South America Journeyman

[JamieLauder]

I've not really done this sort of thing before, properly 'blogging' or writing about my save, but that's exactly what I'll be trying to do here. My name's Jamie, and I'm an Academy footballer, who over the last few days has picked up a pretty serious injury, putting me out for quite some time. In order to fill up some time (and stick to a save), I'll be writing it up here, on the FM Base forums.

As you can tell from the title of this thread, I'll be running a journeyman in South America. I'm starting unemployed, with no coaching badges, 20 years old, with a Sunday League playing career to fall back on. I'm not entirely sure what jobs I'll be able to go for, but with the top 2 divisions of Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Chile and Uruguay loaded - as well as the Peruvian First Division loaded - hopefully someone will be stupid enough to give me a job.

I don't really know what the aim of the save is. To win the Copa Liberatadores? To win the Club World Cup? I'll just go as far as I can go and hope for the best.

I've decided, to make it a little bit more random, I'd only apply for the recommended jobs. To my surprise, there is one team that might want me - Club Atlético Villa Teresa, of the Uruguayan Second Professional Division. Let's go for it.

Several weeks later...

What have I done? Some time's went by and the only team to have a sniff was Villa Teresa. Spoiler - I accepted the job, then had a horrible realisation. I WAS SIGNED ON FOR A MONTH INTO THE SEASON. The season starts in June, and I've got a contract until May. Then I looked at the Uruguayan league structure and thought back to the board's expectations 'Avoid Relegation'..I'm playing in a league where there is no relegation! This is NOT going to be a walk in the park. Tomorrow, I'll run you through some of the club's history, aims, and pre-season.


Thanks for reading!

Edit: I should probably add that I'll be attempting to post an update every day, containing at least a month's worth of information. Also, after reloading the save, I realised that I didn't add Brazil's 3rd division! Rest assured, it'll be in the game from the start of next season. If you're a big fan of Brazil's third tier then I can only apologise haha.

 

[StormToChampion]

Ohh, looks an interesting challenge. Will be checking this thread regularly. As for me, will do asia journeyman once i get 22 in june

 

[JamieLauder]

Hello! In this second installment, I'll be attempting to give you some information about Club Atletico Villa Teresa and my aims for the season, or should I say the first month of the season...

Villa Teresa

The reason I'm 'attempting' to inform you about Villa Teresa, is because there isn't much information about them anywhere on the internet! Their Wikipedia page and FM profile contain little, and after seeing that Wiki says they were founded in 1941, and FM says 1942, I don't know what to think. 3 different sources have given me 3 different stadium capacities, but in Football Manager, the Estadio José Nasazzi holds 5,002 people and is shared by Villa Teresa, Bella Vista, and Albion - who play in the same league as us. One thing I know for certain, is that Villa Teresa have only won 4 trophies in their 79/80 year history. 3-time champions of the Uruguayan 3rd tier and winners of the 1975 Uruguayan 4th tier. They've spent one season in the Uruguayan top flight, getting relegated swiftly, finishing bottom of the Primera Division.

Club Vision

This season, we're expected to avoid relegation. I know in yesterday's introduction, I said that there wasn't relegation, but after researching, I was proved wrong, and learned of the league's 'Average Points' system. This essentially takes your points total from the current season and previous season, then divides it by the 44 games played. We're currently in a good position and are out of the bottom two, who are in danger of relegation. The bottom placed team goes down, and the 11th placed team goes into a relegation playoff with a team from the First Amateur Division (third tier).

It's a little different at the other end of the table. Promotion is decided on just this season. First and Second place get automatic promotion, and 3rd-6th go into the playoffs - similarly to the English Championship. I doubt we'll be worrying about that with the club predicted to finish 11th come the end of the season. Surprisingly, there is no Opening and Closing stage, just one season, different to a lot of leagues in South America. A team is only allowed 3 foreign players in the starting 11. I'm not sure if you can bring on foreign subs amounting to more than 3 on the pitch at one time, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I won't run through the Primera Division just yet, because I don't think we need to worry about it just yet.

In the next update, I'll run through the squad, make a tactic, and hopefully sim to the start of the season.

Thanks for reading!

 

[JamieLauder]

Hello! In this installment, I'll be going through (a 3 month!) pre-season and trying to form a squad that's competitive for the Uruguayan Second Professional Division.

There's a few worrying things that I pick up when first looking around the club. To start, the best player in the team, Marcos Montiel, is on loan at River Plate. I didn't have high expectations, that wouldn't be a problem, I thought. Then I looked at the staff situation. All I've got is a goalkeeper coach. This needs to be sorted out asap.

The first team meeting didn't go very well either, but I presume that's because I'm the only one at the club who speaks English in a predominantly Spanish speaking nation.

I'm going to run through until the first game of the season now and do a past-tense write up of all that happens.


Okay, I’m interrupting this break with an update. It’s April, and I thought I’d ask for a new contract. We’re going through and I’m just pressing the general ‘Convince’ options, until I realise that I’ve accidentally agreed to a promise. It can’t be too bad, I thought, and it wasn’t. Improve the squad morale by the end of the season. Then I read: “You should be aware that failure to live up to the promises you have made here could result in the termination of your contract.” Ah S#1T.

Pre-Season - DONE!

Overall, I’d say it was a fairly positive pre-season. We won 3 of the 6 games played, losing 2 and drawing the other. I was really impressed with the victory over top-flight Villa Espanola, of whom we dominated possession and deservedly got the win. We then didn’t manage a win in our next 3, losing to First Professional Division (top-flight) Cerrito and Cerro, 2-0 each. I’m not overly disappointed with these results - we’re expected to get relegated, teams in the league above are none of my concern. What I wasn’t pleased with, was the draw with Bella Vista. It was a game that I expected to win against a team from a lower-division, but it wasn’t meant to be against our city rivals. To boost morale, I thought we’d end pre-season with 2 easier games and we picked up two wins against Darling and Los Zorzales to round off the friendlies.

Transfers and Squad Overview

In this section, I'm just going to run-through the new transfers brought in, show you a screenshot of the whole squad and take a deeper look at who, in my opinion, is the key player and hot prospect.

Yefferson Moreira

Yefferson Moreira was the first signing I made in this transfer window. I noticed that we had one of the youngest squads in the league so I wanted a signing with a bit of experience and who better than someone who's already played for the club? Yefferson's returned for his second spell at the club, and he's a solid option! He's really good at set-pieces and is already in the Core Social Group so he's doing exactly what I wanted him to in the dressing room.

Matias Tavares

Tavares was brought in to be a rotation option with Christian Alba. He's 24, so quite experienced compared to the rest of the squad, and a really good player for this level.

Federico Fernandez

Fernandez is a breakthrough prospect, but I think he'll play a bigger role than that this season. A young Uruguayan with bags of potential, he's one that I'm really excited about for the coming years.

Lucas Rodriguez and Emiliano Alvarez

Lucas Rodriguez and Emiliano Alvarez are two loanees from Defensor Sporting, the favourites for promotion. They're two versatile players that could really be impressive this year, and best of all - we don't have to pay them a penny! Expect them both to play major roles this season.



Squad Overview

Here you can see the full first-team squad sorted by current ability. I think it's a really talented group that can comfortably survive this season. That might come back to bite me, but I'm confident! It's a 24-man squad, but we can register up to 99 players so no worries on that front.

Key Player - Matías Caseras

I've chosen Matias Caseras as the Key Player in the squad. There were a few options I could've went for, but I think Caseras will be the most important player as we go through the season. He'll predominantly play as a Deep-Lying Playmaker, which suits his trait to dictate the tempo.

Hot Prospect - Santiago Boccia

Santiago Boccia's a weird one. I didn't think he was going to play a big role initially, but the poor form of Tabares, combined with the impressive appearances of Boccia have led to him being the starter in the first game of the season. He's only 20 and has bags of confidence and potential.

Tactic

This is the tactic I'm going to roll with for the start of the season. The main aim is to use possession as the best form of defence. I don't want to over complicate things at the back, so we've went with a flat back 4. Just ahead of them is a 3-man midfield comprised of 2 DMs, and one just in-front. This is mainly to protect the defence, but also to have Caseras in a more dictatorial role. The CM-At might be altered to a BBM, if I feel like he's getting in the way of the DLF, who I want to link the midfield and attack. The IFs on either side should be the forefront of the attack, making runs in-behind and bringing firepower up top.

In the next update, we'll start the season and hopefully get off to a good start against Albion, at home.

Thanks for reading!

 

[JamieLauder]

Hello! I've got to report that things aren't going well and for some reason, a month into the season, there's a 2 month break...This won't make for good reading.

18/05/21 - Albion (H)

Marticorena
Alvarez, Ramirez, Crespo, Rodriguez (Moreira 71'),
Caseras, Noy (Bertola 80'), F Fernandez (M Fernandez 71'),
Boccia (Tabarez 48'), Lopez (Gadea 80'), Alba

MOTM: Matias Caseras 7.0
This was a game that we really should've won! They scored some cheap goals.
I was really disappointed with this one. And no, M. Noble isn't that one.
On a more positive note, Caseras dominated and got a 7.0 rating.

22/05/21 - Cerro (A)

Marticorena
Alvarez (Souza Motta 60'), Ramirez, Sebben, Rodriguez (Moreira 77'),
Caseras (Noy 60'), Bertola, F Fernandez (M Fernandez 60')
Tabarez, Gadea, Alba (Tavares 72')

MOTM: Marcelo Tabarez 7.7
Our first point of the season! I can't believe we threw it away after being 2-0 up, though.
I really thought we'd hold on, but it wasn't to be.
Tabarez played a blinder and got 2 assists, so that's something.

26/05/21 - Racing de Montevido (H)

Marticorena
Souza Motta, Ramirez, Crespo, Moreira
Caseras (Bajter 64'), Noy (F Fernandez 86'), M. Fernandez
Tabarez (Boccia 72'), Gadea (Lopez 64'), Tavares (Alba 86')

MOTM: Jhonatan Souza Motta 7.7
There isn't much to say about this game...
We weren't really creative, but did enjoy 66% possession.
Souza Motta wasn't too bad either.

29/05/21 - Defensor Sporting

Marticorena
Souza Motta(Currais 61'), Ramirez, Crespo, Moreira (A Lopez 58')
Caseras (M.Fernandez 66'), Noy (Bajter 61'), F. Fernandez
Tabarez, L Lopes (Gadea 66'), Alba

MOTM: Christian Alba 7.5
I'm generally quite pleased with this game.
The two loanees were unavailable, and for a long time it looked like we were comfortable.
Alba played well, and grabbed a good goal.

02/06/21- Danubio

Marticorena
Souza Motta, Ramirez (Crespo 63'), Sebben, Moreira (A. Lopez 58')
Caseras (F. Fernandez 63'), Noy, M. Fernandez
Boccia (Tabarez 68'), Gadea, Alba (Tavares 63')

MOTM: Marcelo Marticorena 6.9
I am really, really disappointed with this loss.
It was only 2-0 but we were woeful. 50% possession, 3 shots.


​

The start of the season hasn't gone well, there's no beating around the bush. we've picked up 2 points from 5 games and that has to improve if we're going to stay up this season. We're nowhere near dead and buried yet, but it's imperative we get a win on the board to lift morale, and stay competitive with the top half. I haven't been sacked just yet, but I'll be on a month-to-month deal before the next update so I've got to get results on the board, and fast.

Thanks for reading!

 

[JamieLauder]

Hello! I still have a job! There are ups and downs in this episode, but I hope you enjoy. I would like to thank you for the support shown so far. To have 240+ views, at time of writing, is so cool and unexpected haha. Anyway, let's get into it.

Transfers

The transfer window has opened and with it comes some business, both in and out.

Gaston Perez

Gaston Perez is the only player to come in, so far. He's a loanee from Liverpool FC (not that one), and a bit of a spoiler - he's started really well. I was hoping he'd bolster the midfield in a switch of shape to 4-1-4-1 (DM Wide) and he's done that, excelling as a box-to-box midfielder.

Offer - Santiago Boccia

There was an offer for Santiago Boccia from First Division side - M.C. Torque, which I didn't really consider and straight up rejected. It seemed as if Santiago felt it right to punish me for this, so twisted his ankle in training.

Matias Fernandez - OUT

We lost a Fernandez! I no longer have to do M. Fernandez or F. Fernandez. He left to join the Reserves of arguably the best team in Uruguay - Penarol. We did make 16.5k from it, and with further fees and the obligation to arrange a friendly, this could end up being a successful deal.

Contracts

Yes - I still have a job! I didn't know whether I'd be let go when my contract ended or not, but thankfully the latter happened. The entire backroom staff and I are on month-to-month contracts. Whilst I do have the option to offer them all contracts, I won't exercise it until my future's secured. This is just to ensure that if I am let go, or get an offer, I can take some of the coaches/scouts/physios with me!

Near enough the whole first team squad was on contracts until the end of the season, and many still are, but I stupidly didn't consider this until after the window had already opened meaning we've lost some players.

Lucas Lopes, one of our most promising wingers, is going to First Division side, Rentistas for free at the end of the year. Our star goalkeeper, Marcelo Marticorena, is also off to the First Division with Progreso. Finally, Matías Sebben is off to Albion, who coincidentally we ground share with, staying in the Second Division. At least he doesn't have to relocate, I suppose.

We have secured deals with some important players, though. Moreira, Ramirez, Tavares F. Fernandez (As he shall still be named), Souza Motta, Alba, Caseras, Noy and Boccia are all staying on until 2022.

Now, with that out of the way, it's time for the matches!

24/07/21 - Uruguay Montevideo (A)

Marticorena
Souza Motta (Alvarez 81'), Ramirez, Sebben, Rodriguez
Noy, Perez, F. Fernandez (Caseras 81')
Tabarez (Ruiz Dias 76'), Gadea (L.Lopez 76'), Alba

MOTM: Renzo Ramirez 7.7
We were the better team here, but we didn't deserve to win.
I felt that we needed to work on our creativity after this.
Ramirez was solid as ever though.

27/07/21 - Rampla Juniors (A)

Marticorena
Alvarez, Ramirez (Souza Motta 78'), Crespo, Rodriguez (Moreira 58')
Noy (Bajter 64'), Perez (F. Fernandez 64'), Caseras
Tabarez (Gadea 78'), L. Lopez, Alba

MOTM: Christian Alba 7.7
What can I say about this game? I was so, so annoyed that we didn't win.
Tabarez missed a penalty and they went down to 10 men.
Wew should've won, plain and simple.

31/07/21 - Atenas de San Carlos (H)

Marticorena
Souza Motta, Ramirez (Alvarez 64'), Sebben, Moreira (Rodriguez 64')
Noy, Perez, Caseras (F. Fernandez 70')
Gadea, L. Lopez (Tabarez 58'), Alba (Ruiz Diaz 70')

MOTM: Chritsian Alba 9.9
WE WON A FOOTBALL MATCH!
OH MY WORD. WHAT A GAME.
ALBA WITH A HATRICK!
This game was phenomenal and really gives me belief that we can stay up. UTV!


​

July has went really well. Obviously there's been some bad news surrounding the departures of Marticorena and Matias Fernandez, but we brought in Perez on loan and there are a few more transfers lined up for the next installment. From a results perspective, I'm chuffed. We're out of the relegation zone and went a month unbeaten. Hopefully we can carry this form through to August and climb the average points table. Up The Villa.

Thanks for reading!

 

[JamieLauder]

Hello! I'm really sorry there hasn't been an update for a few days, but it's because I've been trying to recover the save file.

I've been passing over the file from the PC to the laptop and somewhere along the way the file seemingly collapsed and I got this message.

I've tried all I can to retrieve it, but to no avail. I'll be starting a new blog soon though so keep looking at the forums and you'll see me knocking about.

Thank you for your support on the thread!

 

[jackthemariner]

Was fun to read it while it lasted, hope your injury is getting better! Fair play though on trying it in the lower leagues of Uruguay, I tried to do one last year but it was VERY short lived as I just couldn't make it work with Rentistas! Looking forward to whatever you post in the future

 

[JamieLauder]

Was fun to read it while it lasted, hope your injury is getting better! Fair play though on trying it in the lower leagues of Uruguay, I tried to do one last year but it was VERY short lived as I just couldn't make it work with Rentistas! Looking forward to whatever you post in the future

Thank you for the kind words! I'm hoping to have a new save started today.