). This only reinforced my belief that the Atletico Madrid job would be mine. I was already relishing the opportunity to utilize Aguero in my 4-2-3-1 formation. To my utter disbelief my application was turned down.

So it was my downfall after all.
September rolled around and all the leagues were now in full swing, while I was still jobless. Fulham and Portsmouth had pursued me in the summer, each making multiple approaches, but somehow I wasn't keen on the idea.
October was a month with a lot of activity. Several major clubs had lost confidence in their managers (A.C. Milan, Juventus, Arsenal, Liverpool), so I decided to gamble and express interest in those jobs. I was laughed off, despite having a 'Continental' reputation and (presumably) being good enough for Atletico and Sunderland. This made my decision to resign seem even more stupid. I began to wonder if I would have to take a job at a side like Portsmouth, but I wanted to compete in Europe immediately, not wait 3 seasons before I can qualify (something I had left at home, as my team was competing in the Champions league).
November - Almost no activity in the job centre. The only sides looking for managers were french league two sides. I started to feel desperate, as even the Championship sides which I had rejected no longer had positions available. I was regretting my rash decision to resign.

...but then a quick shuffle of managers would put me right back in the driver's seat in charge of a capable team and back in European contention. Fiorentina had suddenly sacked their coach and before I could even apply for the job, Krasimir Balakov (former Stuttgart midfielder) was appointed the new Viola boss.
Porto (Balakov's current team) were now without a manager and to my surprise and delight, they approached me right away. I decided to hold out for a week and ask them to delay, as I was still hoping a top European side will come for me, as my value seemed high at that moment. No other offers came, so I accepted Porto's offer. Despite my wish to move to a top league (England, Germany, Italy or Spain), I was content that my side could still be a dark horse in the Champions League, with a big of luck and a few signings.

And so began my Porto career. I had inherited a pretty strong team that had won the double the previous season and were currently top of the table in Liga Sagres (after 13 games) and top of the table in their champion's league group. I was given a transfer budget of 18 million euro and a wage budget that was about 10 times larger than what I had in Rila. I was feeling confident about taking the club even higher.
Interesting note: (Jose Mourinho supported my appointment as manager, possbly because I had been praising him every month for the past 3 seasons).

My new goals:
I had decided to reconsider my goals with the team and as a manager and I had come up with the following goals for myself:
- win the Champions League with a side outside of Italy, Germanym England, France and Spain
- win the domestic double with Porto
- win the Champions League more times than any other manager
- hold out for an international job with a strong country like Argentina, Brazil, Spain, etc and win the world cup
- leave Porto as one of the favored personnel
- Move to a club in England, Spain or Italy and challenge myself in a more competitive league.
- Get to the top spot in the hall of fame