Renovating the Cottage - A New Journey for Success

Seano

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BREAKING NEWS.
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Reports coming out of Craven Cottage at the moment indicate that Martin Jol has been sacked by the Fulham Board. Jol had previously been under fire from Cottager fans amid reports he had fallen out with Fulham legend Bobby Zamora. It is reported that Zamora had appeal to the board to “Act now or I will go elsewhere”. The Fulham fans were never sure of Jol’s ability to to carve a new path for Fulham. The Board have acted in order to keep the harmony in the squad and too keep the fans happy.
The Fulham board will now be taking applications for the vacant managerial position. The current Bookies odds-on-favourite seems to be Avram Grant , who is rumoured to be extremely interested in securing the Fulham hot seat. Other managers who may be in the mix are , Gordan Strachan , Steve Bruce and current Inter Milan boss Claudio Ranieri who is said to be eager to return to the English Premier League.


More updates to come as we get them…


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A little bit about myself..
This is my first ever FM Story , i only recently got the FM12 , although i have had every single game since Championship manager 01/02. so go easy on me , but constructive criticism is very much welcome. I decided to go for a Fulham story after their recent crash out of the Europa League , and thought it would be a good start for a string of stories.
I hope to be able to get monthly updates every day or so , depends on schoolwork but i will let you know if i run into any trouble. Oh and please , don't mind the poor graphic work it's my first time trying anything like this.

I'll be posting the next update in the next hour or so once i get some artistic typing done haha , wish me luck :)
 
Will be following. Had a Fulham story on here but lost the save.
Good luck :)
 
Will be following, am a Fulham fan so interested in how others will approach our team..
 
Statement from Mohammed Al-Fayed:
“It is with great displeasure , that the board of directors and I must announce the removal of Martin Jol as Manager of Fulham Football Club. We came to this decision after we held dicussions with club captain , Bobby Zamora over the treatment of squad members and the drop in club harmony and morale. As of now we are currently looking for a replacement to take over the reigns as manager. We hope to have a decision made soon, although we will not rush into any decision. We want to be sure of our decision to ensure that the squad is completely prepared for the upcoming season and Europa League fixtures. Thank you.”


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Press Conference from Craven Cottage:


James Murphy (BBC SPORT) : “You sit here as the new Manager of Fulham. Is this your dream job?


Sean Collum:
“ I am absolutely delighted the chairman has trusted me with this position , it certainly is a dream come true for me.”


Darragh Craig (Daily Mirror) : “ You sit here as a replacement for Martin Jol, who was unable to bring success to Craven Cottage. Do you feel you are the right person to take the club forward? “


Sean Collum:
“ I am confident and ready to work, sometimes pressure is good. It brings the best out of managers ”


Jack Campbell (BBC Radio) : “ The facilities at this club are fantastic, are excited at the prospect of working in this environment? “


Sean Collum :
“ I am delighted with the facilities we have here, I am eager to being working as soon as possible”


Jason Thompson (The observer) : “Do you already have an idea of the players that feature in your plans , and those who don’t?”


Sean Collum:
“It would be unfair to make definite plans on the players without seeing them play first. Everyone will be given a chance”


Harry Bowler (London Evening Standard) : “ How involved are you intended to be in the day-to-day running of the club? “


Sean Collum:
“ I would like to be involved as much as time allows me”


Georgie Thompson (Sky Sports News) : “Good morning Mr. Collum, can you give us an insight on your management style?”


Sean Collum:
“Good Morning Georgie , looking fine as always. I will promise the fans attractive, (a bit like yourself love) football , a quick tempo , nice passing and allround beautiful football”


Press Officer:
“That will be all for today , thank you”


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Coming up soon.. a post on the point of view of the new Manager , diary format , personal etc.Will be up tonight hopefully , but more than likely tomorrow , once i get back from school.
Any suggestions so far?​
 
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Thanks man! I'll have a read of yours :) What do you mean by "proper" story? :p
Update is on it's way. Probably will be the last of tonights , i need some sleep soon.

Proper as in some good, creative writing, not just some screenshots saying "This is my story, look" :p

KUTGW :D
 
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Dear Diary,

“Phew… glad to get that day over. Quite hectic and nerve wrecking didn’t expect it to be that rough in the conference room, but I think Georgie has a thing for me. Can’t really believe this happening to me.. Never in a million years did I think I would reach this level in my managerial career, a bit of a gamble on Fulham’s behalf , but hey I’m not complaining. Tomorrow I meet the staff and players for a pre-season meeting. Need to familiarise myself with the team and work out the most suitable tactic for them. The team looks fairly good on paper but I’d like to bulk up the squad a bit , lacking depth. Will have celebrate this weekend , invite a few of the lads over for a few drinks maybe head over the Jessica’s place for “ a bit on the side”.
I better get some sleep soon , but dammit I swear of got insomnia these last few days , ever since the interview with Mohammed whathisface I’ve been having trouble sleeping. Hopefully it’s only temporary. Anyways, my first day in charge of Fulham, hectic and I’m already feeling the pressure.”


Until next time…
Seano

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Proper as in some good, creative writing, not just some screenshots saying "This is my story, look"
:p

KUTGW​
:D


Thanks man, appreciate the comments! That is for tonight , but i'll have some game updates tomorrow , Possible signings , tactics , aims , so on and so forth. Goodnight guys! Don't forgot to drop some suggestions!​
 
Update sometime around 6-8pm!

EDIT: I'm working tonight , i'll try and get it written up before i go work then i'll upload it when i get back! Sorry for the wait!
 
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Dear Diary,


“ Just got back from the office there. Had a meeting with the board today. Discussing transfer policies , how the financial status is and how we can improve. Unfortunately I’ve only been given a measly £250,000 to spend on transfers. Not much to work with there , will definitely have to offload some players to raise some funds. Although we won’t be getting much of that revenue , there’s a big hefty loan to be paid. There is some good news though.. I’ve got a decent wage budget they will allow up to £725,000 in wages and we’re currently spending around the £660,000, so I’ve a bit of room to manoeuvre there. Pre-season expectations are to finish comfortably mid-table which isn’t too much to ask, but I believe with the current squad we have , plus a few possible signings we can challenge for a Europa League spot! Met the staff today aswell , seriously need to think about the backroom staff , it still has a few of Jol’s buddies and I’m not sure the squad will be to happy with that , plus , they don’t seem as good as they should be , but I’m willing to give them a chance to show what they are worth. I decided to watch the training from the stands today, pretended to be a scout or a journalist just in the stands , seem to work okay. I’m fairly pleased to see the players at work , I’m very excited at working along side the likes of Ireland Legend Damien Duff and Bryan Ruiz , who looks like an extreme talent! Although, the squad seems to lacks a few defenders , if Hangeland gets injured we’re screwed! I’ve got to talk to the scouts to see what they have for me , might try and get a few loans from Top European clubs , I see Thiago is on the loan list from Barcelona! Anyways, I gotta go now , check out some coach reports and make a few phone calls from a few of my buddies from the Coaching school to see if there’s any bright coaches available, and among other tasks!”




Yours sincerely,
Seano.

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I'll have a few Key moments coming later tonight! Thanks for your patience!
 
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"I was really eager to get straight into the business of transfers. First position I’m looking at , is the right back position , I’m not really confident in Chris Baird. I’ve looked at a few players , sent a few scouts out so nothing solid yet, but before I begin any negotiations , we have a European cup tie to play against Santa Caloma from Andorra. I don’t think it will be to much of a challenge. I’ve decided on a 4-4-2 formation , with my own littles tweeks here and there , in the testing phase yet may have to alter it , but fingers crossed! We've got to remember , these guys are competing in Europe for a reason , let's not take them lightly!"


*PRE-MATCH*
The boys are looking fairly confident, good to see. Although this is my first match managing Fulham this year , they've already had a few games , including the home leg against Santa Columa. I'm not paying much attention to that result though , i'm only concerned about tonight and a confident good performance and a win. I'm not expecting a massive scoreline , as long as its a good performance and the players look confident!
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*POST-MATCH*
Don't think i could have hoped for a better result! Unbelievable performance , took our chances and defended admirably! A Hat-trick for Moussa Dembele is sure to give him a boost of confidence , certainly features in my plans! Just to show how dominant we were, we had 63% of the possession , they had one shot , 0 on target and that came at the last minute of the match! A total of 28 attempts on goal and about 12 on target , not that great of a ratio but all that matters is that we challenge the keeper quite alot. It was a very enjoyable game to watch and what makes things even better is , not one player from the home or away sides were booked!
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The media were hailing Dembele with praise , he looked delighted! Fans were over the moon with the dominant performance are eager to see our next European fixture, which we go too....Lithuanian side FK Suduva. Never heard of these guys either , but football is full of surprises!

SCOUTING-TRANSFERS
I've been spending the last few hours looking for a right back to cover Baird whenever he's tired/injured with the congested fixture list coming up. My main target was Arne Fried who was just recently released , but unfortunately he has a slipped disc and is out for 4 months , so thats a no can do. Other than that i've only been sending scouts out and don't want to spoil anything else. Don't worry i'll let you know when i've a player coming in.

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will have an update for you's later on this evening , i've got football to go to now.




 
*EUROPA LEAGUE*
We played Suduva FK next in the Europa league , at home i expected a fairly good performance and coming away with a comfortable league , decided to stick with the same starting line up i used against Santa Coloma.
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I got the win we wanted , a very dominated match just like before. 61% possession this time around with 24 attempts at goal , but only 4 hitting the target. Slightly worried about that ratio , we'll see how it gets on in the next leg. As for the final result...
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I'm not pleased with the 2-1 scoreline , it'll be tough to go away from home with only a one goal advantage. Seeing as we had 24 attempts , i feel we should be hitting the net alot more , although i am pleased with the performance. Unfortunately Bryan Ruiz got injured in this match and will be out for about 3 months , going to be tough without him, may have to get a loan replacement from one of the bigger teams.

*TRANSFER NEWS*
I've made an offer to loan Thiago from Barcelona for the season paging all his wages and an option to buy for 12million. Hopefully that can go through , give us a bit of steel in midfield. I have made an offer for a wing back.. seems to be popular on alot of stories here , but i only found him because of scout reports. I may have Vrsajiko on the way! Nothing solid yet made and offer of around 1.4million or so.

As for players going out the way... Borussia Dortmund have made an offer of around 1million pounds for Grygera after i transfer listed him and set him as not needed by the club. Major interest coming Stephen Kelly , who i will be selling , i've had 3 offers of around 1.5million for him , from Ipswich , Swansea and Southampton. Not i'm just waiting on someone to make an offer for Gecov , who is only rated , a star and a half. Hopefully with these funds i can sign a few quality players.

*PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES*
Sent my reserve squad out for the pre-season friendly against Kidderminister as i've the second leg of the Europa league in a few days. Still comfortably beat them:
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Not much to say about this one , it's only a friendly and my reserve squad so i'll move onto the next Europa League match.

*EUROPA LEAGUE*
I'm expecting a good performance tonight , we need to show a bit more consistency infront of goal. Had to make a few changes due to injuries to Ruiz and Senderos(Even though he's just on the bench). So , i've moved Dempsey out to the right and Steve Sidwell in the centre:
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VERY happy with this performance , very confident from the lads and two goals for Dembele which stick him to the top of the goalscoring charts.

 
From now on i'm just going to do monthly updates. Any suggestions?
 
Update on the way..

Is there any interest in this ? I would love some help or suggestions.. it's my first story and i want to improve so let me know where i can improve.
 
*FRIENDLY*
Fulham FC VS Villarreal.
Up next was a home friendly against Villarreal , a real test but i was confident seeing as we are in good form.
I sent out a second string squad for this match because of the europa league.
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Very pleased with this result , it only took our second team to beat them! Fairly even match aswell, good for confidence and morale!

*EUROPA LEAGUE*
1st Leg VS Legia Warsaw

Up next in the Europa league was Legia Warsaw of Poland, i'm not quite sure what to expect from these so i'm going to be a bit cautious. It's never and easy game in the Europa League. Bryan Ruiz is back for this match, and to be honest... i'm not quite sure how , one minute he's injured the next he's not but hey i'm not complaining. Straight back into the squad , but with Duff injured i've switched him over to the left.
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Another pleasing performance , we're getting better infront of goal. MOTM was Bobby Zamora , glad to see him performing well!

*FRIENDLY*
Fulham FC VS Corinthians.
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Very unhappy with this performance. Getting increasingly worried about finishing! We're not taking our chances. Bobby Zamora also broke his ankle which is really not helping the cause.


*EUROPA LEAGUE*
2nd Leg VS Legia Warsaw
Seeing as we won 0-4 away from home in the first leg , i want a similar if not better performance at home , injured Zamora is being replaced by Andy Johnson , hopefully that won't effect our performance that much!
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Another very good performance. Defence was rock solid, alot of oppurtunities but again didn't hit the net as much as i liked considering we had so many on target. Johnson played very well so i'm confident he can fill in the boots of Zamora. Aaron Hughes was award the MOTM award , quality defending and a nice goal to add to his performance.


*TRANSFERS*
Not much to say in the transfer window , managed to sell Stephen Kelly to Swansea for 1.8million pounds in installments and i got Thiago in for a Loan from Barcelona , could add some good steel to the team! Still looking for a few more players but nothing solid yet.

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That's it for this update. Might have another one coming up tonight!​
 
Fulham 2-0 Racing Club S.A.D
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One sided match , fantastic performance and the Spanish side weren’t much of a challenge. MOTM for Damien Duff on his return from injury. This match marks the end of the pre-Season , a fairly pleasing pre Season, including Europa League , we had 11 matches , won 11 and lost 1 , can’t ask for much better!


TRANSFER NEWS
Signed Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley for 3million pounds , got a 4star report so decided to splash the cash on him as I was in need of a reliable left winger , and Duff was getting old. Fans were slightly annoyed at this signing but I’m confident he can pull it off in this league. I’ve read a few stories with him playing quite well.
Loaned out Dan Burn for 3 months, I’ll always accept a loan over for a player who’s not in my first team plans.


Press Conference:
Ben Carter , The Sunday Mirror: “ You sit here alongside new signing Joe Ledley , are you pleased to have signed him? “


Sean Collum
“ I am delighted to have him onboard , Joe has an endless amount of ability he’s performed well in the SPL and I’m hoping he can deliver in this league aswell”

Jack Summers, K!CK Magazine : “What is the relationship between you and Joe Ledley and why did he want to work under you?”


Sean Collum
“I have a great respect for Joe , and I look forward to working with him”


John Mascot, The Guardian : “ Do you agree with the assumption that this is a bit of a coup for Fulham, given the status of the player and the club?”


Sean Collum
“Some people may be surprised but I think this just shows the positive steps the club are taking in moving forward”


Jason Bourne, London Evening Standard: “Some Fulham fans have concerns over the amount of money spent on this signing , what are your views ? “


Sean Collum:
“I’m not really concerned , we worked hard to negotiate this transfer and I think the price was fair for both parties”


Press Officer : “That is all the time we have today, thanks you.”


Premier League Preview:
Well the premier league is just around the corner and with an opening fixture against Manchester United it’s not going to be an easy start. This season I’m hoping we can solidify another Europa League spot which brings in some cash , and then get that loan out of the way then we can concentrate on moving up the table.


Fulham 1 - 0 Manchester United
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What a win! We completely dominated them! A red card for Rafael In the 10th minute helped , but still I’m so proud of the lads! 27 attempts on goal , that’s a staggering figure but I did tell them to shoot on sight. I would of taken a draw at the start of the match , but when half time came I had a sneaky feeling we could win it, it took up until the 85th minute before the only goal came , and it came from Andy Johnson. A tidy assist from Joe Ledley aswell, which should settle the fans concerns about him! MOTM went to Chris Baird for his defensive duties , looks like I was wrong about him at the start. Really impressed with him, but he’s out for 3 weeks now and I still haven’t got a back up RB.


Stromsgodset 4-5 Fulham
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0-5 up at half time , I thought it was over , team talk didn’t go great I let ****(Yes that’s his name) Jol take the team talk and told them to overload the other team , BIG mistake. Conceding 4 goals in the second half was shocking , but I think Jol is to blame. Still the first half was unreal , dominated the whole 45minutes.


Bolton 1-0 Fulham
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Not a great performance, away from home but I do understand that the players are tired from the midweek fixture. I’m confident we can bounce back. We were very unlucky a sending off near the end and conceding a minute after added time which I thought was ridiculous!


Fulham 3-1 Stromsgodset (2nd Leg)
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Another good performance in the Europa League Aaron Hughes’ presence was missed in the back 4 though. Another striker injury plagues the team , but I replaced Johnson with Ruiz and it pulled off well. Ruiz getting a nice goal to add to his flourishing Fulham career. That marks the end of the Europa League Qualifying rounds , glad to get to the group stages where we can get some cash, but all and all it was a tiring campaign leading up to the group stages and I’m hoping we can land an easy enough group! Dembele is the player of the Qualifying campaign scoring a total of 8 goals , the top goalscorer so far!


There’s a total of 8 players unavailable for the next 2 matches , this task is getting more difficult every passing game.
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I’ll have another big update for you guys soon Hopefully I can get more readers and suggestions , I really hope a few people are reading this.​
 
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